Fantasy Noble Secrets [ Phoenix and Yours Truly ]

[Yours Truly]

“Really?” His smile only grew for some unexplainable reason unknown to Prince Ezrin. “I guess you have fallen at least three times since I’ve met you.” He was including the time he’d almost fallen off the horse, or maybe had fallen off— he wasn’t sure, he’d been too busy fighting with a plant to notice if he had or not.

“And that’s a lot considering I only met you yesterday.” He thought of the plants that was surely struggling to grow. “But it’s not a bad thing. At least it’s kind of cute.” A bird called over head and he was momentarily distracted, so at first he didn’t realize what he’d actually said.

But then his face heated. He probably shouldn’t have said that to a near-stranger he’d just met.

 

[PhoenixMire]

“That is a lot,” Cyn muttered in reply. He mentally cursed himself for being so clumsy and stupid. Usually he could laugh it off, but for some reason he felt particularly embarrassed around this prince. Why? He had no clue.

Then Prince Ezrin said it was cute. Cyn’s entire face turned cherry-red, and he stared intently at his shoes as if they were suddenly the most fascinating things in the world. The prince had just said he was cute. What in the gods’ names was happening?!

“I - uh. Thank you?” he said quietly. Cyn nervously scratched the back of his head, still unable to meet the other man’s gaze, and he kept his head down in an attempt to hide his bright red face.

Damn. What was going on? Somehow he was getting along with a royal, of all people, while stranded in the woods with him. Part of him wished they were back at the castle already so that Cyn could bury his flushed face into his pillow and ignore everyone else; the other part of him actually didn’t want this forest walk to end.

“You really are strange, you know,” he said after another long pause. “Um, I mean that in a good way, your majesty… Gods, I did not mean that to sound like an insult.”

 

[Yours Truly]

Ignoring the obvious blushing, Ezrin kept his eyes firmly on the forest around them rather than the man beside him. He was never good at talking about how he felt and he’d accidentally let it slip. Never in his life had he ever felt a spark of interest for someone else so all of this was new to him, a new territory he’d never explored before.

He would have muttered a you’re welcome, but couldn’t get the words past his semi-frozen lips. Maybe he should just stop talking altogether before he made a fool of himself.

It could probably be blamed on the fact he’d never had a real conversation with someone, maybe that was why he was acting such a fool right now. Or maybe he was just making up an excuse to make himself feel better about what he’d just said.

He was glad when Cyn spoke next, at least he didn’t have to think about the admission. “How am I weird?” He asked.

 

[PhoenixMire]

What a strange day. Cyn couldn’t believe the turn it had taken. When he’d awoken at the crack of dawn to feed horses, he never would have expected he’d be taking a stroll through the forest with the prince. And being called cute by him.

Still unable to meet the other man’s eyes, he focused on the old trees around him as he walked. “Well, I mean… other nobility wouldn’t be caught dead having a regular conversation with one of their servants,” he replied. “But you don’t care about that.”

 

[Yours Truly]

"I don't care about much, honestly. The things that worry the nobles are pointless and I swear they only worry about reputation and look because they're bored and have nothing better to do than make gossip, listen to gossip, all just to pass the time." He knew if they perused more interesting things like developing a hobby, they'd probably stop creating so much drama within the palace walls. Like yesterday, where the two nobles had only started an argument because otherwise the meeting was boring and useless. in reality, Ezrin's father could sit them all down, say his piece and send everyone in their respective ways. It was all just for show, all just to pass the time since they had so much money they didn't know what to do with themselves. Of course Ezrin said none of this. If it ever got out how he truly felt then no one would ever like or trust him as king, and that was worse case scinerio.

Ezrin was already trying his best, and was labeled as weird, he wasn't about to go and acquire a new label for himself. "It's not like servants aren't human, some of the nobility I would argue have less humanity than some of the servants and guards around the palace." Ezrin knew of a select few nobles who he always tried to steer clear of, based on rumors alone of how they behaved towards others. Of course Ezrin could do nothing to change this, being a prince meant nothing sometimes when it came to things that truly mattered. "I apologize on behalf of some of the power-driven nobles, I know how they can be, and there isn't anything I can do as a prince to change it. At least not without talking to my father and I'm sure he doesn't think it's important."

