by H J Welch
Cas raised his eyebrows. “It’s just that easy, is it?”
Valentina shrugged. “I don’t know. Why don’t you go find out?”
Cas narrowed his eyes at her, but she just swept her arm toward the door again.
So Cas had little choice but to straighten his tie, then go and face his father, trying his best not to feel like a schoolboy who’d been caught making out with the captain of the lacrosse team when he should have been in chemistry class.
Not that Cas had ever done that.
As he walked down the palace corridor, he realized he had a shadow. “Offering moral support, or just want a front-row seat for my execution?” Cas joked down at Bella. But she simply swished her tail and carried on trotting alongside his feet. It was silly, but he didn’t feel quite so alone as he neared his father’s study.
Cas sighed, pausing just before he knocked. He’d been here not long ago to give Wren a stern talking to. Cas should have known it would only be a matter of time before it was his turn. Wren hadn’t left that meeting very happy.
How was Cas going to feel?
There was only one way to find out. He knocked firmly twice, then took a step back to wait to be called in. It only took a second for his father’s booming voice to call “Enter!” through the thick wooden door, and Cas didn’t let himself hesitate. He just turned the handle and swiftly walked inside.
Bella slipped through the door before he could close it, but the palace was so full of cats it wasn’t all that unusual. Besides, her presence wouldn’t stop the king from saying what he wanted. And there he was, sitting behind his large desk, surrounded by bookcases and portraits of Cas’s grandfather and great-grandfather. King Alphonse had silvery hair, but he was still a robust man, even if his face showed a few more lines these days. He was writing something with a fountain pen, but as Cas approached, he finished with a flourish and screwed the cap back on, looking up at Cas with a smile.
“Sander,” he said fondly, indicating one of the chairs on this side of the desk for him to sit at. The queen wasn’t present, possibly too busy with preparations for the ball. Cas pushed down a fresh wave of guilt at having caused a scandal when all eyes were already on Rosavia and the palace.
He had the same usual reaction to hearing the name that had felt so alien and uncomfortable to him for so long. But for the first time, it felt within his power to do something about it. Matty had given him that confidence. He was his own man.
“Um – Cas,” he said.
The king raised his eyebrows. “What was that?” he asked pleasantly.
Cas cleared his throat and sat down. “Actually, I prefer to be called Cas,” he said, folding his hands into his lap and holding his dad’s gaze. “Obviously, officially, I’ll always be Prince Cassander, of course. But at home, I’d like to be called Cas.”
The king blinked and nodded once. “I see. Well…I don’t see how that should be an issue, particularly. Cas it is.”
A wave of something unidentifiable washed over Cas. It was kind of relief, but also a sort of euphoria. ‘What’s in a name?’ Shakespeare had asked. It turned out, for Cas, a lot. If he could let go of Sander, he could let go of all those burdens he’d placed on himself to be responsible for every damn thing in this family.
Sander had thought he had to be Rosavia itself, the palace personified.
Cas was a flesh and blood man who was finally allowing himself to pursue his own happiness.
So he smiled at his father, feeling a hell of a lot less like he was facing a firing squad. There was no sense in beating about the bush, therefore Cas just took a breath and jumped right in.
“I take it you’ve seen the news?” he asked, stating the obvious. Why else was he here?
King Alphonse raised his eyebrows, looking down at some of the documents on his desk, of which there were many. No doubt the system made sense to him and would be tidied by the end of the day, but now, to Cas, it just looked like a sea of paper. “I have indeed,” said the king. “You’ve caused quite a stir.”
“I apologize profusely,” Cas said, completely sincere. “That was never my intention. I should have behaved with more discretion.”
The king hummed. “How about you tell me what’s happened in your own words?” He frowned and rolled his pen between his index finger and thumb. “That von Tarr has never been a friend to the crown, so I wouldn’t trust her in any case. But it seems like there’s been a new scandal every day this past week. And now there’s a new issue with the Thedes press as well this morning. I swear she wants this ball to be a disaster.”
