“Yeah, well, he is around most people, but not when it comes to you, Xavier,” Garrett told him.
“Xavier Wells!” a gruff, deep voice bellowed from the Grand Hall’s entrance. “I sure hope you’ve got a damn good reason why I didn’t find you in the royal chambers studying after classes today,” Spencer spat out, limping over to the approaching children.
“Well…I…”
“Do you have homework, boy?” he repeated.
“Ah…yes, sir,” he stammered before quickly adding, “but not a lot!” That was a lie. He had at least two hours worth.
His uncle swelled with anger, and Xavier shuffled under his silent glare. Finally he turned to the other children and barked, “Get yourselves to dinner! Now!”
His friends scrambled into the Grand Hall, abandoning him to an irate uncle.
“What was our agreement about your studies?” Spencer asked quietly, his voice deepening with irritation.
“Agreement? What agreement? It was more like an order,” he muttered.
“Xavier,” his uncle growled, warningly.
Xavier sighed testily. “You told me to do my homework after classes. Look, Mike, can we speed this up? Lana is expecting me at dinner…”
“Excuse me?” he snapped.
“What does it matter if I do my homework before or after dinner as long as it gets done?” he snapped back before stepping around his uncle, but he didn’t get far before Mike grabbed his arm and spun him to face him.
“It matters because you were told to do it before dinner!” he spat.
“Whatever,” Xavier groaned, rolling his eyes.
Spencer lost what little control he had over his anger, and he wrenched the boy painfully against his hip and struck his backside with two sharp smacks. Then, he jerked him at arm’s length, pinning him with fierce eyes.
“Are you done sassing me?” he hissed.
He nodded, rubbing his bottom.
“Now, you will go to the Royal Chambers and begin your homework. You will not be eating in the Grand Hall this evening. A kitchen volunteer will deliver your dinner to the chamber, and I’ll explain to Lana why you were unable to dine with her this evening,” Spencer told him.
“Yes, sir,” Xavier responded meekly.
“Go on then. I’ll be there shortly,” his uncle scolded, and Xavier sulked down the hall, down the stairwell, and into the residential corridor. He entered the Royal Chambers feeling thoroughly put out and sullen. He had been looking forward to eating dinner with Lana and staring at Robbie from the head table. Now, he was a prisoner for the remainder of the evening. He threw himself into a chair at the small table with his Latin and Mathematics textbooks. With a disgruntled, aggravated sigh, he opened his Latin book and began studying.
“Xavier?” a small voice whispered from the door.
Robbie stood just inside the doorway looking bashful.
“Robbie,” he gasped, jumping to his feet and slamming his knee on the edge of the table. Ignoring the pain, he moved toward her. “Wh…what are you doing here?”
“I need to talk to you,” she whispered, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
“Okay,” he responded awkwardly. Then, remembering his manners and motioning toward the sofa, he blurted, “Would you like to come in and sit down?”
“Yeah, thanks,” she replied, moving to the couch.
He joined her there, watching and waiting expectantly. She seemed to be having trouble starting the conversation so he asked, “So…what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Me,” she answered, avoiding his eyes. “I wanted to talk to you about me and the way I’ve been treating you since Dad died.” She looked up at him then, tears swelling in her eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Xavier. You didn’t deserve the way I’ve been treating you. It wasn’t your fault.” Seeing doubt waver across his face, she continued in an earnest rush. “No, it really wasn’t, Xavier! I only said those things to hurt you. None of it was true! You’ve got to believe me!” She reached out and took his hand.
Xavier nodded, unaware of anything other than her hand in his.
“Xavier?” she whispered, her smooth lips just inches from his. “You believe me, don’t you?”
He stared at her mouth, his heart pounding deafeningly in his ears.
“Xavier?” she began again, but his actions stopped her.
Unable to think clearly, he reached out and felt her lips with his fingertips. They were smooth and soft, and he had a sudden, strong urge to kiss her.
“Excuse me? Miss Minnows? Why are you in the Royal Chambers?” Spencer demanded softly.
