Chapter 7 - Friends Are Not Possessions (Posted 31 March 2011)
"3 years! The answer is 3 years!" A woman yelled at James.
"Well how was I supposed to know that!" James screamed back at her.
"We've only been going over this history lesson for a week! Excuse me for trying to teach the unteachable!" the tutor smacked her face.
"Well excuse me for being bored after sitting in lessons all day long!"
"Technically," Kendall said from where he was sitting across the room, "it's your own fault for not studying the material you went over recently."
"How dare you say that to me!" James's face reddened as he stood and marched over to Kendall. "After I've given up my precious time and food and blankets, you thank me by accusing me of being lazy?"
"Well, you do forget about your lessons pretty often..." *Smack*!
The back of James's hand tore across Kendall's cheek at lightening speed, leaving a bright red mark across his face.
"Don't you ever talk back to me again!" James just stared down at Kendall, who was awestruck. "I've been nothing but kind to you! I've let you play in my private gardens and I've even helped you learn how to read. I've been wasting my entire life lately just taking care of your sorry little self! Well this is my castle and you're my servant! One more outburst like that, and I'll have you drafted into the Combat Force."
"The Combat Force! But I'm just a kid! They'd probably kill me before the enemy does!" Kendall yelled back, temporarily forgetting about the hand mark on his face.
"Precisely." James stuck his nose in the air.
"I don't know what made you think you have any right to threaten people, but just remember that this is exactly the type of behavior you're supposed to be avoiding!"
"Oh yeah? And just what are you going to do about it?"
"I think some physical reinforcement is in order here." Kendall huffed.
"Oh, you mean a hug? Yeah, that'll teach me. I'm so scared!" James pretended to cower in fear.
"James, you asked for this." Kendall said lowly as he smacked James just as hard.
"You...!" James's face became red with anger. He was boiling. "You... you smacked me!"
"Yes I did." Kendall said proudly. It really had felt good. "What is your response?"
"I... it... it hurts..." James brought his hand to his face and touched the bruise that was still stinging.
"Has anyone ever smacked you before?"
"Certainly not! I'm the Prince!"
"Well now you know what it feels like. You can't go around slapping people just because they say something you don't like."
"Yes I can!" James stomped his feet as hot tears burned down his cheeks.
"No, you can't! Nobody will respect a violent king with a quick temper! Your kingdom will fall apart if you have such a bad attitude."
"Why should I care?"
"Because you're going to be the King one day! You need to take care of your people and your land."
"But..."
"But nothing! I'm not going to let you slap me around! And your subjects won't either!"
"I... I'm sorry..."
"Sorry?" Kendall gasped.
"That's what I said, isn't it!" James pouted.
"James!" Kendall squealed and jumped up, engulfing James in a giant bear hug.
"Uck. Kendall... you're crushing me..."
"Oops! Sorry, sorry." Kendall released him. "I forgot you weren't fond of the hugging. But James... feeling sorry is good! That's exactly what I was trying to make you feel."
"It was?"
"Yes!" Kendall danced happily.
"I don't like this feeling." James said sadly.
Kendall laughed. "You're not supposed to like it. It goes away when you know you're forgiven. And you can avoid it completely by not doing bad things in the first place."
"So... do you think... this might be over soon? Will you not be staying with me anymore?"
"Hard to tell..." Kendall said thoughtfully. "I suppose you're learning rather quickly. Definitely faster than I could have imagined. I mean, you've already shown signs of caring about someone else and just now you actually apologized which means you realized you did something wrong. I'd say you're fast approaching your goal."
"Goal?"
"Of being King and never having to see me again." Kendall smiled brightly, because he knew that he was doing a good job of teaching the Prince compassion.
But James frowned a little. Being King was his ultimate goal. But Kendall was supposed to be his friend. Friends don't just go away, do they? Oh, but we're not really friends. It's just while he's teaching me...
"Right." James finally said, realizing he was lost in his thoughts.
The tutor sighed loudly. "Well, I guess we're done with your lessons for today, young prince. I can see any more time spent trying to drill this information into your tiny brain will be a waste."
