Fantasy Noble Secrets [ Phoenix and Yours Truly ]

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn was surprised to find himself feeling a little sorry for the prince. Part of him thought it was ridiculous to be complaining when one had so many riches and so much privilege - but the other part of him thought it must be terribly lonely to live such a life, constantly putting on a facade, only existing to please your kingdom. He found himself wondering, did Prince Ezrin have any friends? Any true friends? Or just other nobles who sucked up to him all the time?

"Plants are nice," he replied. "I love chrysanthemums the most." The other servant boys tended to make fun of him when he said that, but he didn't care. Flowers were lovely. He figured you'd have to be blind not to appreciate them. "But I've never tried painting. Uh, a bit too expensive. Us oh-so-lowly servants don't get paid enough, or even have enough time, to really follow after our hobbies." His tone got a little more bitter as he spoke.

"Um, I don't think I've ever introduced myself. I'm Cynric. People call me Cyn."

 

[Yours Truly]

”Glad to finally put a name to a face.” God he was an idiot.

And he was an even bigger idiot. The words left him before he could truly think them over and realize how bad of an idea it was. “If you’d like I could lend you some of my painting supplies, if you’d like to try it out.”

Why did he say that? Ezrin felt stupid for ever suggesting such a thing, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that it actually wasn’t that bad. He’d not painted in a few weeks and the stuff was just collecting dust in his rooms. But then he remembered the rest of the other’s sentence. “Do… do you guys really not get paid enough? Or.. or um have enough time to do other stuff?” He felt even dumber as he said, “I thought you guys had more freedom than… than me.” He tried to not sound privileged but it was impossible when he was, and he acknowledged that, one hundred percent. But he thought that others had at least a little more freedom than himself.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn's head jerked up in surprise when the prince offered some painting supplies. That was... unexpected. To put it mildly. "I, uh, um... I mean, if you'd like to, I - I won't refuse. I've always wanted to try. I'll probably be terrible, but it sounds fun."

At the prince's next words, Cyn couldn't help watching him with a raised brow. Wow. He really didn't know. Truly a sheltered young royal. "Freedom? What freedom?" he scoffed. "We have none. We work from sunup til sundown. Who else will muck out your precious stables and make intricate meals for your every need?" Immediately his heart skipped a beat when he realized what he'd just said. Oh, gods. The prince would be livid. He was suddenly very aware that Prince Ezrin had enough power to hang him if he felt offended enough. Cyn stopped, ducking his head, wringing his hands nervously. "I - I am so sorry, your majesty. I meant nothing by it. I'm j-just, a little tired, is all. Please forgive me, I spoke out of turn."

He was almost beginning to miss the streets. It was a hard life, surviving without having anywhere to call home, but sometimes it felt more free than this. He might just have to flee back to those damned streets if it turned out the royal wanted to kill him for speaking so freely.

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin was so shocked by the words he had to stop and stare for a long, long while. And maybe for the first time he realized how blind he’d truly been to everyone else, too busy worried about himself and what was always happening in his life to even give a second thought to people who had it worse than himself.

Absently, he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Damn he must really sound stupid to this guy, huh? Talking about not having freedom when he could at least run off and do whatever he wanted as long as he wasn’t caught by the guards.

Rin looked him up and down and then continued walking. What was he supposed to say to all of that? Oh sorry?

It wasn’t like that was going to fix anything, or make the man in front of him think any better of him.

Then it came to him, “First off don’t apologize for speaking the truth.” He took a few quick steps and then turned on him quickly, “Am I truly this blind?” He glanced down his expression before taking a small step away.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Silence passed between them. It felt like it stretched for a thousand lifetimes. Cyn's heart hammered in his chest, and he stared at his worn-out cloth shoes, afraid he was going to be hanged. Gods, he was an idiot. This was why he didn't like to talk to people he didn't know - he always made a mess of things. He wondered how fast he'd have to run to avoid the prince's anger, how far away he'd have to go to escape inevitable execution... oh no. Would they execute his mother in his stead if he ran? Cyn would need to figure out how to bring her along...

