Sorry, did you say servants?

The high-pitched scream made Perry wince. Sunlight flooded him as he snapped his eyes open.

Wait, hadn't his eyes already been open? Was he still dreaming?

A face came into focus and Perry thought he felt cold breath on his cheek. He pushed himself as far away from that face and those eyes as he could get and smacked his head against something hard.

"Ouch!" Pain burst from the top of his head down to his neck and Perry squeezed his eyes shut again. Had they been open?

"Your Highness." The voice sounded familiar, but Perry couldn't place it. Was he still dreaming? "Your Highness?"

Perry tried to move his head, but the pain made him wince. He slowly blinked his eyes open. Sunlight made his vision swim, but he blinked until things came into focus again. 

The eyes staring down at him weren't red. Green. Dark green eyes. Of course, the eyes weren't just floating there. They belonged on a face. 

"Mal," Perry mumbled. "Am I still dreaming?"

The eyebrows above the eyes frowned slightly. "Would you say you often dream of me?"

Perry snickered, then winced when pain shot up his neck. "Don't make me laugh."

"I assure you, it was not my intention. But you still have not answered the question."

Uncertainty shifted slowly to annoyance. Okay, there was at least a 60% chance Perry wasn't dreaming. He refused to believe he'd let himself be annoyed in his own dreams. 

"If you are still uncertain, I am more than happy to pinch you," Mal said, sounding almost cheerful.

Okay, make that 70% chance he wasn't dreaming.

"Tempting," Perry quipped. "But I'll pass. What's that noise?"

Mal straightened and tilted his chin in the direction of the door. "Those would be your servants, eagerly awaiting to be let inside so that they may wash and perfume you."

Perry's still sleepy brain tried to hold on to anything about that sentence that made sense, but he failed miserably. 

"Sorry, did you say servants?" He refused to acknowledge the wash and perfume part. 

There was no chance that was going to happen.

"I did. And judging from the raucous, I would say there are six or seven of them outside." Mal eyed the door as if it had personally offended him. 

"Six or seven?" Maybe if Perry shook his head, his brain would get the memo and come back online? It was worth a try. 

Mal paused. "Make that eight."

Before Perry could act on the impulse to bury himself under the covers, someone knocked on the door. Insistently. 

"Your Highness? We have prepared a refreshing bath for you to enjoy your last celebration day!" The voice sounded light and feminine. And way too excited for however early in the morning it was. 

Perry groaned and rubbed both hands over his face. "There's another celebration today?"

"Apparently so," Mal answered lightly. 

"Cancel it," Perry muttered, still hiding his face behind his hands. 

"I believe that is beyond even my capabilities, Your Highness. If you wish to cancel your own celebration, you must inform the King and Queen. And possibly the Clan Leader. However, whether you intend to cancel it or go through with it, you will eventually need to open the door." Mal sounded way too calm and collected. 

A little too calm and collected. 

Perry lowered his hands and looked at the other man. He stood next to the enormous bed, back straight and hands clasped behind his back. But there was something about him that was just a bit… off. 

It took Perry a moment to realize what it was. When he did, he blurted out, "Your clothes are torn."

Mal glanced down at his chest, at the small tear on his tunic just above his heart. When his eyes found Perry's again, they seemed darker even as a smirk played on the corner of his lips. 

"A small accident," he said, his tone flat. 

It made Perry uneasy. The day before, Mal has seemed so capable and fast. What could have possibly gotten close enough to tear his clothes? 

You're overthinking, Perry told himself. It probably caught on something. It was an accident. Just an accident. 

"Difficult night?" Perry couldn't help but ask. 

"Difficult dream," Mal answered. 

Perry's vision swung to where the strange woman had sat in his dream, but the spot was empty. He let out a long exhale. 

"Your Highness!"

"Alright, alright," Perry called out, pushing the heavy blankets off of him - wait, when had he gotten under them? -, and rolling out of bed. 

His clothes were hopelessly wrinkled and his hair probably looked like he'd gone two rounds - and lost - with a leaf blower. He ran both hands through his hair trying to get it to behave and headed to the door. 

He'd barely gotten it all the way open when people flooded into the room. 

"Your Highness, we do not have much time to prepare everything."

"Why is your room so messy? Come, quick, we must bathe you and prepare you for the celebration!"

"Most of the nobles are already waiting, we must hurry."

"Quick, fix the bed and separate the clothes."

"Take the water to the bathtub, there's no time to waste."

"Wait, who is this?"

The question brought everyone up short as the never-ending stream of people invading his room stopped and stared at Mal. Too many sets of eyes alternated between Perry and Mal. And then the bed. 

The sheets were rumpled but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Without Mal's presence there and the prince's penchant for having late-night conversations, it would probably seem like just another regular morning. 

Perry felt his entire face go hot and gestured wildly at everyone who simply stood there. "Isn't everyone waiting?"

He tried not to cringe at how high-pitched his voice sounded. 

"Right! Carry the buckets to the bathtub. Quickly, quickly!" The owner of the voice was a man who looked to be in his late thirties and wore a simple cream-colored robe. 

He smiled politely at Perry and instructed all the others as they invaded the space like hungry locusts, pulling bedsheets down and opening closets and chests. 

Two smiling women who looked exactly alike crowded Perry and he stepped back.

"Your Highness," one of them said. "Is anything the matter?"

"Yes," Perry said before he could stop himself. "I mean, no. I mean… what are you doing?" Perry stepped back as they approached him again. 

The women looked at each other, and then at Perry. "We must disrobe you," one of them said. "So that we may then bathe you," the other one finished.

