The next day Jeffrey was released from the hospital wing. He went back to his room, his room had been cleaned up from his suicide attempt, the vomit now long gone but it still felt weird being back there. He sighed as he changed into his regular clothes, making sure to wear sleeves and pants despite the Angeles heat to cover up his bruises from Uncle Rupert. There was a knock on his door once he had changed and he walked over to the door and opened it to reveal his mother.
"We need to have a little chat," Annalise said.
Jeffrey sighed and nodded. He sat on his bed and Annalise sat beside him. "Things are going to change around here, Jeffrey. One of the Elite will become my husband and your stepfather, and it's about time you started getting to know them. I expect you to go on outings with them and do activities with them."
"I'll pass," Jeffrey said as he laid down on his bed.
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you that you will be spending time with them," Annalise said firmly. "Not only that, but I've asked them to step up and start parenting you and Callum, the Elite will now be able to punish you."
"That's not fair!" Jeffery complained. "They're not dad, I don't have to listen to them."
"One of them will become your stepfather, so yes you will listen to them," Annalise said. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I expect you to be on your best behaviour, or there will be consequences."
"Whatever," Jeffrey said bitterly.
"There will be changes to this family, whether or not you're going to accept them is up to you," Annalise said. She stood and made her way to the door. "Greg will be taking you and Callum to a soccer game this afternoon; I expect you to behave."
"I don't want to go," Jeffrey said, annoyed.
"That's too bad," Annalise said then left the room.
Jeffrey squeezed his eyes shut and rolled onto his side, I can't believe she's making me do this he thought angrily. He stood up and made his way to the bookshelf and pulled out his scrapbook. He brought it to his bed and flipped through the old pictures of himself and his father, he sniffled and blinked back tears. Things were so much easier when his dad was around, why did those stupid rebels have to kill him? He was a great king.
That afternoon Callum and Jeffrey met Greg in the foyer. Callum was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, while Jeffery was still dressed in his palace attire, a knit sweater with a button up shirt underneath and slacks.
"Why aren't you dressed for the game?" Callum asked.
"Because I don't want to go," Jeffrey said as he crossed his arms. The truth was that he didn't want to reveal the bruises that lined his arms. Greg entered the foyer, dressed in a jersey for the Angeles Assassins who were playing against the Belcourt Bandits.
Greg glanced at Jeffrey, frowning slightly at his entire, the kid did realise he'd be spending the day outside, right? He shook his head, deciding to let it go. "You two ready to go?" Greg asked.
"Yeah!" Callum exclaimed. "I've never been to a soccer game before."
"Really?" Greg asked surprised. "Your dad never took you to a game before?"
"He was busy running a country." Jeffrey said as he crossed his arms. "You know, his job."
"Right, well, let's go." Greg said as he placed a hand on Callum's shoulder. Jeffrey glared at Greg but said nothing since his little brother didn't seem to mind. Greg led the boys out of the palace and into the waiting car.
They arrived at the soccer stadium and the trio got out of the car. Guards followed them from the parking lot and into the stadium, where Greg led them to their seats, which were midfield. Callum sat next to Greg while Jeffrey sat on the other side of his brother. It's so hot here, Jeffrey thought, already hating the experience.
"Are these seats good?" Callum asked Greg.
"Only the best for you, kiddo." Greg said with a smile. "Do you guys want some snacks?"
"Can I have popcorn?" Callum asked.
Greg nodded, "Of course."
"We can't eat from the concession stand, they could have poisoned it," Jeffrey said in an annoyed tone as he crossed his arms.
"Did you really think I'd come unprepared? There's a royal taster here, Jeffrey," Greg said.
"Whatever," Jeffrey said.
"Enough with the attitude, Jeffrey," Greg snapped, raising his voice slightly. "Do you want something to eat or not?"
"I'll pass." Jeffrey said as he stood. "I'm going to the bathroom."
"Take a guard with you," Greg reminded the teen.
"I know," Jeffrey said irritably.
Callum sighed as Jeffery walked off with a couple of guards from the entourage of guards they brought with them.
"I'm sorry about Jeffrey, he's been really mean lately," Callum said in a sad voice.
"That's not your fault, don't worry about it, just enjoy the game," Greg said as he gave Callum a pat on the shoulder.
"Who do you think will win?" Callum asked.
