The Kindness of Kings

by Chelsea Ballinger

  “Louie,” Mina said, trying to wake the Prince. “Louie!”

  ` Mina had entered his room and she quickly opened the curtains, which immediately woke Louie up with blinding sun.

  “AH!” Louie moaned, covering his eyes. He peeked through his hands to see Mina peering at him. “Mina… I remember yesterday saying to you people that I was sleeping in.”

  “Yes, I know, but I need to show you something. Get dressed and come downstairs.”

  Louie watched Mina as she walked toward the door and playfully through a pillow at her. Mina immediately ducked.

  “HA!” she said, smiling.

  Louie laughed as she walked out of his room. Those simple, playful moments were the best to him. As hard as it was to be in love with her, even just being her friend gave him comfort. Even though Mina and Sedgwick hadn’t spoken since before her miscarriage, Louie still felt guilty for loving her, out of loyalty to his brother. But the opportunity to be her friend was too tempting to turn down.

  Louie entered the living room where Mina was pulling out some folders. Mina had been more comfortable in the house for the past three months, since she felt Louie was her friend and she had the right to be there. Besides, the King was traveling more, especially to Loren City to help Sedgwick.

  “So, you woke me up for some folders?” Louie asked, staring at the different color folders on the coffee table.

  “Shut up. These folders contain my proposal and plans for the Serenity Foundation.”

  “Interesting.” Louie scratched the top of his head.

  “Are you growing your hair out?” she asked him.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “I like your buzz cut.” Mina shrugged to herself, realizing how much she loved the blond buzz that covered Louie’s head. She noticed how it brought out the beauty of his face more, from the narrow cheekbones to the soft shape of his lips to his green emerald eyes like Queen Serene’s. Through their growing bond, Mina actually started to really see just how beautiful Louie was. Sedgwick was handsome, with the same features as Louie, except more hair and grey eyes, but that was just it, Mina thought. Sedgwick was handsome. Louie was beautiful.

  “Mina?” Mina snapped out of her lingering observation of Louie.

  “What?”

  Louie stared at her, looking confused. “You zoned out.”

  Mina blushed and smiled. “Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?”

  “I was asking if you like my hair really short?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  Louie shrugged, pretending it wasn’t a big deal. “Okay, I’ll cut it.”

  “Good,” Mina said, trying to remember what she wanted to tell Louie. “Okay, yeah, um, so I have a proposal to basically reinvent Serenity Foundation.”

  “Isn’t Mrs. Marteau in charge of that?”

  “Yes, but she hasn’t done anything with it. And she easily gave me the charity.”

  “You already have control of it?”

  “Well, no, I just have permission to do it from her.”

  “But you know the foundation is in my mother and father’s name, meaning…”

  “Meaning I need the King’s permission to do it. I know.”

  “Why do you want to do this?”

  “I want to rebuild the community centers in the neighborhoods. I want to change things. No offense, but the tax raise and the minimum wage deduction has caused turmoil for a lot of Serenians. I hear stuff from Serenians who wish to leave the country and move to Magna or England or Russia, for God’s sake! Serenity isn’t feeling like the land of… well serenity anymore to people.”

  “And you think a few community centers will change it?”

  “No jackass, but it’s a start. Did you know the gang-related crime rate has gone up, especially in the capitol? You have to start somewhere, Louie. Why not sneak through the back door?”

  Louie smiled at Mina. Her heart and devotion to change and helping others reminded him so much of his mother. Queen Serene created the foundation to give people hope. Despite what Louie’s father said about people that were labeled beneath them, his mother always told him the truth:

  “No man or woman is beneath another. No King or Queen is above a world full of great people. Remember that, Louie. We are all God’s children; we are equal. He made us to love each other,” Queen Serene had told Louie when he was nine years old.

  “Then how come everyone doesn’t love each other, Mama?” a young Louie had curiously asked while his mother and Jezebel worked in the garden.

