HENRY HAD BEEN FEELING butterflies in his stomach when they had arrived at their house for dinner. It was a long way to the palace, having time for Henry to calm down and think that 'it's just dinner'. Eventually arriving at the palace, the main doors opened and maids and servers greeted them. His hands began to sweat when they entered, anxious if maybe that it was too much for them.
Henry shoved his worries away and took notice of the others: Alejandro who kept bickering with Elijah about something concerning the view; Eric who openly admired the halls, eyes glued to them but restrained his hands from touching and just admiring the crisp white hallways highlighted with royal blue forming the usual pillar pattern; and Anthony, who looked unbothered.
Henry's eyes shifted to Anthony's hands that were trembling and covered from the view of others, except him. He felt the urge to hold Anthony's hand and just hold it. For reassurance purposes. He held hands with him for a split second before Anthony pulled it back and reassured him that he was fine and that he wasn't nervous at all.
"I've watched tons of royalty movies, I can handle myself" Henry chuckled at his reaction, though it was clear to see that he was nervous indeed. Nevertheless, he continued to sneak glances at him.
The door to the dining room opened, revealing a blue-patterned designed wallpaper, leading towards the table where dinner would be served. A picture window in between two pillars revealing a stunning view of the side of the city by the sea. The people on that side had a celebration and gathered by the sea, explaining what all the decorations and lights were all about. Alejandro couldn't hold his excitement in, dropping his jaw and looking amazed. Eric froze from the entrance, clearly mesmerized.
Words weren't enough for Eric to express what he was seeing if he wanted to talk. Anthony's eyes opened, entranced. He ran towards the window with his hands placed on them. Maids and servers looking soft from the reactions of the guests. Even to those who had seen the view more than once it was still stunning. Multiple footsteps, coming from outside, came closer as the others continued to be amazed. The door flew open. The guests' eyes shifted their attention to the King and Queen.
"Hello there," The Queen said, "Welcome to the palace of the Royal Family of Wares". Her shiny silver hair, just like Henry, looked majestic as she greeted. The Queen was fresh-faced and looked younger than her age which makes it an advantage in terms of beauty. Kind eyes smiled at the guests who were in awe meeting the Queen. Henry and Elijah bowed whilst Athena curtsied. Alejandro and Eric followed after. Anthony faced the King and Queen. It was quite rude for commoners to not acknowledge by the Royal Family. Alejandro signaled Anthony to curtsy. Anthony walked towards the King and Queen, stopping at a short distance, and held out a hand.
"It is a pleasure to be in your palace, Your Highnesses," The Queen placed her hand on Anthony's, giving a light kiss on the back of her hand. Henry was dumbfounded by what Anthony did. Is this what you learned from movies? Henry thought.
"My, what a gentleman" She giggled. Anthony had piqued the Queen's interest. First impressions are always important because it gives people an opinion of who you are. The Queen was flattered that a commoner had proper etiquette of a Royal. Though he was a commoner, and not meant to do that, the Queen threw the thought away.
Henry hastily defended Anthony, "I'm sorry Mother. He isn't used to this kind of thing." That earned him a scowl from the King, "It matters not if he isn't used to it, he greeted the Queen respectfully. Despite not being on the same footing." His chiseled face made him look different than usual. His grey hair also shined. Despite being annoyed, his eyes gave the guests a warm welcome. The whole family had eyes as black as a sky without the sun.
"Greetings such as this are rarely practiced, and your mother loves this type of thing" Anthony was also piqued by the King. It was rare to find someone so formal and proper. The King made his way to the other side of the table whilst the Queen sat across. Everyone also made their way to their chair. Henry had sat near his Father, Elijah across. Athena sat near her Mother, Anthony across; Alejandro and Eric sat in between the other, clearly not wanting to talk to the Queen nor King.
"Shall we start dinner?" The Queen did not need to signal anyone for their supper to be placed on the table. A trolley table, delivered by servers, made its way to the table and started to serve their supper. Everyone then started to eat once the King gave thanks to the food.
The Queen conversed with Anthony whilst Athena interrupted to join. The Queen didn't seem to mind Athena butting in while talking to Anthony, she looked like she enjoyed her daughter talking more than often. Athena also introduced Eric and Alejandro to her mother.