Perry considered pinching himself to see if he was still dreaming. This all felt like a surreal nightmare, right down to the creepy twin servants smiling at him. How common were twins in this kingdom anyway?

An extended arm appeared in front of Perry, blocking the two women as they moved toward Perry again. 

"I believe the prince requires some space," Mal said, a polite smile playing on his lips.

The two women frowned. "But we do this every morning."

Perry pulled his robe tighter against his body. "Every morning?"

They smiled at him and said at the same time, "Yes."

Then why hadn't they done it the morning the Clan Leader had forced him through the secret passage and made the bargain with Perry? Come to think of it, Perry hadn't had any servants to help him do anything yesterday morning. Why was that? 

And more importantly, would they drag him out of bed if he hid under the covers and waited for all of them to go away? Prince's could do that, right? He remembered reading somewhere that prince's often treated their obligations like something optional. 

"Not this morning," Mal said. 

Perry wasn't big on letting other people fight his battles for him, but he was barely awake and Mal seemed to know more about the protocols that came with royalty. 

"But we-"

"No." Mal's voice wasn't loud, but it was final. The polite smile was gone from his face and his expression left no room for argument. "If the prince requires your assistance, he will inform you."

"Your Highness." The middle-aged man in the cream-colored robes returned and bowed his head. "Your bath is ready."

"Okay. But I'll bathe myself." He stared pointedly at the twin women. Their shoulders slumped, but they nodded. 

Under the watchful eyes of the servants - really, was this considered a normal amount? - Perry made his way to the bathtub, thankfully hidden behind a privacy screen.

"Um, you can all wait in the other room while I bathe." Perry made a shooing gesture with his hands and everyone except the middle-aged man was quick to bow and leave. 

"I must remain in case you require something, Your Highness," the middle-aged man informed him.

Perry thought about telling him Mal could get anything he needed, but if Mal left, Perry would be alone with an unknown man. And he would much prefer if that didn't happen. 

The devil you know and all that. 

"Okay. But like I said, I'm bathing myself." It couldn't hurt to put it out there again. Just in case. 

The bathtub had been filled almost two-thirds of the way and steam rose from the water. Bubbles and white petals floated lazily and a sweet scent surrounded him. Perry was a little surprised at how they had put all of this together in such a short time. 

With a long sigh of relief, he sank into the warm water and let himself relax a bit. Having access to this every day wasn't worth going through, well, everything, but Perry thought he could get used to this.

Someone on the other side of the screen cleared their throat. Given that Mal was more likely to stand in absolute silence staring off into the distance, Perry assumed it had been the middle-aged man. 

Perry sank lower into the water and ran damp fingers through his hair. Did they have shampoo in this place? Or could he use one of the soap bars someone had so thoughtfully left on a side table with a clean washcloth? 

Someone cleared their throat again, louder this time. The soap would do. There were two bars, one blue and one white. The blue one smelled a bit like lavender and the white one like roses. Perry smelled the blue one, then the white. They were both nice, could he sort of mix and use both of them? 

Feet shuffled on the other side of the wooden screen. 

"I do believe that the prince's silence means he does not wish to be disturbed," Mal said. 

Perry smiled to himself as he lathered up his hands and did his best to wash his hair without getting any soap in his eyes. He could also maybe get used to having a bodyguard.

"I understand and respect His Highness's wishes. However, there is the small matter of time." That voice definitely belonged to the middle-aged man. 

"Hm. If I cut off your tongue, will time still matter?" Mal asked. The other man gasped at the same Perry's hand slipped and soapy water fell in his left eye. "No, that will not do. Though, it would stop your incessant nagging. But you would still be able to follow the sun as it rose and fell." There was a pause. "Maybe if I take your eyes…"

"No eye-taking," Perry warned, frantically trying to get the soap out of his own eye.

"What if I merely take one? He can live a full life with just one. I have seen it done." Mal's tone was so conversational Perry found himself huffing out a small chuckle. 

"No, leave him alone. He's just doing his job as the… um, as the…" It occurred to Perry that he was ignorant, again, as to who exactly the middle-aged man was. 

"Head Servant, Your Highness," the man supplied helpfully. 

"Exactly." Perry blinked both eyes repeatedly until he was sure all the soap was gone. "Besides, I'm almost done."

"Oh, wonderful, Your Highness. The nobles always get restless during the last day of the celebration," the Head Servant - Perry also made a mental note to somehow find out his name later - said. Perry let out a hum of agreement and got to his feet, only then realizing there wasn't a single towel in sight. "The hunt is the most exciting part of the three-day celebration, of course."

It took a moment for the words to register in Perry's brain. 

"Wait." Perry stumbled on his feet and grabbed onto the wooden privacy screen when he wobbled and almost face planted on the floor. "When you say hunt, do you mean everyone on horses with bows, arrows, spears, and all the weapon-type things to kill animals?"

Come to think of it, he should have expected something like this. But, again, Perry had been blindsided by this world and what passed for 'normal' around these parts. 

The Head Servant laughed. "Of course not, Your Highness. That would hardly be fair to the animals."

Perry exhaled heavily and let his shoulders slump. At least he wouldn't be forced to kill Bambi's mom in order to keep up this charade.

"In the name of fairness, we hunt the Palace servants and some nobles who volunteer."

Perry froze. There was no way. No. Just no. There was no way!

"I'm sorry, did you say we hunt people?" He tried to keep his voice even but couldn't quite manage it. 

"Yes. And this hunt, you are the grand prize!"