Two Bodies, One Soul

It'd been a long trip to the palace from the valley that he'd grown up in, the six year old boy had kept himself busy with the book of easy poems his mother had gotten for him. That with the book of puzzles that had wordfinds, crosswords and more he'd been kept relatively busy, however he'd never left home before and he missed it already, they were spending the winter at court and with the trusted if somewhat crotchety older human running things his father had decided that it'd be worth the effort. There were plenty of faeries wanting portraits done and it meant there would be more food for the servants if himself and his father weren't at home. Still, the palace was far bigger than what he'd expected and after a bathroom break he'd found himself quite lost, fairly cowardly by nature he began to get nervous. What if he never found his father again? What if he got in trouble? He didn't like being in trouble, he should have paid more attention instead of reading his book, getting a little upset the young lord conrad tried to stop himself from panicking and just fleeing. Backing up to a wall and sliding down to sit the boy began trying to figure out what he should do, chewing on his thumb nail and tearing strips off of it as he did so.

Looking up at the the sound of something rolling towards him, he watched as a boy appeared and picked up the silver circlet and put it back on his head the slightly shy youngster couldn't keep eye contact very well. Fiddling with the old cover of the book he had with him, Conrad nodded "I'm very lost, this is my first time here" slowly getting up and keeping the book of poems close to himself. He dimly remembered his father giving him some instructions but he hadn't really been paying attention much more focused on his book, one day he'd write wonderful poems and speak so elegantly as those within the pages of this book. Remembering his manners he opened his mouth again "Ah! I'm sorry, my names Conrad" no that wasn't quite right, there should be a lord in there somewhere but he didn't really remember the correct title so he kept quiet. His dark blue eyes set on a natural pale face with a faint old scar across the bridge of his nose where he'd gotten hit with a branch when riding the mules with his father for the first time, offering the other boy a hesitant smile he couldn't help the pang of homesickness. He knew every inch of the castle, and lots of inches of the valley, but they couldn't return home until spring, the pass out of the valley would long be piled high with snow by now.

Getting up when he was tugged up, Conrad tucked the book under his arm and nodded when he was told the other boys name, "ummm we got put in these rooms and we'll be in them all winter" hoping that was enough information for Atrel to guide him back to his rooms he shyly studied the other boy some more. His eyes were a pretty silver colour he'd never seen before, but he knew better than to ask about them, it'd be rude to do so and he didn't want to be rude. "do you live here all the time? Have you found all the secrets?" it was his theory that most faerie structures had secret passageways and rooms, he'd found most of them in the castle and it was great fun. There was this one secret room that was his secret base, he'd hidden some sweet treats in it as well as some of his favourite soft and fluffy blankets and books. It also had a pretty good view of the lake, a huuuuge palace this side had to have at least hundreds of secrets. Unable to count any higher than a couple of hundred the thought of how many secrets there simply had to be blew his mind a little.

Watching the other boy frown worry returned to Conrad, maybe he didn't know where he was either? At the question the boy smiled "Blue! Papa wanted a room that wasn't really fancy and had a room for an easel or two. I'm finally old enough for him to take me with him to here" Listening as his new friend explained that his siblings and mother and father lived at the palace all the time his mouth fell open a little "Really? its so big do you really know every room?" the palace seemed massive to the small boy, at the hopeful look he grinned "yeah! I found a secret room at home that nobody else seems to remember. I made it my secret base with all my favourite things hidden in there" waiting to be shown what way to go he held onto his book a little more securely finding it started to slip from his grasp. He was getting hungry now after this seemingly long excursion after managing to find a bathroom, feeling a little shy when his stomach growled announcing his hunger for the other boy to hear.

Looking relieved when he was told that Atrel knew where his rooms were, his fingers clasped the others hand when his hand was taken. Walking beside him so very relieved that he'd found someone who could help him get back to his papa, a little impressed that the silver eyed boy knew everywhere in the seemingly humongous palace Conrad did his utmost to keep up with Atrel. Feeling his cheeks go somewhat red at the giggle, the suggestion of lunch was far too tempting to say no to so he just nodded "okay" . When he was asked if he really had a secret place, Conrad was about to reply when the other boy continued adding that his mother wouldn't let him make any as he pranked servants enough as it was. "Really? I get told off if i do, are there many other faeries to play with here? Theres none at home so i play with the servants kids, we go swimming in the lake or play in the hay fields" the valley he'd grown up was his favourite place in the world despite the fact that his mother had been teaching him about other places in the faerie world. Dark blue eyes had lit up with delight as he'd talked about home and what they did there, pausing to get a better grip on the book he soon kept trotting alongside Atrel.

Listening, Conrad soaked up the information that he was being fed about his new friend, not having a sibling himself he privately thought that Atrel was so very lucky to have one that played with him and was nice. The servants here seemed strange, the ones at home were so friendly and nice to him, smiling when he was told he was lucky the boy was about to reply that he thought Atrel was very lucky and that he should visit the valley some time if he thought it sounded like fun. Squeaking not unlike a mouse when they walked into something or rather some one, he stared up at the taller faerie and became a little shy. He vaguely recognized her, she was someone important, at his height he recognized most people by their legs, this person wore a dress so it was a little harder to identify her. Staring up at her face again he caught the glint of some sort of metal on her head, the only big female faerie with metal on her head had been the queen, releasing his friends hand he preformed to the best of his ability a bow.