  “Because people have flaws and those flaws can be very powerful,” she had answered, removing her garden glove and pressing her hand against her son’s chest. “But when you trust in your heart, Louie, you can overcome those flaws. Those are the pure-hearted ones. They’re not perfect, but their hearts are full of so much love and strength that in God’s eyes they are close enough to perfect. I believe you my Son are a pure heart. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”

  As Queen Serene continued gardening, she looked at Louie who seemed confused and touched his chest. She glanced at Jezebel who was watching him and giggling, then looked back at him. “You know who else is a pure heart, Louie?”

  “Who?”

  “Mina.” Louie hinted a smile.

  “I think he’s blushing,” Jezebel teased.

  “Ew! Come on Jezebel, no way. She’s gross!” Louie made a grossed out look and ran away while Serene and Jezebel laughed.

  “Louie?” Louie snapped out of his memory and looked up at Mina who was staring at him. She slowly grinned. “Who’s zoning out now?”

  Louie chuckled. “Sorry, but that’s cool Mina, that’s really cool. My mother would have loved something like that.”

  “You mean, now? She does love it.”

  Louie rolled his eyes. “Mina, don’t start.”

  “Okay, Mr. I don’t believe in a higher power, but my whole title as a royal family should require me too.”

  “Since when do I do things traditionally as a Prince?”

  “True, but seriously, I want to do this and I need to do this. Play time is over. I’m twenty-three years old; it’s time for me to start reaching my dreams.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Yes, I am,” Mina said chipperly and Louie smacked his lips at her cockiness. “But I need you… to go to Sedgwick so he can present this to Caius.” She repeated the last sentence quickly to him.

  “Um, yeah Mina, I don’t know.”

  Mina sat on the couch next to Louie. “Come on, Louie, you know I can’t talk to Caius. He doesn’t even care about this, and Sedgwick, given our recent history and that we haven’t talked to each other in six months, I’m not ready to see, let alone talk to him.”

  “How do you even know Sedgwick can talk to Dad about this?”

  “In your own words, ‘Caius will do anything to help Sedgwick look good to the people.’”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Look, just come with me to West Village, the kids there need inspiration and someone to care about them. Who better than a Prince?”

  “I know, I used to play soccer at West Village.”

  “What? How?”

  “Me and Bartleby paid one of the limo drivers to take us there. Wesley and Max were there to guard us from afar. Kids there didn’t even know who I was. I think that’s why I liked it so much.”

  “And Caius didn’t know?”

  “I think he did, he just was probably secretly hoping I would get stabbed or shot there.” Mina sighed and stared at her friend with concern.

  “Come on Louie, he wouldn’t want that. He’s many things, but not that.”

  “Mina,” Louie placed his hand on top of her knee and for some reason, Mina’s breath hitched at his soft touch on her knee. Maybe it was the fact it had been a while since she felt a man’s hand on her, she thought. “No sad stuff. Let me go get Wesley and Samson. He will drive us there.”

  “Okay,” she said quietly.

  After Louie exit
ed the living room, Mina couldn’t help but stare at her knee where the Prince’s hand had been. She still felt the touch of his hand, like an afterglow. Feeling uncomfortable, she rubbed her knee, pressing her palm firmly against it, trying to take away the pleasure that had risen in her.

  +

  Louie and Mina rode through West Village with Wesley and Samson driving them and Jefferson and Eames following in the black car behind them.

  “You know I used to live here,” Mina said.

  “Really?”

  “Yep, before my mom died.”

  “You never told me about your dad,” Louie said as he glanced out the tinted window at the litter cluttering the streets of West Village.

  “He was a gang member. He and my mom had me when they were seventeen. He was caught for murder when I was two. Three years later he died in prison. They say prisons in Serenity are truly hell on Earth.”

  “So, I heard. My great grandfather apparently wanted them, by the way.”

  “Yeah, too bad, some people there don’t deserve it.”

  “You mean like your dad?”

