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“…Therefore, I shall present you with the unabridged history of myself and Her Majesty, Queen Celene,” Lady Aphros declared to the two servants.
“Lady Aphros, that has nothing to do with what we were talking about,” Serena pointed out. The maid looked to her peer for support, but she knew Orion tended to fold to Aphros’s whims.
“Lady Aphros, are we even allowed to hear Her Majesty’s past in such detail?” Orion asked a reasonable question, unfortunately…
“Who cares?” Aphros chirped. The blonde noble was not known to be the reasonable type. Serena was convinced Aphros would one-day spill secrets to them that could end dynasties and upend all of society on a whim.
“May I ask why you feel the need to share this information?” Serena redirected the conversation.
“I think you two have become uncertain in your place in the world, and it would do you well to learn how I made it from my humble beginnings to today,” Aphros revealed. “You see it all began when I was but a humble maid in service to Her Majesty, back when she was still Princess Celene.”
‘I’m sorry, what?’ The idea that Aphros was a maid hit Serena like a ton of bricks. ‘That explains some things, but raises infinitely more questions.’
“I was put in her service when she was but 11 years old, only a few years older than our own Princess Irene,” Aphros continued. “I had just turned 13, and as was customary for branch families in high noble society at the time, was sent to be one of many servants to the royal family…”
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…It was a different time. Good help was so hard to find, so where better to find servants than High Noble families? Alas, as a member of a branch family, I was destined to be nothing more than a servant of royalty. To dream of an actual title or status would be foolhardy, but I was still a child then, so such things didn’t matter to me. I was more excited to work for a girl close to my age, even more so when I was made her personal attendant. I thought my days from then on would be simple and elegant service to my dear Princess Celene until my hair turned grey, but then I met her.
Princess Celene was nothing like her daughters in her own youth. She was melancholic, polite, and quiet. She lived in the shadow of her legendary mother and soon-to-be legendary older sister. All the attention in the old kingdom was focused on them, while the Princess, in her own words, was “nothing more than a spare.”
I still remember the first day we met, I came to her room to introduce myself one night and found her sitting in the dark staring out her tall window at the full moon. As I saw her there, bathed in the moon’s light, I saw the most beautiful soul, one whose side I’d want to stand by for the rest of eternity.
“Your Highness,” I called out to her, “I am Aphros of House Bacchus, and I am to be your attendant from now on.” She looked back at me with those wonderful eyes of hers, filled with wisdom beyond her years. When we locked eyes, we both smiled, and thus was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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“Wait, wait, the Queen’s older sister and mother? Why does nobody talk about them?” Serena inquired, “And this story is sounding a little…”
“All things in good time, Serena,” Aphros shushed her. “Now, back in the day…”
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…There was a more rigid structure around the royal family. Celene’s older sister was granted four attendants, or rather, retainers, which would be the more apt term, from the four most significant high noble families of the time. They had been with her since she was but a babe, but Celene had to wait, and technically, she only got one retainer. I’m sure you can guess who that was…
(“Was it Aré?”)
Yes, it was Aré, and the two were inseparable best friends from the start. It helped that Aré was from a proper high noble family, so she could tutor our young princess in courtly manners. Ze was assigned her bodyguard, although she was only 14 at the time, so it was more of a favor to Ze’s family (they were distant cousins, you see, on Celene’s father’s side, I think). Herme was Celene’s academic tutor, and they’d spend hours in the library reading romance and adventure stories hidden behind their textbooks.
(“Are you going somewhere with this?”)
Of course I am, just be patient…Now, where was I? Oh yes, so while the four of us weren’t really Celene’s retainers, I’d like to think, for all intents and purposes, we were. And it was an incredible seven years we stood by her side until the dark times came.
