Arcel slides through the entrance of his clothes chamber with a skip in his steps. He was estatic, on top of the moon, tapping his feet to the beat of folk songs jamming his head. The delirium had got to him for he was absolutely stoked to lend clothes to friends.
The room was crescent in shape with clothed mannequins lining up the space in semi-circles, one placed higher than the one immediately in front of it. Arcel let his eyes wander over richness for a wholesome minute.
For the first time in his small forever, Arcel would be sharing all that he had. His cyan eyes sparkled at the sight of his best party robes dressing a mannequin to decency. One of them was a rich purple in pristine condition with sparkling cufflinks and brooches attached to it. He giggled, giddy as his small hands try to strip the mannequin off its lavish decency.
"It would be perfect for Iris!" He whispers a giggle and forces the clothes off as messily as one amature could. Piling them up in a corner, he turns around to survey the semi circle of mannequins wherein the funeral robes catch his attention.
"Yes! I know you are calling out for Vasil!" Arcel chirps, skipping to the mannequin and dancing with its black overcoat. The expensive black velvet of the outfit would be a perfect fit for Vasil's dark demeanor, Arcel thought with a clap and proceeds to strip the mannequin off its clothing rights.
Collecting both the piles of clothes in his arms, which consequently blocks his line of sight, Arcel blindly waddled his way to his bathchambers.
Vasil and Iris were still in the pool, resting on opposite ends, sighing as the itch was subdued with the warmth of the water and the marigold essence took them over and beyond in thoughts. Aurora giggles and splashes around in mirth, over dreams of treasures and freedom, in one corner of the pool.
Vasil, on the other hand, sits awfully still with a smallest ghost of a smile gracing his lips. Arcel walks up to him and stands behind his back, bending over to face Vasil directly and breaks the silence.
"Does no magic make you smile? Are you allergic to happiness?" Arcel asks, blinking as Vasil opens his golden eyes and stares at Arcel's up-side-down grin.
"Yes, I become incoherent, akin to the common imbeciles that surround me on a daily basis," Vasil replies somberly.
Arcel nods in reverse, still bent.
"Clothes?" Vasil questions.
"Will you strip for me?" Arcel grins cheekily, dropping his funeral set on Vasil's head and letting the ravenette fall into momentary panic of trying not to let the fresh clothes fall into the pool. Vasil ignores Arcel's innocent request, piling up the clothes in his arms whilst muttering, "What did I do to deserve this?"
The brunette looks up to Iris instead.
"Iris, catch!" Arcel giggles out a shout, throwing the pile of clothes over the three meter long pool in order to reach a now flabbergasted Iris scrambling through the water to catch the falling pile.
"You're miserable, Arcel Maynard." Aurora grits out.
"It's fun though!" Arcel exclaims a shout.
Unfortunately for her, Arcel was a bad thrower and the many many pieces of that beautiful outfit leave a soggy trail of their downward descent over the water.
What Iris' incapable hands end up catching are only a white silken shirt and purple shorts. She keeps her hands above her head, breathing glares at Arcel's dancing form with a smile on her face.
"You must know that I detest you passionately!" She exclaims with giggles, putting the clothes away from the pool's edge and pushing herself out of the water.
"Well isn't that what friends are for?" Arcel grins, circling on one spot, eyes fixated on the rose gold ceiling and the chandeliers hanging from it.
"Why don't you have any external help around here, maids or guards," Vasil questions with lips still pressed in a subtle smile, as he walks in front of the changing screen whilst adjusting the ill fitted outfit. The shirt sleeves were short and the tightness felt awfully uncomfortable around his armpits and crotch.
"I don't knooooww," Arcel sings out, still circling on one spot.
"What do you even know?!" Iris laughs out loud from behind another changing screen on the opposite end of the room.
"I know that I had the most fun day today!! All thanks to you both!!" Arcel chirps, suddenly stopping and falling to the marbled floor. "I had so so much fun! I never had so much fun before!" Arcel repeats, hands and legs flailing in the air as he remains pressed against the cold flooring.
