'Ah, there he is!' came the warm greeting of Monsieur Livre, a stout, black-haired man in his forties. He had taken over the bookshop when the original owner died and had no children to inherit it and he had named it after the queen; as Leon entered, 'My best customer and hard worker!'
'Bonjour, monsieur,' said Leon, 'how are you this fine day?'
'I'm very well, thank you for asking,' Monsieur Livre said, as Leon looked around the shop, seeing the many books and shelves that he had read, dusted, tidied and rearranged into alphabetical order over the summer, as they had been horribly out-of-order and untidy, seeing that no one, apart from Leon visited the shop and Monsieur Livre had seen no reason to keep it tidy, much like his predecessor, but Leon had convinced him to clean up and make it presentable regardless.
'Do you have it?' Leon then said, remembering what he had come for, 'The science text-book I've wanted to get and saved up for?'
'Oh, yes of course I have it! Thank you for reminding me, I would've forgotten otherwise!' Monsieur Livre chuckled, while walking over to where the text-books were, humming and muttering to himself, as he scanned the shelves.
'History, medicine, philosophy, geography- Oh, here it is!' he said triumphantly, as he pulled it off the shelf and walking back towards the counter where Leon was opening his money pouch and putting out the coins.
'Oh, put those coins away, Leon! You don't have to pay for this book! It's on me, I insist! Use your hard-earned money on something else!'
'But Monsieur..'
No, no! I insist! You've done so much for me already; it wouldn't be fair for me to accept payment!'
'Well, okay,' Leon said, uncertainly, as he put the money away, ' Thank you so much, Monsieur, for your kindness and generosity,' as Monsieur Livre handed the book over to him, firmly declining his offer to pay.
'Anything for the boy who took the time to help me out with the shop and made it sparkling clean and brand new, well, as new it can be,' Monsieur Livre said, 'Say, are you enjoying that book I gave you as payment for all your hard work?'
'I love it!' Leon said gleefully, 'It's like the original tale but with the roles reversed and it has more exciting adventures, as the hero has to travel to a castle in a faraway place with magic spells, an epic battle and a princess in disguise, I just couldn't put it down! Read it three times, as a matter of fact!'
'I knew you'd like it, this tale as old as time,' the kindly bookshop owner said, smiling at Leon, 'From the moment I saw it, I thought it would be right up your alley. Of course, it's not often that boys your age would be interested in that kind of thing, but then again, you're not like other boys.'
'I know,' Leon said.
'Mind you, from what I've been told, my predecessor knew someone who was like you.' Monsieur Livre said.
'Who's that?' said Leon, curious.
'Why, our dear Queen Belle, of course! She loved reading too and wasn't interested in being someone's 'little wife,' just like you are, well, except the 'little wife' part obviously. Because of her love for reading and non-conformity, everyone in the village thought she was odd, which is true for you.
It just goes to show that you should never bully and reject someone for being different, because one day, they might become your king or queen and rule over you, which is what happened to her majesty.'
'Indeed,' said Leon, fascinated by what he had heard. If only he hadn't been too shy to approach the queen when she had come to visit, he would've had a fascinating conversation with her and found that they had so much in common and he probably never will.
'Speaking of the queen,' said Monsieur Livre, going over to where a fading portrait of the royal family, in their best clothes, posing as any royal should, but smiling, . Underneath the portrait were the blue, gold and pink candles, which Monsieur Livre lit.
'Ten years and we still don't know what happened to them,' he said wistfully, rubbing his thumb against the portrait, ' Which is a real tragedy, since they were such a loving and kind family, very good rulers and they did wonderful things for us.
The little princess.. She was such a beauty, very kind, happy and modest, always playing games with the children like she was one of them… Leon, did you ever play with her?'
Leon shook his head no. He had wanted to play with the princess, but felt that she would never play with a boy who was a well-known social outcast, so he had stood on the side lines, watching her, too shy to talk to her, to ask her to play.
'Ah, what a pity, then. She'll probably be around your age now, maybe even a bit younger if she's still alive.'
'Do you still believe that the royal family are alive, Monsieur?'
'Depends on what you want to believe. I mean, not all the rumours are believable and without effective proof, well, you decide, basically.
And there has been no bodies, no confirmation of their deaths; otherwise, we would've had a burial and memorial service for them, even though ten years is enough time to legally declare them dead. But for me, I like to believe they're still alive and that they will return to us. The candles we light for them, will guide them home.'