Cas’s interest piqued, along with concern for Jules and Dante. But he’d have to look into that later. He completely agreed that von Tarr seemed to have made it her personal vendetta to drag the royal family into the mud this week. Cas wasn’t sure what they’d done to deserve that, but the result was still the same. They were walking a dangerous line for Rosavia’s reputation right now, and Cas was here with his father because of the role he’d personally played in that.
It was time to be honest, like he and Matty had promised.
“I’ve met someone wonderful, Father,” Cas said before he could chicken out. “The man in the photos with me isn’t some dalliance. I think I might be in love, in fact. But I’m fully aware that he won’t be considered appropriate for me to date.”
Or marry, a voice whispered at the back of Cas’s head. That was skipping ahead enormously, but the thought lingered, regardless.
The king placed the pen down, folded his hands on the desk, and fixed Cas with a steady look, his expression neutral. “Perhaps you could tell me what he is, rather than what he isn’t?” A smile twitched ever so slightly at the corners of his mouth, giving Cas the encouragement he needed to open up. He hadn’t been expecting this kind of warmth at all. Maybe he had underestimated his father?
“He’s kind,” said Cas in a rush. “Thoughtful, dedicated. He dotes on his niece and worries about his sister. She’s sick with cancer, but there’s every hope she can still make a full recovery.” Cas tried to stop the grin that was no doubt sappy from creeping onto his lips, but he couldn’t. “He’s a great cook, a music and movie lover, and I think he’d enjoy the theater immensely if he could afford to go more. He doesn’t have a career path yet, but I think he just needs to find the right calling.”
The king hummed again. “Sounds like someone suited to sit on a board of directors of a charity or two, wouldn’t you say?”
Cas raised his eyebrows. Charity work? That was a classic occupation for anyone who married into the royal family.
“Uh, yes,” he said, trying to process this new information as fast as possible. Was his father giving him his blessing? That couldn’t be right. There was no precedent for a prince to be with a commoner. However, Cas was done omitting facts. “I feel you should also know that he’s American. He and his sister are estranged from their parents, as they didn’t approve of their children being gay and lesbian. He comes from absolutely no money or social standing.” And yet he’s utterly perfect and makes me feel complete in ways I can’t describe.
After a second or two, the king rose from his chair and placed his hands behind his back. Taking his time, he walked across the room and looked out of the large window, over the palace and the city beyond. “It’s a blessing and a curse that Rosavia is such a small country,” he said. Cas suddenly felt like he was in an impromptu history or politics lesson. Unsure what his father was getting at, he stayed quiet. “We’ve never had much sway in Europe, other than simple trade agreements and, in the last few decades, tourism. The rest of the world is never very interested in listening to what we have to say.” He turned and looked back at Cas. “But that means that they never really pay attention to what we’re up to, either.”
“Father?” Cas finally prompted. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but it was difficult to keep his hope at bay.
“I disagreed with my father on a lot of things, but it’s easy to judge from afar. Whe
n you’re the one on the throne, though, it’s very easy to just maintain the status quo for ease and simplicity.” He shook his head, a fond smile tugging at his features. “My sons have turned out to be anything but simple or easy.”
Cas shifted on his seat, throwing a guilty look down at Bella, who gave him a tiny meow of encouragement. “Sorry,” he said, looking back up at his dad.
The king gave a small short laugh and looked back at Cas. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, I assure you. Although it has made me take a serious look at some of the protocols we have in place, and whether we should still be blindly following them.” He sighed. “Nothing is more important to me than my children. I know it should be crown and country, but I’m only human in the end.”
Cas swallowed around the lump in his throat. He’d never heard the king – his dad – talk like this before. Maybe all the drama Cas and his brothers had been going through these past months had opened his eyes to something?
“We all are,” Cas said softly.
