Ended up taking longer then I wanted to yet again. Sorry about that, but this week has been running me ragged. Parents were out of the state, so on top of school and homework I have to clean, cook all meals for me and my two siblings and take care of several pets. Enough of my complaining though, it's over now. Let's get to the point and get on with the story, shall we?

Chapter 5 - Of Friendship and Pressure

Keane tried as best he could to keep his head up, barely hearing his tutor going on about the economic advantages and regulations of overseas trading. It'd been a month since he'd last seen his mother, and since then his workload had been steadily increasing. There'd been another riot in that time as well, this one worse then the others apparently. A whole bunch of casualties, mostly the people who'd started the riot in the first place, not that it eased anyone's mind.

His teachers were a part of the king's advisory staff, and they were being pressured to come up with a way to fix the growing mess the country was dissolving into.

"Prince Keane, lift your head and pay attention, this information is crucial," the older man commanded, and the red head quickly sat up straight as he could and nodded at him, trying to at least appear like he was focused again. They were being pressured into finding answers, and they couldn't, so they did the next best thing they could think of. Pressure him.

Once his class was up, Keane slumped out of the room. He had six, hour and a half long classes today. His record was seven, and before everyone decided the best plan of action was say they couldn't find a solution because they were busy teaching the crowned prince it was usually four. Either way, he was absolutely exhausted, and wanted to do nothing else but head to him room and sleep for the rest of the night. He didn't end up getting very far before someone called him name. Turning around slowly, he saw Straton walking towards him.

"Finally finished your classes?" the dirty blonde haired boy asked, and Keane just nodded slightly. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to the younger boy, he was just tired. He did like being around him though, probably the only one of his siblings that he did.

Straton simply nodded as he started to walk alongside the red head, seeming to understand. The two walked in silence until they reached the door to Keane's room. The blonde started to continue down the corridor, until Keane made a split second decision. Yes, he wanted to sleep, but he also wanted to just hang out with a friend and at least pretend to be normal for once.

"Um, want to come in?" the ginger asked, earning a confused look from his half-brother.

"You don't wish to rest? It seems as if your studies have intensified recently," Straton asked, and Keane simply shrugged in response, ignoring the slightly larger words the other boy decided to use. He had a habit of doing that when he was unsure about something or around a group of people, the red head had noticed.

"No, I'm fine. Besides, I don't want to end up falling asleep and missing dinner," he said, pushing open the door to his room. Straton seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally following him into the bedroom. Keane quickly sat down on the bed, the blonde choosing to take a seat in the chair at the desk instead.

"This is only going to get worse, isn't it?" Straton asked quietly after a moment, and Keane wasn't sure how to answer. Of course, he would like to believe it was only going to get better from here, but nothing he'd seen so far suggested that in the least. He still didn't believe what the younger boy had said all that time ago about the people not stopping until the monarchy was destroyed, but he wasn't sure how close they would end up getting to that.

"I don't know… I hope not," the red head mumbled, laying back onto the bed. Hopefully he wouldn't fall asleep because of it.

"What do your tutors say? Mine wont tell me much," the younger boy asked, mumbling the last part. Keane took that as a good sign though. Straton was pretty formal with everyone, except for that one time when he lost his temper when Maxwell had pushed him into the lake, so to actually have him unwind a bit was nice. Keane was aware that they weren't really that close, but it was still more then either of them had with anyone else.

"Not a lot actually… they skirt around the subject, but they wont let up on me at all in any of my classes. They're… worried, I guess," the red head answered sleepily. He couldn't see the blonde boy nod in response, but he wasn't paying too much attention. More focused on staying awake. He probably shouldn't of laid down.

"When you're king, what will you do about the anima? If it isn't solved by then?" Keane had to think about that, it wasn't something that anyone really asked him outright. It was clear that most if not all of the nobles, as well as his father, were in favor of keeping them at a mandatory slave level. The people seemed to be torn between what to do, and he really didn't know. They had always been slaves in Sailand, if he changed that, so many things would be different. What if he couldn't handle keeping the country under control in that time of change? Maybe it was best to just let whoever came after him to do it. Someone better suited to control the nation.

"I donno. Might be… too much change, if I free them… probably just have the king after me do it…" Keane tried to stifle a yawn with little success, his eyelids drooping to the brink of closure before continuing, "Never meant to be… king anyway. If Myrrah was… still alive, I never would be…" the red head mumbled out.