There was a hushed silence, as the candles flickered, illuminating the portrait, as if to show that the flames of hope had not been extinguished.
'Well, I better get going now,' Leon said, 'I need to get my own candles and go home to Mama, as she'll probably be finished with work now. Thank you so much for the book, I'll put it to good use!'
'Anytime, Leon,' Monsieur Livre said, 'Give your mother my warmest regards and you are more than welcome to come back and work for me again.'
'Will do,' Leon said and exited the shop.
As Leon walked along the streets, a flurry of activity happened around him, as people did their work, greeted each other with friendly 'bonjours', haggled with shop owners for the best price for fruits, vegetables, cheese, stale bread and buns, meat that may have been in the butcher's shop for goodness how long, women gossiping in the café and buying ridiculous-looking hats and dresses, boys heading out to hunt and training for next year's Gaston Games.
There was also the sound of badly-played music drifting in the air, which was coming from the Eitenne triplets Thomas, Aurelien and Kyle, the husbands of Claudia, Laura and Paula (Thomas was Claudia's husband, Aurelien was Laura's and Kyle was Paula's) and fathers of Bridgette, Violette and Annette.
They mostly played in the tavern at night, when many people would be partying , though they complained about the awful racket that they made, ruining the atmosphere; but occasionally they would play in the square and at weddings and funerals, which they would be met with the same response, as their musical 'talent' was nothing to sing about, as anything they played from a wedding march to dancing waltzes was very off-key and tuneless, but that didn't deter them and kept on playing.
The villagers would also complain about the 'small fee' that they charged if they were playing at a special event, which turned out to be much higher and they were unhappy about having to fork out their hard-earned money for a tone-deaf band.
Leon sighed as he heard the awful notes in his ears and the same sight that often greeted him in the village. There must be more than this and it made his need to escape stronger than before.
He then saw a group of people looking sadly at the wall near the square which had a picture of the royal family similar to the one in the bookshop, that had been set up as a memorial to them a year after they disappeared. Some lit the candles underneath it, while others lay red roses and books, as they had been the royal family's most favourite things.
'It's for the lost royal family,' a little girl explained to her baby brother, as he and their mother watched her lay a single red rose near the picture.
'Rose for the royal family?' the florist said, offering one to Leon. He took it, politely made his way through the crowd and gently lay the rose, which blended in with the others, as the candles flickered near them. Leon was then reminded that he needed the candles, as quickly as possible before they were all gone. As if on cue, he heard the candle maker call out
'Candles! Get your royal family candles here! Tenth anniversary of their disappearance today! Get them before they're gone!'
Hurrying over to his stand, Leon saw that there were three candles left, to his relief.
'The three candles please, monsieur,' he said, getting out his pouch.
'Just in time, sir, we're almost out!' the candle maker said, 'Most of them have gone to the memorial over in the square,' as Leon handed over the money which he didn't spend on the text-book.
'Oh, and while you're at it, why not get the princess's eighteenth birthday candle? You'll need it for her birthday later and it's lucky that I still had one left, as they have been selling like cream cakes!' he then said, presenting Leon with the pink milestone birthday candle, the one that was studded with pink pearls.
'Thank you very much,' said Leon, as he carefully put the candles in his bag, so that his books and writing equipment wouldn't crush them.
'You're welcome, Swinekisser,' the candle maker said, muttering the last word so that Leon couldn't hear him, but hadn't done so very well.
'I beg your pardon?' Leon said, having clearly heard the last remark.
'Nothing!' the candle maker said hastily, as Leon left the stall, but he heard 'Swinekisser' again, which made him sigh heavily.
'They're never going to let this pig-kissing thing go, aren't they?' he muttered to himself, as he knew they wouldn't, as well as the many other things that made him odd in their eyes.
He then passed the place where the boys trained for the Gaston Games, in preparation for next year. They were doing push-ups, eating raw eggs to build up their muscles, like Gaston had done and practicing shooting, archery, wrestling, arm wrestling, friendly brawling and spitting, all of the events that made up the Games. Leon saw this year's runner-up, Stephane furiously doing push-ups, a muscular boy with messy brown hair.
'Hello, Stephane,' Leon said, politely, 'What are you doing?'
'341 days until next year's Gaston Games,' said Stephane, not taking notice of Leon as he was concentrating on his push-ups. ' I have to get into shape if I'm to beat Beauden! I'm sick of coming second to my most hated rival! Every time he wins something, he rubs it in my face, that show-offy, arrogant, cheating buffoon!'