"My brain is not tiny!" James yelled as the tutor slumped out of the room.
"If you studied," Kendall suggested, "she would know that."
"Don't start with me."
"I have an idea!" Kendall suddenly shouted.
James was startled but smiled at the look on Kendall's face. "What?"
"Let's go play outside!"
"Nah. I'm bored of the gardens."
"Not in the gardens." Kendall corrected. "In the yard."
"The yard? You mean where the servant children play? As if I'd play there."
"Hey, you play with me. You see me as an equal, right?"
"So? You're supposed to be my brother."
"But the fact is that I'm not. I'm nothing more than the child of a servant, and a bastard one at that! You couldn't find anyone less worthy than me, so you shouldn't have a problem playing with the other children."
James actually cringed at Kendall's use of the word 'bastard.' He knew that Kendall didn't have a father but did he have to be so straightforward and foul when describing himself? Wasn't 'illegitimate' a more proper term? Though he figured that sounded just as bad. "Is that how you really identify yourself? As a bastard servant child?"
"It's what I am. I'm not being negative, it's just the truth."
"And you're the only one who doesn't have a father?"
"Yes. So if you can put your prejudices aside for me, you should be able to do it for the other servant children. They don't have the reputation I do."
"But I didn't know about that reputation when I chose you to be my teacher!"
"I know that. And maybe it's for the best. Since you had to learn from someone like me, you shouldn't have any trouble accepting anyone else. I'm the lowest their is, James. So your acceptance of me warrants acceptance of everyone else as well, or else this was all for nothing."
"But... you're different..."
"Why? Because I've been your 'friend' for a few months? That doesn't raise my social standing. Nothing can change that."
"What if I refuse to play with them?"
"Then I quit. I'm going to go back to my family and tell your parents that you are unteachable and unfit to be king."
You can't quit. That was the first thought to enter James's head, followed by fear of not becoming king and disappointing his parents. "Fine. We'll go to the yard. But I can't guarantee anyone will want to play with me."
"True, they all think you're spoiled, which you are, but if they see you playing with me maybe they'll see that you're trying to not be so spoiled and they'll want you to join them."
"Whatever you say." James sighed.
"Come on! Maybe I'll get to see my brothers!" Kendall yelled delightedly and grabbed James's hand, dragging him to the servant's quarters.
He pulled him out the back door and they watched all the children playing in the grass with dirt on their noses and leaves in their hair.
"They're throwing mud!" James scowled and hid behind Kendall.
"It rained! They're having a mud war! We came just in time, James!"
"You mean this is what you do for fun?"
"Absolutely! Here, you just squat down and get a good handful of mud and fling it at anyone you can reach, like this!" Kendall scooped up some mud and plopped it right on top of James's head.
"Ugh! You put mud in my hair! You put mud in my hair!"
"Well yeah!" Kendall sang joyfully. He stooped to get some more mud and grabbed James's hands. He gave the mud to James and smiled at him. "Here, throw it at me."
"Why?"
"Because it's fun!"
"I don't see how this is fun..."
"You will. Just throw it at me."
James sneered as he limply chucked the mud onto Kendall's chest. "Like that?"
"No, don't be a wuss about it! Put some muscle into it!" Kendall piled more mud into James's unwilling hands.
"I don't have any muscle!"
"Sure you do. Come on, hurl it right at me!"
"If you say so..." James smiled wickedly as he brought his arms back and threw the mud right into Kendall's face. He giggled a little, admitting that it was pretty fun.
Kendall laughed and wiped the mud out of his eyes. "See? Isn't that fun? Come on! There's mud all around." He kept throwing it at James. "There's different kinds, too. There's the really wet stuff here. Over under the trees, it's drier so you can make harder clumps of it. And by the fountain it's really sandy. Come on, don't be afraid, throw the mud at the other kids too." Kendall started running around, tossing mud at the other children.
James stood back and watched. "Kendall, I'm not throwing mud!" He tried to follow Kendall with his eyes, but he lost him.
