A Prince's Pride

*Milo*

Well, fuck. 

I take a quick scan around and see we’re outnumbered two to one, if you don’t count me. Aaron seems to, when he steps in front of me, partially blocking me from the opposing soldiers.

“That’s right,” says Criston, gripping his sword firmly, “protect your boyfriend, Your Majesty,” he adds, the last two words said in a mocking voice. My heart drops into my stomach as I feel Aaron tense up beside me.

Oswald and Delgara both look at Aaron and myself. Oswald looks worried, Delgara confused. I feel a shiver ripple through the Crown Guards around us. I’m sure some of them don’t believe Criston’s words, but if his goal is to cause discordance among us, it might be working.

“You dare to slander our king?” asks Delgara, raising his sword in a defensive stance. The rest of the guards follow suit, the two archers raising their bows, arrows drawn. I glance around the walls of the courtyard, glad to see no archers there. Nor do they have any among their ranks. I don’t dwell on this, though. Delgara’s words ring in my mind.

If Delgara thinks calling us out is slander, would he not approve of our relationship? What would this mean for his orders to protect me? Or, is he simply trying to drum up morale in Aaron’s men?

“Oh, it’s no slander,” says Criston, glancing toward Corianne’s body, barely visible in the dimming light of the setting sun. “She told me all about them. She walked in on them fucking.”

“Is…is that true, Your Majesty?” asks one of the Crown Guards.

“It doesn’t matter at this moment,” says Sir Oswald. “Defend your king as you have sworn!”

“Yes, sir!” the guards chant in unison. I don’t miss that Delgara doesn’t say anything.

“Enough chatter!” shouts one of the Lower Reach soldiers. He looks to be a captain of some sort. “They are cornered and outnumbered. Let’s kill them and be done with—”

His words are cut off as an arrow, shot from one of Aaron’s guards, pierces his eye.

With a battlecry, the guards start running toward one another. Before he charges into battle, Delgara turns to me, pulling a dagger from his side. He pushes the handle into my hand. He says nothing before turning and running into the fray. 

Two guards close ranks around Aaron, who isn’t wearing any armor.

The fight is a flashing of swords and arrows flying from Aaron’s guards. I hear shouts and the sounds of metal on flesh. As they fall one by one, I see just how skilled Criston is with his sword and I’m thankful I had the wits to run from him. When the fighting calms down, only Delgara, Oswald, one of our archers, a Lower Reach soldier, and Criston are standing. I don’t know when the two guards next to Aaron left, but they aren’t there now. Oswald stands in a defensive position in front of Aaron, a gash on his face. Delgara is nursing a wound in his side.

“You and me!” says Criston, pointing at Aaron. “I challenge you!”

“No!” I shout, pushing past Aaron as he makes his way toward Criston. “Me!” 

“Milo, no, you—”

“Challenge accepted! Let’s do this, you filthy faggot!” roars Criston. He raises his sword and rushes toward me. I grip the dagger tightly and summon every ounce of training I’ve received from Aaron. Every ounce of rage I have about Corianne’s death. Every morsel of pain I’ve caused by not trusting Corianne.

I throw myself forward, tucking my body into a ball. I collide with Criston’s legs, sending him sprawling. As if on instinct, my arm swings back and I feel a slight resistance as my dagger sinks into the flesh of his leg. His cry wrenches the air as I rip the dagger free and roll to the side, narrowly dodging Criston’s swinging sword. 

He stands, favoring his injured leg. The first lesson Aaron taught me: get an early wound on your opponent, especially a more skilled one to bring them down to your level. Even with this injury, I know Criston is more powerful than I am. But I can’t let him fight Aaron. Not while he’s distracted by his father’s death.

I realize with a pang that I am responsible for the King’s death as well. If I had only shown the pictures to Aaron in the first place, I could have prevented all of this. 

Criston takes a step toward me and thrusts his sword out. I twist, swinging the dagger at the sword. I feel the blades collide and know I’ve blocked his blow. Still, I’m not expecting his body when he slams into me, sending me to the ground. My head hits the ground, though thankfully it’s the grass and not the marble walkway, but I’m dazed all the same.

Criston stands above me, his sword raised, a glint of malice in his eye. He’s going to kill me. I know it. 

“No,” says Criston, the malice spreading over his features. “This isn’t personal enough.”

Criston throws his sword aside and drops to the ground, straddling me. His hands wrap around my throat, cutting off my airway. I can’t see anything but Criston, but surely Aaron or Oswald are going to help me. Technically in a duel like this, nobody is supposed to step in, but Aaron wouldn’t let me die, would he?

Maybe he should. Corianne, his father, all those citizens, their deaths are on my hands. 

Maybe my death can repay some of the misery I’ve caused, I think as the edges of my vision turn black.

