Messenger

Chapter 3

 Oliver's mind raced as he stepped through the tall, oak doors of the palace. He never thought he could be here, worker or not. Better yet, he actually gets to be helpful to everyone at home. Ollie knew that they just wanted to keep him safe, but he couldn't block out the way that they all have to try so hard to keep everything going. Finally, Oliver can make it easier.

Thinking about it, getting this position wasn't all that hard. The court always needed more messengers and fast, healthy volunteers were difficult to come by. Lucky for Oliver, he'd been running since he could clearly remember. It takes some practice to keep up with Piko.

There were some things that Oliver would need to practice. The front hall of the castle was positively huge with velvet red carpeting and a polished wood path lead up a gold crusted stairway. As beautiful as it was, Oliver knew that he would be lost after a few turns. Around him, people filled the grounds with their own business, being certain with their personal tasks meanwhile Oliver simply wanted to get pointed in the direction of whoever he was supposed to check-in with and be on his way.

"Excuse me, do you know where the messengers are supposed to meet?" Oliver asked a guard posted by the door.

The guard glanced down at the small boy probably wondering how a pipsqueak like this got a job here. "Those quarters should be in the back of the east wing down the right hall. Someone down there could be a bit more specific." He gestured to one of the branching corridors.

"Thank you. I'll ask." He simply nodded back with Oliver setting off with his directions. Being late would not look good on the first day.

Based on Ollie's perception, the palace was every bit as grand as it looked from the outside, but what he didn't expect was the wide array of people. There seemed to be people from all classes and walks of life running this center. It can be too easy to think that it's only the royal family living here, but it takes a whole army to keep everything running.

Oliver could tell that the servant quarter was getting closer based on the steady stream of uniformed workers. Some probably being messenger, he thought excitedly. Now to try and find someone that understands how all of this works.

The only way is to ask. "Ummm, hi. Do you know why I'm supposed to check-in?" Oliver tapped the shoulder of a smallish person walking the center of the hall. They looked petite and cheery, with a spring in their step and long, pink and blue pigtails. He figured that they were his best bet seeing that someone around his age couldn't be too mean.

"Well, based on your look, I assume for the runner job. I heard we'd be getting a new kid." The person remarked circling the small boy. "Though you look like one of the rattier ones. On the short side, but I can't really comment. Are ya fast? Can you read?"

Oliver swallowed, unsure of what to say to this kid's spitfire analysis. They don't sound mean vs curious and well, hyper. "Yeah, I guess."

"Great. Oh, I'm Hime. I was just going to clock in, so you can follow me." They skipped down the hall expecting Ollie to travel behind. He certainly hadn't planned on finding someone that shared in his "smolness" as his family calls it so quick and certainly not with this much... force of personality.

Oliver didn't waste time catching up. "So, what's the, ummm... procedures here." Oh God, I'm starting to sound like Piko, Ollie thought.

"Nothing too bad. It's mostly stopping by our cubbies in our housing to get messages to then deliver. You'll have your own cubby there. All you have to do is look where or whom letters are addressed to run them to the right place." Hime explained still sounding chipper as ever. "Though some people will ask you to deliver something while you're out and in that case, just look at who it's going to in order to decide if it's a top priority."