Chapter I|II|III|IV|V|VI|VII|VIII|IX|X|XI|XII|XIII|XIV|XV|Setting
Shorts: I|II|III
In a possible future, in a world not unlike our own, one single kingdom rose as the dominant and only power. It was an ethereal realm with castles made of gemstone and technology so great it was indiscernible from magic. A land where humanity had advanced so far that to live in comfort and excess was the standard, and a life of hard labor and servitude was a rarity. It was known as the kingdom of Celene.
To be a worker or servant in this kingdom was a special privilege. They were the 1% who slaved their lives away so others may prosper. Alas, to be a worker was not a simple choice but a burden granted at birth. As in our time, where to be noble meant to be part of a family lineage, in this kingdom, a worker was a sort of birthright. Grand worker families spread their branches across the domain. To be born in one meant a life of hard work and labor, no matter your personal opinion.
However, their best and brightest were chosen for the highest of honors. To be personal servants for the eternal royal family that ruled this ethereal kingdom. Among those best and brightest exists one family. For generations, that family has held the grandest honor of being the only ones allowed to attend the Queen and her daughters. However, such an exclusive honor can create odd results in exceptional circumstances. Such abnormal results greatly influenced the life of the young woman Serena Diane. Suddenly thrust from her life as an average girl into one as the personal maid to the kingdom’s youngest princess. Such a life should be one of poise, elegance, and formality. Alas, Serena is not so lucky, as the Queen, princesses, and high nobles are anything but…
<<<~--~>>>
Controlled Explosive (Temper)
(This story takes place not too long after Chapter XV)
“I think you need to learn to control your temper,” the Queen advised Lady Aré, “again.” The monarch and the noble had situated themselves in one of the castle’s distant spires for a private lunch. While the two’s meal had primarily been filled with pleasant, albeit meandering, chat, suddenly Celene found the need to dispense advice.
“If this is about Aphros, she antagonized me first,” Aré asserted.
“I don’t care who started it. Besides, it’s not just Aphros,” the Queen shook her head. “It’s the servants too…and the other nobles…and the citizens…and I think I saw you attacking a bird last week.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll control my temper,” Aré acquiesced.
“Even if they deserve it,” the Queen clarified.
“Even if they deserve it,” Aré sighed.
Aré marched down the halls of the palace with her usual prideful step. She had a great deal of work that needed to be done: pose for a statue, organize her next speech, write her (12th) debut single…oh, and there was that religious festival coming up. The noble briefly contemplated that she should probably prepare for that but decided she’d do it later.
‘Busy, busy, busy, that’s me,’ Aré affirmed to herself. However, being so thoroughly lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice she was on a collision course with an equally distracted servant. The two crashed into each other’s shoulders, both being knocked off balance.
“Watch where you’re going you-!” Jace[1] snapped before realizing who he was talking to. The blonde butler immediately changed his tone, “ah, Lady Aré, I hope you are unharmed.”
“Unharmed! Maybe you should-!” Aré began one of her usual tirades until the image of the Queen’s disappointed face flashed in her mind. “It’s no great matter. Continue as though nothing happened,” the noble shook her head and moved on.
‘That…that just happened,’ Jace was in shock. ‘Maybe, she was in a good mood?’
<<<~--~>>>
Aré passed through the dining hall. She had often considered it for the location of her (12th) debut concert. However, she decided that the room, and its 4,000-meter-long dining table, weren’t big enough. The noble sighed, she never thought it’d be so challenging to find the right place. Alas, it would be an important event, and it only deserved the best location.
However, as the redhead contemplated, a new distraction presented itself. Princess Irene burst into the room, on stilts no less, while spinning (very expensive looking) plates on sticks. Serena raced in after her seconds later, even more, exasperated than usual.
“Princess, please stop,” the maid requested, “and when you do, tell me where you found those stilts.”
“Found um’,” the princess replied, but the momentary distraction caused her to drop one of the plates. Serena dived for the fine platter and caught it just in time, only for the second to fall and smash to pieces right in front of her.
“This can’t get any...” Serena’s heart dropped as she realized Aré was in the room, “...worse.”
“You…” Aré felt herself wind up. She didn’t know quite how expensive that plate was. But that, on top of allowing the princess to enact such a dangerous stunt, felt like perfect justification in the noble’s eyes to get mad. However… “Are doing the best you can,” Aré managed to calm herself. “Princess, please head the maid’s request and come down from there.”
“Ah, but I was just starting to have fun,” Irene pouted.
“Come down this instant, young lady,” Aré glared. While she couldn’t yell or get mad, the Queen didn’t say she couldn’t be stern.
“Alright,” the princess agreed. A moment later, Serena appeared beside the princess in mid-air, grabbed her, and brought her down to the floor. Thankfully, when the stilts crashed to the ground with no wearer, they caused no damage.
“Try to be more careful next time,” Aré declared and walked out of the room.
“Auntie is being weird,” the princess commented.
