Chapter Text
Eddie Munson was not what one would call a normal Prince.
Well, he did come from an old, traditional family; his parents, grandparents, great grandparents, everyone in his family, really, had had royal blood in their veins just like Eddie did. But that was the closest thing to a regular Prince he could get.
The thing is, Eddie lost his parents too early; so early he could barely remember them. In the absence of his parents, and since Eddie was still just a toddler, the throne temporarily went to his uncle, Wayne. And Wayne? Wayne definitely wasn’t your regular King, either.
Wayne never gave a shit about all that rigid, stuffy protocol the Munson family had kept for over a hundred years. He cared about his people, his kingdom and his nephew, as long as these three were cared for, their needs were being fulfilled and tended to, the rest could burn in hell.
So, growing up, Eddie was as free a kid as any other. Wayne talked to him about their family, about their responsibilities to their people, but never burdened Eddie with any high expectations. Eddie grew up knowing that one day he’d become King, but without any of the restrictions and rules his parents had to follow back in their day.
“You must always do what you can to help your people, Eddie,” Wayne would tell him. “We are in a position of power, but without the people we wouldn’t even have a kingdom to rule.”
Wayne also never cared much for social ranks, and, consequently, Eddie never minded them either. Noble, or not, Eddie treated everyone the same way, played with all the kids in their castle regardless of who were their parents. His two best friends were Jeff and Chrissy: the eldest son of their cook, and the daughter of their gardener. The three of them were inseparable.
Considering the personal tragedy he faced when he was just a little kid, Eddie had a very happy, very normal childhood; with a loving parent in the form of his Uncle Wayne, and friends who truly cared for him, and the freedom any child needed to become their true self. If that made Eddie an unusual kind of Prince in the eyes of society, well, that was not really his problem, was it?
-
-
When Eddie turned eighteen, Wayne tried to abdicate the throne in his favor, but Eddie refused.
“I’m not ready yet, Wayne,” he had said then, as they had diner. “Give me a couple more years. I still have a lot to learn if I want to be a King as good as you.”
So Wayne waited and gave his nephew the time he asked for. Eddie spent those years glued to his uncle’s side, observing and absorbing everything he could about their kingdom, their allies, their enemies. Not the most entertaining thing to spend his days doing, but Eddie couldn’t really avoid it. He knew he had responsibilities and duties, and he was not going to run from them.
The day of Eddie’s twentieth birthday also marked the day of his coronation ceremony. In true Edward Munson fashion, it was not what people would expect of such an important event. There was no luxury feast, full of political allies, noble families he never even met before and sycophants; Eddie would rather die than spend his birthday surrounded by gold diggers and ill-intended assholes. Instead, he opened the ceremony to anyone who wished to attend.
The Munson’s invited their economic partners and allies, but made sure to inform them there would be no special seats separating the nobility from the common folk; the only special guests would be Eddie’s best friends, Chrissy and Jeff; Joyce, their governess who basically raised Eddie after his parents’ death, and her two sons, Will and Jonathan; Hopper, the Head Commander of their guard and Eddie’s fencing tutor, and his daughter Jane; and a few other people who were dear to Eddie. Those people would be with him when Wayne passed him the crown, anyone else would have to stand in the crowd and watch it from the audience like everybody.
After Eddie swore his oaths, with most of his subjects as witnesses, Wayne put the crown on his nephew’s head and stepped back so the people could see their new monarch.
Eddie took a moment to really look at the crowd, eyes roaming over the sea of people gathered to see him. Funny, he recognized a lot of faces there, those people were with him almost daily and talked to him with a familiarity a lot of his strategic allies didn’t possess, and they were still gathered there, looking at Eddie as if he was something great, not the kid they once watched running around the market with his friends, or climbing up trees to eat fresh fruit. He was touched by the amount of trust and faith they were showing, honored, and he hoped he wouldn’t let them down, nor betray that trust.
Eddie was supposed to give them a speech. The Crown’s scribes had written a perfectly worded one, full of promises of grandeur and vows of peace and opportunities and a lot of big words; the thing was so formal and proper and just not Eddie at all. The people, however, were waiting for him to say something and he couldn’t disappoint them.
The speech the scribes wrote never left Eddie’s pocket. Instead, the new King stepped closer to the edge of the platform he was standing, eyes following his every move as the crowd quietened.