For Henry, he thought that it was unusual for his Mother to be more talkative than usual. She spoke a lot about the topic they were on. Henry talked with Elijah and his Father as usual, but it was more about who the guests were. He hadn't felt uncomfortable just nervous, like every time he met someone new.
"They seem like good people" Elijah smiled at the comment, timidly sneaking glances at Alejandro. Henry smirked at the conclusion his mind made and shared it to their half of the table. The King looked at Alejandro, judging him quietly before calling him. He asked about golf, talking about his favorite hobby with Elijah seemed to be just lonely and wanted someone else to talk with him about golf. He also just wanted to see what kind of person Alejandro was. To their surprise, Alejandro was a fan of golf too. It was a back-to-back conversation that lasted the whole first course. He even needed to switch seats with Henry to continue talking without any distractions.
"Got pushed away?" The Queen had asked. Henry turned to the golf lovers and it seemed like it wouldn't finish until it was time for dessert. He shook his head. Athena asked him to join their conversation about him. The Queen wanted to show off how adorable her son was and talked her mouth to the guests. She didn't need the feel to hide anything from them except certain things.
The servers had served them their drink of choice. The King, Queen, and Alejandro had a glass of champagne; Elijah got a glass of wine; Eric asked for some lemonade; Henry and Anthony chose water, and Athena got a mango shake as usual. It was rather rare for them to have delicious mango because they usually got them imported from neighboring kingdoms. They had planned to have a forest of mango trees but that plan was cut short when it rained hard for a week straight. It could've been mango heaven, said Athena.
Henry noticed there were fewer maids and servers around than usual but paid no mind to it, thinking that they were probably on break or vacation which was normal but not many took any. He turned to his Mother who also noticed it but acted as if nothing was wrong.
"The mango shake tastes better than usual," Athena had an inkling of another taste within the shake. "Server" she called. The server who served her shake came to her side.
"Who made my shake? I'm not really familiar with the chefs even though I've lived here" The server had responded with a name, "Chef Dylan" Athena understood. "Please tell him it tastes good as always," before giving him a nod and signaling him to leave the table. She began swirling her shake, staring intensely before taking a sip hesitatingly. It was uncommon for her to finish her drink considering that it was her favorite. Henry became suspicious. He turned to each one of the royal family and noticed their serious look. He wanted to speak up but maybe it was unsafe.
He turned to the servers. Noticing some faint changes in what they were wearing. Every employee had a certain air about them that completely changes what they were wearing and would seem more of an eye-candy. He became conscious of what they were doing and where and what their eyes would look at. Some were where they're supposed to be, while the others are not, meaning they were outsiders. Henry hadn't recognized their faces. Living for 28 years in that palace makes simple things easy to notice.
The Royal family and its staff made a sort of distress signal every time they were in danger but still able to move. It was just tiny differences from the usual. The maid's outfits are usually colored blue with white trim, to match the hallways and a skirt knee-length. Also with a white half-apron covering the front part of the skirt and a ruffled headpiece covered with color blue that, if turned inside out, turns white. The real staff had raised their white half-aprons higher than normal showing the top of their skirt and the headpiece turned white.
The whole family had realized what was happening. They were being spied and attacked, staff included. Henry had always thought it was pointless to remember the details but memorized them anyway and he was grateful for them now. He was always close to the staff and treated them equally. It angered him knowing that they were in danger. Their shoulders all tensed and they began to stop talking.
"May I excuse myself?" Anthony broke the tension. Henry didn't want to let Anthony and the others be hurt so he tried to refuse but it became too awkward. Luckily, Athena had answered quickly before the impostors became suspicious.
"Why don't you take him, brother?" Athena answered. "He doesn't know the palace too well." An imposter interrupted Henry before he answered, "Let me take him to the bathroom. You don't need to trouble yourself, Your Highness"
"Close your mouth" The Queen spoke with a tone, showing her authority. "If my son the Prince wishes to do so, then he does. You shall only speak when you are told to." The guests shifted their eyes to the Queen and shuddered upon hearing her voice. Henry stood up and beckoned Anthony to his side. They made their way to the bathroom.
...
Henry was quiet the whole way to the bathroom. His face showed his concentration. Anthony didn't bother to ask thinking it was just the norm in the palace. He shifted his eyes to the walls and to the passing-by maids. Stares pierced Anthony's back as they arrived at the bathroom.
