A/N: Hi all! I haven't posted in awhile because finals and the end of semester are coming…and I have a lot of work to do. I need to write a 1200 word essay, a 750 word essay, and a 500 word essay for my English class. I need to do 5 quizes, the midterm I missed, my final, and a couple discussion posts for my nutrition class…..all by the 16th. Yikes. This will be the last chapter I'll post until I get everything done. I love you all…but it's more important that I don't fail.

Disclaimer: I don't own Albel…or Fayt…but I love them dearly.

It was late morning when Fayt woke again. He yawned and stretched, noting absently that Albel was no longer curled up beside him. If he had been thinking properly, he might have been alarmed by that fact. However, his mind was still addled with sleep and he was caught off guard by the vicious kick in the behind that sent him tumbling out of bed.

"Ow," Fayt mumbled from his position on the floor. He ruefully rubbed his sore bottom and looked up at the man that had given him such a pleasant wake-up call.

Albel grinned down at Fayt maliciously. "You thought I'd go easy on you today just because you saw me at my weakest last night? Not a chance. In fact, I might have to be even harder on you so you don't get any ideas. I'm no pushover, fool."

Fayt sighed unhappily. "Yes, your highness. It's time for my training. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I'm sure you'll show me. It must be that I'm too slow. I promise I'll run up and down the stairs all day until I improve."

Albel waved a hand dismissively. "Your speed is passable. Any idiot can run up and door the stairs in a reasonable time. I don't need another brainless lump like Cliff. Speed means nothing. However, you are much like Cliff in that you cannot think."

Fayt looked hurt. "I'm not stupid, my lord. I may not have gone to the city schools, but I can read-"

"Bah! I don't mean learning. I mean thinking. You may very well know how to read and write but that makes no difference if you can't think for yourself."

"But I can do that," Fayt protested.

Albel snorted in disdain. "No, you can't. Either that or you won't. What I mean is that you can't make a single decision without my help. I can't go around telling you what to do all day or I'll never get any work done. And I don't mean for you to try and anticipate what I need before I ask. You're just a lowly peasant and you don't know what it's like to be king. I will teach you, however, not to feel so helpless and pathetic in the face of your ignorance. I need a servant to carry out his duties willingly and to accept his failures without wailing and groveling. No more moaning over the fact that you are slow and useless. If I wanted whining I would seek out a woman!"

Fayt sighed and looked down at the floor. He couldn't meet Albel's eyes. Albel's words hurt, but they were true. He did try to apologize every time he thought Albel was displeased with him, but somehow apologizing made it all worse. "Yes, your highness. I'll try my best not to whine and complain."

"Good. Maybe there is hope for you after all."

"I really appreciate how patient you are with me, my lord. I should be a perfect servant to you, but you end up having to tell me how to do my work."

"There are no perfect servants in this castle," Albel snapped. "I wouldn't want any. They would follow orders blindly and have no sense of self preservation. They make me sick."

"Huh?" Fayt was confused by the sudden rage building up in Albel's words.

"If you keep going the way you are, mindlessly trying to do exactly what I want, you're apt to get yourself killed. If you think I'd want you to step in and try to protect me, you should think again. I forbid you from doing that. I am not about to let another person sacrifice their life for me."

Fayt blinked in surprise. "My lord," he began gently. "You are the king and your life is worth more than-"

"Silence!" Albel snarled. "I will not be as benevolent as my father. If you are wounded, I will not come back for you. I will leave you to contemplate why you would fight for a man who would leave you to die."

"But you're the king," Fayt protested. "No one expects you to risk your life for a servant."

Albel's eyes narrowed and he glared at Fayt. "You are not my bodyguard. You are not to sacrifice your life for mine under any circumstances. You will be the one who gets killed. I know how to fight and protect myself. Do not try to save me. Do you understand? This is a royal decree!"

Fayt quailed under Albel's fiery glare. "Yes, Lord Albel," he said meekly.

"Good," Albel barked. "Now that we've got that settled, bring me some breakfast. I don't care what you bring me, but be quick about it. And you might as well fetch a bowl of porridge for yourself. You'll need your strength for our training today."