Greg smiled as he gave his predictions about the match. He sent a guard to buy the prince some popcorn and himself a hotdog. Greg checked his watch as the match began, Jeffrey still hadn't returned from the bathroom and the prince had been gone for twenty minutes. He was about to look for him when the teen returned with two guards. One of the guards motioned towards Greg who sighed and approached him.
"We found the prince trying to smoke this," the guard said as he held out a joint.
"Thank you for telling me," Greg said. He sighed and returned to his seat. Jeffrey was seated beside Callum, seemingly unaffected by getting caught red handed. Greg decided to handle it after the game, it wasn't something he wanted Callum to see. The kid didn't need to know what a joint was. Callum smiled when Greg returned to his seat and started talking to the man, while Jeffrey watched the soccer game, not bothering to involve himself in the conversation.
When they returned to the palace Greg pulled Jeffrey aside and led him to a quiet hallway of the palace.
"Want to tell me what you think you were doing at the soccer game?" Greg asked, an edge of anger to his voice.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jeffrey said nonchalantly.
"Really? So why did the guards find this on you?" Greg questioned as he pulled the joint out of his pocket.
Jeffrey shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"What were you thinking? Trying to get high in public!" Greg demanded angrily, raising his voice. "You're the Prince of Illéa! You're supposed to be setting a good example for your people and your younger brother."
"It's just pot," Jeffrey said.
"And it's illegal, where are you even getting this from?" Greg asked.
Jeffrey laughed, "Like I'm gonna tell you that."
"Oh, you think this is funny?" Greg questioned as he held out his hand. "Phone, now."
Jeffrey rolled his eyes, "Yeah, you're not getting my phone."
"You can hand it over or you're grounded for a week," Greg threatened.
Jeffrey glared at him, "You can't do that!"
"Wanna bet?" Greg said, not backing down.
"Screw you," Jeffrey said. He dug into his pocket and turned off his phone before he handed it over to Greg.
"Watch the attitude, young man!" Greg yelled as he stared Jeffrey down. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"I don't kiss my mom, I'm not five…" Jeffrey trailed off as he crossed his arms. "Can I go now?"
"You can go straight to your room and think about what you did," Greg said sternly.
"That's not fair, you already took my phone!" Jeffrey complained.
"And I'll take it for even longer if you don't go to your room," Greg snapped. "Get to your room."
"Whatever," Jeffrey said as he walked away. Greg followed him to ensure that the teen actually went to his room as instructed. Jeffrey glared at Greg as he slammed the door to his room shut.
A few hours later there was a knock at Jeffrey's door. Jeffrey sighed as he climbed out of bed and paused the music coming from his stereo. He opened the door and rolled his eyes when he saw Greg.
"What?" Jeffrey asked.
"So, did you think about what you did?" Greg asked as he walked around the teen and stepped into his room.
"I never said you could come in here," Jeffrey said annoyed. "Get out of my room."
"Why? So you can get high again?" Greg questioned as he raised an eyebrow.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes, "If I was going to get high I'd be high by now."
"Does your room need to be searched?" Greg asked, suspecting that the teen had marijuana hidden somewhere in there.
Jeffrey glared at him, "Try it, I dare you."
"You think you're a big, tough, kid? I want to see you talk that way to your mother." Greg said as he crossed his arms.
"Get her, I don't care. You're overreacting, now leave me the hell alone," Jeffrey snapped.
"Fine, I will," Greg said, then left the room. Jeffrey groaned as he laid on his bed, he better not win, he thought as he covered his face with his hands.
The next day Joel took Jeffrey and Callum on what Jeffrey essentially thought of as a camping trip. Their day started off with a hike through the forest surrounding the palace. Jeffrey was rather quiet during the hike, while Callum talked Joel's ear off.
"All right, this looks as good a spot as any," Joel said as he stopped walking at clearing with a small pond.
"About time," Jeffrey mumbled.
"What? Did I tire you out already?" Joel asked Jeffrey with an amused grin.
"No," Jeffrey said as he crossed his arms.
"Good, because we're not done yet, I'm going to teach you two how to start a fire," Joel said. "From scratch, no matches or lighters."
"When are we ever going to need to know how to use this?" Jeffrey complained.
Callum nudged Jeffrey with his elbow, "Come on, it could be fun!"
Jeffrey sighed, "Fine, let's just get this over with."
"Alright, so the first thing we need to do is get firewood," Joel said.
Jeffrey groaned, "This is going to take forever."
"Do you have somewhere else to be?" Joel asked raising an eyebrow.
"I have places I'd rather be," Jeffrey mumbled under his breath.
