A Letter From The Palace
"...and the prince slayed the evil dragon, his magic sword gleaming with a godlike light as it pierced the beasts black scales--"
"Greg!"
Greg looked up from his book. Was someone calling him?
"GREG!"
Someone was definitely calling him. But...Greg looked down at his book. The prince was just about to slay the dragon! He couldn't leave now. It was the best part!
"GREGORY LESTRADE!"
Greg winced. Didn't seem like he was going to be able to finish the book just yet. He sighed and stood up, before shoving the book into his bag. "COMING MUM!" He shouted, and started down the hill towards his house, patting llamas on the head as he went. "Sorry fella's, but you know what mum's like. I promise I'll finish the book for you all tomorrow." And with that, Greg made his way through the small apple orchard and into the front garden, where he saw his mum standing impatiently with a letter in her hand.
"Hi mum. Sorry 'bout that, but I was reading to the little 'uns again. It seems to be the only thing that'll calm them down some when they get excited, and what with the thunder storm last night..." He shrugged apologetically.
Her brown eyes softened. "It's alright Greg, I'll get Sally to read to them today. You'll be busy elsewhere, and she's been lazing around the house all morning, mooning about some boy. I'm hoping working will help to knock some sense into her." She rolled her eyes in the direction of the house, and when Greg peeked inside, he saw his younger sister moving slowly about the living room, eyes wide and mournful, a sad tune coming from her lips.
He snorted and turned back towards his mum. "I doubt anything will change it, but you're welcome to try. Is it still the tall one with the blonde hair? Joe McSwoony I think she called him?" Him and his mum giggled for a moment.
His sister's voice came floating out mournfully from the living room. "Joseph McCroody. And no, his name is Phillip Anderson, and he's tall and dark haired and incredibly handsome..." And with that, she went back to humming mournfully under her breath as she contemplated the devastation of her newest love.
Greg and his mum exchanged a look of amusement, both used to Sally's short-lived love affairs with local village boys and gentry alike. And as they never seemed to amount to anything, always happening from a distance as was the norm for shy sixteen year old girls, neither saw any reason to put a stop to them. Sally knew better than to have some tawdry, inappropriate fling with someone, so Greg wasn't really worried. Until a nice, respectable boy or girl came knocking at their door, asking permission to take Sally out on a proper date, both him and his mum knew that Sally wouldn't be doing anything but mooning about with teenage love sickness.
'And that,' Greg thought, 'was perfectly alright with him.'
His eyes caught sight of the letter in his mum's hand again, and he saw his name written on it in flowery black script. "Hey!" he said, pointing down at the letter, "That's my name!"
His mum raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Yes it is. How nice to know you are capable of recognizing your name immediately when it is written down in fancy cursive, but not when it's shouted out at you for an obscure amount of time." She grinned as she waved the letter about.
Greg glared at her, grabbing the letter from her hands. "Is this why you wanted me, then?"
"Well actually, I didn't much want you in the beginning, what with you being such a little terror. But now that you're all grown up and doing lots of manly work around the place, I've decided to keep you. On a completely temporary basis though, so mind your manners."
Greg scoffed to hide his smile. "Oh please, I was an absolute delight. You were ecstatic to have me, what with me being the light of your life and all. The extremely manly work I do now is merely a thank you for having such an amazing mum." He gave her a peck on the cheek as she giggled.
"Flattery will get you everywhere, darling. Although the manner's thing was real, seeing as I wouldn't want you to completely embarrass me at the palace today." She tapped the letter meaningfully.
Greg's eyes went wide as he stared down at the letter in his hands. "You...you mean this is from the palace?" He glanced up to see his mum nod, and his mouth dropped open in surprise.
Surprise which quickly turned to indignation. "Hey! You opened my mail! That's rude! And against the law!"
"Nope."
"Is too! We learnt about it in school!" he glared at her as she shook her head.
"That's not what I meant. I meant that I didn't actually open it."
He looked at her, baffled. "You didn't?" She shook her head again. "Then how'd you know it was from the palace? If it even is from the palace..."
She rolled her eyes and reached over to flip the letter over so the king's red wax seal could be seen. His mouth dropped open again, and he let out a shaky breath. "Blimey..." he muttered, his mind seemingly frozen as he looked down at the king's mark in the wax: a falcon holding a book in its beak and a rapier in its talons. His finger traced the outline of the falcon slowly, as if he needed the physical feel of the wax to convince his brain that it was indeed the king's mark.
"So..." His mum said slowly.
Greg looked up. "So...?"
She looked at him incredulously and crossed her arms. "So! Are you just going to stand there staring as if your life depends on it, or are you going to open the ruddy thing? Cause if you plan on just staring, there are actual things that need actual doing, by actual me. Including making you and your lazy sister lunch."
He laughed. "Sorry. Just a little shocked, I guess."
"No need to apologize, dear. Just get on with it, the suspense is killing me."
"Yeah, that makes two of us..." Greg said quietly, before taking a deep breath and breaking the seal with his nail. 'Well, here goes...' He thought, before opening the top of the envelope and pulling out the thick, cream coloured parchment.