Chapter Text
“MARRIAGE?!”
The exclamation was heard across two different kingdoms. To be told as a child that one day you’d get married and that your family had already chosen who it would be. It was a lot to take in.
“You be nice to him when you meet”, Steve’s mother had said as their carriage moved across the countryside towards the other kingdom. “He’s a prince too.”
Steve, at the ripe old age of twelve, knew this was going to be the worst day of his life. He didn’t even have his twin sister to help lighten the mood. A month ago, she had presented as an alpha and not long after, he was confirmed to be an omega. His fate had been sealed on the wings of a carrier pigeon, relaying the news to the kingdom of Forest Hills. And wouldn’t you know it but the boy set to be his husband had already presented as an alpha?
A match made in heaven, his mother said.
He pouted the whole way there but once they arrived and were brought before the king and his nephew, Steve at least tried to appear regal. He couldn’t really hide his grimace though. Prince Edward was pushed forward by his uncle.
Steve gritted his teeth while holding his hand out for the prince to kiss. Edward did so quickly, then released his hand just as quick, as if touching Steve was gross. Both wiped their hands, not bothering to hide it.
“Welcome to our kingdom”, Edward said, barely keeping from rolling his eyes.
“Thank you for having us”, Steve replied, just as insincerely.
What followed was a stroll through the grounds, Steve’s mother and Edward’s uncle walking ahead of them. When they weren’t paying attention, Edward, stuck his foot out for Steve to trip over.
“Walk much, little boy?”
Steve huffed as he righted himself. His eyes went to the very short hair on his head. “So did you get into a fight with with a rusty halberd or is that a choice?”
By the time their guardians turned around, the boys were wrestling in the hallway, rolling on the luxuriously carpeted floor. It was going to be a long summer.
Eddie took one look at Prince Stephen’s smug face and knew they wouldn’t get along. The rest of the summer was spent either avoiding him or meeting him barb for barb. What a miserable season. Eddie was fourteen, a whole year older than him! He didn’t sign up for babysitting duty.
“The boy’s not that much younger than you”, his Uncle Wayne gruffed as they watched Queen Della leave with her son at the end of summer. “He’s not your ward. He’s your fiance.”
Eddie was barely listening, instead sticking his tongue out as Stephen did the same from the carriage window.
He had a wonderful fall, winter, and spring by comparison. His hair was starting to grow back, he was getting really good at guitar, and there was no Harrington prince to ruin his day. But all good things had to come to an end and summer came despite his prayers for it to stay away.
“Why don’t you two go play a game?”, the queen suggested the moment the two of them were in front of each other.
“Like boxing?”, Prince Stephen offered.
“You really think you could take me on?”, Eddie sneered.
“I think a game of cards would be nice”, Wayne stepped in.
It took about one and a half rounds for them both to storm away from the table. This summer turned into a prank war, Eddie recruiting his friend Jeff to be his second-in-command. He could never keep ahead of the other prince for too long though, which irked him to no end. When Eddie made a bucket of honey dropped onto Stephen’s head, it was met with eggs in his boots. When he replaced Stephen’s tea with paint water, it was met with his sugar being replaced with salt.
Another horrid summer down the drain.
“Can’t Robin coooooome?” Steve didn’t care how whiny he sounded. He had just turned fifteen and it felt like he should be in charge of how he spent his time now. And yet once again, his mother was trying to ruin what should be the best season of the year.
“She has her own duties to attend to. Now get in this carriage this instant!”
“Good luck with your prince charming~” Robin only teased because she didn’t know what a menace Prince Edward was.
And he continued to be so for that year and the year after that. Both kingdoms grew more and more excited as the wedding loomed every closer. Steve knew it would take place during his eighteenth summer. It would be his last time making the trip to Forest Hills as a guest. From then on, he’d be the prince-consort and Forest Hills would be his knew home.
It was the year before that, when everything changed.
It was an afternoon of begrudging tolerance. Eddie was reading a book while Steve was tossing a ball into the air. Wayne was reading on his own and looked to Queen Della, who was sewing, for some help. At this rate, the marriage wouldn’t just be loveless, it would end with a double regicide.
“Prince Edward, I’ve heard you’ve been mastering many an instrument. Stephen has been studying dance.”
Steve caught the ball, dreading where this was going. Eddie paused in his reading, getting the very same foreboding sensation. And as usual, despite their protests, the king and queen got their way. They had moved to the piano room and Steve stood in the middle, poised to dance. If their families thought having them indulge in their hobbies and perform would mean they would play nice, they had another thing coming.
Eddie started the melody of the piece and Steve began to move. Eddie played seriously for a full minute before playing the wrong note, throwing Steve off his rhythm.
Steve put his hands on his hips. “Think you can try again? This time get it right?”
