In Fie’s absence, Queen went from resembling a sharp hunting dog to looking more like a dispirited mutt.
Remie, ever a compassionate soul, was concerned for him. “I’m worried about him,” Remie said. His eyes grew moist as he watched Queen slumping over his half-finished mushroom and bean soup at the next table over in the mess hall, his defeated eyes unconsciously searching for Fie. It was a tragic sight.
“Yeah, but s’not like there’s anything we can do about it.” Slad, sitting across from Remie, sighed.
If Heath really was Princess Fie, then this was one problem too big for the squires to handle. She was the wife of King Roy, and if they tried anything, the boys would be rebelling against the king they would someday swear fealty to as knights. Besides, there was nothing they could do, practically speaking.
Still, they were worried about their friend. It was such a complicated situation. The adults who normally helped them would not side with them on this—if anything, the boys felt like those same adults were intentionally keeping them in the dark. But perhaps this was to be expected.
In the end, any solutions the boys came up with had to be realistic. Gees suggested, “Maybe we should help him take his mind off of it for now.”
Slad lit up. “Okay! How ’bout we invite him to the circus?”
Slad didn’t spare a moment to think this through. Before Gees or Remie could stop him, he bounded over to Queen.
“Hey, Queen!” he called. “Wanna go to the circus? Come on! It’ll be a blast.”
Queen jolted at the word. “The circus?” he repeated. Then, a moment later, he collapsed in his chair, utterly spent. “Fie was looking forward to the circus...” he mumbled.
Slad received several thumps on the head from Gees for this (which was normal) and Remie (which was not). Remie, normally a placid person, was terrifying when he was angry.
“Urgh, my bad... I thought that’d cheer him up, that’s all,” said Slad, already up to his second apology of the day, as Remie and Gees glared at him.
“Hmm,” Remie said. “What can we do to cheer up Queen? I’d like to do something, at least.”
“I wish we had more information,” said Gees. “We have no idea what Heath is up to right now. You know, even if your attempt at it was a total flop, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give him a distraction. Maybe if we give him enough time, he’ll want to go see the circus later. Apart from that... You and I can come up with something.”
“Great!” cried Slad, enthusiasm renewed. “Count me in!”
Remie glared at him again. “Slad, you’re forbidden from going anywhere near Queen until we’ve come up with a plan.”
Apparently, neither Remie’s “we” nor Gees’s “you and I” included Slad. “Aw, what?” Slad whined, baffled at this exclusion.
Remie stared him down until he finally accepted the reality and mumbled, “Okay, fine.”
Remie sat at his desk in his bedroom and tapped his cheek with his pen as he worked on homework, trying to formulate a plan. How can we make Queen feel better? I already asked all the other boys in the north dorm, but they were all useless. You couldn’t count on those boys—absolute idiots, the lot of them, said a harsh whispering voice at the back of his mind. Remie was normally not one to slander anyone, even deep down, but he was justified in this case. After all, when Remie had solicited ideas for cheering up Queen from his dorm mates, a good eighty percent of them were not even written proposals—they were just hunks of meat bought from various food stalls around town. How were those supposed to make Queen feel better? Gees and Gormus were the only people here Remie could count on; they, at least, were taking this seriously.
Suddenly, Remie hit upon a fantastic idea. It wasn’t a solution to the issue, but a realization that there was one more person he could ask for help. That’s right, he thought. Kerio!
Kerio had been Remie’s opponent in last year’s East—North Interdormitory Duel. He had not thought much of Remie prior to the games, but he acknowledged Remie’s skill when his perseverance brought their match to a draw. Their schedules did not often align because they lived in different dorms, but they did make occasional shopping trips into town together. Unlike Slad and Gees, who became fast friends with Remie the moment they joined the squires, Remie didn’t hang out with Kerio often, but still considered him a close friend.
Remie went to see him the next day after training. He approached Kerio in the yard during one of Kerio’s solo practice sessions, but when he asked if they could talk, Kerio said, “I’m sorry. I have a meeting with someone else after this.” Oh. That was too bad.
Seeing Remie look dejected, Kerio added, “I can’t right now, but I’d be happy to talk with you later. We could do tomorrow, or—oh, I know. How about you sleep over in my room tonight? That way we won’t be rushed for time.”
“Are you sure?” Remie asked, eyes glittering.
Sleepovers weren’t endorsed, but there was no way for the teachers to find out, so they did happen occasionally. Boys in the same dorm sometimes crashed in each other’s rooms when they got too involved in their hijinks. However, the boys lived together 24/7 anyway, so it didn’t feel special, and, realistically speaking, they didn’t do much at these sleepovers. The practice died out over time.
That said, spending the night at a different dorm was a whole other story. Each dorm had a slightly different layout, and sleeping in a different location was always exciting. As a result, cross-dormitory friends sometimes did spend the night in each other’s rooms.
Remie, with his small circle of friends (and maybe it was small because his soft appearance made it harder for him to mingle with the others), longed to have a sleepover at another dorm. He forgot all his concern for Queen in an instant.
“Sure,” said Kerio. “Just know that my room’s kind of a mess.”
“I don’t care!” Remie cried.
And with that, Remie’s plans for the night were made.
After returning to the north dorm for a bath and dinner, Remie knocked on Kerio’s door with an overnight bag over his shoulder, a huge stuffed animal in both arms, and a slightly nervous look on his face.
Kerio saw who it was and opened the door. “Glad you could make it,” he said. “Come on in.”
“Th-Thank you for having me,” Remie mumbled, gingerly poking his right foot over the door frame. His left foot creeped in after it. Once his whole body was inside, his true delight made itself known, a smile spreading across his face.
“I’ll go bring us some tea,” Kerio said.
“Oh, I’ll come too,” Remie said, immediately popping right back out the door.
“No, it’s fine. Make yourself at home.”
But as Kerio tried to encourage Remie to stay, Remie cried, “I’ll go!” In his excitement over his first sleepover, he was being unusually assertive.
“Okay,” said Kerio. “How about we go together?”
“Sure.”
The two set off for the east dorm lounge. The east lounge turned out to be, to Remie’s mind, rather peaceful. (Probably because the boys in the east dorm tended to be calmer than those in the north dorm.)
The second they saw Kerio, a couple of boys at a table called, “Kerio, would you like to play a board game with us?”
I had a feeling he’d have a lot of other friends, Remie thought. Oddly, he felt almost jealous.
“Sorry, not tonight,” said Kerio. “A friend from another dorm is staying over.”
The boys were astonished. “You have friends in the other dorms?”
Remie giggled to himself in delight. He called me his friend.
The boys craned their necks to see Remie standing behind Kerio, whereupon the light of recognition dawned on their faces.
“Oh,” said the first boy. “Him.”
“Ah,” chorused the second. “Him.”
“Uh-huh,” said the third boy. “Him.”
This made no sense to Remie. What did they mean, “him”?
He leaned in to whisper into Kerio’s ear. “What’s this ‘him’ thing about?” he asked.
“Oh, probably that,” Kerio said, and he pointed to one of the walls. There hung a portrait of Remie and Queen. The kicker...was that they were both dressed as women.