As Aarav moved through the passages and hallways of the palace, he started attracting strange looks. People who had never seen this form of him. Most were used to the stumbling, mumbling Slime that tripped over its own feet. He walked every passage of the place twice in the week he was getting his feet under him. Most of the staff knew him now. This was his debut as a fairy.
He handled it graciously, nodding to the people as he passed them and otherwise just walking as fast as possible without falling on his face. As he drew closer to the main entrance of the palace that opened out onto a courtyard and then the gate beyond, he began to breathe. He didn’t need to, and it just felt right. Smelling the freedom that being out of the walls would bring, he relaxed. The tension he had not known about began easing. He thanked his lucky stars that there was no muscle to knot up. There might be an advantage to gaining some strength, though, in the future. Not now.
As always, just as he was about to get something he wanted, the woman that made his mind spasm came sweeping up the corridor. Aarav tried to change directions without letting on, but then she locked eyes with him, and his soul started crying like a little girl. “Your Majesty, h-how can I help?”
“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked. “I gave you tasks to do, did I not? I am clearly loading you lightly if you have free time to wander.”
“Y-your Majesty, of course, Haemish is attending –” Aarav never finished the sentence when the woman closed on him.
“Very well, but I’m keeping my eye on you.” As if you need to remind me, Aarav thought. The woman was everywhere.
“I understand,” Aarav said quietly, head bowed, not making eye contact like a rhino that might trigger her. Honestly, Aarav would have called her an old crone if she were not one of the most gorgeous women he had ever seen. Then she walked away, leaving Aarav reeling from the conversation.
Power level and stats obviously did something to perfect the flaws people had. Aarav had not seen people with spots or blemishes on their skin. Pock-marks and other skin conditions did not exist. It was an entire society of people with flawless skin. That alone improved the average appearance of the population. Aarav was looking forward to meeting someone who didn’t have perfect skin, just for a change. No, I am enjoying looking at flawless skin. You don’t see that all the time where I was from. Burn marks, rope marks and other souvenirs of torture were far more common than not in his circles. Whatever that was my past life, I am here now. Enjoy it, and don’t wallow. And anyway, I have flawless skin too now!
Leaving the Queen’s conversation in the darkness where it belonged, Aarav walked out into the sunshine of the front courtyard. The distance to the gate was only a couple minutes' walk, and it was wonderful being back in the sun. He had spent a fair amount of time in the gardens when he was still falling over every second step. Better to eat dirt than marble or whatever the palace is made of.
The gates of the palace in front of Aarav were monstrosities. He had thought the doors to the throne room were huge, but these took the cake. They were at least three high and wrist-thick metal storeys and had to weigh a few metric tonnes. It also stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the palace's opulence because it was made to be functional, not decorative. It was a simple solid block of metal that swung open and close, at least on the inside, the part facing the palace. Perhaps the outside was ornamented?
Only one way to find out! Aarav thought excitedly at the prospect of leaving the palace for the first time. This time it was as a free Slime, relatively speaking anyway.
Once again, his freedom was adjourned when he heard a hiss and whisper. “Over here, come here!” It was quiet. Could he ignore it and just leave? Aarav sighed. No, he couldn’t. It wasn’t in his nature to ignore things around him. Curse his perception and observation skills. Even if his ears weren’t great, they were good enough to hear that.
“Hello?” Aarav said equally quietly. Who on earth could it be? “Who’s there?” The voice had come from the bushes, and the guards inside the gate were surveying the courtyard. They knew Aarav, so they glanced at him, registered his change in appearance and then moved on. But they would absolutely get suspicious if they saw him talking to a bush.
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He moved further into the gardens on the side of the gate, trying to see who spoke. “Hello? Who’s there?”
Once he moved far enough to be out of sight of the guards, a small child popped out of the bushes and grinned at him.
Boren. Great, this is just what I need. The only thing the Queen cares about other than her husband is this kid. I can’t be caught dead with him around. She would bring me back to life so she could murder me again. He was a friendly kid, always polite, rarely mischievous, though he looked like he was up to something now. “Boren, what are you planning?” There was no need for formalities with a ten-year-old or nine? Aarav couldn’t keep it straight, but he didn’t need to.
“Nothing at all, Aarav! I wanted to check with you, are you going into the city? Then I’ll come with you.” Boren said it all in a rush like he expected the Slime to stop him. He was right. There was no way Aarav would use his first opportunity outside the palace to babysit a ten-year-old Prince. The child probably didn’t know the first thing about being on the street. Haemish might have said the low crime rate, but that didn’t mean zero.
“Boren, I am not so sure that is a good idea.” Aarav started slowly. “Your mother –“
“My mother wants me to explore and grow. This is important for that.” Boren quickly stated he had planned for the Slimes response, which meant he had probably prepared for all of them. Time to go through the motions, and I am not taking him regardless.
“I don’t think this is what she had in mind. Besides, it is dangerous in the wider city.” Aarav played his role to perfection. As expected, the response was forthcoming.
“If you can handle it, then I can as well. Not to mention, my mother has had me doing much harder training than anything the city can throw at me.” Boren huffed, a little of a Prince's arrogance creeping in, though that was usually kept under wraps.
“Boren, I am sorry, but it is not a good idea. Why don’t you just get your mother to take you?” Boren frowned, so Aarav quickly changed trajectory. “ – or a couple of the guards! Can’t you just order them to take you?” Aarav thought he did pretty well with the last option, anything to get the kid to leave him alone. He had only taken care of one person in his two lives, and look how well that had turned out.
The boy looked dejectedly at Aarav, but the Slime had to stay firm. Come on, don’t give me those puppy dog eyes. “Do you know what your mother would do if anyone snuck you out? I would be killed before I could plead my case, and she would not give you a chance to plead on my behalf either. I would be dead! You want that on your conscience?” Aarav tried little guilt-tripping. It might work, even if he was only a child. He grew up in a palace. There must be stuff like that coming out of his ears.
“But –“ Boren started, but Aarav held up a hand to stop him. This was not going to happen; he could not risk his life for this child to have a fun outing. It wasn’t worth it. “I haven’t been out of the palace since I was born! Not by myself anyway! I always have a full retinue of guards, servants and the like. Come on, Aarav! You know what it’s like to be cooped up for so long and never be able to get out. You have only had to deal with it for a week. Imagine doing it for nine years!” Damn, this kid was good. Aarav was finding it hard to believe that this child was only nine-years-old.
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Hey guys, thanks so much for reading my work. Whether your feedback is positive or negative I appreciate it, try to make it constructive though if you can. lol. I try to incorporate all the feedback I get in future chapters and work.
Starting from this week I am going to have to go back to posting two chapters a week. I know that is a step backwards but my audio work is what I got into the acting industry for and want to give it a good shot so hope you all understand!