Chapter Two

The carriage rolled down the cobblestone street through the city. The castle was no longer as close as Lucas had hoped for. He couldn’t believe how far away he was being taken away from his own home. He stared out of the window with his oceanic eyes, watching back towards the castle that grew more distant by the minute.

Darius sat beside Lucas, his cheek resting against his knuckles while he watched the young boy. He let out a small sigh, before glancing out of his own window with his chocolate eyes. No one spoke a word throughout the entire ride.

Soon, the carriage came to a halt. Lucas whipped his head around, pulling himself back into reality as he looked up at Darius.

“Um… Where are we?” he asked nervously.

“We are at the entrance to the servant’s guild. Come.”

Darius crawled out of the carriage, holding out his hand towards Lucas. The young boy put his hand in Darius’ own hand, and clambered out. Several people that passed by them glanced over at them, whispering. Darius let out a sigh as he kept a firm grip on Lucas’ hand.

“Of course… You had forgotten that today would be the day to start your training. So you are wearing clothing of royal caliber instead of cotton and wool clothing, right?” Darius asked, looking down at Lucas.

Lucas gasped and glanced down at his clothes. He wore clothes that Rose had chosen for him earlier that morning instead of the clothes his mother had chosen, “Is this… a bad thing?”

“No, it isn’t. However, you will receive new clothes so those ones will not get damaged or dirtied in any way. Understood?”

“Uh… Y-Yes, Sir.”

“Follow me.”

Darius gently tugged Lucas as he walked down an alleyway between a tailor shop and a pub. Lucas looked around at the walls around them, then at the building that lay behind the two shops beyond the alley. It was a large building, almost as large as his castle. He gasped in awe as he took in every detail with his blue eyes. The entire building was all one level, with a neatly manicured garden out front.

Lucas glanced up towards the bronze plaque that hung up above the large wooden-polished double doors. It read “Servant’s Guild.” He took another deep breath, hoping to calm himself down. His grip on Darius’ hand tightened slightly.

“There is nothing to be afraid of, Lucas,” Darius tried to reassure the young boy, looking down at him, “No harm will come to you here. Come on. I will show you to our personal tailor.”

Lucas nodded as Darius tugged him towards the doors. The older male used his free hand to open up one door wide, revealing a fairly large, mahogany polished foyer with a large chandelier hanging high above them. There was a room just across the foyer from Lucas, with a silver plaque bolted above the doorframe that read “Library.” Lucas could see a few people in the library beyond the doorframe, none of them caring to even look up at him.

“On your right are the dormitories. I will show you to your room as soon as we get you some clothes. This evening, we will start you on your training, right after supper,” Darius explained, “Right this way.”

“Yes, Sir,” Lucas answered.

Darius led Lucas down the left wing of the guild. Lucas looked out of the windows they passed by, not even bothering to look at the rooms on the other side of the hallway.

Rose… Are you doing okay? I wish you could see this place. It’s really amazing, Lucas thought as he stared up at the sky.

Soon, the two stopped in front a room that wasn’t as far from the entrance as Lucas had thought. The plaque above the door read “Guild Tailor,” as Darius led Lucas inside. Lucas took a moment to gaze around the room. There were clothes hanging on racks everywhere. Fabric littered the floor, and even on the shelves near the back. A sewing machine and a large table took up some space in the corner of the room as a small pedestal stood in the middle of the room. A young man with dirtied blonde hair stood near one of the several clothing racks, filing through them quickly. He looked up at Darius, pushing up his small glasses up the bridge of his nose, smiling brightly.

“Ah, Darius! Fancy seeing you here today. What can I do for you?” the man asked in a cheery voice.

Darius gently pushed Lucas forward a bit, releasing his hand, “I need to get this boy some suitable clothes for servant training. He is going to be serving the future queen when he is grown up,” he explained nonchalantly, “Do you have any clothes ready for a boy this size, Lao?”

