Unfortunate

Chapter 1

The palace is so big that the people who own it do not know the extent of its boundaries. The only people who do are those unlucky enough to be born a servant. Those who are raised in the hidden stairwells and basement kitchens. They learn every room, every tower, every bedroom and broom closet, and they traverse them every single day. The family who live in the palace only know the way from the grand entrance to the throne room and back. I would bet that some of them don't even realise that there is an entire army's worth of help living and working just metres below their feet.

I am one of the unfortunates who knows their way around the palace. Every morning I walk the servants' corridors back and forth, providing for the royals' every whim, while simultaneously attempting to remain invisible. I wake early to make breakfast and only stop working when the moon is high in the sky and the dishes gleaming on the shelves. And so, like my mother and her ancestors before me, I have learned the art of forgetting myself in my work. The longer I can stay focussed on anything but myself, the less miserable I become with the state of my life. And misery is a death sentence.

Though, life in servitude is not so terrible, once you learn to live with it. There's a routine to every day, every step you take is one allowed to you by someone more important, and within this system there is peace. Life has a neverending rhythm and each of our hearts beats along with it. There is no room for anger, nor arguments, as without complete harmony the entire system would fall apart. Not to mention, the exhaustion leaves no room for anything but completing the day's work as quickly as possible, before sleeping as long as we can.

None of us are here by choice. Or at least, not our own choice. Some believe in fate and that we were meant for this place, this life. I, however, think that is just nonsense made up by people who hold the ignorant hope that there could be something else, something better. We were born into this and there is nothing we could do about it. It was genetics, and if not genetics, luck. 

You see, some children in the kingdom are born with a Senyal, a mark on the back of their neck. The shape of this mark determines their future forever. Very few children are born with a Senyal, and of these children, most have one in the form of three dots forming a triangle pointed downwards. This is the symbol of servitude, the one I bare. 

Of children with royal blood, however, those who bare a Senyal bare one in the shape of two diagonal lines, which meet together at the top, forming a mountain-shape, or an upwards arrow. If a child is born with this mark, they become the next in line for the throne, the crown-prince or -princess. However, it is just as rare for a royal to be born with a Senyal as it is for the greater population, therefore the crown is usually passed to the oldest child, as it will be now, as none of the King's six children bare the mark.

Because of the three dots on the back of my neck, I was shipped off to the palace the day I was born. Apparently scrubbing floors and serving tea are skills that need to be taught from an early age. Those with the servant's Senyal are raised below the palace until we are capable of serving those who live above us. The other servants are our family, those of a similar age to us our siblings and former classmates. However, as we grow older and able to do more work, we see less and less of our apparent families, until the people we have grown up with have become just another face to smile at as we walk down the halls. I suppose it's a lonely life, but I keep my hands moving and my mind absent.

It's not so bad.