On the Streets
by jilla kala
a/n: here is chapter twelve, I decided not to wait and make this one long super chapter, and so here is chapter twelve. It's actually, my third longest yet, I believe. So, do enjoy, and please do review, they really help me to want to write. Enjoy!
dedication: to my only three reviewers from last chapter. You know who you are. Big hugs for all of you.
disclaimer: what you recognize belongs to Tamora Pierce… I only own the plot, Jua, her housemates, and umm… that's it so far…
Chapter Twelve
It felt like hours ago that Jon had stopped paying attention to the King and Queen, and later Duke Gareth, talk about his future there. One second they were discussing the banquet, the next they were trying to figure out a way to work out his training for knighthood. He sighed, propped his elbow up on the arm of the couch and rested his cheek in his palm. He tried to pay attention; it is my future they are discussing, but the sound of the ceaseless voices droning on was making him tired. His eyelids slipped shut and his arm slid down until he leaning on the end of the couch. The others continued talking, oblivious to the fact that the other occupant of the room was fast asleep and drooling on the couch.
~*~
Roger sat cross-legged on a mat on the floor of his room, giving off the impression that he was meditating. In reality, he was brooding over the information he had received that morning from Lady 'Weaver.' His supposed cousin's friend, Anna Weaver; or, as his trip into her mind that morning told him, Juanee Tanner; or Jua, the farmer's-daughter-turned-prostitute-turned-thief that had befriended the newly discovered Prince Jonathan.
When searching through her mind, he learned she did not know any more than she let on. She had been just as shocked upon learning his identity as apparently young Jonathan had been. She did not know any useful information. At least, nothing that would be helpful to him at the moment. Roger steepled his fingers together and touched the index fingers to his lips in thought. How can I use this girl to get further information. She appears to be his closest friend, so he will probably talk to her. If you befriend her, Roger, she may come to give you some information that can be of use to you. And with that decision made, he stood up and went into the other room to work on spells for use by himself and the king.
~*~
"Jonathan? What do you think of the plans?" Lianne asked before realizing that he was asleep.
"Poor boy, this conversation must not have been very interesting to him." Roald commented as he went and knelt in front of his son. He reached out and gently shook his shoulder until he opened his eyes.
"Oh, sorry. Did I fall asleep?" Jon mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and the saliva off the corner of his lips.
"Yes you did, but that's alright. You can run along now. The three of us can finish the plans for the banquet next week. Go ahead and explore the castle now if you'd like."
Jon nodded, bowed to his parents and left the room, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Once in the hall he paused, trying to decide where he wanted to go. After a moment of debating, he walked off towards where he believed the practice courts to be. He wanted to watch the pages and squires to see what his potential training would be like.
~*~
The training courts were bustling with activity. Young boys were spread out over the yard, sparring with each other using dull practice swords. Jon watched the activity with an untrained eye, marveling at the speed and accuracy of some of the boys and the clumsy swings of others. Jon was not sure if the boys were doing it correctly, as he had never held a sword before let alone used one, but he could appreciate the work they were putting in just the same.
Jon watched the boys practice until the bell rang, calling them inside. As the boys ended their practice Jon too, retired indoors. As he was walking through the palace hallways his stomach growled, reminding him that he had skipped lunch in the meeting that morning. To appease his hunger, Jon made his way to the kitchen where he picked up a couple rolls and an apple. Not knowing where Jua was he took his food and wandered around the castle, turning down random hallways, not going anywhere in particular.
By the time he had finished his meal he found himself to be in a corridor with doors running along either side. The space resembled the hallway outside of his own room and so he guessed that he was in a wing of the castle where people slept. As if to prove him correct, a door to his right swung open with a creak. Jonathan turned to look towards the room just as a tall man with dark hair in a brightly colored cloak exited the room. Remembering his manners Jon nodded his head at the man in greeting.
"Why hello young sir. I do not believe we have met before," the man addressed him.
"My name is Jonathan."
"And I am Duke Roger. Would you, by any chance, be the young man that came last night and is Their Majesties' son?"
"Umm, yes," Jon answered after only a slight pause.
The Duke's face broke into a grin. "Jonathan! It is so wonderful to have you back with us again. I am you're cousin, the Duke of Conté. How we have all missed you!" Roger held out his arms to his younger cousin who tentatively embraced him in return.
"What happened to you?" he asked Jon, then in answer to his own question said, "Do you know what? Never mind that right now. I'm sure you are very tired after all of the excitement and probably are not in the frame of mind to answer such serious questions. Why don't we go someplace and talk, shall we? We have a lot of catching up to do. I haven't seen you since you were but a child, which was, Gods, about fifteen years ago, was it not? My, we have lost so much time!"
