The stone walls trembled from his hurried footsteps.
A young man dressed in silk that shimmered in the light ran through the narrow corridors of the castle. The distance from wall to wall was so small that the servants walking towards him quickly turned around and, barely holding on to the things in their hands, ran in the opposite direction or hurriedly ran into neighbouring rooms.
"I beg your pardon! God bless you all, I beg your pardon!" The same words of apology poured out of him with every unsuccessful collision with the servants. He caught trays with his shoulder, caught buckets with his elbow, and nearly knocked over skirts with his coat tails.
"I will definitely help you clean everything up as soon as I finish my business, miss, gentlemen, forgive me, forgive me all. Urgent message for the Prince! Let me through!"
After knocking over a couple more servants right in front of the door and already red with shame and embarrassment, the man finally stopped. His heart was pounding in his throat, the silk clinging to his skin.
The massive door, unlike any other, rose three metres high. The ornament, carved in an arc, symbolised all the previous rulers who had sat behind this door. Golden lines intertwined to form crowns, swords, suns and crescent moons.
Every time he found himself here, Eggy involuntarily froze. He always wondered where His Majesty and the Crown Prince would place their distinctive marks, since there was no more room on the door. Surely they would cut another door next to it and make it exclusively for themselves, he thought with a hint of a smile, trying to calm his nerves somehow.
Pulling himself together, he lightly slapped his cheeks, straightened his clothes, smoothed out a stray strand of hair, because a young secretary must look presentable, and entered the office.
"I can't get used to you not knocking. Northerners, tsk," a lazy voice drawled.
The office, flooded with incredibly bright light, hurt his eyes. Because of the large amount of gold that was literally on all surfaces and curtains, the reflecting sun blinded him, as if he had stepped inside the sun itself. Blinking and rubbing his eyes, Eggy still couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from.
"Where is he hiding this time?" he thought, slightly irritated, looking around.
"Prince, please forgive my ignorance, my lack of education knows no bounds, but..." He looked around again and even glanced at the ceiling. "But where are you?" I have an urgent message from His Highness.
A moment later, slender hands, like a snake, began to explore Eggy's body, touching the light fabrics that clung to his figure. Gently pulling on his belt and fiddling with a few buttons on his sleeves, someone's fingers lingered at his throat. The surprise sent shivers down his spine.
A small body peeked out from behind him. He was less than 150 centimetres tall, but he seemed taller in spirit. Golden hair falling to his shoulders and brown eyes did not suit a ten-year-old child with such a complex character. There was more of a predator in this child than in many adult courtiers.
"Greetings, Crown Prince of the Bright Sun," Eggy fell to his knees.
Bending his body almost to the floor and lowering his eyes, he waited for permission to rise. His knees dug painfully into the carpet, but he did not move. With a grunt, the prince walked around him and sat down on the sofa opposite.
Oh, no. Not again.
Time passed.
Eggy stood motionless. His body, already numb from what seemed like an eternity of kneeling, was weakening. His hands, holding onto the floor, could not support his weight and were shaking; his palms were sweaty, his breathing uneven. And the crown prince just sat and watched. Eggy could feel the pleasure emanating from him.
"He's just playing," the secretary thought desperately. "He likes to watch others suffer."
"Boring," childish nervousness crept into his voice. "I still don't understand how to get these damn thoughts out of your head."
Jumping up from the sofa and striding back to the secretary, the Prince grabbed Eggy's face with his two small hands and lifted it up sharply. Without any resistance, Eggie looked up at the Prince, feeling his neck ache from the sudden movement.
"The only person whose thoughts I cannot read is my fiancé!" the child monarch exclaimed, almost indignantly.
"Prince, please..." Eggy began quietly, knowing full well that it was a bad idea, but trying to object anyway.
"Don't you dare interrupt me!" A light slap, delivered with all the strength of a child, struck Eggy's cheek. His skin burned, but he only lowered his gaze.
In an instant, Eggy's body was moved to the sofa. The Prince, in turn, took the place of honour at the table, as if that was where he belonged from the start. Because the prince was sitting with his back to the open stained-glass window, his golden hair flew up in the wind, and some strands turned different bright colours. At that moment, he truly resembled the Bright Sun, whose blood he carried.
Beautiful. Insanely beautiful. It was incredible that an ordinary person like Eggy could see this. He would tell his children about this moment.
At first, the silence seemed thick, like the air before a storm. Surprisingly, it was the Prince himself who broke it first.
"We need to see each other more often so that your consciousness becomes completely accessible to me," he said almost thoughtfully, playing with a pen between his fingers.
Such childish whimsy from the prince seemed cute to Eggy, almost touching, but, restraining himself, he began a completely different conversation. The duty of a secretary was more important than any personal weakness.
"Your Father and Mother will soon arrive in the capital," he said, swallowing slightly. This news always had the effect of a bombshell, and now he was ready for it.
"Father found that piece of shit?" Laughter spread throughout the room. The childish voice changed to something ominous and drawn-out. "I wonder how Father will torture him this time."
A bright spark appeared in his eyes. Eggy closed his eyelids for a second: he knew all too well what kind of 'games' the king liked.
"Father asked me to tell you, my Prince, that you must leave the capital this very minute," he said cautiously but firmly.
"Again?"
"..."
Silence enveloped the room; it seemed that even the curtains had stopped dancing in the wind. The Prince did not lose his composure and, only running his finger through the papers on the table, exhaled heavily.
'Is he afraid I'll do something inapproriate?"
"Yes," Eggy replied curtly. There was no point in lying here, and the Prince would sense the lie even without being able to read minds.
"Then you're coming with me," the heir said too quickly, as if the decision were obvious to him.
"No," came the reply before Eggy could stop himself.
The small servant's confident voice struck the Prince, who had only heard 'no' once before, when he had tried to drown his own brothers and sisters in the river. Only Mother had stopped him then.
Eggy felt a chill in his chest, but there was no turning back now. "If I leave with him, who will stay with His Highness?"
Jumping up from his seat and saying nothing more, without even looking back at his childhood love one last time, the Prince abruptly pushed his chair back. His feet barely touched the carpet, his footsteps almost silent. Only the door slammed shut when he left.
The study was once again filled with the bright silence of gold and sunshine, and only the breathing of Eggy, still sitting on the luxurious sofa, spoiled the atmosphere.