The King and I {Damien X Shayne}

Chapter 9

Damien and Shayne left the bookcase room, asked Shayne to sit while he cleaned himself up to be presentable, and more or less ordered Shayne to take him to the dining hall, as if to give Shayne his moment of assertion after his display hours before. To truly be the king's protector. Even though it made Shayne proud to walk in front of his king, Damien was still in a sullen mood, despite the new understanding between them. The nearest guard Shayne saw was instructed to alert Matt that Damien was found and safe, and on his way to eat dinner.

Shayne reached for he door handle, turned to Damien, smiled and pull the door open for him to seamlessly walk through. He couldn't help but blush at Shayne's display towards him, now that his tirade was over. He saw it on the faces of others too, be them guards, palace staff, scholars and even Matt Raub as he walked through the opposite doors to the dining hall. Everyone seemed relieved, as if a war had just ended. But the war was Damien himself, and he wanted to acknowledge that.

"Matthew, please take this message to heart, but relay it to your guards and barracks. My actions today were provoked only by my own misunderstanding, and can only apologise deeply for any unrest I have caused throughout the day."
Matt smiled back and gave a curt reply, "Even that display of what you call anger, and a tirade, was nothing compared your father. You are nothing but a breath of fresh air and a joy to watch learn and grow over the last few months, sir."
It then hit Damien, that even though Shayne knew he wasn't like his father, they had never experienced it- his wrath. But the staff here had, and if Matt's explanation was anything to go by, they deserve nothing but kindness after what they've been through."

"I'm sorry, for him." Damien admitted. "How? You never knew him, even your own values meant you couldn't let him live to continue his crazy rule of Aveil, so you slew him in what can only be called ritual combat." Matt explained, "Damien, you're nothing short of a hero." Shayne butted in, much to the delight of the other pair. Damien truly had made a massive impact on such a scale to change history, not many people can say they've changed that in their lives. But Damien had, albeit unknowingly, ended his father's rule and oppression of an entire kingdom, not allowing them to speak freely, and penalize them when they did so.

A guard signaled to Shayne from the other side of the room that dinner was ready, and without a word, Shayne left the two standing there, to walk over to the head of the table and pull out Damien's chair once more. Damien smirked in reply, and walked over to sit and eat a very large portion of whatever they served him, because being both very angry and then very sad can work up more of an appetite than you'd imagine. Matt chose this time to dismiss himself, and round up all the guards and staff to relay their king's message to them.
That left once again just Shayne and his king, alone.

Shayne stood patiently to the left of Damien's large chair, and couldn't help but ogle at the food in front of him. Spotting his longing gaze, Damien couldn't help but become the court jester once more, "If you love that drumstick so much, why don't you just marry it then." Shayne huffed at the stupid joke, but froze on the spot at what happened next. Damien stood up, and pulled out the chair to his left. "Sit." Shayne debated whether to refuse the offer, and do his job, or cave and sit there with an old friend over dinner. Damien's eyes said 'that was an order' and Shayne took the hint, and he sat down, and before he knew it, Damien had tucked in his chair for him.

Out of sheer habit and training, Shayne told right back up until Damien would sit back down. "You and your traditional rules." He quipped as he took his seat and passed a plate Shayne's way, as he too then sat down. "Take whatever you wish, I won't likely finish this!" kidded the king. Without hesitation and much restraint, Shayne controlled what food he took, to not seem overbearing or greedy. But regardless, he took the aforementioned drumstick, some cauliflower, a piece of pumpkin pie and a plaited bread twist. The two slowly melted back into the past, sharing conversations only two good friends would as they sat and ate dinner.

Sadly their moment was interrupted by Matt and the minister bursting unannounced through the door. Shayne bolted upright, and ignored the thought of what they might have seen, and forwarded his way to the two men. "What are you doing, interrupting the king? You can't come in here unannounced." Matt went to apologise, but the priest cut him off before he had a chance to speak.
"We, young protector, have come to congratulate our king on a very successful first day. As we have seen before, however," This didn't sound good to Shayne or Damien, "know that you can be far more productive and resource efficient, by being, shall we say, more stern with the public and delegates requests."

This came as a shock to the two boys, while Matt seemed to hang his head in shame, and the minister stood proudly amongst the room. Damien was appalled by what he had heard. "You mean to tell me, that my father's wealth for the kingdom, was from withholding requests by inhabitants of this land?! The ones who now look to me to do the same, to treat them as secondary," Shayne knew where Damien was going with this spiel, "that I am somehow better than them, more deserving to live here in a palace, just because I have a crown on my head?"
The priest's eyes twitched slightly at the accusatory nature of the boy-king.

"The nerve you have to tell me to be like the man I don't dare call my father. For I had none. I had a captor, a mother and best friend, and two of those people were robbed of me, and I never even knew that the horrid man that was my father could even be part of me. So I hope you do not mind, minister, as I relieve you of your duties for the next week to contemplate who my 'father' was, and how I plan to change all the wrong he did to these people and this land." The other three men in the room just stared at the defiant king amongst them. "Now leave me, and do not set foot on these grounds until your exile is lifted, minister."
With a huff and a sharp turn of the foot, the minister turned to leave the dining hall in a flurry, but not before Matt had two guards escort the old man from the palace, to ensure he leaves without any issue.

Shayne didn't dare say anything, so opted to remove and stack the plates from the table and pass them off to the kitchen. Matt however did something he hadn't before. "I'm sorry, too, sir." Damien stepped forward to his chief guard. "I doubted you all those months ago, thinking you'd be weak, and fall to the aid of wiser heads to lead the kingdom. But I was wrong, in fact, your compassion and experience was what we needed. Your father was big headed and out of touch with the people, you are almost one yourself, just with a shiny crown." "So thank you, for saving us." It was a bold statement Matt made, not only had he apologised, but he called Damien the kingdom's savior.

"Well, after that, sir, you have the evening off." Matt finished, "And it's well deserved" replied Shayne, "We all need a break for the night. Have no more preparations for the day, everyone is to finish early." Damien instructed, and the two guards relayed the word around the room, to then go around the palace for everyone bar the guards to finish work for the day, even if it was just after sunset.