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn could only listen in surprise. To hear the prince of all people, echo exactly how he felt about nobility - it made him hope there were others like Prince Ezrin. He clenched his jaw tightly. "That's... that's been my experience," he said quietly. "The nobleman who..." He shook his head. No, he was not going to get into that, not here, not now, not when he barely knew the prince. That was a little too private. Still, his memories made him seethe, and he had to try to calm himself down. He focused on the gentle breeze rustling the leaves, the songs of birds surrounding him - it helped a little bit.

"It's interesting to hear you say that, my liege. I... really appreciate it. I'm glad you feel that way." It made Cyn feel seen, for once. It was sad that the prince couldn't do anything about it yet, but, baby steps. Cyn was just glad to be talking like this - to a royal, of all people. For a brief moment he met the prince's eyes and smiled, then averted his gaze again, his cheeks flushing a little.

Then they broke through the trees. The castle towered over them, and Cyn blinked in surprise. They'd gotten here much quicker than he'd thought. "We're already back?" he muttered. He found himself reluctant to part from the young royal and return to his work.

 

[Yours Truly]

If he were rude, Ezrin would comment on the fact that Cyn had just been in the middle of his sentence and had just stopped himself short. He wasn't going to ask about it if he was uncomfortable, but was endlessly curious as to what he was about to say next. He was unused to other's stopping themselves from speaking about something, in fact most people just said whatever they thought he wanted to hear, and never stopped themselves from speaking. So he gave him a long look, tilted his head to the side as he did so, he would have to ask about whatever that was later. Maybe after they had a few painting lessons together.

As soon as the palace was back in view Ezrin felt a little sad at the idea of no longer being alone. Tired at the thought of talking to others and pretending to enjoy their company. He could no longer be honest, or say how he truly felt. Every conversation like a careful dance of chess pieces, where every little thing required careful decisions and actions. It wasn't even that far along into the day and he just wanted to go back to sleep. Or to turn right back around and go into the forest. But the closer they drew to the castle, the more he realized that he could never escape this and just had to deal with it. So he attempted to square his shoulders and stare straight ahead at the structure he'd known his entire life.

But Ezrin knew he was probably late for that meeting, and really did not feel arrogant or confident enough to enter that stuffy room with everyone's eyes on him as soon as he stepped through the doors. "Would you like to learn to paint? Like right now? Instead of... everything else we should be doing?"

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn blinked in surprise at the prince’s invitation. They both had a lot to do, didn’t they? But he wanted to give in and shirk his duties for the day - how nice would it be to cast everything else aside and be selfish for once? He smiled. “Well, I mean… I’d love to…”

He sighed and brushed a lock of hair away from his face. “Maria’s going to have my head, though. And Greg will be livid. I’m supposed to be helping him with the stables.”

Maybe he could shrug off his work just this once, though… pressing his lips together, he deliberated on it. Yes Greg would be angry, and so would Maria, but he helped both of them out much that they surely couldn’t complain about him taking one day to be lazy, right? Throwing caution to the wind, Cyn said, “Yeah, you know what? Let’s do it.”

 

[Yours Truly]

"Well, lets go then." He said, picking up his pace, "Let us hope no one catches us on the way there." The two of them were already nearing the castle itself, and he knew exactly which halls to take to be mostly unseen, and planned on taking those exact halls now. Armored with the knowledge that he was going to avoid almost all social interaction, Ezrin felt much lighter now than he had before. His rooms were close and he was ready to paint rather than interact with Noblemen.

So he excitedly threw open his door and ushered Cyn inside. The first words out of his mouth were, "So what exactly do you wish to paint?"

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn reentered the postern gate that they'd left from, following the prince through the castle's halls. He barely saw anyone. A couple times a servant bowed their head as they passed Prince Ezrin in the halls, but otherwise the route was empty, and nobody said a word to the two of them. Cyn kept his head down as if to avoid notice. Imagining Maria finding him here and yelling at him loud enough to cause an earthquake made him nervous, to put it mildly.

Then the prince threw open his doors, and Cyn couldn't help gaping at the lavish chambers. In all his years here he had never been allowed inside some of the fanciest parts of the castle, and he couldn't comprehend having all this space just for one person. The servants' quarters sat at the bottom floor of the castle, far removed from the more extravagant areas, and were cold stone rooms filled with beds lined up next to each other. Cyn was used to not having privacy due to this; imagining the prince having his own entire room to himself was strange to the servant.

So in awe was he that it took him a moment to process the other man's words. "I - wow. Um." Cyn scratched the back of his head. "I don't really know, I hadn't given it thought. Maybe I'll paint this room," he said, still admiring his surroundings.

