The Blue Bird's Cry

Dinner

The whole royal family and their guests were seated on the long dining table, and so our job to serve began. We brought every meal prepared and lay it down on the table making sure everything is accessible for each of them. We were to stand on the side for the whole duration of their dinner just in case one of them will be in need of assistance. As we stood there quietly as the two families started to converse. 

“I hope you like everything we prepared for you” our queen sweetly and softly said, starting up a conversation. 

“We do Karina. Thank you for having us over.” The lady on the other side responded. So that’s the name of our queen, I am not ignorant, it is just that no one has ever called the queen or any of the royal family their name and when asked, people seemed to avoid that type of conversation. 

“We are here for a very important occasion and I would like to get into the topic now.” the King said.

“Our deal is to marry both our child to each other for the sake of having peace between our kind and yours and the humans, of course. But don’t you think complications may arise when that happens?” the older gentleman responded. He sounds calm but stern. “We are two different, very different kinds of being. Do you think a vampire and a wolf could be together? Is it worth it having your son marry for the sake of other than your kind?” he added. 

“Yes, they can be with each other, after all, they will be doing it to keep the peace that we have built for many years. I am sure they will have no problem to that. And as for the sake of humans, I expect you hold on to your words and keep be at peace with them?” The king replied. So, this is why this dinner is important. I saw the older gentleman shook his head in disagreement, maybe he wanted to propose another option, but I don’t think our king will be open for that. Everyone in the table is also silent but then my gaze diverted to the prince. He doesn’t seem to have any emotion regarding this issue. Maybe he wanted to be married off to the beautiful young lady too. They spent the whole dinner in silence, not much of eating more on playing with the food on their plate. It was more than an hour of silence until our queen Karina spoke again. “We have prepared you rooms and our servants have already brought your belongings in; would you like to take rest now? I’m certain you are all exhausted from the long travel.”

“That would be nice.” the young lady responded in the same sweet tone the queen used. The guest family stood up and was accompanied by the queen and the butler to their rooms. The king and prince Christian were left sitting on the dining table. 

“I don’t want to marry her, father” the prince mumbled under his breath. Not taking his eyes of off his plate. 

“You don’t have any other choice son.” The king stood up and left. The prince was left alone with us, servants standing on the side. I can see the pain and anger that he tries to conceal but we cannot involve ourselves in their family matters so all of us just turn a blind eye. 

***

Christian’s POV

It was hard enough that I could not be with the one I truly love and now I’m being married off to someone I have no idea who. I have been dreaming of a normal life for so long and it seems like the more I wish for it, the further away it gets. There is a life meant for me, but that life is not the one that I wanted. Is this the curse that comes with another curse that I will never be able to escape as long as I exist? How do I break free from the chain that has been binding me to this fate? Will the impossible ever become possible? Maybe I can make something out of this situation, I should not lose that easily. My dream of feeling like a normal human being can be achieved, I know it and a little bargain wouldn’t hurt. 

I ran my way to my parents’ room to have a talk with my father. All of these is his idea and it is his approval that I need. 

“Father” I barged in without the thought of knocking first which surprised them. My mother sat at the cushioned chair beside the fireplace, reading a book while my father stood in front of the window gazing at the water that stretched over the horizon.

“Father, I need to have a talk with you.” I said calmly to get his attention.

“You are not going to change my decision. Everything has been settled.” He responded without even looking at me.

“I am not here to do that. I’m not going to convince you to change your decision.” He looked at me, more surprised than ever. 

“Then what do you want?” 

“I would like to ask you for a favor. Since marrying is the only option I have, can I make something more of my days before I marry Anna?” he is staring me down, but I am not backing up. 

“Please let me have the freedom for a year before I fulfill the arrangement.” 

“Why? What is it that you want to do with that freedom?” I feel like I am finally getting to his good side.

“I want to try doing what humans do” 

“If I allow this, you’ll do what is asked from you, correct?” 

“Yes father” even though I said it with a heavy heart, I still need to agree to get the only chance of living like the way I have always wanted. 

“And how do you plan to spend it?”

“Lend me one of our servants. The girl named Victoria.” I have admired her from the very first time I saw her. 

“Alright then. You can do what you please but only for a year, then after that you do what is asked of you” 

“Yes father.” I felt like a fire starts burning in my heart again. I turned to my mother and said goodnight before leaving their room and heading to mine. 

