Nearly There Nicely 50

NTN 50

Crow nodded to the servants as politely as possible as he scurried quickly out of Will's room at the crack of dawn. He adjusted his hair as he hurried down the stairs, mindful of how messy and curly it was appearing to people. Once he was outside, he covered his hair with his jacket, groaning, “Man, it really gets in the way.” He rolled his eyes, cursing the curls and then started to sprint his way back to the barracks. If he was late for the morning training, he'd never hear the end of it from his father.

Will sat in the steamy bathtub zoning out from the perfumed scents. His eyes trailed down to look at his arm to see the markings trailing up. There were a few more vines than before, and the earlier ones were getting thicker in width. Staring at the markings for so long, Will's head fell to the side, and he slipped back into the warmth and relaxation of the water. He glanced over to the clock after a while, noticing it was nearly 8 o'clock. The early morning was over, and soon he'd be required to get dressed and attend some sort of event at Vladimir's insistence.

By the time Will had gotten out of the tub, it had started to drizzle again. Walking down the halls, Will ran into Alexander dressed in white capris and a long-sleeved shirt that had a vertical seam running down the front. It was trimmed in fancy yellow and gold swirling designs at the hems.

When Alexander saw Will, he ran to him and hugged his leg. “Will!” He frowned looking up to him, “Your hair's funny?”

“Funny?” Will blinked. He knelt down to him, and Alexander's hands began to run through Will's hair. “It's the same as always.”

Shaking his head, Alexander protested, “No! Look it's got pink spots on it.” He moved Will's bangs to look at his roots, standing up on his tiptoes.

“Alexander, why aren't you wearing shoes? It's almost winter.” Will tried to stand back up, but Alexander wouldn't stop playing with his hair.

“Excuse me, my Lords,” came Vladimir's heavy voice from behind Alexander. Will glanced up as Alexander turned around to see him. Vladimir gave them a polite nod, “It's time to wash up for breakfast.” Alexander nodded and ran down the hall giggling. Will straightened up, his eyes not ever leaving Vladimir's. For a moment, Will thought that he wasn't going to say anything. “After you eat, you'll be expected to make an appearance in the east drawing room.” Without a word, Will tilted his head to the side a bit, his lips gently curving into a frown. That stubborn look on his face made Vladimir smirk as he turned to walk back down the hallway, “It'll be about your lordship's future title: Marquis, Lord, Grand Duke....” He paused, turning to look at Will once more over his shoulder. “Or perhaps, you'd prefer Moocher?”

Will straightened his head up, letting his eyes relax a little in their intensity. “I think I see a little snot dripping out your big nose.” Chuckling, but with nothing more to say, Vladimir continued down the hallway.

He certainly has an arrogant attitude for a human whom only keeps track of time. Matéas commented inside Will's head. The way the god put it forced a small giggle out of Will's throat. Is he good for anything useful?

“My father seems to think so,” Will answered, shrugging. He stopped in at the nearest powder room to wash his hands before heading down to the dining room for breakfast.

Alexander and Mia were already seated at the table, that was spread over with toast, eggs, ham and macaroons. Will sat himself down quietly next to Alexander and began to serve himself. By the time he had gathered his breakfast together and began to eat, Adell joined them, sitting next to Mia. He greeted her with a smile, and then turned his attention on his sons.

“What'll you two be doing today?”

“Mm! Playing hide-and-seek!” Alexander grinned, and then went back to eating some ham.

“Games are good, but your studies are important.” Adell insisted, frowning a bit.

“Yes, Father...” Alexander answered sadly.

Will took a sip of water, glancing at Mia's face before looking over to Adell. “I think... He should be allowed to play.”

“And why's that?” Mia asked, spreading some jam on her toast.

“Well,” Will looked to her nervously, suddenly wondering if the ham on his plate had gone bad. “Kids will only be kids for a short period of time. They should be able to play and exercise, if that's what they want to do. Once he's tired, he'll study.”

“I suppose you'd like to take responsibility for teaching a tired child then.” Adell commented.

Will frowned, “It's not like he's seven, or ten, or even thirteen. In fact, asking him to study too much right now is wrong.”

“He's not your kid.” Adell retorted, glaring over his cup of water at Will. His eyes looked intense and burning, as if they were testing Will.

“He's family.” Will replied coolly, keeping his voice steady. “And I think you're pushing him.”

Adell gently placed his cup down, turning his eyes to his wife. “What do you think, Mia? Is my expectation that my son learn and be well educated too high?”

Mia nodded, “I agree that you both have fine points...” She chose her words carefully, Will noted, but both men waited for her verdict. “However, I do see the merit in letting Alexander have more time to play and be a child.”