Jonathan could not help but like this man, Roger seemed genuinely excited about his return, and he allowed himself to be led down the hall by his cousin who had his arm over Jon's shoulder. As they walked Jon answered his cousin's questions, sometimes in detail, such as questions concerning the house he lived in, and others evasively, like how he and "Anna" came to be friends. As time went on though, he began to pay less attention to the conversation as he felt something tickling at the edge of his mind. Wondering if this could possibly be what Mistress Cooper was talking about when she mentioned someone looking into his thoughts he threw up his mental barriers, just as she had taught him.
One of the first important things she had taught him was how to protect his mind from intruding Mages. She told him that as a thief he may get into trouble someday and be interrogated, verbally and mentally. She warned him that if someone looked into his mind, they would be able to learn things that Jonathan did not want them to learn.
As he put up the barriers he tried to recall any information about the heir to the throne that he could, specifically any magical training. He thought he remembered hearing that Duke Roger was a powerful mage, but he could have been mistaken.
When the pair reached the doors leading out to the garden, Jua walked in, interrupting the discussion. The two stopped and Jon started to introduce them, but Jua interrupted him.
"We've met earlier this morning," she said with a smile in the Duke's direction. "Listen, Jon, if you aren't busy, your parents want us to join them at their table tonight So, we should probably get ready to go," she suggested.
Startled, Jon looked out the window next to the door. He was surprised to find the sky was getting dark. He had not realized how long he had been walking around with his newly rediscovered cousin. Jon looked towards Roger who nodded in consent.
"Run along with Miss Weaver, Jonathan. I too, need to get ready for dinner this evening. Hopefully I will see you there." He embraced his younger cousin before turning to Jua. "And you, too, of course, milady," he said as he pressed his lips to her hand. He then turned and walked away from the two, back in the direction he and Jon had come from.
~*~
Jon dipped his fingers in the bowl of water offered to him, careful not to splash the server, as he looked around the room. The space was large, and many people where seated all around the room. He sat at the table in the front; the King and Queen were at the head of the table. Jua was seated across from him and Duke Roger was at his left. The King rose, giving a blessing for the meal.
"So mote it be," Jon said in unison with the others present. The pages that were serving the meal then came out, carrying trays of foods for the dinners to eat. A plate was placed in front of him and he murmured his thanks.
A familiar voice replied with, "You are quite welcome, your Highness." Jon looked up as Gary winked and walked away. A smile crept up on his face as he took a bite of the meal. It was better than the breakfast that morning, and he enjoyed it very much. When the meal was finished, Jua and Jon went and talked to the King and Queen for a couple hours before retiring to their own rooms for the night.
~*~
Over the next few days Jon and Jua saw little of each other. Jon spent most of his days in with King Roald, Queen Lianne and Duke Gareth discussing plans for the banquet and his years as a page and squire. Jua split her days between talking with Duke Roger in the library or the gardens and traveling in and out of town.
The days were a blur to Jon, he spent much of the meetings daydreaming while the adults talked and planned. All he knew was that in a few days time there would be a banquet, re-introducing him to the people and announcing that he would again be the heir. A day or two following the banquet was when he was to begin a rigorous course of education and physical training so that he could become a knight one day. His daydreams were only interrupted with the arrival of meals and when someone would ask him questions. Such as his opinion of what he thought the entertainment should be at the feast. Eventually it was decided on a compromise of short plays and musical performances.
After the meetings he would watch the pages and squires spar or go and spend time talking with Roger or his friends in the palace, Alan, Gary and Raoul. When he was with the three they kindly offered to start showing him how to use a staff, so that he might not be quite so far behind when he began his training. The main thing that Jon learned in these lessons was that staff training was much harder than it looked and that Alan could hit very hard for such a small boy.
After practice with his friends or discussions with his cousin, Jon would go to dinner with the monarchs and then drag himself to bed where he would instantly fall asleep.
This routine continued up until the week before the banquet, when almost all of his time was spent in getting final arrangements ready. Most of the final preparations involved making him presentable.
~*~
"Hold still now. If you move I may cut it too short, and you wouldn't like that, would you?" the pleasant lady said as she trimmed Jon's hair. His hair had gotten too long and unkempt for the likes of the King, who preferred a shorter haircut. Jon listened to the plump woman chatter about court gossip as she cut the hair above his ears. He was careful not to move. He had learned from talking with members of the rogue who had made George mad; that getting one's ears cut off was a very painful experience, and one that Jon did not want to have. When the woman finished cutting his hair she ran a brush over it a couple of times to smooth it out.
After getting his hair cut he followed the directions he had received that morning and went to get fit at the palace tailor's for a new outfit for the celebration. By the time that Jon was finished with the fitting he had been poked with pins four times, due to his not "being able to stand still if the Goddess herself asked him too!" Or so the tailor said. He exited the tailor's room quickly, rubbing the sore spots on his limbs where the pins had pricked into his flesh. He headed in the direction of his rooms, intending to take a nap before going to dinner later that evening.
