He never smiled.
Finally, unable to tolerate his son's dour expression any longer,
the king sent out a decree. He sent messengers to every corner
of his country, and runners to all the neighboring kingdoms. The
first person to make his hard-faced child smile would earn the
right to marry him.
Unfortunately for the king, things did not go as planned.
Excerpt
Leo hovered outside the closed bedroom door, torn between curiosity
and basic decency. He had the right to open the door and stroll
into the room, but he wasn't sure if the stranger knew that.
It didn't seem so, since he hadn't once addressed Leo properly,
and he didn't bow when they parted company. And the man did
deserve some privacy after everything he had gone through. Leo
didn't know what, exactly, he had gone through, but it was enough
to know that he had looked like a frightened, angry, confused,
drowned cat.
He closed his eyes, reliving the moment when the man had come
out of nowhere. There hadn't been a warning, or even the hint
of his arrival. He was just all of a sudden airborne, his arms
waving, his face pulled into comical surprise. And then he was
covered in mud. The whole event hadn't taken more than three
or four seconds. But it had been enough to startle a laugh out
of Leo.
A real, genuine laugh. Accompanied with a real, genuine smile.
Leo had been instantly ashamed of himself. What would his mother
think if she saw him laughing at the poor man? And the stranger
had certainly looked pathetic. It was shame that prompted Leo
to pull the stranger onto the back of his horse-an action that
would give both of his parents a small heart attack. And it
was the memory of that shame that prompted Leo to instruct Jax
to take the man to his private quarters for his bath and supper.
His guilt was almost assuaged by the concessions. But his curiosity
was piqued. Feeling the man pressed against his back had made
something stir to life deep within him. He responded physically
to Jax, but that had always been more about necessity than any
real desire. He couldn't believe that he had any real desire
for the stranger-the boy had been shivering and shaking, cold,
and covered in mud. But somehow, none of that mattered when
he pressed his chest to Leo's back.
Almost an hour passed before Leo gave in to his need to see
the young man, and he knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Leo opened the door and paused at the threshold, an invisible
fist squeezing his chest. It wasn't just the beauty of the young
man-though he was quite stunning with his dark eyes and darker
hair-it was the feeling that the stranger was sitting right
where he belonged. That this was his bedroom, and Leo was some
sort of interloper.
"How…how are you feeling?"
The man smiled shyly. "Better. Thank you."
"We haven't been properly introduced," Leo said,
closing the door behind him. "I'm Leopold…"
"Prince Leopold?" The man jumped to his feet, almost
toppling his dinner to the floor. "Oh, I should have realized…oh,
excuse me, your majesty. I'm terribly sorry. Excuse me, please,
sir…."
Leo held up his hand. "No, no. Please. Sit down and finish
eating. That's not necessary."
"But I'm in your private chambers. Aren't I?"
"Yes, you are. But that's only because none of the other
rooms were prepared for guests. Now, what's your name?"
"Dexter."
Leo approached the couch and offered his hand. "It's a
pleasure to meet you."
Dexter studied Leo's palm for a moment before shyly reaching
to take his fingers. His grip was nicely firm, and Leo had the
feeling that when Dexter didn't feel completely out of his depths,
he would be quite formidable.
"The pleasure's mine, your majesty."
"Don't call me that, please. Nobody calls me that. Not
while I'm here."
"What do they call you?"
"Leo, mostly."
"Leo. That's weird."
"Would it be weird if you didn't know I was the prince?"
"No."
"Then just pretend you don't know."
Dexter eyed him warily. "That could get me arrested, you
know."
"True. But not here."
"Very well. Leo."
Many
years ago, in a kingdom far away, there lived a young prince.
This prince was very handsome, and everybody in the kingdom loved
him. His father, the king, doted on the young man, and did everything
he could to make the boy happy. His mother, the queen, adored
her prince, and devised new and special gifts for him every day.
The subjects of the kingdom brought offerings to the prince, and
served at his pleasure, without a single complaint. The prince,
being a good man, responded in kind and treated everybody fairly
and with respect. But, much to his father's confusion and his
mother's disappointment, there was one thing the prince never
did.