Eventually Kendall found his way back to James and tried to pull him over to the crowd of children. "James, I know you want to play. I can see it in your eyes. Please come play with us?"
"I'll admit... it does look like a lot of fun... but I don't want to do it."
"Why not?"
"I... I'll get dirty."
"You're already dirty!"
"I just don't want to!"
"James, if you don't play with them, how are you ever going to..."
"Stop it!" James interrupted him. "It's... it's not because I don't want to play with them..."
"Then... what is it?" Kendall came a little closer.
"They won't..."
"Kendall!" Two more children covered in mud and grass ran towards them.
Kendall turned and jumped when he saw them. "Logan! Carlos!" The three brothers ended up slipping in the mud as they raced to hug each other. The resulting dog-pile made them all giggle.
"What are you doing here?" Carlos asked giddily.
"Yeah!" Logan agreed. "Did you finally escape from the brat?"
"Guys." Kendall frowned. "James isn't a brat."
Carlos and Logan stared at him for a minute before laughing.
"I'm serious!" Kendall insisted. "He was a little confused about things, but he's doing a lot better since I've been helping him."
"Yeah right!" Logan yelled.
"Hah!" Carlos laughed. "I bet he's sitting in his room right now counting all the things he has and we don't."
"Carlos, Logan, stop it right now!" Kendall yelled angrily. "He's standing right over there!"
Logan and Carlos stopped to look over at the muddy prince.
"What's he doing?" Carlos asked with a disgruntled sneer. "Has he come to yell at us because we're too close to him?"
"Or does he want us to practice being his servants since that's what we'll all grow up to do?" Logan added. "Well, most of us."
Kendall looked down at the comment. He knew Logan was talking about him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked, seeing Kendall's pain at his brother's words.
"It means you're selfish, that's what it means!" Logan yelled back.
"Not that! What do you mean 'most of you' are going to grow up to be my servants?"
Logan turned to see Kendall hanging his head. "I wasn't being mean, but everyone knows Kendall isn't fit to be a servant. He's a great person but we all know he's going to be thrown out of the castle. He knows it too. It's just how it is."
"That doesn't mean you can just rub it in his face!" James was shaking with rage. How could anyone say such things about Kendall? He was the only one who was ever willing to help him. He was so kind. And it wasn't his fault that no one wanted to take the time to teach him anything and it wasn't his fault that he didn't have a father. None of his misfortune was his fault. "Are you trying to hurt his feelings? How can you say such things about your own brother?"
"He knows I'm not saying it to be mean." Logan said softly. "I just... well... he never said anything about it hurting his feelings before..."
"And that automatically means it doesn't?" James didn't know where this was coming from. "Have you ever talked to him about it?"
"No." Carlos admitted. "We all just sort of silently accepted it. We don't talk about it, but all the kids know Kendall is seen as useless. We all love him, he's a great help around the house and stuff... but he can't even read!"
"That's because no one bothered to try teaching him!"
"Because he's slow." Logan said.
"He's not slow! You all just assume that because he's had some troubling things happen to him that he's a weak person and that he can't handle learning. But he's just as smart as the rest of you! And... for the record... he can read." James announced, proudly crossing his arms.
Logan and Carlos gasped.
"Since when can you read?" Logan asked.
Kendall finally looked up, wiping the tears that had started to fall. "James has been teaching me..."
"And he's really good at it." James said stubbornly.
"Kendall..." Carlos said softly. "Why didn't you ever tell us that it hurt you to hear those things? If you would have just asked us to stop..."
"I couldn't." Kendall said. "I knew everyone expected me to just become this totally useless person and they'd just send me to the Far Village. And I didn't... I knew that I couldn't read or do math or anything... so I just figured that's what was supposed to happen to me and I didn't know that there were other options. I just... it was just something I knew. Like I knew Mom was a servant and Logan would train to become a healer and Carlos would be a keeper's apprentice. Everybody already knows what job they're going to have at the castle. And I knew that I would be sent away because I have no purpose. I had no reason to doubt it or fight it. So why would I say anything?"
"But why would you just accept something that you didn't like?" Logan asked sadly.
