I've been a bit crappy with getting chapters out, so please enjoy a double update! <3
- Sian
"I'm not allowed to tell anyone about this?" Sage asked after they had stared at each other for an awkward amount of time. Sage didn't know what to say while Taro didn't know what to say that would make the situation easier to handle.
"I would prefer it if you didn't," Taro spoke frankly. "I'm not saying that you can't talk about it, but it might sound a little crazy if you start talking about plants who can turn into people."
Taro had a point. Sage couldn't deny that he would sound mad if he talked about what he was experiencing with his Valet. He wasn't sure if Taro would even show others what he could do. "Okay, so I go on like normal." Sage pulled at a curl. "How can I go on like normal? You can turn into a plant. How can I go on like normal when this is so much more than normal?"
"You're a Prince who is next in line to be king," Taro said calmly. "You have to go on like normal."
Those words brought Sage's mind tumbling down to earth. He was right, Sage couldn't afford to get ahead of himself and to start questioning everything. He couldn't afford to lose himself in the madness of his Valet being a plant. "Well, I best go down for breakfast. A Prince is never late." Sage got up, straightened out his jumper, sorted his hair in the mirror, but not without an awkward glance towards his Valet. "You should go too. The other staff will wonder what you're doing."
Sage stormed to his door, but before leaving, he asked, "Are there other staff members like you working here?"
"Of course." Taro slowly strolled to his side. "Where the Royals go, we go, remember?"
"Right." Sage left his room to get on with his day.
At first, he tried to pretend like he hadn't just discovered that Taro could transform into his Devil's Ivy houseplant. Ignoring it only built his frustration when he scolded himself for zoning in on the vases of flowers dotted around the castle. How could he not think about it? The more he looked, the more the signs were right in front of him.
Plants were the main theme in any painting, and in any carving. Even the skirting board where the wall met the floor was carved to be one long devil's ivy cord twisting and turning along the length of the corridor. There was a silver lamp in the dining hall that was made to look like winding vines with heart-shaped leaves. Even a bookshelf was made with special carvings of ivy vines, and even the carpets had small flowers woven in symmetrical patterns.
To have a family crest wasn't unusual, but now that Sage knew about Taro Vinea, his family crest suddenly meant so much more. The vines weaved around their interior and exterior homes. According to Taro, it had been that way for a very long time.
Why did we forget about Taro's kind? Sage wanted to dive into his family's history. He wanted to hear every tale of the Greenthenors. He wanted to know exactly what had happened in the middle ages.
His day trailed on excruciatingly slow, but by the evening, Sage's head was a little less tangled. He still had many unanswered questions, ones that he hoped he could ask Taro when he visited to change Sage into his nightwear.
Sage was nervous to see him again. He paced back and forth, reaching out to pull the Valet's cord, then changing his mind and returning to the window. Taro was no longer just his Valet. Sage needed to know everything about him, everything about Taro's family history, everything about his life. He would get to know him in a way he wasn't supposed to get to know a member of staff.
He has already pushed boundaries. Maybe he knew I'd one day find out about who he really is. Maybe that's why he hasn't taken his job seriously, he never intended on keeping a professional relationship.
Sage finally pulled the cord.
Taro arrived only a few minutes later, a little out of breath from running up to the second floor to meet the Prince. "Evening," Taro said after shutting the door. "I wasn't sure if you'd call for me tonight."
"I almost didn't." Sage fidgeted with his fingers. "But I have questions."
Taro tilted his head towards the window. The black sky only offered his reflection in the firelit room. "Let's go for a walk."
"What if others hear what we're talking about."
"We'll go outside."
"But the bodyguards-"
"You can tell them to hang back and watch from a distance. We'll bring a light with us so they can see where you are."
"But won't people question why I'm going outside late at night with my Valet?"
Taro sighed. "We won't go on a walk then."
But I want to go. Sage weakened the grasp on his pride and fetched his coat from the cupboard next to the crackling fireplace. "We'll take a light."
Taro followed him, but not too eagerly in the eyes of the bodyguards who were stationed on every corridor. Sage was followed around the side of castle walls and to the gardeners shed. He found a battery-operated lantern among some rusted gardening spades. The bodyguard wasn't pleased about being told to watch from afar, but he respected Sage's wishes as long as he kept the lantern on.
