(M/M) Becoming His Mate: A Prince's Tail

Chapter 1

Our story begins at twilight, as night approaches over the kingdom of Avalon. In a high turret overlooking the castle and the town stretched out before it, King Mortdecai sat at his desk, staring out of the window at the distant shore, where a ship sat floating by the docks.

Unbeknownst to the king, down by the shore two of his sons were walking side by side, having stolen the last few minutes of the day to speak to one another. The first was his oldest son Adrian, whose blonde hair caught the last rays of the sun, becoming a fiery gold. The other was Mortdecai's youngest, Alastair, whose hair shone a pale lavender in the fading light. As the pair walked, Adrian kept looking at his brother, who wore a somber expression.

"Alastair, what is it?" said Adrian at last. "You said you wanted to talk, but you've hardly said a word. Is everything all right?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Alastair's voice was quiet. The two brothers were on the edge of the beach now, and Alastair sat down on a large rock, his expression somber.

"You remember our friend Thorin, don't you?"

"Oh..." said Adrian. He had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Yes. What about him?"

"Well, earlier today he insisted on dragging me down to the tavern again." Alastair grimaced. "It seems he still thinks that I am in need of more socializing ."

Adrian bit his lip, trying his hardest not to smile as his youngest brother rolled his eyes. "So he's still trying to get you laid, is he?"

"Yes!" Alastair said with exasperation, although he seemed relieved that his brother found the notion as ridiculous as he did. "I have told him so many times that I'm not interested at all in forming romantic relations with anyone, but he insists on playing Cupid. It's embarrassing ." Alastair rubbed the knuckles of his right hand on his forehead, clearly frustrated - before speaking in a much smaller voice than usual. "And you know, it's all the worse because I can't tell anyone the real reason why I have no interest in... well, women . But now I think it's time I did."

"Why?" said Adrian.

All of a sudden, it seemed like Alastair was having difficulty keeping eye contact with his older brother. He shifted uneasily on the rock, his green eyes flitting about as he dragged the fingers of one hand back through his hair, the way he always did when he felt embarrassed. Adrian waited patiently, knowing that whatever his brother had to say was clearly something he had been struggling with for some time.

"I'm... I'm not interested in seeing women." Alastair spoke very quietly, clearly worried that at any moment, some other person might appear. "In fact, I think for the longest time I've fancied the young men around here instead. But I mean, that's not really a bad thing, is it?"