The whipping continued, and Jeremiah was sobbing loudly with each lash.
Forgetting that it was only a memory, Xavier thrust his hand at his grandfather and screamed, “Stop! Stop hitting him!”
Suddenly the king straightened and looked around the silent, terrified group watching the whipping. “Who said that?” he demanded roughly. “Who dares to intervene?”
Xavier took a step back, bewildered. Had his grandfather heard him? How was that even possible? Surely not!
“Well? I demand to know who yelled out!” the king continued, scanning the crowd of children.
“S… sire?” Father O’Brien spoke up timidly. “No one yelled. I… I didn’t hear anyone yell, sire.”
His grandfather had heard him! Xavier staggered backwards in shock and collided against a solid form. He turned and looked up at his father.
“Time to go,” he ordered softly and instantaneously the scene dissolved as they withdrew from the king’s memories.
Panting and confused, Xavier staggered into the receiving room and sank heavily onto the sofa. His grandfather had heard him! How?
“Xavier?” his father whispered. He gazed down at him, perspiration beading on his forehead.
Xavier shook his head bewilderedly. “I forgot it was a memory. I was afraid grandfather would kill you. I just wanted him to stop! How could he hear me?”
Jeremiah shook his head with awe. “Son, you are the most powerful empowered in the world. God only knows what powers you possess.”
Xavier frowned. It bothered him when his own father looked at him like he was an anomaly. Clearing his throat, Xavier changed the subject. “Why did grandfather do that? Why was he so… so cruel?”
Jeremiah’s gaze flickered. “He was old-fashioned and had a very short temper—two qualities that made it hard to be his son. But he wasn’t always like that. There were times when he was kind and gentle.”
Xavier looked up at his father doubtfully. “Like when?”
“Well, when I was twelve, he took me to an amusement park. He rode every ride with me and loved it. I was petrified of heights then, but seeing my father acting like a big kid, I got over my fear quickly. I think that was his plan all along.” Jeremiah smiled at the memory. “Plus, after the punishment you just witnessed, my father came into the bathroom where Mrs. Sommers had me soaking in an oatmeal bath. Father gave me ointment for the wounds. When I told him I couldn’t reach the ones on my back, he did it for me. His touch was so gentle, it nearly made me cry. He didn’t apologize for punishing me like he did. That wasn’t his way, but his touch, his actions were his apology. It proved to me that he did love me.”
Xavier nodded. “Mrs. Sommers was right. You’re not like him. You’d never do that to me! Even when I intentionally attacked Drew, you weren’t as hard on me as your dad was to you. You made everyone leave the dormitory, and you didn’t beat me like that.” Xavier glanced up at his father. “Would he have killed you if… if he hadn’t stopped?”
Jeremiah frowned. “No, son. He wouldn’t have killed me. Although, at the time, I thought he might if it hadn’t been for the boy who yelled out for him to stop.” Jeremiah shook his head and chuckled. “It’s strange to realize now that the boy who stopped the beating was my own son.”
“Yeah… it’s kind of freaky,” Xavier remarked smiling weakly. “Dad, is that why you and Lucy broke up?”
“Yes. She never fully trusted me again. I didn’t blame her. She suffered bruised ribs and a fractured skull from my attack. Loren wouldn’t speak to me for months afterwards. I came to find out that he had been in love with Lucy since we were in primary school. When I discovered he had started dating Lucy, I made matters worse with my jealousy and feelings of betrayal.” The king gave a dry smile. “I wasn’t much different than you when I was your age. Anyways, I’m not too proud of that year of my life. I made a lot of bad decisions.”
“What did you do when you found out Loren was dating Lucy?”
“I picked a fight with him, and he kicked my butt,” Jeremiah answered bluntly.
“Dad?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry I was late. You were angry because I was late and disrespected the time you had set aside from your duties to work with me. Right?”
Jeremiah nodded.
“Well, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
Another grueling thirty minutes of telepathic technique ensued, and by the end of the lesson, Xavier was relieved to be done and looked forward to the physical exercise he would get in combat training. A little after two o’clock, he stood in the middle of the palace’s ballroom clad in protective gear. The room had been cleared of all its furniture. Sir Blaire stood opposite of him dressed similarly with five cages behind him. The irony that one of the animals was a fruit bat didn’t escape Xavier.
