Chapter Text
Three weeks. Three weeks they gave him to grieve his father’s loss. Officially he would mourn much longer of course, would only be seen in public in black clothing with his head tilted down. But behind the castle walls the business had to go on. They could not allow themselves any more time, where if anything was to happen, they would be unable to act. At least that is what Harlan said, his father’s closest adviser and friend. He is also, who was in power till the successor was crowned. So the preparation for Adam’s coronation had begun.
But that is not what Adam bothered, not really. He knew it was to come, rather sooner than later, considering his father’s poor health ever since he was a child. He had been prepared for it. Of course he had been upset at his father’s passing, but also hoped that wherever he was now, he had less stress and a better health. He has made his peace with the situation, with great help from Harlan, who had not only managed everything political, but was also handling most of the stuff concerning the coronation, giving Adam time and space.
What he had not been prepared for is the fact that apparently one majorly important thing he needs before he can take on the duty as king is a spouse.
When Harlan had come to him to break the news, Adam had been eating lunch. As it turns out, nobody had considered this problem or even really remembered this rule, as when his father had been crowned he had been married for some time with Adam already on the way, similar with his grandfather and great grandfather. And logically Adam knew, it was no one’s fault and that it was unusual for a man of his age and status not to be married yet. Still he had to admit that he threw his plate only missing Harlan’s head by a few inches, just to break down screaming and crying. In that moment everything just felt so unfair. Why had no one, out of all the people working at the castle remembered earlier? Why had they to remember now?
He did feel bad about it afterwards, but ever since his father’s death his nerves were on edge, being ripped out of his routine and with now more attention on him than ever. Harlan had just sighed, muttering about how he had hoped Adam would grow out of this behaviour, escorting him to his room. The next day they had a more collected conversation about this and came to the conclusion, even if Adam didn’t like it, he had to find a wife as soon as possible. And so the preparations for the coronation were set aside, to focus on the task of finding Adam a bride.
With that came a new routine, though a considerably less nice one than his previous. It felt mean to even think about it, but with his mother’s early passing, his father’s declining health and Harlan constantly busy trying to keep everything together, there had been no one really left to bother themselves with what Adam was doing. Aside from the two meals a day he had shared with his father and a few hours of lessons in different subjects, he had been granted a maximum freedom, to do whatever he liked. And it is not like he needed supervision when reading in the library or wandering the extensive castle grounds, finding nice, quiet places to hide from the bustling everyday life of the castle.
But the day where he could spend his time by the stream at the edge of the gardens with one of the few books on astronomy they had were over. Now he was in the library with Harlan and a few others not learning about the wonders of space, but about different family trees and heritage lines, desperately on the search for some nice young lady, with a suitable rank, from a family they could ally with, who was not too closely related to him.
It was boring work and not leading anywhere, with all the persons involved in the process having different opinions and standards for possible candidates. Adam kept out of the arguments about whether or not certain kingdoms where too small to be regarded or if a third cousin could still be considered close family, even though he certainly had some opinions to some topics. Till now he never thought about getting married, not to mention that he never had somebody he wanted to marry.
He didn’t know many women or people for that matter. Sure there were all those who worked at the castle, but they didn’t count, as he had never had a real conversation with any of them. He felt uncomfortable around most people, constantly wondering if they were being nice to him because of the power he had above them. He was afraid of pressuring someone into something they didn’t want without even noticing. No, if he was to marry someone, he wanted a person who could see eye to eye with him, who was not afraid to speak their mind. He guessed it wouldn’t be so bad to have someone to spend his time and share his interests with. Slowly but surely he was warming up to the idea of finding his special someone, just like his father had always described finding his mother.
After almost a week of going through mountains of books and scrolls, Harlan seemed to have also come to the conclusion that all it was leading nowhere. Adam had been spacing out, thinking about his future with a partner, who was equally passionate about space and who he could bring to his place by the stream to watch the wildlife. He was pulled out of his fantasy by Harlan.
“What do you think, Adam?”
“What?”
His cheeks coloured. He hated it, when people didn’t properly listen to him and now he was doing the exact same thing.
“What do you think about having a ball? You know, getting to meet the girls before settling for anything.”
A ball. He chewed on his cheek, tapping his fingers on his thighs, considering the proposal. It would be good to meet the person he was supposed to propose to, see if they are compatible. On the other hand had he never been good at the few social events he had attended till now. With his father ill there had not been many, getting fewer each year. The last one had been the funeral, but he was not really expected to socialise there. And even before with his status as prince not many had dared to initiate a conversation with him. His cousin Will had told him ones, that he had a reputation, without explaining further. He hoped it was not a bad one.
Still one big social event would probably be better than lots of personal one on one meetings. Or well one on one plus the chaperones for decency. With multiple people there he could just let someone else take over, if he didn’t know a good answer for one of the endless questions some people asked seemingly without even wanting to know the real answer or, if he got frustrated with the incredible slow intake some people had when it came to a variety of topics or with people, who said with full confidence wrong things.
And with that he had his answer. Social interaction be damned, he was not going to be stuck alone with someone who was convinced of a geocentric worldview and would not listen to be convinced otherwise.
“I think it’s a good idea.”
