A/N: I’m not 100% done plotting this out, but so far I can say it will have slash, hetero, and femslash in it but the main pairings will be male on male. I’m not sure on how opposed you guys are to hetero or femslash scenes in a slash fic so I’ll just give whatever you guys demand. I’m not good at tags but so far I know there will be : Anal, Angst, M/M, Slash, Oral, M/F, non main character F/F, fingering, swearing, violence, character death, Rim, puppy love (Minor1? Nothing beyond chaste kisses between said minors), and possible 3plus M/M/M later.
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Monroe frowned as Frances stirred in his arms, the boy barely able to hold onto the toddler. He tried to shush her, but they were only getting closer to the crowds and with the cheers and noise, the little girl was waking up. She fussed, big green eyes opening up and watering, before a whimper escaped her lips.
Not a second later their mother was turning around, scooping her youngest daughter out of his arms with a kiss to his forehead. The boy pouted, having wanted to take care of his little sister himself, but was distracted by his sister Margot elbowing him in the ribs.
“Smile.” The eldest Princess said, giving him a look. “You’ll want them to like you.” The age difference between him and Margot meant that the girl rarely understood her youngest brother and found him to be annoying.
He just gave her a sour look, but before he could retort Henri, the second oldest, was tickling under his arm making the boy squirm. Odelia, his other sister, got his other side and soon the boy was lost in giggles, making the King glance back and smile at his children for a minute. Once they reached the crowds the older children stopped and began to focus on smiling at the crowds but Monroe just kept giggling, too young to understand things.
He was sheltered, but sweet, with little brown curls and deep green eyes he’d inherited from his Elven mother. He was short for his age, but a little plump, and he lacked the finesse and grace of his older siblings. He didn’t understand why they were traveling, didn’t understand why all the kingdoms were so happy that a fifth child had finally been born, and didn’t understand why they now had to tour the kingdoms, trying to prearrange marriages for the three princesses and young prince. He didn’t intend to marry until he was really old, like 10 or 11, and he certainly didn’t want to marry another boy like his parents wanted him to. He wanted to marry a pretty girl, like the one chosen for Margot.
The eldest Princess’s fiancée, Emily, was really old, like 14 or 15, but she was a good cook and she’d helped him learn how to hold the baby, Frances. And her hair reminded him of turnips, which was his favorite food. He didn’t want her to marry his snooty sister.
Said snooty sister was elbowing him again, and he wondered if he could chew off her elbow so that it would stop hitting him. It was particularly boney. “Smile, Monroe. Theres no girls here for Odelia or Frances to marry. Your husband will be from here.”
“But I want a wife.”
“You can’t have a wife.” Odelia reminded him, giggling at how silly he was being. “You’re not a girl.”
“Henri gets a wife.”
“Henri needs to have children.” Margot said. “We need to form alliances and avoid mixing the bloodlines. That’s why we marry the same gender. So we won’t have babies.”
“I want babies.” He pouted. “Babies are cute and tiny and they giggle at everything. I want a baby.”
“Only Henri can have children.” The eldest Princess repeated, now turning sour, but they were interrupted by two huge strong arms reaching back to scoop up the six year old.
The king held up his youngest son with an amused smile which Monroe couldn’t help but mirror. He loved his father, with the man’s big thick beard. He was strong and tall and rough, and nothing could ever hurt the man, but he was exceedingly gentle with his family. He could hold the six year old up with one arm, and he did so to show him off, the crowds growing louder. This was the face of their future Lord Prince. This was the boy who would represent them one day when Henri was king.
King Joseph smiled even more as their parade came to a stop at the castle, and the boy grinned ear to ear as he saw his Aunts greet them at the front gates. Lady Princess Josephine was the King’s twin sister and just as rugged as her brother, while her mer wife Lady Lillian was beautiful and exotic, her long blue hair braided with pearls. The Lady Princess had left the council a month before to prepare her home for the King’s arrival.
