The Crown

Fifteen.

The Crown

When King Marcus needed to think, he would read books or write letters. "Marcus, have you been to the dining room once?" Isabella stood behind her husband, asking him questions. He sat back, pulling her in for a kiss. "The servants have already served me food two times today, and I will be down in a bit for the third." He said, dipping his pen in the ink to continue writing. A lot was on his mind about problems happening nearby the castle and the Queen and King of England wanted to make a special bargain with him. What to do and what not ran through his scattered mind. When Marcus began writing, it did not make sense at first but then he received a short inspiration. He dipped his pen in ink and began writing again. This time he wrote with much feeling and passion, he poured his heart out into it. He was enjoying the moment now, although it will last a few minutes. By the time he was through, he folded up the envelope and stamped it with their royal symbol of the lion then kissed it. Thinking of the perfect spot to hide it, walking down the grand stairs, Markus stepped on a replaced tile on the step that needed to be fixed and nailed back in. Already knowing about the tile, squatted down before looking around. When he noticed nobody was around he pulled out the letter from his pocket and placed it in the hidden hole before covering back with floor tile. "Good evening dear." Isabella greeted her husband as he took a seat at the end of the dinner table. He greeted his mother-in- law Rita, who was also seated on the table and his son, Manuel, who was seated next to his mother. "Have you accepted England's bargain?" Rita asked him, taking a sip of her white wine. "No, not yet, I am still thinking about it," Markus responded, cutting his steak with a knife and fork. "But you must mi amor, this is a wonderful opportunity to receive more servants and royal court members. I know that they do not speak Espanol but we will teach them within a year. "Isabella spoke. 'But you are not seeing what we have to give them in order to receive that. They are asking to print their books in our language and put their schools in the system Spain was never meant to be a bilingual country." Marcus argued. "Well, it is because that is what the world is shifting towards. People want to travel and learn new things. You cannot stop them, just like Isabella is saying, I think you should accept the bargain." Rita spoke finally.  Markus looked at the youngest boy on the table, his son, Manuel. "What do you think I should do?" He asked him. "I agree with Abuela. And Papa? If they bring new advisors in, can they bring someone my age?" Manuel asked his father hoping that he would make a new friend through this way. "Well, advisors your age are still in school just like you are, my son. But I will think of something."

Charcoal was washing her dresses when she saw rain begin to fall. She sighed, running inside the back of the kitchen as soon as possible. When she bumped into Aaron who was reading a book in the kitchen basement. "Hello Charcoal, boring day is it not?" He asked Charcoal, watching her nod slightly. Washing her dresses was the only thing lady Denissa had scheduled for her to do as she went out of town to visit her father, the Duke of Ilbrando,  and her mother, Helene did not want her court maid to follow. Charcoal dried her clothes in the kitchen basement as they spoke. "You wanted to ask me something the first day you and Lady Denissa arrived here in the palace and there was too little time to respond." Do you still remember what it was that you wanted to ask me?" Aaron asked her. Charcoal did not know why she thought she could ask Aaron such a personal question, it was none of her business, so she changed the question. "When did you become Manuel's trusted advisor?"

"It is quite a long story, but I can shorten it up a bit-

"No, the day is long and boring. Tell the story how it is." Charcoal sat on the floor cris-crossed in front of his chair where he was seated. "Well, I was just a little boy when we met, about twelve years old. My mother was called to give him private math lessons and since I was a new boy in Spain, I had to learn Espanol. So one day, my mother suggested that I teach him English and he taught me Spanish, while she taught us both arithmetics. That was my routine for the next two years. I would follow my mother to the palace every day after 2 p.m. to study with him."

"Wait, you are not European?"Charcoal interrupted him to ask. "Haha yes I am a full European silly, I am Aaron Smith from Sussex, England. But my British accent has faded over the years. Anyways, my mother became very ill the next year and was taken back to England where my father serves as a nurse for the British Royal family. She has not come back since but she still sends me letters every now and then to know how she is doing. When my mother was taken back to England, Prince Manuel had already grown fond of me. I was living with my Aunt in Valencia at the time and I remember the white envelope with the red royal lion stamp on it. Inside was the prince requesting for me to live with them in their palace and become his advisor. I was sixteen years old at the time. It was not easy at first because his family had very high expectations but I grew very close to them. I was eighteen years old when I was became is trusted advisor, in some other fancy families they refer to us as a footman or butler but I became his trusted advisor. Manuel has so much trust in me and sometimes it scares me because I do not want to do anything foolish against him." Aaron finally explained. "So how long have you been his advisor exactly?" Charcoal asked him. "I started when I was sixteen at the time so it should be going on ten years."

"Wow, you must be very loyal to them." Charcoal asked, sounding impressed. They sat quietly for two minutes listening to the drops of rain pour on the glass of the windows. "Tell me your story." Aaron said, looking interested. Charcoal nodded, starting from where she used to live in Spain with her mother in Grenada. She told him of the tragic moment the Grenada city guards kicked down her cottage door and seized her away. She told him how she met Denissa in the slaves and trading part of town. She told him how hard it was to live with new people and live up to their expectations. Then finally, she told him how thankful she was to be serving lady Denissa and for all she had done for her. "You must be very loyal to her." He said, refrasing her own words as she smiled.

"There is a game we always used to play on boring days like this." Aaron said. "Are you familiar with the game hide and seek?" He asked her. "Yes! I know it. I used to play it in my school, the girls would hide from me and I would search for them. They called the game "Big Ugly Wolf" She said. "Well, that was rather rude. We call it hide and seek." Aaron chuckled.

"Were you planning on playing without me Aaron?" Manuel stepped into the basement surprising them. "No my Lord, how long were you standing there?" Aaron asked him. "From the beginning. You two seem to be the best of friends." Manuel chuckled. "Have you made your decision my Lord?" Charcoal managed to bring herself to ask him. "No not yet, the evil witch has given us three months so I have much time, now are we going to play the game or what?" Manuel asked them.

And so they played, Charcoal was a little new to the game because she had never been a hider in her school but they were having fun. Even though some places were forbidden, there were still many other spots to hide in the castle. They acted like bored children and some servants believed that they were. Manuel was childish when he wanted to be. It was still good to see that he still believed in childish games no matter how old he got. Aaron was the seeker in the first round. Gabriella was the seeker in the second and Manuel was the seeker in the third round. "Ready or not, here I come!" Manuel yelled as he ran down the steps. Their rainy, boring day turned into a fun, playful afternoon.

The Crown