Faint of Heart

00

𝓕𝓵𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓷. 𝓛

HER MAJESTY KATHERINE'S PALACE IN THE CITY OF MARSEILLE, LOCATED IN THE EMPIRE OF EUROPA.

"FINNNNN!" Aloysia screams Florin's nickname as soon as she is behind him. He doesn't shake or shift. It's normal for her to try and sneak up on him. He hides a smile as she leans to see what he's cleaning.

"Good afternoon Aloysia." Florin snags his cloth onto his apron strap. It's a thin piece of black fabric that protects the white of his collared shirt. It doesn't exactly work that well but Florin is careful enough with his cleaning that it doesn't matter.

"Life sucks," Aloysia groaned.

He sighed, leaning against the hallway corridor beside the portrait of Her Majesty he was just cleaning. His eyes focus on the painting of the Queen a bit too long before looking at Aloysia. For reference, that's like looking at the most beautiful shiny diamond in the world and then staring at a topaz that was hit on the head repeatedly as a child. "Oh? The guards causing you troubles again?" He asked.

"Oh it's worse..."

Aloysia is a royal guard in training. Florin is a royal maid. Her constant running across the castle was cute and all, but definitely against contract. He doubted anyone except his boss cared though. Aloysia and Florin were conscripts, one of the other terrible things about being Forsaken, which meant they didn't want to be here anyway. No one screwed with them either. A double-edged sword he supposed.

Maybe Aloysia could be described like that too. What she made up in power she failed miserably in charisma. She doesn't even look too bad. Blonde hair in a pony that needs combing. Pretty emerald eyes that usually shined with a spark of yellow to signify her ability. All cute or whatever, but god the girl needs talking-to-other-humans-properly class.

"Ah I see," Florin interjected. "The Queen's favourite barred you from your duties? Again?"

"Yeah and now I'm bored and stuck with anti-power cuffs all day." Aloysia waved her hands around, the cuffs showing against her bulky coat. Florin tsked. That explained the lack of spark in Aloysia's eyes. Anti-power cuffs used pain to dispel a Forsaken's power. They aren't fun.

Oh yeah, Forsaken are people with powers. He should've made that more clear. Water manipulation, mind control, strings or shapeshifting like in Florin's case. It sounds cool but it isn't.

Florin tossed her the rag from his belt. "How about you start on the windows if you're so bored?" he cooed.

"Uh no thank you!" She tossed the rag between her freshly painted nails. "I became a royal guard, remember? You chose the boring servant thing."

"I'd rather spend a year doing easy work around the castle than with burns etched into my skin," Florin half-joked. Aloysia had clearly never heard the term work smarter not harder. "Or I suppose Leone Romanos either."

"Ugh, you're no help!" Aloysia trailed putting her head in her hands all dramatically. Florin didn't have the time to guess whether or not it was of genuine annoyance.

"Not my fault you forget to think, my dear," he said, not hiding his chuckle as he circled behind her. "At least you're entertaining."

Aloysia snuck her head out and glared at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, nothing."

"Yeah right." She elbowed his side. He laughed again, going to give her a noogie in payback. The same thing the two had been doing since they were kids. Aloysia tried to reach up to give him one as well—but she happens to be short like a gnome. "At least I'm not a boring butler!"

"Doll, it's called a cleaner, and at least I changed up a little. Going from a military conscript to a royal guard isn't much of a jump."

"I'm just sticking to what I'm good at."

"Do you usually brag about being good at violence?"

"Of course. You've met me."

He sighed and put his head in his hand. "You're an embarrassment."

"A cute embarrassment?"

He just smiled at her and ruffled his gloved hands in her hair. No need to gamble with his best friend. "An idiotic one."

"You didn't answer my question!"

"That seems like a you problem."

"You seem like a you problem!"

"...yes?"

"You know what I mean!"

"For once, I don't."

"UGH! You're impossible!" She grumbled, chucking the old rag back at Florin's face. He caught it and twisted it between his fingers. If it wasn't so dirty, it might be a nice fidget between cleaning and walking around the castle. Aloysia crossed her arms and put on a nasty glare. Maybe if her cheeks weren't so puffed up and he hadn't seen that look on her since secondary it might have worked. "I'm leaving! At least back at training they just give me weird glances instead of commenting on my English!"

"Your English is worse than mine and I know more languages than you."

"Oh go eat garbage."

"Really? That's the insult you're going for, doll?"

She flipped him off.

"HEY! FLORIN STOP SLACKING AND GET WORKING!" yelled a voice down the hall so loud that it almost burst Florin's eardrums. No doubt that his boss had noticed him and Aloysia. Great.

"Better get a move on darling~"

"I hate you."

Florin waved to her as she slid around her army boots and stomped down the well-tiled halls. The Queen hadn't wasted a euro on this place. Florin's smile faulted as soon as Aloysia was out of eyesight. His eyes gleamed over the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Katherine again, this time hate boiling in his blood. She was perfect in every way. Wavy brown hair tied back into a well-fastened bun. A sparkling and eye-catching pink dress with puffy sleeves and bodice to hold her large... assets, let's say. Her eyes were this dazzling sea blue that complimented her soft smile well. She looked like the kindest monarch to ever rule. Her policies seemed to reflect that as well.

But yet he still somewhat hated her. As a Forsaken he was forced against his will to drop out his last two years of school to join the military. By luck, he and his best friend were able to snag this job instead. It didn't matter though. He had missed his sister's birthday last year. He didn't want to feel that guilt for the rest of his life.

Guess he should think of a gift to get her then. Can't come back home after two years with nothing.

𝟣𝟢𝟦𝟪 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