The Sorcerer's Sword

Aidan's servant

The next morning Samuel woke up to find that Kayden was already awake. He looked around, his room was looking very neat and tidy.

He looked at Kayden, "have you been up for long?"

"yes uncle, I always wake up very early. Mother calls me her little early bird." Kayden replied cheerily.

"I am sure she does." Samuel said.

He stood up and picked up the little bottle on his table, he handed it to Kayden.

Kayden took the bottle and examined it looking very confused.

"what is this for?" he asked.

"It's an eye drop to change your eye color" Samuel informed him.

"why do I need to change my eye color, mother always said she loves my eyes, she called me her little ocean blue" Kayden said.

Samuel sighed tiredly again, "I am sure she did, and I am sure she also had a lot of pet names she called you as well but I don't want you to draw attention to yourself, your eyes are too shiny we need to dull it" he explained patiently.

Kayden pouted, "come on, it won't be permanent. For now, let's just dull it till I find somewhere preferably outside the palace where you can stay. Okay?" Samuel pleaded.

Kayden reluctantly nodded and uncorked the bottle, he put a little drop in each of his eyes. His eyes immediately changed from blue to a dull shade of brown.

Kayden looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. "My eyes are no longer pretty" he said.

"I am sure that must be a very sad thing, thankfully it won't be for long, now come on let's go to see the king."

"why are we seeing the king?" Kayden asked.

"Because any new resident in the palace grounds must be introduced to the king." Samuel explained.

"oh!"

"I don't think there is a need to say this but nevertheless let me say it. Please don't use any magic in front of the king."

"Yes uncle" Kayden replied.

Samuel cleaned up and put on fresh clothes and the two of them left the room.

Samuel went to the kitchen, "Good morning Samuel" the cooks and servants greeted him.

"morning to you too, is breakfast ready?" he asked.

"yes, we have served it and we are waiting for you to present it to the king" the head cook told him.

"Good, let's serve the breakfast" Samuel said as he instructed the servants to start carrying the breakfast trays.

"who is this young boy?" The head cook asked.

 "He is Kayden, my nephew." Samuel replied.

"I didn't know you had any relatives" the cook said.

"well I do" Samuel answered as he left the kitchen with Kayden following him dutifully.

The king and queen were seated at the table with Prince Aidan and Sir Phil, the king's ward.

"good morning, your highness, my lady and my lords" Samuel and the servants greeted. 

"Good morning Samuel!" the king replied while Aidan and Phil nodded in response to the greeting. 

The servants served the breakfast and retired to stand by the corner in case the royals needed anything. 

After they had finished eating, the servants picked up the plates and cleared the table. 

Samuel brought Kayden to the king. 

"who is this?" the king asked. 

"he is Kayden, my nephew. His mother sent him to stay with me" Samuel explained. 

"your highness" Kayden bowed before the king. 

"Welcome to Rivena Kayden." the king said. 

"thank you, your highness."

"How old are you?" the king asked. 

"Eighteen." Kayden replied. 

"That's good. You are around the same age with Aidan here." the king said. 

Kayden kept quiet, unsure of what to say. 

"Do you have any thing that you are doing?" the king asked. 

"nothing, your highness." Kayden replied. 

"Would you like to be Aidan's personal servant?" the king asked. 

"What!" Samuel and Aidan chorused at the same time. 

"Why are you both surprised?" the king asked them. 

"Your highness, your decision is a very wise one but I am afraid Kayden would be ill fitted for such a position, he is a bit inexperienced." Samuel said. 

"Nonsense! He is your nephew, I am sure he must have some of your attributes, anything he can't do, he will learn." the king brushed away Samuel's concern. 

"I don't need a personal servant father" Aidan said. 

"I assure you that you do, you can't keep bellowing for the servants anytime you need something done, Kayden here will accompany you everywhere and carry out your errands. Consider it your birthday gift" The king said. 

Aidan sighed, his father could be so stubborn. 

"Have you even asked him if he wants to be my servant?" he asked. 

The king looked at Kayden, "of course he wants to be your servant, who would turn down such an honor?" he said. 

Aidan turned to look at Kayden, "do you want to be my servant?" he asked. 

Kayden looked into Aidan's green eyes, Aidan's eyes were a beautiful shade of green, the kind of eyes his mother would have cooed over and called him her little emerald green. He wondered how Aidan would react if he called him his little emerald green. 

"Uhm Kayden, Aidan asked you a question?" Samuel prodded him when he saw that Kayden was lost in his thoughts. 

"Uhm of course, I would like to be your servant, it would be an honor" Kayden replied.

"There it is settled. Aidan show him to your room and tell him his chores. Once again, welcome to Rivena, Kayden." the king said as he stood up accompanied by the queen. 

"Come on Kayden". Aidan said as he left the room without sparing a glance at him. Phil was the one who smiled at Kayden and gestured for him to follow them. 

Kayden smiled as well and followed them. 

Samuel looked at their departing backs and felt like hurling something at the wall to express his anger. He had to bite his lips and gnash his teeth tightly to contain his anger. 

His plan was ruined, he had wanted to take Kayden far away from the palace and keep him safe. Now his plan was ruined, Aidan was to become the prince personal servant directly under the eyes of the king. 

Samuel sighed, he could foresee already that his future wasn't going to be peaceful and it was all Ida's fault.