A/N: Wow. One-fifth of the way there already! Just 44 more chapters to go. Enjoy.

Warning: *spoiler alert* Bullies beat up Chaol.

Chapter Eleven: Damn Kids

Okay, so maybe Chaol had lied about his well being in the letters. Just a little.

He was being teased by the other boys who had almost become his friends. Back when he'd first started living there again, they'd seemed nice. Kind. They'd all been twelve at that point, and before long they were all in their early teens.

And now it seemed weird that Chaol's best friend was a) not one of them and b) not yet a teen.

He missed Dorian more than he'd ever let show.

Each day, he woke up, screwed on a face of courage, and tried to wipe Dorian from his mind. He'd usually make it through most of the day like that, distracting himself with little tasks, helping the servants (his father didn't approve), sparring practice, and horseback riding.

Then he'd reach the night, and he'd think about Dorian as he tried to fall asleep because he no longer had anything to keep him from doing so.

And then when he woke up in the morning again, he'd do once again what he always did. And each day, it got just a little bit easier, but not by a lot.

It was awful.


He was sitting outside one afternoon at precisely 3:24 p.m., contemplating whether or not to go for a ride or put in some extra hours on swordplay when they approached him.

"Hey!" Derek called. "Mr. Wants To Be King!" It was 3:25 by that point.

Oh yeah, and they also thought that he was grappling at power, trying to be friends with the prince.

"Let's be nice, guys!" Lucian scolded sarcastically. "We should let the Mrs. mourn the loss of his prince!" The other boys all giggled. 3:26.

"Shut up," he groaned. "You're just upset because you're not smart enough—or good enough—to get a real friend of your own. It's quite sad really. You run around making others feel bad when really all you want is to make yourself feel better. The sooner you realize that bullying won't get you shits any closer to being liked, the better. If you don't, I think one of these days someone's gonna have enough and you'll find yourselves face down in a pile of crap, dead."

"Ooh! Tough words for such a scrawny little boy!" Derek said, looking back at his comrades. "Care to see how true they are?" He seemed to have missed the point that it wasn't necessarily Chaol who would put them in the ground, but that didn't entirely matter to any of the idiots.

Or to Chaol, for that matter. All he cared about in that moment was the fact that six boys, all beefier and taller than he, were about to trample him. It was already 3:28 by the time he took of running.

He bolted for the trees as quickly as he could, hoping his smaller body would be enough to outrun the hulking beasts behind him.

Unfortunately, luck was not with him that day, and neither was Time, for he ran out of both before he reached the forest in the distance, being tackled and pinned to the ground and beaten. He fell at 3:33.


When Chaol stumbled back into the mansion, it was roughly 4:07.

Lady Westfall dashed over to her son as soon as she laid eyes on his bloodied and beaten form, cooing and yelling. He was dripping blood all over and had a light-sensitive headache. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been out.

It was 4:09 by the time the nurse arrived on the scene, and 4:10 before she even started to get out her equipment.

At 4:38, Chaol was done being patched up and was sent to his room to go to sleep early at 4:45. He knew his father would want to talk about what had happened in the morning, and he really wasn't looking forward to it.

He lay wide awake in his bed until 6:57, when he got up, craving food, his stomach growling.

He'd spent the last two hours and thirteen minutes thinking about Dorian and the boys. What if they were right? What if he shouldn't be friends with Dorian? He was so much younger than Chaol, and he was the prince. He shouldn't be so attached to someone who would have to put personal connections aside to focus on his country.

At 6:59, he had arrived downstairs to see his father and mother dining alone. "Mother. Father," he said by way of greeting them. "I was wondering if I could have dinner."

He braced himself for the imminent scolding from his father. He presumed it would either be about his sparring skills or his attachment to Dorian. He had given his mother a brief rundown of what had happened, and he assumed she'd told his father, which meant he'd be focused on the whole Dorian thing more than he usually was.

"Of course, Son," Lord Westfall said. "I was hoping to talk to you anyways," he smiled.

Chaol wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he sat down anyway at 7:00 exactly. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked, fatigue laced throughout his voice. He knew what was coming, but he figured he might as well play it off like he didn't. No need to be overreacting already; perhaps his father wasn't going to end up yelling at him over the whole thing.

"Well, what the boys said to you, really." Chaol let out an infinitesimal sigh. He'd been right. His father gave him a look, probably regarding the show of disinterest and disapproval of the topic.

Lord Westfall pursed his lips. "I know you don't want to talk about it, Chaol, but you know we have to. Anyway, as I was saying, your mother told me what you told her, and I have to say, those kids do have some points." Chaol glanced at his mother, who was silently consuming her food as though she wanted nothing to do with this conversation. He wished that she would back him up. But his father continued, "He is so young, and you really should not be so attached to him. Plus, he's a bad influence. For the past two and a half years, you've been getting into trouble, and I think it's because of him. Before you two were acquainted with each other, there was hardly any rebellion to be had!"

"I know, father, but he's my best friend! Without him, who do I have?" Chaol was all too aware of the fact that the servants had all stopped to listen.

His father gave a mild grimace. "Well, you could always try making friends with some of the young lords around here. Or the children at school. Have you thought of that?"

"Yes, father! I have! The lords are all jerks and the kids at school hate me! Can't I just be friends with Dorian?"

"You can be, Chaol. Of course you can be. I'm just wondering whether it is the most practical choice." His father gave him a stern look, as though trying to will Chaol into agreeing with him.

Chaol looked down at his hands. Maybe they were right. Maybe he shouldn't be friends with Dorian. At all.

Chapter Release Date: November 25, 2017

A/N: Hey, if you're liking this story, go check out my other work too! I've got a Christmas-themed Harry Potter fic coming out soon, so go read that if you've been enjoying this.