Talent Hall
Chapter 20

Evie told me I just have to watch a twenty minute video about how King Henry had to fight for his place as king, his past, and then we’re to write a summary about it. Because there’s no actual lesson where she talks for an hour, I take it upon myself to shower and get dressed into something more comfortable and dry. Then I blow dry my hair and get started on the video and summary she requests of us when my hair is dry. The video is actually twenty five minutes long and the summary is due before Dance practice. She doesn’t care if we’re done or not, she’ll take it. She did stress to me that I should be done within thirty to forty-five minutes, but if we’re not, she won’t be mad.

The video isn’t anything new. It’s been out since the beginning of King Henry’s reign. They showed this to us in elementary school. I don’t mind watching it again. It’s entertaining and educational at the same time. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks so.

The story is simple: The king before him, King Edgar of the United Kingdoms, reigning for a whopping twelve years, the first twelve years of Henry’s life was one of the best kings the UK have had in a long time, but like all good people, he died. Doctors and professionals insisted it was natural causes that killed him. Unfortunately, that meant his mother was the reigning queen of the UK, and she wasn’t as kind as her husband, and neither was the man she chose to marry after the death of her husband. A news report said that he was abusive emotionally and sometimes physically to Henry, told him he would never be king or worth anything. It got to the point where he dreaded getting out of bed.

During his stepfather’s reign over the UK, troubles spread from London to Sydney to northern Ireland. Instead of being a fair king, like he said in his vows he made to kingdoms, he was ruthless and selfish. All the money that was supposed to go to the countries, he kept for himself. Orphanages, schools, grocery stores. He kept it all. People began to die from starvation and illness. Mainly children who didn’t have the resources to be vaccinated. Parents love their children to death, but seeing their children die painfully is another thing, and it caused many parents, grandparents, siblings and anyone who scream and stand for hours on end to riot outside the palace gates. They were not happy campers and with good reason.

One night, Henry’s stepfather tried to give him away to another kingdom to create alliances, stop them from threatening him, and probably to ensure that Henry never would be crown king of the UK. The key about this is they threatenedhim. Not his kingdom. Him! And for his selfish reasoning, they wanted him dead, and he gave away Henry. Or tried to. His mother wouldn’t go for it. She wasn’t the kindest queen the UK has ever known, but she did love her son.

After she refused for three days, her evil husband went into a rage. He had his men destroy some cities in Australia and Scotland to convince Henry’s mother to go through with it,and if that wasn’t enough, he beat Henry, hoping he would tell the queen, but he didn’t. That night, she still refused and he attempted murder. She tried to keep silent, but some of the maids and servants went to tell Henry. At the time he was sixteen. It wasn’t and still isn’t rare for a prince to be a king at the age of sixteen. That’s exactly what happened.

The King actually killed Henry’s mother by slamming her into hard objects around their room. It only took three times for her to die, but it didn’t stop him. What did was Henry when he punched him in his face. Her maids,kitchen servants, and a few guards watched Henry and his stepfather fight in his study.

Henry took the first punch and that knocked him back. The guards were worried for the prince’s safety. They’ve known Henry their whole lives. His whole life. They’ve witnesses his love and compassion for others. When he was the prince of the UK, he was kind not only to the servants and maids his stepfather was cruel to, but the peasants of the kingdom as well. Every Saturday, he would play with the kids with no parents and sometimes buy them some bread for the unfortunate families. Some were struggling more than others, and those were the ones he chose.

The servants adored Henry and still do to this day. Some may not have understood him and his reasons like other servants did, but they respected his attitude and how he did things. Everyone in the kingdom was loyal to Henry rather than the queen and his stepfather.

When his stepfather demanded the guards do something, they did nothing. He was shocked and outraged, but knew it was because of their love and loyalty to the prince. Henry grew angry immediately and shouted at his stepfather to not threaten his loyal subjects and rambled about how they could have been loyal to him too had he not been selfish and murdered their beloved queen. Like it’s been said, she wasn’t the best queen, but they did respect her for the love she had for her son, her lost husbandand her attempts to make the kingdom happy. He didn’t like what he had to say and swung his fist on him. As soon as it made contact with Henry’s face, Henry snapped his fingers. Of course, it wasn’t necessary. The guards were already rushing towards him to place him under arrest.At King Henry’s command, they imprisoned him and he was executed after his mother’s funeral. It was open to the public. Protected by his guards, the citizens told Henry how sorry, but grateful they were. Afterall, Henry was still alive. Had he died too, the kingdom would be in ruins. A week later, King Henry was crowned king of the UK. The night of his coronation happened to be on his seventeenth birthday.