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he'd get away with a simple flogging. He swallowed.

But then Prince Ezrin told him not to apologise. Brows furrowed, Cyn's head jerked up, meeting the prince's gaze for a moment before the other man looked away again. "Am I truly this blind?" he had asked. Cyn clenched his jaw. So... the prince wasn't angry? He wouldn't have his lowly servant flogged or hanged for speaking out of turn? Cyn heaved a long, shaky sigh of relief, shoulders slumping, feeling as if the weight of the world had been removed from off his back.

His mind went back to the prince's question. How in the world was he supposed to answer that? Was he supposed to answer it? "I don't know, seems to me like your eyes work just fine," he said jokingly. ...And now here he was, being ridiculous in a somber situation. But he couldn't help it; he hated tension.

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin was tempted to laugh at the obvious joke but couldn’t find it within himself to do so. The previous conversation didn’t allow for him to feel light-hearted enough.

As a prince he didn’t have much more power than any higher ranked noble, and even then they didn’t have much power unless the King whole heartedly agreed with their views.

Would he even care about servants? Probably not, the man was too busy running the country. So there was barely anything Ezrin could do to make matters better, besides maybe attempting change when he was finally— he cringed at the thought of his father being dead for that to truly happy— king himself.

So he settled on the words, “I’m sorry things are difficult for you.” He felt like he should say more but nothing would come out.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Perhaps Prince Ezrin wasn’t so bad after all. Cyn met the other man’s gaze for a moment and gave him a small smile. “Well… at least you’re not going to flog me,” he said light heartedly. He wasn’t sure what else to say. The conversation had gone so solemn, all thanks to Cyn being an idiot. He mentally cursed himself.

Dappled light streamed through the treetops to illuminate their steps. Birds sang in the branches of the old gnarled oaks. “It’s a beautiful day,” Cyn found himself saying, able to appreciate it more now that he felt the prince wasn’t going to kill him.

 

[Yours Truly]

“I hope to never be forced to flog someone.” Ezrin cringed at the thought of doing such a thing to a human being. “But yes,” he mused, looking up at the trees and leaves, “It is a beautiful day.” He answered.

As the two of them walked he couldn’t help but wonder more about the man keeping him company. “So how did you come to work in the palace?” He asked, looking at anything but the person in question.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn smiled, feeling a wonderful sense of relief. “Thank you, my liege,” he said. He was incredibly lucky that his rant didn’t get him in severe trouble. The breeze tickled his skin and tousled his hair, and he enjoyed the feeling of it, much more relaxed now that he felt safer.

“Oh, gods.” Cyn chuckled. “That’s quite a story, highness. Let’s just keep it short and say my mother and I had no home and lived on the streets most of my life, until finally someone agreed to accept her as a servant. I was about… twelve when this happened, I think?” He shrugged. “So of course I followed her to the castle and became a stable boy. Or whatever else Maria wants me to do.”

He looked to the other man and jokingly asked, “So, how long have you been prince?”

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin was about to comment on the obvious homelessness but then thought better of it as he was asked a question.

Maybe it was because Cyn didn’t want to talk about it, and had changed the subject to Ezrin instead.

Not wanting to make him uncomfortable he went along with it.

He smiled at him, “Just…” humor laced his every word, “all my life.” Then suddenly he thought of a question he’d never asked anyone before, “Does being a prince look easy to you? And I’m genuinely wanting to know your honest opinion.”

 

[PhoenixMire]

“All your life!” Cyn replied with mock surprise. “You must be really good at being a prince, then.”

At the other man’s question, Cyn furrowed his brows, looking at his feet as he walked. Prince Ezrin truly wanted his opinion? Well, his opinion was that nobles were lazy bastards who loved to pick on anyone supposedly “lesser” than them, but… this prince didn’t act that way. “I… I mean, from where I stand, I guess it does look easy. You have servants to answer your every beck and call. It seems like you don’t have to really do anything.”

