Chapter 5
JC
was lying in his bed once again. His body was sore and he was exhausted. Last
night he’d spend the night in a very small room with nothing more than the cold
floor to lie on. It had been his punishment for talking and eyeing the future
queen. His bed was uncomfortable, it wasn’t even a bed it was more like a ledge
with a thin blanket but it definitely beat the cold stone floor of the tiny
room he’d been locked up in for a night. He’d had a lot of time to think about
why he was there and what he needed to change to prevent himself from spending
another night in the small damp and dark room.
“If
you don’t get your act together boy you will have a very troubled life here.
It’s up to you” Mr. Norton had said to him after Mr. Morris had informed him by
the day’s events.
“No
it’s not” JC had mumbled in return.
“What
did you say?!” Mr. Norton had asked angrily this boy had the nerve to reply.
“Nothing
sir” JC had responded quickly when he noticed he’d said that out loud.
“Good”
JC didn’t know what he did to upset Mr. Morris since it looked like he was out
to get him from the first moment that they’d met but Mr. Norton seemed fair. He
was prejudiced because he heard only one side of the story from Mr. Morris and
JC was sure he made it sound much worse.
JC
shifted onto his stomach in his bed trying to spare his back which hurt like
hell from the beating he got from Mr. Morris. He moaned softly when the blanket
brushed against his back and he slowly sank on his bed, smiling when he thought
of Sam, the future queen. ‘Ooh my God’ he thought. ‘That had to happen to me’
He was happy he met her. Well sort of anyway. She was so beautiful, her long
blond hair, her big blue eyes and the enormous smile she gave when he finally
looked her in the eyes.
That
had caused the pain he was feeling now but in some way it was worth it. He fell
asleep with a smile on his face thinking about the beautiful girl he saw
yesterday and had been on his mind ever since.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Tu
tu tu tu” Trumpets could be heard from a distance, today had been a day off for
all the slaves. Not because they were so generous but because they didn’t want
to have any slaves inside the palace right now. Today was the day of the ball;
the King had organized for his eldest daughter. Prince William would be here
today and the ball would give them a chance to meet each other, slaves would be
the last thing they needed inside the palace.
JC
spend the day wandering around town, watching all the different people who
lived in the town. He didn’t have any money to buy the merchandise which
several merchants offered. He just walked around as free as possible for a
slave.
He
had learned he couldn’t run anyway. The town had a huge stone wall around it to
prevent people who weren’t welcome from coming in and to stop people who
weren’t allowed to leave from going out. The palace had a stone wall of its
own, in his turn protecting the palace from the people in their town. He went
back to the slaves building when it was time for diner, it was the only place
he would get food and he needed to be on time. If you weren’t on time you
didn’t get any so he hurried his way back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Samantha?
Are you ready?” the King called from outside her door. Impatiently tapping his
foot on the floor, she was 30 minutes late and although a princess could do
what she wanted it wasn’t good to leave her future husband waiting.
“Yes
father” she called back opening the door after she spoke. Samantha was
gorgeous, he’d always known that of course but the dress she was wearing, with
the jewelry and the natural make up made her a sight for sore eyes. He couldn’t
believe how much she looked like her mother.
“Daddy?”
she asked smiling nervously as she noticed her father was staring at her.
“Sorry
sweetie, you look absolutely beautiful” he said taking her hand.
“I’m
sure Prince William will say the same” he assured her, knowing she was a bit
nervous. That was understandable though but he didn’t know she didn’t want to
be married at all, she thought she was far too young and she didn’t want to
marry someone she didn’t love. She knew she didn’t have a choice though. She
was the future queen and she needed to be married, she just wished it didn’t
have to be so soon and with someone she didn’t know.
She
smiled looking down at her hand in her father’s wishing she could be a kid
again but knowing she had to go downstairs as an adult, a young woman ready for
marriage at least she needed to act that way. She took a deep breath as she
followed her father downstairs where Prince William would be waiting for her
arrival.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JC
walked around the town for the second time that day, heading in a different
direction this time. He heard the music coming from the palace as he walked by.
They had a ball there tonight for the future king and queen, he’d heard
everyone talk about it. He shoved his hands in his pockets and quickly walked
away from the palace not knowing what was going on inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Excuse
me” Samantha said to William and pulled herself out of his embrace. She didn’t
like the man. He was about 5 years older than her and there was just something
about him she didn’t like. She couldn’t say what that exact thing was. She just
knew she didn’t want to marry him but her opinion didn’t count, she knew that
so she fled away. She fled away to the only place that ever made her feel safe
and peaceful: the lake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Wow
this place is beautiful” JC said to himself in awe. He stood on the edge of the
water, the tiny waves crashing silently at his feet. He sat down in the grass
with the stars above him watching over him. He felt free; a clear, open sky
always had that affect on him and he didn’t have that the past week. Everywhere
he was there was a roof over his head and JC never was the type of man who
enjoyed that. Other men felt safe once they knew they had a roof over their
head but with JC it was just the opposite. The last week everywhere he went,
people looked at him like a slave, nothing more than that. They looked at him
strangely, a man who had chains on his wrists which made him a slave. Here,
sitting in the grass he felt free, nature didn’t care about the things around
his wrists; it accepted him and he had always felt that way. Free as long as he
didn’t have people around him or buildings who made him a slave. Nature allowed
him to be the man he was, the free man who still existed in his heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“JC?”
a voice asked in the distance.