"Because I didn't have a choice! No one would teach me and everyone's futures were already outlined for them whether they liked it or not and so was mine! It didn't matter!"
"But it does matter." James said sternly. "The main thing you're trying to teach me is that everybody's feelings matter."
"Except mine. James... of all the people in your kingdom, who are in the lowest caste?"
James knew the answer. Of all the social studies lessons he'd had, he remembered this one. He mumbled the answer, not wanting to say it.
"Don't mumble, James, just say it out loud." Kendall glared.
"The people of the Far Village. Are you happy now?" James was becoming angry again. The Far Village was where the worst criminals and the people without skills were sent. They were the most indigent and overlooked people of the entire kingdom, and probably the world.
"Exactly." Kendall said. "The Far Village. That's my destiny, and like my brothers said, we all know it. So yes, my job is to teach you that everybody matters, but when it comes to me, that rule doesn't apply."
"But... you're not a Far Villager yet." James said. "And maybe you never will be. You're learning really well. Maybe you'll be allowed to stay."
"I appreciate your words," Kendall sniffed, "but I doubt I'll be able to stay."
"You won't know for sure until you come of age." Carlos tried to help.
"That's true." Logan chimed in.
"Thanks, guys." Kendall said, trying his best to sound happy. "But I don't really want to be a servant anyway." He actually giggled before saying, "In fact, I bet James is so sick of me, he wouldn't want me serving him anyway."
That's not true, James thought. Why does he think I want him to go away? "We should go inside and get cleaned up." He grabbed Kendall's arm.
"You should come visit more often." Carlos said suddenly.
"Yeah, Mom really misses you." Logan said. "And Katie, too."
"Has Fabio been around?" Kendall inquired about his sister's father.
"A few times, actually." Logan said with surprise on his face. "He brought us some expensive food. We were going to save some for you..."
"But we didn't know when we'd see you again." Carlos finished for him.
"It's ok." Kendall smiled. "You know I would have given mine to you anyway."
"True." Both Carlos and Logan said sheepishly.
"Please come to visit?" Carlos begged.
"I will if James allows me to." Kendall said quietly.
"Of course you can visit your family." James said nicely. "How about tomorrow?"
"Ok!" Kendall said happily. "I need a bath now anyway and I'll probably be tired after that. So I'll see you guys tomorrow! And don't tell Mom I'm coming, I want it to be a surprise!"
"We won't tell." Logan promised. He and Carlos waved goodbye as James pulled Kendall back inside the castle.
They tracked mud all through the halls.
They washed up and by the time they were all clean, it was dark outside.
"I guess we should go to bed." Kendall said sleepily.
"Yeah." James agreed, just as tired. "Hey... are you alright?"
"Yes."
"You... Do you really think there's no chance of you being allowed to stay in the castle?"
"Pretty much."
"But you can read now."
"Only a little."
"But... you're helping me! How can you be useless when you're teaching me to be a good person?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Well... it does to me." James nodded. "You've been so kind to me even though I was always horrible to you and everyone else. If there's anything I can do to help you..."
"You want to help me?" Kendall said, shocked.
"Yeah."
"Wow. I really am a good teacher!"
"So what can I do?" James asked.
"I don't know. I don't want to stay at the castle. I can read a few words, but I'm still pretty useless. But I don't want to go to the Far Village either."
"What if... is there another village you'd rather go to?"
"What?"
"Another village. Another place you'd rather live. If you could choose?"
"I've never been off the castle grounds, so I don't know what any other villages are like. I know about the Far Village because that's where they want to send me. I've heard about some other ones. The Sky Village is where my mother is from, I think. And my brothers. And there's the Burnt Village, it's supposed to be beautiful despite its name. And of course the Village of Honor, where the soldiers are trained."
"You don't sound very enthusiastic about any of those places." James observed.
"Well, there's the Orphan Village. It's not really for orphans, it's where young people go after they leave their parents' houses. I've thought about going there."
"Why?"
"Because other people my age will be there. It's supposed to be a place where people who are just getting started in their lives go to make something out of themselves. I suppose I could go there from the Far Village, but it's supposedly a long and difficult journey."