Vasil stares at the spectacle with a cold gaze.
Iris, having changed into the fresh outfit that smelled better than all of her fortune, walked in front of the screen striking an elaborate pose with her hands on her waist. Though, to run over her fragile ego, no one paid attention, for Arcel was lost in his hands and feet and Vasil was staring at something with nearly murderous intent.
"Come, sleep with me!!" Arcel whines out loud and Iris all but runs up to him and plops herself beside him without intent. She rubs her face against Arcel's silk clad arm and whines, 'monnneeeyyy.'
"Let's sleep!! I slept in a prison yesterday and I sleep in a rich bathroom today! I call it a successful day!!" Iris claps, raising her hands and feet and shaking them to imitate Arcel.
"We even met a fairy today!!" Arcel whispers to Iris, mouth stretched wide in a smile.
"And we even struck a deal with it!! More money!!" Iris whispers back in a giggle.
Arcel grabs a hold of one of Iris' fingers and raises his other hand, expectantly, towards Vasil.
"Come here!" Arcel pats on the ground beside him, gesturing the boy to rest beside him.
Vasil shakes his head in rejection. "I don't want to," he replies, standing still and contemplating his next move. Should he leave now? How would he get past those Alruna Runes engraved on Arcel's tower door? He'd need at least ten hours to crack them- would it be too late by then? How did Iris get past them so easily? Should he take a risk—?
Though, unbeknownst to him, Arcel and Iris had connected braincells for a while and were planning an ambush. They stealthily crawled to his feet and tackled Vasil to the floor, trapping him in between and smothering him with cuddles. To Vasil's utmost horror, Arcel raised a foot and curled it around his waist whilst Iris coiled herself around his arm.
This intimacy could choke him to death by daybreak.
"We know that you are a thief," Arcel begins, "but you don't have to feel bothered by it as long as you stay close to me. I will protect you!" Arcel grins up to a horrified looking Vasil and ruffles his raven hair. The brunette purrs for Vasil's hair were the softest and most fluffiest thing he had ever felt!!
"Yeah, you're like awfully suspicious, but as long as you don't murder us in our sleep you get a pass. For now; 'cause after this, you will have to buy my silence with gemstones," Iris yawns out and giggles with dreams of getting rich.
"I have loooaaaads of gemstones," Arcel yawns consequently, now muttering in hushed whispers. His fingers rest amidst the lush life that was known as Vasil's hair.
"Then...I will kidnap you...androbyouofallyourmoney," Iris mumbles incoherently before falling into soft snores beside Vasil.
The raven haired boy held his breath, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling that seemed like it had no end. The consequence of his actions overcame him and even the soft delirium could not stop the guilt bubbling in his stomach and gutting his gut like a backstabbing friend.
He remained pressed on the floor, having run out of words and actions to justify himself. And as his gaze travelled to Arcel, his stomach squirmed.
Did the Prince deserve it?
Did Iris deserve it?
No— he cannot let second thoughts overcome him. He cannot let doubts consume him now! This was for the greater good of everyone -
He must go-
He must leave this instant-
But the floor underneath him had warmed and his chest had got accustomed to Arcel's head breathing over it.
He should search the Knights and find the necklace again-
But the day had begun taking its toll on him. At the end of the end, he was just a child, he realises when sleep begins to consume him.
He shouldn't let people down-
But just this once, he felt at peace and he wanted to remain selfish.
And stay.
.
.
.
.
The morning found Aurora abandoned on a cold floor with a stiff back and her insides feeling as if they were rearranging themselves. She sits up and her back makes all sorts of horrendous I-am-a-sixty-year-old-woman noises in consequence. Aurora groans, throat aching as if she had been screaming all night.
So much for protecting her voice and having a bright future.
The ravenette squints, squirming her cold toes as the silhouette of a woman births into vision. She taps her impatient foot against the marbled floors to earn Iris' attention.
The ravenette scowls up and faces the same woman who had terrorized her on the first day she had gained consciousness in this twisted realm. That cache file of a cavewoman dressed in a pumpkin candy outfit.
