"What? Wait-" I called out confused. The Prince stood up as the soldiers advanced with raised swords.
"Let's go," The prince said, tugging on my shoulder. I struggled a little, looking back, only to jump at the sight of soldiers being slaughtered.
"Wait, Your Highness-"
He didn't listen and continued to push me forward and out of the room. The heavy wooden doors closed and muffled the screams of the people inside. My stomach churned.
"Your Highness, please," my voice shook. "Surely you don't have to kill everyone?"
"Just the ones in the room," He replied, too nonchalantly. I clenched my hands to stop them from noticeably jittering as I pushed the image of my old cell and the corpse of the guard that had been kicked aside by the princes men away from my mind. The prince seemed to notice regardless.
"Look" He started as he pushed on, turning a corner.
"Who were the people present in that room?"
"The King's guard, the lead servants, and the royal scribe, " I replied, following his lead.
"Right, and did the King have the time to tell the scribe what to do when I arrived?"
"...No."
"So what does that mean?" He prodded.
"They planned to do it… but what about everyone else?" I continued, staring at my worn out flats that were poor excuses for shoes as they pattered against the soft carpet of the hallway.
"Who do you think the king's guard and the lead servants are the most loyal to?"
The whirlwind that had occupied my mind settled fiercely into a silent, bitter cold.
"The king… right."
"Which makes them most likely to cause me harm in the future." He concluded.
"Now, let's go back to my room. We need to pack up to leave for the Empire as soon as possible. I'm going to report the happenings of today in person," he said. He continued to guide me down the hallway with both of his hands at my shoulders. They surely felt heavy but surprisingly not as threatening as I thought.
"Why do we need to hurry?" I asked, albeit quite uncharacteristic of myself. "Shouldn't you finish things up here first? Who's going to keep this place in order if you go?"
"My second in command. He'll be staying here with half of my men to take care of the situation while I report to the king. We've already discussed what should be done and reported to the citizens in the meantime," He explained. Do we really have to walk like this?
"Your Highness, your hands" I said pointedly. He stopped, halting me in my steps before his hand shot up in realization.
"Oh… right" He said. I turned around and stood a few steps behind him.
"Please continue, Your Majesty."
He cleared his throat, stepping forward and walking down the hallway.
"Anyways, you'll need to pack my things back up quickly. I'll have to change out of this attire too."
"Understood, Your Majesty. May I ask one more question?"
"You may."
"...What do you plan to do with us slaves once you get to the Empire?"
He paused again, my feet tilting forward as I barely managed to stop without bumping into him.
"Why? Are you worried I might kill you all off?"
I paused, not expecting hesitancy to fill his voice. Especially after the fiasco of negotiations we were walking away from.
"No, I was just thinking that since we've been kept for the convenience of your army, we might be assigned somewhere else or given as tributes to other nobles once you returned. I planned on simply relaying the message to the others. Although, I do admit I am curious myself," I rambled. He turned and looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I continued.
"What makes you so sure I won't execute the bunch of you?"
"Well, besides the fact that you haven't already, it would be quite a waste to do so. It's not hidden that the soldiers are happy with having the extra help, not to mention it being free."
"Hmm, you're not wrong. However, your confidence irks me," He stated with a slight frown.
"I apologize, Your Majesty," I said, a grin pulling at my lips and ease filling the hole anxiety left.
"Tch, you don't seem sincere at all… But you're right. The guards have praised the slave's work incessantly and have requested to keep them. As such the slaves will be staying in their respective units once we go back to the Empire," he stated. I straightened slightly.
"What department would I be assigned to?" I asked.
He examined my expression before answering.
"I don't know."
My face dead panned.
"I haven't figured that out yet. You won't really be needed as a translator once we're back to the Empire, and the slaves would probably catch on to enough Empirian to not need you either. However, I'm not too keen on just putting you in one of the maid departments of the palace," he said.
"Why not?" I said somewhat upset that I was the only one with no place to go.
"Because it feels like a waste," He said after a moment, copying my words.
I pouted, not satisfied with the answer he gave.
"I'll have a proper decision by the time we get to the capital, so there's no need to fret over it. For now, just keep doing what you've been doing: translating and helping around."
We started back on walking to the Prince's room. Once we made it in, I helped the Prince get into more comfortable clothes, and started on packing all the clothes away. I worked quickly, folding and getting everything back into the boxes they were originally in. I mentally mourned all the effort I put into unpacking just a couple days before.
