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Chapter 03- Darenvy vs. Sonnet

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Static; that was what walking through the Arch-Passage felt like as if walking through thick static. The only person who took humor at my expense was Revelin, who didn't bother to disguise his chuckling. I immediately lifted a hand to the top of my head and felt that my hair was spiking out in all directions. Great, I thought sarcastically, all the trouble I had gone through to tame it had been in vain. 

Sending a petulant glance his way, I asked: "So, what will we be doing here?"

"At the moment, we're bodyguards to the Prince and Princess of Darenvy," Revelin answered. "Come on, I have to introduce you to King Dale and Queen Deidre. Everyone in the castle needs to be aware that you are my new understudy and should be granted full access."

"Does that mean you have a contract ready for me?" 

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? A contract was part of the standard procedures whenever a mentor accepted an understudy. For my orientation, the Wanderer already dragged me into the bodyguarding duties he'd been hired for in Darenvy. Did he think I was some guileless intern that could be ordered about without the proper paperwork? Revelin seemed to march to the beat of his own drum, which was the only reason I didn't demand any answers from him by the time we came face to face with royalty. As soon as the king caught sight of my mentor's bare chest, he began to laugh.

"Revelin, only you would be so bold as to present yourself before us with incomplete attire," King Dale commented. "Chad, go bring one of our esteemed Wanderers a set of robes from his chambers." 

"Who might this be, Revvie?" Queen Deidre questioned as she motioned towards me. While the king's hair was wheat-hued, hers was a more delicate strawberry blonde shade. 

"My new understudy, Cy," Revelin responded slyly.

"Ah," I bumbled for a moment before speaking out and giving them a bow. "My name is Cyrus Kairos, your majesties!" 

"Cyrus is a lovely name," The queen mused aloud. But, the tone she used ushered forth a memory that caused me to shudder. No.

'Cyrus is a lovely name.'

Now's not the time.

I clutched my dress shirt just over my heart and tensed up. I couldn't afford to get lost in those memories. Swallowing hard, I forced myself back to an upright posture. When I glanced toward my mentor, his blue eyes were studying me like a hawk. Had I offended him by stating my full name? 

The king's attendant, Chad, arrived just then to hand Revelin a rather expensive-looking robe that he immediately pulled on and fastened. The dark blues embroidered onto the cloth played off his eyes rather well. As handsome as my mentor was without clothes, some articles of clothing really suited him. 

"Then, the two of us will be off to watch over my god kids," Revelin announced. 

God kids? Had he Baptized more than one child in that country? Or was it more like an empty title? With a final bow to the king and queen, the two of us walked down the different hallways of the castle. Some of the staff took a moment to give my mentor a slight bow. 

We arrived at a set of doors that were opened by two guards without any hesitation. The room inside was decorated more lavishly than the throne room. Two teenagers rushed forward at once. 

"Godfather!" They were both blond, and I guessed they were either twins or very close in age.

After the initial greetings and hugs, my mentor motioned towards me. "Prince Damien, Princess Dandelion, this is my new understudy, Cy."

"Oh, it's been a while since our Revelin had an assistant," Princess Dandelion commented, snapping me out of my usual mental rants about my full name.

"Gee, I wonder why," I muttered unenthusiastically, drawing forth a snicker from the other man.

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Moments later, I was in charge of entertaining the Princess. She had me eating cookies and drinking hot cocoa. The more I glanced at her hair, the more I realized that she shared some of her mother's strawberry blonde hue. 

Revelin had taken it upon himself to guard the Prince. I wasn't complaining. Being asked to indulge in my sweet tooth was hardly a punishment.

"You genuinely seem to dislike Revelin very much," The Princess mused. "That is such a rare thing."

"What do you mean?" I wondered aloud. I imagined all of the understudies before me and several of his lovers disliked him just as much as I did. 

"Well, you must know about Revelin's...ways by now," The Princess stated. When I nodded, she continued. "Every single available male in this castle has ended up in Revelin's bed chambers at least once-"

The back of my throat burned as I choked on the hot cocoa. Those were not the words I expected to come out of the mouth of a princess. Had she been keeping tabs on his exploits over the years? Why did the royal family seem to find no fault in him? My eyes had teared up after the choking incident, but I motioned for her to go on.

"Everyone he's come across so far desired our Godfather in one form or another," The Princess declared as if she were merely describing the weather outside. "Every single one."

"Talk about an ego," I snorted and instantly regretted it. Insulting someone else in front of royalty was never a good thing to do. 

"I'm not exaggerating," The Princess said in a severe voice as if I had offended her or called her a liar. She paused for a moment to take a sip from her own cup of cocoa. "I'm merely stating the facts."

Before I could even begin to make sense of what she was going on about, we both heard the door open and turned our heads in that direction. Prince Damien walked back in, followed by Revelin. Speak of the devil.

"I want to set something straight with you," I told my mentor. "Don't touch me. Ever."

Revelin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Princess Dandelion. "What have you been telling him?"

"Nothing that he would not have found out for himself," The Princess responded mulishly, as if she had been reprimanded by the older man.

"Oh. I suppose I should thank you then," Revelin decided.

"That will not be necessary," The Princess replied, a slight blush rising to her cheeks.

Such a strange family. I felt more like a babysitter than a bodyguard. I didn't understand how having the King and Queen inside or outside of the castle made a difference in the Prince and Princess's safety. When the Princess handed me a snack from her own plate as a distraction, I found out just why when her hand brushed mine. 