The Four Kingdoms of Caementum, Novalis Cetarius and Acinum unified centuries ago by the will of the goddess, with the capitol city of Moenia sitting on the border of all four kingdoms serving as the home of the one King. To keep the peace, the King always had five children, never more, never less. The first son would be the next king, while the rest of the princes and princesses would marry a lord or lady from one of the Kingdoms . This meant that the King would have two advisors from each kingdom, one native who would know everything about that land, and the other would be his sibling which would ensure that he would listen to what the people needed. The advisors were always of the same gender so that the bloodlines would not intermingle and so that the royal family would not become too large.
The King and Queen stepped off the carriage still carrying their youngest children while the preteens in the back stepped off behind them. The two Ladies bowed low, then stood.
“I hope your travels went well your majesties.” Lady Lillian said softly, her beautiful melodic voice chasing away the weariness from their bones. She had mermaid blood in her, and it was obviously thick, making her beautiful yellow eyes glow in the sunlight and her pale skin shimmer. Behind her were the rest of the mer lords and ladies, and the five young lords that were Monroe’s new suitors. He smiled as Josephine met his eyes, giving him the same smile his father had, but it fell a little as soon as the young lords stepped up, waiting for him to greet them.
They all had colorful hair, but none of it reminded him of yummy food, and none of them looked like cooks, more like warriors. There was only one his age, one four year old, the other three being at least 10, and they were all looking at him expectantly. He didn’t like it. He didn’t want to pick. He didn’t even want to look at them. His father set him down, but Prince Monroe grabbed his hand uneasily.
The Lady Princess knelt in front of him, shielding him from their view. “Its alright to be nervous, little prince. You have all the time you need to choose one.” She fixed the silver circlet on his head. “Go speak to them.”
“I’m not nervous.” He said, flushing, “I’m brave.”
“Good.” His father let go of his hand, nudging him towards the others. “Then go play.”
He was too nervous to walk over to the little lords, especially since he knew hundreds of eyes were watching him in awe and happiness, so he half ran. His short legs put him in a little trot and he could hear Odelia sniggering, before his mother’s soft voice made her go silent. He slowed, now only a few feet away from his new suitors. He had been heading for the one that was his age, but the boy wrinkled his nose at him, and he looked mean. The four year old seemed safest, but he was chewing on his fingers and looked like he was gunna pee himself the closer the Prince got. They were closest to his size, but he didn’t like them.
So that left the older, bigger lords. He looked at them all, unaware that he had stopped completely. There was one with green hair, but it was tinged with yellow, reminding him of the seaweed he’d seen Lillian eat before. That was promising, since it reminded him of food, which reminded him of his sweet Emily. Then there was the eldest one, with hair like Lillian’s. He looked just like her, so he was probably her nephew. He would be a good pick because then he could have his own “Lillian” and the woman was really nice to him. The last one however made his heart do this weird flutter. It was like he swallowed a bug, and he almost felt like running away the moment it happened.
He was tanned from the sun, with silvery blue hair like fish scales, and eyes like the sun. His clothing was less regal than the others and more practical, but it made him look more approachable. He was maybe 11, maybe 13, and at least a foot and a half taller than Monroe. The older boy smiled at him, stepping forward when it was obvious the Prince was frozen in place. He took his hand gently, kissing it, “My Lord Prince Monroe, I am Lord Zale.”
The Prince flushed brighter red, all thoughts of Emily leaving his mind as he watched the boy in front of him straighten up. The crowd began to cheer, because it was obvious to all that the two were meant to be. The Prince now had his future groom.
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A/N: So here I am, writing a story again after years and years of just RPs. I’ve been a lurker for years on AFF but I’m only now just creating an account since I have this story stuck in my head. I would love a beta, though I’ve never had one before and any critics are welcome. I know it seems cut and dry right now in the story but things will definitely get much more complicated within the next few chapters.