Multiple perplexed faces looked back at him, as if he had grown a second head. One of the men present seemed to want to say something, but was quickly cut off by Harlan.
“You heard the boy, it is a good idea. So let’s begin with the preparations.”
The man quickly scattered, leaving Adam alone with the older man.
“Who exactly are we going to invite?”
“Oh ehm, all of them I guess. Can’t hurt and you can take your pick.” He said, vaguely gesturing to a pile of paper with seemingly endless lists of names.
Adam wondered if he could still change his answer.
~~~
Nigel sat by a small river, aggressively biting into a pear he picked off a tree, which, he was certainly sure, was public property, contemplating what life choices led him here. He had only accepted the job because it seemed like easy money. Playing royal guard for some stuck up princess, making sure she wasn’t going to get snatched up on her way to the ball of her life. Though he wasn’t sure if she even really was a princess. Probably not, her father was no king, though he certainly paid liked one when it came to his daughter’s safety. So he had done his part, riding along the carriage for days, looking out for threats, which never came. His ass hurt like hell and he wanted for nothing more than a nice meal and bed at whatever places they were going.
Only to find out once they had arrived that he had in fact not been considered part of her entourage. Meaning that they had no place for him at the palace. Meaning that he had to find a room for himself for the next two nights in the town, from his own money. And apparently he was not the only one with this problem, which of course also the town’s people noticed, driving up the price of every ever so dingy room through the roof.
Apparently they were one of the last to arrive, around late noon the day before the ball. All of the decent rooms had already been rented out, not that he could have afforded them with the ridiculous pricing and money being currently tight. One third of his salary had been paid upfront, which wasn’t bad, but he didn’t really fancy spending it all on a shitty room and bad food. So he got the cheapest room he could find above a pub, which was still massively overpriced for only including a bed, a chest and some fungi, not even the edible kind.
After his long ride with disappointing ending he had allowed himself a nice meal. It was ok, nothing special, but he nearly puked it up again when he was told the price of the damn thing. He had retired that night seriously considering to just walk away with the money he had, looking for another gig, not spending another penny on a rancid room or mediocre dinner.
Waking up the next morning he had to face the reality that the had no horse, no clothing except what he was wearing, only his sword and a knife and the rest of his upfront payment. He was not going to have ridden all this way not to receive his money. And how hard could it be to forage for some food in the forest he had seen on their way here the two remaining days.
So here he was in the forest with some stolen pears, trying to fish something in the small river with an improvised fishing rod. He had no luck in the past 6 hours and was starting to doubt that there was anything living in there. It was already late into the noon and the sun was burning scorching hot and even though he had spent all his time in the shade, he was sweating tremendously.
“Fuck it.” He muttered to himself. This fishing spree was going nowhere and he had started smelling himself some time ago. So he striped, deciding to give his clothes a quick rinse, laying them out into the sun to dry, before dipping into the water. He couldn’t hold back a satisfied moan as the cool stream enveloped him. He ducked under completely to wash away the sweat and dirt which he had accumulated over the day, then settled onto the riverbank, the water up to his navel with a big stone cool from the water in his back.
He looked up into the sky relaxing, enjoying the refreshment. The sun had wandered far into the west and Nigel’s thoughts went back to the princess - what was her name again? Becky? - and the ball. Had it already started? He wondered what they had to eat there, as he begrudgingly bit into his pear. He didn’t know much of the royal lifestyle. All he had ever heard about balls came out of the fairytales his mother used to tell him. He had loved those.
He closes his eyes thinking back to easier times, to his mother and her stories of brave knights and princes, who saved the princesses, marrying them and celebrating with a big ball, similar to what he imagined was going on in the caste now.
Bits and pieces of different stories drift through his mind as he tried to recollect a comprehensive storyline. It had been so long since his mother had died - about thirty years he realised, when he had just turned sixteen - and equally as long since he had last been told any of the stories.
With his mind occupied with fairytales and his body deeply relaxed by the cool water, he lost all feeling of time, till suddenly he was ripped out of his thoughts as he heard a rustling of bushes not far from him. His eyes shot open and he sprung up, only to realise one: he was naked; two: he left his sword where he had sat all day, meaning it was now closer to whoever was approaching than himself. His knife laid within reach, but still the situation was suboptimal at best.
He hope that it was either just an animal approaching or someone not looking for a confrontation. For example not the person who lived in the house suspiciously close to the pear trees. If push came to shove he could defend himself, though his chances were slim if the other person was armed or got Nigel’s sword. But Nigel really didn’t want to die, especially not if it would leave his body floating down the river butt ass naked.
He readied himself to attack just in case, but when the source of the sound was revealed he was too stunned to do anything. Because it was no person and certainly no animal, but someone Nigel - who was by no means a religious man - could only describe as an angel. This angel in the body of a man was clad in simple, yet undoubtably expensive clothing, accentuating the slim but lean form of his body. His face was defined by a sharp jawline and a mob of dark locks, which, with the sun behind him, created the illusion of a halo. His most striking feature though was undeniably the set of deep blue eyes, which were flickering from Nigel’s body to the surroundings and back, never lingering anywhere more than a few seconds.
And suddenly Nigel was very concise again about the fact that he was standing naked before this beauty of a man, dripping wet and with a knife in his hand. What a great first impression.