The Red String Of Faith

A/N: Chapter one to Seven beta'd by MistressKae and bloodyxunicorns. Chapter eight to nineteen is not beta. Chapter twenty to thirty-five is beta by Kylee and the rest of the chapter to this story will be beta by Kylee as well. I thought that I should let all my readers know.:)


Chapter one:

"I’m leaving you, and Jamie."

"Why are you leaving us?" Jamie overheard his father say from his room.

"I can no longer live like this, Jeff. I thought that I could but I can’t." He heard his dad pause. "I found someone else. He’s a lord."

Jamie heard the sound of the door slam shut, followed by his father’s soft crying. Little Jamie came out of his room and gave his father a hug, comforting him.

"Don’t cry father."

His father never did stop crying. Everyday he grieved and blamed himself for not being richer. If he was a lord, like the man dad had left him for, then maybe he wouldn’t have left him.
--

Ten years later, Jamie stood in front of his father’s grave with a bouquet of his dad’s favorite flowers. His father had passed away a year after his dad left them. He passed from a broken heart, leaving Jamie all alone to take care of himself at the age of only twelve.

Jamie did not blame his father for dying and leaving him all alone. The person he blamed and came to hate was his other dad. He bent down on one knee and placed the flower on his father’s grave. Jamie then stood up and took a looked around him. He saw the trees were looking greener and fresher then yesterday. The flowers that his father had planted, had also grown and multiplied. The waterfall at the other end of the mountain was still flowing rapidly as he made out the bright rainbow reflecting from it. Jamie took one last look at all this, before heading back to his small cottage, alone.

===============
Siren, a country ruled by a man name Leon, was celebrating their alliance with Zhanthia. It was a country of half-man and half-bird alike. Leon watched from his balcony above his castle as his people celebrated. He smiled, glad that the war between the two countries was over. Now he could just relax and be with his family.

Two arms wrapped around him from behind him. "Leon it’s late; come to bed."

"I will soon, my beloved, Arian."

Arian rested his head against his husbands chest. Their two children, Kade, Leon’s oldest son from his previous marriage, and Caelane, Leon and Arian’s child together, joined them. Kade congratulated his father on bringing peace to their country, while Caelane ran up to them, hopping into his dad’s arms, laughing while he pointed toward the fireworks in the sky.

"Come with me, Caelane. Don’t you see that they need some time alone?" Kade said to his half brother while reaching over his step-dad and lifting his little brother from his arms.

"We will see you two tomorrow."

Leon scooped his husband up in his arms and carried him to their room. "I love you so much; I’m glad that you chose to be with me, Arian."

"I love you too Leon. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Without you, I would not be here, right now, living in this big wonderful castle. I made the right choice when I chose you Leon." The two gazed into each other’s eyes.
==========
"Thank you so much, Jamie. Without you, we would be out of business."

"No problem gramps. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been dead by now."

The old man laughed. "You dead? I don’t think so. Jamie you are a very strong boy; I am willing to bet my life that you would have found a way to survive out there in the woods."
Jamie smiled at the old man. "Well, I’m leaving now. Got to get home before dark. And gramps, if you need more fabric, let me know and I will weave more for you to sell."

"I promise I’ll let you know." The old man promised, then went inside for a moment. He came back out with a basket of fresh baked bread and a wide smile. "Jamie, take care on your way home." He handed the boy the basket of fresh baked bread. Jamie thanked the old man for the bread, promising he would.

Three weeks later, though, Jamie was hanging his clothes to dry when the old man paid him another visit.

"What can I do you for, gramps?"He asked, surveying the other’s joyous mood.

"Jamie, you will not believe this! The King of Zhanthia bought up all the fabric that you wove for me." The old man smiled big and hugged Jamie tightly. "I want to thank you boy, because of you, my dear wife is able to afford a bigger store now we have enough money to feed our grandchildren."