“Thank you all for trusting me with such an important task,” Eddie says, loud enough for the people in the back of the abbey to hear him. “I could give you a perfectly manicured speech, make you a lot of promises, but most of you has known me long enough to know this is not how I work. I will never make promises I can’t keep, and I will never lie to you to make myself look better than I really am, so here’s what I can promise you: I promise I will work hard every day to make Forest Hills a better place for all of you. I promise I’ll do my best to keep myself true and to never forget my duties and responsibilities to you and to the kingdom. If it weren’t for you, I’d have no Kingdom to rule, and this thing in my head would be just a useless symbol of an empty title. I may be King, yes, but you are the soul of this Kingdom, and I promise you I’ll do whatever is within my power to prove myself worthy of this job I was given. Thank you.”
Without another word, Eddie bowed his head as far as he could without dropping the crown. The stunned silence inside the abbey persisted for only a moment before the whole crowd exploded in cheers and joyous yells. When Eddie met his uncle’s eyes, Wayne was nodding at him approvingly.
The ceremony came to an end shortly after that, and the crowd gradually dispersed as everybody headed to the town square, where the Crown was holding a festival to celebrate the new King’s birthday. There were free food and drink for everybody, games, a band playing and people dancing all around.
It ended up being one of Eddie’s fondest memories; the clear night sky, the smell of food cooking over the fire, the music playing, children laughing and running around without a care in the world. And it was Eddie’s birthday.
After a quick word with his uncle, Eddie changed out of his ceremonial clothes, put on his usual dark pants and shirt, and joined Chrissy and Jeff at one of the game stalls. The man working there smiled when he saw Eddie and laughed until tears were running down his cheeks when the new King proved to be completely powerless against Chrissy’s perfect aim.
There was a lot of teasing involved, from his friends and from the people who were gathered around watching them play, but Eddie accepted it with a satisfied smile. Now, without his formal attire, he was back to being just Eddie, it seemed, and this was the best gift any of them could have given him.
-
-
In the years that followed Eddie’s coronation, the Kingdom of Forest Hills flourished under his reign.
The people were happy; life was improving as the kingdom grew, there was peace and they had a benevolent King, who they loved very much.
Eddie was also happy. With his new position, he could finally make the changes he had always dreamed of. He built schools so kids would get access to free education, he improved the kingdom’s infrastructure so people who lived in poor areas had better quality of life, he expanded the capital’s Hospital and designed a program with dozens of itinerant doctors to ensure that those who lived far from the capital could get access to healthcare too. Everything he had spent years and years planning was finally coming together and changing the lives of his people for the better, Eddie couldn’t be happier, really.
The Council, however, was not so happy. They agreed to most of their King’s plans but opposed the ones they judged too idealistic. They butted heads sometimes over these plans; Eddie didn’t want to give up his ideals, whilst the Council didn’t want to risk the Kingdom’s financial safety just because their King had a soft spot for the poor. But the biggest problem was that, at twenty-five, the King was still unmarried and that was just absurd.
“My uncle never married,” Eddie snapped when Lord Henry, the eldest counselor, once again brought up the subject of the King’s unmarried status in one of their meetings. “I can’t see why my lack of spouse is of any importance.”
“Your uncle was a Regent King,” Lord Henry retorted, disapproval clear in his tone. “Your Majesty, however, is the legitimate King, and we can’t have an unmarried Monarch for much longer. It shows weakness. I apologize for my forwardness, Sir, but you must start taking seriously the marriage proposals our allies are sending.”
Weakness his ass; those old vultures just wanted to use Eddie so they could somehow benefit from it. Or maybe, if Eddie decided to follow their advice and pursue a spouse, the influx of beautiful noble women in the Kingdom would increase and they would have fresh meat they could feed off. Whatever their motives were, Eddie was sure it wasn’t what they were telling him.
-
-
Eddie met Steve six years after his coronation, thanks to Hopper.
The Head Commander came to him one day, whilst Eddie was going through some paperwork in his study. That had been odd enough for itself; Hopper hardly ever sought Eddie out without an official appointment these days. But Eddie’s surprise only grew once the other man started talking.
Hopper told him about his eldest son, Steve, a kid he took in when the boy was only seven. He was the child of a low noble couple, who had lost all their money and property by gambling and whoring around as if there was no tomorrow. They owed a lot of money to a lot of shady people and, one day, some of these people came to the Harringtons’ doorstep to collect their debt. It didn’t go well.
