The Prince of Warwood and The War of Kings

by Clinton, J. Noel

  Xavier blushed, feeling ashamed. “No, ma’am. I’m not. I hate that Dad looks at me with disappointment and shame.”

  “Then maybe you should show that in your actions and words when he’s not looking. Do you realize that he gets reports about your behavior, progress, and work from your teachers weekly? And after your latest shenanigans, I imagine he’ll be requesting reports more often.”

  “Seriously? Doesn’t he trust me?” Xavier blurted, feeling defensive and betrayed. “He has teachers spying on me and reporting my every move to him?”

  Lana gave him a severe look before responding firmly, “He’s your father, Xavier. He’s monitoring your schooling as any parent should. However, since you are the future king of our great kingdom and have been known to struggle with control over your abilities, don’t you think he has good reason to want to keep track of you?”

  Xavier bit back his retort. She was right. He knew she was, but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt that his father was going behind his back. Trying to keep his irritation out of his voice, he asked, “Are you reporting what happened before class today?”

  He must have failed at keeping his emotions out of his tone because Lana frowned at him and arched her brow. “You don’t think I should?”

  “Lana, if you do that, he’ll be even more pissed at me! I was stupid to brag about it! I know that, but it’s not how I really feel about what happened. It eats me up knowing Dad is disappointed in me! I can’t stand the way he looks at me now. If you tell him, he’ll hate me!”

  “Xavier,” she began softly as she walked around her desk and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Your father could never hate you. He loves you.” She hugged him briefly before drawing him back at arm’s length. “I cannot lie to your father. If he asks me how you did in my class, I must tell him. He’s not just your father and has a right to know, but he’s my husband, and I will not lie to him.”

  “Fine,” Xavier sighed, turned, and stomped out of the room.

  After lunch, Xavier teleported to the Governing Hall and entered his father’s office with trepidation. Had his father gotten his report on his progress at school for the day already? The king looked up as he continued his conversation on the phone.

  “Yes, Marcus, Chief Jackson has permission to enter the kingdom. Allow them to pass and direct him to the Governing Hall. I’ll call the palace gatehouse guards and let them know to watch for him. Thanks.”

  Hanging up the phone, he looked back at Xavier. “How was your morning at school?” he prompted.

  Xavier knew a set up when he heard one. Lana had told him about his lapse in judgment. “Well, okay, but I did something stupid this morning.”

  Jeremiah raised a brow. “Oh, do tell.”

  Sighing, Xavier looked at his father’s tie to avoid the dark emotions he knew he would see in his eyes as he told him. “Well, when I got to my first class, a bunch of kids where really anxious to hear about the police chase. I… I kinda boasted about it… Lana overheard me. I don’t know why I did it. I… I guess I wanted them to think I was cool instead of some kind of freak.”

  When his father didn’t respond right away, he ventured a glance at his face to see his father staring at him.

  “Dad. Please, say something! I can’t stand the silence while you stare at me.”

  “What would you have me say?”

  “Anything! That I’m a disappointment as a son and as a king. That I’m grounded longer. That I have to apologize publicly to all those kids. That you hate me! Just… something!”

  “Hate you? Son, I could never hate you.”

  “Well, the way you’ve been looking at me… it feels like you do.”

  “Son, I hate what you did. I hate your choices recently, but I could never hate you.” His father stepped around the desk and pulled Xavier into a bear hug, squeezing him tightly.

  Xavier felt tears spring into his eyes as he muttered against his father’s shoulder. “I hate that I could have killed my friends. I hate that I caused more damage to the gatehouse when we are constantly under watch for an attack. I hate that I lied to you and destroyed your trust in me. I hate that I was selfish and that my decisions didn’t take any of this into consideration. I hate that I disappointed you, again.”

  The king pulled him back to look down at him. Xavier felt more tears fill his eyes before rolling down his cheeks as he looked into his father’s eyes, which showed nothing but acceptance and love for him. He felt unworthy.

