Woot!As a present, I give you not one, but TWO! Count them, TWO! new chapters. I hope you like them. :cD

TrudiRose: D'oh! My mistake. You are, of course, correct. It is Hamlet that is similar to the Lion King, not MacBeth. How could I have mixed those twoup? I mean, one's about the king's brother who murders the king to take the throne and the son has to avenge his death, and the other's about the king's best friend who murders the king to take the throne and the son has to avenge his death. ;c) Thanks for keeping me honest.

Tiger Lily21: Thanks. It'salready slightly confusing to write; Ihope it's not too confusing to read.

blacktoxy:Ooo. (shifty eyes) I can't give away secrets! That could be an entire chapter's worth of plot. (Probably won't be though. XcD)

naughty little munchkin:Thanks! Ihave a wee bit of a short attention span, so I figure anythingreally boring to write is really boring to read. I always have to forcemyself to write background stuff, but I try to keep it to a minimum. That's why I need reviewers like you guys to tell me, 'Uh, that makes no sense whatsoever,' so I can go, 'Whoops! Riiiight. They aren'tpsychic. Backgrounds needed.'

UruvielTruviel: No problemo. Just the fact that I know you're reading it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanakah, Happy Kwanzaa, or (if you're athiest) have a good day!

-Lulai

Chapter Two: Family Life

"Hurry up, Aiden," Theo said as he stood outside the screen of Aiden's bathtub. "You've been in there over an hour. You've had the water changed three times. You are most definitely clean by now."

"You, dear cousin," came the acid reply from in the tub, "did not get covered in dung. I assure you, three baths, aside from the initial rinsing off outside the castle, is possibly the bare minimum of clean."

"We're going to be late for dinner," Theo complained.

"Oh, alright." Theo heard splashing as Aiden stepped out of the tub. Theo scuffed the heel of his boot on the carpet impatiently.

"So why didn't you tell Danni who you really were?"

"Who?" Aiden asked, sticking his head out from behind the screen to give Theo a confused look.

Theo looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "The boy who hit you with the shovel that caused this whole mishap."

"Oh, yes, Danni," Aiden said, popping back behind the screen. "I didn't tell him my real name because I didn't want to reveal that… well… I just didn't want to." He came out, dressed in a fine navy blue doublet, drying his hair on a towel.

"It's a good thing I didn't too," he said, trying to flatten down the black spikes on top of his head. His last haircut, done by his sister in a moment of weakness, had been a disaster. Before growing it out, however, he opted to have it cut very short first. It surprised him to find that he liked it short. It just had a habit of becoming slightly spiky when wet.

"And why is that?" Theo asked after Aiden handed the towel to a servant and they began to walk towards the main dining hall.

"You saw his reaction to you," Aiden explained, "and you were just the friend of the man who had been covered with crap. Imagine his chagrin if he ever found out that the man whom he dumped manure all over was the Prince of Protantia."

Theo winced. "You have a point."

"Yer highness!" a voice shouted out from behind them. Aiden and Theo stopped and turned to the servant that was running up behind them.

"Yer highness, milord," the servant said, bowing deeply to both of them. "I hate ta bother ye with such petty a problem, but I donna know what ta do with tha' blanket ye brought in."

Aiden wrinkled his nose. "Burn it," he said, waving his hand.

Theo turned to him. "We should replace it," he said. "I'm sure it was used for one of the horses, and by the looks of the stable, they probably don't have too many to spare."

Aiden nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Burn it, and buy another one. A nice one."

"His highness will deliver it himself tomorrow," Theo said.

"What? Me? Theo…" Aiden glared at his friend.

"Aye, yer highness," the servant said, bowing and disappearing down the hall before Aiden could stop him.

"Do you have a problem with delivering it?" Theo asked, raising his right eyebrow again. "After all, you wrecked the last one."

"I was covered in manure!"

Theo rolled his eyes and continued down the hall. "As you have said already many times. It's as if nothing like that has ever happened to you before."

"That's because nothing like that has ever happened to me before," Aiden growled, walking beside his friend.

"I'm sure Danni will want to apologize," Theo said, "and this will be the perfect opportunity to do so."

They entered the dining room.

"Good evening, son," said the duchess from her seat beside her husband at the head of the table.

"What? No grand herald to announce our arrival?" Theo teased, kissing his mother on the cheek.

"Not for dinner with family," she said, waving her hand for them to sit.

The story of the Duchess Sarah Par Barrish was a truly romantic tale. The daughter of an impoverished merchant, she had been married to a minor Baron who had only wanted an heir. After three miscarriages, Theodore had finally been born. Her husband had gambled away most of their money, and was then killed in a duel over a bet. Sarah was left with no money and an infant son, but she did not let it get to her. She sold most of her dresses and somehow stretched the money to make it work.

One day, while surveying the land, Duke Rollo Fer Barrish had spotted the beautiful woman, playing in a meadow with the then twelve-year-old Theo. He fell in love instantly, and after a whirlwind courtship, the two married. Rollo loved both Sarah and her child, even going so far as to naming Theo his heir. Now, eight years later, they were still deeply in love, and expecting their first child together.

"Is it raining out, Aiden?" Rollo asked, noting the prince's wet hair.

"No," Aiden said shortly, "I was having a bath."

Both Rollo and Sarah looked at him curiously.

Theo grinned. "We had an accident in the stables," he explained. Over the course of dinner, with much embellishing, Theo told his parents the story of Aiden's disaster.

"And with a mighty blow to the shoulder," Theo cried, brandishing a turkey leg, "the stable lad felled our hero with a weapon that strikes fear into the hearts of gardens! Was his humiliation enough? Oh no! For the fates decreed that not only should our hero be struck down by such a minuscule opponent, but that he should land in a barrow of horse patties."

Sarah clasped her hands to her breast, laughing. Rollo was laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. Aiden wanted to do nothing so much as sink under the table. His black browslooked like thunderclouds across his brow, and his ears were burning, as they always did when he was embarrassed.

"Oh, Aiden," Sarah said, "no wonder you wanted to bathe!"

"Yes, well," Aiden muttered, his eyes firmly glued to his plate.

"Theo, my boy," Rollo said, wiping tears from his eyes, "you would inspire jealousy in the heart of any bard or jester. That was truly a magnificent tale."

"Thank you," Theo grinned, and took a bite of his turkey leg.

"Speaking of you, Aiden," Rollo commented, helping himself to a bowl of peas, "I received a letter from your parents."

Aiden looked up from the memorization of his plate. "Oh?"

"It seems they've organized some sort of party and every noble from the Four Countries has been invited."

Aiden groaned. While his parents would call it a party, he really knew it was a marriage mart. For him.

"When is it?" he asked tiredly.

"One week from tomorrow," Rollo answered.

One week of freedom. He sighed. The countdown had begun.