Straton frowned slightly as he looked over at the older boy. He couldn't see his face, turned the opposite way on the bed. There was no way for him to know about the pressure being forced on the twelve year old, being so far down the line in terms of power. He probably shouldn't even be trying to hang around him. Others would find it as a desperate attempt to better position himself in the future, but that wasn't it. He just seemed like he needed a person to talk to, and frankly the blonde was starting to get a little tired of being alone.

"Keane?" he asked, not receiving any sort of response. Standing up from his seat, he walked over to where he could see the others boy face. Asleep. It was obvious that he'd been completely drained when he'd saw the red head in the hallway, he still wasn't sure why he'd bothered to invite him into his room anyway.

Walking back over to the desk quietly, Straton picked up one of the older boy's books and started reading. The guards would come around and announce dinner, but they never bothered to wake up any of the sleeping princes. He'd make sure that Keane woke up. The boy needed food as much as he needed sleep. If he didn't watch it, he'd end up as skinny as Myrrah was. Of course, the silver haired boy had always been like that, but it could still be considered a nearly unhealthy level for some people.

About half an hour later the blonde heard the guards signaling for the royal children to head to dinner. As he expected, the red head on the bed didn't even twitch. Placing his book to the side, Straton left the room without a word and headed to the dining area.

Meals were probably the only time of day when nearly all of the children were in one place at one time. Of course, there was always some stragglers, like Keane was today, but it was a good as someone was going to get without calling an official meeting. Grabbing two plates, Straton quickly filled them up with food before balancing them on top of two drinks. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, especially when trying to weave in and out of a room full of other children.

Reaching the door, he was stopped by one of the guards, who simply gave him a questioning look. Most of the children ate here, although a few, like himself, usually went to their room. He just didn't usually take enough servings for two people. Some of the princes did, but they did it gradually, staying in the room the entire time as well.

He would of bowed, but didn't want to risk everything falling, so he simply cleared his throat. "Prince Keane is worn out from today's lessons and wishes to eat in his room. I'm bringing him his meal," Straton said, a polite, formal tone to his voice. The guard nodded in understanding before letting him pass.

Reaching the soon to be crowned prince's room, the blonde walked in, careful not to drop anything, before setting his own food down on the desk and heading over to the sleeping boy.

"Keane? I brought you dinner. Keane?" he asked, prodding him slightly. The red head grumbled before reluctantly opening his eyes. A look of confusion passed over his face as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. Straton handed him the plate and drink before deciding to answer the questions on the older boy's face.

"You fell asleep, so I brought you dinner," the blonde explained calmly, sitting back over at the desk in order to eat his own food. Keane blinked, still appearing to be waking up as he leaned over to place his drink on the side table.

"O-oh, thanks," he mumbled, starting to pick at his food. That had been unexpected, to say the least. Sure, he and Straton were kind of friends now, but he'd thought that the blonde boy would of just left after he'd fallen asleep. The two ate in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Once done, Keane placed the empty plate next to his cup. He'd thought he was going to fall asleep and miss dinner again. Sure he was still tired, but it was nice to actually be able to eat at the right time.

"Um, thanks again," the red head said, not sure what else to do. He wasn't used to people doing nice things for him anymore, at least not without a obvious ulterior motive. Sure, he could be doing the whole 'get in good with the next king' thing, but that just didn't seem like him. He wasn't one for politics, he didn't really fit in as a prince.

"It's nothing. I'll let you rest now," he said, standing up and taking both his and Keane's plates. The red head just nodded as Straton turned to leave.

"Alright, see you," he called, laying back down in bed. The younger boy just nodded, pushing the door open with his foot.

"See you," he managed to get out before closing the door behind him. Once alone in his room, Keane started absently at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to quickly take him up again. He was right in what he though before, with Straton being a strange kid, but it wasn't a bad thing. He liked that he wasn't the same as his other 'siblings' and actually gave him the time of day. Sure, they didn't go on long, drawn out conversations, but the quiet can be just as nice.

Nearly asleep, he tired to forget about the pressure of the people's unrest. The fact that a part of his day was good probably just meant he was going to have nightmares or something, but the red head tired to ignore that.

So maybe ignoring everything wasn't the best plan of action, or make any of it actually go away, but it was all he could do really. He was never suppose to be king, and at least when Straton was there he could pretend the pressure wasn't there, and he was just a normal kid.

Woohoo! Done. Straton got a bit of focus in this. I didn't expect that to happen when I created him. Do you guys like him? Whenever I make OCs I'm afraid they could turn out really crappy.
Sorry again for the delay for this chapter. It actually came pretty easily, I just didn't have the time to actually write it. I really shouldn't have been writing this when compared with real life activities I have to do, but I couldn't let you all wait any longer.

Well, please review.