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This story is a fairytale, although it may not always seem that way. It starts with a “once upon a time”, and involves a beautiful Prince, a lavish castle and an elegant, masked ball. And although these things all seem very fancy and high-class, sometimes things might not be as they seem. But anyway, as long as you understand all that, let’s get on with the story.
Once upon a time, there was a fair Prince from the ruling family Diaz, Edmundo (known as Eddie to his friends). And Eddie had a little bit of a problem. Well, OK, a pretty big problem. He had just had his twenty-fourth birthday little over a week before, and the King and Queen had very kindly reminded him that he was to be married by twenty-five. The ancient law stated that an ascending King, who was required to take over the Crown by this age, had to be married or he would have to forfeit. And, as Eddie had no brothers or sisters, if he didn’t find a suitor, the house of Kendall would take over the kingdom.
So, you see, therein lay Eddie’s problem. He had less than a year to find someone, marry them, and be crowned as the rightful ruler of the kingdom.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have an endless supply of suitors. His parents had been bringing young women to the palace ever since he was thirteen, in hopes that he would find someone that he could click with. Because, they said, love is important too. None of those girls turned out to be the one, although one, Shannon, had come close, he had left home at eighteen to go to college in a different land and she had fled the kingdom. The King and Queen had been hopeful that their son would find a young lady and bring her home to meet them in his college years but were always disappointed when he showed up alone every time.
During his time away, he had a revelation. He found out that he also liked boys, and, unbeknown to his parents, he found one, called Thomas, that he thought he could fall in love with. They had kissed at an event thrown by the college in his second year and had been inseparable up until almost the end of his fourth year. But this young man left to follow his dream in America, and Eddie had been left behind, heartbroken, with a feeling that he was never going to find anyone as good as Thomas.
A few months after he arrived back at the palace, he told the King and Queen that, although he hadn’t been successful in finding a future Queen, he was open to finding another King to rule the land with him. They did not react well to this, telling him not to be so silly, two Kings could not rule. It had never happened before, and surely there were laws against it? As it turned out, there weren’t. Gender wasn’t specified in any of the constitutions, the wording was consistent, referring to “the ruler” and “his or her spouse” throughout. A quick meeting with the parliament had confirmed that same sex partnerships in the Royal Family were legal, even though it had never happened before.
So, the King and Queen set about trying to find an eligible young bachelor for their precious son. The criteria wasn’t strict, Eddie only had three years to find and marry by then, but they had to be of good breeding, or have a name of good standing in the kingdom. The children of counts, noblemen, foreign royal families and diplomats were sought. As were the children of various celebrities that had become friends of the Palace over the years. None even came close to being a match. The son of a celebrity chef was the closest, but after a couple of dates, they realized they had absolutely nothing in common, and went their separate ways.
That brings us back to where we started. Twenty-four years old, and time was running out fast. Realistically, he only had a few months, as wedding planning was going to take a while. No running off and eloping, not for a Prince. A proper Royal wedding took around six months to prepare at the very least. As a last-ditch attempt, the King and Queen had widened their net ever so slightly and had invited some of the most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes in the kingdom to a masked ball that weekend. Their son had to find someone there. There was no way that he could reject everyone that had been invited.
The invites had been sent, and RSVP’s started flooding in. Although he was told in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t allowed to look at them, one evening, when everyone was asleep, he’d crept into his father’s office and shuffled through them, rolling his eyes and scoffing at around half of them. Princess Grace was a lesbian, for a start. Robert Nash Jr. Was the straightest man he had ever seen in his life. Man was a walking gym-bro, played rugby on the weekends and took part in illegal street fights during the week (not that anyone knew that, of course, it was a secret. But the palace staff know everything.).
He was lying in his bed one morning, groaning at the very thought of having to perform for all these people, when his housekeeper, Madeline, walked in.
“S-sorry, didn’t realize you were here. I’ll come back later.” She stammered, backing out of the door, but Eddie just looked over at her.
“You can stay if you want to. Don’t worry about the mess in here, I’ll tidy up later, no one will know. Come, sit, listen to me vent. Unless you have something else to do...” He coaxed, and gingerly, Madeline sat in the computer chair beside the bed.
“What do you want to vent about?” She asked, to which, Eddie groaned again and stared at the ceiling.
“Well, Maddie...you don’t mind if I call you Maddie? Or is it always Madeline?” She shook her head and told him that Maddie was fine, and to go on. “It’s this ball tomorrow night. It seems so pointless. It’s been eleven years, and, apart from two people, one who left me for another country, and another who couldn’t put up with my parents after I left for college, there’s been no one that I’ve really clicked with, you know? These people my parents have invited, they’re all so stuck-up and snobby, I’ve seen their types all before, dated them before. Sometimes I wonder...” He sighed and paused, glancing over at Maddie. “It doesn’t matter...” He finished lamely.
