I followed him to our destination, which wasn't very far. We walked in comfortable silence, sticking to the path by the lake. As we did, I studied him out of the corner of my eye. He stood at my height with pale skin, his hair, parted in two thick bangs in the middle, was orange – the light bouncing off of it making it look like the color of a pure sunset. His eyes were that as well, a bright orange that would shine whenever he tried to make you laugh.
Which he did often. From what I could gleam off of our first impressions was that Jude was a very unusual king, a pattern I found that would follow for the other kings.
He was very candid with his people, those who lived in the Green Gallows of Sun-Glint. They were alchemists, common folk, and temps. The latter was a term used for those trapped here who weren't originally citizens of Sun-Glint. If they didn't claim a permanent citizenship then they'd be called temps. Temps were special in a way that they would have documents provided to them the day the curse was lifted, each addressed to a given institution or person of their choice to explain their hundreds of years of absence. Jude's division of the kingdom dealt with this, which was why I was sent there first.
Caught between the choice of temp and permanent citizen, I was going to be given a tour of Sun-Glint, introduced to the various jobs I could take, and an audience with the kings before I could decide. In truth, I was anxious about both of those choices. If I took the offer of being a permanent citizen, I'd be stuck in Sun-Glint even when the curse lifted – whenever that would be, seeing as the curse had stayed for the last hundreds of years. I'd probably be dead by that time since I wasn't immortal. I did not want to be chained to one place until my second passing, seeing as this was my second chance at life – I wanted to go back home to Earth, I had left far too many things unsettled there.
However, if I did choose to be a temp I would have to tell them who the letter would be sent to. If they checked the records and found that Earth did not exist on any registry, any list, any history book of Planetarium – they'd no doubt question me. Questioning could lead to distrust, me slipping on a lie at some point, and then interrogation. They had magic for goodness sake, who knows what they'd do to me to find out? How they'd pick me a part, bone by bone, layer by layer of skin to find out who I was?
What would they do if they found out I was human?
What would they do, if they used some truth potion on me and asked what I did on Earth? Would they banish me if they found out? Set me to death? Perhaps even use me as a –
"Miss Lavy," Jude's voice came again, snapping me out of my reverie. "We're here, are you ready for your first day as an alchemist?"
We were standing in front of the main building for alchemists, The Apple of The Green Gallows. The Apple actually constituted for the whole estate. A sprawling mansion-like facility with hundreds upon thousands of tall windows that would catch the sunlight in the clearing it sat upon. There were hundreds of gardens inside with all manner of flora, taken care of naturally by the nearby lake's waters. They were funneled into the facility through small channels that ran around and under the buildings. The main building itself had a robin blue roof and cracked cobblestone walls, vegetation growing in between brick and stone – vines and wildflowers coating the exterior as moss grew on the large rocks that formed at its base.
It was beautiful – dilapidated like the rest of the Green Gallows, but still beautiful.
We came through the large, chipped, emerald double doors, walking first into the foyer. Two large mahogany staircases were on each side, leading up to the second level where the entrance to the alchemists' room was.
Jude scratched his neck, looking a bit awkward as he didn't make any move to escort me upstairs. Taking this as a sign where we would part ways, I fumbled to say goodbye – did they curtsey here? But then again, I heard that Jude was rather casual with his people – but I wasn't his people, would he rather I treat him more distantly?
"Your Highness –"
"Miss Lavy –"
We both paused for a moment before I spoke, "My apologies for cutting you off –"
"No, no! It's fine, it's just –" he paused again, rubbing his neck. "You know you don't have to call me Your Highness, right?"
"… um?"
"It's just been, like, what – six hundred, five hundred years since anybody has called me that? You're very formal with me, which is nice, you know, respectability and all that. But there's no reason to be. I know you certainly didn't treat Avery, the person who had tended to you, that way," He shrugged, maintaining that hopeful cadence, "Just call me Jude."
I certainly didn't know how to react to that.
"Forgive me," I said, fumbling a bit. "It's just that the country I was from had it be a mandate I treat all royal family members that way, I'm just used to it I guess."
"Yes, yes I understand but this is a new place." He said, smiling a nervous yet eager smile, his eyes wandering around the room. "And I was wondering – hoping, that you could maybe ease off of it, a bit?"
"If that's what you want, then of course Your – I mean, Jude." I scratched my neck, awkward, "In turnm could you drop the miss? Lavy is just fine."
"Good with me!" he laughed, sounding relieved.
I hummed, wondering why we were still standing there.
"One last thing though," he said. "If possible, could we be friends?"
Dumbfounded. I was dumbfounded at that. A king, wanting to be friends with me – a stranger in their kingdom? Does anyone ask such a thing so soon in meeting them? Weren't friendships developed over time, rather than someone asking to be your friend on the get-go? Not that I'd know, I'd only had one friend before coming to Sun-Glint. Sad, I know.
"Uh."
"If you don't mind, of course. It's just I'm the king and I know everyone and I would like to think I'm friends with everyone, if not most people at least. And I must confess, it'd be nice to speak to someone new." He explained, rushed. "I'm sorry, have I made you uncomfortable?"
Uncomfortable, he said. As if waking up in a strange world after a coma, two days of complete mental shutdown, and the question of a king wanting to be your friend wasn't something that screamed 'uncomfortable'.
Yet still, at least he was trying to be kind. So, I lied.
"No," I said. "Not at all. I'm just still reeling from everything."
"Please, take your time – I'm so sorry. I should've kept my mouth shut," he said, smiling boyishly apologetic at me. "The room is just up there; would you like me to escort you in?"
I could hear clamor coming from that room and knew more unwanted attention would be drawn to me if I walked in with the literal king of the Green Gallows.
"No, it's alright I can manage going up myself." I paused, wanting to bow but opted for a nod. "Thank you for your hospitality and your time, your – I mean, Jude."
His smile turned soft as he regarded me in a rather truthful contentedness, "It was my pleasure, Lavy. I'll come pick you up after your first day for tea with the kings to discuss your arrangements with us, I'll see you then?"
I nodded, "I'll see you then."
"Have a good day," he nodded, still smiling gently, and left me to go upstairs.