The Harringtons had no money, but they had a beautiful little boy; the kind of beautiful little boy shady people would be willing to pay a lot of money to get their hands on. It could have ended in tragedy, but a kind neighbor heard Steve crying for help and ran to Hopper’s house. Hopper got there just in time to prevent the worst, and Steve never again had any kind of contact with his biological parents. Until recently.
Hopper didn’t know how, but the Harringtons found out the soldier had left their hometown to work at the capital and decided it was a good idea to come back and harass their now adult son to get money out of him. That wouldn’t be a problem if Steve wasn’t such a kind soul; kind enough to give them part of his savings in hopes they would leave him alone. Poor, naïve fool.
“I need to get him out of there,” Hopper said, and there were no traces of the Head Commander there anymore, just a desperate father wanting to protect his son. “Those two, they’re going to keep harassing Steve until they take all his money. And when that happens, and Steve can’t give them anything else, they’re going to do something against him because that’s the kind of people they are. They don’t care about anyone but themselves.”
If he was being honest, Eddie would have helped Hopper regardless of what the other man had to say. The man had been his personal guard and tutor for years; Eddie trusted him with his own life and the lives of his best friends. If Hopper needed his help with anything, Eddie would gladly do whatever was within his power to aid him. But the fact that Hopper had trusted him enough to share such a personal matter with him? Eddie didn’t even think twice before he was calling the scribes so they could discuss what they’d be needing to hire Hopper’s son and transfer him to the capital.
It ended up being a lot easier than Eddie expected. Once the scribes arrived, Hopper informed them that his son was a fully trained veterinarian and caretaker, and wasn’t it just his luck that Murray, the man in charge of the Crown’s stables and kennels, really needed more help with their horses and dogs?
An hour later, the scribes left Eddie’s study with the hiring documents ready, and a messenger was sent to Hopper’s hometown to inform Steve the King was requesting his services in the capital.
“Thank you, Sir,” Hopper said, bowing his head. “I’m sorry I had to bother you with my personal affairs, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Hey, none of that.” Eddie stood up from his chair, waving his hand as he rounded the desk to rest a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “I’m glad you came to me for help. Thank you for trusting me with this, Hopper. I hope your son gets here safe and well.”
A couple of days later, Hopper told him Steve had accepted the job offer and would be moving in with him and Jane soon, and that Jane was so excited that she was going to have her big brother back.
Eddie was happy for them, and he told Hopper so. And that had been it. Or at least Eddie thought it had.
The matter was taken care of; Hopper’s son would be safe again and the Harringtons wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Once he signed all the necessary paperwork for Steve’s hiring, Eddie’s part was done, and he moved on to the next problems that needed his attention.
Weeks passed, and the matter of Hopper’s son was the last thing in Eddie’s mind, until one day the young King arrived at the stables to get his horse ready for his morning ride and he ended up coming face to face with the most gorgeous creature he had ever seen in his entire life.
The man didn’t notice Eddie’s approach at first, too busy grooming one of the horses to realize he was not alone in the stables anymore. From where he stood, Eddie had a perfect view of the man’s side profile; his straight nose, the tan skin dotted with moles, his full lips and the soft looking hair that fell over his eyes every time he swiped the brush over the horse’s coat.
The mere sight of that beautiful stranger was enough to leave Eddie at a loss of words, because who the hell was even that man? Eddie had never seen him around town, let alone in his own castle; he’d certainly remember if he’d ever crossed paths with such a beauty.
“What the hell!?” The words slipped from Eddie’s mouth before he even realized he was talking, startling the stranger and making him drop the brush.
That’s how Eddie found himself staring at a pair of lovely hazel eyes.
“Your Majesty!” the man gasped, and, good Lord, even his voice was pretty. “I’m sorry, your horse is not ready yet, Sir.”
The guy fumbled awkwardly as he tried to pick up the brush from the ground, as if he didn’t know if he should stay down in some kind of weird curtsy or if he should stand up and face Eddie again.
Eddie took him out of his misery and stepped closer until they were only a few feet apart; partly because Eddie hated when people got nervous around him just because of his title, and partly because he really wanted to see that man up-close.
“Don’t worry, I know I’m earlier than usual,” he said in a placating manner. “And I’m sorry if I startled you, that was not my intention.”
“Please, there’s no need for apologies. I should have been paying attention.”
“But you were working? I think you had good reason to not be paying attention to the door.”
The man wanted to argue, that much was clear, but he didn’t. Instead, he just bowed his head and held the brush tightly in his hands.
