“Bye dad!” the boys watched their father take off, having dropped by briefly before departing, leaving them to begin their chores. Matt and Luke took their dishes to the sink, the older brother handing his brother a mop.

“This stinks, I want to go see Elizabeth.”

Luke knew whining would get him nowhere with his brother, but there was a cruel satisfaction from annoying him.

“You can see her when we’re done with chores.”

“But chores are going to take all daaaaay!”

“If you keep whining instead of mopping the floor it will. By the way, you missed a spot.”

Matthew pointed at a corner of the floor, Luke inspecting it in disbelief, only for the older brother to brush him on the nose.

“Maaatt.”

“Luuuuke.”

Resigning himself to his defeat, Luke kept scrubbing the floor, the tile floor of the kitchen. This was an adult’s job, but his mother spent all but one to two of her waking hours serving the queen, and when their dad wasn’t away, he’d rarely stick more than an hour or two.

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“Just be glad you’re not cleaning dishes.”

“Why can’t mom clean dishes?”

“Busy helping the queen.”

“With what?”

“I don’t know. But she’s always there, unless she’s making us food. If she were home were often, we would probably have a way worse home.”

When Luke had finished mopping the floor, he had taken his brother’s place washing dishes, using a step ladder to reach the sink. The younger brother grimaced at the dirty food, contemplating how such delicious food could look and smell so vile when cold and old.

Matthew had moved to drying dishes and putting them away in the shelves.

“You know Luke, you should be glad our house is so modest.”

“You mean small.”

“I mean we could be cleaning the entire castle.”

“At least I could see Elizabeth.”

“You’ve really grown fond of her, haven’t you? It’s only been a year.”

“She’s my best friend. She’s…my only friend.”

Matthew had stopped what he was doing to turn toward his brother. He could see his brother hadn’t even slowed down, but he looked lost in thought.

“Hey Luke, you can go see the princess if you want.”

“Really?!” Luke had perked up.

“Yeah. If mom asks -which she probably won’t- just say Brian or Eric or Adriana escorted you.”

“Thanks Matt, you’re the best.”

Luke had hugged his brother, the latter making sure not to drop the glass in his hand, before rushing out.

Matthew sighed to himself, all alone now, left to finish the remaining chores.

“No problem Luke.”