“No, go on, it obviously matters to you. Sometimes you wonder what?” She pressed. Another sigh. The next words were big ones. If his parents heard them then they’d probably break their hearts.
“Sometimes I wonder if I should just find a normal person, you know? Not someone royal, or from a “good family” or whatever. Just a normal, unknown person. Not that they’d let me find someone like that, God forbid I dilute the gene pool, or bring someone in that might embarrass the family.” He started to rant. “And even if they did let me date someone like that, it’s probably too late now anyway. This is one of my last chances to find someone. So, I’m going to need to settle or give up the throne to the Kendalls. And there’s no way I’m doing that.”
Maddie listened intently and nodded along, making sounds of agreement as he spoke. But an idea had slipped into her head as he spoke. One which, if she could pull it off, might help, but would also be incredibly risky. There was a chance that she’d lose her position in the palace if she got caught. But then again, it might be worth it.
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The evening of the ball came, and, reluctantly, Eddie got himself ready, downed a shot of whiskey (to steady his nerves) and headed to the ballroom, where his assorted guests were waiting for him to arrive. The atmosphere was electric, and everyone looked so elegant. Suits and dresses of almost every color, with masks to match, on display. When it got to 11.45pm, he felt like he hadn’t stopped all evening. He’d danced with just about everyone there, had figured out who most of them were (and wondered why the Hell some of them were invited. Doug Kendall? His rival? That guy gave him the absolute creeps. He’d rather marry anyone else in the room, and that included Princess Grace. He could survive a sexless, loveless marriage if it meant not giving Doug the title of King.). Excusing himself for a moment to get a drink, he walked over to the table that held the punch bowl and scooped some into a glass. Then he turned to pass the ladle to the person beside him and froze as he stared into a pair of mesmerizing light blue eyes. They were almost obscured by an ornate black mask, one which looked like it cost a lot of money, with small jewels dotted around it, sparkling under the lights, like stars in a black night sky. Above it, a head of dark blond hair, sitting perfectly, not one out of place. Below it, a beautiful, wide smile surrounded by a pair of soft pink lips.
Taking a step back, he looked the man up and down and almost choked on his drink. He was tall, a little taller than Eddie, maybe by a couple of inches. The black suit looked a little tight around the arms, like his biceps were straining to get out, but he managed to pull it off, and the trousers looked a couple of inches short on those long legs of his. The shoes looked a little worn, like he wore them all the time, or they were old and he had just pulled them on in the absence of finding newer ones.
The man just stood and mirrored Eddie, eyes flitting up and down as if he was searching for something. Then he gave Eddie a grin and leaned in towards him.
“I, um, I don’t think I’ve danced with you yet, your Royal Highness.” There was a twinkle in his eye, and, after very un-regally downing the drink in his hand, he let the stranger lead him onto the dance floor.
Taking their positions, the stranger resting a warm hand on Eddie’s back, the other taking his hand, he almost jumped in place. A sudden burst of energy seemed to surge through him as they stood there, and it only seemed to get stronger as the man spun him around.
“It appears you know who I am, so I should really ask who you are. I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” Eddie pondered quietly. Another grin.
“You haven’t seen me before. At least, I don’t think you have. And as for who I am, that’s a secret.” He murmured back. “Unless you can guess who I am by the end of the song, that is...” He challenged, and Eddie raised his eyebrows.
“Twenty questions, really?” Yeah, it was a masked ball and everything, but he knew everyone here, apart from the man in front of him, who was nodding slightly as he maneuvered him around another couple who were kissing in the center of the dance floor. At least someone had found a partner, he thought ruefully. “OK, I’ll bite.” A raised eyebrow from the other man. “Not in that way!” Eddie laughed, gazing into those gorgeous eyes.
All of his questions, although they were meant to narrow down who this man was, threw up more questions. The last chorus was playing, and he was still no closer to finding out who he was. He’d never been inside the palace before, he wasn’t the child of a footballer, a singer or an actor. He wasn’t the guy that Eddie had seen in the latest James Bond movie. He wasn’t connected to politics, religion or royalty. Neither of his parents had a title. His father was a businessman, but not in an industry that Eddie was familiar with.
“Time’s running out, your Royal Highness, but I’ll give you one last shot.” The blond said. “One more question, and then you’re out of luck and you’ll never know.” There was no way that Eddie was going to figure out who he was in one question, so he shrugged and leaned in close.