If we were only gonna stay for a day or two, why did we have to unpack?
The prince seemed in an unhelpful mood and lounged on the couch until finally deciding on taking a nap. I bitterly looked at his sleeping figure before deciding to ignore him. I made a goal to finish packing by the time he woke up, thinking his nap would last about an hour-ish. And while I did finish the packing within an hour, his majesty didn't show any signs of waking up. I walked over and stared at him for a moment, crossing my arms and tapping my finger in thought.
Hmmmm...Should I…Wake him up?... No.
I turned around and walked back to the pile of luggage.
There's nothing much left to do here though…
I looked around the room one last time to see if anything else needed to be done.
I could bring the luggage down, but I doubt that everyone has the wagons ready for them…
I looked to the prince again, before sighing.
I guess I'll just have to make myself busy again.
I took one of the pieces of paper from the desk drawer and wrote a short note, setting it on the table before leaving.
Deciding to help with the food, I went to the kitchen, asking where the storage was. Then, meeting with some of the Empirian soldier's there, I helped carry barrels of provisions and water onto wagons. We had finished earlier than expected, and I was about to take my well deserved break when a maid came and told me to bring dinner up to the Prince. I reluctantly walked across the castle and brought the food like I was asked.
Knocking on the door, I announced myself and waited for permission before going in.
"Where have you been?" The prince asked as I set his food down.
"Helping the soldiers move the provisions, Your Majesty," I replied.
"You should've woken me up when you were done with packing," He stated, sitting down.
"I apologize, Your Majesty."
The note must have not been enough.
"How far did you get with the provisions?" He asked, taking a bite of the meat. I felt the start of a grumble and internally clenched my stomach to stop it from going any further.
"We finished, Your Majesty," I reported, pouring the prince some water.
"That was early," He noted.
"It was only just now, Your Majesty. I came up not a minute after we had finished," I said.
"Hmm. I see," he said. I clenched my stomach again, feeling it start to grumble again.
Maybe I shouldn't have helped with one of the more strenuous jobs. Please don't embarrass me, stomach. Not in front of literal royalty
I turned around and walked to the food cart, facing away from the prince. I held my stomach with my hand this time, hoping to keep my stomach from doing anything else.
Please…
"Since preparations are moving quicker than I thought, then we should get a move on as well. Have someone bring my luggage down and clean. We have one last thing to do before we leave," He said. He dabbed his mouth with his napkin and stood up.
"Follow me," He stated. I walked with him out of the room, speaking to the first servant I saw before continuing on. We walked around until we came across a pair of huge wooden doors. The guards at the door seemed to look at the prince questionably.
"Move or die. You choose," He said simply. I looked at him surprised. He met my gaze and jerked his head toward the guards, gesturing for me to translate. I blinked a couple times, kicking my brain in gear.
"He says to move… or… die," I translated, in a much too small of a voice for it to have any effect. I could barely look the guards in the eye at the last part.
The prince sighed, "We have to work on that meek tone of yours when delivering commands."
The guards looked at me trying to figure out what was happening, slightly confused by my weak demand in contrast to the voice the prince used. The Prince sighed once again and drew his sword, pointing it at the two guards.
"Move," he said. The men seemed to get the message and moved to the side.
"Good to know this kingdom isn't completely full of idiots," The prince mumbled. I glanced at the prince.
He does remember that I can understand him, right?
We walked into the room. I looked in awe at the hugest library I had ever seen. There were three stories of just books with multiple shelves littering the entire floor. The Prince looked at my amazed expression and scoffed.
"Don't tell me you're amazed by this pitiful amount of books?"
I looked to the prince in shock.
"Pitiful? How in the world is a three story room filled to the brim considered pitiful?" I defended.
"The Royal Library in the Empire is practically a whole palace in itself. This is only the size of my personal library," He stated with a smirk. I pressed my lips in a firm line, keeping silent.
"Trust me, if you saw the one in the Empire, you'd also think that this is nothing," He said.
"I'm sure I would, Your Majesty," I stated, reluctantly admitting defeat.
"For now, would you mind letting me know what you need from the Nagarian Royal Library, Your Highness?" I asked, changing the subject.
"A book called, 'Theresa's Diary'," he said.
"...Okay... Do you happen to know where it is?" I looked around at the thousands of books in front of me.
"No. That's why you're here," He said with an insincere smile. I wearily grinned back.
