Heir of the Moonlight chapter 4

"What are we to do now, sir?” Thomas asked.

“Well, we are to order the cooks to prepare a feast for tonight, of course. What else?”

“You mean to let her believe that I am really her reincarnated son?”

“Thomas, it will do no harm to anyone if she believes that I have raised our son from the dead, but it will permanently harm our relationship if I tell her the truth. It’s best just to play along with it. This charade will die eventually.”

Thomas couldn’t believe his ears. The king would let his wife believe such nonsense?

“Sir, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but it seems that even if the queen would be happier if she believed this lie, doesn’t she have a right to the truth?”

“Yes, she does, and we will not lie to her. If you’ll remember, I tried to tell her that you were just our son’s look-alike. If she would ask or even hint at it, I would tell her the truth. I just refuse to directly persuade her, seeing as there is no real benefit.”

“Very well, sir,” Thomas sighed. “I suppose I’ll be on my way.”

“Where are you going?”

“To try and find work in the town so I can find my way back home.”

“No, Thomas. You will stay here until my wife forgets about you, or by the next morning you may find a dozen search parties will be out looking out for you.”

“But-“

“That’s an order, Thomas. You may not be from our land, but while you are in my castle and my land, you will obey me.”

Thomas sighed and heaved his shoulders. “What shall I do in the meantime?”

“I will have a servant take you to a room, and there you can get dressed for dinner and read a book or whatever you do in where you’re from.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The king nodded and waved to a nearby servant. The poor man hurried over and swept a hasty bow. “How may I be of service, my king?” he asked.

“Find an empty room for this boy to stay in. Make sure it is the best our castle has to offer—actually, put him in Maurice’s old room.”

“But, sir, didn’t your wife order that room to be kept vacant in reverence of your son?”

“My wife is of no concern to you. Follow my orders, or deal with the consequences.”

Once again, Thomas saw that angry flash in the king’s eye, and the servant appeared to notice it too, for his face went pale andas he bowed again. “As you wish, my king.” You forgot to enter! Sorry for being so picky.

The servant led Thomas down a series of winding hallways and did not stop his hasty pace This part feels a little off. I think you could take it out. until it felt like they had gonewalked at least a quarter of a mile in the labyrinth of bedrooms. I don't think Thomas can know the distance of where he is for sure since it's his first time inside the castle. He then opened a door and led Thomas into a spacious bedroom.

“You can stay here until suppertime, just. Please Just thought it would sound more formal. make sure you are properly dressed when the king calls you.”

“What does properly dressed mean?” Thomas asked.

The servant took a step back. “You don’t know?”

“No,” Thomas admitted.

“Well, I’ll send someone up to help you an hour or so before the king would like to eat. Until then, you can look at some of the maps or history books that Maurice kept in his room. Perhaps it will help you gain a better understanding of our culture. And remember above all, if the king tells you to do something, no matter how strange it is, do it.”

Thomas found this to be strange advice to be strange, but nodded anyways. “Thank you.”

“If you need anything, ring this bell, and someone will be with you immediately.” The servant pointed to a bell near the bed, and Thomas nodded again.

“Very well, then. I have some other business to attend to, so if you do not require my presence any longer, I shall be going.”

“Okay. Bye,” Thomas called. The servant half-ran out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Thomas alone in the bedroom.

Thomas walked over to one of the large bookshelves near the bed and selected a thick, leather-bound volume. Golden letters across the cover read “A Comprehensive History of All Occurrences in the Land of Moonlight”, and Thomas shook his head as he leafed through the pages. There had to be at least 500 pages with writing so small he could barely see it, and he only had an hour. He moved down a row and drew out another book, this one a little slimmer. The cover proclaimed “A Brief History of the Land of Moonlight,” and Thomas nodded. This would be the best one he could find.

Reclining on the bed, he kicked off his shoes and rolled under the covers. Once he was situated, he openingopened the book and starteding to read. He got lost in the text for an hour, skimming long articles about the various wars that the Land of Moonlight had been involved in, and long essays on why the kings had been either foolish or brave, stupid or wise. By his count, the Land of Moonlight had been involved in a war for 267 out of the past 300 years, a. Although some of those years had seen more fighting than others, which had been mostly skirmishes and collisions with more hostiehostile nations.

One thing that the book lacked was information on current events. This book had been published a long time ago,- roughly 15 years, and. Thomas was looking through some other books in a desperate attempt to find more information on the war that was going on right nowat the moment when he heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” he called.

A tall, balding You meant bald, right? man with bushy black eyebrows stepped into the room and closed the door. “I hope I did not disturb you, Your Highness.”