Lao stared at Lucas for a moment, squinting his eyes through his glasses, “Hm… I think I do. Yes, I think I do. Wait just a moment, I think I do,” he said, rushing over to a different rack on the other side of the room that held smaller clothes.

Lucas stared at him quietly. He couldn’t believe how many clothes were in the room without anyone coming in to get them, other than Darius and himself. He recognized these clothes that several commoners wore on his way to the guild.

Am I… no longer a prince?

“Ah! Here we are! I have found some! These will do nicely. Darius, what do you think?” Lao asked as he brought over an armful of clothes.

Darius carefully examined each of the clothes in Lao’s arms, nodding in approval, “Yes, these will do nicely. Thank you, Lao,” he grabbed the clothes and looked towards Lucas, “Are you ready to leave now, Lucas?” he asked.

Lucas looked up at Darius. He nodded quietly.

Lao smiled at them, “Please come again if you need anything else.”

The two left the room and walked down the hallway towards the dormitories in the other wing of the guild. Lucas glanced up at Darius for a moment.

“Um… Mister Darius?”

“Yes? And please, just call me Darius, okay?”

“Right. Um… Darius…. I was wondering… Why is there such a guild like this?” Lucas asked curiously.

Darius let out a sigh, “I can see you’re confused. Not everyone wants to become, nor does everyone know how to become a servant, butler, maid, or anything of the sort. That is why this guild exists. It is to help teach those who need to learn what it is to be a servant so they can avoid any kind of punishment from their masters or mistresses, or, in your case, the princess. Tell me, does anyone at the castle know how to teach a young boy, like you, how to become a proper servant to the princess?”

“Um… I don’t think so. The maids don’t really know, and neither do the other servants… I think they’re nervous because I… used to be a prince…” Lucas answered sadly, looking away from Darius.

“That’s correct, Lucas. It is because of who you are. However, There is more to it than that. This guild is built for the reason to teach servants in training, such as yourself, as you are now. I know you don’t enjoy the thought of being a servant, but it isn’t as bad as one might think. Especially for you, considering you will return to your own home when you are finished with your training.”

Lucas thought about it for a moment before he let out a sigh of relief, “At least I will be able to go back home… And I know my sister will be so happy to see me. We’re always doing a lot together, so this is hard for both of us. However, she has our parents, but I don’t know anyone here…”

Darius stopped walking for a moment. He turned towards Lucas, kneeling down to his level, “Lucas… You know who I am, do you not?” he asked.

“Um… I do. You’re Darius… Er…. Darius… Black, right?”

Darius nodded, letting out a small smile at the young boy, “Very good, Lucas. This just proves that you do know someone here, so you aren’t as alone as you thought you were,” he reassured him. Darius pulled himself to his feet, “Come on. Your room is in the back of this hallway, with mine.”

As they began walking again, Lucas glanced up at Darius with a surprised look on his face. His mouth was gaped open in shock, “We’re sharing a bedroom?” he asked.

“Yes, we are. We get annual donations from the king and queen, and a few local shops, but it’s not enough for us to expand this guild. So, in order for us to maintain this guild as a whole, we have accommodated each room so a pair of roommates can fit perfectly in each room on this end of the guild. I have arranged it so that you and I are roommates. I don’t want to run the risk of you getting bullied by any of the other guild members here. You’re the youngest member here, so who knows if you might get bullied,” Darius explained.

“I… I see… I had no idea…” Lucas breathed.

The pair halted in front of a polished pine wood door with a bright wooden name plaque that read “Darius Black” and “Lucas Karver.” Lucas was amazed by how well his name looked on the plaque; he couldn’t stop staring at it with his bright blue eyes. Darius looked down at him, letting out a small chuckle.

“Would you like to do the honors of opening the door to see your new room?”

“Yes, Sir!” Lucas answered as he reached for the door handle. He pushed open the door, eager to see what the room looked like on the other side.

