Guess who's back, back again? Moofy's back. Tell a friend.
This, like all my stories, has been extremely neglected, but, as with the others, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I have to say thank you for any of the review/alerts/favorites that anyone has given this story, and to Cocytus in particular. Your really long and kind review reminded me that I can't just start up my other stories again and forget this one. So merci beaucoup. (the only thing that made me sad was that your review was anonymous, so that I couldn't send you a private message)
Chapter 3 Of Lessons and Free Time
The next week was pretty uneventful for the young prince. Despite wanting to, he didn't see much of Straton, the strange boy never seeming to be around. That wasn't bothering the red head right now though. Today something that was becoming increasingly rarer was happening. His aunt was visiting the palace.
Keane never really understood the woman, although he rarely saw her, so that might be one of the reasons. It was well known that Lady Crystala and the king had different views on a lot of things, mainly anima though. His aunt was apparently in favor of freeing the anima, which didn't make much sense to him, seeing as she had slaves of her own, and a lot of them at that. Whatever though, she was coming to instruct several of the higher up princes, and he would see her the longest. It used to be Myrrah, and she had only ever been over once or twice since things had changed, so the woman was still a bit of an enigma to him.
"Prince Keane, the Lady Crystala has arrived," one of the servants said through a crack in his door. The red head should of probably already started towards the training site, but there was really no way to be completely sure of when she was going to get there. A million different things could of caused her to be late or early.
"Yes, thank you," he told the woman as he walked by her. The last few times she had been training him, it was with a sword, and he vaguely wondered if it would stay that way. Apparently Myrrah had been taught with a staff.
Once he made it, the red head bowed respectively to the woman on the opposite side of the room. She bowed back and walked across the spacious room to hand him a sword. So it hadn't changed then.
"Good afternoon Keane, have you been practicing what we went over at my last visit?" he nodded. He had practiced every chance he got, if he wasn't too tired that was. "Alright then, lets begin with a review…" and with that, the two went though a very long hour, at least to Keane, of stances and jabs and proper techniques and how to disarm your opponent, leaving him exhausted once the end was in sight. He always was at the end of a session with Lady Crystala though, she was a tough teacher. He tried not to let it show though, resisting the urge to pant while he sheaved his sword.
"You did well Keane," the tall woman said as she put her own sword away.
"Thank you Lady Crystala," the red head said, trying to ignore the girl sitting in the corner of the room. He'd noticed her about halfway though the training session. He was pretty sure she was one of his aunt's slaves, but he'd never actually spoke to her or asked. She was just normally there when Crystala came. He didn't even know her name, really.
Glancing out the window, he was pretty sure they'd actually managed to finish early. Maybe he could ask her about that riot from the other day. She traveled around so much, she probably had more information then he did. Even after a week, he hadn't learned much else, just that they had caught a few of the animas supposedly involved with it. He wasn't even sure what they did with the animas they caught. Did they sell them as slaves again? They seemed pretty dangerous, maybe they killed them? Or jailed them? You think as next in line to the throne he would know, but maybe it was more police stuff. Or maybe they just hadn't gotten around to teaching him that part yet.
"Um, Lady Crystala?" He asked, looking away from the anima girl. He hadn't realized he was staring, he'd been too lost in thought.
"Yes Keane, is something the matter?" she responded, not appearing worn out in the least, even after all that training. She still had several other princes she needed to meet with though after him, so it was probably best the she wasn't. That didn't distract from impressing the red head though. He was still so weak.
"No, I was just wondering if you happened to know anything about the anima riot that happened last week, in Davora?" he asked, hoping he wasn't stepping out of line or anything. His aunt was so strange, especially when it came to anima. He'd never saw her particularly angry, but he didn't know what would set her off.
"Not much," she said after a small moment of silence. The ginger couldn't tell if she had been thinking or offended, "just that the anima had began another protest, there were a few casualties." Keane nodded, he'd heard rumors from some of the other princes that people had died, but you could never trust those.
"Were they people or anima?" the anima girl in the corner made a himp noise. Guess he offended her. Whoops.
"Both," Crystala said, placing the swords back into a rack behind her. No one said anything after that, so Keane politely, but still a bit quickly excused himself.
Walking down the long hallway, he still had an hour to go before his next class. He should probably go back to his room to rest a bit and get a change of clothes. They'd gotten rather sweaty during his training.
Once in his room he switched into a fresh outfit and sat on his bed. An hour until class. He had so little free time now a days, he wasn't sure what to do when it finally did happen. Most of the time he was absolutely beat and simply collapsed into a rather light sleep, but he was beginning to feel a bit better. Sure, he was still sore in a few spots, but he didn't really want to sleep, it would probably wear off soon enough anyway.
Well, his next class was economic lessons. He hated that class, it was the most boring out of all of them. Yes, he knew it was very important to be aware of how money is being spent into, out of, and around the country, and what amount to tax the citizens and what for and all that was vital in ruling when he grew up, but that didn't make it any more exciting.
Maybe he had inherited that from his father. Not that the man had ever told him anything that would suggest that, it was just, well, from what the red head gathered, if a riot wasn't about the animas wanting freedom, then it was taxes, or that food shortage he'd heard about. He wasn't too sure about that last part though. They always had plenty of food in the palace, there must not be that big of a shortage.
Standing up, the red head left his room, although he wasn't entirely sure of his destination yet. He could go to the courtyard, or try and find Straton again, or maybe just walk around. He didn't really care at the moment, really.
You would think that a circular plan for a building would be pretty interesting and new, but it wasn't when you lived there your whole life. Walk straight, and you've gone though an entire floor of the palace. He was already back at his room, and still at a lose for what to do for the remaining forty five minutes of his time.
Reaching the courtyard, he peaked inside. Many of the princes and a few princesses were walking and playing among the lush plants. He couldn't spot Maxwell though. He was probably with Lady Crystala right now. He was next in line after all, it would make sense that he'd be next to train.
Going towards the back of the courtyard, he did his best to keep from making eye contact with any of the other children. Without Max around they probably wouldn't start anything, but you could never be too careful.
Reaching a rather secluded spot, he began lifting himself up into one of the trees. They were always told that they shouldn't climb them, but most of the princes and one or two of the princesses broke that rule almost constantly. Gripping a branch above his head, his hand must of still been worn out from the sword practice, his grip slipping without much warning, sending the red head spiraling to the ground.
"Oww…" he grumbled, standing up slowly and looking around to make sure no one had actually seen that embarrassing blunder. He was so weak. They already made fun of him for being clumsy, no need to add fuel to the fire.
Huffing to himself, he started up the tree again, actually making it this time. Sitting there, the red head decided he would just wait out the time here. Sure, it wasn't much different then in his room, but it was a nice change of scenery.
Absently, he started taking leaves off the branches before ripping them apart and letting the pieces flutter to the ground. It was nice up there, a bit of wind breaking slightly the normally obnoxious heat. It was kind of fun having a bit of free time, even if he didn't know what to do with it.
Hurray for the third chapter after a much, much too long hiatus. I have to say one thing though, I know nothing about sword fighting, so the whole scene with them training was a total copout, completely not doing it basically. Sorry about that. I know not much has happened in this story yet, but I beg you not to worry. I have plans in store for Keane. Big plans. Heh heh heh…
As always, please review, it is forever appreciated. (also, despite what I said up top, I don't care if you are reviewing anonymously because you don't have an account or you're too lazy to log in, I just like to respond to people some times, and that always seems to happen with those who decide to go anonymous. Ah, the mysteries of life.)