  “You are worthy,” his father whispered. “I am angry because I love you more than my next breath, son. I’m angry because the crash could have been much, much worse. If anything were to happen to you, I’d never recover from it.” He wiped the plump tears from Xavier’s cheeks as he smiled. “Nothing will ever change the fact that you are my son, and I love you. However, you cannot expect me not to be disappointed and angry when you do things that are ill thought out.”

  Xavier nodded, his eyes dropping from his father’s.

  “Now, go and wash your face. We have company arriving in a couple of minutes, and we must demonstrate the power of our people. We cannot allow commoners to become part of this war. It will only mean certain death for them and distract our people who will try to protect them.”

  Nodding, Xavier entered the lavatory through a door to the right of his father’s office. Closing the door, he stared at his reflection with a grimace. No more stupid decisions! He couldn’t take the guilt he was feeling. “Time to be a king,” he muttered to himself as he splashed cool water over his face several times before drying off and joining his father in his office.

  When he opened the door, he found Chief Jackson and a frail woman standing next to him. She reminded Xavier of his mother, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “Son, come. I’d like to introduce you to Mrs. Jackson,” his father announced, waving Xavier toward him.

  Slowly, he shuffled toward the adults, his eyes never leaving Mrs. Jackson, who had turned to look at him.

  “You… you…” he looked at his father with shock.

  The king smiled gently. “Yes. She does, doesn’t she?”

  Chief Jackson frowned, his eyes darting between father and son. “What is it?”

  “Xavier is taken aback by your wife. She looks a great deal like my first wife—Xavier’s mother.”

  “Oh, where is his mother?” Mrs. Jackson questioned with a warm smile. “I would love to meet my twin.”

  The king shifted awkwardly and glanced down at Xavier’s distraught, bowed head before answering, “She was killed a little over two years ago.”

  Mrs. Jackson’s smile dropped and her eyes moved from the king to the downcast head of the prince. “Oh! I’m so sorry,” she whispered and pulled Xavier into a warm hug.

  Xavier accepted the hug and relished her warmth. A part of him allowed him to pretend she was his mother. He blinked back the tears before withdrawing and smiled feebly up at the woman.

  “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

  “Losing one’s mother is never okay, but you learn to cherish the memories and keep her alive in here,” she whispered as she tapped his chest above his heart.

  He nodded and his smile widened slightly. “Thank you, Mrs. Jackson.”

  Jeremiah cleared his throat and looked at the chief. “What do you say you observe my son’s battle training, Gary? I think it will give you an idea of what our people are capable of.”

  “You’re training the boy?” the chief asked, shocked.

  Jeremiah had the sense to look awkward before answering. “Yes. I know you won’t understand this, but the boy is… a target of our enemy.” He glanced at Xavier before continuing, “Xavier must be able to protect himself.”

  Chief Jackson looked down sympathetically at Xavier. “Why would your enemy target a boy?”

  “I accidently killed his father,” Xavier muttered, looking at the floor.

  “What?” the chief’s eyes darted to Jeremiah.

  “It
was self-defense. William LeMasters had invaded Warwood and killed many people. He was an evil man who would have faced the death penalty for his crimes. Xavier didn’t realize his actions would kill the man.”

  “What…”

  “It’s complicated, Gary.”

  The older man nodded. He had long ago come to understand that the people of Warwood were a secretive bunch, and although he knew they possessed powers, he was certain that what he knew about them was just one small piece to the puzzle.

  “Well, let me get my men organized for the training and we’ll head over to the coliseum,” Jeremiah stated as he picked up the phone.

  A half hour later, Xavier stood in the center of the rugby pitch tightening his protective gear. He glanced into the stands before he remembered that his training wasn’t occurring at its normal time and his friends would not be there. Sighing, he looked across the field at the twenty men huddled together planning their strategy. He glanced at his father, who was talking to the chief and his wife. Sighing again, he picked up his sword and readied himself. The men across the field spread out from each other and stood at the ready.

