A Prince's Pride

*Milo*

Aaron, Oswald, Exavier, and I are standing in the throne room with the new Grand Master, a woman named Daphne Carr. The old Grand Master resigned, refusing to crown a gay king. Master Carr stands on the bottom step of the dais, but she’s so short, she barely comes level with my head as I look down at Exavier, who kneels at my feet.

“Do you, Exavier Cromwell, swear to protect the Royal Family of Midoor from those who would seek to destroy them?” asks Master Carr.

“I do,” says Exavier. 

“And will you, as the sworn protector of His Royal Highness, Milo Trainor, Prince of Midoor, protect him above all others, even at risk to your own life?”

“I will.”

“Then swear it with your blood,” says the Grand Master, holding out a ceremonial dagger. 

Exavier takes it into his hand and presses the blade against his palm, looking up at me.

“With my blood, I solemnly swear my total allegiance and undying loyalty. With my blood, I swear to you, Prince Milo of Midoor, that I will defend your life with my own.”

He slides the blade across his palm and squeezes, letting drops dribble onto his sword, which lays before him. Zelda rushes forward and wraps a bandage around the wound.

“You did perfectly,” she says, pulling the bandage back to inspect the wound. “It will heal quickly.”

“Thank you for your service, Exavier,” I say as Exavier stands.

“Of course, Your Highness, although I will not be protecting you tonight.” He looks at Aaron, grinning.

“Tonight is His Royal Majesty’s bachelor party!” exclaims Exavier. 

Oh yeah, I had almost forgotten. Aaron simply rolls his eyes. He and Oswald speak at the same time.

“I told you I didn’t want—” says Aaron.

“I don’t think that’s a good—” says Oswald.

They look at each other, but Exavier wags his finger at Aaron disapprovingly.

“Now, now, Your Majesty, even a king needs his bachelor party.” 

Exavier climbs the dais and grabs Aaron by the arm. As he’s now a Crown Guard, nobody tries to stop him.

“Fine,” says Aaron begrudgingly. “I’m sorry, Milo.”

“It’s okay. I’ll see you later.” Aaron pulls his hand from Exavier’s and kisses me quickly before allowing himself to be pulled from the throne room.

“And what are you going to do tonight, Milo?” asks Delgara, who was only here for the ceremony, though I know he’s going to follow Aaron for protection tonight.

My only friends were other servants of the palace. None of them will hang out with me now that I am a prince. None of them even speak to me since I was declared a member of the Royal Family unless it’s to answer an order or ask me a question.

“Same as I always do,” I tell him.

When I get to Elaine’s room, it’s to find Mirra there once again. Other servants have offered to take food to Elaine, but she refuses. Six years of service isn’t easily forgotten, it would seem.

“Your Majesty, please,” says Mirra, holding out a bowl of salad. “Just eat a little, please.”

“You know, I don’t mind taking over feeding her,” I say, and Mirra jumps.

“Your Highness!” she says, going scarlet again. She glances at Elaine, who is writing notes as always. She sets the bowl down and walks over to me, then quietly says, “I know you don’t, but I just can’t stand it. I’ve been serving the Queen for six years. It’s my duty, and I feel like a failure.”

“Her Majesty is sick,” I remind her. “It’s not your fault. You still keep her room clean, you tend to her fire, you help her dress. You’re still doing a fine job.”

“Thanks,” she says shyly. “Will you just make sure she eats please? She hardly touched anything at dinner.”

Since I’ve been eating with the rest of the Royal Family since the engagement, I already know this. 

“Of course I will,” I tell her. 

“You must be excited for the day after tomorrow.” I look at her in puzzlement. “The wedding?” she asks incredulously. “Have you already forgotten you’re to be married?”

“No, of course not,” I say. “I’m just ready for all of this to be over.”

Honestly, I did forget that the wedding was in two days. Aaron set the timetable for it so close to my becoming a member of the Royal Family, things are moving too fast for me to keep track. I know he wants to get married and get me coronated before he attacks the Lower Reach, but still…he proposed just over a week ago.

“I think I understand,” says Mirra. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Goodnight, Your Highness.”

I nod to her and let her leave. I set the bowl down beside Elaine and she starts to eat.

