Work Text:
Red~
The throne room was grand, large pillars, a rounding staircase on either side, and a stage on the back wall. A large chandelier hung above, and the red carpet strewn out from the door to the stairs of the thrown.
Sitting there was Anti. His crown was blood red, a contrast to his almost neon hair. People sometimes questioned why he did such a color, but he simply fluttered his eyes and smiled widely. It was enough to make anyone take a step back and keep their mouth shut.
He wasn’t bad looking, quite the opposite actually. He appeared to be in his prime age, and while his muscles weren’t overly defined, they were just enough to make others swoon. However, his bright emerald eyes would sometimes glow, and if he smiled too widely you’d get to see his fangs lower.
Most people didn’t like to see that in his court. It wasn’t like they could stop him though.
No one understood why or how he had so much strength, or how he could sense someone from yards away. More often than not at the beginning, people who had plans to assassinate him were found dead a few days before they had planned to do the job.
People had soon gotten the message that messing with him wasn’t a wise idea.
That left him with power over the kingdom. He listened to people problems and suggested solutions one day a week, and did the required work. All in all he was technically a decent ruler.
His war plans were smart and strategic, stealthily carried out. He himself was more than glad to join the battles. None of them lasted very long though, as many of the other side would suddenly find themselves with slit throats and bloodied hands.
Anti always had plans anyway. Many of the people from the kingdoms he destroyed would travel to his own in search of homes and works. With the ever growing kingdom, new jobs were easily made and houses were always being built. He had even (albeit very quietly) built a few shelters for the new until they could find a home and job.
A good king he was, despite how scary he may seem at times.
~
Mark gulped as he stared at the castle in front of him. His prior kingdom had fallen, and he had came here for work. Surprisingly it was easy enough to find it. He got room and board here, as well as a alright salary.
He came in through the servant’s hall and made his way to the room he was told would be his. It was a decent sized room with a bathroom attached to it. Mark sat down his couple of bags, before sitting down himself. The kingdom was large, and it had taken a long walk to get here. He was tired- the path from the boarding house was nicer than what he was used to, and easy to navigate, but he still hadn’t recovered from the long, long journey here.
~
The next day Mark was set to work. He was given a small list and a map, before being left on his own.
Admittedly, he’d been treated worse than this in the past. He still had a couple of scars from prior experiences.... Shaking his head, he got to work.
The castle was a bit trickier- it’s halls seemingly almost never ending. He didn’t speak to any of the other servants, simply keeping his head down as he worked.
He eventually ended in the public throne room, where his last task of the day was. He was to sort the gifts given to the king. Looking around, his eyes widened.
The king himself was... overly attractive. His waist was slim and his hips curved nice enough to grip. Strong arms and a nicely carved face-
Mark quickly looked away when the king looked over. Gifts- he was supposed to be organizing gifts.
Mark eyed some of them wearily, noticing how many knives he had seemed to get. Many of them were well detailed and nicely carved. Some have stones set in them even!
Mark was careful as he picked each gift up and put them where they would properly go. He kept his head down, avoiding eye contact from all who entered the room. He was doing his job, and he didn’t want any officials to be bothered by him.
Soon enough the Bell was rung for dinner. That meant it was Mark’s stopping time for the day... but, he still had gifts to sort out. With a breath he continued as everyone sorted too the dining room.
Mark thought he was alone, aside from a few guards keeping their post. Of course, they weren’t paying any attention to the servant.
“Why aren’t you going to the supper hall?”
Mark startled a little, “My job isn-“
Mark froze mid sentence, his eyes widening at the site of the king himself. He immediately bowed his head, his face going pink and his words starting to come out in a stutter, “I- I’m not- I’m not done.”
Anti watched as he put a knife in the correct place and hummed, “You still need to eat.”
Mark wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. Perhaps it was a test- “I will finish my task and do so, my king.”
.... “You’ll just have to come with me then.” With that Mark felt himself get yanked up into the king’s arms. Immediately he resisted, but there was no getting out of the king’s grip as he pulled along.
“I- Sir- I assure you I’m capable of walking-“ Mark stuttered out once more, tucking his arms in close to his body. Anti shrugged, “You took to long, so I’ll do it for you.”
“You really don’t have to do tha-“
“Are you arguing with your king?” Anti raised an eyebrow, continuing to walk with Mark in his arms.
Mark gulped, immediately staying quiet and shaking his head. Anti nodded, “That’s what I thought.”
Inside the dining hall, a long table strung with servants, guards, visitors, and other palace workers. Mark heard a few snickers from the small crowd once they saw his position. It only caused him to hide his face. However they soon quieted down, due to Anti looking over at them with a glare.
Mark was placed into the seat beside Anti, who sat at the end of the table. He was a bit surprised by just how large his plate was, completely filled with food. Anti dug in eating, not bothering to wait any longer.
Mark stared at his food, taking a minute to remember proper table manners before finally picking up a fork. He hadn’t really ate with loyalty before, and was quite nervous about it.
“Where ya from?” Anti interrupted his train of thought. Mark quickly finished chewing before answering, “Newborn.. I was able to get a job here after my previous experiences in another castle.”
