The first thing Jarin did upon his return was go up to see Ledus. When he entered the room he saw Ledus bleeding on the floor, completely naked. Kara rushed in with a kit acting shocked to see prince Jarin. “What happened?!”

“Your majesty! We don’t know, he began screaming, we couldn’t figure out what he was saying. He threw off his clothes, broke the mirror and started cutting himself. We couldn’t get near him.” She started cleaning his wounds. Jarin held the slender boy in his arms. “Liyette, start the fire.” Tyel brought a blanket and lay it over Ledus. Jarin made sure to pull Ledus’ arms out of the way. Kara finished wrapping his arms. “Your majesty, I fear this might happen again. Perhaps we can give him a medicine to keep calm.” Jarin’s face was grave.

“I’ll consider it. Kara, Liyette, tell the chef to make a soup, after you’re dismissed for the day.” Both maids bowed and left the room. “Tyel, get me a cloth and some warm water.” Tyel stood up and went to the bath bucket. He filled a small tub with water and returned to Jarin’s side.

Jarin began to clean the blood off of Ledus’ body. As he moved his arm the pitiful boy let out a soft whimper. The sound and sight of Ledus like this simply broke Jarin’s heart. He couldn’t understand why Ledus would do this. “I promised to keep you safe, how can I do that if you’re the danger?” Tyel placed a hand on Jarin’s shoulder. They put a nightgown on Ledus and carried him to bed. They watched as tears crept from the corners of his eyes. “Why?”

“I don’t think it was him.” Jarin looked up confused. Tyel motioned for the prince to follow him to where Ledus had been. “Look, the glass was broken over there at the vanity. Whoever broke it used that chair laying there. However, Ledus isn’t strong enough to lift that chair to that height and throw it with enough force to shatter the mirror.”

“What if he didn’t throw it?” Jarin asked.

“That’s a possibility but not likely. For someone with his strength he would need to be extremely close. On that note, Ledus was barefooted when we came in but there isn’t a single cut on his feet or legs.What’s more, it was a large piece of mirror that was used to cut him. Those pieces fall closer to the epicenter. That would mean he had to walk through the glass to pick up that piece. On the other hand if he had already been close to the mirror, he would have had to walk through the glass to get where he was when we came in. It’s not possible for his feet to be uninjured if he had done this to himself.”

Jarin became enraged. “How dare she lie to me! I’ll-” faint groans came from the bed. Jarin’s anger was replaced by worry. He went over to the bed to check on Ledus. He gently stroked the boys head, “Why can’t I give him a better life?” Jarin whispered sleepily. No reply could be heard. The prince lay down next to Ledus and fell asleep.

The next day, everyone woke in their own beds. Jarin confused, asked what had happened. “You were just exhausted from your long journey. Now, my lord, about Ledus. I think it’s best to start him on his medicine today.”

“What?”

“Last night, you said you wanted him medicated.”

“No, I...He...his feet aren’t injured.” There was a throbbing headache and a horrible ringing in his head. Despite it, he threw on a robe and went up to see Ledus. Not to his surprise Tyel seemed to be doing the same thing.

When they got to the top, they saw him lying in bed, still asleep. The doctor stepped in front of the two men. “My lord, shall I give him the medicine or not?”

“No, he didn’t do it.” the doctor sighed.

“If you insist. Then just make sure he stays off his feet for at least a week, some of the pieces went deep.”

“What!?” Tyel rushed to the bed and pulled back the covers. Sure enough Ledus’ feet were bandaged, a couple spots of dried blood could be seen. “What’s going on?” he murmured.

“My lord, you were both very tired yesterday, please don’t be too bothered by this. The boy is fine.”

“Thank you doctor, you’re dismissed.” They both sat on the bed confused.

When Ledus woke up he saw their backs. He instantly began to cry. The noise caught their attention and they turned to face him. They both tried to ask what had happened but Ledus just shook his head. It was from that day on that Jarin made sure to rarely leave the palace, if he did, he never took Tyel. They made sure that one of them was always available at the palace, should anything ever happen to Ledus again. Because of this, the palace saw more guests than it had before, and Ledus became a prime attraction. With every guest that visited, Jarin would have more chances to show off the lovely and delicate boy.

Tyel on the other hand never believed that Ledus hurt himself. He was convinced that the maids had done it. However Ledus never spoke up about what had happened so Tyel couldn’t do anything to take action. Still he always kept a close eye on Ledus when he could and kept an ear out for any suspicious behavior on the part of the maids.