A Prince in a Foul Mood

This is the beginning of a story, and it all starts with a prince.

The Prince was grumpy, to be blunt. He’d been bombarded by all sorts of marriage proposals all evening, and between his father’s funeral and late night political talks, he had hardly slept through the night in a week.  Hardly anyone would leave him alone, and Prince Felix wondered if he’d have to kill someone to get some alone time. He eyed his official bodyguards with a sinister look, wondering which would be easier to take out. The smaller of the two shuddered without really knowing why.

“S-Sir?” A voice cut through his dark musings.
 He frowned sharply at the servant who approached him, bearing a platter with a roll of parchment on it.

“Yes?” He drawled, adjusting his crown. It didn’t quite fit him as well as it had fit his father.

“U-Um, the Duke of Hungary has a present for you, Y-Your Majesty.  He told me to give you this before I announce him in.” Prince Felix snatched the letter off of the tray and made shooing motions at the servant, who obediently scurried off.

The scroll was sealed with the Queen of Hungary’s stamp pressed into red wax, which the Prince cracked in half with the ease of one who got many such documents. He unrolled the parchment and held it up in front of him, squinting to read the Queen’s neat handwriting.  

Dearest Felix,

How are you faring, dear one? I know it must be hard with your father’s sudden passing, and if I were not so tied up with the legal works on this side, I’d come and visit you in person. However, since I cannot, I have sent in my stead a new friend for you. You became horribly depressed when your mother passed, and although my reports tell me you are faring fine, I suspect that you are in fact in deep turmoil over your father’s sudden death. Therefore, I am sending a member of my court, who you may have seen before, to join you for as long as you wish to host her. She and her brother have worked for me for many years, and she is by far the better of the two at doing her job.

I hope my letter has found you well, or can at least provide you with a bit of companionship in these dark days. All of my love,

Queen Mathilde the third

Felix set the letter down and sighed, feeling a bit better than he had before. Although he wasn’t anywhere near cheerful, his good friend had at least brought a brief smile to his face and lit his eyes with a tiny bit of light again. He folded the letter neatly and slid it into his hidden pocket, then turned and whistled sharply towards the door the servant had fled from.

An official sounding trumpet tune played, and a loud voice proclaimed: “The Duke of Hungary!” The large double doors at the head of the entrance hall opened and a fat man came waddling through them, arms out wide and a wide grin plastered onto his red face.

“Felix, my boy! How great to see you! It’s been forever since you visited us in Hungary, you should leave the castle more often!”

“Is that a diplomatic offer or an order, sir?” The Prince snapped coldly. The smile of the jovial man slipped a bit and he visibly seemed to deflate.

“N-Not at all your majesty. I m-mean, it’s an offer!”The man fumbled for words under the icy look Felix was giving him. “The Queen sends her best wishes, and um, also a gift.” The Prince gave him a look that seemed to ask him to either leave or continue, the Duke wasn’t quite sure which. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but apparently thought better of it and just snapped his fingers.

The doors yet again opened, but instead of a box or a cage dragged in by servants, a figure rolled in swiftly on a large round ball, bouncing around the vast throne room. Felix felt his eyes go wide as he watched the acrobat move around the various vases and tables that were placed randomly around the room. The figure did a few quick laps around the room before coming to a skidding stop directly before the Prince, jumping up on the ball and bowing dramatically.

Felix gazed at the person before him, taking in the odd dress of this character. It was a girl, for one thing, a young girl perhaps a year or two younger than him. She was thin, bordering on scrawny, and had piercing green-blue eyes. Her face was painted white, with a red teardrop under her right eye and a blue star under the left. She wore a jester’s outfit of blue and red, mismatched and bright, with bells on the ends of her cap. She was perched with incredible balance on top of the ball, which tilted and rolled a bit every few seconds.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the ball popped and the girl fell. Felix actually moved forward as if to catch her, but she did a back hand spring and landed on her hands, feet in the air. She gazed up at him with a simple care-freeness that left him stunned and said: “Ildiko the jester, at your service, ‘Majesty.”  She flipped back onto her feet and curtsied neatly, grinning.

Felix smiled automatically in response and stood, bowing back to this girl, who seemed to possess a contagiously bright mood. The Prince looked over her shoulder at the Duke who was watching with a wary look of hope on his face.

“Tell the Queen her gift of companionship is well received, and that I shall visit as soon as it is feasible for us both.” He said with a regal formality that prompted the Duke to bow.  “Oh,” The Duke looked up. “and tell Mattie ‘thank you’ for me, will you?” The Duke smiled and nodded, pleased to hear the Prince call his Queen by her less formal name, as he had practically raised the both of them. He left with a contented look on his face, very glad that he had a good report for the Queen.

The Prince sat back down once the man left, and turned his attention back to the jester.

“So,” He began, “Tell me about yourself.” 

-Kels