The Red String Of Faith

Chapter Two:

As soon as the carriage stopped, Jamie dashed out to try make a run for his freedom. He was caught within moments-- before he could get very far.

"Let me go!" He howled as he struggled with all his might to get away.

"Sorry boy, can't do that. If I let you go, Nicholas will burn me alive."

"I don't care! I just want to go home," Jamie retorted angrily as the soldier put him back inside the carriage.

Jamie angrily kicked the inside of the carriage, hurting his foot in the process. Why him? Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Jamie leaned back and closed his eyes. This was all that persons fault. Jamie swore to make the man suffer ten times worse then what the man had put him through. He deserved it.
--
He opened his eyes when the carriage door opened not too long later. "What is it?" He asked with an angry tone.

"Nicholas wants to know if you would like to see the city before we head to the castle."
Jamie shook his head. "There is no need for that; all cities are the same to me no matter where I go," he said without putting much thought to it.

"I think that you should at least give it a chance. After all, you will be the Kings consort." That voice sounded very familiar. Jamie ducked his head out to see who it was. His mouth opened in surprise. It was the man that had helped him up the other day, standing next to his horse with a look of disapproval on his face.

Nicholas came over to Jamie, leaning threateningly close. "Tell me boy, why do you judge our city before you even give it a chance? Is it because you despise our people? Or is it because you have been forced to be here against your will?" Nicholas did not ask, though, it was more of a demand that he tell him.

Jamie hated the situation he was in, but he knew for a fact that did not despise the people of this country. How could he, when he knew next to nothing about them or their culture? He pushed his anger aside and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry if I offended you and your people in some way with my words. I'm just not a city person; I hate crowded places. I prefer the peace and quiet of the mountain and forest, to a city full of people."

Nicholas straightened his posture, making his way back toward his horse. "We will be heading straight to the castle as the King consort requested," Nicholas shouted as he turned his horse around.

It wasn't long before they were at the gates. The gate to the castle opened and a soldier carrying the carriage with Jamie inside slowly walked in, following closely behind, was Nicholas.

A young boy around nine came running out to greet Nicholas. "Nicholas, Nicholas you're back."

Nicholas hopped off his horse and gave his little brother a hug.

"Have you been a good boy while I was away, Devin!"

Devin nodded his head, staring up at Jamie who had by now stepped out of the carriage.

"Who's that?" Devin asked curiously.

"He's to be the Kings third consort," Nicholas answered.

Devin ran up to Jamie and looked him up and down. "You're not pretty enough to be the Kings next consort," he remarked as he surveyed the other before him.

Jamie knew that he wasn't pretty or beautiful like other boys, and he certainly was not handsome either. It was really difficult to be mad at the boy when he was only stating the truth. He still couldn't help but feel a bit upset by practically being called ugly to his face.

"Devin that was not nice; apologise to Jamie at once!"

"I'm sorry."

Nicholas picked up his little brother and placed him atop his shoulder, he then turned to Jamie. "Follow me; I will take you to the king."

"Nicholas could I ask you a question?" Jamie asked as they make their way to the throne room.

"What would you like to know?"

"I want to know why you picked me to be your Kings third consort?"

Nicholas paused, turning toward the boy and smiled. "I picked you because you matched the criteria that our King wants in a consort." Nicolas then started walking again when he finished answering Jamie’s question.

They stopped in front of a huge door a few minutes later. Nicholas asked the guard to let the King know that he was here with his new consort. Jamie looked up at Nicholas.

"Is he nice?" Jaime asked, a bit worried now that he was there.

"Of course he is," Nicholas answered.

The door opened and the guard let them in. Sitting on his throne, with a stern expression on his face, was the King of Zhanthia. Lying next to his feet was a huge white wolf.

Jamie eyes grew big. The man had wings. Big..no, huge wings, sticking out from his back.

Jamie turned to Nicholas. "I won't have him; you must be out of your mind if you think that I would even consider being his consort," he whispered harshly.

There was no way he was marrying that man. The man had wings, for Gods sake. Who in their right mind would?

"Look here boy, appearances can be deceiving. My King is a kind man and he will treat you well."