Letting out something of a sigh, Adell looked back to Will, “Getting back to my original question, what's your plans for today? Going to visit your knight?”

Will shook his head, looking down at his food. Now I really wonder if my whole plate isn't infected. “He's busy finishing up his refresher courses in training. He should be done before my concert though.”

“Fantastic.” Adell nodded, though Will could hear that there was no true happiness in his voice. “What'll you do with your new-found free time?”

Will looked up and over to him, their blue eyes meeting. Briefly, it gave Will a sense of relaxation to look into his father's eyes. A small smile crept onto the edges of his lips, “I was thinking of taking a walk down to the concert hall and checking out their piano. It's much better to practice on the piano I'll be using than one here at home.”

“Oh?” Mia laughed, “And why's that?”

“Well.... I'm not familiar with it.” Will replied, frowning to her.

Covering her mouth, Mia continued to laugh. “You... You make it sound like it won't be in tune and perfect for your performance.” She took a moment to catch her breath, “Oh... Have you no faith in their instrument?”

Will's frown deepened, his eyes thinning as he glared at her. The sultry bitch is trying to pick a fight.

But Will didn't need to say anything, when suddenly Alexander spoke, “But every piano has a different spirit.” The group looked at him, watching him smile. “Right? The person who loves the piano puts themselves with it, so it's unique.”

Will smiled, looking across the table at Mia. “Right. They're all a little different, and you have to learn about them.” Smugly, he added, “Or it just wouldn't be a mystical performance.” Glaring back at him, Mia bent her fingers over her fork's edge, trying to bend it in her frustration at him. Will, with a smile on his face, just went back to eating.

Adell took a few bites of his food, and then asked, “Where'd you hear that, Alexander?”

“Will told me.” Alexander smiled, jam on the edge of his lip now. “He said it's like that with every instrument. So you have to be careful not to be mean to them.”

Will didn't look up to Adell, even though he felt the man's eyes boring into him now. “I see. He had time to think about such things...” Will swallowed hard, trying to make sure there was food in his mouth often so he wouldn't have to talk anymore.

As soon as he was finished eating, Adell excused himself and left the room with Vladimir following at his heels. A few moments later, Mia stood up and shooed Alexander to finish eating his last few bites before taking him away from Will. Slowly, Will looked after the two as they left the room, and then back to his plate when they were gone from view.

Is that how my mother was? He thought to himself. Absently, his eyes wandered up to look at his drink, seeing a reflection in its shape. It took a second for him to study it before Will realized it was himself, with black hair. Oh... Right, it's still...black. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. Suddenly he felt very depressed as he thought about Mia and Alexander's relationship.

“You look down,” came a soothing woman's voice. Will snapped open his eyes, turning to look as Irene had sat across from him and was calmly piling dishes up into a stack. “Did Mia poison you again?” A bit startled, Will shook his head a bit, sliding his hands into his lap. “Good.” she smiled, then paused, turning her gaze up to him. “Why don't you go out and play, too?”

“Huh?” Will blinked, confused.

“You said that Alexander should play today, so why don't you?”

Will nodded, looking down a bit, “Oh, well...” I can't, he thought, I have to... I have to... But suddenly the feeling of something important to do today vanished. Will blinked, looking up slowly to Irene's eyes. What was it? It was gone. “Did.... You?”

“Hmmm?” Irene smiled, tilting her head to the side. “Go get some exercise and relax. Make today a lazy-day.”

“Oh...” Will nodded. Although confused, he shifted up and left the dining room. Curious, he stopped at the door and looked back at Irene. She was sitting at the table still, smiling right at him. What is she looking at? But without a word, Will left the room and headed over to the east drawing room.

The door was open a jar, so Will just nudged it open and glanced in to see Rhys and Adell sitting in two of the chairs in front of the large desk. There was a third chair between them. Adell saw Will, and waved him in. This feels... Will couldn't think; any ideas of clear thoughts were evaporating before he could realize what they were.

Will walked over to the open chair and sat down, a bit nervously between the two. “Thanks for coming,” Adell nodded to him and then looked over to Rhys, who nodded also. “We wanted to talk to you about the titles.”

“Okay...” Will nodded, not sure where they were going with this.

Rhys crossed his legs, shifting his weight some, then lifted his hand up to puff his hair around some. “See, we have a few issues with the titles now. Mia doesn't want Alexander's title to change from Marquis to Earl.”

Will looked from Rhys to Adell for some semblance of clarification. Adell nodded a bit to him, “She wants you to skip being re-instated as the Marquis of Tanhila and jump straight to being the Grand Duke.”

