Royal Guard Book 1: The Servant

Chapter 1 - Paige - The First Day of Ninth Grade

Two years ago...

I couldn't breath.

Well, I could, but every time I took in air it felt like my lungs were being scorched from the inside. Everything hurt. My feet felt like I was walking on coals. My hands were covered in blisters and bloodied scrapes.

Blood. Blood was everywhere. It was running down my leg and pooling in my upturned palms. It made my head swim, my stomach churn. I didn't remember being afraid of blood.

Where am I?

I looked around but there's nothing but clouds of darkness. They encircled me, blasting hot air. I took a step back and suddenly my heel was slipping over the edge of a cliff. I wobbled forward and collapsed onto my hands and knees, but the ground beneath me cracked under my weight, shards of it burning into my flesh.

Then it was fire. Fire all around me. Screams grew louder. Crashing buildings and hoof steps racing. It was surrounding me too, just past the flames. So close. and I could only see fire.

"Don't worry!" A voice called out to me, cutting through the chaos. It sounded scared. "I'm coming!"

I jolted awake.

I was in my bed... breathing hard... staring up at the ceiling. My room was quiet, just murmurs of people walking downstairs. There was no fire, no blood, no one calling out to me.

A dream. It was a dream. I groaned and covered my eyes with my hands. Well that was a great way to wake up.

Then just next to me my alarm clock went off and its tinny ringing filled the morning silence. I groaned again and swung my arm over to smack the top of it, shutting it up. I shifted and blearily looked at the time, suddenly feeling much more tired now that I actually had to get out of bed. 6 am. September 5th, 6 am. Time for work.

I sighed, "Alright. Here we go."

I threw off my warm and inviting quilts and the morning air hit me cold and wet like ice water. I reluctantly pulled myself up off my bed and trudged over to my little desk by my window. I took my comb and started yanking the tangles out of my hair. The sun hadn't even risen yet, but there was enough light in the sky to dimly illuminate my small bedroom.

And it was just bright enough for me to see a fat scruffy-looking cardinal land on the branch outside my window and peck at the glass a couple times. He only had one eye but he turned his head sideways and looked up at me expectantly with it. Then he flapped off for a few seconds before flying back and hitting himself straight into the glass. He teettered a little bit on the branch before shaking his feathers flat again and looking back up at me.

I snorted in a half laugh, "You're a bit late this morning, Philbert." He just blinked with his one eye and then pecked at the glass some more. Philbert had been coming to my window every morning at 6 am for the past year, ramming himself into it and delightfully waking me up. Carter told me that cardinals are very territorial but also very stupid. They apparently think that their reflection in the glass is another bird and he's trying to fight it. Thomas said that its just a dumb bird and it'll kill itself by doing that. That, or I've been feeding him since I've become attached. Which I totally haven't been doing.

But... since there are a couple stale crumbs leftover from a roll I snuck up into my room last night, I swept them into my hand, propped open the window just enough for me to dumb the crumbs onto the outside sill, and closed the window before more cold fall air can get in.

Philbert continued to peck at the glass for a good minute or so afterwards before finally noticing the crumbs and eating them up.

In the meantime, I got ready. Once my long hair was all brushed out and a poofy frizzy mess, I tied it back in the traditional servants' braid with an old green ribbon. Then I shimmed off my pajamas and started pulling on the many layers of my uniform. First was the simple chemise underdress. Then it's my white blouse. Whitney always called it a pirate shirt because of the puffed sleeves, but she was just exaggerating. the sleeves on the blouse tie off just past the elbow so I don't drag them through the dirt. My favorite part was the pocket bags. I tied them around my waist over the blouse to keep it from bunching up under my vest. I sewed the bags myself so they were extra big. Ivy and I tested it out once, and I could fit four potatoes in each of them. It didn't look very stubble, but I could do it. The skirt that went on top of it all was a dark navy blue and made out of a thick weave so I would stay warm in the winter months. And it's hem ended just above my ankles so I would be able to run up and down stairs without face planting. It also had small openings at my sides so I could slip my hands into my pocket bags for any quills, bandages, or if my hands just got cold. Finally, I buttoned up my brown vest and secured the whole ensemble with a thick leather belt.