"Thank you for taking me to the bathroom," Anthony turned the doorknob. Something at the other side sounded like something was taken off. A strong arm grabbed Anthony back away from the door and carried him a few meters away from the bathroom door. Whooshing sounds came from the bathroom and out to the other side, where they were supposed to be.
"Wait Henry," Anthony fought back. "If you didn't want me to visit the bathroom, you didn't have to pull me back". Henry shushed Anthony. He pointed to the wall across the bathroom. Sharp, iron arrows were stuck on the wall. "What is happening?" this time Anthony whispered, taken aback by the sharp arrows.
"The palace is under attack," Faint steps made Henry run and pull Anthony to an unused room nearby. He covered Anthony's mouth and signaled him to not make a noise. Multiple footsteps made their way to the hall, assorted voices spoke and mentioned something about Princess Athena.
Henry softly spoke as the sound of footsteps was gone. "The staff of the castle are held captive," Henry explained. "Everyone in the dining room is in danger, especially Athena, their target."
"We have to go back and help them," It was never smart for anyone to do what Anthony had said. It's even more dangerous if they had done that to save the others. Henry spoke quietly and quickly.
"The attackers probably came in from the staff's room," He continued. "Everything was normal at the entrance. Athena had probably taken care of the imposters in the dining room."
"Didn't Athena think her shake tastes different? Why did she drink it? It might have been drugged." Looking back on it, she hesitated in drinking it. Anthony had felt gazes when they started eating. The food tastes normal and the server who served them was a true staff since the Queen said his name.
"It's the drinks," Henry said. "When Athena had asked who the chef was, it was the chef who normally made her drinks meaning that it was the taste of the drink." Henry sent Elijah a text. He hasn't received a response after 5 mins. "They're in danger," Henry faced Anthony with a worried look but with a little bit of rage.
"We have to get going," Henry stood up and explained the plan of action. Anthony was anxious as well. What would happen to him if Alejandro and Eric were in danger, he would break. A hand came in contact with Anthony's shoulder. Henry reassured him everything would be fine. Anthony reminded himself that each one of them can defend themselves. He knew Elijah would defend Alejandro and Athena to Eric. Though Athena was shorter, she looked capable of fighting someone twice her size.
Sneakily walking to the dining room was difficult. There were more people by every hallway. Henry reminded him that they were all fake and impostors. The door to the dining room was surrounded by at least 10 imposters. Henry tensed when he heard Athena shrieked. It was Anthony's turn to calm him down. Bolting to the room would cause a disaster and reveal themselves.
"We have to get going now," Henry pulled Anthony's hand. They quickly and discreetly power walked to Henry's room. It was a hallway after the other when they finally arrived. There were no people around and how quiet it was made it eerie. He closed the door behind them and gripped Anthony's hand tighter. "We can do this," He encouraged himself. He didn't bother turning on the lights so they worked in the dark.
The grip on Anthony's hand loosened when Henry made his way to a laptop in the drawer. He opened it and got to work. Anthony made himself calm down and wandered around his room. It was the usual palace room for a prince but he had more old papers and journals about different topics.
The stack of books on the table was the only thing making the room even darker. There were more stacks of books placed at the other tables. Heaps of books laid on the floor covered in dust. Anthony glanced at Henry who was typing something and sighed in relief as he stopped. He called Anthony beside him, revealing a screen filled with different hallways. It was a security camera monitor. There were lots of them in different places.
"No one knows who handled the cameras," Henry grinned. "This is what took most of my time as a child. There were lots of fun times." Anthony realized he doesn't know anything about this person at all. Yes, he was a prince but no one knew Henry as a person.
"Let's continue with the plan," Henry concentrated. He searched within the multiple cameras, who the attackers were. When he searched the dining room, his face grimed. Anthony looked at the screen. Dead bodies piled side-to-side, one after the other. Anthony felt his stomach hurt. He couldn't bear to see people's blood on the table cloths, the walls, and the food. He looked closer one more time and realized they were the staff.
"They went somewhere," Henry hopefully said. He continued to search while Anthony checked the outside for anyone who would pass by. It was unusual that anyone wouldn't be there. He turned to Henry and screeched in terror.