Chapter 15: Connections Via Games

          Augustus opened his eyes. Around him was his room on the ship. Said room was much larger than his room back home. His dad, the king, had given it to him when he still thought there were going to be more Princes and Princesses.

          But that was in the past, and right now he was wondering what was going on. He wasn’t lying in Miss Aisling’s lap anymore. That was sad. He wasn’t in her room anymore, that wasn’t all too bad. Now he was in his room, that in and of itself was probably because of Miss Aisling.

          He looked to his side and saw Miss Aisling there, sitting on a chair that had been set next to a small table in his room. She was asleep. The young prince looked around the room and noticed that it had been cleaned. The boy that had just turned eleven never had private maids, his dad had not let him have any.

          He really hoped that his dad would let him keep her. But then a thought flashed in his mind. She belonged to the duke; she was his. Maybe he had gotten her for him? That was unlikely, given by how much he seemed to like his other slave.

          Maybe she would want to stay with him? That was an idea, but it wasn’t really a good one. It didn’t seem like she wanted to stay with him, her master seemingly treated her well.

          But what if… she did want to stay with him? Oh, Augustus was cooking with gas now. His mind was firing on all cylinders on how to make her want to stay with him. OH!

          He could play a game with her. Now, Augustus wasn’t really the most childlike child; but he did play games by himself. He often would get wooden figures and have them act out different plays, or ideas and stories in his head.

          That wasn’t really something had could do with her. He also had a feeling that she would look at him funny if he started to talk about his weird stories. But what could he do? It wasn’t like they were actually the same age, and she had a slight want to go outside and sunbath while laying on the floor like an actual cat, right?

          He sighed and started to get up on his own. It was then that he heard her shift and woke up. She opened her eyes and moaned a little as she stretched her limbs. It was like she was an actual cat. It was actually kind of cute in a way. That weird feeling of friendship filled him again; how strange.

Her now open eyes glanced around lazily and then landed on the prince. Her green eyes looked around the large room, taking it all in. She breathed in deeply and sighed in pleasure. But then a thought came to her… oh… no…

          It was then that she realized that she had fallen asleep and been woken up by the prince’s rise from bed. Her cheeks nearly flushed in embarrassment. She managed to keep the color down a bit but some of the red still seeped into her face.

          Before she could stand and bow her head in apologies, the prince got up from his bed. He looked up at her and smiled. It was a rather cheeky smile that held a very childish and mischievous idea behind it.

          “Do you want to play a game?” he asked.

It was at this point that Aisling knew that she had messed up. She had spent too much time with the First Prince and made a mistake in interacting with him. She was maybe a bit parasocial. But that wasn’t her fault, too bad that she didn’t think of it like that.

          It was at this that she decided to try and grow a bit distant. Not by much, mind you. She just wanted to grow a bit farther away so that he wouldn’t want to connect with her too much. If she was found playing with the only heir to Francia then she would probably be killed.

          But she still couldn’t refuse him. It was kind of reassuring that her actions weren’t actually her fault, at least, that was what she told herself. She tilted her head as if in thought. She then looked back at the door to the room. She turned back to the young boy that was the prince.

          “What games do you wish to play my lord?” she asked, then she tilted her head to the other side, “are you sure you have permission form my master and owner to use me like this?”

          The boy looked confused at that and widened his eyes in surprise. The lad did not know you needed permission to play a game with a slave. But then again, his dad had said that all a royal need’s to do is act. He did not know he needed permission.

          “But dad said all a Royal need’s to do is act, not ask. Does that mean he was wrong?” he asked in return.

          It was time for Aisling to be confused. How did he know of a royal’s absolute authority in a feudal society? Then again, he was a prince, she should have thought that through.

          “I am sorry my lord. If the king said that, then you can ask me to do anything and I will do it,” she told the boy.

…

          They were now playing chess. Aisling had known how to play chess since she was a small boy in her past life. That in and of itself was starting to blur into this life but that was beside the point.

          Now was the time for action. She was just about to let the prince win when he messed up his play. He could be checkmated in two moves. That was a close call, but I the end she let him win. It was honestly kind of funny how she let him win. It seemed that he didn’t know that she did so.

          She smiled a little in her mind then chastised herself. She needed to stop forming a bond with this boy at once. But… he was so small and kind of goofy that it was hard not to.

          “Aisling, want to play hide and seek?” Augustus asked.

          That was a weird one. She expected him to ask to play checkers, or charades as those people of this world, and even the nobility kind of had no recreation. At least that was when compared to the late 21^st century.

          “Why not checkers my lord? You have a board of it under your bed right next to the chess board,” She asked.

          “No, I wish to play hide and seek. I have never played it with anyone ever. My dad doesn’t let me make friends, and the servants are too busy to pay me any mind,” he explained.

          A wave of pity washed into her mind. This boy had no one to talk to, no one to make fun memories with. It was kind of like her life in the Guard in her past life.

          “of course, my lord,” she answered him.

…

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