I sigh deeply. Is this what my new life will be like? Waiting for Aaron to come out of meeting with the Small Council? Watching him leave with friends while I stay here and take care of his ill mother? I think of what my life could have been. The suggestion Aaron once made to me…

*Six Months Ago*

*Milo*

It feels risky, doing what we’re doing, right here, but that makes it more fun for me. Aaron is on his knees, me leaning against a tree in the Crown Wood. I gasp as his head bobs up and down on my cock. I’m holding the base as he moves his mouth up and down the shaft, sucking as though his life depends on it.

He pulls out and I grab the side of his head before slapping his lips with my hard, saliva-covered cock as he gasps for breath. I love the way he looks with my cock on his face. He dips lower and sucks one of my balls into his mouth. This is the first time a man has ever done this and I never thought it could feel so good.

“My turn,” he says with a smile and stands. We switch places, him leaning forward against the tree, exposing his bare ass to me. I kneel, not minding my knees pressing into the dirt of the floor in the woods. 

I spread his ass cheeks apart and press my face inside. He’d just taken a bath before this and used my favorite honeysuckle oil. His skin is sweet as my tongue glides across his hole.

“Oh, Milo,” he moans, pressing his ass closer to my face. 

I don’t mean for it to happen, but my tongue slides inside. I feel him shudder as I lap at his hole and he presses into me again. I meet him with equal force and feel his hands wrap around my head, pushing me still closer. My tongue slides in and out of him and he tastes so sweet, I don’t mind that I can’t breathe. He starts bucking his hips forwards and back as I work.

“I can’t stand it anymore,” he says, “I need you inside me.”

“You better make sure my cock is slick enough,” I say. He drops to his knees again and swallows me down, then pulls back, spits on my cock, and runs his hand over it. 

He turns and leans against the tree, looking back at me. Before doing anything else, I slap his ass with a loud smack and he moans, not bothering to be quiet.

“Oh, you liked that, didn’t you, Your Highness?” I get a twinge of pleasure when he rolls his eyes. I want to fuck him, but I also want to hear that moan again. With another smack, I force it out of him.

“Stop teasing me and fuck me already,” he gasps. Smack! He moans again, his face now drooping in pleasure. 

“Is that an order, Your Highness?” I ask.

“It is,” he says simply. “Fuck me, right now.”

I move forward and slide into him slowly. He lets out a shuddering gasp as I slide in, inch by inch. I don’t go slow. I start pounding him and he clutches the tree for dear life. I grab a fistful of his hair and pull back, laying into him for everything I’m worth.

Smack! Moan. Smack! Moan. I fuck him, pounding into him, slapping his ass between every few strokes of my cock inside him. I reach around him and feel his cock is leaking precum. I let it gather on my palm and use it as lube to stroke him as I pound his prostate. His eyes roll into the back of his head and I know I have him right where I want him.

I pull his head back farther and our lips meet. I can taste my precum on his tongue as I lay into him harder and faster. He’s gasping into my mouth, moaning my name. He starts moving his hips, moving in opposite directions of me so we slam harder together with every thrust. 

“Right…there…” he gasps, “right fucking there! Don’t stop! Don’t stop! Don’t!” the last word comes out as a groan. I feel his ass clench around my cock as his body shudders. He explodes in my hand, splattering the tree with his cum.

He sags, holding onto the tree with his arms. I grip his waist and slam my cock in and out of him. He’s still clenching his ass and it’s so tight, I can’t hold back any longer. I thrust into him one last time and, with a groan, I cum, filling him up. He lets out a shuddering gasp as my seed fills him.

He pulls away and looks at me for a moment, looking pensive, then snatches up our pants. He throws mine to me and we dress.

“Are you okay?” I ask him.

“Let’s run away,” he says. I laugh, but I see the seriousness in his eyes.

“You’re joking, right?”

“No. Milo, this way we can be together.”

“And the King will just let you leave without searching for you?”

“We’ll be fugitives together,” he says, wrapping his arms around my neck.

“You mean I’ll be a fugitive, kidnapping a prince.”

“It’ll be you and me versus the world!” he says happily. I can almost see the daydream playing in his eyes.

