Scarlett toyed with the edge of her sleeves as she stood outside of the castle doors. She had woken earlier this morning to a guard requesting her presence at the castle. She’d hopped into action and packed a small bag with her most important belongings, triple-checking that her lucky marble was safely stowed away. She had eagerly followed the guard through the town and towards the castle, her fingers tapping against her leg in eager anticipation. Now that she was there, she couldn’t make herself take that step. Something froze her legs and made her arms lock up.
“Come on,” the guard growled, reaching out to grab her arm. She flinched back before he could make contact. The sudden movement caused her to tangle her legs in her billowing dress and she felt the moment her right foot slid out from underneath her. The cement cracked against her skull as she tumbled to the ground. A gasp forced its way out of her mouth as the pain hit her.
“Martin, what happened?” A shadow was cast over Scarlett as the Prince leaned over her prone body. The sides of his head were shaved and his black hair was slicked back. However, one strand escaped the group and fell in front of his forehead as he looked down at her. “Are you okay?” He held out a hand towards her and golden tinted skin glinted in the early morning sun.
“I’m fine,” Scarlett sat up and blinked a few times as her vision wavered a bit. “I think.” She reached out and grabbed the proffered hand. The Prince’s hand was strong as he pulled her to her feet, reaching out to steady her when she swayed slightly.
“What happened?”
“I tripped over my dress and fell.” Scarlett ducked her head as she spoke, letting her hair cover her face.
“Was that all that happened? You just tripped?” Prince Cade’s tone was flat as he spoke and Scarlett kept her eyes trained on the ground. After a few seconds of silence the Prince stepped back from her, letting her hand drop to her side, and tilted his head in the direction of the castle doors. “Are you ready to head inside?”
“Yes. Thank you, Your Royal Highness.”
Scarlett followed the Prince into the building, her eyes drifting from the floor to take in her new surroundings. The castle was aglow as morning light filtered in through several windows. The hardwood floors shone as maids scrubbed the dirt from them. Servants flitted around the place as the Prince led her through the entryway. Prince Cade took heavy, long strides as he led her through the castle. Scarlett rucked her dress up slightly so that she could keep up with him without worrying about another injury. Finally he slowed up at a set of double doors. He pulled one open and motioned for her to head in.
“This is our library.” He motioned her towards two plush seats situated by the fire, sitting once she’d taken a seat. “No one typically uses it around this time so I figured it was the best place for our discussion. Before we begin, would you like anything to drink?”
“No, thank you though.”
Prince Cade leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and tangling his fingers together. “Were you made aware of why you were brought here?”
“No, Your Royal Highness. The guard only said that I was being summoned to the castle.”
“Okay. I summoned you here because I want to give you a trial run at being my servant. If you perform well, it will become a permanent position. If you don’t, you’ll be compensated for the time spent here and you will be released. The trial will end at the upcoming ball that my mother, the Queen, is hosting.” Scarlett nodded her head but didn’t speak so Cade kept on. “Today we will be going over the contract and what will be expected of you. If you leave today there will be no compensation, though. Do you wish to go over the contract with me?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”
“Okay, let us begin.” He reached over to the table and removed two small stacks of paper. He kept one on his lap and passed one over to the woman.
“The first thing that has to be noted is that, should you accept the position, you will be providing services of a sexual nature to me. You will be my submissive. That means that both a safe word and a safe phrase will be established. The safe word is between us. It will be documented but the only time it should be used is with me. The safe phrase will be established between you and your chosen system. I will never know it and should it appear in any communications between you and them, it is to be assumed that I pushed a boundary. Are you aware of all of this?”
“Yes, Your Royal Highness. I was loosely made aware of this before applying.”
“Good. Now when you are serving me you will address me as ‘Sir’, not any other titles including Your Royal Highness.” He took a sip of water as he watched Scarlett process his words. “Understood?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“When you are not actively serving me, you will refer to me as either Prince Cade or Your Royal Highness. You have never worked as a servant before so I will be training you. It will likely be rigorous training as I have a ball in two weeks that I am expected to take you too.”
