Ignoring his son’s comment, he returned to his business-as-usual demeanor. “Now…do you…are you sure you’re all right with this?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
He hesitated and eyed the boy skeptically.
“Really, Dad! I’m fine with it!”
Jeremiah nodded and smiled. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
“But, I have a question. When I walked in on you and Mrs. Applegate earlier, I saw a light, a bright, pink light. Where did it come from?”
His father shifted uncomfortably, and his eyes fluttered away from Xavier’s. “Ah,” he started and stopped to clear his throat. “Well, the light…the light came from me, son.”
“From you!” Xavier blurted with a snicker. “What was it?”
His face turned red. His father was actually blushing, and he continued to squirm uncomfortably under Xavier stare. “Well, I create…I’ve always created a pink force whenever I express certain feelings.”
Xavier was confused. “Really? What does the light do?”
“Well, it’s a…uh…well it’s hard to explain what it does,” he stammered, turning even redder. He took a deep breath and added, “It’s a kind of pleasure empowerment; I can make people relaxed and happy.”
“Oh. Well, how come you didn’t glow when you kissed Catherine?” Xavier wondered aloud.
“I didn’t love her, son,” he replied simply, his eyes solemn and unwavering. “I only seem to lose control over the empowerment when I’m in love.”
“Oh,” Xavier muttered.
His father was in love with Lana! He could definitely live with that. She was super-nice and gorgeous! Plus, she was good for him. He didn’t mind someone like Lana taking his mom’s place.
“Dad? Did you glow with Mom?”
He straightened and murmured quietly, “Yes, I did.”
Chapter 12
The Bat Attack
As Xavier made his way to anima-lingua class, happiness ballooned inside him, and he couldn’t stop grinning. He loved the idea that his father and Lana Applegate were seeing one another. She was so beautiful, and she didn’t seem intimidated at all by the king. The look on his father’s face when she’d put him in his place for lying to him had been priceless! Xavier snickered at the memory. Oh yeah, with Lana in their lives, things were going to be very interesting and definitely a lot more fun!
Still smiling, he entered anima-lingua class and found his classmates stood in two lines facing stuffed figures that resembled crash-test dummies.
“Sire Wells! Why are you late?” Sir Blaire barked.
“Ah, I…my father had asked to see me, sir,” he responded.
The teacher eyed him suspiciously before snapping, “Well, don’t just stand there! Select an animal from the table there and get in line behind Mr. Hardcastle!”
With a grimace, he picked up a caged ferret and joined the line.
“Hey, pipsqueak!” Drew muttered. “Did you see Robbie’s reaction to your love letter?”
He was still in such high spirits that at first Drew’s jeer didn’t bother him. But he was relentless.
“She was…well, disgusted would be an understatement. I swear, it looked like she was going to hurl. And after you left, she was telling anyone who’d listen that she hated you and that she’d never forgive you. She said that you were the reason her father was dead. She said that you’re nothing more than a murderer!”
Xavier’s state of euphoria was lost. His entire body went numb as the older boy’s words drummed into his mind. “You’re nothing more than a murderer. You’re nothing more than a murderer.”
“Still, that letter of yours was priceless,” Drew added. Then, batting his eyes dramatically, he squealed, “My Dearest Robbie, I miss you sooooo much…”
“All right, that’s enough!” Sir Blaire called over the chatter, and instantly, everyone grew still and quiet.
Xavier was left fighting the rage mounting inside him. He wanted nothing more than to thump Drew, and he contemplated the idea as he glared at the back of his head.
“Now,” Blaire continued, “over the past few weeks, you’ve learned how to use animals as distractions in battle. Today you will learn how to use animals as weapons. Watch as I demonstrate.” Sir Blaire took a cage from a student in the first row, withdrew the cat inside, lifted the animal so they were eye-to-eye, and then simply released the cat.
The cat hit the ground in a sprint! It lunged toward the nearest stuffed dummy and attacked its head, hissing and clawing viciously. The group groaned appreciatively. Then, Sir Blaire gave a whistle, and the cat immediately ceased its attack and trotted over to him before rubbing affectionately against his legs.