            I laid down on the bed – the first time in years I felt like I needed to lay down. I have a year, only a year but that should be enough, I just have to make sure that I get the most of it. 

***

Victoria’s POV

“Victoria!! The King wants to see you” the butler screamed from the hallway outside my room waking me up. I quickly jumped up and was quick to answer the door. 

“Good morning sir.” My eyes are still adjusting from the light, but the butler has already started walking so I just tried my best to follow behind. The halls were still quiet it must still be very early. We went to the King and Queen’s room, a part of the palace I have never been to before. The door opened and we saw the king sitting comfortably on the chair beside a lit fireplace. 

“So, it is you” he started speaking the moment he laid his eyes on me. The butler shut the door behind us.

“Good morning your highness” I bowed down and stood up properly.

“I have a duty for you. I need you to accompany my son, the prince, for all the things he wants to be doing. This is upon his request that it must be you to stay beside him. You will be given no other tasks other than this one so you can put all your attention to the requests of the prince.” 

“Yes, my king” I bowed down and he dismissed me with the wave of his hand. I walked back alone, and everything is clearer to me now. The light I saw earlier was not of the sun, it was a lit candle and everything else is still dark. I have no means to tell the time, so I peeked in one of the windows and looked up the sky. The stars twinkled in the dark blue sky with the almost full moon outshining them. I quickly went back to my room to catch more sleep before the morning arrive. 

“I need you to make me feel like a normal human being” he said staring deep into my eyes. I don’t know what he meant by it, but it made me brig my arms up to my chest shielding my upper body. The horror of the thought that came creeping up my head. 

“I’m sorry sir…”

“That is not what I meant. I mean like you need to teach me how do human live. I have been locked up to this castle for a very long time and when I go out and observe how your kind lives, it looks interesting.” I sighed in relief that what I was thinking was wrong, it was embarrassing though.

“Oh, that. Well it is easy your highness” I responded trying to fake a chuckle to hide the embarrassment and change the mood of our conversation. I was talking too casually; I don’t know if he fine with it but him looking like he is the same age as I am makes it harder for me to transition into a more formal way of conversing. 

“It might be easy for you but for me, I don’t know how.”

“You just have to live in the moment your highness. May I ask what is the first thing that came to your mind when I ask the question, what do you want to do today?” 

“Well, I really would like to take a nice long walk in the forest” I saw the happiness shine on his face, he must be imagining the feeling of walking there, which is kind of boring for me but it might be really exciting for him. 

“Alright then, we can do that. We can also have a picnic in the field, I know a perfect place. by the way may I ask you something, I hope you don’t mind, but is it true that you’ll melt when the sun hits you?” he laughed at me before responding.

“No, that is silly. But it does hurt my skin and my eyes.”

“Oh okay, we can go around sunset then. I’ll have all the things ready and you should get ready too, my prince.”

“Alright. But please call me Christian, don’t address me like a royal” I smiled as a response and headed out. I went to the kitchen to ask the chefs for sandwiches, juice and fruits to be ready. Then I went over to my room where I see a basket, it was not specifically made for a picnic basket, but it will work. I then searched for a few blankets and grabbed myself a cape. It will be cold since it is nighttime, and I’ll be in the middle of the forest. I went back to the kitchen and grabbed all the food I have requested, carefully placing each on the basket I am carrying. I grabbed one lamp and candles too. It was around four o’clock in the afternoon, but the sky isn’t as bright because the sun was covered by clouds. It doesn’t look it’s going to rain though so I decided to fetch the prince from his room. I knocked a few times before he answered the door. 

“I think it will be alright if we head out now your highness… I mean Christian”

“Let’s go then” he moved past me and I followed suit. I held the basket in one arm and the lamp on the other. He was taking long strides in walking and I’m trying so hard to keep up. 

“Prince Christian … Christian” I almost shouted because no matter how hard I tried; he is walking so fast I can’t keep up. He stopped and turned around, but I was walking in a fast pace like I said that I was not able to stop myself in time when he turned around and then bumped my head into his chest. I lost my balance, but he was quick to act and held me by the arm. We were brought face to face by the accident. As we stood there rather too close, I can feel his breath, I felt my heart skip a beat. The surrounding fell quiet and everything around us became blurry and all I can see is him. I stared at him for couple more seconds before I snapped myself out of this fantasy. I wiggled out of his grip and cleared my throat and straighten my clothes with my occupied hands.  He also cleared his throat but didn’t say anything instead he took everything I was carrying and proceeded on walking. We were deep into the forest just in time the sun starts to set. The sky turned orange with the hint of purple in it. 