"What if I have you escorted there rather than forced to go to the Far Village?"
"You'd do that for me?"
"Sure."
"You know... it would go against your father's orders."
"I never listen to my father anyway. But this isn't about that. You should be able to be happy. You deserve it after sacrificing time with your family to come help me."
"Wow. You're really different than the Prince I promised to change."
"It's all thanks to you."
"You're going to be a great King, James."
James laughed fondly, but became a little sad. If he was on his way to reclaiming his inheritance of the throne, that would mean Kendall would be leaving him soon. And he wouldn't just be staying in the servant quarters. Eventually he would be taken out of the castle completely. It's weird. Even though it was just for the sake of teaching... Kendall feels like a real friend.
"Is sleeping on the floor uncomfortable?" James asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Do you like sleeping on the floor?"
"Well... I don't particularly like it... but it's not very different from a hay mat. If anything, it's more comfortable since you gave me a down-filled blanket."
"Really? I couldn't imagine sleeping on the floor."
"You wouldn't have to." Kendall said.
"Right. But... would you be more comfortable on a bed?"
"Why? Is there an extra I can use?"
"Well... no... but you could come up here and share with me."
"Share?" Kendall stared at him again.
"Yeah. If you think just the blanket is comfortable, you should feel the mattress."
"Are you sure? You're not worried I'll get servant cooties on it?"
"There's no such thing." James scoffed.
"Just checking." Kendall said and climbed into James's bed with him. He laid back and sighed. "It's so soft."
"It's warm too." James pulled the covers up over both their tiny bodies.
"Thanks, James." Kendall yawned. "For this and for sticking up for me earlier. You're a good friend."
James was going to respond but he heard Kendall snore. He thinks I'm a good friend? Maybe that was my goal this whole time after all...
X
They both slept soundly through the night. James woke up first in the morning and began shaking Kendall awake. They got dressed and James fed him breakfast before they went back to the servant quarters.
Kendall was giddy as he walked up to his family's door. He knocked at the door and shouted loudly when his mother answered. "Mom!"
"Oh! Kendall!" Mrs. Knight leaned down to embrace her son. "It's so good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too, Mom!"
"Hello, James." she looked down at him and smiled. She was always such a tender woman.
"Hello, Mrs. Knight."
"My, you're so polite." she said happily. "Would you like to come in for a treat?"
"Yeah!" Kendall dashed inside the house.
James just stayed where he was.
"James, I was inviting you as well." Mrs. Knight offered, seeing the conflict on the boy's face.
"Thank you, but I'm fine." He folded his hands in front of him and hung his head.
Mrs.s Knight stooped down and put her arm around him. "Come on, we've got plenty to spare. My husband brought us sweet dough, so we have a few different pastries to choose from."
"I can't."
"Look," if if was possible, her eyes became even softer, "I know I'm just a servant and my food is simple and humble, but it's..."
"It's not that." James said sadly.
"Well then my dear boy, what's the matter?"
"I... I wouldn't feel right taking food from you." James tried to hold back the tears, but he couldn't. He felt so bad for insulting the family on multiple occasions. He'd come into their home and treated them like they weren't even human. And now they were offering him their food?
"Aw, sweetie." She hugged him and let him cry on her shoulder. "You're certainly different than the Prince I watched grow up."
"Kendall showed me how selfish and mean I was. I'm not like that anymore. Well, I mean... I try my best not to be. Sometimes I slip up..."
"As well you should." Mrs. Knight soothed him. "You are just a child, after all. There's no harm in being just a little selfish."
"Mrs. Knight... I'm sorry I was rude to you. I feel really bad about it." James cried harder.
"It's ok. Shh, it's ok. I accept your apology. You're completely forgiven, James."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Thank you."
"You're very welcome. Now, why don't you come inside and have something sweet?"
"But..."
"James, please." Mrs. Knight smiled at him. "I told you, we have plenty to spare. It would hurt my feelings if you didn't eat something."
"Well," James smiled as he wiped his eyes, "when you put it like that..."