Robbie jumped and stood quickly. “Ah, I just came to…ah…”
“Get yourself to dinner and tell the rest of Xavier’s friends that he is grounded to the chambers tonight,” Spencer commanded, shooing her from the room.
“Yes, sir,” she murmured and left the room.
“The last time I checked, the school’s curriculum didn’t include entertaining and kissing girls. So, do you think you could return to an academic subject, such as Latin or Mathematics?” his uncle asked, hiding a reluctant smile.
For the first time in a long time, the overwhelming guilt pressing in on him lifted, and he couldn’t stop the easy grin that Robbie’s visit placed on his face.
“Yes, sir,” he responded and saluted his uncle with a broad grin.
Spencer groaned exasperatedly and chuckled at his nephew’s sudden elated mood. “Get to work, cheeky, little monster!”
Chapter 18
The Kiss
The next morning, Xavier ate breakfast with Lana, but his thoughts and attention wandered repeatedly to Robbie. When she found him watching her, she smiled, flooding Xavier’s body with heat.
“It appears Robbie has finally made up with you,” Lana whispered in his ear.
He grinned up at her. “Yeah. She did.”
“I’m glad. What do you think made her come around?” Lana asked.
He shrugged. He knew perfectly well why, but he didn’t want to share his most embarrassing moment, next to being thrown naked into the girls’ dormitory, with Lana.
“You know what I think? I think it was your letter,” she continued with a smile.
“My letter? You know about that?” he questioned stupidly.
“My dear prince, I think the entire mountain knows about it. When someone reads a very revealing, very heart-felt letter from the prince, word gets around quickly,” she told him.
He groaned. “When did you hear about it?”
“The day it happened,” she answered.
“Does Dad know about it, too?” he asked.
“Sweetie, your dad is the king and has telepathy. What do you think?”
“He never said anything about it,” he muttered thoughtfully.
“Of course he didn’t, honey. Whenever anyone mentioned Robbie’s name, you’d give this look like someone had killed your puppy. No one wanted to cause you any more pain,” she explained, rubbing his back soothingly.
“Oh,” he answered simply.
Following breakfast, Xavier and Court made their way out of the Grand Hall when Robbie and Erica caught up with them.
“Don’t even think about it, Jefferson,” Court growled without looking at Erica.
“What?” she responded innocently.
“Don’t hit me. I’ve had my fill of your little lovey-dovey patty cake game. So if you hit me again, I’ll be forced to get physical in return,” he explained seriously.
Xavier raised an eyebrow at Court’s words. His tone and demeanor reminded him so much of Ephraim that he snickered.
“What!” Erica guffawed. “I’d like to see you…”
But her words died away the moment Court grabbed her and kissed her fully on the lips in front of everybody. Then, he released her and walked away with a grin.
“When did you grow a backbone like that?” Xavier asked as he followed him.
Court ignored the question and asked, “What’s she do
ing?”
Xavier looked back at the girls. “She’s just standing there sort of staring off into space. Robbie’s laughing at her.”
“I knew it! She’s crazy about me!” he exclaimed.
“Xavier! Wait a second,” Robbie called as she ran to catch up with him.
“Go ahead. I’ll see you in class,” he told Court and stopped to wait for her.
“Hey,” she whispered as she reached him. “I…I was wondering…would you sit with me at lunch today?”
“S…sure. I’d like that,” he responded as an enormous grin spread across his face, and when she smiled back at him, it took his breath away and sent his heart racing madly. He floated into Latin class behind Robbie, smiling like a fool.
Morning classes seemed to take twice as long as usual as time crawled closer to lunch. When it finally arrived, Xavier rushed into the Grand Hall and found Robbie already there, sitting at a table waiting for him. She waved at him as he moved toward the buffet line.
He smiled at her and told her telepathically, “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
“Hey, X! Save us a table!” Garrett called from the back of the line.