Cyn didn’t know the intricate ins and outs of being royalty. He really only knew how nobility had treated him in the past.

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin sighed, he supposed it probably did look easy to anyone else. So he agreed, “Yeah, it probably looks that way to everyone else. It’s definitely easier than being King. Being just any old Prince probably seems easy. Being a good Prince is when everything turns stressful and hard, like every decision has the potential to ruin so many lives if I make the wrong choices. At least for right now my father is able to make all the hard decisions… but eventually it will fall to me and I’m not sure if I’d do a good job.” He said honestly.

Ezrin wasn’t sure why he was telling him how he felt but here he was… being honest…

“Ah I should probably stop talking. I’m sure mucking out stables is way worse than being a Prince who sits in meetings all day.”

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn listened intently, for the first time realizing how stressful it must be to rule over an entire kingdom. He hadn’t really thought about it - he was so caught up in what a poor job he felt all the nobles did that he didn’t consider what it would be like to actually sit in the throne. “For what it’s worth, I’m sure you’ll make a good king, majesty. If you’re worried about your people instead of only caring about what they can do for you… things might turn out all right.”

The servant looked to the man beside him, then away again, staring into the trees as they walked. “No, I’m… it’s actually interesting to talk to you. If I may say so, my liege. You don’t act like the other nobility I’ve met.”

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin was a little taken aback by the compliment. No one had ever told him he'd do a bad job per se, but neither had anyone told him he'd be a good king, either. So for a long while he let silence drag on because he genuinely didn't know how to take a compliment... well a true... genuine compliment. Everyone else's were either back-handed or only said in hopes to gain favor.

"Thank you," He said quietly. Then a thought occurred to him, "What do other nobility act like? If I'm not like others-- then what are they like?"

 

[PhoenixMire]

At the question, Cyn looked away, clenching his jaw tightly, all kinds of memories surfacing. But he didn’t have to get into specifics, he supposed. “They only care about themselves. They love pushing around us common folk just so they can flex their authority over us. They treat us like we aren’t even human.”

Once again, he felt a distinct sharp pang of fear that the prince would hurt him for speaking like this. But the young royal had told him to speak openly and honestly… Was that just a lie to get him to talk?

Cyn shook his head as if to chase away the thoughts. Now he was just being paranoid. “You know, I’ve worked at your castle for eight years now. Every time I saw you I did think you seemed a little different. But we never truly interacted.” Not til now.

 

[Yours Truly]

"Well... I haven't had much time to interact with anyone but nobles who like to annoy me with their ignorant questions that could be easily solved with reading a book." Ezrin made an uncomfortable face. "So I can see them acting in such a way, a lot of them just want to flaunt their power so they feel better about themselves, rather than do anything productive besides arguing over the dumbest things. Money isn't everything in the world." He sighed, "I've had much better conversation with you than I've ever had with anyone else in that stupid palace. Which is saying something because I've lived there my entire life."

Ezrin gestured to the trees and plants around them, "That's why I prefer being outside, at least the trees and plants can't disappoint me like most noblemen do."

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn snickered slightly at the comment that they could just read a book to answer their own stupid questions. “I can imagine if you’re the only one around with some sense, everyone else would drive you mad.” They had barely conversed and yet the prince thought their interactions were better than any he’d had with fellow nobles. Huh. They really were useless.

“I like being outside too. I don’t… have a lot of time, with all the chores I have to do, but it’s nice to get out. These woods are so beautiful.” Maybe it was a good thing their horses had gotten spooked and run off…

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin agreed with everything the other said. A lot of the people within the palace definitely drove him mad sometimes. More often than not these past few days.

“If you didn’t have to work all the time, what would you do?” There was nothing else to do out here but talk, so talk he would create.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn hesitated. What would he do? He spent so much time working… “I would check in on my mother more, for one.” He brushed a lock of black hair away from his eyes. “Uh… were you serious about loaning me some painting supplies? I might want to try that too,” he said with a faint smile in the prince’s direction.