"That’s great gramps. I’m very happy for you and your family. And there really is no need for you to thank me."

"Yes there is. My wife and I want you to come over tonight for dinner so that we could thank you properly. We put aside some money from the sale, my boy. And we want you to take it."

"I’d gladly have dinner with you and your family, but I refuse to take the money," he claimed, determined.

The old man let out a laugh. "We will see about that, my boy." Jamie waved to him. He was really happy for him. The old man and his family deserved it.
--
There were people crowded outside the old man’s home. Jamie had to push his way through to see what was going on. He stumbled forward when someone tried to shove him out of the way, falling forward and landing on the ground with a thud right in front of someone’s booted foot.

A hand reached down to help him up. "Are you all right, boy?"

"Yes, I’m fine. Thank you!"

"Jamie you’re here." The old man said, suddenly appearing beside them.

"Um, what’s going on?" He asked as he dusted the dirt off his pants.

"Nothing is going on boy, trust me. Now, why don’t you come in and we shall have our dinner," he said with a chuckle.

"Is this the person you were telling us about?" The other man who had helped him, asked.

"Yes sir. This is Jamie; the weaver boy."

The man looked Jamie up and down, making him a bit uncomfortable. He shifted as the man smiled, mumbling something Jamie could only catch the words of ‘he will do’. He wondered a bit nervously, what he had meant by that.
================

"Leon, what’s wrong? What did the Zhanthia advisor want that would cause you to have such frown on your face?"

"The Zhanthia King advisor has his eyes on a boy that he thinks will be a good consort for his King." Leon paused, looking toward his husband. "If I don’t give them the boy, they will break the alliance and we will go to war with them once more."

"Give him the boy then. We cannot have our alliance with them broken because of a mere boy."

"You are right Arian. For peace I will have this boy delivered to the Zhanthia King."

Arian smiled and hugged his husband. A soldier then came in and informed them that the boy that the Zhanthia King advisor wanted, had been brought there. Leon took his husbands hand, and they both left to see the weaver boy.
--
Jamie was mad. How dare they come and take him away from his home just because they worked for the King! He was also mad at the King. When he heard someone enter, he spun around and his eyes shot open wide with surprise, then it changed to anger and hate all at once in mere moments.

"I am King Leon, and this is my consort Arian." He heard the King introduce himself and the man next to him, his thoughts swirling at he surveyed the man ‘Arian’. "Tell me, my boy, what is your name?"

"Are you sure you want to know my name?" Jamie retorted at the two before him, his anger still very evident at such a situation.

"Of course," Leon answered truthfully. He could see that the boy would be difficult to handle by the way he spoke to him. He wondered why the boy was so hostile. From the report he got from his men, the boy was supposed to be nice, easy going, and very understanding of others. He clearly wasn’t.

Jamie smiled a smile that clearly did not reach his eyes. "My name is Jamie. Jamie Keegan."

Arian’s eyes shot wide as his hand went to his heart, stumbling backward in surprise.

"Arian what’s wrong?" Leon asked, concerned when he saw the look on his husband’s face.

"N-n-nothing," Arian nervously spoke out. "I think I’m not feeling very well. Will you excuse me Leon." Without waiting for his husband’s answer, Arian turned and slowly made his way out of the room. Jamie, he thought with trepidation, that was Jamie, his son. He couldn’t let Leon know. Not when he had lied to his husband the first time they met by saying that he was a poor widow. He had to act calm and pretend that the boy was just a mere poor boy, who did not know him, or have any relation to him at all. Arian closed his eyes.’ I’m sorry Jamie’, he thought to himself, ‘I can’t have you ruin the life I have now.’

After Arian had left, Leon turned his attention back to the boy in front of him."I will get right to the point; you have been chosen to be the King of Zhanthia third consort. He will have his men escort you to his country in four days. I suggest that you be ready to leave by then."