“What type of training?”
“Protocol and service training for the most part. For the ball, you need to be able to serve me to the standards expected of the royal family. Some of this training may also overlap with obedience training as well. After the ball, if you perform well, we will begin other forms of training.”
“Okay, sir.”
“On my mother’s insistence, you will also be given time with a tutor who will teach you what you’ve not learned. Reading and writing will be the first focus, but beyond that the tutor will teach you basic math and history. Other topics as well if you’d like to learn them.”
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“Typically I would send you away and have you fill out the paper you’re holding with your limits and preferred terms.” He watched as her eyes grew wide and her fingers tensed around the papers. “However, I think in lieu of your circumstances we could handle this verbally. Would you like a third-party to witness this part of the discussion?”
“Why would a third person be needed?”
“For safety.” He sighed and explained when he saw her forehead and nose scrunched up in confusion. “It’s to make sure that neither of us are pushing the other into agreeing to things they don’t desire. That we both are being honest and agreeing with the terms.”
“Oh,” Scarlett paused for a minute as she thought over the question. “I…I don’t know.”
“Okay. I’ll bring someone in then. If at any point their presence makes you uncomfortable, we can have them leave.” He stood from his chair, not waiting for her to answer, and stepped outside to find someone. Scarlett sat in the library, fingers fiddling through the papers, as she waited for him to return.
When he returned it was with a tall man at his back. The man was dressed in the garb of a record-keeper and he held a tablet under his arm. She watched him move across the room and take the seat that the Prince had originally occupied.
“Hello. I am Matthias and I am a record-keeper. The Prince said a third-party witness to the discussion of limits was requested.”
Scarlett glanced between the two and noticed that both eyes were trained on her face. She jolted when she realized they were waiting for her to speak. “Oh, yes. I can’t read or write so the Prince thought a third-party witness would be a good idea.”
“Understood.” Matthias walked over to her and quickly explained what each of the columns meant. “Now that I’m here and you understand, you may begin.” Prince Cade leaned against the wall near Scarlett and held the papers out in front of him. He cleared his throat and began to read.
“Anal?” He watched as a tint of red grew on her cheeks. “It’s a mark in curious for me.”
“Soft,” she whispered in response. He nodded his head and checked off the appropriate box.
“Arm binders?” Now the red was creeping down her neck. When she hesitated to answer he again prompted her by giving his own designation. Slowly they began to make progress through the list of questions.
The sun had begun to set as the group began to wrap up discussions. Empty glasses of water were sitting on the table. Scarlett and Matthias had reclined in their seats as the conversation had dragged on. Prince Cade was still resting against the wall, his feet barely shuffling against the floor.
“Only one more thing to discuss then. Have you thought of a safeword?”
“I want my safeword to be violet.” Prince Cade was the first one to answer. His voice was low as he spoke and he refused to make eye contact with the other two. Matthias only nodded and jotted it down on the parchment.
“And you?”
“Cinnamon.”
“Do you, Scarlett Amaris, agree to these terms we’ve discussed and wish to take your position as Prince Cade’s personal servant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you, Prince Cade, agree to these terms we’ve discussed and accept Scarlett Amaris as your new personal servant?”
“Yes Matthias, I do.”
“Wonderful. Then may I have you both sign, to the best of your ability, this parchment?” Scarlett reached over first and quickly scratched out a design. It was illegible but no one commented as Prince Cade quickly took possession of the tablet and signed his own name on the paper. He handed it back to Matthias who stood and bowed to them both. “I’ll make sure this gets into the record books then. Your mother will likely also want a copy.”
“Thank you for your time, Matthias.” The Prince dipped his head towards the man before turning back to Scarlett. “Would you like to head to your bedroom now?”
