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Gary stood alert at his post, right outside his prince’s bedchamber. All was quiet. That should’ve been a good thing, but knowing his prince was not a quiet sleeper, it made him tense.
He was about to check on his prince when the door opened. Tracey met his gaze, looking forlorn. “I can’t sleep.”
It was strange to think sleeping would be a problem for someone with such a soft bed and soft life. But Tracey was a strange prince.
“You’re safe,” Gary assured him. “If you need anything, I can call for a servant.”
Tracey shook his head. “No need to bother them, I don’t need anything. And I know I have the best knight around right here. Just…” He looked away shyly, a funny behavior from someone who could get just about anything he wanted just by asking. “I think I need some air. Would you take a walk with me?”
Gary nodded dutifully. “Of course, we can’t have you wandering around on your own.”
Tracey’s expression didn’t brighten the way it usually did when Gary agreed to accompany him so he could venture beyond the palace. Gary had a bad feeling about that.
Regardless, Tracey led the way to wherever he wanted to go tonight, and Gary followed, three paces behind.
They emerged in the royal garden. Of course—Tracey loved to watch the bug-types that were drawn in by the abundance of flowers. That didn’t change at night. Venomoth and dustox fluttered about, and volbeat and illumise lit up the garden as they danced together.
Gary was pleased to see some of the tension leave Tracey’s body. He looked back at Gary, a soft smile finally gracing his face. “Walk with me? With me, none of that respectful distance stuff.”
Gary opened his mouth to protest, but Tracey was ready for that. “We’re safe here. Nothing’s gonna sneak up on us just because you’re walking next to me.”
Gary wanted to argue that that’s what a kidnapper or assassin would want him to think, but his will crumbled under Tracey’s pleading gaze. And something was clearly bothering Tracey already—scaring him wasn’t going to help. He went to Tracey’s side and fell into step, propriety be damned. As they walked, Gary knew he should stay alert for any danger that could’ve gotten past the guards posted nearby, but he found himself watching only Tracey.
Tracey didn’t seem quite as tense and forlorn as he’d looked before, but the ghost of a smile from a moment ago had faded. He loved the garden at night, but tonight he wasn’t looking around at the moonlit beauty of it like he was seeing it for the first time. His eyes were dull, paying little attention to the sights around them.
“Your highness? Tracey?” That got Tracey’s attention, and he perked up. “Are you feeling okay?”
Tracey briefly looked surprised by the question, but he nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine. You don’t sound fine.” Gary nudged him. “I’m with you every day, I know what it looks like when something’s bugging you. So spill.”
Tracey looked at him for a moment, then sighed. “My mother brought up marriage earlier.”
Gary felt a pang in his heart at that word that he was not going to analyze. “You sound miserable about it. Any names get brought up?”
“She wants an alliance with the Cerulean Kingdom. Probably Misty.” Before Gary could ask why that was such a bad thing, knowing Tracey and Misty had been friends since they were little, Tracey sighed again. “I like Misty, but not like that. I just… can’t see her that way, and she deserves better than that.”
He looked miserable. His shoulders were slumped and he was blinking a lot, and Gary’s heart broke at the sight. “Hey, don’t cry,” he soothed, realizing he’d have no idea what to do if Tracey actually started crying. This wasn’t the kind of problem he could fight off with a sword. His heart twisted with painful frustration.
But that gave him an idea. “Listen. My job is to protect you. And if I need to protect you from this, anyone who tries to force you into a marriage you don’t want will die by my sword.”
Tracey let out a startled, wet laugh. “Please don’t kill my mother with a sword. That’s treason.”
“I took an oath to protect you,” Gary reminded him. “It’d be treason to not do that.”
“I don’t think protecting me from marriage is what they had in mind…”
“Well, you’re not a knight, so I know more than you,” Gary said haughtily. “And princes are soft, you might die of sadness if I don’t protect your happiness too.”
Tracey let out an amused snort. He was smiling now, so Gary had succeeded at that at least. “But I’d miss you if you got executed, and then I’d die of sadness for sure.”
“Well, damn, we can’t have that,” Gary said, heaving an exaggerated sigh. “Guess a sword can’t solve this problem. But don’t you worry your pretty royal head, I’ll find another way.”
Tracey looked at him, gaze heart-meltingly soft. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, your highness.” Gary looked up and saw a pair of volbeat happily dancing together, their lights blinking in perfect sync. “That’ll be you one day.”
Tracey’s gaze had been on the pair of volbeat, but he looked back at Gary, wide-eyed. “You think so?”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Gary promised.
By the time they’d left the garden and returned to his bedchamber, Tracey was tired, but something in him still ached at the thought of saying goodnight and leaving Gary’s side. “Gary? Can I ask you to do one more thing for me?”
His ever-loyal knight nodded. “Of course. What is it?”
Tracey hesitated. Was this wrong? He didn’t know if Gary felt the way he did. “This isn’t an order, you can say no if you hate it or it makes you uncomfortable or anything, I just—“
“I know, your highness,” Gary interrupted with an amused smile. “Please just spit it out.”
Heat rose to his face. The request was practically a confession of what he wanted most. “Keep me company? I’ll sleep better with you close.”
Gary’s eyes widened, but his expression quickly softened. “Yeah, I can do that. Easier to keep you safe the closer I am, right?”
“You’re the knight,” Tracey said. “If you think so, it must be true.”
They walked in together, and Gary suddenly looked a little nervous. Tracey dropped wearily onto his bed and looked up at Gary. “Join me?”
Gary hesitated, then sat down. He didn’t often look so nervous, and Tracey couldn’t help but find it cute. “Is this where you want me?”
“You can lie down.” Tracey reached for his hand. “Relax.”
Gary froze, and for a moment Tracey thought he’d messed up. But then Gary took off his sword belt, putting it somewhere beside the bed that Tracey didn’t see, and lay down with a sigh. He was quiet for a moment, then he broke his silence with, “This bed is soft as fuck.”
Tracey propped up on an elbow to watch him as he settled into a comfortable position. “You like it?”
“I don’t know how I’m gonna get up,” Gary said with a laugh.
Then don’t, Tracey couldn’t help thinking. He wanted to gaze at his knight forever—though his eyes were still alert, Gary had finally relaxed. He looked incredibly handsome, his intelligent eyes and sharp features contrasted beautifully by his soft smile. Tracey could spend the next century drinking in the sight and not get his fill.
Unfortunately, his eyes were growing heavy. He tried to stifle a yawn. Gary noticed, of course, and with an especially soft laugh, reached out to lightly scratch Tracey’s scalp. “Finally sleepy? Good. Get some rest.”
Tracey nodded, nestling closer. This was all he wanted for the rest of time, to lie close enough to Gary to breathe in his scent and feel his warmth.
This was why no marriage Tracey’s mother arranged would ever feel right. His heart lay here.
Gary was surprised to realize he’d fallen asleep, and even more surprised by the position he’d woken up in—Tracey’s head on his chest, a puddle of drool accumulating there, their limbs tangled in sleep in a way that was very not allowed.
The instinct to detangle his legs from Tracey’s and leap to his feet, ending the contact before he got caught and thrown in the dungeon for impropriety, was there, but he couldn’t do it. Tracey looked so peaceful, and he was warm and soft and solid in a way that soothed Gary into staying put despite himself.
Tracey stirred against him and mumbled something in a voice thick with sleep, words too blurred together to make out, then settled again. Without thinking about it, Gary kissed his head.
Nobody had to know.