He didn’t know how to answer him so he just pretended he hadn’t heard, which was a horrible decision. Soon, the rest of the guys joined in with Garrett singing, “Oh, Prince Xavier! Yoo-hoo!”
Then Beck hollered, “Oi! X, you big git!”
He could no longer ignore them and turned. “Sorry, guys. I—I have other plans today.”
Xavier was sure Robbie wouldn’t have minded if his friends joined them, but he didn’t want to share her with anyone today. After weeks of silence and hateful glares, he wanted her all to himself.
“What? What other plans could you possibly have?” Beck bellowed.
Xavier ignored his dig and continued through the line, filling his plate with tomato soup, fruit, and a couple of ham sandwiches. Then he made his way over to Robbie and sank into the chair next to her.
“Hey,” she greeted with a smile. “I see you survived the evening grounded with Sir Spencer.”
“Huh?” he uttered, snapping from the trance that her smile had placed him under. “Ah, yeah, barely, though. I thought Dad was kidding when he said Uncle Mike had a shorter temper than him, but he wasn’t.”
Robbie laughed. “Geez, Xavier! Didn’t having telepathy classes with the man for the past year already tell you that?”
He laughed with her. Lord, it was so good to hear her laugh. It was so good to hear her say his name without resentment or revulsion.
“So, this is your other plan, Wells?” Beck growled from behind them.
Xavier turned and looked into his friend’s enraged face. He knew that look; Beck was about to blow. Slowly, he got to his feet.
“Ah, now, look, Beck…”
“No, Xavier! Answer my question! Was moving in on my girlfriend your other plans?” he shouted, glaring down at him.
“I’m not moving in on her! God, Beck. We’re just talking! If you haven’t noticed, Robbie and I haven’t been doing a lot of that lately!” he responded condescendingly, his voice growing to match Beck’s.
“Don’t talk down to me, sire!” he hissed.
“I wasn’t! God, Beck! I was just saying that you know…”
“I know you’re in love with her! Everyone knows it thanks to that dopey, girly letter you wrote!” he continued.
“Watch it, Beckley,” he growled, stepping aggressively toward the other boy.
“Oh, stuff it, Wells!” Beck yelled, shoving him to the ground.
Xavier jumped to his feet and lunged at Beck, tackling him to the floor.
“Whoa! Boys! Boys! That’s enough!” Loren yelled, hauling the boys off the floor. “What is going on?”
“Nothing, sir,” Xavier muttered.
“Beck?” Loren questioned.
“What?” he snapped.
Loren’s brow rose, and as Xavier watched a muscle roll across his jaw, he knew the general’s temper was close at hand. “Beckley Wilson, I suggest you not make things worse for yourself and mind how you speak to me. Now, what’s going on with you two?”
“You know what, Loren? I don’t give a damn about what you suggest. It doesn’t matter what I say; you’ll only take his side. So why don’t you just butt out?” he bellowed.
Loren didn’t say a word. He simply reacted by pulling Beck out of the Grand Hall by the scruff of the neck while every child in King’s Mountain watched.
“What happened?” Garrett questioned.
“How should I know? He just went completely insane,” Xavier retorted.
“You had to have done something! He’s never back-talked an adult like that, ever! And, he sure wouldn’t disrespect Loren. He idolizes him,” Frankie muttered.
“I’m telling you! I didn’t do anything!” Xavier blared.
Then Robbie spoke up. “Well, it might have something to do with the fact that I broke up with him last night.”
The boys looked at her with wide, dawning eyes.
“Oh, bloody hell,” Court muttered, giving Xavier an “I told you so” look.
Without a word, Xavier strolled to the double oak doors and exited the Grand Hall. His only thought as he exited the hall was to find Loren and Beck and explain. Loud voices drew him toward the library.
“He stole her right from under me, Loren! How would you have felt if King Wells had done the same thing to you? What if it had been Lucy? If she had a choice between you and the king, would she have chosen you?” Beck demanded, his voice drowning in emotion.