“Look how beautiful the sky looks” I stopped on my tracks to look up the sky and pointed it out.

“So beautiful.” It sounded more of a whisper but I’m really happy he appreciates the beauty of the sky too. “We should go” I said after admiring the sky for a good few minutes. I led him to a small empty fiend in the middle of the forest and when we got there, I started laying down the blankets I brought and put out the foods. 

“Have a sit” I smiled at him; he looks confused but sat down anyway.

“Then what do we do now?” 

“Well, we hiked to where we are and now is the time to relax and appreciate everything around you. We can also talk about things you want to talk about or tell stories” 

“Oh. Is this what you do?”

“Yes” I nodded and smiled. 

“Well, alright.”

“So, is there anything you want to say?” it was an awkward question but a good starter.

“Uhm well, how did you find this place?” he is so unsure of the things he is asking.

“I always take a walk in this forest and I stumbled upon this side one day and from then on I started hanging out here.” 

“With who?”

“By myself” I chuckled to the thought, it was not funny though.

“But isn’t it dangerous to be alone in the middle of the forest? Especially for a lady.” Is he concerned or just curious? 

“Well I don’t have anyone to take here with me and I do enjoy how quiet and calm this place is” I rolled up the cape that I brought turning it in to a makeshift pillow and laying down on my back. I looked at the fast-moving clouds in the color changing sky. “Oh, I remember, there was this one time I went here and then I wasn’t aware I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, it was already getting dark so I wanted to get home immediately but I was stopped when I saw a huge dog-like form a few feet away from me” I turned my head to look at him and he was leaning back using his arms to support him and was staring intensely at me. He is listening intensely to my story, so I continued. “I knew it wasn’t just a normal wolf because it was huge, I started to feel like it was werewolf and it excites me as the same time I am trembling in fear” I laughed at the thought of combining two completely different emotions. 

“You really shouldn’t come here alone anymore.” He frowned, shaking his head as he says this. “There are creatures that no longer wants to keep their peace with your kind. They are just waiting for the right time to attack; you were lucky it didn’t see you” he sounds angry and concerned and like an overprotective person. However, as I process what he just said, I grew curious by what he meant that there are creatures no longer wanting peace with us humans. 

“Prince Christian, what do you mean by what you just said? Why would they attack us?” 

“The werewolves who coexists with us are turning against humans. They think that you are taking over a lot of places leaving nothing for them. You do know they look just as normal as you do, right?”

“Yes”

“But you are not aware that there are humans that is at war with some of them. And the thing about werewolves is that they work as a pact, so when you have picked a fight with one of them, you are actual going against the whole pack” he explained.  

“Oh. So, are they really going to start attacking us now?” I don’t know what to feel now. They are obviously stronger than us and even the innocent will be involved if this happen. I fear for commoners like me. 

“No, that is why I am set off to marry the daughter of the strongest pack leader. That will grant them the power of a royalty in exchange for the peace they have with your being” he looks sad in the topic of being in an arranged marriage, I don’t know but I feel his pain just by looking at him. changing the topic is a way to go, so I thought of something that would take his mind completely off that topic. 

“Anyway, is there anything you want to talk about? A good memory that you want to revisit?” 

“I can’t think of any”

“Impossible there must be something. Think about it” 

“Oh, there is one, we used to have a gardener who is an old man, I never got the chance to know his name but he would let me play in the garden for hours and would even teach me about the different plants. We would water them and pull the weeds out. I can still remember those days vividly as if it only happened yesterday. But I’m a thousand years old and those were back when I was still a young boy.” I completely forgot that this person in front of me is not mortal.

“A thousand years old?” still it is shocking to know he is that old.

“Well I am immortal, I thought you would have been aware about that by now. Didn’t you hear about it on the dinner?” 

“I did hear about it, but I don’t feel like you are that different.” 

“I can see you are very comfortable with me now; I prefer that. I have never had a friend to talk to like this, it feels nice”

“I’m your friend now?”

“Why you don’t want to?” 

“I can be your friend” we shared a laugh.

We talked about more things; he has more stories to tell that fascinated me. Looking at him as he tells me these stories made me feel like I was living that moment with him, a moment that happened even before I existed.