Jamie turned to the man, skeptical. "Are you kidding me? There is no way a man that looks like he will murder me is kind at all!"

Sebastian grew tired of waiting for his new consort to come to him, so, he got up and started down the steps toward his consort. His faithful pet stood up and followed beside him.

Jamie trembled. The man was huge, and so were the big black wings hanging from his back. Nicholas stepped to the side to let his King take a good look at his knew consort.

Sebastian reached out and lifted the boys face up. Jamie noted that the man had different eye colors. One red, while the other was blue.

"You will become my official consort in two weeks. Starting from tomorrow, someone will begin teaching you the way of my people, including our languages," Sebastian stated in a firm voice. He called out to his guard and ordered them to escort Jamie to the east wings where Eli would get him settled in for the night. At least until a room was made ready for Jamie.

"Nicholas, you did well in finding him for me. Now I want you to invite the King of Siren and his family to my wedding as well; I have a special plan in mind for them"

"Yes your highness. I will send out a message to them tonight." Nicholas dug into his pocket and pulled out a very old torn-up red fabric he had used to track the boy. He gave it to his King and left.

Sebastian went back to his throne, sat down and braced himself up with his elbow. He stared at the red fabric in his hand, memories of a kind, small boy staring down at him with concern came rushing back to him.
==============
Leon searched everywhere for his husband. Finally, he found him in the garden reading to
Caelane. Arian looked up and smiled when he saw him.

"Were you looking for me my love?" Arian asked.

"Yes, I was," Leon answered, sitting down next to his husband.

"The King of Zhanthia wants us at his wedding."

Arian froze. If they went to his sons wedding, Leon could discover the truth. He couldn't guarantee that his son, Jamie, would keep quiet. He brought himself out of his thoughts and looked at his husband. "Do we have to go?" He asked, hoping that the answer was a no. But God was not on his side.

"Yes, we do my love. If we don't show up, the King of Zhanthia will be offended, and we can't have that."
==========
A load of books landed in front of Jamie. He stared up at the man that was appointed to teach him everything he needed to know about the country of Zhanthia.

"What makes you think that I can read this?"

"You are not expected to read it right away," he said gruffly as another man entered the room. "Demetrius, here, will teach you how to read and speak in one week."

Jamie eyes widened."It's impossible! How can I learn to read and speak your languages in one week?"

"Everything is possible, boy. Now, I will take my leave."

Demetrius sat down next to Jamie, and immediately began his lesson. Jamie couldn't help but feel like a little kid in school. The Zhanthia language was way more difficult then his peoples own. He sighed, and Demetrius looked at him with a smile.

Demetrius expected the boy to whine and complain throughout the lesson, but the boy surprised him when he just silently listened and tried his hardest to take in what he taught him. Demetrius decided to test the boy, to see how much the boy had picked up so far. Reaching over, he pulled out a book of riddles.

"Jamie, I am going to read a riddle to you in my language and I want you to tell me the answer to it." Jamie nodded his head. Demetrius began.

"There are three men; they are best friends. One day, they went out to the ocean. The first friend looked up into the sky and saw an eagle carrying a young man. He pointed it out to his friends. The second friend shot an arrow up in the sky killing the eagle. The young man fell into the ocean. The first friend said that he did not want to get his expensive clothes wet, the second friend said that he’d get sick easily if he got wet. The third friend was scared of drowning, but he gathered up his courage and leapt into the water to save the young boy. The first and second friend saw how beautiful the young man was and wanted the young man as their husband. The first friend said that he should get the young man since he was the one who spotted the eagle; the second friend said that he should get the young man because he was the one who shot the eagle down." Demetrius stopped, looking up from the book.

"Tell me boy, who should get the young man as his husband?"

Jamie took his time as he analyzed the situation in the riddle carefully. He smiled when he got the answer. "The third friend should be the one to get the young man," he answered with a smile.

"Why?" Demetrius was surprised that the boy answered him in Zhanthia. If he didn't know better, he would’ve thought that the boy had Zhanthia blood running in him.

"Because the third friend was the one to risk his life to save the young man from the ocean. The first friend only spotted the eagle; the second friend only shot the eagle down; neither risked their life to save the young man."