“Now, your animals may not react this quickly with your first few attempts. So it’s important for you to have patience and develop a close bond with your animal before you give it the suggestion to attack. If you attempt to give the suggestion before a bond is thoroughly established, your animal can become unpredictable, and it may even attack you!”
A soft mutter of alarm rippled through the students, but Xavier grinned. Sir Blaire had just given him a brilliant idea!
As Blaire continued to explain the details of accomplishing a solid bond, Drew busied himself with tormenting the girl in front of him by zapping her iguana with a small electro force. This gave Xavier the opportunity to connect and bond with his fruit bat. Agitated by Drew’s shenanigans, the bat easily bonded with him and agreed to his suggestion.
“Does everyone understand? You must prove your trustworthiness to the animal before it will do your bidding. All right, who’d like to try it first?” Sir Blaire finished.
Drew, looking smug, pushed to the front of the line. “I will, sir. I’ve used this technique with my brother’s hamster once.”
“All right, Mr. Hardcastle. The floor is yours. Just remember that bonding with an animal you already have a relationship with is different than bonding with an animal who doesn’t know you.”
“Yes, sir,” he responded automatically.
After a brief pause to connect with his animal, he opened the cage and withdrew a squirming, squeaking bat, but when he released the animal to attack the dummy, it made a wide sweeping arc and flew straight at his head. Drew ducked just in time to avoid the collision, but the animal circled back and this time clawed his face.
He stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. “Get it off me! Get it off!” he yelled, his voice muffled from behind the bat’s body. The entire class erupted with laughter.
Sir Blaire ran to help him, but Drew wasn’t helping matters much. His body flailed across the floor like a fish out of water as he continued to scream, “Get this bloody thing off me!”
Finally, Blaire pinned the panicking boy to the floor and spat, “Stay still so I can get the animal to release you without doing any more damage.”
But, Xavier’s connection with the bat was quite strong, and it took several minutes to pry it from Drew’s face.
With a struggling bat in his hands, Sir Blaire turned toward the class. Several were beside themselves with laughter that they had sunk to the floor holding their aching stomachs. “All right! That’s enough,” he snapped as he returned the bat to its cage.
The class slowly grew quiet, and Drew got to his feet, looking meek and humble. His cheeks had two small scratches where the bat had latched onto him. Then his eyes locked with Xavier’s, and for an instant, Xavier thought he saw vulnerability there, but it was quickly swept aside and replaced with a smug glare. He returned the glare with a triumphant grin.
“Sire Wells!” Sir Blaire barked, his eyes flaring. “Can you tell me why this bat believes that the light boy suggested he attack his charge?”
Xavier’s smile slipped and he stammered, “Ah…I…I don’t know, sir.”
“Really? You haven’t the slightest clue?” Blaire questioned contrarily, his body straightening and swelling with rage. “What if I told you I know you gave this animal the suggestion to attack Mr.
Hardcastle?”
Xavier held the man’s piercing stare briefly before blinking and looking away. He stared at the professor’s scuffed dull boots.
“Uh, I’d say that it’s not true, sir,” he muttered.
“Excuse me? What did you say? Did you just call me a liar, boy?” he blared, stomping toward him.
He stumbled backwards in retreat. “N…no, sir! I just meant…I mean, I’m just saying…”
“Careful, Sire Wells,” he warned. “You’re about to dishonor your father.”
Xavier fell silent and looked up at the man’s stony face, and he surrendered. “Yes, sir. I told the bat to attack Drew.”
Sir Blaire nodded and pointed to a desk at the other end of the room. “Sit. You will remain there for the rest of the class period. We will discuss your punishment after class.”
“Yes, sir,” he whispered and skulked across the room to the desk.
Following class, Sir Blaire approached Xavier with an astringent stare. “Sire, did it even cross your mind that what you did could have been dangerous?” he whispered.
Slowly, he shook his head, staring fixedly at Sir Blaire’s scruffy boots.