 

[Yours Truly]

"If you would like to. I don't mind, as long as it's interesting to you." he glanced around the room, he'd painted a corner or two of his room, but not the entire thing. Most times he would find himself painting landscapes, especially of the garden right below his window. The sheer amount of flower-related paintings he had was kind of ridiculous when he thought of the stack hidden in another room. "Let me just..." He looked around for any supplies he might've just left around in the room but none were seen. "find my...." he walked to another door, "painting supplies... now where did I put them last?" He asked, mumbling to himself more than Cyn.

Not there, he thought to himself, closing the doors he'd just opened. Why did he always loose things so easily? Walking into another, much smaller room he remembered throwing all the supplies in here when his father had almost caught him paint. The King knew of his hobby, he just didn't approve. So Ezrin tried to hide it at much a possible to avoid disapproving looks from him. He brought the supplies out and set them on a nearby table, getting everything ready. The canvas was placed on the small stand he always kept on his desk and he turned to Cyn, "Have you ever done anything like this before?"

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn watched the prince hunt down his painting supplies for a moment, but soon went back to being in awe of these chambers. He'd never seen anything so lavish before. Part of him was afraid to paint here - what if he made a mess and ruined the place? Surely Prince Ezrin would be angry at him for that...

Cyn shook the thoughts away as Prince Ezrin returned to him with supplies set out on a nearby table. The servant gingerly lifted a brush, then eyed the canvas, and pursed his lips. "No. I really haven't. Servants don't get paid enough to indulge in this sort of thing," he sighed. He had no clue what he was doing or where to start. He kept staring at the brush, the blank canvas, the paints, and the room around him, suddenly feeling quite overwhelmed.

"This is... a lot," he said with a nervous chuckle.

 

[Yours Truly]

"Well.... how about you try something... smaller?" He suggested, unsure of how to proceed here. He had stared with just painting random objects around him, and had built up from that to eventually paint bigger scenes like the one he'd finished just last week. "You can build up to the entire room in time if you'd like." Hunting for another chair, Ezrin found one and placed it right beside Cynric, and grabbed an extra paint brush, "Would you like me to show you? Do you learn better that way? I definitely learn by being shown and then doing it myself until I can't stand doing it any longer."

 

[PhoenixMire]

"Smaller." Cyn sighed. Starting small sounded boring - he wanted to paint the entire room in all its posh splendor. But he supposed the prince was right; he'd been painting a lot longer than Cyn had, after all. Or more accurately he had painted anything at all, whereas Cyn had never held a paintbrush in his life til now. "Hmmm. I'd like to try it myself, but thanks." He dove headfirst into trying to paint a beautiful intricate vase atop an oaken end table. The servant squinted, tilted his head multiple times through the process, kept looking back and forth between the vase before placing another hesitant stroke of paint on the canvas, until he backed away and sighed. "Well. It looks like shit," he said with a grin that was half amusement and half embarrassment.

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin studied the painting with narrowed eyes. Yeah it wasn’t the best. The shape could be better, and the vase he’d chosen was difficult to begin with, which didn’t help much. But it was a start, rather than just an empty canvas.

“My first paintings were so bad I burned all of them in anger. So don’t be too hard on yourself, you’ll get better with practice.” He attempted to reassure him, with a smile.

Though Ezrin wasn’t sure it worked, he suggested that he try something else, a few more objects around the room, “Or you could paint the entire room. I can’t control what you choose to do.”

 

[PhoenixMire]

The mental image of Prince Ezrin burning paintings in rage amused Cyn. He smiled. “I don’t think I’ll be burning this one. It looks horrible, but… first time I’ve ever put a paintbrush to canvas.” He didn’t want to sound sappy, so he went quiet, but he thought to himself that it would be a very nice memory to keep around.

Cyn looked at a few of the other objects the prince had recommended painting. “Actually,” he began, “maybe you could teach me a few techniques now?” He had been sufficiently humbled by painting being much more difficult than it seemed, and he was ready to accept the young royal’s instruction.

 

[Yours Truly]

”You don’t have to burn it, that’s just what I did to keep anyone from seeing such an awful painting. Plus my father wouldn’t be too happy if he found any of them, so I hide them anyways.” Ezrin didn’t plan on divulging so much information so he shut up and begun to show Cyn different ways to paint the vase he’d chosen.

