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"No, she stays up in her room," He lowered his voice "avoiding me" He sighed. "she helps my father rule the kingdom…"he shrugged, "its just…normal" He knew that it wasn't, that all of the servants families cared about them. That pretty much everyone in the village had a larger family than him. Which made him feel even more alone.
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Fiel frowned. "I'm not sure I like your kingdom's definition of normal," he said quietly, then regretted it. Even here, he had to be careful with his words. He was on a delicate mission to form an alliance, and if he spoke rudely or made enemies, he could damage the reputation of his whole people. "Why……why do your parents avoid you? I don't understand. You seem like a good person, and a good prince to me…."
Lukas shook his head, "I-" He looked over at the garden, where the circle of engraved stones were. "It is not their fault that they do not like me…" He muttered, trying to keep himself from crying. The reason was something no one talked about, not sense it had happened, and very few actually knew about it. "I …wasn't always the heir…so to speak" He muttered. "and I am not that good of a person".
Fiel was concerned by now. "You don't have to tell me what that means, Lukas. I can survive not knowing, if it's painful to talk about. But if….if you would like someone to confide in, then…..I'm told I am a good listener. I promise I won't judge you or share anything you say. It's up to you."
"well as I no one ever talks about it…It would be nice to tell someone…" He looked at the sky, "I had a brother. He was a year older than me, and much better at prince stuff." he smiled slightly at the memory. "his name was Justin, he was 5 when he..died..it was my fault." he muttered. "I made him go outside. He didn't like going into the woods, but I made him go." he had started crying silently, "My parents don't like being near me, because they blame me."
Fiel's eyes widened. He saw sudden tears on Lukas's face, and understood why he seemed so sad whenever his family was brought up.
"I'm sorry," he said, putting a hand on Lukas's shoulder. "I can't even imagine how that feels…..you must miss your brother so much…."
Lukas didn't move, tears still streaming down his face. "It was my fault…" he muttered closing his eyes.
Fiel took a wary glance around, worried that someone might be watching, but it seemed that the servants here were as respectful of the prince's privacy as they were back home. He was grateful. It would only make matters worse to have nosy outsiders witness Lukas's distress.
"I don't understand." he said. "Why did you make him enter the forest?"
"I wanted to play with him…but he was reading. He agreed to go…" Lukas sighed. "but I decided to play near the lake…" He muttered.
Fiel listened closely, his face solemn. "What happened?"
"He tripped, neither of us knew how to swim, I tried to grab him. I tried to yell for help, by the time they came it was to late." He said flatly.
Fiel lowered his head and said nothing at first. "Again….I'm terribly sorry, Lukas. Losing your brother must have been devastating. But….forgive me, I don't see how his death was your fault. He fell in by accident….and didn't you try to save him?" He shook his head. "Who told you it was your fault? You were only a child, it's not fair to blame you."
"My parents…they told me it was, that if I hadn't made Justin go outside with me…he would still be here." Lukas said shakily, wiping the tears from his face. "every day after it happened they told me it was my fault. Everyday until I stopped going around them."
Now Fiel felt a flare of anger, directed at the adults who would say such a thing to a young grief-stricken boy. "Well, they are wrong," he said with quiet fierceness. "It's not your fault in the slightest. Where were your mother and father when you entered the woods? Where were they when their surviving son needed comfort? They have no right to judge you if this is an example of their conduct." If Lukas had been family, Fiel would have hugged him tightly. Instead, he took the other prince's shoulders and met his gaze. "It may be my duty to form an alliance with your parents, but I can assure you my affections end there, now that I know how they've treated you. If there is anything I or my family can do to help you, you need only ask. Understand?"
Lukas hugged Fiel tightly and whispered, "thank you" he had never had anyone care this much. Or try to help him. No one ever tried to tell him that it wasn't his fault, and Fiel doing that, meant the world to him.
Fiel froze momentarily, then returned the hug. "Of course. I mean it, too. I know we've just met, but I'm here for you." He thought for a while, then added, "In fact….If there's a way, I would love for you to meet my family at some point. They are all wonderful people and I think they'd like you very much. Would you be interested in trying to arrange that?"
"Yes, I would love to meet them" Lukas pulled away from the hug, but still had his arms around Fiel, "If they are anything like you, then they must be a lot better than my family" he smiled softly.
Fiel returned the smile. After a moment he realized how close they were sitting and coughed, disentangling himself. "Um….very well then. I'll try to get in contact with my mother and see what we can do. Hopefully we can get something settled before the end of my visit."
Lukas sighed slightly when Fiel moved which caused him to blush. "uh yeah..that would be great" He smiled.
"Another thing, Lukas…." Fiel figured he'd better bring it up before they spent much more time together. "….I think the customs in your kingdom must be a bit different from mine? I apologize if I come across as aloof or cold. Tarilonans usually aren't this…..close with people outside their family. If that, er, makes sense." If it was a cultural thing, he wanted to be sure so he didn't offend anyone.
"oh uh, it's fine…I just…you are the only person who really cares." He said slowly. He figured he had a lot to learn about Tarilon customs and such, if he wanted to not offend anyone or make them uncomfortable.
Fiel relaxed his shoulders. "Well, that'll change when you meet my family," he said kindly. "They are the most caring people I know. I hope we can do you plenty of good."
As he spoke, he noticed that the sun had sunk much lower in the sky while they were sitting in the garden. "I hate to move to a different subject, by the way, but I don't suppose you could help me find some supper? I'm afraid I still haven't recovered from the flight here…."
"oh yes, I am sure the cook has something great for dinner…I tend to eat all of my meals in the kitchen or my room, depends on if I want to be around people" Lukas stood up and stretched his arms. He then looked a Fiel and smiled, "I really can't wait to meet your family" He said messing with the charm that hung around his neck.
"I hope you get along," Fiel replied cheerfully. "Sometimes my brothers and sisters can be a bit overwhelming all together, but they mean well. And my mother always has time for us, although I don't know how she manages it." He paused, remembering. "As for my father….that's a bit of a long story, but no tragedy. It just may not make much sense to outsiders."
His sharp eyes noticed Lukas's necklace and he idly tried to see what the charm was.
"I can't wait!" Lukas smiled excited letting go of the charm so it fell against the collar of his shirt. "come on, let's go get food" he smiled and grabbed Fiel's arm, pulling him along gently.