*Aaron*

Criston is going to kill Milo. In a challenge like this, nobody is supposed to intervene, but Milo isn’t a knight. Oswald and I take identical steps toward Criston, but it’s the Lower Reach soldier who gets to them first. He swings the butt of his sword down, catching Criston in the shoulder before grabbing the back of his tunic and throwing him sideways off Milo.

“You dare betray me?!” roars Criston, but he looks scared now. Oswald, Delgara, the archer, and I all take offensive stances. “Screw you all!” he shouts. He turns and runs, limping from his injured leg.

“No! Don’t follow! Take cover!” shouts the Lower Reach Soldier, moving away from the archway entrance to the courtyard as Criston runs through it.

I act on instinct, grabbing Milo under his arms and dragging him away. 

BOOM!

The archway explodes, and I collapse on top of Milo. Stone rains from above, pelting the area and all of us. The rain of debris seems to take an eternity to stop. When it does, I sit up and look at Milo. My ears are ringing, but I was far enough away that I know I won’t have permanent damage.

“Are you okay?” I demand, looking for any sign of a wound, my hands trailing over Milo’s body. “Milo, speak to me!”

“I…I’m okay,” gasps Milo. I pull him up to a sitting position and hug him, feeling frantic. “Oh, Gods, I thought you were going to die. Why did you do that?” I ask, pulling away and shaking his shoulders. “I could have lost you!” 

Milo isn’t looking at me. I follow his gaze to see Delgara and the archer looking down at us.

“So it is true,” says Delgara. It isn’t a question. 

“And if it is?” I demand, standing and looking Delgara full in the face.

“I have nothing to say on the matter now, my king,” he says, bowing his head to me. “My priority now is to get you to safety.”

“Milo is coming with us,” I say, as if he’s suggesting we leave him.

“That was never a question, Your Majesty.”

I look back to Milo to see Oswald lifting him to his feet. 

“Are you alright, Oswald?” I ask, and he nods. “Good.” 

“Your Majesty,” says the archer, “I want to inform you now that I have no issue with your…relationship.” she glances between me and Milo, but doesn’t say anything else.

“Thank you, Gendaro,” I say to her and look back at Delgara. His jaw is tight.

“So the King knew?” asks Delgara. “When he said…” he, too, trails off and the five of us stand in silence for a moment.

“Why did you help us?” I ask the Lower Reach soldier, deciding to deal with Delgara later.

“I’m gay,” says the Lower Reach soldier. “I didn’t like him saying…what he said.”

“That was very noble of you,” says Oswald. He glances at me uncomfortably. “Your orders, Your Majesty?” 

I swallow as the Lower Reach soldier looks to me. He’s an enemy, whether he saved Milo’s life or not. Should I have Oswald or Delgara execute him? What would my father do? Or, should I ignore what I think my father would have done and pave my own path?

I already know what I want to do, but I’m not sure if it’s the right choice.

“Let him go,” I say. Delgara’s jaw tightens, the only indication he doesn’t agree, but he doesn’t say anything.

“Actually, Your Majesty,” says the Lower Reach guard, “I think it would be better if I came with you. There are other bombs. I know where they are.”

“Are you defecting from the Lower Reach?” asks Oswald.

“If you’ll have me. I think King Zannir is wrong to start this war. His own people are suffering worse than ever, with the other four kingdoms turned against him.”

“Fine, you may come with us,” I say. “What is your name?”

“Denson, sir,” he says, “Devin Denson.”

*Milo*

Delgara is pissed that Aaron spared Devin’s life, but it becomes apparent very quickly that sparing him was a good idea. As we make our way through the other courtyards, Devin prevents three bombs from going off on us, disarming each easily. Until this day, I never realized how much of the palace was made up of connected courtyards.

According to Devin, most of the fighting is happening in the main courtyard leading to the entrance of the palace. The Lower Reach and Red Hand are having trouble getting through the guards placed there. We’re all also happy to hear that the Lower Reach and Red hand have been pushed backward out the city gates, and the city has been secured. Killing Aaron and ending the royal line was their last ditch effort.

“Unfortunately for them, we have no idea where the Queen and Princess are,” says Devin as we walk through a corridor inside the palace itself, having entered through an iron door Aaron had the key to. “Some of the Lower Reach guards tortured the commander of the Palace Guard and discovered the locations of the bunkers. I’m sorry, but she’s dead. The Queen’s bunker was raided, but she wasn’t there, nor was Princess Riley.”

“We have to search the palace. I need to find my family,” says Aaron. I can feel the tension radiating from his body.

We creep through the palace, Oswald first, then Aaron, then me, then Devin, Delgara, and Cristal Reyes, the archer, behind me.

I’m used to the hustle and bustle of servants and guards, but all is silence. We are deep enough in the palace now that we can’t even hear the battle raging in the courtyard.

