A week after the whole “burning hoop, chancellor, and Heath turning out to be Princess Fie” fiasco, the news of it finally got around to the east dorm and its pair of self-proclaimed geniuses, Rigel and Luka.
“Gormus!” Rigel cried. “Are the rumors true? Was Heath really Princess Fie all along?!”
“For a genius such as myself, it vexes me greatly that laymen’s gossip should happen to catch my attention,” Luka complained. “But consider my attention fully caught! Now, tell me if this is true!”
Why on earth were they asking Gormus, of all people? He told them bluntly, “I dunno.” The fact that they sought out him, out of every squire in the north dorm, made Gormus rethink his social life.
At any rate, Gormus hadn’t witnessed the scene himself and had only heard the rumors, so he didn’t know for sure either. When someone told him that Heath planned to jump through a flaming hoop, it shocked him, and he resolved to give his friend, who was growing to be more of an idiot day by day, a good talking-to. And yet Heath, his friend from the very start of training, was now nowhere to be found. This strengthened the credibility of these rumors.
“Don’t put on airs! Come, tell me the truth!” Rigel insisted.
“It’s terrible! If that little devil turns out to be the princess, then I just know she’ll cause me no end of trouble.”
Completely ignoring the two other boys jabbering away, Gormus thought back on memories of Heath. What in the world was that kid thinking, joining us? Gormus wondered. Even now, he still remembered the fierce determination Heath exhibited when taking the exam. It was that same determination which tripped Gormus up and changed his whole way of thinking.
He knew the horrible stories about Princess Fie too. He’d have been angry if he were talked about like that or, at least, he’d have been angry if his friends were talked about like that. Sure, he wanted to tell off Heath for trying to jump through that hoop, but he also recognized how much Heath longed for positive recognition. Even though Heath seemed happy as a squire, there were moments when Gormus caught him looking almost lonely. Lately, Gormus had begun wondering if, provided that Heath and Princess Fie were the same person, those stories troubled Heath or if there was something Gormus could have done as Heath’s friend.
However, that wasn’t the only rumor floating around. Not only was Heath really Princess Fie, she was apparently dating Queen as well. Objectively speaking, a young squire having an affair with the queen consort was asking for major trouble, so all the squires in the north dorm immediately zipped their lips. Plus, Gormus figured, given that Queen couldn’t tell a lie to save his life, it probably meant the rumors were true—that Heath was Princess Fie and also a girl (which, of course, went without saying).
Objectively speaking, Heath looked cute for a guy. As embarrassing as it was to admit, there had been times when being near him had made Gormus’s heart skip a beat, so he didn’t feel uncomfortable picturing Heath as a girl now. Yeah, maybe that was why. At any rate, it bothered him less that she was a girl and more that she was apparently dating Queen. Gormus didn’t know why this made his stomach turn into knots, and moreover, he didn’t want to know. Heath was his friend, and that wouldn’t change one bit, no matter if she was a girl, a princess, the queen’s wife, or whatever.
Therefore, he simply said, “I dunno.”
Rigel stubbornly pressed the issue. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Heath is your friend, isn’t he? How could you not know anyth—?” He broke off with a yelp as Gormus’s fist swung into his face and connected with a solid blow.
“I said, I don’t know.” Really, he didn’t know anything. Even if he did, Heath was his friend—at least, that was how Gormus saw it—and he was not about to go ratting out a friend.
He pictured Heath’s face with its usual carefree grin, his friend who was caught up in this whirlpool of rumors. It irritated him. What happened to you? he thought. Will you ever come back to us? Gormus sighed.
✦ ✦ ✦
Even without Heath, life still went on for the boys in the north dorm. It was somewhat unsettling to go about their day-to-day without their resident tiny troublemaker, but the squires kept training as best they could.
In the midst of the other boys, Queen’s unease overflowed past his lips and out of his mouth in the form of a sigh. From an outsider’s perspective, Queen looked as put together as usual, but the resemblances ended there. His face was blank and devoid of life, his neat hair had sprouted a few wisps in it, and even whatever quality it was of his that reminded everyone of a hunting dog was now gone. Every squire who had seen him for the past two weeks drew the same conclusion—he looked like a pathetic mutt, heartbroken because its owner wouldn’t come home.
“Are you okay, Queen?” asked Slad, worried. “C’mon, if something’s troubling you, you can always lay it on me. Like you know, whatever’s going on with you and He—” He stopped with an “Ow!” as Gees came up behind him and whacked him on the head.
“Give it a rest, will you?” said Gees.
“But come on!” Slad was worried about his friend; that was all. However, he certainly couldn’t deny that he was interested in the dynamic between Heath and Queen. But he couldn’t help it (according to Slad, at any rate). The boys were all reaching the age when romance became terribly interesting, and now their two close friends were dating.
Slad scooted over to Remie and whispered in his ear, “Hey, did you know that Heath and Queen are dating?” Behind his back, Gees glared daggers at him, clearly thinking Slad was up to no good.
Remie blushed slightly and smiled wryly. “I figured something like that was the case. Heath once indirectly asked me for advice relating to that. But I’m still surprised that Heath turned out to be a princess.”
“Are you serious?” Slad cried as he put his head in his hands. He hadn’t noticed at all!
“Hey, Slad!” Heslow boomed. “You’re in the middle of training! Get serious!”
“Sorry. But come on, I’m worried about Heath,” Slad fired right back, defiant in his anger. “Look, let’s get real. You’re a teacher. You’ve got to know something about him, right? He’s our friend that we’ve lived with for a whole year, and now we haven’t seen him for over two weeks! Of course we’re going to be worried about him!”
Slad did have a fair point for once, and Heslow pulled a face. The students thought of him as a strict teacher, but he treated them that way because he cared about them. He understood how they were feeling, so he overlooked their whispering.
“There is nothing I can say concerning Heath, only that he is well.” As one who had been involved in Fie’s year as a squire, he was allowed to receive a certain degree of information from the palace. On the flip side, he was also questioned for more information. Heslow also had mixed feelings on the issue, as Heath was the poster child problem kid for the north dorm. He had lectured her (and not just once or twice either) with no idea that she was really the second wife of the king. He often went up to the upper floors of the palace when he was called in for questioning, whereupon he witnessed Heath—no, Princess Fie, rather—acting like a princess multiple times. It wasn’t hard to believe her true identity when she looked like that. (Granted, he also frequently witnessed some decidedly unprincesslike behavior, but that didn’t bear repeating.) It was lucky that the sessions ended without him having to speak to her directly, as he wouldn’t have known how to act.
Heslow decided to compromise and tell the boys how Fie was doing, but they hounded him for more. The north dorm boys, problem children all of them, would not let the matter rest. Even as Heslow raised his hands in an attempt to placate them, questions flew in.
“Does that mean you met with Princess Fie?”
“I heard that she’s been moved to the palace, so where is she living now?”
“How are they treating her?”
“Is she cute?”
“Wait, if Heath was a princess all along, are the teachers going to be in trouble?”
“Oh yeah, think of how many times he thumped her on the head. Wow, imagine hitting the king’s wife!”
“Isn’t that a crime against royalty?”
“Even if she forgives him, I doubt the rest of the elites will be real happy about it.”
“So much for Heslow’s chances of getting a raise.”
The last few comments irked Heslow. “Enough!” he spat. “I am not answering any more questions related to Princess Fie! If you don’t stop, I’ll make you start running your laps all over again!”
At the word “laps” the boys scattered, bringing this impromptu press conference to an end.