She nodded and he escorted her out of the library and through the halls. They passed several doors until he stopped and motioned towards the door. A white circle with a plus sign in the middle was drawn on the outside of the door. A small C was drawn under it. They stood outside of the room as Prince Cade fished a key out of his pocket. The metal key hung from a thin leather strip and Scarlett felt the weight of the key as he handed it over to her.
“This is the room you will occupy during the length of your service to me. At times we may travel so there are bags in there to hold your clothes during those times. Dinner will be served soon. When the bell rings you can head down and eat dinner with the rest of us. If you miss the bell, you can also head into the kitchen at any point and see what snacks have been made.”
“Who all will be at dinner?”
“My mother and Jay, her personal guard will be there. Most days my advisor Ava also has dinner with us. Whenever they are free our servants can also join us for dinner. I’ll leave you now. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Sir.”
He started to walk away but turned on his heel to face her again. “If I don’t see you tonight, I just want you to know that your training starts tomorrow after breakfast is served. Nothing extreme, just some basic commands and positions you’ll need to know.”
“Okay, thank you for informing me, sir.” Prince Cade inclined his head towards her and left her standing there. She sighed as she watched him walk away before reaching out and opening the door to her new room.
---
Scarlett lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling. The room they had given her was bigger than the one she had previously slept in, with a large bed being the prominent feature. The head of the bed was pressed against the wall, a small table placed on either side of it. Scarlett had dropped her bag to the ground before sprawling out across the bed. It sank slightly beneath her weight and she couldn’t reach the ends of the bed even when she stretched her limbs out as far as she could. She had never slept in a bed like this one before and she knew it was going to be a struggle to pull herself out of it tomorrow.
As she laid there her mind drifted off to the contract signing. She could not believe some of the topics that were brought up. Matthias had had to explain some of the concepts to her because she hadn’t heard of them before. Caning, boot worship, mummification, branding. By the end of the discussion her cheeks were a bright red and she couldn’t bear to look either of them in the face. She hadn’t expected to learn about so many acts that she had never heard of, much less experienced. Admitting her lack of experience to the Prince, especially with Matthias as a witness, was uncomfortable and she thought her chest was going to burst. Thankfully the prince hadn’t seemed bothered by her lack of experience.
As her thoughts drifted the sun began to sink and her room was plunged into darkness. When her stomach began to rumble in protest at her skipped dinner. The bell had rung a while ago but she had chosen to stay holed up in her room rather than venture down and face the other residents of the castle. Ignoring the pangs, she rolled over and tried to fall asleep.
- - -
The next morning she stumbled out of bed at the sound of banging on her door. “Coming,” she rasped. Her voice was raw with sleep and she quickly threw on a robe to cover her nightshirt. She stumbled over to the door and yanked it open. The woman who had taken notes during the interview was standing in front of her.
“Hello, Ms. Amaris. My name is Ava and I am the Prince’s advisor. He requested that I come make sure you were awake.”
Scarlett blinked at the woman a few times before turning to face the window. The sun was high in the sky and she squinted at the bright light filtering her. She went to respond to the other woman but a yawn interrupted her. “Apologies, I hadn’t realized what time it was.”
“No worries. It will take a bit for you to adjust to the Prince’s schedule. I’ll have one of the maids swing by every morning during breakfast to wake you, if you’d like.”
“That’d be great.” She leaned heavily against the door. “How much time do I have to get ready?”
“You’ve got about an hour to get dressed and eat something. The Prince will never allow you to train or serve without having eaten, with the exception of if you serve during balls or dinners.”
Scarlett chewed on her lip before nodding at the other woman. “Understood. I’ll start getting ready now. Where will I be meeting him?”
“His study. Go to the second floor. It will be the door with a silver knob and no markings on the door. Make sure to knock before entering. Have a good day, Ms. Amaris.”
After Ava left the run Scarlett spun around and began to hurriedly change into one of the outfits she had brought from home. She fidgeted with the long gray dress until it sat right. She stroked the marble before tucking it in her pillowcase and sliding her shoes on. She took a deep breath before pulling the door to her bedroom open and venturing into the castle.