Every since, King Henry has been kind and generous to his people, giving them the very best. A few years ago, he was known to the kingdom was one of the best kings, after his father, to ever govern the kingdoms of the UK. Because of their loyalty, King Henry richly rewards his people with gifts, money, job opportunities. Anything they could ever need. Of course, he allows them to work for survival, but he isn’t ruthless like his stepfather was. As his reign continued, the kingdoms he had alliances that were at his side to help him run his kingdom.

On his eighteenth birthday, it was advised he replaces a wife to help him and keep him sane. Queen Alice was just a princess when she came to visit the UK and it was love at first sight. They got to know each other and it wasn’t planned then, but they were married two years later and had Sydney two years after they were married. They still love each other as they did years ago.

I put my pencil down after spending five minutes writing a summary about the video and lean back in my chair, rubbing my eyes. There’s a knock on my already open door with Evie standing in the doorway with the slip I handed her. I smile and tell her she can come in. She doesn’t hesitate to sit on my bed.

“You didn’t tell me you saved Kayiah from drowning.” I shrug and look down. “Anyways, Aiken says she’s doing well. Just some memory issues, but the doctor said she should remember within the next few days and Aiken said he can’t thank you enough, you’re a hero and he wants to make it to you.”

“I already told him I just wanted him to see that Kayiah was okay.”

“Yes, he did mention that, but something about Aiken is that he takes this very seriously. “

“I’m sure he does, but it’s okay. I just want her to be okay.”

She nods. “Are you going to talk to the kids in the juvenile detention center tonight?” I nod. “And are you done with your assignment?” I nod and hand her paper. She looks at it. “Impressive. That’s a lot of information. What’s your favorite part?”

“How King Henry was tormented his whole life, but always remained kind to his kingdom.”

“How true. It’s admirable. Well, I’ll let you do whatever it is you wish to do.”

“A nap sounds great.”

She chuckles and then heads for door, but not before telling me about the story of me saving Kayiah got out to the public. We know what that means. More publicity. More paparazzi. More anger from The Elimination. I feel like Jack’s just angry and is looking for someone else to blame for it.

Kayiah and two guards assure me I’ll do just fine or won’t give them another reason to hate me more than they already do. I replace it weird that a silent man with the king’s trust and a sword will speak his mind, especially to a regular boy like me. Aren’t there principles suggesting if you’re royalty, you’re to be silent unless speaking to nobles and royalty? I guess I always thought guards didn’t have tongues, even though they have names. Bruce and Ack, and they’re twins.

Kayiah kisses my cheek. “If you saved me of all people, I’m sure you can save them. You’re a natural born hero.”

“Trust me,” Ack says with a strong Australian accent. “My king has loyal subjects from all over and servants that he loves and cherishes, but there are also those subjects and servants that have his favor above all others. I don’t count you as a servant because you weren’t born to serve the king, but my point is, he believes in you. So does the princess and queen. Now it’s time you believe in yourself.”

“It’s not often I say this, but my brother is right. It’s no wonder King Henry has entrusted your life to us for the next hour or however long we’ll be here,” Bruce adds.

“Appreciate it,” I say. “But believing in myself isn’t exactly one of my stronger points.”

“We know and we’re going to help you to make it a stronger point. Stronger than thinking negatively about yourself is.”

“Is such a thing possible?” I ask.

Kayiah holds my hand in hers and speaks softly. “I think you know you can do things, but for you, it’s hard to admit it because you’re afraid of being judged for thinking like that.”

“And we’re going to help you,” Ack says. “You’re not just a job for us. We’ve seen how you are and this is going to sound weird, but we like you. And so does our king.”

As soon as the door opens, the kids stare at me, fear and hatred clearly visible in their eyes. The girls are probably more afraid than hateful whereas boys tend to hide their feelings and refuse to let anyone know they’re broken. As a boy, I can confirm this. If I were to be tortured by The Elimination like these kids were, I’d probably be as cruel as The Elimination.

I sit on the platform and clear my throat. Every child is sitting at a round table, five at each table. The girls are wearing purple smocks and the guys have the luxury of wearing regular street clothes. There’s a high demand for dresses and girls’ jeans in London for all age.

