kingdom ; minishaw

one.

the sunlight clasped the field, little puddles of warmth seeping through the worker's shirts, the weather at this time of day was all sun-dazzled and radiant. he enjoyed the warm red and pink streaks across the sky, natures piece of art.

the boy extended his bronzed arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then reached behind his neck and tugged his thin shirt off and tossing it a few yards away from him. it was a hot day, to say the least.

his tousled hair flopped onto his forehead and stuck there until he pushed it from falling into his eyes.

"we're done for today, boys. go home, the lot of you." the guy that was in charge of the crops yelled, fanning himself with a newspaper from his chair placed under the shade of his shed.

simon stretched, wincing as his arm muscles ached with hard labour, he was almost thankful he was to move far away from his home town for his new job. he took one last glance over the yellow field he had worked in ever since he was a boy, it spread out for miles on end and supplied the town with harvest every year.

"good luck, si." his friends amongst the workers told him, clapping him on the back and ruffling his hair.

he grinned, thinking happily about how far he was going to be from this place.

that night he collapsed onto his bed after packing his belongings in a suitcase, his brothers didn't say much to him but all treated him different to usual, there were no fights over who got the extra slice of cake at dessert and they sent him to bed without having to do the dishes.

his mum cried a lot, constantly hugging him and popping into his room to just look at him and then cry all over again. simon just wanted the morning to come.

"ma, please stop fussing." the young boy whined as his mother patted his hair and wiped a smudge of dirt off of his nose.

he felt like a bird finally spreading his wings and flying away from the nest. In actual fact, he had a new job. and not just any job, he was leaving home to work full time at queen evalina's humble home. a freaking castle- that's what it was.

he shook his head, combing through his hair and buttoning his loose, white shirt right to the top, trying to mentally prepare himself for his future.

"behave yourself, simon." his mother sniffed, her eyes watering.

simon hugged his mother one last time, his brothers clapped him on the back and then he was off.

-

the castle had always looked small from where he lived but, holy shit it was absolutely vast.

nine strong, round towers surrounded the castle in almost a perfect circle and were connected by strengthened, massive walls made of light red stone. elegant windows were scattered thinly across the walls in an asymmetric pattern, along with holes of various sizes for archers and artillery.

one of the kings subjects took his few belongings and showed him to where he would be staying. it wasn't the big room with the four poster bed he had dreamed of but it suited him just fine. a small room with a single bed, the roof slanted slightly and much to simon's delight there was a skylight window.

as he was unpacking his very few belongings, a boy- similar height to him popped his head round the corner, he had kind eyes, was wearing a curious shaped hat on his head and was smiling widely at simon.