“What’s going on here?” Ephraim Hardcastle’s voice called over the dying laughter as he fought his way through the crowd.
Instantaneously, Drew’s smirk disappeared, and he dropped to Xavier’s side. “Say one word about this to Dad and this will all seem like a fond memory,” he spat out quietly. Then he looked to Courtney. “That goes for you too, little brother.” He turned just as Ephraim emerged from the crowd.
“Drew? What happened here?” his father asked suspiciously, his gaze darting between the prince and his son.
“Xavier had a bit of an accident, Dad. He was rushing about; I told him not to run in the hall. Anyways, he ran into Robbie, and they fell. I think he’s a bit banged up,” he explained. Xavier was mildly impressed by Drew’s ability to sound sincere and concerned. It was an Oscar-worthy performance.
Ephraim knelt next to Xavier. “Are you all right, Your Highness?”
He nodded and tried to sit up, but the hallway spun and he fell against Ephraim.
The general steadied him and whispered, “Take it easy a moment, young sire. You must have hit your head.” Then, he looked at the silently watching crowd. “All right! All right! The show’s over. Get to class.”
There was murmuring as the crowd dispersed, and Ephraim looked at his older son.
“Andrew? Would you please go and inform the king that the prince has been injured.”
“Yes, sir,” he responded importantly and hurried off past the Grand Hall, toward the offices and conference rooms at the other end of the corridor.
“Do you think you can stand so I can help you to the infirmary?” Ephraim asked.
Xavier nodded and tried to stand, only to stagger and collapse to the floor. So, General Hardcastle scooped the boy into his arms and carried him. When they entered the infirmary, Rebecca came bustling over to them.
“What happened?” she asked, fretting over Xavier like a mother hen.
“He fell and hit his head. He seems a bit woozy,” her husband explained, setting the boy onto the examining table.
“Oh my, he may have a concussion,” she exclaimed, peering down at him with concern.
Suddenly, Jeremiah barreled through the door. His face was flushed, and he was panting as though he had sprinted the entire way to the infirmary. His eyes darted manically around the room until finally settling on Xavier.
“Son? Are you all right? Drew said you were injured. What happened?” he rattled out, rushing over to him and taking his face into his hands.
“Ah, well…I fell,” he muttered.
“Well, now that Jer’s here, I’m going back to work,” Ephraim interjected as he started toward the door but hesitated. “Oh, Xavier? Since I doubt you’ll make it to fencing class, Henrick was supposed to tell you that you will begin your advanced classes tomorrow. You’ll have advance fencing with me right after lunch, and your electro-force class will be scheduled before lunch. The rest of your courses will remain as they are. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
“Yes, sir,” Xavier responded meekly.
By the time Xavier was thoroughly examined, scanned by a healer for signs of a concussion, and rested for an hour at Rebecca’s insistence, it was just five minutes before lunchtime.
“Do you think you can make it on your own, son?” Jeremiah asked, as Xavier slid off the examining table with a wince.
“Yeah. My head hurts a little, but I’ll be fine,” he answered as he moved slowly to the door, but his father continued to hover over him, which he had to admit that he secretly enjoyed. “Dad,” he protested. “Really, I’ll be okay. Go back to work.”
With a hesitant face, he nodded. “All right, son, but if you need me, just find a Royal Guard. They’ll know where I’ll be.”
“Okay. Thanks, Dad.”
Chapter 11
The Love Letter
Xavier entered the Grand Hall and was happy to find that he was the first to arrive for lunch. Relieved that he could get his food and find a seat without being jostled about, he filled his plate and settled at a table moments before the doors banged open and throngs of children burst into the hall. Court and his friends led the group to the buffet tables, and they sauntered over to Xavier carrying their lunches.
“Hey, X,” Court greeted as he slid into the seat next to him. “How’re you doing, mate? What did the healers say?”
“I’m fine, but I don’t want to talk about it. It’s humiliating enough without going on and on about it.”
“Sorry, mate, but it was kind of funny,” Beck noted quietly, and Xavier glared at him.
