The Blue Bird's Cry

The Castle

            There was a news going around town that the palace is opening jobs for anyone who are willing to work as servants. The pay is good, and everyone is signing up – even the villagers from the most remote areas. I decided to try my luck and go to the palace. The rules were not strict, and the requirement is not much of a concern but with hundreds of people trying to get in, I’m not so sure if I can get in. I went to the castle the very morning and I was greeted by the huge crowd gathered at the palace ground. Soon people were asked to group themselves, the selection was about to take place. It was the king who will be personally picking, and this is the first time I would be seeing any of the royal family. The first group proceeded to enter the halls of the palace and it did not take long before the second group was called in. As I hear from the locals who got in first there are apparently only fifty people from the hundreds who are here would be picked and the selection was quicker than expected, soon enough it was time for the group I was in. 

            The inside of the palace is very different from its outside, the ceiling was greatly detailed by paintings depicting stories of wars, the walls were stones with floor to ceiling windows judging by the looks of it is well-maintained to look like that. There are paintings that hung from the walls and other details in gold. Anyway, I think anyone who enters will be in great awe of the place however, the place is not well lit. “You. You can start tomorrow” while I was admiring the palace, I heard the King talk and saw that he was pointing at me. The ushers then lead us outside the place it was as quick as a lightning as I can say and there were no really requirements to be met by the way the king chose me, without me even introducing myself. 

I still haven’t recovered from the gorgeous palace and the fact that I would be serving there the royal family. I rushed home after that to tell my mother about the good news, she was not so happy with my decision because it will be the first time I would working away from her but she gave me her best wishes since this is a new opportunity for me. I soon started with the packing of my things I will be needing, making sure that I was ready for what awaits me. It was really hard to pack clothing since we wear too many layers of clothing underneath our dresses, so I made sure that I was only packing a few of my stuff to settle in. The sky has changed its hues to dark purple and the village has grown quiet. The night passed as if the turning of the clock was put in to fast forward and the next thing I knew is waking up on the sound of roosters crowing in the early morning. The sun has not yet completely risen from the horizon and there is still traces of the night sky above – the half crescent moon is still visible along with the purple hue well blended on the slowly brightening sky. Today is the day that I would have never expect to change my whole life. 

“Everyone, today we welcome you to the palace. Rules are simple, one: you are not to associate yourself to the royal family. Second: you can’t cross paths at night with any of the royals you will be serving. Lastly: time is very important, learn how to follow time schedules properly. This may not make sense to you now, but it is the only request made by the King.”

There is less than fifty people here with me, it seemed like some of them backed out because as I remember correctly, yesterday on my way home, there were people gossiping about the royal family being vampires who feeds on the blood of people who works at the palace that is why they are looking for new servants. I don’t know who started the rumor but surely, there are a lot of people who believed on it easily. We were then led into the quarters where we would be staying for the whole duration of our service. It was not like the expected underground dungeon like part of the castle where there are rats and cockroaches, it was a decent room in the castle and well equipped for resting. I was given a room to share with a girl named Rita, she looks young for her age and has a lively personality– I knew that it would be easy for the two of us to get along. We settled down our things and headed out to the main hall where we would be given the tasks we would be fulfilling inside the palace, and I was one of the people assigned in preparing and serving meals for the royal family. 

“Serve the Prince’s meal” the head butler of the royal family barged in the kitchen to make the short abrupt announcement. It seems like the cooks and servants who had been working here long before me has already decoded what it meant. Everyone was frantic in preparing the meal as quickly as possible. There were plenty of dishes that was put in the serving cart. “You. Deliver this to the Prince’s room” I was shocked to be given such a task but obliged anyway, this is what I signed up for. 

It was a long dark hallway; candles are the only thing to light up the way and it is spaced quite far away from each other too. The windows are covered with thick curtains that overlap with the other making sure that not a single light from the outside can seep through. Goosebumps crawled over my spine just by walking in here, with my slow pace to carefully transport the food these was way more terrifying than walking in the woods at night. Finally, I reached the door at the very end of the hallway and I sighed in relief that after this I can just run my way back to the kitchen. I knocked a few times at the huge door and when I heard no answer, I decided to open it slowly, making no noise as much as possible. The inside of the room amazed me, it looked like a library, shelves of books surrounds every corner of the room and the room being well-lighted makes it livelier and more normal than the rest of the castle.  “Is that my food?” a deep husky voice – from the side that was hidden from the part of the door I have opened – asked.  When I peeked to see who it was, I was greeted by a familiar face, I never would have thought that I would see again. “Uhm.” I can barely say or mumble a word. “Please, leave it there. You can go now” I didn’t bother forcing myself to say something, instead I pushed the cart a little closer to where he is and exited the room as fast I can without saying a word. He probably doesn’t remember me, but it felt like a fairy tale knowing I was saved by him, a charming prince.