“One last question, better make it a good one...I know what I want to ask...” The man looked at him expectantly but said nothing. “Can I kiss you?” Blue eyes gulped and nodded, and without another word, Eddie moved closer and brushed his lips against the soft pink ones in front of him. Electricity ran through his every vein, and he deepened the kiss, pulling him tight against his chest, so close that it seemed like no light would be able to pass between their bodies.
Pulling away as the last few notes faded out, they stared at each other for a second. The taller man’s jaw had dropped slightly, and Eddie was sure his had done the same. He felt...numb, still, like everything else had stopped in the room and all that was left was the two of them standing face to face, hands still joined. Like time had frozen just for them.
“I, uh, I should...really, I should go...” The other man stammered, and, before Eddie could say anything, he had turned on his heels and sprinted out of the room. Eddie tried to follow, desperate to tell him to come back, that they could go somewhere quieter to talk if he wanted to, that he didn’t have to run away. But halfway to the door, his father jumped out in front of him, asking if he had met someone called James. Eddie shook his head and managed to say “not now” before pushing his way out of the ballroom. Looking left and right, he darted towards the main entrance, but it was no use. He couldn’t see anyone. He tried calling out, but there was no answer. Turning around, he started to go back inside, but something at his feet caught his eye. Picking it up, he examined the familiar black velvet mask, decorated with tiny little diamonds, sparkling like the night sky above him, then took a few steps back into the palace. Behind a nearby tree, Evan Buckley watched.
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A week passed, and Prince Eddie was no closer to finding the owner of the black mask. In all honesty, he hadn’t stopped thinking about him. His eyes, the way he spun him effortlessly around the floor, the soft but firm touch on his back, and, most of all, those lips. Lips he would love to kiss again and again. Maybe forever. The way that it had felt that night, he was sure no one else’s kiss could ever come close to the magic he had felt when their lips had joined.
The first thing he’d done the next morning was to tell the King and Queen that he had found someone. And they were delighted. Until he told them that he didn’t get his name and he had never seen him before. “Oh, the uninvited guest.” His father had said, “by the time we realized he wasn’t on the guest list it was almost midnight. He hadn’t caused any trouble, and security were there, so we didn’t see the point in asking him to leave.” It had turned out that his mother had thought his father had invited him, and vice versa.
“Maybe he was brought by another guest?” The Queen suggested. So, Eddie spent the rest of the day combing through the guest list, sending messages to everyone on it to ask if they knew who the mask belonged to, reassuring them that no one would be punished if it was their guest, Eddie just needed to know who the owner was. No one did. Another dead end. His next idea was contacting costume stores, but then he realized that the mask was an older one, probably a family heirloom.
By Friday, he was all out of ideas and ready to give up his hopes of ever meeting his Prince Charming again. He had even spent hours combing through the security footage, in the vain hope that he might have removed his mask at some point, or that it had caught the car he had arrived in. But the mask had stayed on, at least when the cameras were on him, and he seemed to have arrived on foot, coming from the rear of the palace instead of the front gate. The security team had sent someone to investigate the area and found a hole in the fence. That was obviously how he’d gotten in and out without being seen.
Eddie noticed something else, though. When he’d reached the front door that night and tried to call for the owner of the mask, he thought that he’d left already, but the cameras caught movement from behind a tree nearby. Unfortunately, all he could make out was his hair and then his back as he ran off.
Excusing himself from a boring meeting that Friday afternoon, telling his mother that he could feel a migraine coming on, he headed back up to his room and pulled the mask out one more time. He had to find the owner. Even if that, frankly gorgeous, man wanted nothing to do with him, he had to at least try and return it. The thing must be worth a small fortune, especially for someone who might not have much money, judging by the hand-me-down suit and the old shoes.
Sitting by his computer, he threw his head back and groaned. This shouldn’t be so hard. “Think, Eddie, think” he muttered to himself. “What do you know about him?” Not much, was the answer in his head. His height, build, smile, eyes, he’s not from an “important” family, his parents...his father was a businessman! That was what he’d learned from their conversation. He owned a few factories, was what he managed to glean. He turned to type “factories” into Google maps, and promptly spilled the glass of water on the desk all down himself. “Fuck!”
He was in the middle of changing into a dry t-shirt (a Nirvana one, the one he used when he was lounging around the palace, when he didn’t need to be formal), when the door opened.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you were in here. I did knock...I’ll come back.” Maddie apologized, but Eddie just shook his head.
“I must not have heard you. Don’t worry about it. Have you got time to sit and talk?” He asked, and she quickly checked her watch then hesitantly nodded. “Come, sit, talk to me. I’m avoiding work, you should join me. And don’t worry, I’ll take the blame if we get caught. Everyone knows I’m the bad influence in this place.” He laughed, and Maddie let out a small giggle. If only he knew who the bad influences were here, and they were a lot worse than he was. Faking illness to avoid work was child’s play compared to some of her colleagues.