“Yes, she is,” Serena nodded. ‘Not that I dislike the change, but there’s no way this can last.’
<<<~--~>>>
Aré was feeling good about herself, more so than usual. She had successfully bottled up her anger twice already, despite some exceptional (and not so exceptional) circumstances. Perhaps controlling her temper would be far easier than the noble could ever expect. Nothing could stop her now.
“Hi, Aré!”
Except, of course, the obvious.
“Hello, Lady Aphros,” Aré could feel her blood pressure rising. To be fair, the blonde noble had not done anything yet. Still, Aré knew Aphros never approached in such a chipper mood unless she either A: Had done something wrong and was trying to appear innocent or B: Was about to do something wrong and wanted to sweet-talk Aré into participating.
“Oh, someone’s in a good mood today,” Aphros laughed. “You didn’t yell my name, throw things at me or accuse me of malicious intent,” the noble commented before tilting her head innocently. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’ve never…felt…better,” Aré seethed. ‘No, control yourself. This is your final test. If you can keep your cool around Aphros, you can do anything…Although, that wouldn’t be the first time I’ve thought that…’
“Well, that’s good cause I was thinking,” Aphros began, pulling out a rolled-up piece of paper.
‘Oh no,’ Aré felt her chest tighten.
“Your (12th) debut is coming up, and I had the perfect idea for your costume,” Aphros rolled out the paper. Upon it was a rough sketch of the most incredibly frilly and gaudy outfit ever conceived. “You need some real pizzazz to wow that audience. Take it from me. I was in showbiz too, once upon a time.”
‘Don’t get mad, don’t let her get to you. It doesn’t bother you,’ Aré chanted to herself.
“Also, as much as you need to stretch your musical talents, I think you should leave your debut song to more experienced hands,” Aphros wagged her finger. “So, I took the liberty of writing several for you, sung and recorded by yours truly. Pick your favorite!” The blonde presented a very vintage-looking cassette tape. Yes, you read that correctly.
‘Where did you even find that!’ Aré screamed internally. ‘Those haven’t been around for…No, it doesn’t bother me. I’m totally calm.’
“Course, if this doesn’t suit your taste, we could always lean into your...um...brutish image,” Aphros lowered her voice. “Have you ever considered heavy metal? Cause I got a costume for that too, and I’ve always wanted to try writing one of those songs. This way, we’ll both learn something.”
‘She’s trying to be helpful, in her own stupid—incredibly stupid—way,’ Aré was literally steaming. ‘But despite all that, I won’t let her bother me.’
“Just stick by me, Aré. If you follow my lead, I’ll make sure this debut won’t embarrass you like the last eleven did,” Aphros laughed. “Number seven will always be my favorite. I can’t believe they actually threw tomatoes at you; your singing wasn’t that bad.”
“That’s it!” Aré finally caved. “You ignorant, ignoble, ignoramus. Do you ever stop talking! You don’t know anything about entertainment, or song writing or even speaking properly, you, you ******** $$$$$$$ &&&&&&& you here me you *($(##)#%**)%# piece of @*%*%@*)%# go #)*#@)%*@)*%#)*#)@%)*@*%*#*%#)%*)#@%*%#)*#@*)#%*@@% *)*#%*)*)*)**)!*)$*)$*)@@*)!%*)%#)**)#%)%*)%!#*)#)*%*@)!*)*!*!@*$)*%_*%!_*%*_%*_)#)%*_%#!*_%_!*%*%_#_*!*_%!_*%!#%*!*!_%_*%!_*!%*!*_*!_)_%**%*_!%_*%*!__!*%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Aré’s profanity-laden rant would continue for two straight hours, Aphros remaining a captive audience too stunned to reply. Meanwhile, the Queen watched from the shadows, concern painted upon her face.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have encouraged Aphros,” Celene realized. “Aré just wasn’t ready for such a challenge. I’ll get her some cake and tea as an apology.” Alas, despite good intentions, Aré’s not so little rant would echo through the halls (and gossip) of the palace for a good many years. It would be a long time before she’d ever get that mad again, but that’s a story for another time.
<<<~--~>>>
Her Freedom
(This story takes place after Chapter XV)
Serena laid back on her bed, her eyes scanning her meager room for the hundredth time that hour. The maid hadn’t gotten a real day off in months. Now that it had come, she was too exhausted to do anything. She pawed at her phone; the device was an older cyber crystal touch screen model. It was normally thin as paper but automatically adjusted its size and thickness to fit the grip of the current user. Serena scrolled through her old contacts, briefly contemplating reaching out to some old friends or acquaintances.
‘As if,’ Serena sighed and put the device aside. Thanks to her recent, inexplicable and unwanted fame, the maid had grown more reluctant to even talk to her old friends. ‘I just want to relax, but I know It’d just be question after question. What’s the palace like? What’s the princess like? Have you met the Queen? Lord, it’d be relentless.’ Serena groaned.
