The Kings Personal Joker (boyxboy)

Chapter Nineteen

[A/N] I'm sorry.

I wanted to ask why however as we left the main corridor and the clatter and chatter of the dining room relaxed but after the large mahogany doors pulled to a close there was a mellow silence that wrapped around us and I valued it greatly.

The silence and the stillness of the night made the world feel as though it was slowing down to match my footsteps.

I wouldn't worry, I decided. It was always better to just go where the river of life leads you and to fight whatever stone or stick as you came across it.

It struck me how warm it was everywhere in the castle. In my own home night was always bitingly cold and immensely dark. Here, torches lined the walls and there was the soft smell of burning cakes wherever I went. Still, my clothes were little comfort against the cold of the night as much as the castle tried to shelter me. Thin, soft and tightly wrapping my skin with little space for me to collect and store my own body heat. I shivered.

Ophelos looked at me, he seemed a little uncomfortable tonight and kept his distance for the most part, no snide glances, no walking too fast for comfort. "Are you cold?"

Without having yet replied Ophelos whistled loudly and I jumped but we continued walking. As we approached the stairs, I realized there was a woman in front of us. A truly tiny elf of a lady with her arms full of something who stood absolutely still, not a muscle twitching not a single rustling of her petticoat. He whistled again, and she immediately continued walking in front of us, did not turn her head or acknowledge us or even turn her head to look back, just continued.

She kept perhaps a yard's distance from us, no more no less, and did not once turn to acknowledge us. Then I began to realize that the corridors were beginning to warm up. Whatever it was that she was carrying it must have been hot enough for her to walk out of sight ahead of us and for it to warm the hallways as far as us.

What bizarre world had I been employed into?

Ophelos once again whistled, three short whistles and she hurried away silent as a spider and the warmth quickly went with her.

Ophelos greeted the guards before they opened the doors and he turned to look at me, an enquiring gaze that expected me to move.

I took a few steps into the room so that I was just about able to be inside the room when they closed the doors again. The warmth was the first thing that hit me. I felt as though I had stepped into a bath.

It was weird to be here, not having accidentally broken in.

Sitting there waiting for me was the King, his posture relaxed as he displayed himself on the cushioned sofa chairs available. He had his own atmospheric ball of darkness surrounding him, one that warned you not to get too close and not to stay too far away. Something warm but also foreboding enough that I was nervous to take a step further.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." I bowed.

Dark seemingly soulless eyes looked up at me for the first time and a blade of light in them gave me the impression of fire. Some animal within was rearing its head. It had me wondering how I would feel if I were an enemy, a soldier fighting for another land going head to head with this man.

"Sit, Joker." He demanded.

I took a seat opposite him. Nervous, I wrung my hands together.

In my own little pond, beyond the kingdom walls, I was confident and sure. Here, I am anything but. Even the poorer people in this castle are not the kind I am accustomed to. Not scrounging, not cursing, not slouching and sneaking. I felt like a naïve child here, everything new and shiny.