  “All right, gentlemen. You know the rules. Anything goes! We’ve increased safety measures for this exercise so that our guests will not be injured by a stray empowerment. Give them a show of what our people are capable of. You may start when you’re ready.”

  No sooner had his father said the words when five men left their positions to race toward him with loud battle cries. Instantly, Xavier raised his hand with an electro force blazing brightly. He started to strike but paused when he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He hit the turf just before a blade whizzed overhead. The charging men had been a diversion.

  He quickly rolled onto his back and swept his hand at the two men who were staggering after their failed assault. The men were propelled a hundred feet across the field. A gasp of surprise came from the sideline where his father stood with the Jacksons. Jumping to his feet, Xavier surveyed the men, who had slowed their attack. Suddenly, half the men disappeared. Xavier spun to find them reappearing behind him. So plan B seemed to be to surround him in hopes that when they attacked, he wouldn’t be able to defend from every direction. His mind raced for a defense for the situation. The men were too far away to attack them with any accuracy. He would need to wait until they were within twenty-five or thirty feet to have high success with his attack. He spun back to face the men on the other side.

  The guards slowly, cautiously stalked him. He tracked them with his eyes, his body remaining at the ready and still. He allowed his senses to reach out to the men. Their thoughts crowded into his mind. The problem was he couldn’t tell whose thoughts were whose. A thought came as a warning, and Xavier spun to find his attacker. He raised his sword just in time to parry the attack and the sound of metal scraping metal echoed around the coliseum. The man continued to bear down on his sword in an effort to outmuscle him. Xavier dropped suddenly to the ground, rolled into the man’s legs, and knocked the man to the ground with a loud grunt. Swinging his sword, Xavier struck the man in the back of the head. While he busied himself with the lone attack, half a dozen men took the opportunity to advance on the vulnerable boy!

  Feeling panicked, Xavier sent out a powerful force towards the nearest men, and they were launched backwards, landing awkwardly. He jumped to his feet and lifted his sword as one guard arched his sword in attack. The impact sent Xavier’s sword to the ground. Unarmed and helpless, he ducked as the guard swung again and someone grabbed him from behind. Struggling in the man’s strong grasp, the second guard rose and pointed his sword at Xavier’s heart. When the man lunged his sword forward, Xavier heard Chief Jackson shout in alarm just before he teleported to the side of the field next to his father.

  The king rose a brow as he regarded the boy next to him. Panting and stooping over with his hands on his knees, Xavier worked to catch his breath as they watched the men in center field collide. The guard holding him was impaled in the gut with the sword.

  Jeremiah nodded to Ephraim, who ran onto the field to administer first aid and access the severity of the damage. The remaining guard scanned the field. Xavier, needing a few more minutes of rest, stepped behind his father to hide.

  “What are you doing, son?”

  “Resting,” he said simply, his voice breaking.

  The king smiled at the chief and his wife before turning and exposing Xavier to the guards who were frantically searching for him. “Would you please stop messing about and finish this exercise? I realize this is not much of a challenge, but I’ll soon fix that.”

  Xavier rose and regarded his father. “What does that mean?”

  “It means you need a challenge to help you grow into your role. It means you need an added complication.”

  The guards had spotted him and rushed towards them to attack. Xavier looked at them irritably before flicking his finger and sending the men to the ground. Not a single one got up off the ground, but they were not unconscious. Their miserable moans floated in the air toward them.

  Xavier focused on his father. “What kind of complication?”

  “We’ll discuss it tonight,” his father responded and looked at his downed men. “Son, release them. You are causing them undue pain.”

  Xavier released his empowerment and the men slowly got to their feet.

  “That was amazing!” Chief Jackson announced, ogling the prince and king. “What did you do to them?”

  “I just increased gravitational pull,” Xavier answered with an innocent smile.