All six of us freeze when we hear a disturbance around the corner ahead, then a shushing.

“I’m sorry,” comes a whisper. 

“Who is there?!” shouts Aaron suddenly, causing me to jump.

“My prince?” the voice says. “We’re coming out.”

I feel our group hold its collective breath as three people come around the corner. One servant, a man by the name of Ott, flanked by one of the palace guards and a Midoorian SOA agent.

“My prince, it is you!” says the palace guard happily. “Thank the Gods you’re alright.”

“Is it true?” asks the SOA agent. I can’t see her face, except for her eyes, which look sad. 

“Your Highness, they’re saying the King is dead, but that can’t be true. He’s in his bunker, isn’t he?” asks the palace guard, hope filling the features of his face.

Aaron hangs his head. “It’s true,” he says. “My father is…” he takes a deep breath, then looks back at the palace guard, whose face has already fallen. “My father is dead. I am now King of Midoor.”

“Oh, no, Your High—I mean, Your Majesty, I—”

“We don’t have time for this, unfortunately,” says the SOA agent. “Your Majesty, this servant knows the location of the Queen and Princess, but has been ordered by the Queen to share the information with nobody but you or King Theodore.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They are safe in Princess Riley’s alcove.”

I should have known. 

*Eighteen Months Ago*

*Milo*

Prince Aaron is a pig! 

We’ve been dating in secret for nearly six months and he does something like this to me? I’m so angry, I’m not even paying attention to where I’m going. I’m out of breath for crying and lean up against a tapestry on a wall, which I fall right through and land on my butt. The tapestry falls over the secret entrance to this passage, plunging me in darkness.

My sadness overtakes me. How could Aaron cheat on me? I thought he felt the same way I do. I thought he loved me. I can’t hold back the tears, the sobs that wrack my chest.

“Who’s there?” comes a hiss from behind me. I force myself to stop crying with difficulty. I recognize that voice. A lantern blooms into light at the end of the passage and I turn to see Princess Riley walking toward me.

“Milo?” she asks.

“P-Princess Riley,” I say, standing and bowing. I wipe my tears from my face hurriedly. “I apologize, Your Highness, I st-stumbled through the t-tapestry on accident.”

“It’s alright. Come with me.” She turns and I follow her to the end of the passage. On the right hand side is a narrow crevice we sidle through. On the other side is a small room, big enough for maybe ten people to stand. A large, stained glass window sits in the wall to the left, angled so they light doesn’t pass through the crevice. I glance out of it and see the gardens below. A dome has been built there that I’ve heard will have rose bushes growing over it.

“What is this place?” I ask her.

“I call it my alcove. It’s where I come to think, or be alone,” I turn and she looks me in the face, “or to cry.”

“I—” I don’t know what to say. I feel embarrassed, having been discovered crying by a member of the Royal Family.

“Let me guess,” she asks, “Aaron did something stupid.”

Well, yes, but I can’t tell her that. Nobody knows about us. At least, I didn’t think so until Princess Riley speaks again.

“Is it this stupid date our father’s forced him on? It’s just an act, Milo. He loves you.”

“How do you know about that?” I ask, incredulous.

“Please. My brother told me he was gay years ago,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. “And I see the way he looks at you when you talk to him, and the same for you. It’s obvious, at least to me, that you’re in love.”

“Wait…your father put him up to this?”

“Oh, yes,” she says. The light filtering through the stained glass turns her white dress into a shimmering rainbow. “He’s done it every so often since Aaron turned eighteen. He’s desperate for Aaron to find a wife so he can have children when he’s king.”

I feel a bit better, but this draws up a new question.

“How will he and I ever be together then? If the King is so determined for Aaron to find a wife, what chance have I got?”

“Oh, Aaron is really stubborn,” she says, “it’ll be years and years before he gives in to our father’s demands. By that time, I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

“We?” I ask.

“I’m in this with you, Milo. You make my brother happier than I’ve seen him in years. I won’t let you two go without a fight.”

*Present Day*

*Aaron*

I’ve never heard of this alcove of Riley’s, and I’m surprised when Milo leads the way to it. The entrance is hidden behind a tapestry carrying the Midoorian Family Crest, a golden shield, edged with silver, and two swords displayed over the shield, one sword gold, the other one silver, bent so the ends of the hilts and the tips of the sword touch, forming a heart.

Milo pulls back the tapestry and looks at Oswald. “We should stay out here,” he says, “there isn’t much room inside. Your Majesty, we’ll wait for you here.”

I know what he’s doing. He’s giving me time to tell my family about my father. If Ott, who I presume was with my family before coming to find us, doesn’t know about my father, neither do they.

“No, Milo,” I say. “You’re coming too.” I ignore the confused looks on the faces of the SOA, Ott, and the palace guard. I want to tell Milo he’s family, too, but I don’t.

