Tohmil and Darvir were sparring in the training room. Even Tohmil would admit that Darvir had been taking his practice a good deal more seriously since becoming a Ranger. Tohmil would almost go so far as to say that his brother's company had become moderately tolerable since he was given the responsibility.
"Too slow," Darvir taunted in a sing-song voice as he dodged a strike. Only moderately tolerable.
Tohmil managed to get his revenge for the jibe and quickly had Darvir pinned on the mats. Even with Darvir working at his fighting technique, Tohmil could still beat him almost every time. Yet there was no sign of anyone planning on giving him a power coin any time soon. It still angered him that Darvir yet again got something due to the luck of being two years older. No matter how hard he worked at everything else, Tohmil would never be able to close up the age gap. He would always be the young prince while Darvir was the noble heir.
Darvir picked himself up off the mat, rubbing his leg. "How about we end training for today?"
"Giving up already?" Tohmil teased. He was actually pretty tired himself, but there was no way he was going to admit that.
"I've barely started that history paper Zordon asked us for," Darvir answered.
"There's still two days." Tohmil's paper was sitting on his desk with only about half a page written.
"I have plans tomorrow evening."
"Plans? Girl type plans or monster type plans?"
"A girl," Darvir answered, deliberately looking away from Tohmil as he reached for his water and towel. "The monsters tend to turn up without me planning for them."
It was strange to hear him acknowledge fighting monsters. Despite both of them knowing full well that he was a Ranger, he went well out of his way to avoid mentioning the fact. Tohmil wasn't quite sure if it was because he didn't want to look like he was bragging, or because of the oath of secrecy. Despite his brother's many faults, he'd keep his promises. In the past three months since he'd become a Ranger, Darvir wouldn't even talk about it when Tohmil asked directly.
They left the training room, stepping outside into the brilliant sunlight as they began the short walk across the gardens to the main palace. The gardens were open to the public as a park, always well tended and with bright, exotic flowers in bloom. The brothers walked along grassy paths between perfectly pruned bushes, the warm sun pleasant on stiff muscles.
They rounded a corner and stepped onto a wide lawn. A little distance away, sitting with her friends and giggling over something, was Mirria. She was perched on the grass, the folds of her pink dress draped elegantly around her as though they'd been placed by the most exacting of sculptures. She always dressed like she was going to a ball and today was no exception. Her golden brown hair was twisted up on the back of her head and her neck sparkled with delicate jewels. Her smile was more brilliant than the sun as she laughed at something one of the others had said.
"You're staring," Darvir muttered in his ear.
Tohmil looked away, blushing slightly and hating himself for the involuntary reaction.
"You should go talk to her," Darvir said.
"No way!" Tohmil continued the walk back to the palace at an increased rate.
"You obviously like her. So either you spend forever just staring at her or you go say hello."
"I don't know. Just because she's pretty."
Darvir very unsubtly coughed the word "stunning."
". doesn't mean I'll actually like her. She always seems a bit, well, shallow."
"How do you mean?"
"Whenever I see her, she's with those giggly friends of hers talking about clothes or shopping."
"Or boys. Don't forget boys."
Tohmil had a horrible suspicion he was blushing again.
"My point is, she doesn't seem to care about anything more important."
"Have you asked her?"
"Well. no."
"Last year, she won a dance competition and gave all the prize money to the children's home for them to build a new play centre."
"Really?"
"And she volunteers at the animal hospital."
"How do you know all this?"
"She told me." Darvir grinned at his little brother. "Look, she's a nice, caring girl and anyone with eyes can tell you like the look of her. So go talk to her. You're never going to know if you like her if you never actually speak to her."
Tohmil was about willing to concede his brother probably had a valid point, when a thought occurred to him. "When did you start chatting to Mirria?"
"I've seen her around," Darvir answered vaguely.
"But you've never even mentioned her and you know more about her than I do. How?"
"I don't tell you about every idle conversation I have. What's the big deal?" He was getting seriously defensive now. He was usually happy to talk about things; he only usually got this secretive about the Rangers.
No way!
Tohmil tried to push that thought out of his mind the moment it arrived. There was no chance that Mirria could be a Ranger. She did wear a lot of pink, but it was a nice colour on her and didn't prove anything. She was a silly, giggly girl! If they gave her a power coin but still hadn't given one to him, then there was something seriously wrong with the world.
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The afternoon was spent in private tutoring. They went to school with others their age, albeit, all at the richer end of the class structure. But then they got private lessons from Zordon about the history, laws and noble traditions of Eltar. These lessons were supposed to teach Darvir how to rule wisely for when the day came for him to be king. Tohmil wasn't quite sure why he had to sit through them. It wasn't that Zordon was a bad teacher, it was just that there were a million other places he'd rather be
and several billions things he'd rather be doing.
It wasn't like he was ever going to be king.
He just didn't see why he had to sit here in a classroom listening to Zordon explain about how some ancient ruler had passed a law allowing poor families to hunt certain animals in the royal forests. Sure, it had probably been a wonderful move at the time, especially as far as the starving peasants were concerned, but nowadays nobody starved. Even the very poor had enough to eat and could get help finding decent employed. It didn't really seem relevant.
"I trust you're paying attention, young prince," said Zordon. Tohmil sat up straight and stared at the teacher. Darvir was sniggering slightly.
"Um, yes."
"Good. Then you won't mind telling me how the hunting laws affecting the growth of the small town industries in the following century?"
Tohmil briefly considered trying to bluff his way out of it, but Zordon wasn't the sort to fall for that trick and Darvir was too busy enjoying his brother's embarrassment to be of any help.
"I didn't say I was paying attention to you."
"Then I hope you will find the subject more enjoyable when you are writing a detailed paper on it, due tomorrow."
"Why?" the word left his mouth without him even thinking about it. Zordon blinked in surprise and Darvir managed to stop laughing, clearly realising there was something more dramatic due.
Well, he couldn't take back the one word that had slipped out, so he may as well follow it up. "What's the point of me learning any of this? It's not like I'm ever going to rule the planet or need to know why laws are made. Why do I have to be here?"
The question he didn't ask was what was the point of his being anywhere. His brother had a clearly defined purpose. From the moment he was born, Darvir was destined to be king. Tohmil had no indication of what his future should be about. If he vanished today, the country would still have its crown prince and it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to the world. He was the second son and apparently not worthy of being a Ranger. So what was he supposed to be and do?
"The reason you have to be here, Prince Tohmil," said Zordon, "is simply that if you wished to stop taking lessons with me, you would have to go to the queen and give her a very good reason why."
That just wasn't fair. He asked a perfectly reasonable question and Zordon had to go and threaten him with his mother.
Tohmil stared at the book in front of him and tried to concentrate.