“All right, boy,” Sir Blaire announced. “You’ve had training on this skill in class against a dummy and against Andrew Hardcastle during one unfortunate lapse of judgment on your part.”
Xavier swore he saw Sir Blaire smirk, but the protective mask obscured most of his face.
“Today, we will use animals as a weapon in combat. I’ve chosen some less dangerous animals to start with. Come and chose an animal as your companion, your highness.”
Xavier approached the cages and examined the animals. Aside from the bat, Sir Blaire had brought a crow, a large rat, a snake, and a squirrel. After studying each animal closely, he selected the crow, thinking the bird’s beak would make a good weapon, and he could have it fly into Sir Blaire’s line of sight.
“Loren, Henrick, Ephraim,” Jeremiah announced as Sir Blaire and Xavier took a moment to develop a bond with their animals. “Our task is not to interfere in this exercise, but to be on hand if things get too out of control.”
The men nodded and spaced themselves around the room. The king shut the door and stood in front of it.
Xavier bonded easily with the crow, and it nipped affectionately at his fingers as he spoke to it. “Now, listen. I need you to keep flying in his face so that he’s blinded to my attacks. Whenever he casts an empowerment at me, bite, poke, screech, and do whatever you have to do to distract him. Okay?”
“Right. Play. I like play,” the crow chirped at him excitedly.
Xavier smiled. “Yeah, that’s right. Play. Be as playful as you can. Good bird.”
Still grinning, he squared his shoulders, adjusted the crow onto his left arm and faced Sir Blaire, who waited patiently with the squirrel.
“Ready, your highness?” he asked.
Hell yeah, he was ready! He was ready to get a little payback for all the times Sir Blaire barked at him, made him clean animal cages, or told him off in front of everyone. With a nod, Xavier answered, “Ready.”
In a movement almost too fast for Xavier to see, Sir Blaire cast an electro force at him with a simple flick of his finger. Xavier was knocked completely off his feet and slammed onto his back, knocking the breath out of him. The crow flew off cawing in distress.
Gasping desperately for air, Xavier struggled to put up a blocking force just as another electro force barreled from Blaire. He felt his force shudder upon impact, and he grimaced to hold a block in place as he tried to get his bearings. Then the crow came to his rescue, diving from the ceiling, fluttering madly in front of Sir Blaire’s face and cawing loudly. Xavier scrambled to his feet and called to the bird to fly to safety as he launched a ball of fire at Sir Blaire.
The empowerment hit the professor and launched him into the air, sending him a good ten feet back. Xavier stalked toward the fallen man ready to finish him off when out of nowhere Blaire’s squirrel leaped at him and scurried up to his face. Staggering, Xavier worked to peel the hissing, biting creature from his face, thankful he was wearing a mask.
Finally, he tossed the squirrel aside to find Sir Blaire standing, his protective gear smoking slightly. Before he could react, Sir Blaire pointed at Xavier and pain shot instantly through his body. Xavier screamed and
fell to his knees. Then the squirrel attacked again. Overwhelmed, Xavier curled into a ball. Finally, the pain subsided, and the squirrel scurried off him. He pushed his languid body into a seated position but froze at the sword inches from his throat.
“You, my dear prince, are dead,” Sir Blaire whispered.
Groaning in defeat, Xavier collapsed onto the floor. He heard Blaire sheath his sword and looked back up at the man, who was holding his hand out to help him to his feet. Xavier took it, and Blaire hauled him to his feet with ease. The king strolled toward them with an easy grin.
“Why, thank you, Jack. We were beginning to think the boy was invincible. He spanked Loren like a little girl during their last bout,” Jeremiah joked, and Xavier had to grin.
“Hey! That’s not exactly true! I wanted to give the kid some confidence. That’s all,” Loren protested.
“Yeah? Was lying flat on your back whimpering part of that plan?” Ephraim ribbed.