"No!" Jamie exclaimed with anger. How dare this man decide his future for him? What right did he have? Just because he was King, he thought that he could do whatever he wanted, without any care. It wasn’t fair!

"What did you say boy?"

"I said no. I refuse to be anyone’s consort. And you can’t make me."

"Actually I can. Don’t you forget that I am your King," he told him sternly, with a warning in his tone.

"Just because you are king, does not give you the right to decide my future for me!" He angrily spat.

"Oh yes I can, and I will. Guard! Seize him." Leon ordered. The guard marched up to Jamie, and grasped him by his arms. Jaime tried to struggle to get away, but it only made them tighten their hold on both his arms, the grip bordering on painful.

Leon went up to the angry boy. "You must understand this boy, I don’t have much of a choice. Either I give you to the King of Zhanthia or my alliance with them will be broken and I can’t have that."

Jamie spat into the man’s face. "You are a pathetic King! You are so weak and pathetic that you need to sacrifice a boy to gain peace for your own country! Your ancestors are probably raging with anger in their graves right now for having such a pathetic person like you rule over this country."

Leon couldn’t bear to listen to the boy’s heated words. He ordered his guard to throw the boy in the dungeon, away from his sight, where he would wait to be taken to the country of Zhanthia. Jamie continued to howl out curses as he was dragged away.
--
The day before Jamie was to be escorted to the country of Zhanthia, a servant came to his cell with a tray of food, again. He took one look at the food and knew right away who had made it. That man was the only one alive that knew what kinds of foods he liked to eat other than his deceased father.

"Take it back. I don’t want it!"

The servant sighed, exasperated. "Look here boy, the King consort was nice enough to make this for you with his own hands when he heard that you had refused all the food that had been brought here for you. I suggest that you be grateful for his kindness and enjoy the food he had made especially for you."

Jamie reached out as if he was going to take the tray of food from the servant, but instead he smacked it off of the tray, forcefully sending it down to the ground, creating a loud noise and spilling its contents. "This is what I think of your King consort’s kindness."

The servant was speechless. Jamie gave the man a sneer, sitting back down on the dirty ground. The servant picked up the broken plate and spoiled food, gathering them up onto the tray.

"Give the King consort this message: no matter what he does, I will not forgive him."

The servant left with a puzzled look, wondering what that message was all about.
--
Arian called for the servant once he had returned from the dungeon.

"Tell me, did he eat it?" Arian asked. He wanted Jamie to eat the food he made. He had made it for Jamie when he heard that his son had refused the food that was brought over to him. He had made it in hope that his son would forgive him. The servant’s answer was one of which made him sad, and when the servant told him the message the boy sent for him to hear, he felt like his heart was pierced by a knife. He excused himself and went to his bedchamber. He then cried.

"Why are you crying?"

"It’s nothing," Arian lied, wrapping his arm around his husbands waist. "Tell me, where were you today?"

"The town people were mad at me for keeping the boy here in the castle. I had a talk with them, explaining the situation and why the boy is here." Leon paused. "You know the boy is an orphan. His father passed away when he was twelve. He had been living in the forest on top of the mountain all by himself, weaving fabric for clothes to trade for food." Leon stared down at his husband, smiling. "You know what? I think that the boy should consider himself lucky to have caught the eye of the Zhanthia King Advisor. Now he will have a much better future."

"Yes," replied Arian, leaning his head against his husbands chest. Leon was right. Jamie should consider himself lucky for being able to become the Zhanthia King consort. Also, with Jamie far away, there would be no need to worry that his son would reveal his past to his husband.
--
The next day, Jamie had his hands tied behind his back, angrily glaring at the two people before him as he was shoved inside a carriage. The carriage gave a rough jolt once he was seated, signaling that they were departing. For a second there, he thought that the carriage had been lifted off the ground. He shook his head at its impossibility. Little did he know that what he had thought was right. The towns people stared up into the sky and waved at the flying carriage carrying the weaver boy.