Princey's Unexpected Journey

CHAPTER X

"Manuel," Jonathan whispered as he stepped into the sunlight, "do...did you mean that? Do you really love me?"

    My heart broke when Jonathan asked that. I felt like my father was behind this. No, I knew that he was behind this. But, what had he done to Jonathan in order to make him feel this way, to make him question my love for him? I sighed internally at my question as I answered Jonathan's. "Jonathan, I meant every word that I said to you just now. I meant everything. I do, in fact, love you. You are the only person outside of my family that I have truly loved. And you are the only person that I have ever loved in this way, in this...romantic way. I hope that you believe-"

    My answer was interrupted by Jonathan pulling me into a large hug. I hugged Jonathan back. We stood there, embracing each other, for a few solid minutes. I did not want to let him go. For the first time in a while, I was finally at peace. I was finally free to express myself. I was finally happy.

    "Oh, Manuel," Jonathan whispered back, doing his best to control his sobbing, "I love you too."

    I could tell that he was crying. I pulled away from the hug in order to see his face. His blue eyes were filled with tears. One of his tears was flowing down the side of his face. I wiped it away gently. Jonathan chuckled a little, wiping away his own tears. I was also getting emotional, but I did my best to contain myself. Sure, I let a tear or two slip out of my eyes, but I wiped my eyes before any more could fall out. I suspected that Jonathan was doing the exact same thing. Soon, we were both laughing at each other and ourselves, wiping away our tears while becoming emotional messes.

    After a good crying fest, Jonathan led me inside of his castle. We were hand in hand as we entered the castle doors. Sebastian was taken to a nearby stall, where he received lots of hay and grains. I was sure that he was grateful, but he is a horse, so he couldn't really tell me if he was grateful or not.

    The castle was just as extravagant as my family's castle. There was a large chandelier in the entry way. The stairs spiraled up to the second and third floors. Stain glass was all over the place. The carpeting was fantastic, the décor was out of this world, and the fine details of this castle were just astonishing. I could barely contain myself.

    I under exaggerated a bit. This castle was even more extravagant than my family's castle. The brothers must have been bored when they came to our castle. No wonder Jonathan was in the forest. He was probably bored as hell, with both the questions and the castle.

As Jonathan led me through the castle, I couldn't help but think of what was to come. My father surely knew that I had escaped by now, but what if he knew that I was coming here? What if he sent a ship for me? What if I was separated from Jonathan again? I tightened my grip on Jonathan's hand, vowing to never let my father come between us ever again. I just hoped that this vow would stay true.

    We soon made it to the Throne Room. It was extravagant. The walls were covered with golden designs, and the thrones themselves looked like they were made by the hands of God himself. The room was beautiful.

    "Wow," I muttered softly as we kept walking. Jonathan chuckled a little at my astonishment.

    "This was my brother's idea," Jonathan replied, "and it actually did not cost a lot. The laborers were, and still are, so fond of my brother that they almost did the entire room without any cost. My brother would not have that, of course. He paid them for their labor, but the workers sent some of the money back."

    "That's amazing. I am sure that the King was pleased with this room."

    "He was not expecting this. He was expecting just a few designs here and there, but the workers gave him this. He was absolutely amazed."

    We had made it to the thrones a few moments after that. King Frederick was sitting in one of the thrones. He immediately looked at our hands. He then looked at me and smiled.

    "Hello, Prince Manuel," the king said, still keeping that smile on his face, "welcome to the Groffton Kingdom. I have heard so much about you."

    "Thank you for welcoming me, King Frederick," I responded quietly, "after the whole...incident at my sister's wedding. And I do apologize for that. I should have explained the laws-"

    "Manuel," the king interrupted, "I knew about the laws. I knew that your kingdom did not welcome homosexuals. I did not tell Jonathan that, though. I was not going to tell him, especially not after he saw you for the first time. You were standing next to your sister, and Jonathan, well, let's say that he was not paying attention to the wedding." I looked over at Jonathan. His face had turned a deep red.

    "After the first round of drinking, he ran into the forest," the king continued, "so that he could be alone. He did not want anyone to ask him about how the wedding was, because he wouldn't have been able to answer."

    "The wedding was actually quite pleasant," Jonathan spat, "and that's not even-"

    "More like pleasant looking." The king laughed as Jonathan's face got redder and redder. I removed my hand form his grasp and patted him on the back.

    "At least I was not staring at the groom," Jonathan replied harshly.

    "Well, he was cute!"

    "So was Manuel, and at least he was single at the time."

I could hear an "ooooo" from the back of the Throne Room. I turned to find five servants watching this conversation. I laughed a little as they discussed the conversation amongst themselves.

    "So," I asked, trying to change the topic of this conversation, "why was I brought to this room? Are you planning on sending me back to my kingdom after you are done with me?"

    The king looked at me with mysterious eyes. "You were brought here because I wanted to see if you could be the right one for my little brother."

    I looked at King Frederick with confused eyes. I had no idea what he meant by what he had said. "Wait, what do you mean by 'the right one'?"

    "I wanted to see if you are fit to have a relationship with my brother. I also wanted to see if the rumors were true, if the son of King Joseph was in fact like the king himself. And so far, I see nothing in you that represents him. And so far, I am pleased with the relationship that you two are starting. I accept this."

    Jonathan practically squealed with excitement. Having our relationship blessed by his brother was probably one of the best things that had happened in his life. And, to be frank with you, I could not agree less.