“Beck, I’m sorry for what you’re going through, but a girl cannot be stolen. Robbie must have feelings for Xavier. You need to be man enough to let her work through those feelings. As for my wife and the king, Lucy did have a choice, and she chose me. Being royalty may give a king absolute power in governance, but it doesn’t give him absolute power over a person’s heart,” Loren told him quietly.
“So, you’re saying Robbie likes Xavier more than me?” Beck whispered, hurt unmistakable in his voice.
“I don’t know, Beck. Only Robbie can answer that,” Loren replied.
Xavier started to open the door, but a hand stopped him. He turned and found Robbie standing so close that he could feel her breath on his face when she spoke.
“Xavier, don’t. You’ll only make things worse.”
“But I’ve hurt him. He thinks I’ve stolen you,” he whispered.
“No, Xavier. This has nothing to do with you. It’s about me. I need to talk to him again. You need to stay out of this. Please, you’ve got to let me handle it,” she pleaded quietly.
He stared at her, contemplating her request. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. I suspect you’re right but will you meet me later and tell me how things went?”
“Sure,” she agreed with a small smile. Then she entered the room and closed the door firmly behind her.
Following advanced fencing, Xavier found Robbie waiting for him outside the classroom door.
“Come on,” she whispered, pulling him down the hall and into a vacant classroom.
“So? How did it go?” he asked as Robbie closed the door and turned to face him.
“Okay. Well, at least he doesn’t blame you now,” she muttered.
Xavier sighed and smiled. “Good. Beck is a great friend. It would be hard not having him as a friend anymore.”
Robbie’s eyes fluttered from his, and she squirmed uncomfortably.
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Well,” she moaned, tears filling her eyes, “he doesn’t hate you, but he’s not so fond of me right now. I guess I deserve this. I only started seeing him after Daddy died to annoy you. I knew that doting over Beck and ignoring you would drive you crazy.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she moaned miserably.
Xavier felt a stab of pain. God, he hated it when Robbie cried. “Robbie, please don’t cry. Beck will get over it.”
She leaned against him as guilt and sor
row overwhelmed her, and he awkwardly embraced her. His heart pounded so hard in his chest, he was certain Robbie could feel it, and for no other reason than to fill the uncomfortable silence between them, he whispered huskily, “Besides, who could possibly stay mad at you. You’re so…”
She pulled away just enough to look at him and gave him a watery smile. “I’m so what?” she asked softly.
Xavier’s breath caught in his throat, and what he said next came out wispy, airy. “You’re so beautiful.”
Her smile faded and she blushed. “Really? Do you really think so?”
“Absolutely,” he whispered, and then, surprising them both, he kissed her. Never in his twelve, almost thirteen, years of life had he ever experienced anything like this. His heart soared and hammered painfully in his chest, but it was a sweet, addictive kind of pain. Pain he wanted to feel for the rest of his life. His stomach fluttered madly in his gut, and his body felt light and tingly. It felt like he was floating. Robbie’s soft giggle pulled him out of this euphoric state, and he opened his eyes. Oh my God! He was floating! He was actually floating! Panicking, he clutched onto Robbie as they drifted gracefully to the floor.
He looked at her with bewilderment and whispered. “Did you do that?”
She laughed. “No, Xavier. You did.”
“I did? But…I can’t…I’ve never…”
“Yes, you have. When…you first kissed me…this happened. Only, your landing was much better this time,” she snickered.
He smiled and laughed with her. Her enormous smile and purring laughter lured him back to her, and he covered her lips with his. He couldn’t help himself.
When he begrudgingly pulled away and looked at her, he smiled. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were still puckered. Then, she opened those large, dark eyes, and his heart drummed excitedly in his chest.
“Still think I kiss like a fish?” he blurted.
“What?” she questioned baffled. Then, she remembered and started giggling again. “No, Xavier. You definitely don’t kiss like a fish.”
He grinned triumphantly at her before taking her hand.
“Come on. We better get going. We’re late for class.”
The Prince of Warwood and The Sword of the Chosen (Book 3) Page 14
