A Prince's Love

Back to the Castle

Arthur awoke to the sound and smell of fresh food cooking. He sat up in bed and noticed the twins were still fast asleep, but Francis was missing. He rubbed his eyes and carefully climbed out of bed not wanting to disturb the two. He walked to the kitchen and saw Francis was cooking breakfast. He stood on his toes to peer over his shoulder but couldn't see what was in the sizzling pan.
"Francis, what are you making?" Francis was slightly startled by the sudden sound of another person. He soon realized it was Arthur and relaxed with a smile. He blew out the flame beneath the pan and turned to face Arthur.
"Pancakes. Matthieu came up with them." Arthur went over to the stove to look at them humming quietly. The tanned circles smelled and appeared delicious to the prince.
"Interesting." He looked over at Francis studying his features. His hair made of gold, his sea of sapphire eyes, the faint stubble on his face, and his soft expression. Do I truly love him? Am I confusing this for lust?
"-thur? Arthur?" The prince snapped out of his daze and went back to reality. Francis raised his brow at the stare Arthur had been giving him.
"What's wrong? The pancakes will be done soon..." Arthur lifted his hand placing it on the back of Francis' head. He tangled his fingers in Francis's slightly messy hair from just waking it up. He stepped closer and connected their lips surprising Francis. He nearly dropped the spatula in his hand from the sudden kiss. Once the initial shock was gone, Francis kissed back putting his arms around Arthur. The two slowly pulled away and looked each other in the eye. Arthur felt his face turning red, and he quickly moved away to cover it. Francis raised a brow placing a hand on Arthur's shoulder.
"Arthur? Is something the matter?" Francis pried Arthur's hands away from his face and looked at him. He cupped the prince's cheeks forcing him to face Francis.

Arthur felt millions of emotions piling in his head, which most weren't even nameable. The most obvious and easily definable was love. He shook his head and went to the dining table to sit down. He put his hands together and straightened his back acting proper.
"Not at all. I-I was just saying good morning." Francis chuckled and brought the plates of pancakes over to the table setting it in front of Arthur. He kissed Arthur's cheek and ruffled his messy hair with a smile.
"Good morning to you, too." He went to the bedroom and sat on the side of the bed to gently wake the children. Francis brushed stray hairs out of Matthew's face making his nose twitch from he contact.
"It's time to get up. Your breakfast is ready." He carefully shook their shoulders and spoke quietly. Alfred was first to open his eyes followed by a rather moody Matthew. They looked over to their father and waved yawning. They gave him a hug and slowly walked to the kitchen rubbing their eyes.
"Hi, Dad. What are we eating?" Alfred climbed into his seat and nearly fell asleep again, but Matthew tapped his cheek to wake him.
"Pancakes. They taste wonderful." Arthur took another bite of his half eaten pancake and smiled. The two slowly ate their food trying to shake away the remaining tiredness in them.
"Are they always like this?" Arthur asked. It felt odd not having the two running around and shouting like always. The unusual silence was both calming and strange.
"Oui, it's the best part of the morning." Arthur rolled his eyes and chuckled. He put his hand underneath Alfred's chin just as his head slipped from his palm. He fell onto Arthur's hand snoring softly. Francis lifted Alfred's head and kissed his cheek to wake him up again.
"Oh, come on. They can't be so bad." Francis sat down and began eating. He glanced at Arthur with an eyebrow raised as if to ask whether he was serious or not.
"That sounds like a challenge, no? I'd like to see you survive those two when they're full of energy." Arthur laughed and picked up his plate to put it in the sink to be cleaned. He turned back to Francis crossing his arms.
"It can't be too hard. I'll take on that challenge one day. For now, let's head back to the castle and face my most likely raging... father..." Arthur froze at the sink and stared the dish inside it. He blinked slowly with a look of panic on his face as reality hit him like a brick wall.
"We're dead. He's going to be fuming when we go back." Arthur groaned and put a hand through his hair to pull it. He sank to his knees slumping against the sink continuously groaning.
"Arthur, do you know how I make it through life?" The prince looked over to Francis and glared at him with a pout. Deciding to be sarcastic, Arthur gave a snobby remark.
"By lifting your skirt and asking for money." Francis laughed nearly falling out his seat in the process. He calmed himself down after Arthur continued glaring at him. He walked over to Arthur and helped him stand up.
"Non! I lie. All we have to do is make up a lie, and we're fine." Arthur leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. He tapped his foot against the floor as the pieces of his lie fell into place.
"I thought I saw a fire in the forest and ran out to help. You heard the commotion and joined to help me. We raced through the woods discovering it was a burning tree, so we threw snow onto it without realizing the twins stowed away." Francis clapped his hands together and gave Arthur a kiss on the nose. Not the best story, but it sounded believable. As long as they held their composure, it would work.
"Excellent! He'll never know the real reason." Arthur begrudgingly wiped the kiss off of his nose with a pout, but he secretly wished for another. He loved Francis' soft, pink lips pressing against his own.
"Whatever. Let's leave now so we can get home as soon as possible." He went to the door to slip on his boots and put his coat on. Arthur went over to the twins and hugged them tightly.
"You boys understand that you can only call Francis 'Papa' when others are around, correct? If it's just the four of us, you can call me 'Dad'." They nodded, and Arthur mussed their already wild hair from sleeping. Francis bent down to fix it wanting them to be presentable for the ride to the castle.
"Wonderful." He hugged them once more then went to Francis to give him a hug. It lasted much longer than intended, but Arthur was content with the affection.
"This is stupid. I don't like hiding things." Francis chuckled and stroked Arthur's blond hair, which stuck out in the most random ways. He tried to make it look somewhat decent and less sloppy.
"I hate it as well, but it's for the greater good." The twins stared at their parents as they mumbled to each other. They began their own conversation now that most of their energy was back.
"Do you think Papa will like Arthur? He seems really happy." Alfred whispered with his hands cupped around his mouth so only Matthew would hear him. The older twin looked over to the couple and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, they're really happy." They giggled and ran to their room to get dressed while their parents got ready themselves.