The raven-haired girl hadn’t so much as spoken to her mother in the past month either. At first, she was concerned that some remaining followers of Adonis would crawl out of the woodwork and come after her mother in retaliation for Serena’s part in the madman’s downfall. However, after some assurance from Aphros and several stories from her mother about persistent reporters, Serena realized they’d be the least of her problems.
‘You know, I never thought about it, but how well do I know these people?’ The maid scrolled through her contacts again. The names were familiar, and the memories were there, but the people behind them seemed to blend together. ‘Allison…she was part of the tennis team at school, she tried to recruit me too…I wasn’t very good.’ Serena swiped over to another name. ‘Mary…I shared a class with her every year for five years straight…but I wouldn’t say she was my best friend or anything.’ The young woman scrolled again. ‘Penelo…who the heck is that?’
“Oh, forget it,” Serena placed her phone aside and pulled up her covers, “I’m too tired to look up old friends.” The maid unconsciously closed her eyes, and before she could even realize it, she fell asleep. The raven-haired girl dreamed vividly of her old schools, teachers and classmates, former jobs, friends, and enemies. She remembered a girl she played with for only a day. She recalled her first crush and reminisced about a few friends that moved away.
Within the dream, Serena hadn’t realized it, but she smiled. She smiled and laughed as she played in the field outside her old school. The raven-haired girl skipped through the countryside, joined by old and new friends alike. Allison and Mary were there, but so were Orion, Atlanta, and Irene. Serena couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun, the last time she felt so free. Then…
“Wah?” Serena felt her instinct flare-up, but it was nothing more than a false alarm. It was a phantom sensation, like feeling your phone vibrate when it’s not even in your pocket. Alas, the surge of alertness broke her from her dream, and now she was wide awake. “Gah, what time is it?” She snatched her phone. Checking the clock, she learned it had not even been an hour. Again, the maid laid back down, but now she could no longer lull herself to sleep.
“Damn,” Serena sat up, pressing her hand against the wall. Sometimes it felt like the palace’s walls grew just a little bit thicker every day. It was obviously her imagination, but the sensation grated at her like no other. “I think I’ll just take a walk…a long one.” The maid hopped to her feet and hurried out of the room. She wandered the palace grounds until long after the sun had set, then returned to her room at an early hour. The maid had a long day tomorrow and many more ahead of it. That dream she had, it had never felt so distant before.
<<<~--~>>>
An Ounce of Honesty
“Be honest with me,” the Queen looked down at her youngest daughter, “did you break it?”
“Umm,” Irene fidgeted as she gazed up at her mother. The monarch seemed to tower over the young princess, or, at least, that’s how Irene felt. The little girl wasn’t brave enough to meet her mother’s stare and instead glanced towards the shattered vase. “Serena did it.”
“And?” Celene pressed further.
“Umm, she didn’t do it on purpose?” Irene guessed what answer her mother was looking for.
“Try again,” the Queen shook her head.
“Well, there was a juggling monkey,” Irene explained. “He attacked Serena while she was sweeping. I scared him away by yelling really loud.”
“Uh huh,” the Queen smiled and shook her head.
“Serena chased him, but then he came back riding a horse,” the princess revealed. “He chased her until she came back with a bigger horse and armor and scared him off. Then they ran all around the halls until the monkey kicked Serena into the vase.”
“What a mildly interesting scenario,” the Queen giggled.
“Serena got mad, but then the monkey attacked with an army of zombies and…” Irene continued.
“Alright, that’s enough, young lady,” Celene stopped the child. “As entertaining and absurd our lives can be, I’d think we’d know about a juggling monkey necromancer with a vendetta against Serena. Now be honest with me. Did you break it?”
“I am being honest,” Irene whined.
“Alright, I’m going to turn around now, and if I see the monkey, I’ll believe you,” Celene promised and turned around. The hall was empty and quiet, with no monkeys or zombie armies to be seen. ‘Oh good, because normally this is the part where her absurd story is real, and I look like a-’
“Aaaaahhh!” Serena came screaming down the hall on the back of a mighty steed, half suited up in damaged armor. Chasing after her, hot on her tail, was a legion of the living dead, a small juggling monkey perched on the shoulders of one at the front.
“Well, I’ll be,” the Queen accepted this fantastical scene before her. “Irene, you were honest after all. Thank you for that. I’m going to go help Serena now.”
“Okay. Can I watch?” The princess asked with big puppy dog eyes.
“Sure,” the Queen took her daughter by the hand, and they skipped after the zombie horde. Serena made it out of the ordeal unharmed, albeit traumatized (but no more than usual). The zombies were put back to eternal rest without incident. The monkey was locked in the royal zoo alongside a cast of equally bizarre and dangerous animals. Irene was awarded candy for her honesty, while Serena was given much-needed therapy.
May This Fantasy Continue A Little Longer…
[1] Remember him? From Chapters X, XI and XII. He was that jerk butler who attacked Serena for seemingly no reason.
Controlled Explosive (Temper) was probably my favorite to write, but Her Freedom was a close second.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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