When I was on my educational travels, there was one proverb that seemed quite underestimated: 'when the deel is too good, think twice. This proverb was quite an understanding statement by itself. My love for writing with the use of proverbs wouldn't stop me from replaying that proverb inside my scalp as I sat at this table, full of the members inside this castle. It was meal time, and I was still dressed like a prince in here, and in my country, I would be some sort of royal guard or a person ready for war. I just missed a sword rightfully fitting on my left side, exactly on my waste. I was taking my meal quite steadily, and at the front, I could see the princess eyeing me.
"Do you like the food, Willock?" The Queen asked, catching me off guard. It seemed everyone knew who I was somehow; of course, why would they let someone they had no idea about enter such a large castle?
"Yeah, it quite reminds me of home." I stated, which made all of them chuckle, apart from the King, Amir's father. He seemed quite occupied with thoughts; he was not even following whatever we were talking about. Amir had quite many siblings, as on my left sat three lads; I would say one was about eighteen, the other about sixteen or fifteen, and the last one kissing his thirteenth. They were quite young, though, but wore the same as I did in here; however, they had removed their cap. He had sisters too, but it seemed they were older, except for one who was younger than princess Hasmin, who was sitting right next to her, with whom, from her appearance, she seemed to be kissing her seventeen, or so, but how would these lads and the sister have almost close birthdays, or was the king too a master of procreating bastards?
"When do you plan to go home?" One of the boys on my left stated this, which made everyone, even the king, raise their eyes to listen.
"Eeeh, that's quite a difficult question." I stated, as Amir interrupted, "He just arrived. Do you want him to leave suddenly?" They all shook their heads and continued to eat. It seemed they quite respected their elder brother. I was also much respected by my younger brother and sister. Charles, my brother, always had ways to make me feel respected. He would ask me permission to do something if my father and mother were not available in the house, so I can say that it was some culture that was also embraced in this country.
The supper-taking was over, and I stood ready to leave when I realized the princess was eyeing me, maybe waiting for my speech, but what I wasn't sure was if I was allowed to talk to her. One thing I have learned to be scared of is speaking to ladies, and not just ladies, but royal ladyships alone. However, I just decided to talk to her, for we had not spoken with each other since our previous drinking meetup.
"Hello, Princess Hasmine." I stated as I bowed a little to show respect—something I wasn't sure was done here, but it was ingrained in me.
"An English lad, today you look more 'us'" she stated, which made me smile. When speaking, I was walking her towards a room, which I presumably ought to be hers.
"How do I look?" I asked, hoping for the best answer.
"Quite good, with the outfit; that matches your skin color; quite a pity they shaved your hair; I liked it much longer." The moment she said that, it made my heart weaken, like she really didn't like it this short. I don't even know why her words somehow affected me.
"You don't like it short?" I asked again, hoping, and somehow, as if realizing what I was doing, she stated, "You aren't affected by my words, aren't you?"
"Not a single effect." I lied.
"Well, short is not as bad to anyone's liking, but I liked your hair longer." She stated. Why would I? Why was she stating this? Why was she literally telling me on my face that my hair looked worse now that it was short?
"I think I look good either way." I stated.
"Yeah, you do. You just look different." She added, squinting her eyes and lowering her voice when she said the word 'different.
"How different?"
"You are more of a royal man now than the normal pianist you were then." She stated.
"Do you like?" I asked again, not knowing where the courage had shoved me to ask or, rather, hear her opinion. But this was something that always happened to me: when someone would give me a bad rating, I would try my best to prove to her that she was wrong for rating me that way. Either way, when I asked her if she liked it, she just smiled at me and entered the room, as the guards stood at the center of the door after closing it, as if telling me, This chamber does not belong to you.
"I was not planning to enter." I stated it in a rather low tone so that no one would hear, but I am sure they heard. Suddenly I realized I had forgotten Amir's room, for there were so many chambers, and God knows which chamber, or rather room, belonged to Amir, one of the Princes of Iraq, my friend, I guess I shall add. "Hey, where is Prince Amir's room?" I asked the guards guarding the princess Hasmin house, and one of the guards took the lead to take me to Amir, which I knocked and was opened, with Amir sitting on one bed, as suddenly another bed had been brought.
"A new bed." I stated, looking at him, as I heard the doors close behind me.
"Yes,.. I assumed I did not want to leave you alone in this lonely room for one, so I requested another bed so that we could bond and somehow chat." He stated this, which made me laugh. I removed the cap and checked myself in the reflection again, touching my almost fully shaved hair.
"The princess states that I don't look quite attractive." I stated, which made him laugh rather loudly.
"Women like long hair and beards." Now there, Amir caught me. I had side beards, but my chin beards seemed to take forever growing in addition to my moustache. It seemed God had planned that I would grow old with little to no beards. Amir had youthful beards; lucky him. Look at me checking a man's beard.
"Why did y'all shave my hair?" I asked suddenly, furious, as I removed the boots.
"For grooming purposes." He stated.
"When do I start the piano work, and by the way, I have a letter I wish to send to my father in Bavdon? I am not sure how long it will take to arrive, but today marks his year of celebrations; I can't let him celebrate alone." I stated, which made Amir stand and arrive where I am, and we both looked at each other face-to-face. We were both of the same height, but he was a little bigger physically than I was.
"No letters. You can't send any letters; they will kill you. Don't you understand? What does he celebrate today? But I know you remember my liking for ballroom dances and women," Amir stated, evading his eyes and laughing a little when he said women.
"He celebrates today; actually, he has always been used to celebrating his lands, celebrating family, and everything." I stated.
"Why would he celebrate family when one of his family members is lost?" Those words made me stutter and take a little backstep.
"That's why I want to write to him."
"You think he shall forget you, or you fear he shall forget you?"
"I fear none; I just want to wish him the best."
"Willock, you know you are the most wanted man all over the kingdom. You are a threat to that kingdom, or is it something that you don't understand? You should be the man who takes on the throne after the king's demise." He states it in a rather straight-forward and base-full voice.
"I don't care about the throne, Amir; I have never even thought about such things as being king. How do I even start to think of such things?"
"You should start thinking of them, because as long as you arrive, when the King dies, the ministers will hunt you down to either kill you or let you embrace that throne. It is power, Willock; imagine you being King of England and I being King of Iraq. A great thing, isn't it?"
Amir's actions and words seemed to be of little amusement to me. He spoke like a greedy politician who wanted nothing but power and political influence for his people. I hated anything to do with politics, and I had never indulged myself in issues concerning the king. Yes, he was somehow right; according to the ancient constitution of Monarch, the second-born son cannot take over the throne when a first-born son is still alive, even if the first is born out of the marital bed. So yeah, I was in danger, honestly. If the king died, it meant that I would be killed; I would be searched everywhere just to be killed. That is not good.
"I told you we would drink; well, here is the drink." Amir stated.
He gave me one of the drinks as he took another and embarked on his bed.
"Now tell me all your journeys, love stories, and everything. What have I missed?" He stated.