“What do you want to talk about?” she asked tentatively. Eddie, who hadn’t seen her in over a week, filled her in on everything. About the ball, about the man he kissed and how wonderful it was, and how he really thinks that this man is the one...and how no one knew who he was, and he was ready to give up searching.
“All I have to go on is this...” He said, grabbing the mask from his desk. He could swear he heard Maddie let out a small gasp when she saw it, but when he looked at her, she said that she’d choked on her own saliva.
“Nothing else? Not a name, not a distinctive mark, a tattoo, nothing?” She asked, and Eddie studied her carefully. Years of practice and learning meant that he could usually tell when someone was keeping something from him, and he had the feeling that Maddie was.
“No, nothing. I was just about to try and contact the owners of every factory...” Her eyes widened, and Eddie stared at her. “Do you know something?”
“Why would I know something?” She countered, her voice even. “I wasn’t there that night.”
“The staff know everything.” He reminded her. “Now come on, spill! Maddie, I really need to know who he is, because I think I fell in love at first sight with him. I can’t get him out of my mind, and it is absolutely killing me to think I may never find him again.” He moaned. And she was about to say something, confess everything. Tell the Prince that she knew exactly who the uninvited guest to the ball was, when there was another knock at the door, and Athena, the head housekeeper walked in.
“I was wondering where you were. Having a nice break, were we?” she asked sarcastically. Maddie glanced at Eddie, and he gave Athena his best smile.
“Sorry, my fault, I asked her to try and explain something to me. Blame me, not her.” She shook her head and smiled, then told Maddie that her shift was over, and that her brother was waiting in the lobby for her.
Standing up, Maddie started to walk to the door, but Eddie heard himself shout “wait!” way too loud. So loud that Athena turned around too, and she was halfway down the corridor by then. “I’ll walk you out, I need some fresh air anyway.” He offered his arm, she linked hers in his, not caring what anyone in the palace thought. It was such an old-fashioned way of thinking, that the family don’t mix with the staff. Some of the best nights of his life had been spent just hanging around in the security office or helping the chef in the kitchen prepare vegetables for the next day’s dinner.
As soon as they reached the lobby, there was movement. A figure stood up from the chair he had been sitting in (probably told to sit there by Athena. The woman could be quite intimidating when she wanted to be. Eddie thought she’d missed her calling, she should have been in the police force).
“Hey, thought you’d never be finished.” He said, and Eddie’s head shot up. That voice sounded very familiar. As he walked over to them, Eddie stared at him, then caught a pair of mesmerizing light blue eyes, a red birthmark framing his left one. Above them, dark blond hair. The color was the same, but it was a mass of curls that day. A nervous smile, wide, beautiful. Soft pink lips, so familiar...
“I believe this belongs to you.” Eddie smiled nervously back at him, handing him the mask that he’d completely forgotten that he was holding until that moment. “Not the child of a singer, footballer or actor. Nor connected to politics, religion or royalty. You weren’t in James Bond, your parents don’t have a title, and your father owns a few factories in the area.”
“Evan Buckley, Buck. I’m, uh, Maddie’s brother.” He wiped his hands on his jeans, and then thrust it towards Eddie.
“I think we’ve already met.” Eddie laughed but shook it anyway. “And I don’t know about you, but I think we need to talk.”
-----
The whole Kingdom turned out for the Royal Wedding a short eight months later, and cheers could be heard all across the land when “their royal highnesses Mr. Edmundo and Mr. Evan Diaz” were announced. Eddie gazed fondly at his Prince as they said their vows, trying desperately not to cry, so as not to ruin his makeup (because “a Prince has to look his best on his wedding day, and if it requires makeup, then it requires makeup”, his mother had told him). Buck had no such qualms, and the tears were rolling down his face as soon as Eddie had reached the front of the cathedral.
A short month later, they were announced as the new Kings of the country, with a ceremony to follow in the new year. Standing on the balcony of the palace, watching as cars and buses drove past in the distance, Eddie felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist, and he turned his head to give his husband a quick kiss.
“Do you know I’ve had ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’ stuck in my head all day...” Buck grinned. Eddie just rolled his eyes and called him an idiot. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot.” Buck reminded him.
“I know. All yours.” Eddie muttered back, leaning into Buck’s chest. “And I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else.”
As I said in the beginning, this story is a fairytale, and like all good fairytales, it started with a “once upon a time”. And like all good fairytales it ends like this...
They lived happily ever after.