“I-I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have done that.” Ewen said and quickly cleaned himself, the blonde man’s smile spread on his face, it appeared that he enjoyed Ewen’s fluster and tilted his head, “What do you want?”

“Nothing, just looking at competition, that’s all.”

“Competition?! What the hell are you talking about!” The blonde man laughed.

“Oh, I know all about the scribes in the palace, they frequent my bedchambers from time to time, lusty little things.” Ewen quickly wiped the remaining soap off him, he didn’t want conflict and certainly not in a bath.

“I’m…not interested!” Ewen panicky reply made the boy laugh harder.

“Do you think I’m a whore?”

“I don’t think you’re anything, as I didn’t ask.” There was only one way in and out of the bath and the blonde man was blocking the way out.

“Okay, then–who am I?”

“Why are you asking me this? What is the purpose?” And now the blonde man was quiet, Ewen reached for his tunics. 

“I am whatever Lord Rose wants me to be, he loves me deeply.” The blonde man kept his smile and studied Ewen carefully, taking a lock of his brown hair and sniffed it. “Who am I?”

Ewen remained still, trying to figure out what exactly was going on with this strange man. Lord Rose was a noble that he had little contact with and that was due to Praetor Ludwig keeping him in the libraries and used other scribes for transcription duties but even he knew that he couldn’t keep Ewen away from the court forever. 

If this man was associated with Lord Rose or perhaps his lover, then why was he with that larger man in the shed? Unless…he wasn’t supposed to be.

“Nobody.” Ewen said flatly, “You’re nobody.” and the blonde man gently caresses Ewen’s cheek, he moved so fast that Ewen had no time to react.

“You smell nice.” And the blonde man walks away leaving Ewen completely confused by the whole interaction, there were games the court played and Ewen thought that he could avoid them but this was the reality. 

Ewen needed to secure his station or he feared that he might one day find himself a ‘nobody’. 

The castle was busy with preparations for the Blessings Festival, servants rushing to and fro and Ewen tried to keep himself out of the way for the most part, most scribers where with their Praetors and detailing news from the Southern Lands, King Cronhe was not pleased with the progress as the rulers of that land were not yielding to his force. It had been years since this war for conquest began, so many lives were lost for no more than a few settlements and duchies. But King Cronhe was adamant, he wasn’t going to have his last war end in failure.

Most of the concerns were about securing an heir. The king only had one son but he was banished, his title stripped and no one knew where he currently was. Ewen didn’t know who the former prince was as his name was never mentioned in the palace.

What the nobles were hoping however was that King Cronhe would have one last escapade before he dies, if not, there was going to be a power struggle and Lir would be in the middle of it. 

Ewen carried three large history books from the royal libraries up the winding stairs to Praetor Ludwig’s study. It was the place with the most light in the palace and was surrounded by his master’s plants and songbirds. When he was still a little boy, he’d carry his small picture books up the stairs to have Ludwig read to him. Ewen wheezed as he reached the last step and wiped the sweat off his brow when he could hear voices coming from inside his master’s room and gently knocked on the door.

“Master? May I come in?” Ewen asks and shifts the weight of the books on his thighs, the voices paused and Ewen pressed his ear on the door. He couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, “Master? Is this an inappropriate time?”

“O-oh! Ewen! Forgive me!” Ludwig shouted from inside the room and quickly shuffled to open the door for his apprentice, “Please come in!” 

“Thank you, I was going to stay in the library but-” Ewen looked around expecting to see another person but Ludwig was alone, “I…didn’t want to disturb you…”

“Oh, no no, I was just talking to my plants.” And Ludwig limped to his messy table of herbs and assorted pottery, “I’m beginning to think they don’t like what I have to say most days.” Ewen placed his books on the cleanest spot on the table, he could’ve sworn that there was someone or someones in this room with his master. “It brings me joy to see you so prepared for this Blessings Festival, I have nothing but the utmost confidence in you…despite your uh-eagerness to apply your imagination.” 

“Don’t worry master, I promise I won’t stray too far from the original story.” Praetor Ludwig placed his hand on Ewen’s head and kissed it gently, “Oh! I forgot the tea.”

“sigh You always do!” Ludwig laughed and made his way to the small hearth, “You know Ewen, when I’m gone you’ll have to prepare your own tea.” 

“Y-yes, master.” Ewen looked around Ludwig’s study and did a bit of tidying, gathering the scrolls and books, moving them out of his master’s path and clearing out the various crumpled parchments to dispose later. Dangling charts of the stars and globes, ancient maps, diagrams of flora and fauna. One day, this room would be his but that would mean Ludwig would be dead and Ewen didn’t want to imagine his life without him but knew it was only a matter of time. Praetor Ludwig was one of the oldest Praetors in the palace, he understood his morality more than anyone and was doing everything he could to ensure that Ewen would be taken care of when he passed. 

A small brown puff chirped underneath a pile of scrolls and Ewen recognized it as a sparrow and surprisingly…a fox. It was such a strange sight to behold, Ewen never saw a living fox before and Ludwig never kept animals in his study due to the mess they made. Ewen softly petted the small fox and the sparrow wiggled awake, releasing a ‘cheep’ before going back to sleep. 

Ewen placed the scrolls back over the little creatures and returned to his chair as Ludwig poured the tea. 

A strange and quiet morning.