  “Yes, the boy is a very powerful member of our society. Unfortunately, he tends to let it go to his head and make careless decisions. Case in point, a joyride with his girlfriend in his father’s stolen car.”

  While the chief snickered and winked at his wife, Xavier protested with a whine.

  “Geesh, Dad, I said I was sorry a billion times! I’m grounded for a month and have community service for half a year. What else do you want from me?”

  Jeremiah delivered a stinging smack to Xavier’s backside as he answered, “Think through your ideas before acting! That is what I want from you!”

  “I did. I just didn’t count on the Razorbill Cove Police showing up,” Xavier answered, rubbing his backside and giving his father a huge, mischievous grin.

  Chief Jackson’s chuckling exploded into a deep, belly-rumbling laugh. “Oh, dear God in heaven. You’ve met your match, Jeremiah. The boy is the spitting image of you!”

  Still laughing, the chief draped an arm over Xavier’s shoulder and led him out of the coliseum. “Did your dad ever tell you how we met?”

  Giving his father a triumphant grin over his shoulder, Xavier answered, “No sir! He hasn’t, but I’d love to hear all about it.”

  Loren moved into step with the king. “Oh, boy! I doubt that story will help teach Xavier to stay out of trouble.”

  “My thoughts exactly, but it doesn’t look like I have a choice in the matter,” the king grumbled as they followed a now giggling Xavier and chuckling chief of police.

  Chapter 21

  A royal guard walked by the palace gates toward the small sentry house at the right of the entrance. Laughter filtered through the night air from the additional palace security strategically placed near the entrance. A group of men, clad in black, hid in the shadows outside the palace gate watching for an opening to slip inside and infiltrate the castle. A young guard exited the sentry house to make his rounds around the palace walls.

  After an abrupt nod from their commander, two young dark soldiers immediately set off after the young guard, quickly killing him and dragging his body into the dark shadows behind shrubbery. The remaining men quickly slipped inside the palace walls, keeping to the shadows and darting toward the palace.

  Loren exited his residence, straightening his cloak and glancing up the royal staircase at Henrick on duty.

  “All quiet?” he asked his subordinate and friend.

  “As a mouse,”
Henrick responded. “Or as quiet as you get when Lucy lays down the law and scares you.”

  “Ha! I’m not afraid of my wife! I just didn’t have anything more to say on the matter.”

  Henrick’s bellowing laugh echoed around the atrium as Loren strolled down the hall to exit the palace and check with all the guards on duty. Since the recent infiltrations, it was necessary that he and Ephraim monitor all forces around the palace to ensure the safety 0f the royal family.

  Xavier jerked upright in bed, panting and sweating. He shakily wiped his brow as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The feelings of terror and danger lingered, but the dream itself remained elusive. Whatever it had been, Xavier knew it had been much more than a dream. Why couldn’t he remember it? He stood, stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cool water on his face. Staring at his reflection, he concluded he wouldn’t be able to return to sleep until he assured himself all was quiet in the kingdom and that his people were in no danger. Without further thought, he quickly returned to his bedroom and pulled on jeans and a hoodie.

  He quietly crept down the steps toward the door. Knowing Henrick was on duty, maybe he could get reports from the guard stations and determine if there were any threats. However, when his hand clutched the doorknob, part of his dream slammed into his memory. He saw a dark soldier attack an unsuspecting Loren and standing over his body as he took his last breath.

  Throwing open the door, Xavier hurried out of the residency.

  “Prince Wells? What in the bloody hell are you doing up at this hour?”

  “Henrick! Is Loren on duty tonight?”

  “Xavier, I must insist that you go back inside…”

  “Is Loren on duty!” he shouted, grabbing the lieutenant by the robe.

  Henrick’s brows rose and he stammered. “Y… yes, he just left to do his rounds and check in with each security point in the kingdom.”

  “Shit!” Xavier exclaimed as he raced down the steps. “Wake my father! Something is about to happen!” he shouted over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs toward the palace entrance.