| Chapter 12 |
| Josh sighed and ran a finger around the rim of his cup, pausing in his story to take a drink. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked back up at Lance, who was giving him his full attention. "And so, after both of his parents died, Lou became king. He is just ... ugh, he's 100% asshole, let me put it that way." Lance laughed and Josh smiled at him, taking another drink of his ale and rolling the cup between his hands. "He basically treats Justin like a damn animal. His room is drafty, he wears rags for clothes, and they feed him scraps of food after *they* eat a large, gourmet dinner." Josh sighed and Lance could see the anger in his eyes, knowing that his must look the same way. Lance sipped his drink, sorting through things in his mind. He was no longer angry at Justin for standing him up. Instead he was a little worried, just as Josh had been. At the moment though, he was very interested in finding out more about the boy that stole his heart. "How come when I saw him, besides in the market that first time, he was dressed in beautiful clothes?" asked Lance. Josh smiled. "Those must be Nick's clothes." Seeing Lance's confused look, he explained. "Nick is one of his stepbrothers. The other's name is Kevin. They don't think too kindly of Justin either -- they call him Timberella. Anyway, Nick has all of the best clothes, and even when he grows out of them, he keeps them just to say he has them." Josh shook his head. "The boy has problems." Lance smiled into his cup and Josh looked him over. "You know," he whispered, waiting until Lance met his gaze before continuing, "Justin must think you're pretty special if he went through all that trouble just to look good for you." Lance dropped his gaze, biting his lip as he stared at his hands. Josh smiled, knowing that he was thinking it over. He took his and Lance's cups, moving to put them in the sink to be washed later. Lance watched Josh walk away, before standing up. "Josh!" he said, moving over to the blacksmith with determined strides. He sighed and smiled. "You wouldn't happen to know where Justin lives, would you?" Josh smiled and set the cups down, squeezing Lance's shoulder and whispering in his ear, "I thought you'd never ask." ~*~ Justin didn't know what had woken him, but he blinked, his eyes slowly opening and focusing on the room around him. The curtains were drawn, making the room seem darker and later in the evening than it really was. Sitting up in bed, Justin shivered as the comforter fell around his waist, exposing his naked chest to the cool air. Getting up, Justin sighed at the pieces of shredded clothes that remained on the ground as he walked to his closet. He started to dress back in his rags when he heard screaming come from down the hall, remembring what had woken him up from a not-so-peaceful rest. He curled up on his bed and listened to Nick yell at King Lou. "What the *fuck* did you do to my clothes?" he screeched. "My good pants! My silk shirt! *Why*?" King Lou's voice was loud, but still not louder than Nick's screaming. "That little thief in there was wearing them! Timberella was wearing your clothes and I was outraged!" "Well, so what?" shot back Nick. "Lock him in the room! Don't feed him! Drown the brillo-headed rat for all I care but *don't* mess up my clothes!" Justin heard feet stomping down the hallway, and then a door slam. King Lou was right outside his door, and he could hear him complaining to Kevin. "Spoiled little brat," he grumbled. "I saved his clothes from that filthy thing in there and all he does is complain! Ungrateful, that's what he is!" "Yeah," said Kevin with a sigh, and Justin could hear the smile in his voice, "Nick's a whiny little bitch. Buy him a new hat and he forgets everything. Too bad you can't have more sons like me, Dad." Justin heard Kevin bounce away and Lou grumble, "Two ungrateful money hogs is enough for me," before walking away as well. Justin sighed when they were gone and walked to the window. He opened the curtain and sat down, leaning his head against the cold glass. 'Oh Lance,' he thought, 'please help me. I need you.' ~*~ Lance watched silently from inside the vehicle as the horse-drawn carriage pulled up in front of the Pearlman Castle. He hadn't bothered to wear his robe this time, and he played with the bottom of his shirt as he waited for the driver to open his door. When he did, Lance got out of the carriage, nervous as hell but not willing to leave without Justin by his side. As he walked up to the front door of the castle, he failed to see a curly haired young man sitting by one of the window sills, fast asleep. |