"Don't stutter when you explain you your father. It will only make things worse." Francis instructed. Arthur rolled his eyes mimicking what Francis said to mock him. Francis grinned sticking his tongue out only to get the 'v' from Arthur.
"You think I don't know that? I've met plenty of liars, and not even a fifth of them made it passed my father." Arthur brushed his hand against a few low branches allowing the snow on them to fall. This gave Francis an idea, not a very good one, but it was still an idea. He quietly gathered the snow from a few branches, packed it together into a ball, and threw it at Arthur's head.
"Hey!" Arthur turned around while Francis put his hands back on the reins with an innocent look on his face. He glanced over to the prince nearly giggling at his snow covered hair.
"Hm? Is something wrong?" Arthur scoffed and shook the snow out of his hair as he muttered insults. Francis covered his mouth to hide his giggling. He got more snow throwing it at Arthur's back causing some to slide into his shirt. The prince squeaked desperately trying to shake the snow out of his clothes.
"Stop bombarding me with snow!" The prince scooped the snow into his hands and threw it back at Francis hitting his chest. They continued throwing it at each other and allowed the twins to join.

What started as an innocent game turned into an all out brawl. The four tied their horses to trees and attacked each other with the frozen water.
"Alfred, if you hit Francis in the face, I'll give you the best candy in the country." The boy smirked and made a snowball as big as his hands would let him. He aimed for his father's head ready to fire until Francis spoke.
"Alfie, sweetheart, don't listen to him. English candy is as bitter as the people!" Arthur gasped and threw snow at Francis rapidly. Francis squealed trying to block it with his arms. He ran behind a tree trying to protect himself.
"How dare you! You wine drinking, alcoholic, cheese eating bastard!" Arthur ran over to dump two arms full of snow onto Francis' head making him shriek. Francis combed out the snow with his fingers groaning at the mess his hair turned into.
"My hair!" He laughed and tackled Arthur down to shove the ice into his face. His red cheeks darkened from more coldness on them. Arthur squirmed trying to get Francis off of him but to no avail.
"Get off of me!" He tried containing his laughter as he wiggled and turned hoping to roll over. Francis laughed with him and laid down to hug Arthur trapping him.
"No! You're French territory now!" Arthur groaned and put his arms around Francis' back. He sighed chuckling lightly as Francis kissed him.
"Great, now I'm like you." The twins ran over to pour tiny handfuls of snow onto the adults before sitting down with them.
"That was fun! Except for when Mattie put snow in my shirt!" Matthew stuck his tongue out and threw snow at Alfred.
"You put it down my pants!" Matthew shouted.
"Did not!" Alfred defended not wanting to get in trouble.
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
"Did to!"
"Did not!"
"Did to! Now I'm not gonna listen!" Matthew covered his ears and hummed loudly to block out Alfred's voice.
"I know you can hear me!" Alfred screamed trying to prove his point. His yelling lasted until Arthur covered his mouth and Francis uncovered Matthew's ears.
"Enough screaming or else the whole country will go deaf." The four stood up and went to their horses to get home. Alfred sat with Arthur to keep his distance from Matthew for now.

When the four pushed the heavy doors open to enter the castle, the king was fuming.
"Where did you four run off to?! I nearly had a heart attack! First I hear Arthur is missing, then Francis, and then the children! I thought someone broke in and stole you!" Arthur sheepishly stepped forward and gulped. He took a deep breath and began his explanation trying not to seem nervous.
"Last night, I saw a fire. I feared someone was in trouble, so I hurried into the woods to help. Francis had seen what I was doing and joined incase the situation was too much for me. The twins had stowed away somehow without our knowledge. I'm sorry for not alerting you, but I feared there was a life at risk and couldn't spare the moment. We put it out by dumping snow onto the flames, and it turned out to be someone's abandoned torch. No one was hurt." The king looked deeply into Arthur's eyes to see if he was lying. Thankfully, Arthur held his gaze long enough without faltering. The king smiled and hugged the four.
"You four are either very brave, or very stupid to run off like that." He said before walking back to the throne room. The four sighed and went upstairs before they could be questioned anymore.