“Yeah!” Loren insisted as the group laughed heartily.
The laughter faded when the door opened and Mrs. Sommers stood in the doorway peering around the room with dismay. The men uneasily followed her gaze and took in the damage done to the room. There were scorch marks on the walls and floor. A portrait of the king was all but destroyed and still smoking at the corners. There was glass on the floor that must have been a vase or bowl of some variety at one time. The chandelier hung haphazardly from the ceiling, and several of its crystals were missing or broken. The king quickly righted the dangling chandelier before looking sheepishly at the perturbed governess.
She eyed the group in silence as they shuffled guiltily under her scrutiny. Finally, her eyes narrowed on the king. “Jeremiah Wells,” she chastised quietly. “Why on earth would you ever consider having combat training in the ballroom?”
Jeremiah opened his mouth to speak but didn’t.
Xavier snickered and was rewarded with a soft jab to his side by his father.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourselves?” she asked impatiently.
“Sorry, Mrs. Sommers,” the men muttered, and Xavier’s shoulders began to shake with barely contained laughter.
Jeremiah finally found his voice enough to respond, “In hindsight, it wasn’t the best place to do this. We’ll move the training to the coliseum from now on.”
“See that you do!” Mrs. Sommers snapped. Then she impatiently waved the men out of the room. “Come on, boys. Out of the room so it can be cleaned and repaired.”
After pausing briefly to help Sir Blaire cage his animals, the group shuffled out of the ballroom and past Mrs. Sommers with their heads down. Once out of the room, Xavier unleashed the jubilance that had swelled inside him and was met by five daggering glares, which only made him laugh that much harder.
Chapter 6
After dinner, Xavier clambered out of the residence and down the royal staircase carrying a sleeping bag and a duffle. As usual, the Hardcastle residence was in an uproar with loud, arguing voices spilling into the foyer.
“Caleb Hardcastle!” Mrs. Hardcastle yelled, followed by a muffled thud and a loud, “Ow, Mom!”
“If you think that hurt, just you wait until your father gets home, young man!” his mother scolded. The Hardcastle residence always seemed a bit chaotic. With four ornery boys, Ephraim and Rebecca were always on their toes.
Snickering at the thought, Xavier knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it!” Court hollered from inside.
Xavier listened to his heavy footsteps approach the door before it flew open.
“Hey, X! Come on in. I think Dennis has been ready since noon. I still have to find my sleeping bag,” Court chattered, leading him into the residence. Xavier closed the door and followed.
“Hey, Prince… I mean, Xavier,” Dennis greeted before turning to a gangly blond boy standing next to him. “This is Terry Malone. He’s in my year at the Academy.”
Xavier recognized the boy from his advanced math class. He never spoke or answered questions in class, but he always seemed to get excellent marks on all his tests. “Yeah, we have math class together,” he commented, shaking the other boy’s hand.
“Y… yes, s… s… sire,” he stammered badly. He blushed. “I… I’m s… sorry…, s… sire. It g… g… gets w… worse when I’m n… n… nervous.”
Xavier shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I sometimes stutter when I’m nervous.” Xavier grinned. “Imagine facing my father after turning Jonas McKnight into a jackass.”
The boys burst into hysterics.
“That was great to watch though,” Dennis remarked. “He deserved it. He’s a jerk.”
“Yeah, he is, but my father didn’t see it that way.” Xavier snickered uneasily. “Seriously, the man is scary when he’s angry.”
“Yeah, wh… when we w… were all at the m… m… mountain and you z… zapped Drew with your p… powers, I about p… p… pissed my p… pants when he y… y… yelled for everyone to get out of the d… dorm… D… Dennis said y… you got caned.”
“Terry!” Dennis hissed, elbowing his friend. He looked at Xavier’s reddening face and shrugged apologetically.
Xavier found it hard to meet the older boys’ eyes. “Does… uh… does everyone know what happened… afterwards?” he asked.
Dennis glanced darkly at Terry before answering, “Well, not specifically. There’re guesses, but I swore Terry to secrecy, and I never told anyone else what happened. I swear it!”