Just before he reached the door to his room he remembered that he was to go to his etiquette lessons once his was finished with the fittings. Jonathan sighed as he turned to go to the classroom. Just once, I wish I could sleep whenever I was tired, like I used to be able to do.
~*~
The etiquette class was just as dull and uneventful as the other activities of the day. Lianne was convinced that he should learn all that he could about being a royal before the banquette so as to give off the right impression and not embarrass himself. When he had talked to Jua for a few minutes the night before she thought, no matter how many times he told her otherwise, that they wanted him to learn etiquette so as not to make the royal family look foolish, and not so that the people would be more willing to accept the prince, as they claimed.
After hours of learning the proper way to bow and many mental complaints from Jonathan, he was finally free to go, with the instructions to come back the next day and to practice his bows that night. Jon ran quickly to his room, trying his hardest not to think of anything, lest he remember some other chore he had to do to get ready. When he was safely in his room with the door shut and locked behind him he heaved a contented sigh of relief. Finally, some private time alone. Thank the gods. He turned around and yelped when he found Jua sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Running from something?" she questioned.
"No," he replied defensively. She nodded as he sat down on the bed next to her.
"What happened with you today?" Jua asked as he started to take off his shoes.
He shrugged. "I got my hair cut," he told her as he pulled his right boot off and flung it across the room.
"Looks good," she said as she ruffled his now shorter hair.
"Thanks. I also got fitted for new royal clothing for the banquet. They shouldn't use pins when they do that, it's painful." The sound of her giggles were her only response and so he continued, telling her how his first behavior lesson went. "I don't think I'm going to get this princely thing down by time the banquet comes," he complained, hiding his face in his hands.
Jua patted his shoulder comfortingly, "Don't worry Jon. All you have to do is three simple things and I know you can do them. One, be polite. Just remember your 'pleases and thank-yous' and you'll be fine. Two, act spoiled. Just walk around like everything at the party is for you, which, actually, it is. And finally, number three, be stuck up. Just walk around with an I-own-this-room-and-you-all-owe-me-everything-because-I-am-the-best-thing-that-has-ever-happened-to-humankind look on your face. Like this," Jua demonstrated, giving him the most stuck-up look that she could manage. He laughed at her before she slapped his shoulder playfully. "Now you try."
He did, sending her into hysterics. "Perfect, just like that. Now, show me what you are going to do, all of it." Jon stood up at her request.
"My dear Lady," he said, bowing to Jua, "may I please have this dance?"
"Why of course, good sir," Jua replied in her most lady like voice.
"Why thank you my dear." The two waltz around the room, or tried to, as neither knew how to waltz. As they danced, they made polite conversation, such as one would find at a ball.
"Isn't this a lovely celebration," Jua commented, voice oozing exaggerated sweetness.
"Why yes, it is." He paused, and as an after thought added, "And it's all for me." The two laughed as he put on his 'stuck-up' face. The two continued to dance to imagined music. Jokingly Jon dipped her, but unfortunately, the movement, coupled with their laughter, caused them to fall to the ground. This made them laugh even harder.
Once they caught their breath, Jon stood and helped Jua to her feet. Jua leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "Thank you for the dance, Your Highness," she said, her eyelashes brushing against his skin. "I had a lovely time." She walked to the door, but stopped in the opening and turned to face Jon.
"See you later, and don't worry, you'll have the spoiled stuck-up prince thing down in no time." He threw a pillow at her just as she disappeared out the door, laughing all the way.
A/n: and there you have it, chapter twelve. Now, all I need to do is write chapter thirteen… and all the other chapters after that. ::sigh:: oh well, only 35 (school) days until I'm out for summer break and can write all day!
Hope you enjoyed that chapter, kinda cute and fluffy I thought, compared to my other chapters with all the crying. For those of you who want lost of kissing, hang in there, but at the moment, all that works for the story are butterfly kisses.
Enjoy!
Thank you notes:
Keziah: you are very right, we should hold an exorcism. Not the rulebook! I bet that thing would hurt to get hit with… so many rules… don't worry, after a while he gets used to it. She agrees with you and is considering protesting to get waffles and ice cream. Haha, NEVER! Zero may be nice for you, but not for me. Nope nope, I need to have my fun.
Kelyn: why thank you, hope all future chapters are just as good.
Devilkitti8: not sure what you mean by "sexy kinda" but yeah, it does sound kind of harsh. Oh well. And don't feel bad for him, he eventually gets used to it. It's in his blood after all.
Everyone who reviewed: thank you so very much, your reviews seriously make my day *hugs*