A new Friend
1293 Words
AGATHA'S POV
"This is the king's favorite spot. You will dust the books and the shelves, clean the chairs and the windows and also the drapes. This room must shine. The king likes things perfect for his sanctuary. I will have Adrian supervise you and report back to me." Lady Margarth orders walking to the door but halts looking back at us.
"And be careful with the framed artwork. I warn you everything in this room is very valuable to the king and must be treated with utmost care." She warns before leaving.
"Who is Adrian?" I ask Lirith as I circle around, taking in the extravagance of the place. The room is vast, with shelves stretching from floor to ceiling, crammed with books. Large, leather chairs are scattered about. It's the biggest library I have ever seen since it seems to also have an upper floor. A place where I can come, find a book, and lose myself in one of the large plush chairs. Are servants even allowed to enjoy this sanctuary when they are not cleaning?
"Adrian is the librarian," Lirith replies, a smile on her face. It's good to see her back to her cheerful self, especially after the tension with my stepsisters yesterday.
She brings in the cleaning supplies and we get to work.
In a few hours I manage to dust everything on one of the longest walls and clean the windows until they spark. My back is already aching, so I decide to take a quick stretch. I place the duster on one of the oak shelves and pick up a hardcover book, to distract my mind for a moment.
"Interesting read?” A stranger’s voice, suddenly drift over my shoulder.
I turn, startled, and find myself gazing into friendly eyes of a handsome tall man.
"I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new here?”
“Umm…yeah.” I say nervously. People hardly ever approach me like this. In fact, no one ever approaches me.
He smiles, flashing a set of perfectly straight, white teeth. “My name is Adrian. And you are?” He asks.
Oh, he is the librarian.
“Agatha,” I reply automatically smiling back.
“Agatha. That’s a pretty name.” he compliments, his smile radiating kindness.
He steps closer his eyes still on mine. "I must say, you have very unique features Agatha."
I am about to say thank you when he asks. "Where exactly are you from?"
"I’m… human. I came as one of the servants for your king’s brides,” I reply, and he nods thoughtfully.
“Your features remind me of someone I’ve been reading about for years,” he says and I raise an eyebrow,
”Oh? And who might that be?”
"Lady Elizabeth. The descriptions of her in the books, it’s like looking at you. Are you related to her bloodline in any way?"
Of course Elizabeth was my mother and I inherited her features, but I would rather he doesn't relate me with her since he might also conclude that I'm cursed. I shake my head firmly. "No, I'm not related to Elizabeth in any way." I feel really awful denying my own mother but survival comes first. For the first time someone who is not Lilith is talking to me nicely and I'm not about to destroy that.
He seems disappointed. "That's a shame. For a moment, I thought you might be the bearer of the King's Eye."
What!
I can't resist asking, "Why does everyone assume Elizabeth stole anything from the king? Just because the stories say so doesn't make it true."
"But she didn't have those distinctive features until after the king's eye power was trapped inside her," he explains. "It's what gave her the unique looks."
"So it wasn't because of a curse for stealing it?" I ask. Seems every race have their own theory of what happened.
"No, no curse," he clarifies. "The eye's power became trapped within her when she tried to take its power."
That's such a load of crap.
I chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Maybe I have probed too much. I change the subject to something normal.
"So….what exact hirachy are you ?” I ask, hoping to learn more about him than the stupid legend.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, unless there’s a librarian hierarchy, you must belong to one of the other ranks,” I point out.
"Why don't we just keep it that way, I’m part of the librarian hierarchy,” he replies, winking. He has such a beautiful smile, I find myself relaxing a little. I don't know him or anything, but he's definitely not projecting a malevolent character.
"How’s life in our kingdom treating you?” He asks sounding genuinely curious.
"Oh, just great,” I reply, my tone bitterly sarcastic.
He laughs again. “We never have been the most pleasant people to be around, are we?”
“Mostly, yes but ....." I stop as a very enticing smell drifts up my nose . "Ah crap.”
“What’s the matter?” Adrian asks, his eyebrows dipping down.
Before I can tell him what is up, his gaze darts over my shoulder, and I know without even looking who is standing behind me.
“How funny,” King Atticus's voice comes up from right behind me. “I was up there when I saw two idle fools chatting.”
I turn to face him. His expression is anything but pleased. “No, Your Majesty, we weren’t...”
“You weren’t? Do you know what the second rule is Agatha? Because you seem quite fond of disregarding rules.”
I wrack my brain, trying to remember the rule he is referring to. "Any attempts at flattery, insult or assault on royals will result in severe punishment," I recite, hoping it will appease him.
"And yet here you are, chatting up with my librarian," He says, his tone dripping with disdain. "Don't you have work to do?"
I open my mouth to explain, but Adrian beats me to it. "It's my fault, Your Majesty," he says, stepping forward. "I distracted Agatha from her work. She wasn't flirting with me."
"I suggest you get back to work before I decide to replace you." King Atticus snaps, his gaze shifting to Adrian, who nods and hurries away.
He turns back to me. "So, my dear you think you can just flounce around the palace, batting your eyelashes at every man who crosses your path?"
I have no idea what to tell him because that's not what I was doing, and the way he is staring at me is making my brain all hazy.
Yet I am not too worried about what he is going to say to me. He can chew me out all he want. I am already used to his awful words.
"It was just a friendly chat, Your Majesty,” I defend and he gives me a yeah-right look.
What? I'm not allowed to talk to anyone?
"Just stay away from him, or you'll find yourself in trouble faster than you can blink." he says me before turning on his heel and striding out of the library.
I let out a big sigh of relief.
I hear footsteps and turn to see Adrian coming out from behind one of the bookshelfs.
“What the hell was that?” he asks, his voice shaky. “I thought he was going to have us thrown into the dungeons."
I laugh lightly and pick up my duster again.
"You should have told me you’re royalty,” I say, a hint of accusation in my tone.
"I’m not,” he defends, shaking his head.
- Writer