The pattern of power was a familiar one; for the briefest of moments, blue runes flickered around the Princess's clothes. After knowing what to look for, I glanced around at other such patterns, finding them draped along the Prince's clothes, the walls, the ceiling, and the floor…were they wards?

"What, exactly, are we protecting them from?" I finally asked Revelin.

"The prince and princess?" Revelin confirmed. At that very moment, something blurry shot through the Princess's window. The Wanderer caught it in his hand. I had to admit that it was an impressive reflex. "From strange occurrences such as this."

What we all had mistaken to be a brown sparrow was, in fact, a strange hummingbird. I recognized it as such as soon as I saw its long beak. Hummingbirds weren't native to the region, though. 

"Unhand me!" The hummingbird demanded out loud. Talking animals were usually magicians in disguise, so I didn't even raise so much as a brow when I heard it speak.

"Duncan! Oh, do let him go," Princess Dandelion squeaked, looking over the hummingbird from a distance. "I am so sorry, I forgot to tell Revelin about you."

After a moment of hesitation, my mentor let go of the bird. After a couple of shakes, the bird transformed into a tall boy with spiky brown hair and dark green eyes. "Prince Saul sends Princess Dandelion this bouquet of flowers," Duncan announced as the bouquet materialized in his hands. "As well as his pledge of eternal love."

"I'm surprised he didn't send a sonnet," Prince Damien teased with a snicker.

"I beg your pardon!" Duncan exclaimed.

"How...sweet of him," The Princess replied slowly while Revelin snatched the flowers from Duncan's hands to examine them. Before Duncan had a chance to object, she told him, "Oh, it's alright! He's our bodyguard."

Duncan looked like he was torn between bowing an apology to the Princess and ripping the flowers back from my mentor's hands. He dusted himself off instead, lifting his gaze to take in the room and the rest of the people in it. His eyes fell on me just as I had selfishly stuffed a cookie in my mouth. "Who is that?"

The Princess's mind raced for a moment. "He's...our new food taster!"

I was more than a little lost with the sudden change of job title. However, I figured that the Princess said it for a reason. I swallowed the rest of the cookie before nodding. 

"Right. Cy the poison study. Nice to meet you." I cringed when I realized that I had just used the new nickname my mentor had forced upon me. I could almost feel the smug glance Revelin sent my way.

"What bravery! To risk being poisoned in place of your Princess!" the magician declared. "We share the honor of serving our royal family at the risk of our lives." I gaped at him when he knelt and took both of my hands in his own. "Tell me, are you married?"

The outrageous statements nearly had me choking on air. As soon as my face turned pink, my mentor made his way over to Duncan and hauled up the Magician Messenger to his feet by tugging on the back of his shirt. "I think that's enough interaction with the 'poison study.'"

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding the prince and princess?" Duncan questioned. "What good is it to guard the food taster?" In spite of myself, I was rather curious to hear Revelin's answer.

"If he dies, then the princess would have to starve until they found her a replacement," he replied through clenched teeth. "Haven't you overstayed your welcome?"

Yes...the man was still a bastard. I didn't know why I even bothered to think otherwise. He could have at least said that it was because we were colleagues.

"Please, Duncan. Send my thanks to Prince Saul," Princess Dandelion added.

The magician bowed. "Then, I shall take my leave."

I warily looked on as the magician kissed the back of my hand before transforming into a hummingbird once more and leaving the same way he arrived. As soon as the magician left, I saw Revelin shut the windows and noted the briefest of flickering runes of blue being blanketed along the edges. 

"Should I refer to you as Dandelion Sonnet from now on?" Prince Damien teased with another snicker.

"Saul Sonnet is a sweetheart," The Princess argued. "Besides, I don't see you doing anything to help keep the peace."

Revelin put a hand on both their shoulders. "I think I just heard your parents arrive from their deliberations."

Prince Damien and Princess Dandelion stopped arguing to listen. Sure enough, they heard the sound of horns heralding their parents' return. "So it seems."

"That's our cue to get out of here," my mentor whispered to me. The two of us made our way back to the Arch-Passage and passed through it to the other side.

I was pleased to note that, once the static had passed, my hair no longer stood up on all ends.

"How long have you been watching over those two?" I asked in curiosity when we returned to the basement. "They're rather fond of you."

"I've kept them protected since they were three years old, but I wasn't visibly introduced to them until they were nine," Revelin explained. "I'm practically family." 

Yes, it was amazing how much they respected my frustrating mentor. "The real reason we went to see them in person was to assure that the wards and protective spells you cast are still running smoothly, am I right?" I prompted. 

"Aren't you the clever assistant?" Revelin replied as he reached out to ruffle the top of my hair. "To answer your question, yes. They even have necklaces, hair pins, and belts with my special brand of protective spells. I may be one of the more powerful Wanderers out there, but I'm not so careless as not to check in on them once in a while." A frown formed on his face, his first sign of worry. "After all, my spells don't protect them from any mental harm…or worse, emotional wounds."

My eyes widened a bit. "You're worried about the princess with Prince Saul, aren't you?" A half-smile formed on my face. "You really are practically family to them. You are very much the protective Godfather."

"Just keep those thoughts to yourself," my mentor warned. "I have a solitary reputation to uphold."