This chapter's song is: Takeaway by Chainsmokers
Narrator's POV:
It had been three weeks since the soldier training had started. In that time, five more boys had gone home either from mild injuries or from quitting. Silver had fully settled in the dorm rooms in that time. In the morning he woke up and joined Will and Rudy for breakfast, after that he would train with breaks until lunch before receiving his lessons from lunch to dinner and then free time. The boys could choose to rest or continue training in that time. After that was supper and bedtime which was at 9.
Throughout those three weeks, the boys had broken up and formed cliques. There were two noticeable groups were the boys of higher society whom they liked to refer to themselves as 'bluebloods.' The other group focused specifically on those who were less noble but affiliated with swordsmanship within their families. This meant sons of nobles who also were knights or lead a knight squad.
The rest of the boys broke up and made their own mini friendship groups with Silver, Rudy and Will being one of those mini-groups. Right now, Silver was walking from the library during his free time. Along the way, he was stopped by a boy whose face was written with hidden arrogance.
"Hello, I'm Reginold Edil Donstark, son of Earl Donstark. It's a pleasure to meet you, if I may call you Silver," he says. The boy had platinum blond hair and blue eyes, the boys behind him holding similar features that exuded pampered nobility.
"You may call me Silver, do you have any business with me?" he asks.
"I was just wondering if you would like to join our group. We nobles pride ourselves of being highly born. Of course, you would be the leader, you are of course the truest noble blood here," he says.
"We bluebloods must stick together, it's only a given since we are the future of this kingdom," the boy behind Reginold says. He had darker blond hair and green eyes. "My name is Jaxtor by the way."
"So, what do you say Silver? Why don't you start hanging out with people who are closer to your status? Frankly, that William boy you talk to is okay but that commoner is nowhere fitting of your noble status.
"I decline, I enjoy my company with Will and Rudy, and I think my time is better spent with them, if you'll excuse me," Silver says as he walks away. As he walked, the boys glared at him before leaving the opposite way, to the training area.
"Silver!" Rudy yells enthusiastically at supper. Silver smiles as he walks his way over with his tray of hot tomato soup and bread. As he places his tray down next to William, he looks over to Rudy and notices a purple mark on his face.
"What happened to you?" he asks.
"Oh, this? I sparred a bit too much. The hilt of the sword went smack dab onto my face. It hurt, I tell ya," Rudy says as he points to his cheek.
"What an idiot, I don't know anyone as stupid as you who will hurt themselves with their own sword," William says.
"Hey! It was an accident! And at least I train hard! Unlike you, pretty boy," Rudy sneers.
"How dare you!"
"Unnnnhhh how daaree youuu waa waa waa! Just eat ya bread ya fusspot! I don't need my ears to fall off too!" Rudy yells. Silver laughs at the two boys bickering like cats and dogs. However, the bruise on Rudy's face didn't fade away till the next day. And then another one appeared.
One on his wrist. One on his ankle, on his back, on his elbow. Each time he would say it's due to training, but no other boy got as many bruises as Rudy did, nor was any boy more talented enough than Rudy to land so many hits.
Silver's face was written with doubt each time a new bruise appeared, and the excuse that came long with it. "Oh this? I banged my arm onto the door. Real stupid of me, isn't it?" Rudy laughs awkwardly as he scratches the back of his head.
"Rudy... shouldn't you take a break now? If you keep getting hurt from training then you should stop," Silver says.
"I agree, and quite frankly the bruises look a bit too severe to be done by a door," William commented.
"Gosh, are you saying I'm so weak that a door got the best of me? Relax, I can handle a few bruises. I'm not like you prissy noble boys," he smirks.
"How-"
"Dare you, I know," Rudy imitates as he takes a bite out of his bread. Silver tried to smile, but the attempt failed. There was something else he was feeling, but he decided to ignore it. After all, he didn't want to hurt Rudy's feelings by digging in too deep.
But the next day, William got into an accident. Silver rushed over to the infirmary once he heard.
"William!" he yelled as he burst through the door. Rudy was already there, sitting next to the bed. "What happened?"
"I dunno. We were both in the library when all of a sudden the bookshelf fell. Will pushed me out of the way. He also tried to run but the shelf fell onto his leg. I-I just wanted to borrow that book you liked. I didn't want this to happen," he sniffles.
