The Newest Royal Archivist
The view from the carriage window was amazing. The hills rolling by, those Martin had run through as a kid. He knew them like the back of his hand. The forest behind it was forbidden to him though. He stared out the window, longing to finish the long trip. He could see Palace Magnus not far from where they were. He sat up straight again, and only then realized that the other man was looking at him.
“Is there something wrong?” Martin asked.
“No, Martin. Nothing’s wrong.” The man said.
The man across from him was his father, King Elias. Martin’s mother passed when he was 8, and Elias became both very distraught and also more involved with his son. His mother was buried in the royal cemetery behind the castle. Elias never spoke of her and Martin’s memory of her was very hazy. The carriage pulled up to the palace gates and it came to a stop. The gate creaked open and the carriage started again. It came to a stop a few seconds later and the door opened. Elias gestured to the door and Martin stood up. He climbed out of the carriage and stepped to the side while Elias exited. One of the footmen shut the door behind Elias and climbed back up to his seat as the carriage left the entrance. A woman with orange hair and a jade green pinafore dress was waiting for them. She bowed to them when Elias turned to her.
“Your Highness.” She said. Elias lifted his hand slightly and she stood back up.
“Your Highness, I’d like to discuss a new learning curriculum for Prince Martin.” the woman said.
“Is there something wrong with the current one, Rosie?” Elias asked.
“It seems slightly outdated, but I’d like to add just a few changes.” Rosie said.
“We can discuss that now. I am currently free at the moment.” Elias said.
“Of course. Thank you, your highness.” Rosie said, bowing. Elias turned to a woman behind him.
“Basira, please take Martin up to his room.” Elias said. There was another woman behind him. She was wearing a few pieces of armor, but most of her outfit was indigo. She had a sword in a halter that was clipped to her belt.
“Of course, your highness.” Basira said, bowing. She walked over to Martin and the 2 walked away from Elias and Rosie.
“How are you doing, Basira?” Martin asked. He didn’t like walking in silence with another person.
“I’m doing well, thanks for asking, your highness.” Basira said. They walked in silence for a few more seconds.
“How are you doing?” Basira asked.
“I’m doing okay. I’ve heard that the previous royal archivist was discovered to be the Empress.” Martin said.
“Yes, apparently Her Imperial Highness wanted a break from the royal spotlight.” Basira sighed.
“She was a great friend. I’ll miss speaking to her.” Martin said.
“You could still send her letters. You could also befriend the new royal archivist.” Basira said.
“There’s a new royal archivist?” Martin said.
“Yeah. I’d let him settle in though. He seemed really jumpy and I’m not sure that a noble going to talk to him would help. I felt nervous my first day here and when your brother came to say hi, it felt intimidating. Now I have to go say hi to him to make sure he’s still alive.” Basira said. Martin laughed at her joke. Not one of those polite laughs that nobles did, but not a full on cackle either.
“I think I’ll go say hi to him tomorrow. Thank you, Basira.” Martin said. They had arrived at his room.
“Let me know if you need anything. Goodbye, your highness.” She said, walking away. Martin went inside his room. He sat down on his bed and picked up the book he had been reading.
The streams, flora, and fauna of the magical..
He opened it again to read more from the bookmark. The page he was opened to was sirens. They were beautiful creatures who had some not so beautiful hobbies. Sirens apparently liked to lure people to their very watery deaths, or lure them down to the shore to…do something…drastic… Martin was sure he wouldn’t be inclined to do anything like that with a siren. They liked to both drag sailors to their deaths, but also seemed to sometimes like the sailors and keep them as pets. Martin shuddered at the idea of being lured by a half-fish person who wanted to keep him in a cage. He set the book down and stood up. He walked over to the window. He looked out at the garden below. Sasha spent most of her time there. He could see her there now, caring for the flowers. She refused to leave it to any gardener, but wanted to help out with the flowers, because she liked them. She had a pollen allergy, but that never stopped her. Martin went back to his bed and picked up the book. He brought it over to his desk and flipped through it. He stopped on a page about faeries. It was one of the subtypes, called the dark faery. It was able to trick you easily, as it got close to you so that you trusted it and then it would kill you. Martin got bored of that and flipped back to the siren page. He read a little more about the sirens before closing the book again when he heard a knock on his door. He stood up and opened it to see Rosie.