“I’m sorry if I sound rude,” Eddie started after an awkward pause, coming a little closer. The other man stilled, watching Eddie with large, anxious eyes. God, he was adorable. “But who are you again? I don’t think I know your name.”
Maybe Eddie should have worded that a little better because the poor guy looked like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar.
“Oh, God, I’m so, so sorry.” In a hurry, the man put away the horse brush in his toolbox before stumbling back and bowing his head once again as he said, “I’m Steve, Your Majesty. You hired me a few weeks ago to help Doctor Murray with the Crown’s animals.”
It took Eddie a minute to connect the dots, but when he did it was like the ground had disappeared from beneath his feet.
“You’re Hopper’s son,” he said. Not a question, Eddie knew he was right.
The guy nodded in confirmation anyways. “Yes, sir.”
And it was not that Eddie hadn’t been aware Hopper’s son was already working for him, Eddie just wasn’t expecting the guy to look like that; like a freaking angel. Hopper hadn’t mentioned that little fact when they had their talk weeks ago.
“I’d also like to thank you, sir,” Steve said, taking the young King out of his own thoughts; his voice was a little unsure, but he was still staring Eddie in the eye. “Thank you for offering me this job. I’m really grateful for your kindness. I promise I’ll do my best to honor the trust you’re placing in me and in my work.”
“Don’t—” Eddie stammered but paused, face growing hot before the man’s open sincerity. He cleared his throat, then kept going. “You don’t need to thank me; I barely did anything. Murray needed the help, and I was informed you had very good qualifications. It’s your own merit, really.”
That was bending the truth a little, sure, but Steve didn’t need to know the other reason he was hired. Judging by his reaction, Hopper had yet to tell his son the role he had played in the guy’s transfer to the capital.
“Maybe, but you’re still the one who approved my name for this position,” Steve insisted, determined. “So thank you, Your Majesty. Thanks to you, now I can finally be with my father and sister again. I’ve missed them dearly these past years we were apart.”
How was it that Hopper had described his son that day? Right, kind-hearted but stubborn as hell. Yeah, Eddie could see that.
“You’re not going to let this go, will you?” Eddie asked, resting his hands on his hips as he considered the other man carefully, and Steve shook his head.
“Not really, no,” he confirmed.
Eddie really hoped his amusement wasn’t showing too much.
“Then I guess I’ll accept your thanks,” he said, then completed, softly. “I’m glad I could help you reunite with your family. Last time I saw Jane she was ecstatic about having her big brother back.”
The gentle smile Eddie got in response was so dazzlingly beautiful that he had no option but return it with a smile of his own, heart beating a little too fast inside his chest as time seemed to slow down as they stared at each other.
Their little moment, however, was broken when Murray came rushing into the stables, talking loudly like he usually did and with Robin jogging close behind to keep up with the man’s fast pace.
Eddie took his eyes off Steve for only a moment, only long enough to recognize Murray and Robin approaching them, but when he looked back the guy was already excusing himself and going back to work.
Pity. Eddie would’ve loved talking to Steve some more. But then Murray was right there beside him, talking about new horses for the Royal Guard, about the puppies that had been born the week before in their kennels and a bunch of other stuff Eddie wasn’t even paying close attention to and the opportunity was gone.
-
-
Their first encounter was brief, and not even remotely out of the ordinary, but it still left Eddie giddy somehow. He didn’t know how to explain it, but there was something about Steve that immediately drew Eddie in from the moment he laid eyes on the man. Call him crazy or whatever, but all it took was one look and one short interaction and Eddie just knew he had to keep that man in his life.
Luckly for Eddie, finding Steve already up and working in the stables early in the mornings became his new routine and he grasped that opportunity with the desperation of a starving man who’s been blessed with his first meal in weeks.
The second time they met it didn’t go that differently from the first. Steve was awfully formal and proper when talking to Eddie, only speaking when he was addressed and keeping his eyes on his work most of the time.
Eddie understood, he really did; he was the King, Steve had just arrived and didn’t want to screw up by taking liberties he didn’t know if he could take or not. Steve had no idea how Eddie ran things there, he didn’t know how much Eddie loathed the formal, stuffy treatment that came with his title, he didn’t know how little that formality mattered to the young King.
But that was okay. Eddie was a patient man, at least he was patient enough when it came to things that mattered to him, so he was more than willing to take his sweet time and show Steve, every day, that he wanted to know Steve and he also wanted Steve to know him in return.
Eddie wanted Steve to know they could be real friends, and not just a King and his servant.