"Yay!" She stood and brought James inside.
"Hey, James, I was wondering when you would come inside." Kendall said, handing him a pastry.
"I was talking to your mom..."
"Was I right?"
"Yeah. She just... she hugged me and said it was ok..."
"See, I told you she'd forgive you. She's awesome." Kendall took a bite of his pastry.
"Now I know where you get it from." James said before thinking. He'd meant the kindness, but he couldn't deny that Kendall was kind of awesome.
Kendall stopped chewing and stared at James. "Thanks... um... Logan and Carlos have something they want to say to you too."
"Boys!" Mrs. Knight shouted for her other sons. Carlos and Logan walked into the room also holding some doughy confections. "I believe there's something you want to tell James?"
"We're sorry we were mean to you." Carlos said sadly.
"Yeah, and we're glad you stuck up for Kendall and are taking such good care of him." Logan added.
"It's ok." James said with wide eyes. "I'm sorry too. For how horrible I was to you all this time."
"It's fine." Kendall said for his brothers. "That's all in the past. We all did things we weren't proud of, but we all forgive each other."
"Except for you." Carlos said lightheartedly. "You've never done anything wrong."
"Yeah, you're just an angel." Logan said.
"Hey, why does that not sound like a compliment?" Kendall wondered, but ended up laughing to dispel the awkwardness.
"How long are you staying?" Carlos asked.
"Yeah, we want you back." Logan said.
"Uh... I'm not sure..." Kendall looked over at James. "I wasn't planning on staying long... we have a busy day ahead of us..."
"You can stay while I attend to my business." James said quietly.
"I can stay...?" Kendall asked.
"Stay as long as you want." James continued. "Just come back to my room whenever you're ready."
"But..."
"You miss your family, right? Then stay with them for a while. I'll be ok without you for one day."
"What if I don't come back to you?"
James's eyes widened and he bit his lip. "If you don't want to... there isn't really much I can do about it."
"But would you want me to come back?"
"Yes! I... I mean... I still think I need to learn some things..."
"Ok. Then I'll be back at bedtime." Kendall said with a small smile. "You know, you could stay and hang out with us if you'd rather."
"It's not that I wouldn't like that... but I really do have things I must do."
"Alright. I'll see you tonight."
X
James was really happy to know Kendall was off playing with his brothers. But he missed him. He was distracted all day thinking about him. Even during his lessons which he promised to pay more attention to, he couldn't stop thinking about Kendall.
No matter how he looked at it, Kendall was his friend. They weren't pretending anymore. Were they?
At the end of the day, he was practically giddy to see Kendall walk into his bedroom.
"Hey!" He ran right up to him and hugged him.
"Did you miss me?" Kendall said, returning the hug.
"Well... yeah..." James admitted shyly.
"It's ok, you don't have to be embarrassed about it. I missed you too."
"Really? Because the whole day I just kept wishing you were with me... I mean... I'm glad you got to spend time with your family... but I kept feeling like you were mine and that they weren't allowed to have you... I thought about coming and dragging you back but I couldn't..."
"James, I understand how you feel. And I'm glad you decided against forcing me to come back, even though I probably would have come willingly. Friends aren't possessions that you can own, but it's ok to miss them."
So... we're really friends? Because I was done pretending a long time ago... "I'm just glad you're back."
"Are you sure you still need me? You seem like a perfect little Prince now."
"No... I do... definitely. It wasn't just that I missed you... I kept feeling like you belonged to me and they didn't have any right to take you away from me. That's bad... right?"
"Well... yes, but you have the conscience to know it's bad. So you should be able to teach yourself how to restrain your impulsive actions from now on..."
"Please stay? Just a few more days to make sure?"
"Ok." Kendall arched his eyebrows, wondering absently if James was up to something.
James smiled and hugged Kendall some more. He'd missed the sensation of being hugged. But now he only had Kendall for a few more days. Was Kendall really only pretending to be his friend? Or was he beginning to care about him and was just too shy to admit it? How was he supposed to tell Kendall that he didn't want to end their friendship?