“Although we can suggest and coax animals into responding as we wish, ultimately, it is the animal’s decision. That bat could have chosen to attack Mr. Hardcastle’s eyes or his neck! How would you have felt if you’d been responsible for a serious injury like that?” he questioned sternly.
Xavier gulped. He hadn’t thought of that as guilt clawed its way into the pit of his stomach. “I…I’d have felt horrible, sir. I’m sorry.”
Sir Blaire nodded and continued stonily, “I’m not the one who needs to hear the apology, sire. But you can start making amends for your behavior by cleaning out the animal cages before dinner. Report back here at 4:30.”
“Yes, sir,” he whispered with a grimace, stood, and left the room.
After classes, Xavier only had thirty minutes to relax before he was scheduled to report to Sir Blaire for his punishment. So he sank onto his bunk and reluctantly pulled out his Latin quiz. With a begrudging sigh, he set to work on copying each missed term fifty times. He only managed to get through three words when Court burst into the dormitory.
“Hey, X! Is it true? Did you really make a bat attack my brother?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“Don’t be! I think it’s brilliant! I’ll have a blast tormenting him!” Court sighed blissfully.
“Yeah, he’s really pissed. Awesome pay back, X!” Beck chirped, collapsing onto the bed next to Xavier and hitting his head on the bunk above him. After a few choice curses, he grinned at Xavier and rubbed his head. “You’ve got to tell us about it and don’t leave anything out, mate.”
Grinning, he told the boys every detail of the bat attack. His friends were an eager audience and hung on his every word, laughing heartily in all the right places. But, when he told them about Sir Blaire’s punishment, the group groaned in disgust.
“Yuk!” Frankie exclaimed. “That sucks!”
All the boys nodded in agreement.
“What are you working on?” Frankie asked, snatching Xavier’s Latin book out of his hands. “I thought Sire Wells only gave us a few vocabulary words for homework!” Then he saw Xavier’s quiz. “You got an F on today’s quiz? Man, it was so easy, too!”
“Speak for yourself!” Xavier growled, grumpily seizing his book and quiz back from Frankie. “I’ve got to write each missed word fifty times!”
“Fifty! Crikey! That’ll take you all night!” Court exclaimed.
“Damn, X! I was hoping we could go exploring later,” Beck complained.
“Exploring? Are you sure you want to do that? It didn’t work out too great for us last time.”
“But, Xavier, there’s an underground river in the lower tunnels! I heard a couple of guys talking about it!” Beck exclaimed with fervor.
“A river?” Xavier gasped, his curiosity sparked.
“Yeah! I thought we’d go and check it out. Maybe we could even go swimming,” he responded.
“Man, it sounds like a blast, but I… I can’t,” he concluded despondently, looking down at the Latin quiz in his lap. He had been working for over twenty minutes and only managed to complete three words. From the looks of things, it would take him well past bed curfew to complete it. With a bitter huff, Xavier slammed the book closed and threw it onto the floor beside his bunk. “All right. I’ll meet you at the dormitory stairs at seven.”
His friends let out a loud whoop, and Xavier stood, grinning.
“Well, I’d better go. If I’m late Sir Blaire will tell Father about the bat attack. If that happens, I won’t be able to sit, let alone go exploring for an underground river,” he muttered.
When Xavier arrived at the anima-lingua classroom, Sir Blaire was waiting for him.
“You’re late, Your Highness!” he barked gruffly.
Xavier felt his temper rise. Geez, he was only two minutes late! What was the big deal? However, he swallowed the cheeky rebuttals bubbling inside him and muttered, “Sorry, Sir Blaire.”
“Sorry doesn’t solve the problem, young sire, but staying later does. You’ll just have to explain to the king why you’re late for dinner,” he scolded.
“Oh, come on! I was only two minutes late!” he blared, the weak reign on his temper loosening.
“Hold your tongue, sire! You’ve just increased your punishment time by ten minutes, and if you sass me again, it’ll be fifteen!” Blaire growled.
“I wasn’t sassing you!” he sassed.