Silver looked at William. His right leg was bandaged in a cast and he was sleeping. They both sat next to William as his parents burst through the door, hugging their son and crying. Silver held Rudy's hand as they stared out the window, watching Rudy and his parents entering the carriage and leaving.
"It was an accident..." Silver says, breaking the silence. "That's what the teacher told me." He looks at Rudy, whose head was still looking down, shaking.
Without any explanation, Rudy stormed off. Shocked, Silver began walking after him, calling his name. However, Rudy slammed his door before Silver approached him. And that continued for three more days. Rudy ignored Silver during training and lunch. At free time, he would train on his own. Silver, not knowing what to do, watched Rudy train from a distance. All of this was so shocking for a 6-year-old.
One day, when Silver was watching Rudy again, he saw something strange. The boys who had approached Silver before began walking towards Rudy. What looked like an argument quickly stopped as Rudy was led away. Suspicious, Silver ran down towards the training area. He followed the boys all the way to the rooftop.
Not wanting them to see him, he hid behind the wall and watched.
"It was you wasn't it?! How could you?!" Rudy yells as he grabs Reginold by the collar.
"Don't touch him you filthy dog!" one of the boys said as they dragged Rudy and held him down.
"This is your fault. How dare a filthy commoner even think of conversing with Silver? You. A lowborn son of a filthy harlot who managed to seduce herself a noble," Reginald says as he hits Rudy across the face. Silver froze.
"A horrid" Slap "Foul" Punch "Grotesque" Punch "Putrid" Kick "Animal. That shelf was meant for you. But because of your existence, a noble son got hurt. Because of you, someone who should have never talked to you had their leg broken. It'd be better if you had just died."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Jaxon smirks. Rudy looked at them before spitting in his face.
"Eww! You dirty little pig!" He yells as he backhands him.
"Why? Why can't I talk to Silver? He's my friend. He's fine with me being a commoner so who are you guys to say otherwise!"
"How dar you call him by his first name! We are nobles. You are not, that is enough for us to do whatever we want to you, you merely exist as our playthings," A boy said.
"Heh, you guys aren't nobles. You're just a bunch of jealous little brats who had a silver spoon stuck up their arse by mommy and daddy," he scoffs.
"Insolence!" Silver shook with fear, his hands over his mouth as he shook. He needed to do something. His friend was being hurt. He looked to the ground, trying to stop shaking before looking up. The boys were dragging Rudy to the end. Taking a deep breath before walking out from hiding, he walked towards the boys.
When he looked at them again, they had Rudy dangling from the edge. "Stop!" He shouted, running towards the boys with shaky fists but an undaunted resolve. However, his presence shocked the boys and they loosened their grip on Rudy's collar.
As if time had slowed, Silver saw every change of Rudy's face as he began falling. Silver ran all the way to the edge but it was too late. His hand missed Rudy's by just a centimetre as Rudy fell from the 20ft drop. Silver had witnessed it all. The way Rudy's body collided with the floor. And the way Rudy's blood gushed from his head. It was enough to traumatise a grown man let alone a child.
Screams erupted from Silver as he took in the sight of his dead friend. The boys had also begun shaking, never meaning to go this far.
"I-it wasn't our fault."
"W-we just wanted to scare him. We didn't mean for this..." Reginald stammers. Silver's horror turned to fury. He started seeing red as he turned towards the boys, his voice still shaking from the screaming and tears pouring down his cheek.
"DIE!" He screams, his eyes flickering gold. "Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! You killed him! It's your fault! You should all just fall off of the roof!" he shrieks with pain. The boys, now completely still, stood with their arms limping to their sides. They looked at Silver with deadpanned eyes. Silver, realising the change in the boys, watched as they all began walking towards the edge.
"What are you doing?" he asks. There was no answer. As if he was glued in place, he watched as the boys lept off of the roof and plummeted below. The sounds of their bodies hitting the floor resonated in Silver's ears as he screamed again, blacking out from all of the stress. There were screams from below of people who have found the scene. Mikael, the captain, ran towards the roof. He rushed towards the unconscious Silver and picked him up, cursing as he had realised what has happened.
Yeah I bet there are some people wondering why I haven't updated in so long and well... Writers block. I had a really hard time wondering what would happen in this chapter. Deciding whether it'd be Silver being bullied or Rudy or if Rudy survives or not. Sadly... it's the latter. I'll polish up the next chapter before publishing. Goodbye.