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“My lord.” Rachel bowed before him, nearly causing Castiel to roll his eyes. “Before you take ill, there’s something you need to be made aware of so you can decide how to handle.”
Castiel let the eyeroll out now. “Whatever it is, Sam will be here tomorrow, he can tell you what to do.” Or at least, that could be the cover story, because Sir Emmanuel could do no such thing. Castiel would be discovered conveniently too ill to go out, attended only by his most loyal nurse Meg and his most trusted advisor Rachel. That way, Emmanuel could attend the tournament being hosted in honor of Beltane. That’s why Castiel was supposed to be left alone today, spending too much time in the library so the physician would blame his illness on the long hours of overexercising his brain.
Rachel took a deep breath. “My lord, that’s the problem. The thing is a rumor about your husband. I cannot take an order from him about this, not without having spoken to you.”
“I see.” Castiel didn’t, not really, not when publicly the only thing he cared about his husband was that no illegitimate children show up looking for their father and finding it in him, and that Sam was treated well enough that his father had no reason to complain. Not that John ever would, from what Castiel had learned about their relationship. After all, the whole reason they were married was that Castiel had stepped in after Lucifer’s death, when Sam found Lucifer’s reputation too unbearable and ran away before he could be forced into an abusive marriage to teach him his place. There was still Sam’s brother Dean to worry about, or his group of ragtag outlaws in the woods. “Is ignoring the rumor not an option?”
“It can be, if that’s what you think best, but you should hear the rumor before you make that decision.” Rachel cleared her throat. “It’s well known that Sir Emmanuel has devoted himself to Prince Samuel, the sort of chivalrous courtly love that is encouraged in knights. However, some people have started to notice that any time Sam comes home from school or an errand for you, you seem to be too ill to see him and he’s not even looking for you. He’s looking for Emmanuel. The rumor, therefore, is that instead of being a proper courtly love situation, Prince Samuel and Sir Emmanuel are engaged in a more scandalous sort of love.”
Castiel couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. “I know, this is serious, but would anyone really be surprised by me not managing to maintain my husband’s loyalty? Especially given the popular rumor that my illness has left me impotent that we choose to ignore because it’s really no one’s business but our own. Ignore the rumor for now, and I’ll talk to Sam and figure out the more permanent solution to pass on later.”
“As you wish.” Rachel bowed and left Castiel to his studies, which he was very glad to be faking because he was a bit distracted by the reminder that his husband would be here tomorrow.
As usual at the tournament, when Emmanuel was called for his turn in the joust, he stopped by the royal box and saluted Prince Samuel. “I fight for you, your highness. Will you grant me your favor?”
“My knight in shining armor.” Sam reached out, tying a ribbon around Emmanuel’s arm. So far, no different than any other tournament, and if Raphael was giving them a disapproving glare, well, Raphael disapproved of just about everything Sam did. Really, he disapproved of Sam existing and not being controlled properly. “Good luck, Sir Emmanuel!”
With that, Emmanuel rode to the starting line, and stared down his opponent. Sir Uriel had once been a good friend, but since Emmanuel became favored by Prince Samuel, he’d been cold, even hostile, to Emmanuel. This would not be an easy battle.
On the first pass, Emmanuel scored a direct hit, shattering his lance on Uriel’s shield. Uriel’s aim had been enough off that Emmanuel could tilt his shield and let it slide harmlessly off. The second pass, both got direct hits. On the third, Emmanuel watched in shock as Uriel deliberately aimed low, and his lance struck Emmanuel’s horse instead of the knight. He looked over to the king, who had risen to his feet and taken the horn Gabriel offered him to blow the joust over. “Sir Emmanuel is declared the victor!” He bent over to speak to one of the men outside his raised pavilion. “Thaddeus, please escort Sir Uriel to my tent. It appears we need to have a discussion and review of the rules of the joust.”
Emmanuel rode over to Sam to return the ribbon. “Your highness, I hope I have brought you honor.”
“You have.” Sam took the garnet pendant held out to him by Prince Michael, the prize for a victory in the lists. With his horse potentially injured, Emmanuel would not be permitted to compete for the grand prize, but he had earned this one. Sam fastened it around his neck, whispering in his ear, “I can’t wait to give you your real prize later.” He kissed Castiel’s cheek as he pulled back. Emmanuel bowed, hoping no one had heard the whisper, as everything else was well within the bounds of rewards for a successful jouster.
“Is Binky going to be all right?” was the first thing out of Sam’s mouth when Emmanuel snuck into his room.
“Binky is fine. I can’t promise he won’t kick Uriel if he ever tries to come visit, but I can promise Uriel deserves it. I don’t know how well you could see from the pavilion, but that wasn’t a moment of weakness or a momentary distraction. He did that on purpose.” Emmanuel tried to keep the growl out of his voice. “I know my father only uses Thaddeus to escort people when the discussion is not going to be overly friendly, so he at least recognizes the dishonor Uriel brought on himself, but I have heard people saying they thought the king seemed to be overly harsh.”
“I wonder why he did that.” Sam pulled Emmanuel into his arms. “Aren’t you two friends?”
“Emmanuel, no, Castiel, yes. He is not aware of the duplicity.” Emmanuel smiled softly as Sam ducked his head, blushing softly. “Meanwhile, we have a situation. There are rumors that you’re being unfaithful to your husband.”
“With… my husband.” Sam pressed his forehead to Emmanuel’s. “Which plan are we going with? Ignore the talk, out your double life, stage a falling out where I choose a new favorite…?”
“My two guesses on why Uriel did what he did are that he blames you for the death of his friends in Lucifer’s attack on your camp and since he can’t attack you he attacked Emmanuel to hurt you, or he believes the rumors of your infidelity and believes himself to be defending his friend’s honor.” Emmanuel pressed a soft kiss to Sam’s lips. “I had a different thought, actually. When Rachel told me of the rumors, it reminded me of the rumors that instead of choosing celibacy, Prince Castiel’s illness had left him impotent. While there are tonics and such that could give me potency for, say, a wedding night, long-term use would likely cause my health to crumble. Impotence is grounds for divorce, but that would insult your father and possibly end the alliance. Given that you are a healthy young man, you and I had a discussion and agreed that you could take a lover, so long as it was someone who had no vows to anyone else and who was otherwise known as honorable and discreet. Emmanuel fits the bill.”
“Not something we would just want to announce, given that it’s somewhat embarrassing for Castiel to admit and there are those – like your bishoply brother – who would look askance, but if it means putting to bed worse rumors, worth going public with,” Sam said thoughtfully. “Your choice, but I like Emmanuel. I don’t want to give him up.”
“I’ll get Rachel and Hannah to start fanning the rumors of my impotency. If someone asks one of us directly, we give that answer. No need to make a public announcement.” Emmanuel kissed Sam again. “Would you care for a demonstration that it’s a lie?”
Sam didn't need words to make his opinion clear, but he answered anyway. “Always.”