Roots and Oxygen

Chapter 9 - Catastrophic Stumble

Sage stepped back. Taro's fingers fell from his shirt, while Oxley let himself into the room. "Nice to meet you." Oxley held out a hand for Taro to shake. He stared quizzically at Taro's green nails.

The valet shook his hand at least, but stood silently, staring confidently, and once again looking bored. He said nothing to Oxley, so Sage rescued the situation. "Mister Vinea is doing well so far."

"Is he?" Oxley was clearly amused by Taro's messy appearance. "Well, don't let me distract you or you'll be late for the funeral, never mind breakfast."

Taro finished buttoning up Sage's shirt, then crossed the room to get his waistcoat.

"What time did you wake him?" Oxley whispered. "He looks a mess."

Sage shushed him as Taro returned and helped button his waistcoat too. "I think some plain silver cufflinks will do for today."

Taro silently moved around them, helping Sage and avoiding Oxley's judging stare.

"I should go down. Mum will probably be later herself, you know what she's like with appearances and the public," Oxley said, straightening out his own black blazer.

Oxley left, and Taro paused the moment the door shut behind him. "That's your younger brother?" he asked.

"Well, isn't that obvious? Or else he'd be next in line to be king, not me."

"Well, he acts older."

"You got that from this short interaction?"

"It's not the first time I've met him."

Sage stopped examining himself in the mirror. "Oh?"

"I say the word met loosely. He's not that good at disguising himself after he jumps the palace walls."

Sage was intrigued and wanted to ask where he had seen his brother, and what Oxley was doing. But he was interrupted by yet another person at his door, though this person had the decency to knock. "Come in!" Sage yelled down his long bedroom.

Osier, the butler, entered. His round face reddened at the sight of Taro Vinea's untucked shirt, wonky buttons, and unbrushed hair. "How dare you grace the Prince's presence in that state! Go and get yourself dressed this minute, Mister Vinea!"

Taro exhaled very slowly and stormed through the room. When he was gone, Osier shook his head. "I apologise Your Royal Highness. Just say the word and he'll be gone by breakfast."

Sage smiled. "As much as he likes to strain the rules, he's not that bad. He is a fast learner, he just needs to understand that we do things in a very particular way here, and we have for centuries."

"If it was up to me, I would have fired him yesterday."

"Why?"

"He has an answer for everything. To say he is rude is an understatement."

Sage refrained from scoffing. "He's certainly the most interesting person we've had working for us. Today was a big test for him. I needed him to really care about how much I needed to look good. He arrived on time and even remembered to iron my suit. He's trying Osier."

"Not hard enough, in my opinion, but I respect your kindness, Your Royal Highness."

* * * * *

Sage was anxious from the moment he got in the car, to the moment they reached the church. Large crowds gathered, and the security had doubled. He was at a funeral because of a murder and the murderer was still on the loose.