A King Without a Crown

A Game of Cat and Mouse

"Camden, please pass the jam," Elenora's voice was sweet and chipper. Camden rubbed the sleep from his eye before passing the small glass filled with some dark and sweet smelling jam to his sister. He struggled to keep his eyes open and was overcome with a deep yawn.

"Thank you, brother. I just can not bear to eat another plain biscuit."

"They really are not that terrible, El. You give the chef far less credit than deserved." He spoke dryly. "You could try eating the military rationed biscuits sometime, then you would truly be desperate for jam or anything to make the stale bread go down easier."

The siblings continued to eat in near silence, neither one daring to speak about anything too pressing. Both of them were working to avoid anything that might bring forward dissent over breakfast. The silence continued as the King took his seat at the head of the table. The family of four ate quietly once the Kind joined them. None of them were wanting to repeat the previous evening's events this early in the day. Through the terse silence only the sound of flatware on plates and dishes clinking together could be heard. Even the attendants were careful to step as silently as possible.

When the meal had almost finished, the King was the first to break the silence. "You look like you missed a fair amount of sleep, Son. I do hope that means you were thinking through our propositions for the next few weeks."

"Yes, Father. I have given it some thought. I would be happy to speak with you in your office at a time later this afternoon. I do have some things that I must attend to, as well as riding lessons which begin shortly."

"Excellent. I will see to it that I have a meeting set with you this afternoon. There are many more details to discuss on several other matters at hand. I do look forward to your input, ideas, and of course cooperation with such things."

Camden nodded his reply, knowing the conversation was closed now. Adding any other comments now would only bring about more issues with El if he chose to continue. With the nod confirmation enough, the King smiled and left the dining hall. The Queen followed her husband shortly after, clearly pleased with the settlement. The two siblings waited patiently until they heard no more footsteps before speaking.

"Yes, my Dear Brother, you do seem especially tired this morning. Pray tell, what sort of things possibly would have kept you from sleep last night?"

"Elenora,  I wouldn't dare dream of letting you glimpse such nightmares as the ones that keep me from sleep. You would never sleep again I fear. What type of a brother would I be, subjecting you to such things?"

"Ever the noble gentleman, Camden. Always keeping your poor insecure older sister from harm's way. I do think you underestimate my ability to deal with terrors. I do, after all, handle our father on a regular basis, do I not?"

"El, I think it wise for you to stop speaking this way. The walls have ears here, and those ears may not always side with you and your opinions. And the terrors I deal with are much more vicious than Father and his mood swings. Perhaps some day you can share them with me, but for now it seems best that I remain the only one that looses sleep over such things. Be glad the do not plague you in your sleep too."

"Say, Camden, what is that on your neck?" Elenora calmly added, standing from her chair at the table.

Camden had braced himself for this conversation, he had just assumed she would have been a bit less blunt about it when she first brought it up. He laughed gently, "Ah, that? Nothing to concern yourself with. Just an injury I acquired while shaving. It's not as easy as they make it look you know. Especially when you try with a knife rather than a blade. You know me, always accident prone."