While Celene’s mother and sister were beloved by many, there were always those who didn’t see it the same way. Jealous, ugly souls who believed themselves to be the true rightful heirs to the throne when they themselves were nothing but descendants of pretenders. It was an ugly conflict, I had to watch my own family turn on my Princess, but I stood by her side through the thick of it. So did Celene’s older sister and her retainers. Alas, neither they nor the rest of the royal family would live to see the end of that ugly war.
Celene always saw herself as a spare, nothing more than a backup plan in case misfortune befell her sister. Now, misfortune had befallen the whole kingdom, and while our foes may have been defeated, she was a princess without a kingdom to rule. But even in the wake of its destruction, Princess Celene would not falter. She would rebuild her land, and truly earn the title of Queen!
Now for Act II, we begin in a humble hamlet where Celene began to plot her next move-
(“What do you think you’re doing?”)
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The story was brought to an abrupt halt as Lady Aré appeared behind Aphros. The blonde noble’s pupils went wide, while her smile remained painted on.
“Aré, how long have you been here?” Aphros squeaked.
“When you first started spouting nonsense about you being a maid,” Aré glared daggers at her peer. “If you insist on telling the history of our kingdom, I would prefer that you not tell complete and total fabrications of past events.”
‘I figured,’ Serena rolled her eyes.
‘It wasn’t real?’ Orion was disappointed.
“Oh, don’t be like that, Aré. I only exaggerated a little for dramatic effects,” Aphros laughed.
“First off, you were never a maid or part of a branch family,” Aré corrected. “In fact, if I recall correctly, your first words to Celene were, ‘and be second fiddle to you for the rest of my life? No thanks,’ and you walked off into the night.”
“Well, I mean, that’s one way-” Aphros tried to defend herself.
“Besides, neither you, me, Herme, nor Ze met Her Majesty until we were adults,” Aré continued. “Also, your family could never turn on Celene’s mother because you founded your noble family long after you met Celene’s mother, and we didn’t even meet her mother until years after we met Celene. And don’t talk about the conflicts with the pretenders like you were there, because you weren’t.”
“You act like I never met them,” Aphros huffed.
“Yeah, long after the fact,” Aré snapped. “And as for the stuff about the older sister…” Aré looked at their audience. “You know what? Let’s continue this elsewhere. I don’t want to say anything improper in front of the workers.” Aré grabbed Aphros’s ear and began to drag her away.
“So, it was all nonsense? Their meeting, the history, Lady Ze being Celene’s cousin?” Serena exclaimed.
“Actually, the Lady Ze thing was true,” Aré corrected as she dragged Aphros out the door.
“Oh, I guess that makes it alright then,” Serena scoffed. “Come on, Orion, we have duties to attend to.”
“And it was just getting interesting, too,” Orion sighed.
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“I can’t believe you,” Aré dragged Aphros into a private room. “How often do I have to tell you to stop filling people’s heads with nonsense.”
“I’d like to think I’m improving history with a more artsy take,” Aphros countered.
“That’s called historical revisionism, something the pretenders were very guilty of, remember?” Aré glared. “But beyond all that, if you’re going to tell complete lies, stop seeding them with grains of truth.”
“Well, I thought mentioning the Queen’s feelings toward her family would be-” Aphros attempted to explain herself.
“No, the Queen’s relationship with her family is for her to reveal, not you, so stop telling everyone who will listen her private information,” Aré warned. “Especially about her…older sister…”
“I mean, it’s not wr-” Aphros opened her mouth.
“I don’t care. It’s not a matter people as young as them should concern themselves with,” Aré shook her head. “They may learn one day, but that day is not today. So, drop it, or I’ll drop you out the tenth-floor window again.”
“Okay, okay,” Aphros held up her hands. “I just wanted to tell them a fun story, but I’ll stop.”
“No, Aphros, it’s not a fun story,” Aré shook her head.
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You should always appreciate the past for what it is instead of what you wish it to be. As much as you may want history to be this fantastical story, the truth is simultaneously better and worse than you could possibly imagine.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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