Vara

Chapter 8

The arrival of the princess sent the servants into a panic. The maids carried the young girl off to get cleaned up and fed while Vara was dragged away by another group to the throne room where the king and queen sat. "Where is my daughter?" The king wasted no time asking the important questions. Vara was still exhausted from their 'adventure' to speak up, one of the maids placing a hand on Vara's shoulder. "The princess has been taken to get cleaned up; she appeared unharmed."

Vara nodded in agreement, kneeling in front of the royals. It may have appeared to be out of respect, but in reality, Vara was just exhausted. She just wanted to take a long rest. Though she wasn't looking at the parents, it was clear from their sighs that they were relieved. "Tell us what happened." The king spoke again, Vara looking up and opened her mouth to speak, only to cough instead. Awkwardly, she cleared her throat. "M-may I have water? I-it hurts to speak." her voice was a bit raspy. After all, she and the princess ran for their lives all day; there weren't snack breaks. The queen gestured to an attendant that stood in the corner of the room, the male quickly walking forward with a tray of grapes, two cups, and a pitcher of what Vara quickly found out to be water. "Eat and drink. You're trembling like a leaf." the queen spoke.

Vara nodded, chewing on a small handful of grapes and taking sips of water only when needed, trying to tell the concerned parents what had almost happened to their daughter as quickly as she could, doing her best not to spare any details - excluding the part where she found out what the prince was. 

"You could have easily given her to them and taken their offer. Why didn't you?" The king asked, lounging in his chair comfortably. Knowing that his daughter was safe and that this slave in front of him was too weak to do anything dangerous, seemed to keep him at ease for now. "As of recently, she is my master. Even if I was free, she is still a child... I dislike violence." she mumbled. The doors to the throne room were flung open, Prince Jorik storming in and slamming the doors behind him. The sounds made Vara jump, shaking even more and leaning close to the maid that still stood beside her.

"She knows." Was all he had to say before his parents turned to stare at Vara with wide eyes. "Everyone, out." the king ordered, glaring at the servants that hesitated. The only people left in the room were the royals, and Vara, who still sat on the floor. The attendant had been nice enough to leave the tray of food and drink on the floor in front of her. Though given how she was being looked at, she didn't have much of an appetite. Vara slowly looked over to the prince, who didn't even spare a glance at her. "Son, if she knows, then..." the queen's voice trailed off. Vara didn't like the tone. "I would like to keep her as my maid again. She knows, but she's..." he looked like he was trying to find the right words. "She's quiet. She knows to keep her mouth shut. Right?" Jorik gave Vara a hard stare, his honey-colored eyes boring into her soul.

Vara audibly gulped, nodding slowly while maintaining eye contact. "Jorik, I don't know why you are so adamant about keeping this girl as your slave, but you must remember that no one is supposed to know that you... that you're you." The queen spoke in a soothing voice, but the context essentially was that Vara knew too much and had to be taken care of. "I'd like to keep her as my slave because she cleans my study just the way I like it - the servant you gave me isn't picking it up quickly enough. On top of that, having her by my side means that she'll be less likely to spread the rumors." the prince was acting nonchalant, Vara slowly eating the grapes one by one, savoring them as if they were her last meal.

The king spoke up again. "Your sister asked you for her - taking her back would be rude. Especially since she just saved your sister's life." He pointed out. "I let her have Vara because you told me to be nice to my younger sister. My sister would not have been in danger if she hadn't gone to the market to get my slave clothes. I feel a different slave would suit my sister better." he replied, then pointed to her. "I like the work she does around my study and tea room. Teaching another servant is too much work." 

Vara couldn't tell if this was his polite way of throwing a tantrum, but his parents seemed to relent and give in to his request. "Very well. However, she will need her own quarters in your room. We can't have her telling your secret to the women in the slaves quarters.... right?" The king gave Vara a pointed look. She hesitated for a moment before furrowing her brows and tilting her head to give him a look of confusion. "What secret?"

The king snorted. "Very well," he looked back to his son. "We will have one of our attendants take care of Elira in her place - you both are excused." he waved them off, Jorik staring down at Vara expectantly. It took her a good few seconds to realize he was waiting on her, and she scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could, bowing to the monarchs before turning and following the prince out of the throne room, stumbling a little bit. "If you have a speed faster than a shamble, I would appreciate it." the prince spoke loudly as they exited the throne room, wanting his parents to overhear.

"Your highness, I apologize. My legs do not seem to be able to go any faster at this rate. Perhaps you should walk ahead, and I will catch up as quickly as I am able." Vara's voice was still scratchy, but she spoke with as much sarcasm and wit as she could muster. She was grouchy and exhausted; she just wanted to lie on the cool tile under her feet and go to sleep. What she was not expecting was the prince to scoop her off her feet and toss her over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes. "Y-your highness! Prince Jorik! This isn't befitting of a royal!" she scolded loudly, trying to get help from the maids and butlers who either chortled at her misfortune or averted their gaze to not draw attention to themselves.

"And you're a slave, scolding a prince. I suppose I could argue that your behavior is unbecoming of a slave," he replied calmly, walking down the hallways without even stopping once. Even when the girl started squirming, he just put a small bounce in his step in retaliation. "You are incorrigible," she spoke through gritted teeth. "Careful, we can't let anyone know you have such a large vocabulary," he replied. Vara might not see his expression, but she knew he had a smirk on that smug face of his.