"Okay, okay," Fayt muttered. With a heavy sigh he patted down his bed head into a respectable shape. He wandered out the door muttering under his breath.

"Bah!" Albel spat. But his lips curled upwards in a faint smirk. So, the fool had stopped being afraid of him. That wouldn't do at all.

Albel began pulling on his day clothes. He schemed of how he could strike fear and terror into Fayt's heart so that he would obey without all the useless prattle. Fayt talked way too much for Albel's liking. He thought everything was his fault and he constantly wanted to apologize and seek Albel's forgiveness.

Albel had finally hit on a particularly nasty plot that was sure to work when Fayt swept back into the room, artfully balancing a plate of warm, buttered bread in one hand and a bowl of thick porridge in the other. Fayt settled the plate of toast on the bed to Albel's right and he climbed up and sat on the left side with the bowl of porridge in his lap. "Here you are, my lord," Fayt said cheerfully.

Albel raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

A horror-struck look crossed Fayt's face and he quickly jumped off the bed. "I'm sorry, my lord. I wasn't thinking." He settled himself on the floor and mournfully took a large spoonful of porridge.

Albel snickered. "It's quite alright, fool. You are infinitely amusing. I hardly think I would scorn sitting beside you when I sleep beside you every night. There are no germs I could catch from you that I have not already caught."

"But it's my job to warm your bed."

"So?" Albel scowled at him.

Fayt sighed and swallowed another spoonful of porridge. "You're not like most royalty."

"I told you already to disregard all that silly nonsense they taught you. It's important for you to obey me and it's important for you to fear displeasing me. But you take things to an extreme. You're paralyzed with indecision and you're afraid of doing anything until I directly tell you what I want. I don't have time to supervise the whole kingdom directly. My people will obey my orders when I give them, but they will make some decisions on their own. You're going to have to learn to think for yourself. I'm not going to tell you everything. Just because I have not ordered you to sit beside me doesn't mean that you can't. Such thinking would be prudent when meeting royalty for the first time, but we now share a bed. I have encouraged you to approach me. Don't be so terrified. I will not execute you for something so small. If I executed everyone who ever displeased me, I would have an empty castle."

"Oh," Fayt said quietly.

Albel rolled his eyes. "Bah. Get up here so I don't have to look at your miserable face."

"Yes, your highness," Fayt said happily. He eagerly scrambled back onto the bed.

Albel smirked. "Now you're content. It takes so little to please the simple-minded fool. I merely sent you out for breakfast and you were in high spirits. Porridge is hardly anything to get excited about."

Fayt flushed. "The cook just told me how glad he was to see me. Seeing you frightens him because you are always cross and impatient in the mornings."

Albel snickered. "I suppose I am. I have no patience for fools. Heh, count yourself lucky that at least one person is grateful for your existence"

"I know, my lord. It cheered me up a great deal." Fayt beamed.

"Good. Now that you're in good spirits, we shall resume our training." Albel bit into a piece of bread and chewed thoughtfully. He swallowed, a look of amusement passing over his face. "Have you ever handled a horse?"

"No, my lord." Fayt looked down modestly. "My family is too poor to afford one."

"Good." Albel cackled merrily. "You have fifteen minutes to learn horsemanship."

Fayt's head jerked upwards. His eyes widened. "F-f-fifteen minutes? My-my lord! I don't know the first thing-"

"No whining," Albel admonished. He strode out into the hallway and bellowed, "Cliff!"

Cliff came running up to the top of the stairs. He stopped and bowed reverently. "Yes, my lord?"

"I want you to prepare two horses for me. Hmmn, Crimson and Scourge should do nicely."

Cliff nodded. "I'll get right on it." He hurried back down the stairs.

Albel walked back into the room. 'Well, why are you still sitting around? Hurry up and get dressed. We have a lot of work to do."

Fayt eyed Albel nervously. "Are we really going to ride those…uhh…scary horses?"

Albel grinned evilly. "Don't worry, fool. This will be fun."