“Hello, your highness. I’ve come to ask what books you have from the royal library and if I might be able to take those to the new royal archivist. He wants all the currently rented books to be written down first before he makes a complete catalog.” Rosie said.
“I could take them down to the library. I’d love to meet him.” Martin said. Rosie looked like she was struggling for a second, like he had just told her to jump out the window.
“Rosie?” Martin said, waving his hand in front of her face. She blinked.
“Sorry. It’s just that he told me to bring him all the books. He wanted it to be specifically me. Your request conflicts. However, you are the higher power here.” Rosie said.
“How many more stops do you need to make? I can help you carry a few books.” Martin said.
“Oh! Oh no, your highness. There’s no need for that. I have plenty of extra arms currently helping me.” Rosie said. Martin saw the 2 other maids outside the door. Surely all 3 of them weren’t the only ones.
“Rosie. That wasn’t a suggestion.” Martin said flatly. He hated using that tone, but he needed Rosie to know he was being serious. He wanted to help.
“What if your father-” Rosie started.
“If he sees, I’ll tell him exactly what happened. I wanted to help, and I gave the order to let me help.” Martin said. Rosie sighed.
“Alright. Grab the books in your room and we’ll head on over to your brother’s room before we go over to the library.” Rosie said. Martin picked up the books in his room and followed Rosie out the door.They went down a few halls and stopped outside his brother’s room. Rosie knocked on the door and he opened it. Rosie and the other 2 maids bowed.
“Prince Tim. We’re collecting all books to be brought back to the library for the new royal archivist to catalog.” Rosie said. Tim checked but didn’t end up having any books in his room. Rosie and the other 2 bowed as he shut the door. They left for the library after that. They made their way over to the large doors and the other 2 maids opened them. Rosie walked in with Martin behind her.
“We have all the books from Prince Martin’s room. Prince Tim didn’t have any.” Rosie said. The new royal archivist could barely be seen behind the stack of books. He mustn’t have noticed Martin because he didn’t hurriedly stand up to bow to him like the other servants did when they realized he was there. Martin tended to be quieter, so people wouldn’t notice and he’d end up sneaking up on them by accident. Rosie cleared her throat, taking Martin out of his thoughts.
“That’s no way to make a first impression.” She said. Martin wasn’t sure who she was talking to.
“First impression for who?” The archivist asked.
“Why don’t you stand up and take a look.” Rosie sighed. He did. He got up from his chair and Martin saw him in the light. He was tall. Taller than Martin, but much skinner, but in that sort of way that looked like he hadn’t eaten in weeks skinny. Martin half wondered if he had come from a peasant family, but knew his father wouldn’t hire just anyone. This mad had to have gone to college and gotten a degree. Maybe the man was just sleep deprived. He wore a white button up with a green sweater and pants and his long black hair was tied in a ponytail, with a few streaks of gray peeking out. Looking closer, he saw that the man had little patches of skin that were lighter and darker than the tan color of everything else. He had read about it in a book, it was called Vitiligo. The man looked… nice. Martin wanted to get to know him.
“Rosie, I still don’t” The archivist stopped.
“Crown Prince Martin.” Rosie said.
“You can just-” Martin started. Rosie held up her hand to shush him. The archivist gave her a look of disbelief.
“I was his teacher for all of his school years and I’ve been his governess his whole life. I think I know how to get him to not say things he’ll regret.” Rosie said. Martin nodded.
“Well, sorry this got off to a rocky start. I’m Jon.” The archivist said, bowing. Martin raised his hand, as he had seen his father do and Jon rose to stand straight again. Martin sighed.
“Don’t do that again.” He sighed. Rosie laughed.
“He doesn’t really like it when people bow to him.” Rosie said. Jon nodded understandingly.
“Well, if you want any of these books back, come back tomorrow. I’ll have them all organized tomorrow and then I’ll move onto the ones on the shelves.” Jon said.
“Thank you, Jon.’ Martin said. The doors to the library opened and a guard was standing in the doorway.
“Archivist. The king wants to see you.” He said. Jon sighed and followed the guard out. Martin followed Rosie and the other 2 out and they went back towards Martin’s room.
“Dinner will be at 7. Get ready around 6:45.” Rosie said when they got to Martin’s room.
“Alright. Thank you, I will.” Martin said, closing the door. He sat down on his bed and sighed. He’d just met the archivist, and he wanted to know more. He wanted to befriend Jon, and he wanted him to be his closest friend. Martin didn’t know why, but he did.