Chapter 1
The morning sun
shined on the Morgana Castle. Calypso
lay asleep in bed dreaming. Inside his
mind, he sat on a fluff of white clouds, eating the most scrumptious candies
and fruits in the kingdom. A self-serving
all you can eat buffet was lined up with all his favorite foods. As he splurged, he could hear a faint cello
being strummed in the background. Not
before long, he could hear an entire orchestra of music invading his peaceful
dream. He woke with a start and stared at
the small band of musicians playing alongside his bed. They were sent to play classical music as a
sort of live alarm clock. He frowned
miserably and tried to continue his dream of cakes and cheeses. “Uh, uh, uh, Prince Calypso.” His trusted advisor said. “It’s time to wake!” the servant opened the
window to allow fresh bright light into the room. He waited then grabbed Calypso up by the arm
and forced him into the dressing chamber.
He presented him with a set of clothes he picked out himself. “I have placed ye clothing and trust that ye shall
enjoy wearing them. Too bad they must be
burned at the end of the day like the others.”
“Yeah…” Calypso
said unbuttoning his pants. “I really
liked that outfit yesterday... but gotta wear something different everyday…
queen’s rules.” He yawned.
“Master, what
are you doing?” The advisor slapped his
hands away from his belt.
“Taking off my
pajamas so I can get dressed…”
“Nonsense, you
have servants to do that for you!” He
clapped his hands twice, and thus entered an army of butlers. They dragged him to the bath, undressed him then
washed, cleaned and brushed his hair and teeth.
They dried him up and tailored his clothes as they placed them on. They fixed his collar, and combed his long
pink hair, tying a matching ribbon to bind it back. They wiped his glasses clear, and placed them
on as he stood in front of the mirror.
“Not bad I
suppose, you guys still haven’t beaten your record time. Nothing will beat the day I was almost late
for graduation.” Calypso emerged from
his room laughing with the other servants.
The servants adored working for Calypso and would sometimes fight over
who would serve him. He was so much more
gracious and kind than the other siblings and their mother. He would slip them extra food if he could or
some wages if they needed to purchase something for their family. Calypso met
his brother Taro in the hall on the way to the kitchen. “Good day brother.”
“Good morning,
Cally. Where were you for Holy Book studies
yesterday?” Taro asked him.
“Probably out
with that invisible girlfriend that no one knows.” Echo commented.
“Sister how did
you know...”
“You talk in
your sleep, besides everyone knows you have a girlfriend, brother.” Azo
joked. “Just like everyone knows that we
are supposed to have either thirteen butlers or thirteen maids, not twelve
maids and one butler like Valaro.” He
laughed. As they approached their big
sisters door, Taro shooed away the maids snooping in front of Valaro’s
door. He knocked loudly on the door, and
called for her to come to breakfast.
All, but Taro, laughed when a handsome young butler ran from the room
first.
Then moments
later Valaro came to her door. “Can’t a
girl get some privacy?” She asked
brushing through her annoying siblings.
“Any more
privacy and you would have gotten yourself in trouble.” Azo laughed, before she gave him a firm tug
on the ear. “Ow… ow! okay… okay…” She released his ear.
Taro counted
heads to make sure all were dressed and coming with he noticed the only pink
haired one in the family missing. He spun
around and saw Calypso staring out the window.
“Calypso what are you doing?”
Taro asked him.
“Huh... uh...
I’ll be there in a moment...” Calypso
said with his eyes still fixated at something outside.
“Alright, but
when mom comes by don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Taro watched his brother until he finally peeled his eyes away and
headed towards the dining area.
Calypso had his
eyes fixed on a magnificent rare bird. It
seemed to follow him down the hall, as it hopped from window to window. He began running down the hall to catch up
with it when he struck what felt like a soft brick wall in his path. From the floor, he looked up and could see
his mother’s bodyguard. From behind him,
the aged slender face of his mother, Uno scowled down at him from over her
nose. “Prince Calypso, isn’t there
somewhere you need to be?” She asked
him. Calypso jumped up and bowed to her,
before stumbling off. “I still can’t
believe I produced that insult to the family name.”
Almost every day
of Calypso’s life seemed this way – a pauper in prince’s clothing, a duck among
swans, or a moth among butterflies. He
was a misfit in a royal setting.
Everything from the extravagant lifestyle to the servants at his every
whim left a distasteful feeling in his mouth.
From church service to etiquette lessons, everything left him
dissatisfied. Surprisingly, he only felt
comfort with fencing. With the swords,
he could release anguish inside of his soul knowing he would not seriously
injure anyone in the process. The queen
was actually proud to acknowledge his abilities in handling a sword, for he was
better than all his siblings and matched Taro in skill. But, alas, fencing only came once a week for
recreation or extracurricular activities.
The first class
of the day seemed the most boring – proper schooling. With only the best and most expensive
scholars, they were taught mathematics, science, literature, writing, history,
and languages – the essentials to an education.
Each royal child was assigned two levels above what any public or even
private school would offer for their age group.
Calypso’s mind would never fail to wander during sessions. His mind flew to his friends that he wished he
could have adventured with. “I wonder
what they’re doing right now.” He sighed
as he stared out the window.
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