His dad nodded. “If we only marry royalty and nobility, how are we possibly going to be expected to keep in touch with our people?” said King Alphonse. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head, looking once again out over Alpina. “We are for the people. We protect the people. But by saying we cannot befriend them, cannot love or marry them, aren’t we also saying ‘we’re better than you, common folk’? Why follow arcane rules put in place in a completely different time, when we are the rule makers? What is the point of power, if we cannot wield it for what we feel is good and right?”
Cas’s throat had gone dry. His heart was pounding, and he realized his mouth was hanging open. He managed to snap it closed with a ‘click’ just as his father turned back around again. The king looked cautiously amused.
“Father,” Cas said slowly, rising to his feet. Bella immediately rubbed herself in a figure eight around his legs, like she was giving him her support. “Is that…can I take that as your blessing?”
The king’s smile grew. “Your mother and I want to meet this young man. Matty, is it?” Cas nodded, hardly daring to breathe. “Why don’t you invite him to the ball tomorrow night? If that’s not throwing him in too much at the deep end?”
All the blood rushed from Cas’s head, and only years of training in decorum kept his knees locked and stopped him from dropping in shock back into the chair he’d been occupying.
King Alphonse van Rosavia had just invited Matty Doyle to the most important social and political night in the country’s past hundred years. As Cas’s official date.
“I think,” Cas said, finally collecting his wits enough to speak, “that would be wonderful. We’d be honored, Your Highness.”
King Alphonse snorted and sat himself back down. “None of that when you introduce us. You always were a stickler for protocol and tradition, Cas.” He winked. “I hope this young American continues to loosen you up. Now, off you go. I believe you have an archery tournament to oversee?”
Cas beamed, feeling a little dizzy he was so overwhelmingly happy. “Yes, Father. I do. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
The king hummed and shooed him off, his attention already back on his documents. Cas didn’t mind the quick shift. His father was a busy man.
But he was also a kind and compassionate one, too.
Cas walked back out into the hallway with Bella at his feet. His thoughts were whirling around his mind as he walked down the corridor, hardly paying attention to the people who passed him. That was until a few turns later, when his baby brother, Wren, materialized from one of the rooms, a mixture of anxiety and hope on his face.
“Hi,” he said breathlessly. “How’d it go?”
Cas didn’t need to ask how Wren knew what was going on, or if he sympathized. He’d been through something very similar in the past few days with his own love life. So Cas just smiled, trying not to get his hopes up too much. He still had to talk to Matty, and they still had so many obstacles to consider.
But Cas had his father’s blessing. That meant he had the blessing of the crown, and everything else paled in comparison.
He and Matty had a chance.
“I think it went well,” Cas said, nodding. An emotional lump rose in his throat, but thankfully this was a happy reaction for once. “Good. I…I have a date for the ball. His name is Matty. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
Without warning, Wren threw his arms around Cas’s neck and hugged him fiercely. Cas stumbled as he blinked, then patted Wren’s back.
“I’m so happy for you!” Wren cried into Cas’s shoulder. When he pulled back, he laughed, wiping his glistening eyes. “And I’m so sorry I was such a dick to you the other day. You’ve always looked out for me, even when I’ve been an absolute terror, and I want you to know that I love you, Sander. You deserve happiness. And no one should get to tell you what that happiness looks like.”
Cas rested his hand on Wren’s shoulder. “The same to you. I’m glad things worked out well for you, too.”
Wren beamed. “They really have. Sander…I’m so happy.”
“Good.” Cas licked his lips and dropped his hand. “And…is it okay if you call me Cas? Sander doesn’t feel like who I am anymore. I’m not sure that person every really existed.” He laughed. “I’m pretty sure he was just a lot of pomp and nonsense in a trench coat, pretending to be a prince.”
Wren snorted. “He was a bit of a stick in the mud,” he said devilishly. From that glint in his eye, Cas was sure there was still some brat left in his baby brother. But the maturity of the past few months that now accompanied it was a welcome relief. Cas hoped that now Wren was settling into adulthood, they’d finally have a chance to be the friends that the years between them had always made difficult.
