Callum had gladly given the man his name. "It's Callum, and nevermind all that 'Prince' stuff. It's not necessary." Although he knew, technically, it was. Anyone with a lower status was to call him Prince Callum, or in some cases just Prince. His lone name was reserved only for his family and other nobility. It was the custom of the Kingdoms of the Arch. For some reason though, formalities felt odd between him and the pirate--Theodore--He reminded himself. Infact he doubted it could get any less informal between the man and him. "Of course it did, that event became the stuff of story-books." Callum smiled at Theodores second-hand description of the King, "That all sounds about right. King Berians wife passed away a few years ago.His court claims she choked in her sleep, saliva or something equally disgusting. Though speculation has it that the King and his wife were bedding and he was too heavy for her to take," He remember when his father first mentioned the alternative to her 'official' death, the whole family had erupted in laughter. Callum thought it was hilarious to this day, but at the time he had barely understood what bedding meant. Just laughed to match his brothers, it had been a little while later that he figured it out. Callum and Theodore sat there chuckling at the princes little story, when a knock came to the door. "Forgive the intrusion m'Lord, but tis feed time for the prisoners," A frail, old voice rang through the small slot in the door. Callum waved a quick goodbye and left the man to his food.
The next four weeks had been tiresome for the boy. There was enormous surge of men being sentenced, which meant just as many extra reports. He felt like he was drowning in them some days. And, when he wasn't trapped under mountains of paper he was on a cart-ride to the Northern Province to visit the real Prince William. In less than a month they probably visited the couple more times than they did in the 6 years since he left home. It wasn't so terrible, except for the part when Callum was left to himself for most of the time. His mother was off with his 'sister' oohing and ahing over growing belly. While his father was taking William on several one-on-one hunts since he wouldn't be able to when the baby arrived. Resulting in Callum wandering around the courtyard, chatting with a few a guards here and there but nothing beyond that. He wasn't allowed in the market without an escort, so he was stuck within the walls. One of the side effects of being the youngest child was your parents insisted on forever treating you like a baby. He did manage to get out to the stalls once during the many trips. There were more doubloons which immediately snatched up, he had 10 now, he had no idea if that was worth anything to a real pirate though. He also bought a large stack of writing paper as well as a quill and inkwell.
Towards the end of the month the visit became less frequent. It was to be expected, winter was fast approaching and the horses had a difficult in Junia's typically deep snows. The incessant traveling had result in Callum a huge amount of catch-up work to do. He stayed up into the early hours of the morning each day trying to complete them. By the end of the week he was worn quite thin. On the last Saturday of the month Callum had woken in a particularly foul mood. Walking through the dining hall, he passed his parents as they ate their morning meals. "Callum. Why do you skip meals so often as of late? Come eat with us dear." The boy just shrugged and headed for the door on the otherside of the hall. Suddenly, his father stood up "Young man, abide your mother! That forsaken prison can wait!" The King roared, face red. Callum turned around with a scowl on his face, "And do what? Eat food I don't want? Listen to you two yap about 'the baby'? Unlike some people, I have work to do!" His faced stayed relatively quiet, but clearly was laced with anger.
Callum stormed out of the castle not even glancing towards his study and the pile of reports left undone. Without so much as nod or 'good morning' to any of the guards, he breezed through the courtyard to the dungeons. He practically ran up the stairs and threw open the pirates door. Not even a care if he woke him or walked in at inappropriate time, Callum slammed the door behind. "Ugh, the nerve of him. I don't care about Will! I don't care about his obnoxious wife! And I certainly don't care about their damned brat!" He slammed down onto the bench, crossing his arms over his chest angrily. "What if I don't want to gallavant back and forth to do nothing? What if I'd rather stay home while they left to visit? I'm damn-near 20 years old and they treat me like I'm still at my mothers breast!" Callum stopped and took a deep breath, counting to ten in an attempt to calm himself. "Sorry about that.. I just.. ugh," He let a long, baited sigh. The poor prince was clearly at his wits end.