There wasn’t much to do when your serving royal families that do not require you to do personal errands for them. They basically live in their rooms only to come out whenever necessary. Everyone who works here pretty much do nothing most of the time, sometimes we chat to each other, other times we try to find works inside the castle that would keep us busy and productive for the day. I often find myself outside gardening and reading books after all my work is done. The garden was plain and no other color other the different shades of green can be seen so I secretly sneaked a flower seed and planted it at a little nook where it will not be noticeable.  

I was sitting in the garden one fine day when I heard loud murmurs of people talking inside the castle. I was worried of what it might be, so I rushed inside and was lucky enough to bump into Rita on my way. 

“What is going on?” I hold on to her arm while we ran up to where the shouting came from.

“I don’t know but I think it is the King who has been shouting” she said in between breaths. We ran towards the balcony where others have gathered too. We can see the king downstairs frantically pacing back and forth, you can see how frustrated he is, but he tries to calm himself. 

“But I don’t want to” screamed the young man who the King was talking to. 

“You have no choice. It has been agreed upon” 

Everyone was concerned but before we could be caught by the King, we have walked away from the scene. We tried to act as if we had witnessed nothing, but we know we are all intrigued of what it was about. None of us has the right to ask so we just have to wait until it unfolds itself before us, after all, it would impossible for us not to know what the thing was all about. We only heard the closing of heavy doors that echoed to the corridors of the castle after that. 

“Who was the king talking to?” Rita asked as we were walking back to our room. 

“I think it was the prince. He seemed to be very angry, I wonder what it’s all about.”

“Stop gossiping, it is none of our business” the head butler who asked for prince’s meal before walked past us, hushed us and gave us the look that made us shut up. He was clearly on a rush to go somewhere. It was only a few seconds ago when he disappeared from a corner and now we saw him coming back our way. 

“Actually, I need the help of you both” he grabbed us by the arm not awaiting our response. He pulled us on the way to the kitchen where at that time has no one working which is completely odd. He closed the door behind and started to talk.

“There will be important guests coming this weekend. A grand dinner for the royal family and another family will be prepared, I still don’t know who they might be, but we need servers for that night. The king personally asked me to get trusted servants who are careful with their jobs and would not make a mess on that night, I see no one who can do that, that’s why I chose the two of you and I might as a few other to work alongside you two. Do not disappoint the king, they are very important people as he said. You two understand?” We both nodded in unison. “Good.” He reached for the doorknob and within seconds he was gone again. 

“Maybe that is what the issue is about earlier” Rita turned to me. 

“But why would they both be upset for a dinner?” 

“Well, maybe the prince does not like that family. Maybe they are their relatives they are not close with” Rita responded. That would make sense. We shrugged it off and headed out too, it’s almost dark and soon the chefs would be here preparing dinner and we don’t want to be questioned why we were there without them around. 

The sky had just turned dark blue when I went outside to get some firewood in the cellar out front when I saw the prince on his way out the castle’s grounds. His name remains a mystery to me and maybe that what drove me to approach him before he can go out. 

“Excuse me. Wait!” I know that is not the way to call someone with a high status like him, but I have no known other way of how to do it in this situation. I run up to him and stopped when he was only a foot away from me. 

“Hi” I said panting from the short distance I have ran. Standing this close to him made me realize how beautiful he looks. From his well-defined jawline to his eyes that reflects the color of honey– I never noticed it before, I thought his eyes were just like your common amber eyes – this man is jaw droppingly gorgeous. He pinched his lips and I noticed the change in his posture. He has both hands on his hips and he moved his body so that he is now facing in my direction. Maybe I have been admiring his features for way too long that is why his eyes is slowly turning into a frown. “I umm… I want to thank you” I’m probably looking like a fool to him now. “For what exactly?” he didn’t erase the frown in his face in fact it worsens, I feel like I’m being judged or something. “You saved me from those men a few days ago” I am now regretting this decision; I should have thought about the events that may follow before approaching him. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I’ve never seen you before” before I could respond, he had already turned his back on me and started walking away. What is wrong with me, why did I even think it would be a good idea to talk to him about such thing, it makes no sense for people like him. I raised my hands to my head forgetting that I was holding woods for the fire. “Ouch…” that hurts so much, my eyes started to tear up. My stupidity is getting the best of me today.