'Don't waste your time, Stephane,' said Beauden, a handsome, athletic boy .
He had been the winner of the Games, despite accusations of cheating in the final event, Beer Drinking, but the lack of evidence disputed those claims. It was also no secret that he and Stephane hated each other passionately and had a fierce, long standing rivalry.
It was a common sight to see the two fighting and brawling in the square, which the men and boys considered entertainment and egged them on, fighting for the affections of the wealthy Beaufort twins, Adelaide and Anais, and getting highly competitive in the Games.
An example of this was the Friendly Brawling event, which for them, got rougher and rougher, which resulted in them nearly getting disqualified.
'Next year's Games are as good as won, by me!' Beauden said, arrogantly.
'Why, so that you can cheat again, Beauden?' said Stephane.
'I did not, cheat, Stephane! That was never proved! I bet you came up with that, so that you could get the title! Well, that only proves that you're a sore loser! Always have been, always will be!'
'Take that back, you buffoon!'
'No, I won't!'
'Then, let's practice our Friendly Brawling, shall we, friend?'
'Gladly!'
With that, the two boys started brawling, which got the attention of the other boys, except Leon, who soon tired of seeing the brawl and walked away.
Under the statue of Gaston, Henri, Pierre, Francois and Jean-Luc, the four boys who made up the Muscular Men, were sitting around, talking amongst themselves and looking out for girls to leer at, before they were to go out hunting and fishing.
Henri, the one who wore the red jerkin with blue trim and belt, was the leader and who idolised Gaston the most, copying his mannerisms and wearing his copper-coloured hair in a ponytail, like Gaston did.
Pierre, who wore the yellow jerkin with green trim and belt, was an unlikely member of the group due to his effeminate, vain and narcissistic personality, his slight build, his handsome appearance (he was considered the second most handsome boy in the village, after Leon, which irked him greatly) and his lack of hunting skills as he spent the time admiring himself in the mirror he always carried with him and he ran away in fear at the slightest animal sound. How and why he was in the group was a mystery.
Francois, who wore the blue jerkin with red trim and belt, was the brawniest and muscular of the group, as he was a huge boy with short brown hair and brown eyes, but was very unintelligent, only spoke a few words and was very greedy, as he ate a lot and drank all their beers when they tossed them up in the air to catch them.
Jean-Luc, the better hunter and more sensible, friendlier and kinder out of all of them, wore the green jerkin with yellow trim and belt. A well-built boy with kind hazel eyes and short, sandy dark hair with a fringe parted on either side of his head, he was the only boy who was friendly to Leon and didn't tease, act rude or bully him, and could've been his friend, if only he wasn't part of the Muscular Men.
Sadly, Jean-Luc had to be kind to Leon when he wasn't with his friends (if he could call them that) and under the watchful eye of the villagers, as he had to keep up appearances so that he wasn't picked on and rejected, which was a sore point for him.
He was not impressed by his friends' behaviour towards girls and their woeful hunting skills, but acted like he was and was lucky that they were too thick to realise that Jean-Luc's feelings and taunts towards Leon were not genuine.
'Bridgette at one o'clock!' Henri called, as he saw her passing by. It was his signature call to start the hollering and leers at any girl, the more beautiful the better (girls that they and others considered 'plain' or 'ugly' didn't get a second glance) and the others would take his lead, 'You know what to do, lads!'
Immediately the others followed suit and hollered, leered and shouted out things such as
'Hey, Bridgee, how's it going love?'
'Looking good, gorgeous!'
'Flash us a smile, darling!'
'Show us your chest, sweetheart!'
'Can you introduce us to your cousins?'
Bridgette was happy to play along, like the other girls that caught their attention, blowing kisses, wiggling her hips and plumped up her chest, which made the men step up and holler like apes wanting to attract a mate. Jean-Luc played along as well, but he didn't seem to be enjoying it, but did a good job of looking like he did, for his heart was set on some other girl.
'See you at the tavern at seven, Bridgee?' said Henri.
'Sure, you big lug,' said Bridgette seductively, giving one last wave before heading towards said tavern, which was now named La taverne de Gaston ('Gaston's Tavern') in honour of Gaston and his favourite place.
'Beaufort twins at one o'clock!' Pierre then called out in his effeminate voice, spying Adelaide and Anais walking by, twirling their parasols. Henri was irked that his second in command (which was laughable, since Pierre was not what he would call a great deputy and leader, due to his weak nature) was giving the commands when he should be doing that.