  “No, my dad was a monster, from what I hear. But people who steal are in the same prisons as hardcore murderers.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Maybe when Sedgwick is King, he’ll change it. Change a lot of things.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I mean, look at it. Serenity, ‘the golden country,’ they call it. There is nothing about this that looks golden,” Mina said, pointing to the dead and lifeless atmosphere outside. The buildings were old and rugged. On every street corner dealers, pimps, and prostitutes stood, selling. Buildings were painted in colors to signify gangs’ turf.

  “My father believes Serenity only exists on the opposite sides of the tracks, literally. He believes it’s the people’s responsibility to change, and he might be right. But if you continue to be treated like animals, you start to act like it. These people are so deep rooted into their problems that they can’t get up and do something, so they continue to act ignorant to the real cause of change, nobility, and love. They need hope. Hope that someone cares.”

  “Wow,” Louie looked at Mina who was gazing at him with her mouth slightly open as if he had stars in his eyes.

  “What?”

  “You sound like a…” Mina paused, observing the beauty of Louie yet again.

  “A what Mina?” Louie chuckled, trying to understand.

  “Of a−"

  “We’re here, Your Highness,” Wesley informed them before Mina could say it. Louie easily dismissed her truth, but Mina could not shut it out so easily. It was there; the possibility, the doubt, the one thing that would soon come out of the dark and into the light.

  +

  Meanwhile as Mina and Louie’s fondness for each other grew, temptation appeared to Sedgwick in the form of a 5’8 brunette whose outfits seemed to get tighter and tighter every day at his office.

  “Your coffee, Your Highness,” she said, licking her bottom lip and placing the mug on his desk.

  Sedgwick hesitated before saying thank you. As months passed, he could feel his body on fire with lust for his secretary, but still hopeful about a future with Mina, he looked but did not touch. And how badly Riley wanted him to touch. She found the Crown Prince intriguing and handsome. And his title was also captivating. The idea of sleeping with royalty intrigued her. Being a girl from the poor side of town, she was always on the hunt for rich, eligible men, and the Crown Prince was the ultimate treasure for her.

  “Your Highness, excuse me if I’m intruding, but you seem stressed,” she said to Sedgwick who was rubbing his temple while reviewing classified documents.

  “No, you’re okay. I have been tense lately. Thank you for being concerned, but I’ll be okay,” Sedgwick smiled at her.

  “Of course.” She leaned over his desk and Sedgwick saw the preview of her cleavage that seemed to be calling out his name. “But if you need me to help you with that stress,” she spoke in a quiet tone, both elegant and seductive. Sedgwick considered her a siren. “I will.” She gazed into his eyes. “I’m very good at it.” Riley bit her lip and smiled. Once she left his office, Sedgwick released the breath he had been holding.

  +

  “Hello Your Highness,” greeted the manager of the broken down community center, curtseying in front of Louie and hugging Mina when they stepped inside.

  “Louie, this is Ericka,” Mina introduced.

  “Hello, Mina tells me you guys need help.”

  “Yes, Sir,” said Ericka. She led them on a tour around the building. It had busted windows with bars and smelled of mold. The walls were barely white with thick layers of dust. Ericka talked about how most of the children there lived on the streets and had no parents. She also mentioned that they hadn’t received many donations from the royal family since the Queen died.

  “I’m not shocked by that,” Louie muttered and shook his head. The least his father could do was maintain his own mother’s legacy. But Louie was also disappointed in himself. He should have thought of this instead of doing nothing. He was thankful that Mina did what he hadn’t.

  As the tour continued, Louie stopped for a moment and saw a little boy playing with a basketball in a room that looked like it could have asbestos in it. Louie curiously walked in while Mina and Ericka talked about the center’s needs.

  “Hey,” Louie greeted the boy. The little boy looked up at a tall Louie and Louie was not surprised that he did not know who he was.

  “Hey.”

  “Nice ball.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So, you play?” Louie sat next to the boy.

  “Yeah… well sort of.”

  “Sort of?”

  “There isn’t a hoop here, and I can’t go to the courts on Luther Street because the gangs are always shooting each other.”