Painting was such a luxury really only available to the wealthy. Supplies cost so much. He’d definitely never done it before, but seeing beautiful pieces of art made him curious to give it a try. How hard could it be?

 

[Yours Truly]

“Yes of course I was serious. I never say anything I’m not serious or certain about.” Ezrin gave him a long look over his shoulder. “If you’d like I could teach you how to paint?” He hoped they’d say yes, not many people enjoyed painting.

He could remember exactly how frustrating it had been to make anything he’d ever be proud of showing anyone. Too many paintings had ended up in the trash or burned by the time her figured it all out.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Being taught how to paint? By the prince? What a wild turn this day had taken - Cyn would never have seen it coming. He smiled. “I mean, I’d love that, but I’m not sure how anyone else will react if they see you giving painting lessons to a lowly servant.”

Still, it sounded very nice. It would give him something to do that he had always wanted to try. “I’ve been interested in riding, too. Haven’t ever really had the chance to ride very often. There was today, and then when I was twelve -“ He paused. Nope, not a good time to talk about that event. “Uh, I mean… I’ve ridden once, when I was twelve, sort of…”

 

[Yours Truly]

"Well if you don't want people to know then we could just paint where no one can see us." He said it with a small shrug. "I don't particularly care what anyone else thinks. They all think I'm weird anyways." Most knew about his habit of disappearing away into the garden or into his rooms, and thought him anti-social, which he kind of was when it came to them and their boring nature.

"Well, riding is something you just have to get used to, by doing it. And you seemed fine at it today." But his last comment made him interested, "When you were twelve?" He asked, not trying to make him uncomfortable, but the curiosity inside him wouldn't allow for him to not ask.

 

[PhoenixMire]

The thought of being taught to paint by the prince was seeming more and more appealing by the minute. Cyn smiled a little and shook his head. “Well, I suppose if you don’t care, maybe I don’t either. I’d love to learn.” He grew more excited as he thought of it - skipping work and sneaking off to actually have fun and do something other than mucking out stables and running Maria’s errands, for once!

When Prince Ezrin questioned him, Cyn chuckled nervously. “Uh, that. Yes. That was… Um, maybe that’s a story for another time, I -“

Cyn interrupted himself when his foot caught on a protruding root, and he tumbled forward with a cry. Oh gods. He’d tripped into basil just yesterday, and here he was, falling over in front of the prince yet again. Sometimes his legs felt like long awkward sticks he couldn’t control, and it infuriated him.

 

[Yours Truly]

Only after offering up his hand to Cyn did he playfully ask, "Do you always fall this much?" He smiled down at him, "Or do you only fall when I'm around?" He couldn't help the way his brain worked, it just begged him to poke fun at the obvious clumsiness, without being rude about it. Ezrin just hoped he didn't take it in the wrong way or be offended by his words. Maybe it was the beautiful day, or the fact they'd been stranded out in the forest without their horses, or maybe it was the fact he'd not gotten much sleep. Whatever it was, it had him saying things he probably shouldn't to a servant, but here he was...

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn stammered hopelessly, unable to form words for a moment. He took the prince’s hand, allowing the other man to help him right himself. He looked into the young royal’s face for a brief moment before his cheeks reddened and he averted his gaze. Prince Ezrin was quite handsome, actually. He’d noticed it before - he’d have to be blind not to - but he’d never really thought much of it…

He bit the inside of his cheek and chased the thought away, getting to work brushing leaves off his trousers. “Uh, I… no, sadly, this is normal for me,” he sighed after taking a moment to gather himself.

He couldn’t believe how stupid he was. He hated his clumsiness. Similar memories flashed through his mind - tripping after Maria handed him a bowl of pie filling, tripping after gathering some eggs from the hens, tripping right into a pile of horse manure… He shuddered at that last one. Gods, he’d scrubbed himself off so intensely after that.

Compared to that, perhaps tripping in a forest wasn’t too bad.