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"But Master Niall! The Queen clearly says you must wed before the first yellow leaves of autumn drop. It is only January now, but you need time to make preparations!" Niall rolled his eyes, waving his hands out dismissively to what the worker said.
"How many times have I told you Harry? When it's you and I, you call me Nialler or Niall. None of this Master or Prince nonsense." Harry chuckled at the blonde boy in front of him, shaking his head.
"You are the Prince of Ireland, I kind of have to call you master regardless." Harry pointed out, and Niall scoffed. "And I'm only twenty years of age, why on earth do I have to get married!?" The prince-like maturity Niall usually portrayed began to slip as he became stubborn and whiny.
"You know the Queen and King would like you to marry the man of your choice--marriage equality is a big deal to this family. For you to come out as gay in a way such as dedicating yourself to another man by law would be huge for the Morguiness Kingdom."
Niall sighed, knowing the housemaid was right. "I know, I know. It's just not fair." The boy pouted, poking his lip out. "It isn't," Harry agreed. "But life isn't fair. That's the way things work in this kingdom, and there's no way to change that." With a pat on the back, the worker now stood up from his seat across Niall.
"Get some sleep, Prince. Your big day is tomorrow; there will be so many fit princes, there's no way your soulmate isn't there." He kissed the blonde's head before shutting the light off and softly closing the door as he left.
"Okay Prince Niall, on the end of the countdown you start your descent down the main staircase, understand? You are to walk until you reach the bottom where Mr. Tomlinson awaits you. He will then take you to the center of the room where we announce the start of the night, and each prince will line up to dance with you. Do you understand, Master?" The head guard spoke quickly into Niall's ear as he nodded, listening intently.
"I do understand Mr. Higgins, thank you. When does the countdown begin?" He looked to his right, waiting a response from the guard.
"As soon as the King and Queen have arrived and taken their seats where they shall watch your interaction with the other young Princes. Which is....now." Mr. Higgins tapped a finger to his headset, glancing at the Prince. Niall's heartbeat quickened a bit, now alert as he was to begin his descent.
"Guards please slowly begin to open the doors to the grand staircase, thank you. And here we go, the countdown begins. Off you are, Prince Niall, on the 1. Ten..Nine..Eight..Seven.."
Niall was glad to have Mr. Higgins as the head guard signaling his descent, because he was very calming and informed Niall of every detail to happen that night.
"Six..Five..Four..Three..Two..And one. Go now, Master." With a slight nudge to his lower back, Niall stepped through the now open doors and stood atop the staircase. He straightened himself out as he felt the eyes of hundreds on him, waiting for his walk down the steps.
As he went down, he made eye contact with his parents sitting in their Royal seats, and saw as they nodded their approval at him. His mother gave him a warm smile, his father with a proud look in his eyes.
Looking around, he saw his close friends and staff members around the bottom of the steps. Ms. Edwards, the head maid--known to him in private as Perrie. Mr. Malik, or Zayn as the head Butler, and his father's righthand-man.
And finally Mr. Tomlinson or Louis who was the Prince's own righthand-man, as a lower but still high ranked butler than Zayn.
On his last few steps, Louis held a hand out for him to take. Niall reached for it, giving the crowd another once over before connecting his hand with Mr. Tomlinson. As his eyes caught the gaze of another pair, he lost his footing. He stumbled and landed in a heap at Louis' feet, only to hear the crowd collectively gasp.
Louis pulled the flushed Prince to his feet quickly, brushing any dirt away from his off-white suit quickly. Niall payed no mind, searching for the brown eyes once more. "Are you alright Prince Niall?" Louis whispered, guiding Niall gently to the center of the room where his parents sat, concern and embarrassment in their eyes.
"I'm fine, yes. Thank you Lou." Niall patted his back as he released his hold on the Prince. "It's Mr. Tomlinson at times like this, remember?" He whispered before walking back to his spot at the staircase. Niall mouthed his reassurance to his parents, before straightening himself up.
"Ahem. Thank you all, for coming this evening to the wed-choosing of our own Niall." His mother began, standing in front of her seat. The King stood as well, and cut her off.
"Aside from his little accident, he is well, as he assured us and we shall now begin. May the princes step forward and begin your dance with him!"
That night Niall met many people of every size, culture, religion, and even some who didn't speak English. Despite all that, not one Prince stood out to him.
"Hello Prince Niall. I am Prince Ricardo Gonzales of Guatemala, and I would like you to know it would be an honor to marry you." His thick Guatemalan accent took him over, his tongue rolling every word. As they danced in circles around the floor, Niall awkwardly looked over his shoulder looking for those brown eyes from before.
Ricardo had brown eyes, but they weren't THE brown eyes.