Kayiah sits next to me and pulls her knitted mermaid tale up. A girl with green eyes, mixed skin, and long, black hair stands and approaches me slowly. I can feel Ack and Bruce stiffen. She notices and stops. “Jack said you’re cruel and without mercy? Is that… true?”

I pat the platform next to me. Someone calls her name, but she ignores them and sits on stage next to me. I lightly play with her long hair and ask for her name.

“Skylar, but I prefer Sky.” The boys gasp softly.

“Well, Sky. The reason I’m here is to assure all of you that I’m not cruel likeThe Elimination say I am. What they told you are lies.” I take a deep breath. “I guess it’s not a huge secret Jack and I share a family tree.”

“He says he’s your father,” Sky says.

“Biologically, yes, but to me he was never an ideal father. To me, he isn’t. Believe it or not, he hurt me too. Just like you guys.”

They murmur among themselves in disbelief, but Sky is the only one willing to talk to me.

“How?”

“He beat my mother and let one of his friends rape me for two years. Didn’t try to help. Just sat and watched.” I pause. “Sometimes he beat me too, but it’s nothing compared to what you guys had to endure, but to me what he did was all that mattered to me at the time.”

“He said you killed your own mother,” an older boy says, not believing me. He looks like he could be Sky’s brother.

“I could have saved her if I stayed home that night and I wasn’t, but I didn’t kill her. Anothermember of The Elimination killed her.”

Kayiah squeezes my hand. My heart sinks. I change the subject and put on a pretty smile. “How do you guys like the food?”

The room bursts into shouts of their opinions. Most of the answers are the same, but there a few different ones. The common answer is “It’s food. Actual food. Not dirt and disgusting meat not even cooked all the way”. That makes me sick. It’s one thing to beat someone everyday, but if you don’t give them proper nutrition, such as fruits, vegetables, their wounds won’t heal. They’ll get sick and possibly die. I’m not one to push my beliefs on someone else if they are happy with their own, but if you’re going to eat meat, it has to be cooked fully or you’re going to get sick.

I feel the coffee and the lunch I had earlier threaten to come up my throat. It takes everything I have to hold it down. The other answer is the food could be better. A politely version of “The food stinks”. The answer is coming from most of the younger kids.

“Why do you ask?” Sky asks.

I smile and whisper to Kayiah, who giggles and nods her head.

I watch the guards and head of the center stare at me in awe as the kids eat watermelon and make macaroni art with glitter and glue. As Sky giggles at her art, I smile and pat her back while she glues more macaroni. One of them approaches me and asks in a serious tone. “What black magic do you possess? Please, tell me so I can gain some of it. This is the first time they’ve been quiet since they’ve been here.”

A tiny five year old named Emma giggles and hugs my legs as I’m about to answer. I pick her up and hold in my arms. She grips my glowy necklace, completely fascinated by it.

“Except that one and Sky,” the guard adds.

I can see why the guards are confused. I honestly didn’t think they would relax this quickly. Or at least not stare and plot to kill me at the same time. I think it’s just a good day in their lives. No one can recover that quickly. They’re just having fun. There’s no way I did anything within an hour and forty five minutes. Maybe with Sky and Emma, but I’ll have to work harder to make them see the truth, and then they can decide what they want to do with it.

“When kids are bored or upset, they tend to act rebellious. Trust me. I know. I was that way too when I was really young and my mom took a parenting class. Kids just need to be occupied. Doesn’t always have to be something cheesy like food art, but…”

“Well, you’re doing something right. It’s keeping them quieter and less violent. We never would have thought of that.”

“Are all of the kids the issues or just a certain gender?”

“Mainly the boys,” the guard says. Called it. “But the girls require more attention. Emma, Sky and a few other girls are afraid more than angry. They were tormented a lot more just because of their gender and the demands of The Elimination. Sure, the boys were too, but it affected the girls more. Most of the guys are angry and bloodthirsty though. It’s just what we’ve observed, Danny. That’s why you have to be careful.”

“Got it.”

“You’re one of the first ones to ever be so nice to us,” Emma says. “They never gave us yummy fruit, water, or juice, gave us fun games to play. The boys may be hard around the edges, but they’re grateful. Thank you.”

My heart melts. “Oh,” is all I can say and then a few minutes later, I add, “You don’t thank me. This is for you guys. I hate what’s happened to you and wish I could erase your pain, but since I can’t, the least I can do is help deal with it.”

