Chapter Text
The next evening they reached John’s village, and left the road and the guards behind so that they could explore a bit on their own. Out in the open country Sherlock could hear various different species of birds calling out to their own kind, totally different than the calls of the city. There was more open air here too, and it was oddly quiet. He almost felt as if he had stumbled into a daydream.
“This is the old part of the village, where I was born actually; no one lives here now, soil’s not right, but in a few generations they’ll come back here.” John led Sherlock by the hand.
Sherlock looked around at the old mud huts, supported by plain wooden planks and covered with thatched straw. So this was where John had come from. He had known it was like this, but he hadn’t quite pictured it before.
“Do you remember your house?” Sherlock asked.
“By the center square.”
“Where’s the center square?”
“Isn’t one anymore, really, Sherlock. That open piece of ground there, where all the weeds are overgrown, the house behind there, I was born there.”
“Then you grew up here,” Sherlock said.
“Yes,” John bounded excitedly to the house, “My mother lit the fire here, my sister and I slept here on the floor. There used to be a cot here for my father, and my grandmother and my mother slept over there.”
Sherlock had to duck his head to enter the tiny, broken down hut, “All of you lived here?”
“We had no choice. Everyone lived like that. They still do in the villages.” John pointed out.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” John said, “I was always very happy.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Sherlock offered.
“I always wondered what it would be like to be a prince though, my own room. You know I’ve never actually had a bed to myself in my life. At home I slept next to Harry on the floor. When I was an apprentice we slept three to a bed. In the army we slept next to each other in the trenches. Then I came back and I started sharing a bed with you.”
“You wouldn’t like it.” Sherlock said simply.
“Oh?”
“The larger the bed the emptier it is. Besides if you wake up in the middle of the night you’re alone. If it’s dark and you’re afraid of the ghosts and the monsters you’re alone. I had a giant bed, all to myself. I had an entire wing of the castle all to myself, actually. Quite grand, I suppose.”
“Lots of servants? Harry and I and the other kids played prince and princess quite a lot. We took turns playing the servants and had a fun time about it.” John laughed at the memory.
“There were a lot of other kids when you were growing up?”
“Course, peasants breed like rabbits, now don’t look at me like that, it’s only okay when I say it.” John said, “Were there any kids at the palace? The noblemen’s children?”
“No. They too were a class below me. Even when they came, they would keep their distance. Mind their courtesies.”
“It’s raining now,” John said quietly, “You want to wait a bit in here before we see some more? I’m a bit tired from all the riding.”
“I’ve never slept on the ground before.”
“It’s not so hard.” John promised.
As they both lay back in the straw Sherlock turned to John, “You know I really detested the idea of getting married.”
“I can imagine.”
“Now. I just—“
“Do you like sleeping with me in that bed, Sherlock?” John asked quietly.
Sherlock nodded just slightly, and that was all the signal John needed. He eased Sherlock into his arms so that the prince’s head was cradled against his chest. Sherlock’s heart rate raced at the proximity and he buried his face deeper into John’s warmth. He had never been held like this, he realized, and he didn’t mind at all that being so close to John he could smell the dirt they were laying in and his sweat from the ride. It just made the moment all the more real.
“You can rest now, Sherlock,” John whispered into his hair as he stroked his back gently, “Just for a little while.”
“We’re being most unproductive.” Sherlock said softly.
“We’ll make up time later.”
Sherlock couldn’t quite remember when he dozed off. It was quite strange for him, actually, falling asleep against someone like that. Yet when he came to his nose was pressed into John’s shirt collar and it was quite dark outside. He listened to the surroundings a bit and noted that it had stopped raining.
“John,” he sat up suddenly, “You have to show me more of the village.”
“Alright,” John said, “But it’s quite dark right now.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“I meant to show you this anyway,” John said, “It’s not too far.”
“What do you want to show me?” Sherlock carefully picked his way through the dirt and weeds to follow John to the outskirts of the old village.
After a few minutes he was afraid he had lost him as the trees grew thick, but then John’s voice called out to him and he heard it above him.
“I’m not climbing up after you!” Sherlock protested.
“When you were a kid,” John said from in the treetops, “You never climbed trees?”
“John we are here on a very important assignment. I have to discover M’s plan. I have no time for this foolish--“
“Scared?” John taunted.
“I am most certainly not scared John. Furthermore such childish tactics will not induce me to do anything! I do not have to listen to you.”
“Oh come up your royal highness.”
“Fine.” Sherlock sighed dramatically, then began to climb up.
“Harder than it looks isn’t it?” John asked.
“Shut up!” Sherlock climbed up one branch, then the other and another and was almost at John’s level when felt himself beginning to, “John—“
“I’ve got you,” John pulled him up the rest of the way, until they were both sitting on a particularly thick branch near the top of the canopy.
“What?” John smiled at him, “Nice view right? You’re actually speechless. You.”
“What is this place?” Sherlock asked.
“Woods by the village. My mum and dad used to sneak up here and kiss, can you believe it? Because they didn’t want their parents to know. He was from a blacksmith’s family and her father was the village headman. Class differences, even then. It’s almost funny.”
Sherlock felt something stir in his chest as John went on, “Can you hear the wind?”
“Flowing from the East. From the capital.” Sherlock said.
“Your capital. My king.”
“John,” Sherlock said nervously, “Did you bring me up here because you wanted to kiss me again?”
“No. I’ve wanted that for a long time. I brought you up here because you’ve decided to let me again.”
“When did I say that?”
“You showed me.”
“When did I show you?”
“When I saw you naked.”
“John.”
“Yeah, Sherlock?”
“Kiss me again.”