Perilous Jaunt Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Peter
That night, Dante left Esme and I alone to go find our dinner.
Esme sat on the opposite side of our tiny fire, holding her knife with careful fingers and memories twinkling in her eyes.
"Why did you do it?" Esme asked out of nowhere, still staring at her knife.
"What?" I asked.
"Earlier," she said, "when you asked me if I was all right. Why?"
I shrugged and shifted in my seat in the dirt. "I dunno. To be nice, I guess,"
"But why would you be nice to me?" Esme said and finally looked up at me. "You've hated me since the first day we met,"
"I don't hate you,"
"Bullshit," Esme said. "I saw how you looked at me the first weeks I was with you, always giving me looks out of the corner of your eye like I stole your breakfast or something,"
"No," I said. "I'm not denying that I hated you at first. I'm just saying that I don't hate you now,"
Esme set her knife down, placing the flat side of the blade against her thigh, and gazed at me with curiosity. "What made you change your mind?"
"I think," I said, "it was when we were back at the church. When you helped Madyson and gave her a chance to start a new life, I guess I realized you weren't all that bad, especially when you gave her your knife,"
Esme looked down at her knife, thinking over what I had just said to her. "Speaking of which, why did you hate me so much when you first met me?"
"Well..." Christ, how I could I have worded it? "You came on pretty strong,"
"Came on?" Esme repeated, her ears twitching with confusion.
"Yeah. You... You acted like you were robbing us at first and then you were talking really..."
"Bitchy?" Esme said, taking a wild guess.
"No!" I said, hoping that she wouldn't get angry with me. "Not bitchy, just...arrogant,"
The kangaroo was quiet for a second and then gave a shrug. "That's fair,"
Wow. I thought for sure she'd kick my ass for saying that.
_ _ "You're not mad?" I wondered in disbelief.
Esme shook her head and sheathed her knife. "Nope. You're right. I can be kind of an ass sometimes. And, now that you mention it, I could have been a little nicer to you,"
"What do you mean?"
Esme sighed and folded her arms. "I knew how much you hated me calling you 'Tiny Prince', but I kept doing it anyway,"
"You liked annoying me?" I asked, not being all that surprised.
"Yeah...but not just because I liked doing it. All you did was whine and complain about everything. And you acted like you were better than me and Dante, like we were shit. You were so annoying and needed to be taken down a peg!"
"Were?" I repeated, my whiskers twitching, curiously.
Esme smiled. "You're much better now. Ever since we left Ophylius, you've been...quieter, for one thing, and sincere. When you helped put Madyson's shirt back on, you didn't complain or look at her like she was some piece of garbage. And, earlier, you came up to me after we killed the Talth and tried to comfort me. Me! You've changed, Tiny Prince, and you talk to me and Dante like we've known each other our entire lives,"
"You guys have been nice to me," I said. "I know I was kind of rude when we first met, but you've taught me stuff I never would have learned from any of my tutors. You don't treat me like a god or anything, either, like everybody else back in Lowpive. You two are honest,"
"You see?" Esme smirked. "You have changed. When we first met, could you have ever said something that nice?"
I thought for a moment and looked at my paws. "No,"
"There's hope for you yet, Tiny Prince," the kangaroo told me. "If you ever do become a king, even if you really don't want to, I'm sure you'll be a good one,"
The blunt honesty of the kangaroo was surprising and made my chest feel lighter. "Thanks, Esme. I... I don't know what to say,"
"I mean it," Esme asserted herself. "And I promise I'll stop calling you Tiny Prince,"
I remained silent.
"You really have changed, Peter," Esme said. "And, you're a much better person now,"