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Even though there were: over a dozen bedrooms, a massive hall full of rare, and beautiful art, three enormous libraries, hundreds of hidden passageways, and secrets to discover, and a full staff of people to entertain...the young Prince Cheng Xiaoshi was bored .
As he wandered through the halls, there was a sigh accompanying every few steps. And that was the only thing accompanying him. He had no friends. He had no one to talk to. Oh, sure, there was his cousin, the Duchess Qiao Ling. But she didn’t live close by. And he wouldn’t see her unless there was an event. Plus, she was a girl. And girls, he had begun to discover, were yucky.
“I want a friend.” He told the suit of armor in the East corridor. “Someone who is funny, and kind, who is...hmm...” he tapped a small finger against his cheek. “Who is good at swords! I wanna learn to use a sword. But he can’t be too good, cause I wanna win. But I don’t want him to go too easy on me.” The suit of armor remained silent, and resolute. Cheng Xiaoshi sighed. “Yeah. I don’t think that person exists either. Thanks for listening though.”
The Young Prince continued to wander through the halls, until it was time for his Father to summon him. He always hated being summoned by the king. He had to bow, and wear the crown...which was heavy. But he had overheard two maids whispering about a surprise. And the Prince did like surprises. So he allowed his helper to place the crown on his head, and lead him to the throne room.
The throne room was its own long, and imposing corridor. There were usually rows of people lining the long opulent carpet that led up to the King’s Dais. But this time, the room was mostly empty. Cheng Xiaoshi looked around as he walked. There were no groups of nobles, gasping and pointing at him. Gushing over how big he’d gotten. There were no knights, standing watch like the suits of armor. There was...no one.
Except a boy around his age with shocking white hair. He stood at attention below the dais, his eyes straight ahead, not wandering. Who was this boy?
Cheng Xiaoshi forced himself to look away from the anomaly and fix his gaze on his father. He bowed, then stood at attention. But his form was so lax, it was almost like a mockery of this other boy. He tried to straighten up.
“My son, you are getting older. It is nearly time for you to begin training to become a prince in earnest.” His father’s voice boomed, carrying throughout the room, even though there was no audience this time to absorb the sound. Cheng Xiaoshi wondered if his own voice would ever be that loud, that deep. “You know that part of your training involves learning how to fight and protect yourself, while the rest of it involves learning how to compose yourself, and speak with others, right?”
Cheng Xiaoshi nodded, unable to keep the smile off his face. “Yes Father! I know about all of that! I get to train with the knights in horseback riding and sword fighting. I get to be strong!”
His Father chuckled and held up a hand. “Yes, yes. But until then,” he gestured to the boy with white hair. “This is Lu Guang. He is the son of my very best knight. My commander in arms. He’s going to be staying here and keeping you company. He has already learned a few things from his father. I felt it would be a good idea to get used to someone your own age before you went off to training.”
His own friend. Someone to explore the palace with. Someone to talk to about all the ideas he had. A grin broke out across his face. “Of course, Father!” He barely remembered to bow once more before running to the other boy. “Hi! I’m Cheng Xiaoshi. Let’s go.” Without waiting for a response, he took the boy’s hand and pulled him out of the throne room.
“So your name is Lu Guang. That’s a cool name. Do you know how to use a sword? What about a bow and arrow? I’ve used a sling before. But I’ve never hit anything. Do you think we’ll be allowed to join the Royal Hunts when we’re older?”
Lu Guang blinked a few times, but didn’t respond otherwise. Whatever he had been told about the prince, it wasn’t this. This felt more like being pulled along by one of the palace puppies. Did the prince always talk this much? And where were they going? When he agreed to leave behind his old life in order to come here, he didn’t expect it to be like this. This felt...different than anything he’d ever known.
It felt like they’d been running for hours, all around the castle. The Prince talked the entire time. Even if he had wanted to say a word, he wouldn’t have gotten the chance. Finally, they stopped in front of a door that said “Keep Out!” in a messy child’s scrawl. “My secret headquarters.” Cheng Xiaoshi announced proudly. He opened the door and it was the prince’s suite of rooms. The first room was full to the brim with pillows and blankets arranged in a fort.
He led Lu Guang inside the fort. “So...Tell me about yourself.”
Lu Guang scratched the back of his head. “I am Lu Guang. I’m here to watch over you, and keep you safe.”
Cheng Xiaoshi stared at him, waiting for him to go on. “Okay. What else?”
“I haven’t ever used a sword. I don’t know how to shoot a bow and arrow.” He struggled to think of what else the Prince had talked about during their exploration of the castle. He ended up just shrugging.
“That’s okay. We’ll figure it out together. You can stay here with me. I have extra rooms. Are you hungry? I haven’t had lunch yet.”
Lu Guang scratched the back of his head. This was going to be a long rest of his life if the Prince was always like this.
The Prince was always like that. As days turned into weeks turned into months, Lu Guang was always right by the Prince. Watching over him, keeping him company, and feeling like an overfull sponge, absorbing every thought the boy had. It was as if the questions, thoughts, excitements had built up over the first eight years of his life, and Lu Guang was the first person to ever hear all of them.
It was a lot.
But he found that, after a while, he really didn’t mind it.
On a particularly beautiful summer day, the Prince wanted to have a picnic. “I got Cook to make us lunch. And he put it in this basket. I thought that we could go on a little adventure. Whaddya say Lu Guang?”
Lu Guang nodded, smiling as he picked up the picnic basket. It was heavy . What had Cook packed into it? “Sounds fun, Your Highness.”
The two set off across the lawn. Cheng Xiaoshi wanted to at least make it outside the castle walls. There was a hill that would be the perfect spot to have their picnic. “Are you okay back there?” He asked Lu Guang, who was struggling to keep up, weighed down by the basket of food. “Want me to help?”
“No, Your Highness. Princes shouldn’t–” Cheng Xiaoshi cut him off by grabbing onto the handle of the basket.
“There, if we both carry it, it won’t be so heavy, right?” He grinned. “Cmon! We gotta make it to the hill. That will be the perfect spot.”
The two walked, carrying the basket together, for what felt like forever. There was no hill in sight. Cheng Xiaoshi reassured Lu Guang that it was just ahead. Just ahead.
Just ahead.
Just...
He stopped, looking around. “There’s no hill.”
“Your Highness?” Lu Guang set the basket down.
“I think...I think I got confused?” It was a flat expanse of green for as far as his little eyes could see. “Well...I guess...we can just have our picnic here.” He pouted, moving off the road. This wasn’t what he wanted, but what could they really do? They’d already been travelling for forever.
Lu Guang helped him lay out the blanket, then the food. “What’s so important about the hill?” He waited for the Prince to sit down, before joining him.
“Well...I wanted to watch the clouds, and the hill seemed like a good place to do that. But I guess here isn’t so bad.”
They ate their fill of every delicious thing that Cook packed for them. Once their stomachs were full they laid down next to each other, staring up. The blue of the sky felt deep and endless, filling Cheng Xiaoshi with strength and excitement.
“Hey, Lu Guang? Do you think we’ll be friends forever?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you promise that...no matter what happens, we’ll always be there for each other?”
“I promise. No matter what happens, I’ll forever stay by your side.”
The Prince smiled, grabbing Lu Guang’s hand. “Good.”