Day V

This morning, Errol brought me the clothes I had worn when I first got here. 

I asked him why it had taken so long for him to get them back for me. 

Instead of answering, he asked about the reward I had promised him. 

I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, but that if he was ever in the library, there would be a small bump in the pages of Conner's family history that he should straighten out. 

After he left, I inspected the clothes. 

A rip had been mended, and they had been washed, but otherwise they seemed the same. 

When I checked the pockets, I found them empty. 

I yelled for Errol to come back into the room. 

I told him I had something in that pocket, and I asked him where it was. 

He told me that I had nothing of value in there. 

I asked him if he threw it out, then. 

In a whisper, he said that Conner had heard that I wanted my clothes back, and he had asked to inspect them before I got them back. 

He said that if anything was missing, I should ask Conner. 

A few minutes later, I stormed into Conner's small dining room. 

I slammed the door against the wall, and demanded to know where my gold was. 

Instead of answering, Conner asked where Mott was. 

Mott was supposed to escort me. 

I told Conner I had left without him, and he had no idea where I was. 

Then, I asked him where it was.

He said he had no idea what I was talking about. He told me to sit and eat breakfast.

I had no intention of sitting. 

I told him I was looking for the gold. 

The one that had been in the pockets of the clothes I had worn before coming here.

He called me stupid. He told me that the rock I carried wasn't gold. 

I told him that it was, and that it was mine.

He said it was imitator's gold, and that I had probably bought it from a swindler. 

I told him that it was a gift, it was real, and that I wanted it back.

He said no.

He said that since I was training to be a prince, even a king, I wouldn't carry fake gold in my pocket. 

He told me to study to become royalty, and he would see to it that I carried real gold wherever I go. 

I told him that since we were all imitators here, then there was nothing more appropriate for us to carry (if he was correct about the gold). 

I asked him where it was.

Conner said it was his now. 

He said he'd find a useful purpose for it one day, like maybe as a skipping stone for the lake. 

He told me to sit down, that they were just about to discuss the royal lineage. 

I told him to discuss it himself.

I had better things to do. 

So I stormed out.

I didn't make it to the reading and history classes this morning. 

I was on my way to riding lessons with Tobias and Roden when Mott and Cregan approached me. 

Tobias quipped that they looked angry. 

He asked me what I had done. 

I replied by asking him why it was always something I had done, and never him or Roden. 

Roden said it was always me. 

Cregan shoved me to the ground. He demanded to know where the rock was.

I corrected him. It was gold. 

He said I stole it from the master.

I replied that the master had stolen it from me. I had only set the universe back it order.

Mott said I didn't want this fight. He asked me to please tell him where the rock was. 

I refused.

Mott told Cregan to take me. 

Cregan took out his knife, and ordered me to stand. 

When I did, he pressed the knife to my neck and grabbed my arm. 

Cregan walked next to me with the knife, and Mott walked right behind me, and in this fashion we made our way into Conner's office. 

They pushed me into a chair, and each stood on either side of me. 

Conner asked me where the rock was.

I asked if it wasn't in his desk, where he had left it.

Conner nodded at Cregan, who slapped me.

Conner yelled that he had bought me from an orphanage, which supposedly meant that he owned me, and everything that belonged to me. 

He said the rock was his.

I asked him why he wanted it if he thought it wasn't real gold.

He said it was because he didn't want me to have it. 

He said he would not present someone to the court who carried imitator's gold in his pocket. He asked me again where it was.

I replied that maybe he had lost it. 

Cregan slapped me again, harder.

"Take him to the dungeon," Conner whispered. "Do what you must, but leave no scars."

I yelled for him to wait as fear gripped me. I knew what would happen there. 

I begged Conner not to do this. I told him it was just a rock, if that was what he wanted to hear. 

He said that what he wanted was for me to bend to his will. 

He said that if he told me to jump off a cliff, I should jump. 

If he told me to swim the length of the entire ocean, I should swim it. 

He said he didn't care about the rock. 

He just wanted me to give him my loyalty, respect, and obedience. 

He said he'd give me one last chance.

He asked me where the rock was.

The only thing I knew was that no matter what, Conner would not get the rock again. 

Not even if my life depended on it. 

I kind of suspected that it did.

Conner told them to take me, and with that, Mott and Cregan grabbed my arms and dragged me, kicking and screaming, from the room.