A Royal Mess (MxM)

7 - What was that about?

Rahis let out a breath of relief as soon as Prince Joelin and Prince Bradlan left the room.

"What was all that about?" Camayla asked seconds after the door closed.

Rahis shrugged. "I don't know. He was looking at me so strangely. I put him to bed last night, maybe he remembered me from that." He reasoned. There was no way he would remember their conversation, right? He didn't freak out, so there was a good chance he didn't. He didn't remember. Of course he didn't. Rahis repeated those words over and over, not letting his mind wander into the darker possibilities.

Of course he couldn't ignore his problems when he was cornered by the Prince later that day. He was just minding his own business, going to the kitchens to collect necessary items, when someone stopped in front of him which was later revealed to be Prince Bradlan himself.

"You are a very brave servant." The Prince had said, startling Rahis so much his eyes shot up before being forced back down quickly. This just made Prince Bradlan chuckle. "Very brave or very stupid." He liked toying with the servants, made him feel more princely than anything else. "I actually have a hard time remembering what happened last night, do you mind filling me in?" This was a lie, but he just wanted to know how much the servant would reveal.

Rahis gulped nervously. There was no good way to play this. "I, um, I took you to your room after Prince Joelin instructed me to, your majesty, and put you to bed."

"You know that I'm asking for more than that."

Rahis' hands fidgeted horribly from where they were clasped behind his back. "I'm sure you weren't yourself, your grace, but you did seem to have drunk a lot and were talking about random things."

"You responded." Rahis froze, surprised. "That much I do remember. You said something about love and friends?"

"I believe I did."

"And if I remember correctly, you even made a point to offer your friendship." Rahis couldn't breath. He wasn't completely familiar with the rules, but he was certain that what he did was against them. The prince was just acting so loose and different and sad that it made Rahis forget their titles in that moment. "Don't look so scared, if I wanted you killed or arrested I would have done it already."

Rahis let out a shaky breath. "What do you want?" He asked, risking a glance up. The Prince was obviously feeling forgiving.

He could see that Prince Bradlan was looking at him thoughtfully. "I don't know yet, but I'm sure something will come up." He paused for a few moments. "You do intrigue me, there's something different about you- what's your name?"

"Rahis."

"Rahis." He repeated. "Yes, something very different indeed." With that he turned and walked away, leaving Rahis to slump onto the castle wall, the relief immense. It was several more minutes before he pushed himself up and continued with his duties.

"So Bradlan was acting strange earlier today. Nothing happened last night right? I know he can be quite aggressive and has knocked out Calin cold before when he was drunk."

"Nothing happened." Rahis responded, trying to sound normal.

Prince Joelin hummed quietly, processing his response. "Sorry to force that on you, you looked quite panicked when I told you to do that."

Rahis looked at him surprised, but the prince only had a small, apologetic smile on his face. A prince apologizing to a servant, it was unheard of. "It is alright, he didn't give me much trouble."

"I'm glad." Prince Joelin said, turning his gaze to the paper he was supposed to be writing on. Camayla had left a few moments ago to gather his dinner, and he sent Alland away nearly every chance he got. "I hope you know that I do value you and should have been more considerate, especially since I know what my brother can become. Even though he didn't do anything, it was still a risk."

"It really is okay, he actually acted like a normal person the whole time." Rahis froze when he realized what he said.

The prince just started laughing. "A normal person, Bradlan? That's the last thing I'd ever expect to hear about him." He sighed and leaned back on his chair, his unfocused eyes still on the paper. "You are quite funny."

"Thank you." There were a few beats of silence before Rahis gathered up the courage to speak again. "How is Princess Aylissa?"

Prince Joelin groaned and leaned his head back on the edge of the chair, eyes meeting Rahis'. Rahis held his gaze, comfortable enough to know he wouldn't get in trouble. "She is infuriating. I don't even know why she makes me so mad every time she opens her mouth, but she does."

"Well, did you keep an open mind when you first spoke?"

"I did! But she just acted like her entitled, snobby self and quickly gave me an opinion!"

Rahis couldn't help but laugh at how exasperated he was. "I'm sorry, that sounds horrible." He said between breaths.

Prince Joelin gave a small smile before his lips pulled back even further and he began to lightly laugh too. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"You'll figure it out."

The prince stopped his laugher to softly gaze at Rahis before he turned back to his paper. "You know what I'm not going to figure out? How the heck I'm supposed to casually mention my father's contributions to the increase in the crop yield without sounding like I'm bragging or just being completely ridiculous."

"Mmm, that does sound like a tough one."

"Problems for later then." He sighed and pushed the paper out of the way before turning towards the stack of books on his shelf and getting an even more disappointed look on his face. He turned to his servant again. "Do you know how to read?" Rahis shook his head. "Would you like to learn?" Rahis slowly started to nod. He was always jealous of how all of the higher-borne would be able to spend hours just looking at a book and could pull entire stories out of a few scratches on a page. Prince Joelin smiled. "Well then I can teach you, something I actually wouldn't mind doing compared to that." He turned disgusted eyes towards the stack on his desk before grabbing one from the top and brightening up as he turned to Rahis. "Pull up a chair." Rahis obliged. With that, the prince started to point and read.