  “I used to play over there.”

  “Really? Aren’t you rich?”

  “Yeah, but here’s something new to learn, even the rich aren’t as happy as they seem.”

  “Well, I feel like if I was rich, as long as I used my money for something good and the people I care about, I would be happy.”

  Louie laughed. “That’s a good point.”

  The little boy squinted and his face dropped. “You’re the Prince!”

  Louie laughed some more. “Yeah, I am.”

  The little boy quickly stood up and started to bow but was stopped by Louie when he placed his hands on his arms. “No, kid. There’s no need, seriously.”

  “I see you on TV. All I want to know is how does it feel to date a supermodel?”

  Louie laughed some more. “It’s cool.”

  “I bet. I also heard you and the Princess of Magna hooked up.”

  “Not true, but she’s nice.”

  “Yeah, I just know the crap because my sister reads those magazines. She even used to have a poster of you on her wall from Cosmo until we lost it.”

  “You lost your house?”

  “Yeah, we live in my dad’s car.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  The boy nodded at Louie just as Mina and Ericka walked in.

  “I see you have met Jamie,” Ericka said.

  “Yeah. He’s a wise kid,” Louie said.

  “Jamie, let’s go prepare lunch for everyone,” Ericka said, reaching her hand out to him.

  “See ya, later,” Jamie said.

  “See ya,” Louie said back.

  “So… What do you think?” Mina asked him as they left.

  Louie stood for a moment staring at Mina. “Im gonna do it.”

  Mina smiled broadly. “You’re going to talk to him?”

  “No… I’m going to provide the funds for this and talk to my father about it.”

  “Wait what? Louie do you think Caius is really going to let you take on this project?”

  “Yeah, he is.”

  Mina was confused. “Why?”

  “Because… he thinks I’ll fail.�
��

  +

  After visiting the foundation center, Louie wasted no time knocking on his father’s office door as soon as he got home.

  “Come in.” Louie entered at the sound of his father’s voice.

  Caius looked up, sighed, and sat back in his office chair, staring at Louie. “What do you want?”

  “I want to take over the Serenity Foundation,” Louie said point blank.

  Caius narrowed his eyes at him, shocked at what he had just heard. “You want to do what?”

  “The Serenity Foundation… I think it’s about time we bring it back.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, it will look good for this family, especially with Sedgwick working in Loren and Metropolis. It’s about time I learn to help, you always say that.”

  “Ok,” Caius said, turning back to signing documents.

  “Don’t you want me to present a plan to you?” Louie asked, knowing there was no point.

  “Louie, you don’t need a plan, because frankly I don’t think you are going to see this through.”

  Louie smiled faintly and shook his head. “Well Dad, hopefully you’re wrong.”

  “You forget Son, I’m rarely wrong when it comes to you,” Caius smirked.

  Louie didn’t respond with his usual comeback or stoop to his father’s expectations this time. He wanted to make good on his promise. He had to do it for Mina and for his mother. More importantly, he wanted to do it for himself. It was time for a change.

  Chapter 10

  Look After You

  “Okay, so I was thinking we can put more basketball courts and a library at the center. We place a football/soccer field in the back. There’s an old abandoned building we can tear down to make space for that. I also want to interview our police here, because I believe there is more we can do to stop the gang violence. Also Jeff, call the Republic and tell them to donate some more money. I know they got more than they say they do,” Louie said, walking back and forth in the board meeting. “Will, I want you to be the liaison for the workers at the center, and have Tara revaluate them, make sure they’re there for the right reasons. We need to create an outreach group to pull people in. We will add another wing to the center for families living on the street. Then we’ll go to local businesses that are hiring and bring the parents who need work to them. This is where it starts, people. Before you know it, we could rebuild neighborhoods in Serenity. I looked up all the centers in Serenity; we have thirty-five. That’s not enough. After we get done remodeling the capitol center, we are going to each county in Serenity, and then each city in that county.”