Jamie was the first person to answer correctly. Demetrius was impressed. Not only did the boy answer correctly, but he answered in Zhanthia. The boy was smart and he took his time to analyze the situation before giving his answer. Most people would have picked the first friend, without even bothering to give it a thought. They all would assume that the first friend should get the young man because he spotted the eagle. Nicholas did know what he was doing when he chose the boy as the King third consort.

The door to the study then opened and Eli entered. "Jamie it's time to get you ready for dinner."

Jamie excused himself and followed Eli out of the room.

"Is that him? The King next consort?" A young man with light brown hair asked snidely.

"Yes," the servant answered.

Karsten turned to his servant. "I am way more beautiful then that boy. Why did Nicholas not choose me to be the King next consort?"

"I don't have an answer to that, my young lord."

Karsten strode over to the boy. He spun him around and slapped him hard on the face. "I have had my eyes set on him since I was a kid; don't think for a moment that I will allow you to take him away from me."

Jamie was stunned. He had never been slapped before. It took him a moment to react. He raised his hand, set on returning the slap he had received, when suddenly Eli grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the side.

"Karsten, know your place! You are only the King’s cousin. Jamie is the King next consort. Next time if you lay a hand on Jamie, I will report you to the King." Eli took Jamie’s hand and led him away from the angry Karsten.

"Why did you stop me?" Jaime demanded.

Eli turned to the boy. "I stopped you because you weren't thinking clearly. If you had slapped Karsten back, you would be the one in trouble."

"Why?"

"Because a consort does not raise his hand against his King’s people."

"If I am not allowed to defend myself, tell me, what do I do if he attacks me again?"

"Simple: report it to the king himself or to Nicholas."

Like hell he would! He was more then capable of taking care of himself. Plus, he was kind of scared of the King; he hated to admit it, but the King of Zhanthia scared him. And there was no way he would go to Nicholas. That man would only report it to the King.
============
Nicholas opened the door to the dinning room, leading the King of Siren and his family into show them to their seats. There were people from about five different countries seated in the dinning room.

Sebastian took Jamie’s hand and led him out to the dinning court. Jamie was scared to pull his hand away. He put on a calm face and hid his fear as they walked out to greet the King’s guests. Jamie’s eyes landed on his dad and his new precious family. He saw his dad playing with a little boy; Jamie could not help but feel a sting of pain in his heart. He remembered how his dad used to play with him like that when he was small.

Arian looked up and his eyes met his sons. He saw the sad look in his sons eyes, which quickly faded into anger. Arian looked away. He reassured himself that there was no reason for him to feel guilty. He did nothing wrong. And his son should be happy now that he was going to be a consort. Jamie would come to understand why he did what he did, when he got to dress in luxury and eat expensive food. Once he experienced all of that, he would forgive him. Arian hoped.

After dinner was over, Jamie went on his way to his room. He saw at the corner of his eyes, that little boy his dad was playing with in the dinning room, was outside the court yard. It looked to him like the boy was trying to swim. Wait-- the boy wasn't trying to swim, he was drowning. Jamie leaned over the banister and took a closer look, seeing that, yes, the boy was. For a moment there, he almost considered letting the boy drown in order to let his dad have a taste of what it felt like to lose someone close to him. No matter how much he hated his dad, though, Jamie couldn't allow an innocent kid to die. With that decided, Jamie leapt off the banister and landed on the ground with a thud. He ran as fast as he could, diving into the water and swimming toward the kid with determination. Once he reached him, Jamie grabbed him by the arms and dragged him back to the surface with him.

Eli was there, at the ready, grabbing him from Jaime and laying him down on the grass while Jamie pulled himself out of the pond.

"Is he okay?" Jamie asked with concern.

Caelane opened his eyes, looking straight at Jamie with a big smile. He then leaped into Jamie arms and hugged him tight. "You are my angel," Caelane claimed happily.

Jamie pried the child hands away from him. "Eli, bring him back to his parents and tell them what happened," he ordered in a bitter voice. Jamie stood up and walked away, furious at himself for what he’d just done.