“You try having a girl fall on you, slamming your head against solid rock, and listening to every citizen under the age of sixteen laugh at you. Then, you tell me how funny it is!”
“Ouch! Okay, okay, it’s not funny at all. I get the picture. But you do realize that this requires less than gentlemanly tactics for retaliation,” Beck interrupted.
“Yeah, I know. Believe me, I will get even with Drew,” he growled with a scowl as Drew shot him a mocking smile from across the hall.
“Here, Xavier. I got your stuff from the floor,” Garrett told him, shoving books at him.
Xavier muttered thanks and took the books from Garrett. Then remembering the note to Robbie, he sprang to his feet and grabbed his government book, ignoring the pain thumping behind his eyes. Frantically, he flipped through its pages. His Latin quiz was still there, but the note was missing! The room began to spin, and his stomach lurched into his throat; neither had anything to do with his concussion.
“Whatcha’ looking for?” Court asked through a mouthful of fruit cocktail.
“A note! Garrett, did you see a folded up note lying around where I fell?” he asked, trying to swallow back the panic rising in him like a flood.
Garrett slowly shook his head.
“Are you sure? It was a piece of paper folded in half twice! You didn’t see it anywhere?” he demanded, his voice spiking into near panic.
Garrett looked at him, horrified. “No, Xavier. I didn’t see any note.”
Realizing how loud he had become and feeling several pairs of eyes on him, he sat down and covered his face with his hands. The other boys simply stared at him.
“Ah, X? What’s so important about the note?”
Beck’s question was answered, but not by Xavier. For in that moment, Drew stood on top of his chair in the center of the Grand Hall, and with the broadest, most conniving grin Xavier had ever seen, he announced, “Hey everybody! Can I have your attention, please?”
Slowly the chattering children quieted and looked at Drew curiously.
With every eye on him, Drew’s grin broadened, and he continued, “I’d like to share something with you all today. You see, I found this note in the hall this morning, and I had every intention of returning it to its owner. However, when I opened it to see who wrote it, I couldn’t help myself, and I read it. I’m not ashamed to admit it, but when I read these words, they brought tears to my eyes. Then, I thought, ‘Why should something this beautiful be hidden away?’ After all, I believe it’s important for royalty to connect with their common citizens so they don’t appear to be more than human. I’m sure that Prince Wells would agree with me, which is why I am sure he’ll be strongly… moved by this note.”
The color drained from Xavier’s face as Drew paused, withdrew a folded note, unfolded it, and cleared his throat. He didn’t need to hear a word of the note. He knew exactly what it said; he had written it. Xavier looked at Court pleadingly, and Court, suddenly realizing what was about to happen, jumped to his feet.
“Drew! Don’t! I’ll tell…”
The older boy’s grin grew enormous. “You know something, baby brother? Go ahead and tell. It’d be worth it.” Then, he turned back to the note in his hand and began reading in an exaggerated high-pitched voice.
“My Dearest Robbie,
I just wanted to let you know how much I really miss you. I understand why you’re mad at me. I’m mad at myself
. Everyone, my dad, Loren, Ephraim, even the prophet has told me repeatedly that what happened to your dad wasn’t my fault, and there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. But I know they’re wrong. I can feel it in my gut, but more importantly, you told me that I could have stopped it and that I could have saved your dad. You have never lied to me. There have been things you couldn’t tell me, but you’ve never outright lied to me. So I know it must be true. I could have saved your dad and I didn’t. For that, you have every right to hate me for the rest of my life, but I hope you won’t. Please forgive me; don’t hate me.
The guys don’t understand why I care so much, but they don’t know all that we’ve been through together. They don’t know how you were always there for me. They don’t know that seeing you and talking with you is the best part of my day. They just don’t understand that I love you. It’s true and that won’t ever change, no matter what.
Love,
Xavier
Whatever reaction Drew had anticipated, it wasn’t what he got. At first, there were snickers, but as soon as the note mentioned Dublin, the snickers fell away. A few older girls were even crying and muttering comments like, “Oh, how sweet,” and, “That was beautiful.”
