The castle, at its finest, ran as smoothly as a well-oiled automaton. The staff did as they were bid, chores were completed with little to no chastisement and guests were met at the door by butler who could only be psychic. Or so it would seem. The reality was that there was a lot of effort behind the running of a staff as large as the royal palace of Shaman. There were banquets and hunts to organize, guests to cater to, inspections to be had, and that was on the least busy of days. Each day these things and much more went on, and the the courtiers went about their business none the wiser.

While Ciara had not grown up as a courtier, she had spent time in her younger years in the palace once Arthur had become king, and she was accustomed to the ways things were for guests, but more recently she had been behind the scenes more and more often as a resident. As a young child in the Labyrinth she’d watched the adults care for her and her siblings and the other children who had been left there in the war. She’d seen what it took to care for a household that had only a few members. What it must be like for Arthur to care for an entire castle, let alone a kingdom of subjects was awe-inspiring.

As she’d grown, Arthur had been her best friend. When she didn’t anyone to turn to, Arthur had always been there ready to listen and be a good shoulder to cry on. And when it was his turn to lean on her, when his life had turned upside down and insided out, she’d been nowhere to be found. Ever since returning to Shaman and the castle, she’d felt guilty about missing the births of his children and helping him and Lilith through a child’s death. More than any of their group of childhood friends, she’d experienced the heartbreak of surviving a child. She’d be absent when he’d needed his own shoulder as his wife fled. But now she was here, and he needed her help, and Ciara would carry the whole world if that was what he needed from her.

Each time she passed his quarters, she cast a sad glance toward his door, uncertain whether to enter, or not; uncertain whether he was even in the room of being dragged around the castle by the courtiers who were slowly abandoning him for his half-brother she would continue past the wooden frame.

In the halls, she would hope to give him as big a hug as she could, remind him that her doors and arms would always be open to him whenever he needed, but she was always cut off by messangers from the hunting parties. It seemed everyone needed more and more of him, and Ciara fell into the background. Besides, who was better to love Arthur and help him through this trial than Nimue herself. Ciara knew that, if no one else could reach him, the king was in the best hands with his mother. So she stopped trying to force herself into the front of the comforting.

Arthur was busy looking for his son, but there were other affairs he had to neglect. For the past few days now, upon waking, the blonde sent Nalani, her familiar, with a rag through the castle. With her superior abilities to limb, and smaller stature, she could reach some of the higher places that the unwinged cleaning staff could not reach, and fit into the smallest crevices to make sure there was no dust on anything. Beyond that, familiars seemed more welcome in private rooms than the staff sometimes did, so Nalani could neaten the chambers as well.

Ciara, on the other hand, would dress and head to the kitchens to help the staff there prepare for the day. Certainly the lack of distraction running through all day was increasing the productivity of the cooks and young apprentices, but many were now distracted by the gossip about the crown prince and the king’s health. Upon hearing it, Ciara, most recently, coughed and one of the older women who were the true bosses in the kitchens chased the two gossiping girls into the courtyard with a rolling pin. Turning, to the others, Ciara began to lay out a menu for the day. Though Arthur was not eating, the rest of court and the children who lived there were. There could be no slack in this dreadful time.

“Chicken, I think, with roast potatos and peas for lunch? And we’ll need to see about the welcoming feast for when the party returns with His Royal Highness,” Ciara state with confidence. There was no quiver in her voice of fear for the worst. Right now, she had to be an optimist. Besides, if they found the prince’s body, Aura forbid, the feast would still occur, only with a different name for a different circumstance.

Leaving the menu brainstorming to the chefs, and hoping they would find her for approvals, Ciara continued through the halls and toward the dormitories. When the cat’s distracted, the mice will play, and these mice were meant to be getting their studies done. The tutors had found many of them distracted by the strained relations within the castle, especially the noble-born children whose parents made up many of the grovelers who were determining where to place their allegiance. None of this political nonsense needed to be spoken to with the children – Ciara had never cared as a child who was in power, so long as the weather was wonderful and she and her friends could play together – but exposed to it they were. After some deliberation, the woman suggested having the students write some lines regarding the academics they were failing to attend to, and then taking them outside to play, though remaining within sight of the castle at all times and without getting the way of the search parties.

She left the study hall through the heavy oak doors and pressed her back against the cool wood as it closed behind her, exhausted after only half a day. There were petitioners yet to sort out, though Ciara was leaving them until the afternoon. She did not have the power to grant most of their wishes, nor was her word a final judgment as many of the people of Shaman needed, but she could offer advice or aid the visitors who had travelled so long to see the king in whatever was she was capable of. With a heavy sigh, she began to walk toward the grand entrance, though before her eyes could open enough from her brief rest to see where she was going, she was flying through the air and to the floor.