Sage and Taro walked until they reached the bench under an old oak tree that curved above, shielding them from the moon. They would have sat in complete darkness if they hadn't brought the lantern.
Sage found himself staring at the tree oddly, and Taro scoffed. "No, that's not a tree person. I told you, they are myths and legends."
"Right." Sage sat down and put the lantern by his feet. Taro sat next to him, leaving at least a foot of space between each other. If they were in Sage's bedroom, he didn't doubt that Taro would have sat as close as he could. At least he's respecting my space in public. They were hardly in public, but Sage could still feel eyes on them from afar. At least he felt safe.
"What are your questions?" Taro asked. His eyes also never left Sage.
"Did Mrs Beecham push you towards the Valet role because she knew who you were?"
"Yes."
"Did you take it because of who you are?"
Taro shrugged. "I suppose so. I didn't really want the job but your bedroom was a good place to heal-" Taro cleared his throat and pursed his lips.
"What happened to you?" Sage asked, remembering the dying plant Mrs Beecham was carrying. He even remembered Taro looking a lot thinner in his interview. "You were nearly dead."
"An animal got me." Taro shifted on the bench. "Anyway, I'm healthy now, thanks to you."
"Were you in, um, your other form when the animal got you?"
"I don't want to think about that right now, Sage." Taro's sparkling green eyes were darker in the shade. They hinted sorrow, and a pained expression that he was trying to hide.
"Of course, I apologise." Sage chewed his bottom lip as his head filled with more questions. "Can you feel in your plant form?"
"Yes."
"What does it feel like?"
Taro rested a hand on Sage's forearm. The sudden contact gave him goose bumps. "It feels like this, but less, I don't know exactly. If there was a plastic film wrapped around your arm and I touched it like I am now, that's what it feels like."
"And you have control of all the leaves? They always move when my hand touches them."
"Yes. I also felt when you shoved your finger in my soil."
Sage thanked the darkness for hiding his red cheeks. "I apologise. Was that invasive?"
"No, but you touched my root. That's kind of like sticking your finger in my mouth," Taro said with a growing smile.
Sage's embarrassment spread to his mannerism. His eyes darted to the lamp as he tangled his fingers and pulled away from Taro's hand that still rested on his arm. "I-I'll be careful next time," he stammered.
"Oh, so are you accepting me?" Taro asked as his smile warped into a smirk.
"It would be rude not to accept you." Sage crossed his arms when Taro's gaze was fixed on his wringing hands.
"And we know a thing or two about not being accepted."
Sage nodded. His awkward gaze locked with Taro's luscious green sparkles. In the dim light, they held so much more emotion. "Why is your kind a secret now?"
"It got too dangerous; I assume. You know what happened to the witches. Back then, they were pretty hateful towards anyone different."
"By they, you mean humans?"
"Well, I'm not here to shit all over your kind. I'm just saying that your kind got pretty powerful, and we got scared."
"Is that why this protection agreement between the Royals and your kind was forgotten? Did you not like it anymore?"
Taro watched Sage's mouth as he spoke. "I don't know, but I do know that back then, when the agreement was made, it was a smart move on our part, to befriend those with power. We are an ancient civilisation, much older than yours, but we were eventually outnumbered."
"History is cruel," Sage said with a sigh. His mind was spinning, but less than it was that morning.
"It is."
They sank into silence. The only noise between them was the light ruffling of the leaves above their heads. After a while of looking back at the castle in the distance, Sage said, "I know everything about politics, and about our Monarchy and the history of our Monarchy dating back to my great, great grandfather. But I don't know much about anything else. As the future king, I don't get taught things I don't need to know. This has really opened my eyes."
"The world is a lot bigger than your Monarchy," Taro said carefully. "You deserve to see it."
The weight of the crown crushed the Prince. "Maybe I do, but I never will." Talking to Taro was different now that he knew a huge secret about him. Maybe that's why he was comfortable around me when he realised that I was gay too. Simply thinking the word filled his stomach with guilt about his future. Sage didn't want to let himself live a lie, but the road to a truthful one was too overgrown, and Sage had no energy to clear it alone.