The Snow Maiden

The Nobility of Men

The tent was alit from the inside with rainbow colors and the three boys were laughing. Dane watched, his ire rising.

"Come on, man," said one who was suppose to be his friend. "You're pa will never know. We won't tell! You've got to see this girl's curves!"

Jake, a flaming ginger, raised a hand. "Wait guys, I think we're going about this the wrong way." he smirked. "You have different tastes, don't you Dane?"

"Oooo." said the other two in unison.

"I'm sorry, Dane, but it won't work out between us." his friend snickered.

"Shut up, all of you." Dane growled. "I've already told you, I have more honor than that. What pride is there in goggling like a bunch of penises at a naked girl? Besides, she's worth more than that."

"She likes us looking, don't you know? Girls like being looked at, otherwise they wouldn't get themselves all pretty."

"And her sisters aren't too bad too."

Dane threw his hands in the air. "I'm leaving." He turned to walk away.

"Aw, but it'll be fun! You don't know what you're missing out on!"

"Wait, Dane, are you a virgin?"

"Oh dude, I think he is!"

They catcalled at his back. At that he froze, not out of embarrassment, but rather out of anger that he had ever thought these guys as friends. That this was considered normal. That he was considered weird for caring about honor and the ability to face any future lover of his with pride. He whirled on them.

"Yes," he snapped, "I'm a virgin. A damn good one too." he shook his head in disgust. "You know, this is what girls hate about guys the most. They think we don't care about them, and only about what's in their pants and that we're only after the best breasts or behind."

"How do you know that? Are you a girl yourself?"

"It's called a sister, nimwit!"

"You're sister? Which one?" asked his friend.

Jake rolled his eyes. "The easy one on the eyes, idiot, unless you're referring to the eight year old which I sure hope you're not."

"Creepy."

Dane couldn't see why he was still talking with these guys. It just made him so mad that they expected him to be like this. If he ever did find a girl, would she think this of him? But he wasn't even tempted to go into the exotic dancer tent with his friends. Any shame he would feel would ruin any arousal he could have ever gotten from a burlesque dancer, no matter how beautiful.

"You guys are pathetic." he said. "One day you'll face your wives and look back at this and regret what you've done."

The three boys exchanged glances, then laughed.

"Listen to him, he's so serious. It's just a girl! Don't you like girls?"

"It's like he's already married or something!"

"Dane, you need to loosen up. Marriage is years away, and we need to enjoy the time before we get chained like that, you know? Besides, all our dads did this before, and our moms don't care. They know they were just guys. It's healthy."

"And trust me," said Jake, thumbing towards the tent, "I seriously doubt anything will ever be better than this."

"You'll regret it!" purred his friend.

"Then I'll regret it." said Dane solidly. "It wouldn't be nearly as bad as having to live with myself after going in there." He made to leave again. He was just wondering how he would tell his sister that the charming ginger guy she had a crush on was a sleezeball when something he heard said ginger mutter made him freeze.

"Though, that sister of his, man, I wouldn't mind her. Have you seen her legs?"

He wasn't even entirely sure why that statement pushed him over the edge. All he remembered was the idea of stupid red-head Jake with his lustful eyes on his older sister before he was landing his fists on every bit of him he could reach. His friend and Jake's minion were shouting things and scrambling to pull them apart-but he just punched them too. If there was anything Dane was proud of, it was his punch. Soon all three of them were upon him, yelling and cursing, and he just wailed on them all.

But no matter how good his punch, three against one could only go one way in the end. Soon he found himself pinned against a tree by the his once-friend and Jake's minion in front of that stupid tent as Jake staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his nose.

"What is wrong with you?" he yelled. "What are you? Some freak? Some wannabe mama's boy?"

"I'm the son of a knight," he said. "That's what I am!"

"So you think you're better than us just because you're dad has that stupid title, huh?"

Jake slugged him in the gut. Dane bent over, wheezing. His friend let go of his arm when Jake punched him again.

"He's just weird, Jake," he said, "just let him go, I'm sorry for inviting him."

Jake kicked him. His minion let him fall to the ground.

"Come on, Jake, just leave him alone."

To Dane's faint surprise, Jake actually listened to him. He wiped the blood from his face again and sniffed. The blood clashed with the color of his hair.

"Let's go, I don't want to waste this ticket."

"But dude, you're covered in blood!" his minion looked down at his arm. "And I think he jammed my fingers good."

"Whatever, girls like a man with a few battle wounds."

The three left him at the foot of the tree, wheezing and clutching his stomach. He glared at them as they lifted the flap of the tent, letting out the sound of trilling music. His friend didn't even have the guts to look back. He should really stop thinking him as his friend.

"Assholes," he muttered, "all this just because I didn't want to gawk at some whore, how very mature. Ugh, damn."

Eventually his lungs re-inflated enough for him to ease himself back to his feet and limp home.