The guards smile. I can tell Emma is making them want to cry too. One guard has a tear trickling down his cheek. Holding Emma in my arms, I start to walk around the lunchroom, admiring the creativity. A group of preteen boys in particular and their macaroni art stand out from everyone else’s. Unfortunately, these are the boys that hate me the most. Or are angry with me the most. One of the two.

“You guys are so creative,” I say. “The way you place them over the glue so perfectly shows you have creative minds.”

They fake smiles and thank me silently. Except for one. The oldest, I believe. Aged sixteen. Ten months older than me. He stops and stares at me.

“Why are you doing this? You’ve been nice to us since you got here. What is it you’re trying to prove?”

“Nothing,” I say, putting Emma on the floor and giving her a toy. She plays toy car and crawls around the floor. “I’m going to tell you guys two secrets. I got close to no sleep last night and I love sleep.” He stares blankly at me. ”If I didn’t care about what was happening to you guys, I’d still be sleeping.”

“If you care so much, then why did they sa-”

“So you won’t trust anyone to help. So you’ll feel helpless and alone. I’ve felt so alone growing up. It’s an awful way to feel. You guys are awesome kids. Don’t let them change you. Once they change you, they control you.”

They don’t look convinced. “Prove it.”

These kids are smart. How can I make them believe I’m telling the truth? Wait. Winston. Duh.

“Did you hear about a member of The Elimination being executed?” They nod slowly. “Have they ever shown love?” They don’t even nod this time. No answer. “If I’m such a cruel person, isn’t it likely they would have recruit me instead of threaten me?”

When they don’t answer, I sigh, whisper, “Just a thought,” and flash a smile, walking around some more. Kayiah jumps in my arms and hugs me. I pat her back, surprised.

“Just talked to a few boys.”

“Me too,” I say. “I did most of the talking.”

“The ones I talked to, they look up to you. They heard that you saved me from drowning.”

I roll my eyes. “Fantastic.”

She places a hand on her hip. “Why are so afraid of being the one? The hero.”

“I’m not afraid of being the hero. I’m scared of letting people down.”

She giggles. “That’s cute. “How have you let people down? Because it’s not Riley, who comes from a similar background. Lia. Kamron. Blake. Me…” I don’t respond. “You really have helped people, Danny, and these kids do see the lies of The Elimination, but are having a tough time grasping it. It’s all they’ve ever known. To lose that, it’s scary when they know nothing else.”

“And what can I do about that?”

“Just be your sweet self. People are noticing.

Grace’s brother approaches me. I don’t know for sure, but I think his name is Liam. He’s an exact replica of his younger sister. Except for his attitude, but if he thinks I’m as bad as I’m portrayed to be then of course, he’s acting like this. Her sister is more trusting than him. That’s going to help me, but it’s also a scary thing.

“If what you say is true, I trust you’re not harming my sister then?”

“I don’t want to hurt any of you.”

He nods and sighs. “She doesn’t trust easily. Especially since The Elimination tore her down many times. It’s not enough to not hurt her. If I can’t be there for her, you have to. She’ll need someone to hold her when she has nightmares. It has to be you. And if you hurt her, I’ll make Jack look kind and merciful.”I give him props. I think that’s the best threat I’ve heard my entire life. It’s coming from a child. That’s kind of sad. “Do we understand each other?”

“I think we’re on the page…” I pause.

“Liam,” he whispers. “My name is Liam.” Now we’re getting somewhere…

By noon the next day, it’s freezing. Twenty degrees below zero.It wasn’t so cold yesterday. And I thought Seattle winter weather was unreasonable and cruel at times. It happened within the eight hours were sleeping or pretending to be asleep. Due to the lack of sleep I got the night before, I slept like a baby, but I heard Marybeth and Emily were debating or gambling all night about the weather and how it will change or remain the same. They’re going to hate practice today and it’s not the normal practice routine we do. Hip-hop Dance Battle. Intense. I’m a little nervous myself. Rules are simple. Boys versus girls. Ladies are to go first. Go figure. Any style of hip hop our teachers and Evie have taught us. From old school to twenty-first century popping and locking. One hundred percent our choice. This is our dance lesson for the whole hour. The point is for us to be creative in what styles we chose to throw in our dance equation. And to prepare us for the anxiety we’ll get on stage.