The room wasn’t as big as his bedchambers from the castle, but his room at the guild wasn’t as terrible as Lucas had imagined it to be. There was a window that faced the castle on the wall, opposite to the door. On either side of window were two narrow beds, both neatly made for the day. Lucas took a step into the room, glancing over to his right to see a desk sitting at one end of the bed. He looked on the other side to see a wardrobe sitting at the other end of the bed.

Darius walked into the room behind Lucas, brushing passed him towards the wardrobe. He had carefully kicked the door closed, and gently laid the clothes on the nearby bed. He opened the wardrobe, revealing a few large clothes in there that seemed to belong to Darius. Lucas walked over towards the bed, looking at the clothes that were picked out for him from the guild tailor. His fingers filed through the articles of clothing carefully, unsure if they would fall apart in his small hands.

“Go ahead and pick out an outfit to change into, Lucas. We can’t get your other clothes dirty, now can we?”

“Yes, Sir,” Lucas answered, quickly grabbing the first thing he saw. He pulled back away from the clothes, walking over to the other side of the room, looking down at his choice of clothing. It was a simple white long-sleeved shirt with a brown vest buttoned over the shirt. Lucas slipped the shirt and vest off of the hanger, only to reveal a pair of dark green trousers folded neatly on the lower part of the wooden hanger. He pulled that off of the hanger, setting everything down on his new bed. Lucas quickly unbuttoned the vest, pulling it off of the shirt so he wouldn’t have a difficult time putting it on.

After a few short minutes, Lucas had dressed up in his new clothes. He wasn’t able to examine himself, considering there was no mirror in the room. He tried to look at how well the clothes fit him before whirling around on one foot, looking over towards Darius.

“Darius, sir… Is this okay?” Lucas asked curiously.

Darius looked over at Lucas, raising a curious eyebrow at him. He nodded in approval, “Yes, Lucas, that looks great. Now, hang up your other clothes on the hanger and hand it to me so I can put it away for you. Oh, and you may want to button up the vest.”

Lucas glanced down at the vest that was still open, revealing the white shirt underneath, “Why?” he asked.

“You don’t want your vest to get caught on anything, do you?” Darius asked.

“Yes, Sir!” Lucas quickly buttoned his vest and turned around to attend to his royal robes that were sprawled out on his bed. He stared down at them for a moment, a hint of sorrow flashing across his sparkling blue eyes. He didn’t feel like a prince anymore; he felt he was nothing more than a pauper, learning how to survive in the world that he knew nothing about.

“Lucas?”

Lucas snapped back into reality. His small hands quickly got to work as he grabbed his robes, carefully hanging them on the hanger. He turned around, holding it out to Darius, “Here you go, Sir,” he said.

Darius smiled at him reassuringly, “You can just call me Darius, okay? No need for formalities, Lucas. We’re friends, aren’t we?” he asked.

“Friends? I don’t have friends, other than my sister… Are we really friends?” Lucas asked hopefully. The sorrow that once settled in his eyes seemingly disappeared just as quickly.

Darius nodded as he turned around, hanging up the last of Lucas’ clothes in the wardrobe, which was now packed with clothes for the two, “Yes, we really are friends. So don’t worry about trying to impress me. You’ll do great, I’m sure.”

Lucas smiled brightly. He nodded as he watched Darius close the wardrobe, “Right!”

Later that evening, after a warm meal in the dining hall with the rest of the guild, Lucas followed Darius into the library. He gasped as he stared at the large room. Shelves full of books from top to bottom surrounded them. His blue eyes widened in awe as Lucas stared around, his mouth gaped open.

“Please close your mouth, Lucas. It’s quite rude to have your mouth hanging open,” Darius ordered.

“Right,” Lucas answered, quickly regaining his composure as he shut his mouth into a firm line.