“You want to be king more than anything.”

“No, Milo. I want you more than anything. I’d give up being king, if it meant keeping you.”

We stand there, his arms around my neck, my hands at his waist, and I see that he means it. He’d give up his entire future for me, but I know I would never let him do that.

“I love you,” he says, for the first time.

“I love you, too,” I say back without hesitation. Our lips meet as my arms wrap around him, pulling him into my arms.

*Present Day*

*Milo*

“There you are!” says a voice behind me. I turn and find Riley walking into the room, but she isn’t looking at me. “Mother, you’re eating?”

“I only eat for Milo,” says Elaine. “The spiders wouldn’t dare mess with him.”

“That’s…nice,” says Riley. “Anyway, Milo, come with me.”

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“It’s a surprise.”

I look back at Elaine, but she says, “Oh, go on, dear. This is your party, after all.”

I stand and follow Riley out of the room. It’s only once we’re in the corridor and she goes to put it on me that I realize she’s carrying a blindfold.

“What are you doing?” I ask, but let her put it on me anyway.

“I told you, it’s a surprise.”

Unable to see a thing, I let Riley pull me through the halls of the palace. I’ve worked her for so long, I can tell she’s taking me to West Tower, which overlooks the Great Field. When we reach the open air at the top of the tower, I take a deep breath. The honeysuckles are in bloom and the smell is intoxicating. She pushes me right to the parapet.

“Are you ready?” she asks in a singsong voice.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose,” I say. 

When she takes the blindfold off, I can’t help but gasp. A million lights from lightning bugs twinkle in the field below. They mirror the stars shining in the dark sky above. It’s a perfectly clear night, the full moon visible high above. I’m in for another surprise when I turn and see a picnic blanket laid out on the tower, littered with pillows.

“What is this?” I ask in amazement.

“Well, my brother is having a bachelor party and he told me how the servants don’t treat you like a friend anymore, so I wanted to make sure you knew you still have a friend: me. Although, I’m more like a sister, but whatever, welcome to your bachelor party!”

I can’t help the grin that cracks my face as she pulls me over to the pillows and we sit down. She pulls a bottle of wine out of a basket and pours two glasses.

“This is the finest wine in all of Midoor,” she says. “1,000 gold crowns a bottle.” She giggles when my jaw drops. “Don’t worry, you can afford it now. You’re royalty.”

We tap our glasses and take a sip. I’ve never tasted anything sweeter.

*Aaron*

Exavier takes me down into the city against the wishes of Delgara and Oswald. I don’t bother telling them not to argue with him, although I know they’d obey my orders. Honestly, it’s just nice to have someone else arguing with them about their paranoia. Not that they can complain. Including Delgara, Oswald, and Exavier, I’m surrounded by a third of the Crown Guards which, with Exavier in their ranks, now equal thirty-one men.

Their arguments grow in direness as we draw closer to the Middle Ring of the city. They’d prefer to stay in the Upper Ring, where there are more city guards, but Exavier insists I spend this day like any other man. Even still, Delgara won in his argument that we should bring a cup from the palace just for me and that we should only allow the bars to pour drinks from newly-opened bottles.

It isn’t until I found out we’re going to a Mission Inn, owned by Corianne’s family, that I wish I were back up at the palace. I don’t express my views aloud. Exavier is the closest thing I have to a best friend, and he wants this more than I do.

When we enter the inn, silence falls almost immediately, but it picks up a moment later. I don’t know if it was prearranged or if Delgara gave a silent command, but only he and Oswald enter the inn. The rest stay outside, guarding the entrance.

“This is the King,” says Exavier to the barmaid, although I can tell by her expression she recognizes me. “We need an unopened bottle as we’re celebrating his engagement to the future king consort, Milo. A round for everyone!” He calls out the last sentence for everyone in the bar. Though two men leave, staring daggers at me, the rest cheer and raise their drinks.

“Coming right up,” says the barmaid, clearly happy. She should be. This will the on the Crown’s dime.

Drink after drink is passed to me and I down them without really counting. Several toasts happen to my engagement from Exavier and several of the citizens. I climb a stage and give a horrid rendition of A King’s Ode to the Odd, a truly terrible song to sing when you’re drunk, though everyone cheers for me.

