No Better Than The Beasts

Chapter 12-Fear

(AN: Poor Jake)

~{()}~

"Son, why don't you show your friend the gardens?" King Rastus smiled kindly, while Derrick groaned. The King wondered why; he had thought this kid-Jake- was accepted by his son as a friend. Either way, Jake seemed to be changing Derrick for the better...somehow. His son didn't seem as grumpy, more like frustrated. It was as if his son was trying hard to keep his angry facade on his face.

And what Lobo Loup, or Mr. Loup, had told him this morning surprised him. 

See, there was a reason Mr. Loup barged in on Derrick so often. It was the King's orders. In a way, the King knew that Derrick would never come to him for help with problems, but the King wanted to catch his son doing something other than brooding. Like, if he was secretly in love with someone, sneaking off in the middle of the night to see them or had them come by the window.

So far, nothing has changed.

Until today.

The king was a bit shocked to hear that the two were hugging. Usually, men did not hug each other, especially grumpy, antisocial men like his son. Further questioning, he wondered why they were hugging in the first place. Did something go wrong?

He had asked Nathan to keep an eye on them to see what was up. Little did he know, Nathan knew more-or-less why they were hugging, and he wasn't going to tell the king anything...unless Derrick wanted him to.

King Rastus shooed his son and Jake along, wanting to see if Nathan had any news. With a few groans and grumbles, the door slammed shut with Jake and Derrick behind them. Just Rastus turned to Nathan, who was trying to do something with his hands, sticking his tongue out in concentration. 

Nathan had one hand in a thumbs-up and the other hand pointing straight out with his index finger. Then, at the same time, he tried switching the positions. He failed and ended up with a finger gun. 

"So," the King started, making Nathan look up from his hands, "Any luck?"

"Any luck with what?" Nathan asked, genuinely confused. The king sighed.

"With spying on my son and his new friend?" Just Rastus elaborated. Nathan's eyes widened and his mouth formed a silent 'oh'.

"Um, nah not really. Nothing has happened at all. Trust me. Tot-tal-ly normal Derrick. Nothing suspicious, "Nathan confirmed, nodding his head along to his claims. The king was suspicious for a second, but then shrugged. Nathan was outgoing, but that didn't mean he was untrustworthy.

"Thank you, Nathan, " the King said, "Really. I just want my son to be happy again- and I-I'm just curious as to what this stranger has that I don't."

Nathan snorted.

"Trust me, sir," Nathan assured, "You'll eventually find out. And if you don't-I'd be surprised."

"How are you so sure?" the king asked.

"Just trust me," Nathan said.

~{()}~

"Yeah so, these are the gardens," Derrick grumbled, "Not much to see since it's winter."

The gardens had littered ivory statues of brave, gruff knights; white benches from faraway places, carved into intricate designs; tall, rose-shaped topiaries; and vines draping from the wide stone wall surrounding the lawn. Everything, from the tip of a sculpture's nose to the dainty green leaf of an ivy, was laden with soft, bright snow.