“Don’t worry about it, Dennis,” Xavier sighed, adjusting the strap of his duffle higher onto his shoulder.
“Ready!” Court announced, entering the room with his backpack and sleeping bag, but he noticed the tension in the room. “What? What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go,” Xavier announced, leading them out of the residence, down the hall, and out of the palace.
“Xavier! Geez, slow down, mate! What’s up? Did Dennis and T… T… Terry say something to tick you off?”
Xavier stopped and faced his friend. “Don’t do that! Don’t make fun of Terry like that.”
Court blanched. “Sorry, mate,” he muttered. “I was just joking. What’s wrong?”
Xavier nodded for Court to step beside him as they made their way around the palace.
“It’s nothing, really,” he told Court. “I guess I just have to get used to people talking about me is all.”
Court nodded. “Yeah. It can’t be easy to have your business and everything you do a topic of conversation for everyone.”
“Yeah. I keep thinking I’ll get used to it, but… I never do.” Xavier sighed and forced a smile. “Let’s just forget about all that and have some fun.”
Court grinned broadly. “You bet! It’s going to be brilliant!”
The boys slipped through the secret passage in the palace’s wall and raced across the field to the woods. It didn’t escape Xavier’s attention that the cracks he had created during the height of his influx were still noticeable. Someone had attempted to refill them with soil, but the soil had settled a bit lower than the rest of the ground. Then, when the group entered the woods, Xavier stopped abruptly and peered around with unease.
“What?” Court questioned, stopping next to him.
“The wood is… different. It’s less… dense.”
“Well,” Court began awkwardly, “the fire burned away all the underbrush and dead fallen trees and stuff. Dad says it’s actually good for a forest to be cleaned out from time to time. It allows the trees to flourish and gain more nutrients from the ground.”
Nodding, Xavier followed the boys to the lake and found Beck and Garrett already there, building a campfire.
“Hey, X!” Garrett greeted. “Frankie got grounded by his mom. He won’t be here. Harry and Mac should be here any minute though.”
Beck dropped a pile of wood onto the ground next to where Garrett was carefully arranging branches into a campfire. He grinned devilishly at the boys. “Yeah, and the girls are com
ing later tonight once Erica’s parents go to bed.”
Court and Xavier exchanged elated expressions before grinning back at Beck.
“Excellent!” Court exclaimed.
Garrett shook his head with a laugh. “God! You blokes are hopeless,” he surmised. Then he mocked at them in a high-pitched voice, “Oh, I love you so much!” He smacked kisses at the trio before mimicking making out with his hand.
The three boys looked at one another, and after a nod from Beck, they charged the smaller boy, scooped him onto their shoulders, carried him to the water, and tossed him in.
“Hey!” Garrett protested, but then thought better. “Ha, ha. I was getting hot anyways.”
The boys rolled their eyes at him and returned to building the campfire.
“X, can you light that?” Beck asked after he arranged the last of the wood into the stack Garrett had built.
“Sure, no problem,” Xavier answered and with a simple flick from his finger, flame erupted from the wood.
“Great, we need to get more wood to feed the fire as the night goes on. It’ll be cold as hell when we climb out of the lake,” Beck stated.
“Terry and I will do that,” Dennis announced, elbowing his friend and taking off into the woods.
Beck gave Court a questioning look.
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t invite them. Xavier did!” Court muttered defensively.
Beck’s gaze swept to the prince. “You invited them? Why would you do that?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he retorted. “God, you guys act like I invited William LeMasters here or something. He wanted to come, so I invited him. What’s the big deal?”
Beck and Court exchanged looks. “Well, I wasn’t lying when I said Dennis snitches on me all the time when I do something remotely wrong. But even if he manages to keep his mouth shut, there’s Terry. He’s… he’s strange.”
“Why? Because he stutters?” Xavier snapped.
“No, mate,” Beck interrupted. “Terry is a sneak and a stoolpigeon. When Madam Stokes was headmaster, he used to give her names of students who violated school rules. We don’t trust him. All I’m saying is that you need to watch your back if you plan to hang out with them.”
The Prince of Warwood and The War of Kings Page 6