“Who said I got it wrong? I think your steps are just off”, Eddie grinned. He started again, this time only getting a few notes in before playing a discordant melody.
“Have you ever even played a piano?”, Steve spat out after nearly falling to the ground with how hard Eddie had thrown him off.
“Children, please”, Della admonished.
“My expertise can’t play against that stomping you call dance. I’ve seen better moves from drunkards.”
Steve crossed his arms. “Funny, I was about to say the same thing about your playing. A cat running across the keys could do better.”
Eddie slammed his hands down on the keys. “The idea I’m to bond with you for life has got to be the worst joke the fates have wrought upon me!”
“You’re hardly my first choice in a mate!”
“I’d rather DIE than marry you!”
Wayne shot up from his seat then, but Steve had already stormed out the moment Eddie gave him that final lashing. Eddie’s cheeks were flushed with anger and he refused to back down, even though his uncle leveled him with an intense stare. He stormed out too, needing air. Why should he be the only one in trouble? Prince Stephen had done just as much as he did.
This whole thing was so stupid. And the fact that everyone insisted on it being such a good thing was what made it all the more worse. Eddie was out on the grounds, his feet pounding the grass as he walked around aimlessly. When he realized he was nearly to the lake, he almost turned around, when he heard sniffling.
Ever the curious one, he moved closer, peeking through a branch and finding the other prince, sitting by the water, knees curled up to his chest. Eddie didn’t realize he was leaning forward until it was too much and he was falling over, landing right next to him in a heap.
Steve flinched, immediately wiping his face and trying to hide all signs of vulnerability. “What’re you doing here?” He managed to keep most of the warble out of his voice.
“Last I checked, these lands do belong to my family”, Eddie said. There was still some bite in his voice but it was softened with him wiping the dirt off his cheek. “So I should be asking you that question.”
“Excuse me if I didn’t want to be around the alpha who said he’d rather die than bond with me.”
A sour scent burned Eddie’s nose and he realized it was coming from the prince. Throughout the years, they’d rarely been close enough to get good enough smells of each other. From the rare times they danced, Eddie knew his scent leaned towards caramel. He’d smelled annoyance and irritation, but this was more than that. It was sugar that had been burnt black.
“Come on, I know you feel the same way. Neither of us want this.”
“Not enough to die over it. Didn’t realize you hated me that much.” Steve’s chin rested on his arms and he stared out to the tranquil waters.
“I don’t…” Eddie, for the first time, thought about how he actually felt about the other prince. He settled, sitting with his legs stretched out before him. “I don’t hate you. I mean I still don’t want to be bonded. But it’s the situation I hate. Not you. You are one huge pain in my ass though.”
“You started it”, Steve argued.
“No, you started it.”
“You thought I was disgusting the moment we met. I saw it in your eyes!”
“You literally rubbed your hands after we touched like I had germs!”
“So did you!”
It wasn’t hard to see then that they had both gone into this, expecting it to not work out, determined to see the worst of each other. They both knew an arranged marriage was the norm, but usually mates got along, even with a lack of romance. And the king and queen hadn’t budged once in all these years. This bonding would happen, whether they liked it or not. A beat of silence stretched between them as it finally sunk in.
“I’ve never seen you come here before”, Steve said, finger tracing along the water’s edge.
Eddie shrugged, trying to play it off. “I don’t know there’s just other places to b-” He froze when soft quacks were heard.
Steve looked up to see a mother duck swimming along with a trail of her ducklings following behind. They got out of the lake at least twenty feet away from them but Eddie shot up to his feet. Steve looked at him strangely, then to the harmless ducks. Some of the ducklings strayed a bit from their mother, coming ever closer. Eddie backed away, looking like he wanted to bolt and the only reason he didn’t was to save at least some face.
“Are you...afraid of ducks?”
“They’re more dangerous than they look”, Eddie said. He swallowed, only taking his eyes off the beasts for a second to look at Steve, sure he was about to be ridiculed into an early grave.
Steve snorted, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, he reached into his pockets, pulling out seeds and scattering them far so that the ducks would go further down the lake’s edge. When they started to move away, Eddie relaxed.
“...Thanks.”
Saying ‘you’re welcome’ felt as weird as it probably was for Eddie to express that gratitude, so Steve just shrugged.
Without sharing words, they returned to the castle, then separately to their rooms. They were used to the buzzing tension of animosity always between them. In its absence, things felt awkward.
Steve was a little surprised when his mother announced the next morning that they were leaving. Their departure wasn’t set for another two weeks, but he wouldn’t say no to returning home early and seeing his sister.
Della and Wayne were so distraught that their plan had apparently failed, that they didn’t notice neither of their children giving the usual burning glares as they said their goodbyes.
“All these years, wasted”, Della lamented, unaware.
She was also completely unaware when, just a week after their return home, Steve received a letter. Signed by none other than the only Prince Edward.