"We have to find a single book.. In all of this?" I asked.
"You have to find a book in all of this. I can't read Nagarian," He corrected. I stared at him, baffled at his comfortability with ordering such an unnecessarily tedious task.
"Can I ask why you need that specific book?"
"You'll see when you find it."
I felt my heart drop and looked at the enormous library.
"...Alright, Your Highness."
With that, I walked in examining the contents of each shelf, trying to find a pattern to the systematic placing of the books only to be met with confusion. Deciding to find it the hard way, I started at the back and began to look through each row. My search was cut short when I was on the bottom of the first shelf. I blinked and looked at the books again.
Theresa's Diary… Wow, that was easy. Am I usually this lucky? Good thing I started in the back.
I tried to grab the book, having to use more force than I thought due to how squished it was in between the others. I pulled it enough to tilt it forward but it wouldn't move any further.
Why won't this-
Suddenly, the wall started to move. I jumped at the sudden movement. I watched in complete surprise as the wall turned to reveal a hidden passageway.
"Looks like you found it," The prince said. I jumped at his sudden appearance and voice.
"And what exactly did I find, Your Highness?"
"The passage to the secret archive that is forbidden to everyone except the royal family and a few others," He said.
"Let's go," He continued. I followed him as we stepped down the stairs into a small dusty cellar. It had shelves lining the walls with a large desk filling the center.
"I have another scavenger hunt for you. Since you were so quick with the first one, I have high hopes. Find the blueprints for the irrigation system of the palace," He ordered.
"The irrigation system?" I repeated. He confirmed my statement with a nod. I looked around the room.
Well, I guess this is better than going through all the books in the other library.
I turned to the shelves, and started picking up scrolls, opening them and glancing at the titles before putting them back. Slowly but surely, I went through every scroll in the room without any discovery of the blueprint.
"It's not here," I said.
"It's here. It's just probably hidden. If it's not in the regular stacks then there must be another hiding place somewhere," he said.
Where does he find that confidence?
I went along with it and started to look for a hiding place. I checked under the table, accidentally bumping my head on the way back up.
"Ow…"
The Prince looked at the table.
"Did you hear that?"
I stood up wincing, "What?"
He knocked on the surface of the table, letting off a soft hollow knock.
"The inside of the table is not solid. It must be inside. Stand back," He said drawing his sword. I realized his intention to break it open.
"Wait, wait, wait! Surely you don't have to break it open. They must have had some way to get into it. Plus what if you damage the blueprints?"
His lips pursed as my logic sunk in, and he reluctantly sheathed his sword.
"Fine. Hurry up and find the way in then," He pouted, slightly disappointed he didn't get to destroy the table.
"Yes, Sire," I answered relieved.
I examined the table pressing every surface, in hope of finding a button that would click the table open. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any such switch. From knocking on the top surface, I could tell the whole thing was hollow and that the map was probably laid out flat rather than just a scroll. I looked at the table in contemplation.
"I can break it now yes?"
"One- One moment.. Please" I said, like a mother pleading their child not to eat piping hot cookies from a tray. I went through different scenarios in my head, trying to come up with a way to open it without ruining the blueprint.
"Will you help me place the table on its side, Your Highness?" I finally asked. He complied and lent a hand. I made sure to listen for any object moving or clattering on the inside. I came to the conclusion it was empty except for the blueprint.
"Are you able to slice it directly in half ? Right here?" I said pointing to the middle of the corner. The top slab of the table was probably 3 inches tall, or on it's side, wide. I needed it to be cut right down the middle so that if the blueprint was laid on the top or bottom of the compartment it would still be fine.
"Piece of cake," He responded. I was surprised by his willingness. Getting out of the way, I stood off to the side while he drew out his sword once again. He seemed quite happy that he did, in fact, get to destroy the table. In a matter of seconds, the table's top was cut thinly in half. We separated the two parts, the blueprint sitting on the top layer. The Prince grinned like a child.
"Perfect," he said. He grabbed it and rolled it up, tossing it to me. I fumbled to catch it, not understanding the care-free nature of the prince.
"Let's go," He said. He marched his way out of the castle and to the area where his army was gathered. He instructed me to hand the document to his secretary, which I did gladly, not liking the fact that I had to handle such a precious piece of paper for so long. After doing so, I followed the Prince as he did his final checks on everything before finally making the command to start on the trip back to the Empire.