Chapter 6 - Backstory (Posted 19 March 2011)

"I'm not sleeping on the floor!" Kendall yelled loudly.

"Well then you won't sleep at all." James held his nose in the air. "I don't have a spare bed."

"What? I'm not asking for a bed. I just don't want to sleep right on the floor. Don't you have any hay mats or anything?"

"What in the world is a hay mat?"

Kendall arched his eyebrows and stared at James. "Have you ever been outside this castle?"

"A few times..."

"Hay mats are what we regular people sleep on. It's a few layers of hay or straw bound together with twine. Your mattress is made of pure silk and is filled with down feathers," Kendall pointed to James's bed, "but I'm not asking for such a luxury. I just don't want to sleep on the cold, hard floor. I'm not an animal."

"But... I wouldn't even know where to find a... hay mat." James crinkled his nose at the thought. "Who would want to sleep on hay anyway?"

"People who can't afford beds."

"You can't even afford a bed?"

"No." Kendall said, amused. "Not that we would have room for them in our quarters. My brothers and I share a room and a mat. And our sister sleeps in our mom's room."

"You don't even get to sleep on your own mat?"

"No. I don't mind though. I don't like sleeping alone that much anyway..."

"I have an idea!" James said, his face lighting up as if a lightbulb just clicked on above his head. "What if I give you one of my blankets? You can sleep on that."

"You'd let a common servant child sleep on one of your blankets?" Kendall said incredulously.

"Why not?"

"You're serious? You know it'll get dirty from touching the floor and me."

"Yeah. I know. You can keep it." James wrinkled his nose again.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Well, offering me your blanket was good. We still need to work on the dirt tolerance."

James glanced at Kendall. He'd just done something good. And even though Kendall was telling him so, it just didn't feel the same without a hug. But he couldn't tell Kendall that. "Tell me about your family." James said as he climbed into his bed. He pulled on one of his blankets and slid it down to Kendall, who laid it out and sat on it, looking up at James.

"Why?"

"I don't know. We're supposed to be friends now, aren't we? Well, friends should know things about each other."

"True." Kendall said. "But it's weird talking to you all the way up there."

"Oh. I suppose you could sit up here with me while we talk. You were up here before anyway, being here again won't hurt it."

"Wow." Kendall said under his breath. Maybe James was enjoying his company more than he was admitting.

"So, what is it like to have such a big family?"

Kendall smiled. "It's great. I love my family. My mom is amazing. And I love my brothers so much. And Katie too, she's my baby sister. She's so adorable, even when she spits up."

"How old are your brothers?"

"I don't really know. I know they're just a few months older than me. They were born just a few days apart and I came about two or three months later. We're not sure exactly when though because dates aren't really important to the servants..."

"That isn't possible. You can't just be a few months apart..."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you my brothers are adopted. My mom was really good friends with both their parents. Carlos's mother died in childbirth, and my mom says his father died of a broken heart. Logan's parents died in the last plague that swept over his village. It was a miracle he survived. My mother took them both in even though she was already pregnant with me."

"Wow. Why would she do that?"

"Because she loves them. She was like an aunt to them because she was so close to their parents, so taking them in was just natural for her." Kendall said proudly.

"What about Katie?"

"She's my half sister. Her dad is my stepdad, he's one of your father's royal guards. His name is Fabio. I don't like him very much because he doesn't come around very often, but my mom loves him and he is my sister's father so I don't say anything."

"And your dad?"

"I don't know. Well, I do know, the gossip in the servant quarters isn't as top secret as they think it is. But no one has ever told me. The most popular story is he was a soldier who died in battle after he got engaged to my mom. I've asked her about it, but she says I'm too young to know, but I think she knows I've heard things."

"What other things have you heard?" James felt a pain in his chest. He may not get to see his father that often, and he fought with him a lot, but he could never imagine not knowing him.

"I've heard that my mother was a prostitute and I'm the baby of one of the men she slept with. I've heard that she was raped and I was the result. And I've heard that she was promised to my father but he ran off once he found out she was being commissioned to become a servant to the Royal Family. I like the soldier story the best. But I don't think that's the right one."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. I just don't think it can be that simple, you know? I think if that was what really happened, they wouldn't be so afraid of me finding out." Kendall explained.

"So which one do you think is the truth?"

"I don't know, but I know it's something that would make me feel like it's my fault. I heard one of the other servants talking about it. She said she felt sorry for me and for my mom. I didn't know what she meant at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I could see some of it as my own fault."

"I highly doubt anything is your fault. You didn't choose to be born to her."

"That's true."

"You have issues with yourself, don't you?" James asked. He'd never met someone who put himself down as often as Kendall had.

"Nah, not really." Kendall insisted. "I just know what's true and what isn't. I know what I can change and what I can't and I just roll with it. I don't pity myself for not being maybe as smart as the other kids or as talented, but I'm stronger than most of the other kids my age and faster, too."

"But didn't you say the only reason you don't know very much is because no one will teach you?"

"Yeah. I think that if someone gave me the chance I could learn just as easily as anyone else. But they don't want to make things too hard for me. I heard them say that a few times too."

"What if I tutor you?"

"What?" Kendall laughed.

"What if I teach you how to read?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because, whether you're a servant or not, you must know how to read."

"I don't know..."

"Consider it a thank-you for teaching me to be a better prince so I can become King someday."