“Who
is it?” he asked a little fearful since it was late and he probably should have
been back in the slaves building by now. When the shadowy figure approached he
recognized the woman as Samantha, the future queen. The woman he’d met earlier
that week, not knowing he’d been on her mind ever since.
“Samantha?
I mean princess… I mean… I’m sorry I’ll leave” JC hurried, getting up.
“No!”
Samantha stopped him and JC turned surprised.
“Please
stay. I could use some company” she said a little shy not sure how JC would
react to it.
“Is
that an order?” he asked smiling a little.
“No,”
she smiled back.
“If
you want” she added.
“Ok”
he agreed while he sat down again. Sam sat down beside him. Silence fell
between them as they both stared out in front of them over the lake. The water
was perfectly still, it was a clear night with a lot of stars and the moon
provided the light for the two people on the edge of the lake.
“I
um… I hope I didn’t get you in trouble last time” Sam broke the ice.
“Ooh
no it was fine” he lied remembering the punishment he got anyway but he didn’t
want to tell her that. JC looked at the water, he couldn’t resist the urge any
longer, he wanted to look at her and finally he did. When she saw he was
looking at her he immediately lowered his eyes, feeling caught.
“You
don’t have to keep your eyes lowered” she reassured him when she noticed he
blushed because she’d caught him.
“I
think I do” he mumbled, thinking about last time he looked her in the eye.
“What?”
she asked.
“Nothing”
JC dismissed, he didn’t want to think about that.
“So
what are you doing here?” Sam asked curiously.
“I
um… was just walking around and I found this” he explained gesturing to the
lake in his explanation.
“It’s
beautiful isn’t it?” she asked looking around the lake.
“Yeah,
yes it is,” he agreed.
“How
did you get here?” he asked curiously, knowing there was a huge wall around the
palace.
“I
um I have a secret passage,” she admitted smiling shyly.
“I
always come here when I feel sad or something. It calms me”
“Do
you um feel sad now... or something?” he asked carefully. She didn’t answer
right away and he took that as a sign that he shouldn’t have asked this.
“I’m
sorry I asked” he apologized quickly.
“Ooh
no that’s ok,” she reassured him. “I feel sad yes and I just needed to be
alone”
“Are
you sure you don’t want me to leave?”
“Ooh
no! I meant alone as in away from the people in the palace”
“Why
aren’t you at the ball?”
“I
um... kind of fled away” she confessed.
“Why?
From what?” he asked incredulously. She told him the whole story and actually
felt relieved she could finally share her fears and anger with someone who was
really listening to her. JC really listened, he was interested and not because
he had to, she could see it in his eyes. She felt a connection with him.
“So
why are you here?” she asked him once she finished talking about her problems.
“Same
reason pretty much” he shrugged staring in front of him.
“You’re
sad too?” He nodded in response, “Yes”
“Why?”
“Because
um…” he trailed off not really intending on continuing.
“You
can tell me I promise I won’t bite,” she teased him, while smiling
reassuringly, after a couple moments of silence.
“Besides
I just burdened you with my problems the least I can do is listen to yours” she
said still smiling. ‘How could he resist that smile?’ He returned the smile
before he looked down at his hands.
“I
um… I wasn’t always a slave,” he started a little nervous about telling the
princess about his problems.
“I
um have been on my own since I was 16. My parents had a huge farm and I always
helped them. I was their only child and I was happy to help them. I loved to
help them but…. when they died they… um they took the farm away from me”
“Who
did?”
“The
rich people in town”
“Why?”
“They
were convinced I couldn’t take care of a farm at 16…. I could have you know. I
really could have but they didn’t believe me so I ran away. They would have
taken me to their house, you know like some charity case who couldn’t take care
of himself and they would have made me their servant…” he told her sadly.
“Big
difference from what I am now” he said sarcastically, chuckling although he
felt sad. JC was watching the water surface as the memories of his childhood
came back to him, unconsciously fidgeting with the shackle around his right
wrist.
He
couldn’t believe he just told her this, he’d never told anyone about it and now
he was telling this girl he’d only known for a week everything. Sam noticed the
discomfort of his shackles and reassuringly put her hand over his. He looked
down at the hand, then up to her eyes. He lowered his eyes once again when he
spoke, staring at the shackle around his wrist.
“They
say you get used to it but you don’t” he said softly.
“It’s
a symbol of slavery and that will always bother me” he said letting her in on
his anger and fear as well, just like she had done with hers.
“I’m
sorry,” she said looking down at her hand still over his.
“For
your slavery” “It’s not your fault” he dismissed.
“But
it’s my father’s”
“It’s
ok” he said looking into her eyes while putting his other hand over their two
hands twined together. He had no idea what was going through his mind when he
slowly leaned in closer and then kissed her lips gently. She returned the kiss
till his surprise but he didn’t stop. They didn’t know however that they had an
audience when Sam slowly unbuttoned his blouse and caressed him with her lips.
‘She will NOT have
him’ the figure in the bush thought before it slowly retrieved, away from the pair
who where showing their love for one another in the safe darkness of the night.