'Hey, Pierre, that's what I'm supposed to say, you flamboyant fool!' he said, angry,' I'm the leader, you're second in command and what I say goes! I give the orders and I don't take them from a weak, effeminate idiot like you!'
'Sorry, Henri!' Pierre said, stressing his syllables, 'I thought that you would be glad that I'm showing some backbone for once!'
Henri and Jean-Luc each shared an eyeroll.
Adelaide and Anais Beaufort were identical twins who both had brown hair in a bun with stray bits on either side of their faces, green eyes and wore the same dress. Adelaide, the elder by four minutes, wore light green and carried a light green parasol while Anais wore dark green and carried a dark green parasol.
The twins were the daughters of a wealthy merchant and the Beauforts were one of the well-off families in the village, despite losing half of their fortune when the royal family disappeared, as they were connected to them.
They were beautiful but incredibly snobby, stuck-up, rude, haughty and despised anything related to the lower classes and looked down and made fun of them and because of this were not well respected, but it didn't faze them.
They were also not impressed by the behaviour of the Muscular Men and Beauden and Stephane, who often fought each other for them and ignored their advances.
'Oh no, it's the Muscular Morons,' Anais said to her sister, as she saw them, 'They're worse than Beauden and Stephane.'
'Don't worry, dear sister,' Adelaide said, for the two rarely referred to each other by their names, ' Remember what you have to do, keep your chin up, eyes focused ahead, don't stoop to their level, ignore them and twirl your parasol.'
'Absolutely, sister,' said Anais and the two walked by, twirling their parasols and ignoring the calls of the Muscular Men-
'Cooee!'
'Hey double trouble, give us a kiss!'
'Hello, darlings!'
'Lovely day isn't it?'
'Flash us a smile, darlings! Wahey!'
The twins continued ignoring them.
'Come on, a smile don't cost nothing!'
'Give us a smile! Don't pretend you don't want to!'
But it was all for naught, as Adelaide and Anais simply took no notice of them and disappeared from their view.
'Snooty cows!' Pierre shouted after them.
'Moo,' Francois said, which confused his friends.
'What was that for?' Henri said.
'That's the sound cows make,' said Francois.
'Oh, really Francois? I wouldn't have known otherwise!' Jean-Luc said, sarcastically.
'Hey, ease up on the sarcasm there, JL,' said Henri.
'Is that any way to treat and get women?' came the voice of Leon, who had happened to be walking by. Jean-Luc gave him a small wave, but hid it when he saw Henri looking at him, ' I saw what you did to Bridgette and the twins.'
'What's it to you, Duplonk?' Henri said, nastily, 'Besides they love it!'
'Yeah, what do you know about attracting women, Duplonk?' said Pierre, eager to get on Henri's good side, ' You only know how to kiss pigs!' and they all snorted.
'Leave him alone, guys!' Jean-Luc said, 'That joke is getting old now and it's boring to keep hearing it whenever Leon is around! It's not like he wanted to kiss Cecile, he was tricked by that stupid bimbo, Violette!'
'What are you, his friend?' Henri said. Realising what he had just said in front of the group, Jean-Luc hastily said,
'Of course not, why would I be friends with someone who is self-educated, always has his nose in a book, doesn't like hunting and kisses pigs?' He didn't sound too convincing, but they bought it and Jean-Luc winked at Leon, to show that he didn't mean what he said.
'That's what I thought, Jean-Luc and if you want to be a Muscular Man and my deputy, you will not be friends with Duplonk ever!' Henri said.
'Yes, Henri, you have my word,' Jean-Luc replied.
'Seriously, Duplonk, this is the only way to attract a woman. Not by brains, not by books, not by being a smarty know-it-all, not by being a 'mama's boy', not by being a swine kisser or horse lover but by being a great hunter, having a muscular body, a winning athlete and a jerk.
Treat them mean, keep them keen I say and women love it!' Henri said arrogantly,' There is someone out there, who is very interested in you. If you quit reading and give her attention, then maybe there's still hope for you.'
'Well, if it is who I think it is, I'm not interested. I only want to marry for true love. And if behaving like Neanderthals to get women is your idea of fun, then you can have it. Good day to you.' Leon said and left.
'Oooooooh!' the men all said at once.
'What a whiny girl he is,' Henri said.
'What's a Neanderthal?' Francois said.
'What do I look like, a walking encyclopedia?' Henri replied, 'Come on, let's go hunting,' and the men promptly did that.