“Try using a flat brush this time—“ he handed one over to him, “and this time, don’t pick an object. Just like… a feeling. It’s easier to paint when you’re not trying to imitate life, at least at first, for me.”

 

[PhoenixMire]

“The king wouldn’t be happy…?” Cyn questioned, furrowing his brows. Why would Prince Ezrin’s father not want him to paint? It didn’t make sense to him.

But he shook away the thoughts and tried instead of focus on what the young royal was telling him. Dark brows furrowed, he nodded slowly, holding his brush and trying to imitate what Prince Ezrin had showed him.

After a while, Cyn had painted a simpler object - a small wooden box sitting next to the vase. It didn’t look amazing by any stretch of the word, but it was something of an improvement. Cyn found himself smiling a little at his new painting. “I’m not good, but it’s fun.” Something about making brushstrokes on the canvas was weirdly relaxing.

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin didn’t elaborate on his father’s opinions of any of the hobbies he had that had him escaping all of his duties. Especially the painting.

He didn’t know about the gardening yet, and Ezrin planned on keeping that a secret for as long as he possibly could.

“You’ll get it. Practice makes perfect, and you have to start somewhere.” Ezrin nodded to the painting, “It’ll get better each time you paint.”

His father thought he’d stopped a long time ago, but no, Ezrin had come back to the hobby over and over, improving each time he returned to the canvas. “Besides painting, is there anything you want to do?”

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn lightly cocked his head at his painting. Practice would help him improve, sure, but he didn’t know how often he could do that. He had a lot of work to do every day. The castle never rested. With a sigh, the servant found himself suddenly bitter again, thinking about all the nobles that must sit in their manors all day doing things like this - painting, or sipping tea and eating exotic fruits, all while the common folk toiled away around them.

But he chased away the thoughts. Now was not the time; he wanted to focus on what Prince Ezrin was saying to him. With a faint and slightly forced smile, Cyn turned to face the young royal. “Well. Why not lunch? I’m a bit hungry,” he said. It had taken much longer than he’d thought to walk through the forest and then attempt painting - the day was passing so quickly.

 

[Yours Truly]

Before Cynric had mentioned lunch, Ezrin hadn’t been hungry. But the moment he’d drawn attention to it, he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything all day. It wasn’t unusual for him, though. He rarely ate breakfast because he was always up to something too important to stop for that— which was normally sneaking away to go for a ride by himself.

So he nodded at the suggestion and walked over to a corner of the room, which had a collection of different colored cloths that hung down for him to pull anytime he required something. Red was for wine or pastries, which he never used. Green was for… medical attention… at least Ezrin thought. He’d never used that one either.

So he pulled the purple one, which was the only one he ever used, really.

“Is there anything specific you’d like to eat?” He decided to ask, attempting to be considerate of another for once.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn tilted his head in confusion at the colored cloths and watched as the prince pulled a purple ribbon. What was all that about? Brows furrowed, he pondered on the question he’d been asked. He wasn’t used to being asked what he wanted to eat. He just had to accept whatever the kitchen was serving that day.

“I… think I’d like some meat, for once,” he said. “Maybe a pie.” Cyn couldn’t believe he was actually being allowed to pick something to eat! He was so used to the heavy barley bread he was usually given. Suddenly he thought of Maria, discovering that he was eating like a prince, and her screaming in rage. Gods. He didn’t want to think of that.

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin frowned at the word pie. Gods he despised the pastry… if it was even a pastry. He didn’t have to eat it though, he told himself, it was just for Cynric, not himself.

He shook his head but said, “Okay.” But what kind of pie? He had to ask, “What kind of pie do you like?” Ezrin would have to wait until the kitchen staff came up, normally they would just bring his meals around certain times of the day but if he rang outside of those times they normally just sent someone to ask what he wanted, so his eyes kept glancing to the door.

 

[PhoenixMire]

Cyn shrugged. “Whatever pie the kitchen’s made up today.” Usually they made a pie a day, the flavor different each time, but he wasn’t going to demand a specific flavor and make the servants go to extra work.

Still, the thought of having any pie in general was amazing to him. To think he was actually able to pick what he wanted to eat?

 

[Yours Truly]

Ezrin turned to Cynric and frowned. He was unused to hearing someone just accepting whatever they were given without any fight over it. Any one else would have demanded whatever they wanted.

“Are you sure?” Ezrin asked, “You can have whatever you want.”