“Fifteen minutes it is, then,” he announced.
“But I…”
“Sire? Do you really want to continue arguing and miss dinner completely?” he demanded.
“No, sir,” Xavier grumbled, his gaze dropping to Blaire’s boots.
After Xavier finally finished cleaning out the animals’ cages and got cleaned up, he was nearly twenty minutes late for dinner. He raced up the stairs and down the Grand Hall corridor, frantically brainstorming for an excuse to give his father for being late. The only reason he could think of was that he had lost track of time while working on his Latin assignment. Anxiously, he approached the large wooden doors and paused to listen to the low hum of voices and the clatter of silverware. Then taking a deep breath, he opened the doors and entered the Grand Hall. He tried to move quickly and inconspicuously to the head table, but the citizens made this impossible. As soon as he entered, a hush fell over the crowd, and he felt his face go crimson from the attention. He looked to the head table and found his father watching his approach, with Lana sitting next to him. Once he was seated next to his father, the crowded hall returned to their meals and conversations.
Then the king turned toward him. “Son? Why are you late for dinner?” he asked, as a kitchen server hurried over with a plate of food.
“I…I lost track of time,” he replied with a shrug, sinking his fork into the potatoes.
His father didn’t respond and continued to stare at him, waiting for an explanation. Xavier shifted uncomfortably under his intense study. Then, trying to appear relaxed, he added offhandedly, “Yeah. I was doing my Latin assignment, and I lost track of time.”
“Really, now?” the king remarked, his voice low and deep, the way it got when he was about to yell at him.
He didn’t respond to his father’s baiting. Instead, he continued to shovel food into his mouth until finally Jeremiah put a hand over his, stopping him.
“It’s interesting that you’d say that, son, because Sir Blaire mentioned to me that he had assigned you an extra chore for an incident in class today and that you might be a little late,” he whispered sternly.
Xavier sighed. “Yes, sir. I…I’m sorry, Father. I don’t know why I lied. It’s been a really bad day, and just when I think it couldn’t get any worse, it does.”
“Sorry about your day, son, but lying only creates more problems. If Sir Blaire had wanted, he could have reported the incident to
the High Council,” Jeremiah told him.
“What? You’re kidding! It was just a joke!” he blurted.
“Joke or not, you used your empowerments to attack a fellow citizen without good reason,” Jeremiah continued, visibly reigning in his anger.
“But there was a reason! Drew was being a complete and total git! And, technically, the bat attacked Drew. I…I just suggested it,” he spat.
His father’s hold on his temper slipped as he grabbed him and spun him seat and all to face him. “Don’t be a smart aleck with me, boy! You could be caned for your actions, damn it!” he growled threateningly.
“Your father is right, honey. As future king, the use of empowerments on citizens without provocation, without acceptable provocation, can invoke High Council action,” Lana whispered in a calm voice.
He sank deeper in his chair wishing he could teleport away from this lecture. “I’m sorry…I…I didn’t know…” he muttered.
“NO!” the king snapped. “You did know! You just didn’t think! There’s an enormous difference between the two. We’ve had this discussion before, son! You knew full well the consequences of your actions, but that didn’t make a bloody difference! You know that using an empowerment against another person to humiliate him is simply wrong!”
He didn’t like the direction his father’s tirade was taking. Fearing that his exploration plans with the guys were in jeopardy, he quickly changed his strategy.
“Yes, sir. You’re right. I knew all of that, but I did it anyway. Please, Dad, what can I do to make it right?”
It worked! Almost instantly, his father’s face relaxed and the vein bulging in his forehead returned to normal. He released a heavy breath. “Well, Sir Blaire believes he’s handled things properly. So, I’ll let his punishment stand, but with one addition. You must apologize to Andrew.”
Xavier grimaced inwardly, but nodded. “Yes, sir,” he agreed, looking toward Drew sitting next to Court at the end of the head table. Eager to get it over with, he stood and moved toward him.
The Prince of Warwood and The Sword of the Chosen (Book 3) Page 9