Grace holds my hand as we walk down the hallway, her fairy tale book in her arm. The closer we get to the rehearsal room, the louder Emily and Marybeth are shouting about a pair of silver heels and the forty dollars. I guess Marybeth had plans to wear those shoes to the red carpet and Emily wants her forty dollars. Won’t this be an interesting dance session?

Standing in the door and watching them argue, I glimpse at Evie who shakes her head and snickers quietly. Thank God I’m not a girl. I don’t do the whole arguing over shoes and accessories thing. Doesn’t make sense. Maybe it means the world to them. I don’t know.

Jared tries to convince the girls to argue later and calm down for practice. That only ends at them teaming up and ganging up on him. Then he runs behind Evie and looks to me for help. I put my hands up and shake my head. Not today.

“Ladies,” Evie booms. Her voice is loud enough to force the class to straighten up, military style. “It’s a shoe and two twenty dollar bills. My men are afraid because of a shoe and forty dollars. Both could have been avoided if you had not gambled in the first place! And boys, man up!”

“But-” the girls say.

“No buts. Who owes who money?”

“Marybeth owes me money!” Emily shouts.

Marybeth yells about her shoes. “I want my shoe back!”

I cover Grace’s eyes and pout that Liam isn’t here to bash my head in or something. Anything would be better than this. Not only is it stupid and annoying, but Emily and Marybeth are fighting over something worthy compared to Kamron and I, and it’s kind of embarrassing. Kamron and I fought over paying for soda that costs like a dollar and twenty five cents, and they’re fighting over a pair of heels and forty dollars. I don’t know who’s petty here. Marybeth and Emily or Kamron and I. Shoes and forty dollars? Or diet soda?

“Emily, after practice you will give Mary her shoes, and Mary, you will pay her like promised. Am I understood? It’s not too late to start giving bad reviews! Is that what we want? Because it doesn’t help you in the competition…”

I didn’t know she could give bad reviews. Ouch. Yep, that will definitely hurt their chances.

At this point, Jared is no longer hiding and everyone else is watching in amusement. I look down at Grace who silently watches.

“Am I understood?” Evie asks again, her voice irritated by the yelling she’s had to do this afternoon.

“Yes, Evie,” Emily and Marybeth say together.

“Good,” Evie huffs and claps her hands. I remove my hands from Grace’s eyes. “Alright, guys. Get in your positions. I want all of you to do a quick warm up while I run to the bathroom.” She turns to Grace and I and smiles. Her voice grows ever softer. “And Grace, honey, you can sit on the stairs and watch or read your book if you want, but Danny needs to practice too.”

Grace nods and skips to the ledge and opens her book up, laying it on her small thighs, and sending me a smile and blowing a kiss. I blow one back and stand in my position. Jared stands next to me and we both start a warmup.

“Craziness,” he mumbles.

“I don’t know. Kamron and I fought over paying for a soda,” I snicker. “Maybe it’s normal.”

“A pair of shoes is not worth it.” I laugh and shrug, leaning to my right to stretch some more. “This is why I’m done with girls.”

“What are you doing do, buy a bunch of dogs?” Marybeth asks, sarcasm in her voice.

“I’d rather have poop and pee stains on my couch every day than to deal with a woman who will cause a uprising because of a shoe and forty dollars.”

Emily is about to say something, but then she glances at Grace reading her book, and growls loudly at Jared. “You are so lucky that little girl is right there and that Danny would kill me if I said anything bad in front of her.”

“Sounds like something you should take up with him,” Jared smirks.

“Not open for discussion,” I add and smile. Emily looks at me blankly and confused. “I’m not going to say anything about the argument like Jared.”

“No wonder Kayiah fell for you, a boy with some brains,” Emily says.

I can feel my cheeks red up. Blushing bright red. “Shut up,” I mumble with a smile.

She smirks and starts her warm up, yawning the entire time. I can’t imagine how exhausted she must be after arguing and making bets with Marybeth all night. I’m glad I got to sleep, but with as sleep deprived as I was, I wasn’t going to stay up all night for any reason. If The Elimination stormed London and broke in the mansion, they were going to have to kill me because I wasn’t moving for anything.

When Evie comes back, everyone else pretends they actually did the warm up. The warm up isn’t required. Evie just thinks it’s a good idea so no one pulls anything and complains of leg or muscle pain. I prefer to do a quick warm up before I dance or go running. It really helps. Half of these people are about to endure a lot of pain unless they’re immune. In that case, I hate them for it.