Darius glanced down at the young boy. He let out a small chuckle before he gestured for him to follow, “This way. There’s a small room in the back that will help me teach you without disturbing these other people, if it’s not preoccupied.”

“Yes, Darius.”

The two boys walked through the library, towards the door near the back of the library. Lucas looked over towards the door, his blue eyes scanning around for a plaque. However, there was no plaque. Instead, there was a small window in the door that was too tall. He couldn’t peer through it. As they approached the door, Lucas tried to stand on his toes to try to look through the window, but it was no use. Darius looked down at Lucas, and then opened the door, showing him the empty pitch-black room.

“It appears that no one is using it at the moment, so we’ll be using it this evening to start your training. Understood?” he asked.

Lucas nodded as Darius pulled out a match from his coat pocket. With a swift motion from using the doorframe, he lit the match, which dimly lit the room. Darius walked over towards the corner of the room, where a candle-stand took place in the corner. He quietly lit the candles in the corner and moved on to the next candles as Lucas walked into the room. From the dim light that he could see, the room was set with its own bookshelf, a large table, and a few chairs. He sat down in one of the chairs, closest to the candles as he watched Darius light the last of the candles, lighting up the room a bit more.

Darius blew out the flame on the match and tossed it in the corner in a pile that Lucas had missed to notice. A pile full of matches that had been used to light the candles in the room that no one had bothered to clean. He looked up at Darius, waiting patiently to be taught.

“Now, then… Let’s begin our first lesson, shall we?” Darius asked.

Lucas nodded eagerly, “Yes, Darius!” he said, smiling brightly as he began almost bouncing in his seat.

Darius chuckled a bit as he turned towards the bookshelf, “It’s good to see that you’re eager to learn. Have you always been eager to learn?” he asked, grabbing a book off of the bookshelf and moved to the table, sitting across from Lucas.

Lucas blinked at the question that asked, “Um… Well, of course. I was always kind of jealous of Rose for getting to learn how to be a queen… I didn’t think it was a fair, because I wanted to learn how to be a king… But this is as close as I can get, and I know that Rose will always be kind to me,” he answered.

“I see. Speaking of your sister… You do know about the legend of royal twins in the kingdom of Yalelia, yes?” Darius questioned.

Lucas raised an eyebrow, “The legend…? Yeah… I do know about it… It’s where the twins will bring the kingdom peace throughout their entire lives for as long as they both will life, right?”

“That’s right, Lucas. However, there is more to it than that. There is also a curse that comes from the twins of Yalelia, if they are not careful.”

“A curse?” he asked curiously.

“Right. This curse comes from when one or both siblings have died prematurely, such as an accident or a murder. If that happens, then the kingdom will fall into darkness, and terrible things will happen throughout the remaining years that the twins had not had a chance to live their lives. Let’s say, for example, one of you were to die right now… The entire kingdom will be cursed for about seventy years, or maybe more... Do you understand, Lucas?”

Lucas nodded as he gasped. He leaned back in his seat, the eagerness draining from his small face, “I… I understand…”

“I know this is a lot to take in on your first day, but you do need to learn this… Do you know how to read, Lucas?” Darius asked.

Lucas stared up at the man, nodding, “Yes, Darius. I do know how to read. My father taught me how to read.”

“Excellent. I have an assignment for you that I want you to finish by tomorrow evening. Can you do that for me?”

Lucas smiled brightly, “My first assignment? Yes, Sir!”

Darius chuckled at the enthusiastic boy, sliding the book towards him, “Here. I want you to read this by tomorrow evening. As much as you can.”

Lucas grabbed the large book and looked down at it. It was titled ‘The History of the Kingdom of Yalelia.’ He glanced back up at Darius, blinking.

“This is such a large book… But, I’ll try my best. I promise, Darius!” Lucas answered with full determination.

Darius smirked as he folded his hands, resting his chin on his fingers, “That’s exactly what I want to hear from a determined servant. Now… begin.”

Next Chapter: Chapter Three