Away

Chapter 1

"This is a great honor." Naira's uncle repeated for the hundredth time. "We have to do our best to make sure the King leaves here pleased with our hospitality."

Naira sighed before turning back to help their housekeeper, Miranda change the sheets. They were fixing the biggest room in the house for King George and his wife Camilla, who, of all the places they could stay during their visit to Algol, decided to stay at her less than modest villa. Well, it wasn't her villa, Naira chided herself. It belonged to her uncle; but even so, this place has been her home for as long as she could remember. And earlier this week, her uncle had given her the responsibility of overseeing all of the arrangements for the King's stay at their house. The King and his wife were visiting the city of Algol to attend a ceremony, and her uncle, the ever-subservient subject of His Majesty had offered for the King to stay with them for the duration of the visit.

It was not that Naira did not like visitors or guests, in fact she quite enjoyed it when her uncle invited company or when her cousins came over to stay. And as she was getting older, she liked taking charge of the household and kitchen, playing the role of hostess. Having royal company, however was a very different story. Naira was skeptical that any form of hospitality would be enough to please them, and was not sure why they had agreed to stay here in the first place since she was sure they owned a castle somewhere in this city like they did in every part of Starland. After all, this is what royals did anyway. Collect tax from their subjects, who struggled day to day for basic necessities, while the royal families built castles in every city, owned more carriages and silk and jewels than they would ever use, and threw feasts and wasted food for the smallest of reasons. But of course Naira never voiced these views. Not only because her uncle was the general advisor to the King so she realized she would sound hypocritical but also because it was 19th century Starland, and such talks were considered treason. Naira knew of people who were beheaded for less. So, keeping her thoughts to herself, Naira continued fixing the room, before instructing Miranda to keep working while she went to fetch her brother.

"Come inside Henry" She called from the foyer, watching her brother walking towards her with a grin on his face.

"You're bringing in mud!" Naira exclaimed, stopping him at the entrance. Of course he was playing ball with the neighborhood boys again, even after she repeatedly told him he would drag mud and dirt into the hose. She had just finished cleaning the corridor, and there was not enough time to do it again.

"Come around the back" She ordered, heading back inside to open the back door.

"Thanks, Naria..." Her brother exclaimed, stomping his shoes as he entered. She smiled despite her irritation about the entrance getting soiled. When Henry was little, he could not pronounce her name and used to call her Naria, and although he was nearly 8 years old now, he still called her that and neither Naira nor her uncle had the heart to correct him.

"Now go inside and quickly change." She told her brother. "His Majesty will be here soon."

After ensuring that everything was in order and the evening meal was already prepared by Miranda, Naira finally went into her room to change into the new dress her uncle had bought for her. She had been a little upset about it initially- she did not see why her uncle felt it was important for her to look nice for this King and Queen who she would probably never see again, and thought there were much better uses of the money that went into the dress, such as household expenses or fees for Henry's tutor. But she later realized it wouldn't be right to disregard her uncle's wish and decided to put in some effort into looking presentable. The silk dress slid on easily, and without turning to look at the mirror yet, she could already tell the dress was hugging her in all the right places. She would have to be careful not to stain or tear the precious fabric, this was the kind of dress she had always wanted to wear to the balls her uncle took her to sometimes. Although they were not nobility, her uncle's role as the King's advisor kept them in the same circle as most nobles. At the events they were invited to, Naira would often see the wives and daughters of dukes and earls in the soft silk dresses, but never wanted to trouble her uncle by asking for one. She would treasure this one and wear it to the next party; at least then she would be dressing up for young, wealthy gentlemen, possibly even potential suitors, instead of an old king and his wife.

Finally facing the mirror, Naira opened the net that was holding her hair in a bun, and grabbed the hairbrush from her dresser. She liked the way her dark brown hair fell across her shoulders and chest in heavy waves, and gave herself a second to admire the young lady in the mirror. "You're going to grow into a doll." Her aunt Jessamine's words rang in her ears. Too bad she wasn't here to see how Naira had turned out.

The sound of horses neighing broke Naira out of her thoughts. She got up from her dresser stool and hesitantly walked towards the window. Surely enough, three carriages were parked outside, and she could see the back of her uncle waiting for the King and Queen to get down from the first carriage. Unsure about whether to join them or not, she continued to stand by the window, watching as her uncle curtsied and then ordered the footman to take the King's and Queen's belongings inside. She moved away from the window as soon as she heard her name being called and started walking towards the door.

Her uncle held his arms out for her as soon as he saw her coming. She went to stand next to him, and curtsied the way she saw her uncle doing it a few moments ago, hoping she was doing it correctly. Naira had never been introduced to royalty before and therefore had never had reason to curtsy in front of anyone. As she looked up, Naira noticed that there were four instead of two royal guests. Naira would have assumed that the king and queen had brought along their help, but both of these boys looked too regal to not be from the royal family.

"This is my niece, Naira." Her uncle introduced her, as Naira forced her eyes back on the King and Queen.

"So you are the dear girl that watches over Mr.Wells's land while he is away in Capella working for us." The king nodded approvingly. "Your uncle does a great service to our kingdom, and he can do his job as well as he can because he knows you are here, taking care of his home and estate." Naira smiled, unsure of what to say. What did one even say to royals? Thank you, your Majesty, maybe? Or perhaps it was better not to say anything at all? Maybe royals did not like it when you interrupted them when they were talking.

"And these," her uncle stepped down, taking her with him, "are the king's grandsons. "Prince Neal and William." So Naira was right, they were a part of the king's family. His grandsons- and one of them was heir to the throne. She allowed herself a closer look while her uncle conversed with the boys. The one introduced as Neal had a strong resemblance to the King. It was not just the similar features, the same blue eyes and golden hair, but also the way he carried himself. Naira noticed he had a cane in his hand, which he was slightly leaning on, and yet emanated a sense of strength and authority. Especially in contrast to his cousin next to him, the dark haired boy who was slouched, and seemed bored and uninterested with his surroundings. William, she believed her uncle called him.

"Nice to meet you Naira." Neal said politely, while Will continued to look distracted. Naira took a step forward in an attempt to curtsy again, but the hem of her dress caught on her shoe. Her heart leapt out of her chest as she realized what was about to happen, but it was too late. Before she knew it, she felt herself falling forward, her arms in the air. She closed her eyes, expecting to fall at the bottom of the front steps, until she felt a pair of strong big hands on her waist. When she felt steady enough to open her eyes, inches away from her was the face of the dark haired boy, his honey brown eyes looking straight into hers. Time seemed to have stopped, making the few short seconds feel much longer. She took a few steps back as soon as the prince loosened his grip, and felt her face flushing with heat.

"Are you alright?" Queen Camilla asked, joining her grandsons

"Yes. I'm sorry." Naira mumbled, hoping her face was not as visibly red as it was hot. Of course she would do something like that on the first day she was meeting new people. She was Naira after all. Slipping, and tripping, and making a mess of situations, were kind of her thing.

"It happens." This came from the other prince, Neal. "I'm always losing my balance too." He added, gesturing towards his cane, and giving her a warm smile. Will had a small smile playing on the corner of his lips too, but it was somehow different. It was more like he was amused- as if he suddenly felt this trip wouldn't be as boring as he thought it would.

"Well, let's head on in..." Uncle Thomas finally said, and Naira knew he was probably just trying to get them safely inside before she did something else to embarrass him further.