Although the reaction fell well short of Drew’s expectations and he looked thoroughly put out, Xavier was humiliated nonetheless.
“What do you mean; you love her?” Beck whispered, staring at him with something between surprise and anger. Oh, yeah, Beck was jealous all right.
But Xavier didn’t answer; he had had enough. As quickly as he could, he stood and left the Grand Hall.
The other boys found him thirty minutes later in the boys’ dormitory, laying face down, his face buried in his pillow.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled into his pillow before any of them could say a word.
Most of the boys stopped abruptly in mid-stride, prepared to honor his request. Beck, on the other hand, ignored it completely and moved to the foot of his bunk. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were…well, that you liked her? I mean, you said it when you had the flu, but I didn’t take that seriously. I thought it was the fever talking. Does she know? Have you ever told her?” Beck asked, trying to sound supportive, but Xavier could feel jealousy oozing from him.
“God, Beck! You’re an idiot! Duh! Of course she knows! After what Drew did, EVERYONE knows!” Garrett bellowed.
“Oh, yeah. Right,” Beck grumbled.
“Look, it doesn’t matter if she knows or not! She hates me! Now, can we stop talking about this! I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!” he yelled, standing and walking toward the door.
“Xavier! You’re forgetting your books!” Garrett called.
“I don’t care! I’m not going to classes,” Xavier announced and stormed out of the dormitory.
Moments later, Court caught up with him and fell into step beside him. “Ah, X? You can’t just skive off classes. Your dad will kill you. Maybe you should talk to him about this…”
“He’s never around and when he is, he doesn’t have any time for me…”
“God, Xavier! He’s reorganizing a city. Of course he’s been busy. So has my dad! I can count on one hand the number of conversations I’ve had with him over the past month and half,” Court told him.
“Okay, okay. I’ll go and see him,” Xavier groaned.
The boys wordlessly made their way to the Royal Chambers, and as Xavier reached for the door and pulled, soft music poured from the room. He started into the room but froze at the sight in front of him. His father was on the sofa with a woman in his arms. But as shocking as it was to see his father in this intimate situation, it was nothing compared to what he felt seeing him engulfed in a bright, pink light.
“Whoa,” Court whispered in awe.
Court’s voice jolted Xavier from his initial shock, and he felt the temperature rise in his face. The image of his father kissing another woman branded in his brain, and a sudden fury exploded from him.
“No! Stop! Stop it! You…you jerk. You lying jerk! I hate you!” he screamed, startling Jeremiah and the woman, and the pink glow immediately disappeared.
Xavier ran for it. He had no plans of where to go, he simply ran. Soon, he found himself outside his electro force class. Even though he was five minutes late, Loren didn’t say a word to him as he stomped into the room and found his seat. The class was busily copying notes describing how to use electro forces to deflect attacks from the enemy.
He didn’t have anything to copy the notes with, so he nudged the girl sitting next to him and borrowed paper and a pencil. It took all his concentration to fight his father’s insistent pounding on his mental defenses. So, when Loren spoke, standing right next to him he jumped with a start.
“Xavier? Your father is looking for you.”
“I know,” he responded flatly and began copying the notes from the board.
“He wants you back in the Royal Chambers,” Loren continued.
“I’m not going,” he retorted stonily and continued to write, but his penmanship was quickly growing erratic and sloppy.
The general sighed and shifted his feet. “If you don’t go, he’ll come and get you.”
Xavier stopped writing with a soft curse and looked moodily up at Loren. “I don’t care. I’m not going. Besides, I was just there, and he was…busy.”
“Have it your way, then. But, I’m telling you, little sire, he’s coming for you, and if you don’t go with him, he’ll carry you out,” he concluded, returning to the teacher’s desk at the front of the room.
Xavier could feel the students around him studying him, but he ignored them and continued with the notes. In a matter of minutes, Jeremiah appeared at the door nervously smoothing down his disheveled hair.