"Also, I'm very good in bed and would bottom any day if that meant having your delicious coc-"
"Okay! That's enough! Mr. Tomlinson, please, another!" Niall shooed Prince Ricardo away toward Mr. Higgins to remove him from the dance area.
"Just fifteen more, Prince Niall, and then we're done." Niall sighed, exhausted and upset he didn't find one man who had caught his attention.
He gave up hope, deciding they were either too weird, rude, or sexual. Some were nice, but they were people Niall would rather have as friends than as his husband. So when the last prince showed up for his turn, he was quite shocked to say the least.
"This here is Prince Liam Payne of Wolverhampton, he's the last one you dance with before you decide." Mr. Higgins said, stepping away. Again, Niall found himself caught in those same brown eyes from before as the boy, Liam, bowed in front of Niall. The blonde blushed, because none of the other men had bowed for him before, as if Liam was asking permission to dance.
Niall bowed back, and for once, was the one to reach for the prince rather than the usual other way around. "Hello." Liam said, smiling softly down at Niall.
"Hello Prince." Niall replied, looking up into the eyes of Liam. It felt as if Niall had known Liam longer than any of the other princes in the room. He immediately relaxed into the arms of Liam, sighing happily. "I saw your trip down the stairs earlier...how charming." Liam grinned, teasing Niall. Niall's cheeks turned pink at that, and he let out an embarrassed chuckle.
"I'm sorry, but if I remember correctly, I was distracted by you, Prince Liam." He whispered up to the grinning boy.
"Well I didn't mean to make you fall for me." Liam whispered back. Niall let out a loud laugh, attracting the attention of others around him. He quickly put a hand over his mouth, his cheeks turning pink once more.
Liam chuckled at the boy, and twirled him gently. When Niall came spinning back, Liam held him gently against his chest. "You're cute." Liam whispered, smiling shyly. Niall saw the way his eyes seemed to soften as he said that, his smile genuine.
The Mullingar Prince looked down at his shoes shyly, trying to hide a smile, but Liam was quick to lift his head up with a gentle finger under his chin.
"You're cute yourself, Mr. Payne. Not to mention better than any of the other men to dance with me tonight, if I'm honest."
"Please, none of this 'Mr. Payne' nonsense. It's Liam when we're alone, formally known as Prince Liam of course."
"Well in that case, it's very nice to meet you, Liam Payne of Wolverhampton." Niall smiled up at the boy yet again. Liam returned the smile, pulling the boy in from another gentle twirl.
"Not as nice as it is to meet you, Niall Horan of Mullingar." He took Niall's hand and pressed a gentle kiss there, only to see the pink blush that of course arose on the boy's cheeks.
"Master Niall, I hate to interrupt, but it is time you make a decision after meeting all the fine Princes tonight."
Niall was seated beside his parents as he waited for everyone to calm down. They had given him fifteen minutes to think about which prince he picked, but he already knew.
His staff (friends) even knew, as they had gushed over the connection the two had together. "I could feel the fireworks from across the room when he kissed your hand!" Louis had shouted.
"Niall, no other Prince had made you blush, and we all saw how gentle Prince Liam was with you." Perrie gushed, almost failing to keep her professional attitude up in the noisy room while they sat talking.
Now he stood, after getting the signal from Mr. Higgins to do so. "Excuse me? Yes, hello. First of all, thank you all for coming here tonight, and to all the Princes traveling from countries across the world. Anyway, what I would like to say is that I have made my decision." Niall announced his decision, saying that of all the kind faces he met, Prince Liam Payne of Wolverhampton was the one to catch his attention. After that, they would go on small dates for months, have movie nights, steal kisses, and sneak out at night.
So that's how they found themselves eight months later, in their shared room in the Morguiness Kingdom Castle. Liam had packed up from home and joined Niall, preparing to rule the Kingdom of Ireland alongside his husband. Niall made sure to wed the day the first yellow leaves of Autumn fell, just to piss him mum off, of course. They had just come from their wedding, and instead of a honeymoon in another country, they decided they'd stay in and maybe have their first time together.
So one thing turned to another, and then Niall found himself under his husband, moaning out his name. Niall would be teased by his staff (now his group of friends) about being a bottom when it came to sex, but he didn't care because it was Liam rocking into him.
Of course, the next morning wouldn't be complete without Perrie coming in to clean, only to find the two going at it once again. And of course, the rest of their group of friends would find out about Liam's liking to being called Master during sex.--Something embarrassing was bound to happen to the two now-Kings.
For once in his life, Niall didn't have to pretend to be so composed and calm, because Liam was there, and Liam always kept him composed and calm for real.
Even though Niall thought he wasn't prepared at twenty years old, he now realized that having his other half meant someone to share life with. And he couldn't imagine ruling a Kingdom without Liam.