Cas was about to give Wren a hard time, and act like he wouldn’t have had to be a stick in the mud if Wren hadn’t caused so much trouble, but the clattering of feet announced that a couple of people were coming around the corner.
Sure enough, two men emerged in the corridor. It was Ben and his valet Paul, and they were walking silently side by side at quite a pace.
“Ben!” cried Wren in delight. The other two men slowed as they approached Cas and Wren, their looks almost apprehensive. “I thought you were stuck on active duty! Did the Army let you off for the ball?” That was what Cas had thought, too, although he knew what Wren didn’t: that it hadn’t been the Army who had been keeping him away.
Ben looked very surprised to see his brothers in the palace where they lived, which struck Cas as odd. His eyebrows were practically lost in his hair, and he hesitated before speaking. When he did make to answer, Bella beat him to it from where she’d been winding around Cas’s feet. She hissed and arched her back, which wasn’t like her at all.
“Bella,” Cas admonished, reaching down to pick up his cat. But she darted away from him and vanished from sight. How odd. “You made it, then?” Cas asked Ben as he stood back up, prying for more information. What he was really asking was if everything was okay with Ben’s mission.
“Oh, you know me,” said Ben with a grin. “I never miss an opportunity for a party. But I wanted my entrance to be a big surprise, so mum’s the word, okay?” He held his finger to his lips and made a ‘shh’ noise. Then he winked and strode off.
For just a second, Cas caught Paul the valet’s eye, and he had the strangest look on his face. It was almost like panic. But then he too was gone.
“Did anything about that strike you as odd?” asked Cas. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but…something was giving him pause for thought.
Wren, however, shrugged. “Nah. It’s Ben. He’s probably already been on the blueberry vodka.” He cackled. “Anyway, I was looking into American species of roses, and they have this big fat red one called a Knock Out, which I think you guys might love, and-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Cas cried, throwing up his hands and laughing. “Slow down there, Wren. I’m not Leo. I’m not announcing any engagement tomorro
w night. Matty doesn’t need his own rose, okay?”
Wren’s grin was sly, and made all of Cas’s usual fears around his brother’s mischievous ways come flooding back. “Yet,” he said, walking backward with a dangerous sparkle in his eyes. “Not engaged yet. But these things take time to breed. You’ll thank me later.”
“Wren,” Cas pleaded. “We haven’t even tried dating yet.”
But Wren just turned, walking forward and waving a hand over his head. “Trust me, big bro. I know what I’m doing.”
Cas chewed his lip and watched him disappear around the corner, leaving Cas all alone. For a second, his thoughts competed to overwhelm him.
And then he let them all go.
He took a deep, slow breath, and smiled as he exhaled. It wasn’t his job to try and juggle everything anymore. His brothers were always going to be trouble in one way or another, he suspected, but that wasn’t Cas’s responsibility to fix. In fact, without his fussing, he hoped they might actually be starting to flourish. And with the permission of his father, that meant Cas had the blessing from the palace to go and do the same.
All that was left was to go and find out what Matty felt about the whole situation now they had all the facts.
Cas didn’t walk back down to his car.
He ran.
Chapter Seventeen
Matty
“Uncle Matty!” Finley cried as she ran across the grass, throwing herself into Matty’s arms. “You made it!”
Matty sighed and hugged her tightly. “Of course, Nibblet! I wouldn’t miss it for the world! Are you all ready? You look ready to kick butt! And this is so cool!”
He indicated the stadium that was apparently normally used for the school’s lacrosse games. Although, with its wooden stalls and flags flying everywhere, Matty would have been more prepared for a game of Quidditch to start than anything else. Finley gestured eagerly at the row of targets that had been set up, reminding Matty of what they were really here for. It was early enough that lots of parents and other spectators were still milling around on the grounds, safe from any of the arrows that would be flying around later.