“Oh, no, and you can call me Thomas.”

The man shook his head. “No, Your Highness, I am under direct orders to refer to you as I would refer to the prince.”

“Well, then, what may I call you?” Thomas asked.

The man hesitated, taken aback by the question. “My name is Rebo, Your Highness.”

“What does the king wish for me to do?” Thomas asked, trying to mimic the way everyone here spoke.

Rebo nodded with approval.Just a little confused at why he would nod in approval “You are to get ready for the fancy dinner tonight being held in your honor. The queen believes that you are a giftRandom suggestion, what about "apology"
instead of "gift"? from the gods, since the gods believe they have been too hard on her by taking her son.”

“What do you think?” Thomas asked.

Once again, Rebo flinched at the personal question. Thomas got the impression that he wasn’t used to royalty inquiring about his personal views. “What I believe is of little concern to you, Your Highness, with all due respect,” he answered carefully.

Thomas raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press the matter. He walked over to the wardrobe and opened it up, revealing at least 20Write out numbers? different tunics and brown leggings.

“The king wishes for you to wear a blue tunic with a gold sash, brown leggings, and peasant sandals,” Rebo recited.

Thomas took a soft blue tunic off of one of the hangers and pulled off his shirt. Rebo respectfully turned away, and Thomas yanked the soft material over his head and wriggled his head and arms through the appropriate holes.

Rebo turned back around and helped straighten it out, then handed Thomas some fancy brown leggings. Thomas pulled off his shorts and underpants and awkwardly hopped into the skinny pant legs, pulling them up to his navel.

Rebo threaded a shimmery gold sash through the loopholes near Thomas’ waist and pulled it tight, knotting it into a bow in the back.

“Is it too tight, Your Highness?” he asked.

Thomas shook his head no. Rebo nodded and stepped backwards, handing Thomas a pair of leather sandals.

Thomas sat down on his bed and struggled with the unyielding leather for a few minutes, trying to maneuver his thick toes through the straps and attempting to loosen the leather straps to no avail. He eventually gave up and looked up at Rebo.

“Would you like assistance, Your Highness?” Rebo asked, fighting back a smirk.

“Yes, please,” Thomas replied, flushing.

Rebo knelt down and fussed with the straps for only a moment before sliding it onto Thomas’ foot, then repeating the process with the other one. Once he was finished, Thomas stood up and used his fingers to brush his hair back.

Rebo offered him a comb, and Thomas gratefully accepted it and ran it through his hair, parting it down the middle like his mother did.

At even the thought of his family, Thomas had to struggle not to break down in tears. He inhaled, counted to three as he had been taught, then exhaled and repeated the process until the tears had dried up.

“Is something wrong, Your Highness?” Rebo asked, looking concerned.

Thomas quickly shook his head and looked down so Rebo wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes. “No, I’m fine,” he said, choking on the last word.

“I assure you that if you need anything, we have it,” Rebo promised.

No you don’t, Thomas thought. You don’t have my parents, or my home, or my friends, or my phone. But he simply said, “Thank you, Rebo. If you don’t mind, I just need a moment alone, then I will be downstairs.”

“Of course, Your Highness. I will wait out in the hallway.” Rebo bowed and quickly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Thomas sank onto the bed and started to cry freely. All the pressure of the past few hours built up on him, and he started to sob. He wasn’t ready for this. He needed to be studying. Nobody would believe him when he got home. He had no way of proving that he was here, and he would fail the SATs exam. His parents were right. He was a failure, just like his brother, and hHe would probably waste away in a jail for most of his life because he couldn’t control himself enough.

The only reason he was here was because of some delusional queen and her husband who didn’t have the courage to break the news to her. He had probably married her for the alliance, or wealth, or beauty.

It was such a failed system, and Thomas couldn’t’ do anything about it. He couldn’t even persuade peopleanyone that what they were doing was wrong. He really was a useless prop, just there for the queen’s contentment.

He steadied himself a little and took a few shaky breaths. The king would be counting on him to play along with the act, and judging by the fear all the other servants showed him, it would be better for everyone if Thomas just went along with it. He didn’t really have a choice. He was a prisoner in this castle, and his sentence might be for life.

Rebo knocked on the door. Thomas dried his tears and then went up and answered the door. Rebo saw him and didn’t ask any questions, but he did lead Thomas to a bathroom and scrubbed Thomas’ face clean.

“Are you ready, Your Highness?” Rebo asked.

Thomas nodded, not trusting his voice yet. He followed Rebo down a grand flight of stairs and walked into the large dining hall, where men and women dressed in fancy clothing were seated at a long table.