The Gift of War [bxb]

Sworn to Secrecy

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...

This has to be a joke, Ryan thought.

"...And then the Prince declared, 'I will save you, my lady!' as he picked up his sword and attacked the evil witch that had captured the Princess. 'Oh, save me, my Prince!', the Princess cried. The evil witch let out curses as she was defeated by the heroic Prince who saved the Princess. And then they lived happily ever after..."

What in the world am I being made to do?

"Hm, it sounds very... childish." Prince Nusrat commented.

Is he for real?

Ryan bowed his head as he lowered the paper he was reading. "It seems to be a children's story, my lord."

The Crown Prince turned towards his desk. "That will not do." He muttered under his breath as he pulled out another sheet. He then handed it to Ryan. "Read this one."

Ryan accepted the paper with his free hand, lifting it up to inspect it. He immediately felt himself cringe as he read the title. "The Lovely Princess and..."

"And?" Nusrat prompted.

"... the Mighty Prince."

"And how do you feel about it?" The Prince demanded, with an uncharacteristic eagerness in his voice.

Punishment be damned, Ryan could not bring himself to praise the sort of monstrosity he was being made to read. "Something I would read to my five-year nephew, who happens to be deaf, my lord."

"I see." Nusrat replied. Ryan could physically feel and see the Prince's demeanor turn rather... sad. Even though he did not understand the full situation, he could theorize the reason why. It was rather plain actually.

The Prince himself had written these childish pieces of literature.

Afraid to ask questions and risk getting reprimanded, Ryan nodded once and kept his head low. It was best not to poke at something that could potentially be an insecurity, lest it anger the surprisingly calm Prince and get him a lashing.

"Are they so bad?" A soft voice asked.

Ryan looked up with wide eyes, shock evident on his face. When he saw the Prince's downcast expression though, he chose his words carefully, although keeping true to his opinions. After all, the Prince had explicitly declared that he disliked liars. "If your target audience is adolescents, then no, although they do seem to lack a moral value in them, typical for a children's fable. If you've written them for adults, I'm afraid they might not be as engaging as they need be, my lord."

"Hey! Who said I wrote them?" Nusrat scowled, an offended expression on his face.

It is as clear as water, you dumb horse! Ryan exclaimed in his mind, astounded by the Prince's ability to be so unwitting.

Ryan squashed down all the pity he felt. The man was still a Perion, literarily skilled or not. Actually, his illiteracy was definitely a sign of his Perion heritage. What use was language and literature to barbarians like Perions? They'd much rather wield a sword than a book, that was for sure.

But the Prince's next words shocked him.

"I'm not illiterate or anything! English is just not my first language! I wasn't grown up around here, it's not my fault!"

Was Ryan dreaming or were there splotches of red on the Perion Prince's tanned cheeks? The man was... embarrassed? In front of Ryan, a servant, a Sythian slave? And he was rambling? Trying to explain himself to an apparent lowborn? This man was nothing like a Prince!