The Prince and the Pea- Solangelo

Courted by a prince

Will POV

When I first came to the Underworld, I never would have thought I would be courted by Prince Niccolo, who also the most handsome boy in the world, and no that's not exaggerating. I knew this was what Lady Rachel was telling me in that prophecy. I would find happiness with Nico. The past few weeks have been a blur. I kept every gift Nico gave me: flowers from their garden, a stuffed bear that belonged to Nico himself, lots of jewelry (bracelets mostly but with some rings and necklaces too), a sketch the prince had done of me, and much more. It made me unbelievably happy. I still remember when he gave me the first gift. 

A few weeks ago (two days after he came),

I was taking a walk through Queen Persephone's garden when Nico came up to me, holding something behind his back. "Hey." He greeted, his voice soft. 

"Hi." I said back, a little confused but pleased at why he was here. 

"I...wanted you to have this." He shoved something into my chest before I could see what it was. I looked down and gasped. They were sunflowers. My favorite. They were about 5 of them, all beautiful, wrapped in a little yellow ribbon to hold them together. 

"They-they're beautiful Nico...thank you." I looked up and immediately locked eyes with him, causing us both to blush. I accepted the flowers into my own hands. Little did I know this was the start of a courting session. 

Nico came into the guest room, which had become my room in the last month. "Hey, Sunshine." He had taken to calling me that when I insisted on calling him Death Boy, which fit him perfectly. 

"Death Boy." I greeted, not even hiding my smile. 

"Umm...I-I was think-thinking of...s-something." I patted the edge of my bed, telling him to sit. He did, and I took his hand in mine. Whatever he wanted to tell me couldn't be that bad...could it? 

"What is it, Death Boy?" I asked, silently telling him it was okay if he didn't want to tell me. 

"M-my p-parents want me to...m-m-marry s-someone. A-and...I want that someone to be you. If you want to, of course."  He said. I sat there gaping at him, frozen. "D-do you not want t-that? I-I did-didn't want to make you uncomfortable...I'll just go..." he stood up, about to run off but I was able to unfreeze in time, grabbing his hand before it was out of reach.

"No!! I mean...yes!! Yes, I'll marry you!" He looked at me in surprise but a smile grew on his face. 

"Really?" I asked, softly. "You're not just saying that?" 

"Of course not! I...I love you." We've never said that before. We didn't even technically have a relationship, but that was the life of a prince. 

"I-I love you too, Sunshine." He hugged me tightly. After a few seconds we pulled apart, just enough to look at each other. Almost simultaneously, our gazes drifted down to each others' lips. We leaned in for a soft kiss. It was perfect. Nico giggled a little, and I swore my heart grew two sizes by that alone. "I-I haven't told my parents about this yet. They know I'm gay, but I don't know how well they'll react to me actually marrying a boy." He told me hesitantly. 

"That's fine. I'm sure everything will be okay." I held his hand, squeezing it tightly. We both knew there was a very big chance that it won't be okay, but we'd have to be hopeful. 

"Dad, Persephone, I have something to tell you." We were all gathered in the grand living room, after Nico called us all down. By 'us' I mean his sisters, Frank, Grover, King Hades, Queen Persephone, Lady Demeter, and all the servants. His father gave him a gesture to continue, his face showing no emotion. "I have picked a spouse." The adults all perked up. Nico smiled softly at me and offered his hand. I grabbed it and interlocked our fingers. I think it was impossible to miss the loud gasp that Demeter let out. "This is Prince William, heir to the throne of Sunaline, my fiancé." Hades stood up.

"Son, we have no proof he's actually the prince. He could just be lying. He was lucky to have even stayed here for a week, let alone a month." Nico looked personally offended. 

"You can't be accusing him of lying! He would never do that!" He shouted. 

"I'm sorry, Niccolo, you have to marry a royal." Persephone interjected. Nico was silently fuming for a little bit so I squeezed his hand saying it was alright. Suddenly, he perked up. 

"Wait! I have an idea! You can have Hecate make something to prove he's a prince." He said. I knew Hecate was the royal sorceress of the Underworld, but have never met her personally. 

"Yes, perhaps we could. We could give him some challenges to make sure he's worthy too." Bianca said, glaring slightly at me, probably trying to judge if I was good enough for Nico. I stood my ground until the Princess finally lifted her gaze off me. 

"Bia! Are challenges really necessary?!" Nico whined. 

"Yes." They all said in unison.