Snow's White | ✓

33. Something Blue

The guard's eyes widened as the courier fainted, the thin boy's body crashing to the ground. His hands shook as he held the small wooden box, the inside surface lined with soft black velvet, the gift resting in a shallow depression inside the cushioned floor of the container. 

"Get this to Lord Duncan," the guard said, voice wavering as he gently closed the box, quickly shoving it into the hands of another guard before leaning over into a potted plant in the corner of the room, quickly emptying his stomach of the roast he had for dinner just less than an hour before. 

The box was passed from guard to guard, each one looking at it blankly, opening it, and quickly closing it to hand to another guard, their mouths open in shock. Nobody, once they looked inside, wanted to hold it, for they all knew what is was. Or whose it was. 

One guard, a brave man who set his face into stern blankness, knocked heavily on the door to Lord Duncan's office, the man's gruff voice commanding him to enter. Prince Lucas sat on a chair that had been pulled up to Duncan's large desk, stacks of aged books haphazardly strewn across it. The guard felt cold sweat begin to bead on his brow as the box, so small and yet so, so heavy, rested on his flattened palms. 

"This was delivered on the doorstep of the castle. No one saw how it got there. Its contents..." the guard swallowed as his earlier bravery seemed to disappear as he took in Lucas's dishevelled face, the prince's eyes tired, yet wild with despair. Not many had seen the prince in recent months, the man either in his chambers or with Lord Duncan. The only time most guards or palace staff could see him was when he was walking between these two places. Now, seeing the prince look so distraught, made the guard wonder why he was so broken after the events at his wedding, when even the lost prince's only sister had seemed to manage to pull herself together and return to some sense of normalcy.

"The contents?" Duncan prompted, raising a tired brow as the guard coughed. 

"It would be best for you to see for yourself. It is also probably best if you... sit down." Lord Duncan gave the guard a quizzical look, before extending his hand, taking the box in his calloused fingers. The carefully carved wood smooth, and Lord Duncan surprised that the parcel was so light, considering how the guard's shoulders seemed to sag as he held it. Lucas, only mildly interested, continued flicking aimlessly through a tome that he had already read at least two times over, rubbing his eyes. 

Lord Duncan yawned as he opened box, his mouth remaining open as he choked. Blue. Snapping the box shut with a loud snap, Duncan felt the colour drain from his face, hands shaking. The guard, knowing exactly how Duncan felt, already having gone through the shock of seeing it himself for the first time, excused himself, the two other men in the room barely remembering his presence. 

"What is it, Duncan?" Lucas asked, the book in his hand forgotten as he looked at Duncan's pasty face. 

"Y-you do not want to see, Your Highness," Duncan stammered, placing the box to the side as he wiped away the sweat on his face. 

"Duncan," Lucas said, voice flat. "Show me."

"Really, Your Highness, I strongly advise you not to," Duncan said, voice rising as his hands continued to shake. Blue.

"And I command you to show me," Lucas said, voice firm, hand outstretched as he stood up from his seat. Duncan hesitated, Lucas growing impatient. "Lord Duncan, I command you, give me the box." Not able to ignore his prince's demand, Duncan gave him the box, avoiding the prince's gaze as he pressed his hands together in a silent prayer.

When Lucas opened the box, all he saw was blue. A single blue eye stared back at him, the startling sapphire shade unmistakable.

Lord Duncan was able to catch the box and its contents as it fell from Lucas's hands, the prince's eyes rolling backwards as he fainted, body hitting the floor with a heavy thud.