"Good Morning," her voice was as annoying as the day Aurora had met her. The auburn of her eyes pierced glares all over Iris' body clothed in Arcel's handouts. The woman makes a mental note to snitch about it to Lady Crimson.
"Not so good, really, trust me on that," Aurora groans, stretching out her hands and cracking her neck. "Fuck, that felt nice," the ravenette rasps out in contentment.
"That was not a greeting," the maidservent berates, foot still tapping on the floor.
"Didn't ask," Aurora holds out a hand, expectantly, staring the woman in her eye.
The small form of Iris staring at her with the entitlement of a Queen was not something Ronne had expected to witness so early in the morning. It was chore enough to walk all the way to the lonesome tower of the Prince and wait approximately fifty minutes to gain entry only to realise that the maid she had been assigned with was more annoying than the hypocrisy of all elves combined.
Ever since Iris had been sent from the Bernadette estate, she had been an awfully silent child. She spoke even less than she ate and moved probably only in the shadows. That could be the only legitimate explanation of all that paleness.
Castle maids had quite a many hot days at the expense of Iris and her being likened with Vampires was the latest take.
Though no matter how enigmatic her small form was, she was never one to talk back or outright attack people with mere words as weapons. It was quite a mystery to what may have possibly happened to the good old silent Iris Bernadette for her to start accompanying the exhausting Prince and turn equally soul sucking.
Vamparisim it surely was, Ronne nods to herself in conclusion. Prince Arcel was surely being used as a blood bag now. This little child has finally awakened her true instincts, Ronne nods to herself.
"Hand," Iris rasps, half-open brown eyes staring coldly at the woman standing in front. Ronne takes the girl's hand and the ravenette presses all her weight onto the maidservent to get up. Her hand was cold to touch and Ronne almost lost her footing with all that weight Iris' had burdened her with.
Truly a Vampire she was.
"Ah, thanks," Aurora sighs, stretching out all of her limbs as soon as she gains a standing. The ground under her barefoot feels unreasonably cold. The ravenette looks around the pool for her former pair of shoes but finds no traces of any life having crashed the place in the last twenty four hours.
"Where's Arcel and Va—" Aurora begins questioning, but stops midway. She couldn't slip out Vasil's name to just anybody. She bites her lip instead, a small gesture that did not go unnoticed by Ronne's sceptic sight.
Ronne's eyes widen with suspicion. No wonder Iris was looking for Arcel the first thing in the morning. She must be hungry! But Ronne cannot be careless enough to lead Iris to Arcel and let their Prince be sucked dry (no matter how much his annoying soul deserved it.) So, taking the matter in her hands, the brunette decides to put her foot down.
"That should not be your primary concern. Your duties for the day await. If you want food, you must earn it!" Ronne would lure the vampire into the kitchen and catch her off guard with garlic! Yes! It would weaken her considerably then maybe she could use the creature as her minion!!
"Du-uties?!" Aurora coughs, "What duties do I have?!" The ravenette almost falls into a meltdown, dragging her feet on the floor. The mere thought of doing household chores made Aurora gag visibly. Ronne thinks Iris is getting weaker. Though, suddenly, an idea strikes Aurora's head. "Will I get paid for them?" She turns to face the maidservent with an ominous grin.
Get paid! The vampire must require money to buy blood for herself now that Prince Arcel wasn't in sight! Ronne scowls at the wannabe creature, narrowing her auburn eyes at the ravenette as she walks up to her.
"You don't get paid, girl, you are the payment. Now get going to the kitchens before I start the flogging," Ronne seethes patting the very noticeable flogger attached to her orange skirt that Aurora had totally thought to be a fashion statement only.
"How tacky of you," Aurora scoffs, pretending to be brave, as she shuffles out of the bathchambers and all but runs out of the tower.
"To the Kitchens!! It is the building right beside the Keep! Don't forget to fetch a pill of water from uphill before you start!!"
Oh this would be a long day and Aurora does not wants to stay.
Someone help!