“Xavier?” he called softly, “we need to talk.”
“Not now, Dad. I’m busy,” he replied bitterly.
“Son, it wasn’t a request or a question. Get to your feet and come with me,” he ordered his backbone stiffening. It was a reaction he’d grown accustomed to seeing whenever his father’s temper was sparked.
But Xavier didn’t respond and simply continued copying notes. Fuming at the boy’s refusal to comply, the king stomped across the room, grabbed him by the arm, and hauled him to his feet.
“Get off me!” he yelled and without thinking, he tried to hit his father.
Jeremiah deflected the punch lazily, lifted him, pinning his arms at his side, and carried him out of the room. He carried the squirming, disgruntled prince through the corridors and didn’t release him until they were outside the Royal Chambers, when Xavier’s heel made sharp contact with his knee.
“Ow! Damn it, Xavier! Settle down before I blister your backside,” his father hissed, rubbing his knee and glaring down at him.
“No! You’re just ticked off because I interrupted your little… love fest… with that… that FLOOSY!” he bellowed.
Jeremiah seized him roughly, and his voice exploded with fury. “LANA IS NOT…”
“Wait! What? You mean the woman you were kissing…that was Mrs. Applegate?” he blurted, no longer combative.
Xavier’s reaction took the king aback, and he released the boy and stared down at him. “Yes,” he answered slowly.
“Oh,” he replied meekly.
His father shook his head, exasperated. “Come on. Lana is waiting for us in the chamber.”
They entered the Royal Chambers and found Lana sitting anxiously on the sofa. She stood up when she saw them and smiled weakly at Xavier.
“Hello, Xavier,” she greeted quietly.
He grinned sheepishly and muttered, “Hi.”
“Sit down, son,” Jeremiah ordered gently, and he immediately sank into an armchair as his father joined Lana on the sofa.
“Now, I can understand your… ah, embarrassment after walking in on us, but I don’t understand the outburst…”
“Because you lied to me!” Xavier interrupted.
“I did not…,” his fa
ther responded patiently.
“You did, too!” he insisted.
“Xavier,” Jeremiah warned.
“Okay, okay. That’s enough, boys,” Lana intercepted, holding up her hands. “Quit interrupting one another and hear each other out.”
Jeremiah and Xavier exchanged stunned looks.
“Now, Xavier, why do you think your father lied to you?” Lana asked.
“Well, because he told me… after that…that witch…Catherine, he told me that I’d be the first to know if he started a relationship again, and I wasn’t. He lied to me,” he explained adamantly.
“Xavier, I didn’t…” his father began, but Lana stopped him.
“Jeremiah, did you say that to him?” Lana asked.
“Well…” he stammered.
Xavier had never seen his father at a loss for words, and he couldn’t help but smirk at him.
His father glared playfully down at him. “Now, see what you’ve done? You’ve gotten me in trouble with her!”
Lana gave him a vicious glare, and the king laughed, hugging her close. “I’m sorry, son. You’re right. I did tell you that you’d be the first to know, but in my defense, my feelings for Lana snuck up on me. I didn’t go looking to start a relationship. But I should have told you before now, and for that, I’m sorry.”
Xavier grinned and with a shrug, replied, “That’s okay. I really like the idea of you and Mrs. Applegate dating. Do you think you’ll get married?”
His father nearly choked as laughter erupted from him. “Xavier, that’s a presumptuous thing to ask! This relationship is too new to make those kinds of predictions just yet.”
He ducked his head bashfully and mumbled, “Oh. Sorry.”
“Well, I think I’ll leave you two to talk. See you both at dinner,” Lana announced as she stood. His father quickly got to his feet and walked her to the door. After a quick, awkward kiss, Lana left the chambers. He turned back to his son, smiling like a fool.
“Lord, Dad! You’ve got it bad for her! Haven’t you?” Xavier laughed.
The Prince of Warwood and The Sword of the Chosen (Book 3) Page 8
