Imperial Capital.
U’il-šanad stirred in his bed as he woke up. A maid immediately came inside with a flickering lantern.
“Good morning, Your Royal Highness.”
“Good morning. Could you have the cook make something warm? The winter chill is getting to me.”
“Of course, Your Royal Highness.”
The maid curtsied before she left. U’il-šanad closed his eyes and pulled the blanket over his head. Having grown up in the southern area, the winters felt extremely cold in the Imperial City.
The summers weren’t really hot in his opinion, even though he had spent enough years around his half-brothers to know they certainly thought so. Not that they were comfortably warm, either. Somewhere in-between. He could be content.
But winters… He really wished he could not be his father’s child. But born to be royalty he apparently was. Whether he was blessed or cursed by the Deities though…
Another maid entered and he could hear her move around in the room. She tried to be silent, but there was still the clatter of taking out jewellery, the splashing of pouring water in a basin, the shifting of fabric as she got the many layers he’d wear.
After a while, he sat up, unable to fall asleep again.
The maids had long since got used to just how inappropriately dishevelled the Prince would look every morning.
The older he had got, the more inappropriate he looked. They sometimes joked among themselves that the Prince needed to be married soon, so they could put someone else to the task of attending his needs.
The maid gave him a glance before she looked away. The knots supposed to keep the undershirt closed had either untied themselves or were about to. One of his shoulders and collarbone were both revealed, as it had partially slipped off. His face was slightly flushed after having buried himself in the warm blankets. Not to mention how his dark hair was quite a mess. His amber eyes, lazily open and filled with sleepiness, didn’t exactly help either.
Meanwhile, the U’il-šanad considered whether he should just lay down and pretend to sleep. That way, he’d at least be warm.
From the corner of her eye, the maid saw him grab the blanket, ready to lay down again. She had seen this more than once before.
A knock stopped him in the middle of his action. A voice floated over from the door.
“Your Royal Highness, His Royal Highness, the First Blood Ažerlü-šanad sent a boyservant over.”
“Hmm?” The Prince sat back up properly, straightening up and running his hand through his hair. “What does my eldest brother ask of me?”
When there was no response, he motioned to the maidservant to open up for the guard. She nodded and walked over to the bed, lifting the bed curtain. With practiced ease, she tidied him up from worst of his disheveled state before placing a warm robe over his shoulders.
He put his arms through the sleeves and moved to sit at the edge of the bed as the maid moved to open for the guard.
The guard bowed as he entered, giving the maid a nod as well, then approached the Prince.
U’il-šanad’s slight smile fell upon seeing this, knowing this didn’t bode too well for him. And soon the bodyguard offered him an envelope. It had gold decorations with a floral pattern subtly forming the shape of a dragon.
U’il-šanad sucked in a breath through his teeth before putting it aside.
He let the maidservant tie a belt around his waist before he stood up, walking back and forth in thought before he sat down on a cushion. The maid servant immediately got a comb and began fussing with his hair.
With a look toward the location of the envelope, he ordered the guard to give it to him again. He opened it to find a folded sheet of paper with fine writing. He read it through in silence.
“Eldest brother wishes to have a meal with me before midday.” He looked at the guard. “Send the boy back and say this divine Prince is truly honoured and wouldn’t dare not to accept.”
“As you wish, Your Highness.”
The guard bowed and was about to turn.
“Wait. Tell him I will arrive before a second hour has passed.”
The bodyguard made a noise of acknowledgement before bowing again.
As he left, to tell the boyservant waiting outside of U’il-šanad’s private chamber what to respond, the guard nearly walked into a maidservant carrying a tray with miscellaneous items. Çuiren followed her, carrying a similar tray.
Çuiren moved out of the way, allowing the guard to move past her. She observed him for a moment, taking in his appearance before she followed the other slave. They placed their trays on the side and Çuiren moved closer to the other girl, maybe a year or two older than her.
“Who was that?” she whispered.
“One of the guards.”
“Hmm…” Çuiren looked back. The guards outside had already closed the door to the outer room of the Prince’s chambers.
“Don’t think too much. You only came a few days ago, so focus on your tasks. Don’t mess up!”
“What will happen if I do? How severe is the punishment?”
This question seemed to startle the other girl, but then she tilted her head slightly from one side to the other. “I wonder… I have never heard His Royal Highness ever get angry at anyone.”
“Oh? He never punishes anyone?”
The slave shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“That’s odd. When I first saw His Royal Highness during a lesson, he had a guard hit the teacher twice not long after entering the room.”
“Nükiž sees all! How could the teacher have angered His Royal Highness so? What heinous crime could the man have committed?” The girl paused, and she leaned closer to Çuiren. “Could it be that he’s…”
Çuiren quickly shook her head. “Those vile rumours are false! I have done no wrong!”
“Ah!” The slave startled and looked away.
Çuiren only understood why when she heard steps behind her. Her body tensed as she did her best not to look behind her.
“Çuiren,” U’il-šanad said softly.
She turned around, unsure what to do. She hadn’t realised the Prince was still there and had raised her voice. She understood that to be unacceptable. She swallowed as she curtsied the way the maids had frequently told her to do if she ever was addressed by the Prince.
“Your Royal Highness, good morning,” she greeted him, her voice as quiet as she dared to make it without risking that he wouldn’t hear her.
“You don’t need to worry. We know the rumours are false. There is nothing to worry about as long as you stay here to serve me.”
“I understand, Your Royal Highness.”
The Prince looked at the tray, lifting up a brush, studying it closely. “From the east? Who gifted them?”
Çuiren looked away, pretending she wasn’t there at all. How would she know?
When the Prince got no reply, he just put the brush down. “You two may leave. If you haven’t eaten yet, do so. If you have, could you ask where my meal is?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
“You’ll have some free time in the afternoon. Spend it well.”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
The girl discreetely grabbed Çuiren’s wrist and pulled her along as the left the outer room in a hurry.
She turned around when she finally caught what he had told her.
“Wait, did His Royal Highness just say he knows the rumours are false?”
Both of them stopped and looked back at the door with guards on either side, then at each other.
He really had said that.