“Another round on me!” I shout, and the inn goes wild.

“To the kings!” a drunk man shouts.

“To Midoor!” shouts another.

“Long live King Aaron and long live his king consort!” shouts a third.

Eventually, I stumble to the bar and sit down, impressed I stayed standing this long. As the music blares, I glance around and see Oswald by the door. I think Delgara went to the bathroom. Before I can look around properly for him, I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn toward a voice in my ear.

“Congratulations on your engagement,” says Piper Dylan, holding a cup similar to mine, although it’s made of brass rather than gold. I look down blearily at my own cup sitting on the bar. It looks dimmer here, in the soft light of the inn, than when it’s in the palace. Piper sets her cup down next to mine.

“What’re you doing here?” I ask her, realizing far too late that I sound accusatory, rather than simply curious.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten your promise to me,” she says benignly. 

“Nope,” I say drunkenly, “but I don’t want to talk about politics. This is my bachelor party.”

“Oh, I’m well aware. I’m merely here to celebrate with you.” She picks up her cup and holds it up to toast me. What can it hurt, honestly? I pick up my own and toast her.

“To your health, to your relationship, and to the future of the kingdom!” she says.

As I bring the cup up to my lips to take a drink, I can’t help but notice how much dimmer it looks in this lighting.

The next thing I know, I’m in one of the rooms of the inn, sitting on one of the beds. I feel a shiver run over my body, and realize I’m completely naked and my cock is harder than I think it’s ever been. I’m horny, so fucking horny, I want to fuck someone more than anything else.

The lights are on, but they glow very softly. When the door opens, I look up and see a beautiful woman enter. I’m vaguely aware that I recognize her, although I can’t place her. 

“Hello, Your Majesty,” she says, closing the door behind her. I try to speak, but I can’t.

“Don’t worry,” she says, reaching behind her and pulling on the strings that make her dress cling to her body. It falls away and she stands there, wearing nothing and eyeing me. “Your friend told me you wanted this. One last hurrah before the big day?”

My entire body feels heavy and numb. She walks toward me and leans on the bed before crawling toward me. I’m mostly on the bed, though my head rests against the wall. She straddles me, her legs on either side of my thighs.

I try to tell her, “No,” but it comes out as a groan.

“Wow, you are wasted. Don’t worry, my king, I can do all the work.”

She lifts herself up and positions herself above me. I’m trying to scream, trying to move, but I can’t. 

She grabs my cock in her hand and lowers herself on me. 

*Milo*

Riley and I are laughing at a story she’s been telling from when Aaron was seven years old and he was acting cocky toward his sword fighting instructor. His father had told the instructor to teach him that, though he was a prince, he had a lot to learn about self defense.

“Then,” Riley says, trying to hold back her laughter, “he spins around Aaron and, for the third time, swats him on his butt with the flat edge of the wooden sword.”

We drunkenly break into laughter again and Riley lets out a loud snort, which makes us laugh even harder.

“Maybe…” I say, gasping for air and clutching my stomach, which hurts from laughing so much, “maybe that’s why he likes being spanked so much.”

“Ew, Milo!” Riley says, swatting my arm, but laughing even harder. “Don’t tell me that stuff about my brother!” We laugh a little longer until it slows and dies away.

“You know,” she says, taking another swig of wine, “I knew you two would make it work in the end.”

“Yeah,” I say vaguely, taking another sip as well. This wine is as strong as it is sweet. We haven’t even gone through half the bottle and I’m already very drunk. “Our love has been tried, though.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the words of the fortune teller come back to me. 

There is a difficult road ahead for you both, and your love will be tried. It will waver, it will bend…

I guess not all of her prediction was right. Everything with Criston did cause some strife, but I can’t say it really bent or wavered.

“You two were meant to be together,” says Riley, her words slurred.

“I agree,” I say, going to toast Riley, but moving too quickly and causing some wine to splash out of my glass. “Whoops. There goes about a hundred crowns.” We laugh again and, when it dies down, I look up into the stars. 

For the first time since the wedding date was announced, I’m truly looking forward to the future. I hope it will be as bright as the stars above.