A Prince's Harem

Prologue

Faes are interesting beings to put it simply. Their society functions so differently but then again, as does every class.

The Faes worked differently to the Elves, to the Sea Beings, to the Avians, to the General Hybrids, to the Humans, and yet their way of life worked.

Their rules worked and their alliances with the other classes of beings held strong, especially with their tradition of polyamory for the direct heirs to their kingdom.

The Fae Realm was a sight to behold with its beauty, architecture and different parts, it always had been. From the maps of their provinces to the sweetness of the dried berries, the people at Court were pretending not to notice the argument between their King and heir by reveling in its beauty.

It was not uncommon for father and son to argue, but the subject of this specific argument happened to be tradition and how the prince was not keen on following it by any means.

It had been this way longer than anyone could remember, it was tradition amongst fae royalty, specifically male fae royalty after all.

Said tradition? It was the firm expectation for the Crowned Prince to maintain his harem as a part of his title and court.

His harem was meant to be full of gorgeous young ladies as his consorts and he would be expected to pick one to eventually be his Queen upon his ascension to the throne according to his father.

But there had been mixed harems in the past, many of them, however the King was actively choosing to ignore that part of his realm's history.

There had never been a vocalised issue before about maintaining a poly marriage but this time there were a few issues.

The main issue for His Royal Highness? The current Crowned Prince was very, very, gay so a harem full of women was not something he was especially interested in.

"Scott! You must maintain a sizable harem befitting your station! This is not up for debate!" King Hudson yelled, he was sick of his eldest son constantly trying to disobey his demands.

"And lie to the poor women that I would be forced to wed against our wills?! I am an honourable man, Father, I would not do that to a poor, innocent woman, let alone many!" Scott yelled in return, this was one issue he would not budge on, not if it meant innocent women would be impacted.

The argument was shaking the walls of the palace, almost literally, and quite honestly, Scott's head lady in waiting was getting sick of the King's attitude towards his eldest son.

Lady Katherine was never one to speak out to her King, mainly out of fear of what he'd do to her, but today she was sick of his yelling at the man she was in loyal servitude to, "Your Majesty, if I may offer a suggestion?" She spoke up, looking at her King with slight annoyance in her eyes.

Hudson stopped in his tracks and faced the head of his son's household, not noting the annoyance gracing her face, "Lady Katherine, you may," he hissed dangerously but he was still open to her input, for now.

"If the Prince wishes to divulge in a diverse harem then why not allow for myself and Lady Shelby to marry into it so there are at least two women for appearances sake then let His Royal Highness fill his harem with men that suit his fancy? He'd never need to show us affection or anything, we'd continue on as friends at most to maintain the façade of a marriage. After all, there have been many mixed harems in history, have there not?" Katherine suggested out of not loyalty to her King, but to the prince and also her girlfriend.

She had read the history books, she wasn't appointed head of the Crowned Prince's household for no reason, she was smart and diplomatic, and now the decision to appoint her was really not helping Hudson's case.

Hudson considered for only a moment, "Fine. You may keep a mixed harem so long as you keep Lady Katherine and Lady Shelby there for appearances sake. Do we have ourselves a deal boy?" He glared his son down, his face as hard as stone.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Scott bowed begrudgingly, it took everything in him not to roll his eyes, "If I may be dismissed?"

"Go."

Scott bowed and stalked out of his room, his court following in his trail and the second they were in the prince's room, he turned to Katherine, "Why Kat? Katherine, I could not ask you or Shub to do this!"

This room never felt like his, his room was at his palace a few hours away and he couldn't wait to get back there the next day after whatever lavish ball his parents had decided to throw that night.

Katherine rolled her eyes in a rather undignified way, "You are not asking us, we both knew the day would come where your father would demand a harem and we discussed this in length, so long as neither of us are your Chief Consort then we do not care."

"Scott, this is the only way you can get away with marrying those boys you fawn over, Lord Will, Prince Impulse, Lord Martyn, the list goes on," Shelby spoke up, twiddling with her promise ring absently.

"Then I will marry Lord Will, if he does accept. When is he next in Court?" Scott questioned, picking up his quill and parchment.

"Tonight," Katherine smirked.

"Well then, Shelby, find me The Lady Graecie, his dearest friend, I have a question to ask her," Scott sat at his desk and began to plan how his letter would go.

"Your uncle's illegitimate daughter? Or your mother's personal attendant?" Shelby was fairly certain that she knew but she wanted to be certain, she was still relatively new to the Prince's services, being only about a year in, though she had known the prince for most of their lives.

"My uncle's illegitimate daughter, she is The Lady Graecie Caravel, my mother's attendant is Lady Grace," Scott explained kindly, no malice in his voice, only a desire to help his friend out.

"Thank you, Your Grace."

"Shubble Bubble, you know that you can call me Scott," the Crowned Prince smiled as his newest household companion left, "You picked a good one Kat."

"I love her."

"And that is the only reason I am agreeing to this whole ordeal, to protect you both from my father. If you are my consorts then he must treat you with dignity and respect," Scott set his quill to the paper, beginning his letter.