Anti nodded, not really slowing down in his eating, “Long journey, short battle. Have you settled in well?”
Mark looked down at his lap, “It’s my first day here actually- well technically yesterday I brought all of my stuff here, but I went to sleep right after I unpacked. As you said it’s a long journey, and I didn’t have the energy to explore the town yet. I’m not quite sure what to expect if I’m honest..”
“Lotta diversity and equality. Quite a bit of construction around the outside of the town. People are just trying to live and be happy here,” Anti said almost passively.
Mark almost had a hard time believing he was dining with a king. While they weren’t rude, he didn’t seem to care about proper eating etiquette. He didn’t drink wine and his plate looked almost exactly like Mark’s. The only difference was a small cake sat on the corner of the king’s plate. Mark observed it for a moment, “What is that?”
“Today I think it’s some sort of chocolate chip cake. My blood sugar gets lower in the evenings,” Anti took a bit of it and smiled, “A lot of the children ask for dessert after their meal, but there’s no shame in the adults doing it either.” Anti nudged his head towards a certain door that seemed to be cut in half.
Mark blushed, but shook his head, “I’m grateful I’ve got this much.”
Anti pondered him for a few minutes, before leaning over to a person beside him. They nodded and got up, before coming back with a couple of the cakes. Anti handed one to Mark, “Next time you’ll have to go up and ask yourself.”
Mark’s eyes widened a bit, and he quickly said a thank you. He made sure to eat most of it at the end of his meal, not wanting to make anyone upset.
Once Mark was done with his dinner he thanked the king once more, before sitting there. Anti was done before too long and got up, “come with me- unless you’d like me to carry you again?”
Anti was clearly amused, but Mark simply hung his head as he followed. He was led to the king’s private office, where he sat down in a guest chair. Anti say down, tossing his crown onto the desk, “You seem anxious.”
Mark immediately reached out and caught the object, before placing it down on the desk. He didn’t want to see rage if it somehow broke, “I’m just.. new. That’s all.”
Anti chuckled a bit, taking one of Mark’s hands, “The crown itself is simply for show. It’s alright if it gets tossed a little. Heck, we could even play catch.” Anti took the crown and tossed it at the single guard in the room, who caught it and tossed it back to Anti.
Mark squeaked in panic, shriveling up in his chair. He didn’t pay attention to the warm feeling on his hand as the panic had already sat in. Anti sighed and placed the crown down, “tell me about your last job.”
Mark gulped, “Well I... I worked in the previous palace as a servant. A lot of my work tended to be done in private... such as polishing things... some things meant for the former king.”
“He didn’t seem very nice.” Anti suggested. Mark internally cringed, feeling the scars on him, memories of just how, ‘not nice,’ his former employer had been, “No.. not a bit.”
Anti nodded, seeming to go into thought, “That’s all I needed, you’re free to go.”
Mark bowed, “Thank you my king.”
~
Within the next few days, Mark was told he was moving to a different room. Mark had made sure seeing as he hadn’t been here long. After confirmation, he found himself in one of the more quieter halls of the castle. He knew he was closer to the king’s personal branch as well. If he went the other way, it was to a polishing workroom.
He was surprised by the extravagance of his newer room, being much nicer than the old. It was still only two rooms, but it was filled with much nicer things, include a larger bed with luscious sheets... surely this was a mistake. Mark sat his stuff down, not willing to unpack yet. Nonetheless, he had to get changed.. he had been pulled out pretty early in the morning.
Upon cleaning up and starting to change, he heard the door open. He quickly pulled his pants on and buckled them, haven not gotten a shirt on yet.
“How did you get so many scars?”
Mark blushed as he heard Anti’s voice. He quickly started putting his shirt on, “M-My apologies that you saw that.” Despite it being half Anti’s fault for not knocking. The other half was Mark not locking the door.
“Was it your former employer?” Anti asked, easily sitting on the bed. He gave Mark’s shirt a gentle tug in order to get a better look at some of them.
Mark was blushing once more- his eyes turned to the ground as he felt the other’s eyes on him, “He had a bit of a temper.”
He only waited a couple more seconds before he slipped his shirt back on and started buttoning it up, “I think they may have misread the rooming chart- not that it’s any problem! I just don’t think this was supposed to be my room.”
Anti seemed to be in thought for a few moments, “You’re where you are going to be. After you finish unpacking, you should go to the polishing room. It’s at the other end of the hall.”
‘So he had been listening,’ Mark thought. He gave the king a small smile, “Thank you.. I’ll be sure to do my best.”
Anti nodded, “A fair enough warning, you may have to do a little sewing if you stay there long enough.”
Mark nodded, “Ill have to get used to needle work again then.”
Anti continued watching him as he got dressed, before coming up behind him, “You’re rather pretty.”
Mark gulped, wide eyed he looked at the king before looking down. He heard the click of a tongue, before his chin was gently brought back up, “You should meet me in my room tonight.”
With that Anti messed up his hair, and seemingly disappeared, leaving Mark staring.