Milo and I make our way down the passage and through a narrow space that leads into a small room, painted with dim light by a stained glass window.

“Aaron? Oh, thank the Gods!” says my mother when she sees me. She rushes forward and hugs me, then steps back, her hands on my face. It’s just her, my sister, Milo, and myself in here. “Where is your father?”

I take a second to look at my mother, at her smiling face. I want to remember this happiness in her eyes because I’m afraid of how long it’ll be until I can see it again.

“Mother, Riley,” I say slowly, looking at each of them. I can already see in Riley’s eyes she knows what I’m about to say. My mother still looks hopeful and happy. It hurts, knowing I’m about to crush her heart. “Father is dead.”

My mother’s arms drop to her side as tears fill her eyes. She falls back against the wall, lets out a single sob, slides to the ground, and begins to cry.

It’s hours later when Oswald walks through to the alcove and announces that the attack is over. All Lower Reach soldiers and members of the Red Hand have been either killed in battle or arrested and taken to the dungeons. 

Everything moves in a blur over the next few hours as guards and servants carry out orders to dispose of bodies and to help relocate injured civilians and guards alike to medical outposts. The Small Council has not yet convened, although I know they’re all aware of my father’s death. Thankfully, the invaders did not find his body.

In total six hundred people, made up mostly of Lower Reach soldiers , invaded the city. Some were planted during the preparations of the wedding, others entered during the chaos. Many of the Red Hand members were my own citizens, biding their time until they could attack.

My mother and sister are together in my Riley’s room. I’ve ordered five Crown Guards to stand outside it. I’m standing in the throne room, receiving reports about the clean up effort and what’s happening with my citizens, when I’m approached by Delgara. He’s been bandaged, but looks otherwise unhurt.

“What do you want?” I practically spit at him. I haven’t forgotten the way he acted when he found out about me and Milo and I don’t have time for this. I don’t even want to be here. I want to go to my room with Milo, lay in my bed, and cry into his shoulder until I fall asleep. But I can’t. I have a duty to my people.

“Your Majesty,” he says, inclining his head. “I’ve come to turn in my resignation from the Crown Guard.”

I glance around and hiss at him, “Because you can’t serve a gay king?”

“That is not it at all, my king,” he says, sounding affronted. “I was taken aback, yes, but only because I knew you were to marry the Lady Corianne. I…apologize if I came across any other way. Truthfully, I believe your father had an inkling of your…” he stops, unsure how to phrase it apparently. “Anyway, he made sure all the Crown Guard would defend the Royal Family and their loved ones, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. He stressed that last part particularly, although I didn’t know why until today.”

My heart breaks again. My father knew. He knew all along. Or, had an idea. 

“No,” says Delgara, “I’m here to resign because I failed in my duty. I allowed the King to die.”

“And it would be a fine way to repay his memory,” I say bitterly, “to abandon his son on the day he becomes king.”

Delgara hangs his head, unsure what to say.

“I need you by my side,” I tell him. “True, Oswald will always be my sworn protector, but I need people I can count on. Criston is sure to spread word of mine and Milo’s relationship. I don’t think it’ll go over well with everyone.”

“You can count on the Crown Guard, Your Majesty,” says Delgara, placing a fist over his heart and bowing to me. 

The next day, I stand on the balcony overlooking the main courtyard below, which is packed with people. 

“Good morning, citizens of Midoor. It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of my father, His Royal Majesty, Theodore Heris, King of Midoor. In the aftermath of the attack on our capital city, I have ordered security to be tightened. I know this will cause a strain on many of you, but it is for your safety that I do so. A curfew will be put into effect starting immediately. All citizens should be in their homes by no later than ten o’clock PM. If you have reason to be about, please see a guard, who will escort you.

“In times such as these, it is paramount to remember the moto of the Royal Family: United by love, united by friendship, united by kinship, we stand; divided by hate, divided by animosity, divided by incongruence, we fall. In these trying times, we must stand as one if we are to rise above those who would see our ideals crumble before us. Remember: we are one people. We must stand united, or we will fall as one.”

“Long live the King!” the citizens chant below. “Long live the King! Long live the King!”

Author’s Note: 

Thank you again to everyone who’s enjoying this story, and to everyone who has commented and sent me emails. Writing this story has been such a wonderful experience. 

I’m sorry to announce that, going forward, I will be unable to update this story every day. Every chapter of A Prince’s Pride is a minimum of 3,000 words. Writing and editing them takes a lot of time and juggling this with my social life, moving to a new city, and changing my career, all while working a full time job is simply too much. Furthermore, the extra time I can spend writing and editing will ensure I can write even better chapters going forward.

I’ll be aiming for every two to three days, but I will make sure it’s no more than five. Thank you for your understanding, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you all think of what’s to come in the next chapter of A Prince’s Pride!

-Ottie