"Unless you'd like to gather all the firewood yourself, I suggest you drop the attitude," Joel warned.
Jeffrey sighed and crossed his arms, but said nothing, not wanting to have to do all the work himself.
"All right, so here's what you're looking for in firewood," Joel said. "When it comes to firewood it comes down to two things: density and water content. You want wood that's dense and dry, hardwoods generally make for better firewood than softwoods, but you two just do your best."
"Come on Callum," Jeffrey said as he led the way. Joel watched with a smile as both princes worked together to gather enough wood to make a fire. They came back with their arms full of twigs and branches which Joel thoroughly examined.
"Great work boys, this'll be work just fine for our fire." Joel said.
"I still don't see why we can't just use a lighter, you know, like normal people," Jeffrey complained.
"Where's the fun in that?" Joel asked.
Jeffrey rolled his eyes, "This is supposed to be fun?"
"I'm having fun." Callum said with a smile.
"Have you two ever been camping?" Joel asked as he grabbed the supplies he needed to make their fire.
"Dad used to take Jeffrey, but he never took me," Callum said.
"That's because you were too young to go," Jeffrey said.
"Dad always did everything with Jeffrey," Callum complained. "He never spent time with me."
Jeffrey frowned and turned to face his younger brother, "Hey, don't worry about it, I'm sure he would have done more stuff with you, but you were always off with mom, and you were too young to do the stuff he wanted to do."
"I guess…" Callum trailed off, unconvinced. "But even Uncle Rupert likes you better!"
Jeffrey tensed at the mention of the man's name, "Trust me, he doesn't." he said quietly.
"All right, let's get back to work," Joel said, ending the conversation as he could tell Jeffrey was getting uncomfortable. Jeffrey and Callum watched as Joel took a small piece of charcloth and laid it flat against the flint. He then hit the flint with the metal striker.
"Whoa!" Callum said when he saw sparks.
"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Joel asked as he transferred the glowing charcloth to the tinder nest, he gently wrapped the charcloth into the tinder nest then blew on it. The tinder nest started to smoke, and Joel instructed the boys to feed the fire, with twigs. As the fire grey they started to add bigger branches and sticks to the flames.
"We started a fire!" Callum exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, you boys did a good job helping me, next time you're going to be starting your own fires," Joel said then gave Jeffrey a look. "And no, you can't use your lighter."
"Who says there's gonna be a next time?" Jeffrey asked as he sat down near the fire.
"I wanna do this again, it's fun!" Callum said with a smile. "I wish we could spend the night."
"Yeah, that's a great idea if you wanna get attacked by rebels," Jeffrey said sarcastically.
"Sorry, but your mom wants you two home this evening, but don't worry, we can still make smores at least." Joel said as he opened up his backpack and pulled out a bag of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers."
"I've never had a smore before, I can't wait to try one!" Callum said.
Joel chuckled, "Go get a stick and I'll show you how it's done, little buddy." He said and Callum took off running. "Do you want some, Jeffrey?"
"I'm not five," Jeffrey said, annoyed.
"All right," Joel said. Suddenly, they heard Callum cry out in pain. Jeffrey bolted to his feet and took off after his brother, Joel right behind him. They found Callum sitting in a patch of grass, his knee covered in scrapes and blood.
"It hurts," Callum wailed.
"I'll get the first aid kit," Joel said. "Just keep an eye on him."
Jeffrey nodded as Joel headed back towards their makeshift camp. He crouched in front of Callum.
"Hey, it's okay," Jeffrey said in a soothing tone as he rubbed his brother's back. "What happened?"
"I fell over a stupid rock," Callum whined.
Jeffrey chuckled, "Klutz."
"It's not funny!" Callum shouted. "It really hurts!"
Jeffrey wrapped an arm around Callum who rested his head against Jeffrey. Joel returned a minute later with the first aid kit.
"Wanna learn some first aid, Jeffrey?" Joel asked.
"You're just putting a band aid on him, how hard could it be?" Jeffrey said. But nonetheless watched as Joel cleaned the wound then bandaged it expertly, letting Callum hold onto his hand the entire time.
"There you go, good as new," Joel said.
"Thanks," Callum said. "Can we go make smores now?" He asked, his pain forgotten.
"Of course, we can, little buddy." Joel said as he stood up. The boys spent the afternoon making smores, even Jeffrey who got bored enough to participate. After a couple of hours Joel put the fire out and walked them back to the palace.