Staying still as the seemingly tall lady crouched down and let her son cuddle into her, nodding when he was asked if he was okay, the boy let his friend do the talking more than happy to stay quiet. Surprised when the queen fixed the circlet on the boys head and told him he had to wear it as he was a prince, Conrad wasn't exactly sure what to do about that news. Once she was gone the boy sighed softly before turning to his friend "You're a prince? I didn't know or i would have greeted you properly" careful to keep his speech proper he again preformed his best attempt at a bow. His papa had told him that he had to greet people properly or he could get in trouble, he wasn't a fan of getting into trouble so he always did his best to do the right thing. Hoping they could still get something to eat for lunch as he was awfully hungry, he straightened and hovered in mid air a few centimeters above the ground, a habit of his he preformed when nervous the flutter of his wings helping expel the nervous energy.

Thinking about it carefully when the prince told him that he liked it better that he didn't know, a thoughtful look appeared on his face. Landing at the mention of food he nodded "yes! and can we still be friends? I can treat you like you're not a prince if you'd rather?" this palace would be so much more interesting with another person to explore it with, that and he wouldn't get lost which was definitely a bonus. Realizing he'd dropped his book when he'd hovered, the boy carefully picked it back up, dusting any imagined dust off of it before shyly glancing at the prince wondering if the other boy would agree or not. Going red briefly when his stomach announced that it required sustenance, he clutched the book that was so important to him to his chest, it was old and the cover was somewhat dog eared and scratched from thousands of years of use.

Rather red at the giggle he didn't complain when his hand was taken once again simply wrapping his fingers carefully inbetween the other boys fingers. Trotting along side him he listened to his friend chatter away, a question was first asked about the book, although unable to reply as Atrel continued talking seeming rather happy to have made a friend that wasn't going to treat him like a prince. He decided he liked Atrel, he wasn't all arrogant and self obsessed like some of the princes Mum had read to him in stories. The prince commented that his book looked very well loved and that his father liked books, in the same breath he announced that they had so many in the library and if he'd like to visit it some time. Waiting a few seconds to make sure his friend had finished conrad finally spoke "Its a book of poems, easy ones now but when i get better at reading i can read harder ones. It was papas book for a long time, thats why it looks old. Libraries are fun places they often have hiding places! Ours does, theres a part where you push in a series of books a specific way and it opens up a passage way into the court yard, you end up clambering up out of a stone if you can push it up out of the way" happily chattering about all of his favourite places the boy didn't really pay much attention to where they were going, trusting his friend to guide the way.

Listening as he was told that while places had not been found in the library yet it was because he was distracted by the books, then told that the king was very smart and read lots. Surprisingly interested in what was being said to him, Conrad was often prone to zoning out when things became boring much more interesting in remembering poetry but this was his first faerie friend and was saying some pretty interesting stuff. Pushing at the door to help open it, the child grunted a little with the effort at pushing the heavy door, once through it he was tugged over to a place for them to sit. Happily seated there next to his number one friend, eagerly digging into the honey on toast that was set down infront of them he didn't mind it much when the chatter started up again it wasn't like the prince didn't have a nice voice to listen to. "We can try to find some, I was asking Mum about it and she said that alot of the old passage ways are so servants can get through the castle without having to walk down the corridors and disturbing the nobles. They're mostly forgotten about at home because papa is nice to them. Theres probably one or two passages we can find up to the roof if we look carefully" devouring the food quickly he licked the honey off of his fingers and looked over at the other boy wondering where they were going to start their mad adventure first.

Not sure how to explain that most of his space finding was because he was nosy and good at finding them seemingly by mistake. However if he had found so many of them maybe it'd be okay, hopping down off of the chair he hadn't got much chance to reply to the first question as his friend was already exiting through the heavy door, hurrying to catch up he frowned thinking about it. Pleased they'd managed to conquer the door he took a few moments to catch his breath, Atrel came up with what seemed like a pretty good idea, that was easier than whatever he'd been trying to think up. "Okay, umm what about your room? That'd be the most useful one to find right?" after all it meant it'd be easier for his friend to exit his room and scamper about the castle without getting caught. Hiking his book under his arm once more the little boy waited patiently for his friend to lead the way.

Disliking being dragged he simply put on the breaks until he could walk at what he considered a fast pace, he hated being rushed as it meant that things were missed. How could you notice all the details if you were rush rush rushing? Puffing still as they finally reached their bedroom he took it in, it was so much more grand than his room at home, but then again he wasn't a prince he was sure prince and princesses got alot more than he did and that was ok. He just nodded when he was told that he could meet Kat his sister, he didn't really know what a twin was so he nodded again, finally it was quiet. Walking through the room he started with the walls brushing his fingers over them slowly looking for the details that he always found easy to pick out, it wasn't something that was obvious, these rooms were designed to look perfect and flawless. Having put his book down on the floor so he had both hands he spent about ten minutes walking around the walls before finding something "Hey! Over here" the carpet in one corner peeled back ever so slightly, enough that it wasn't just some mistakes, fancy rooms like these didn't have mistakes. Pushing the toy box out of the corner he dug his fingers into the carpet and pulled it up revealing a trap door, pleased that he'd managed to find something and not look like a big idiot infront of his new best friend the rather serious boy grinned broadly.