“Like you were going to be when you turned eighteen and had finished all of the preparations.” Rhys smiled.

“It wouldn't be a bad jump,” Adell nodded, looking across to Rhys. “Then he could just take up the work of being a Grand Duke right away, and wouldn't have to worry about anything else.”

“I could send him as an ambassador to the neighboring kingdoms,” Rhys pointed at Adell, liking the idea. They were completely ignoring Will sitting between them now, as he looked back and forth between the two. “I'm sure his appearance would be welcomed among them.”

“We could effectively set him up with one of the ladies or princesses, too.”

“Hold it.” Will spoke up suddenly. The two stared at his flushed face. “I'm flattered you guys think I should be bumped up to Grand Duke but,” Will spoke with a frown on his face.

Adell cut in quickly when he saw the chance, “Of course! He's your god-son, let's make him the crown-prince, next in line for the throne.”

“Oooh, I like that idea.”

“But I don't.” Will corrected.

Once more, the two gawked at Will.

Slowly, Will looked between the two of them and then shifted his chair back so he wouldn't have to keep turning his head. Then he addressed him in a shaky voice, “I don't have the heart to run a kingdom, no matter how much I love it.” He paused, glancing in Adell's direction to see if he'd be cut off again. When Adell didn't speak, Will continued, “You're also both forgetting that I haven't trained or learned anything related to being the Grand Duke in four years. Years, guys.” He sighed, leaning back in the chair, “When I was eighteen, and growing up, it was fine learning all that stuff, but...”

“Will, before you make your decision,” Rhys cut in quickly, leaning forward, “I want you to know that it was your mother's idea to raise you to become a Grand Duke. She also thought, that with time and careful guidance, you'd make a wonderful king.”

Will shook his head, “I'm sorry, but I'm just not your guy. Maybe I was when I was eighteen, but after four years, it's just--”

“Anything you've forgotten can easily be re-taught,” Adell pointed out.

Will stared at his father for a moment, and then hung his head.

“Please understand, Will,” Rhys urged in a soothing voice as he leaned towards Will, “We really believe you to be the best bet for our kingdom.”

Will shook his head again, “I can't.” He paused, speaking louder to them, “I can't do it.” His blue eyes were filled with an intensity they hadn't had in several years as he looked to them both, “I won't be King, or Grand Duke.” With his resolve solidified, Will stood up, startling the two men back, “In fact, don't even make me a Marquis again.” And he turned to leave the room, stepping around the chair.

Anger swelled up into Adell's chest. He shot up and grabbed the crown of Will's head, black hair spilling from between his fingers clenched in a fist. He made Will yelp, and straighten up as he held him back. “You arrogant little child. We've invested everything into you!”

Will grit his teeth, opening his eyes. His vision was blurry from some tears forming caused by the pain. “Oh, too bad for you, old man.” He yelped again when the grip on his hair tightened. “I can't do it! I'm tired of being left alone and if I become king, I'll always be alone!”

Adell jerked his hand, shoving Will toward the door. “Fine, then get out.” Will held the crown of his head with both hands as he looked back to his father's angry face. Without a word, Will left the room, feeling tears running down his cheeks.

Rhys sighed extremely loud, making Adell look over at him. “I really hope you don't plan to raise Alexander like that.”

“Like... what?” Adell blinked, a frown forming in the corner of his lip.

“You were a lot more patient when Lae'ri was alive.” Rhys grumbled, shifting up. “We have to face that we raised Will wrong. We taught him everything he'd need to know to be a successful Grand Duke, at the very least, but we forgot something important in the process.”

Adell watched as Rhys started toward the door, not finishing his thought. “Which was?” he asked once the king was halfway out the door.

“Friendships.” Rhys shrugged a bit, smiling back to Adell, and then left without another word.

Will had walked his way briskly up to his bedroom, rubbing the top of his head as he sat against his bed on the floor. “Hurts... Hurts...” He groaned with his eyes shut.

Was he always so mean? Matéas asked through Will's thoughts. It took a moment, but Will shook his head and sighed, his fingers trying to massage his scalp. Do you really not want to be King?

“Can't you tell?” Will asked, smirking a bit. No answer came. A few minutes later, Will asked, “Hey, that... Helping you get your memories from Phyte, does it have to be Invictus?”

Yes, only that sword holds the weight of the threat behind it enough that it'll force him to cooperate with what you want.

“It'll be enough to get back your memories, and my father's?” Will asked, shifting up, brushing his hair back into place.

Certainly. Are you going now?

Will shook his head, “No. I'm sorry... But without the sword, it'd be pointless, right?” Just then, a clear thought rang through his head: so go get the sword yourself.