Apollo

Chapter Eighteen - PART TWO

Every minute of every hour, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more.

THE LAST PERSON JAVIER KNEW AND KNEW WELL WAS HIS TUTOR, MR Claymore. Mr Claymore was not a handsome man, but the prince thought him to be the cleverest man in the world. He was a man of science, and he knew everything about everything – he knew about plants, about animals, about the lands and the seas and everything else Javier had never seen. He also knew about who Javier really was, a detail no one else had ever put in the effort to see. Beneath the façade of a brooding, sulky prince was a small boy craving the love of his father and mother, the guidance of his older brothers, and the warmth of a functional family. There was also a brilliant man waiting to blossom.

"You could be a man of science, Your Highness," Claymore had once said to him, a fire in his eyes. "I have tutored you as well as your brothers, and though they are all very intelligent, you are exceptional, even among their ranks. I have never been a big believer of fate and destiny and all the likes, but you were born to know the world – as I was. I...I simply know it."

Momentarily, Javier's heart leapt at the prospect of having a destiny like Fitzgerald Claymore's. As far as he was concerned, anyway, his tutor was an outright genius, a prodigy, a hero. These words made his eyes shine even brighter than Claymore's, if that was even possible, as he listened intently.

"I think you should consider going into further study – Oxford, perhaps, or Cambridge. The professors there might teach you better than I can...after all, I did learn all I have taught you from them."

University!

This could mean so much for him... It could mean an entirely different life! In science, doing the things he loved, instead of in politics like his father wanted...the thought of sitting in court, the prospect of wasting his life away in tedium and misery, sickened him now that Mr Claymore had said that he was meant for greater things. That he was exceptional...surely this would be enough to persuade his father?

Father—! Father will never agree to this, it suddenly occurred to him. Immediately he deflated, his face falling, his hopes and dreams plummeting from his chest to the bottom of his stomach. Father is intent on all four of us becoming a part of running this country...he wants us all to dedicate our lives to it! He shall never agree to let me study! For the briefest of moments he had been filled with the strongest desire he had ever felt, and it had been followed by the strongest regret he had ever experienced. Oh, how much he would have given...

He voiced this concern to his tutor, who only smiled kindly and replied, "It never hurts to try, Your Highness. If you should so desire to...we may speak to your father His Majesty about a visit to both universities. I would be happy to take you – we could speak to the professors, for I am closely acquainted with some, and perhaps even listen to some of the classes...we could return to the castle within the fortnight."

"He would never listen, Mr Claymore, even if you should attempt to persuade him," Javier said, brows furrowed in desperation and despair. "Father wishes all four of us to join politics."

A sly glimmer appeared in the older man's eye. "What about Her Majesty?"

"What about my mother?" Javier asked, confused.

"And I thought you were clever, lad." Claymore laughed. "Have you not noticed your father's pattern of behaviour, Your Highness?"

"He has always been very stubborn, Sir."

"Except when...?"

The prince's brow remained firmly furrowed. "I...I don't understand."