And Why Not? (BoyxBoy Disney-Inspired)

Chapter One - Arrangements

If love is a star in the sky
A shine in your eye
Why can I not feel it?

The prince sat on the wall of his balcony, the golden stripes on the puffed sleeves of his blue shirt shining in the moonlight as his black trousers shimmered, his velvet cloak flowing in the nighttime breeze as his feet hung above the moat. The plain gold crown on his head was tilted though he had several times attempted to straighten it.

Today was the day his marriage arrangement would be announced to the kingdom, at twelve years old his future was already planned out. It had been arranged when he was nine, too young to know any better and too naïve to object. He barely understood it now, but he knew that he didn't want to marry Lady Constance, a girl of ten years with a graceful manner and polite personality, yet it was set in stone. Or, so he was told.

"Gabriel?" His mother called from the doorway of his room, her voice echoing through the large, round walls that had been painted light blue at the top with the wood on the bottom painted white with gold lines in the textures.
His bed was a four-poster double bed with the same wood patterns as the walls and navy sheets. Wooden toys were dotted around the place; English soldiers, rocking horses, farms, anything a boy could ever want.

"Gabriel, you'll be late for the ball, please put on your boots and come downstairs." His mother said it in a patient tone, but the urgency was clear in her tone.

He put on his black boots as he walked out of his large room, the wooden double doors being closed by a servant behind him.
He didn't like that he had servants, he'd much prefer to shut a door himself and get up and get his own food out of the kitchens, but he knew that until he was king he could do nothing about it. Not that he wanted to be king, he'd rather not have so many responsibilities and duties, like a farmer or an actor. He'd give anything to be free to do as he chose.

***

The prince stood on an elevated platform, the thrones to one side and an audience on the other, Lady Constance opposite him. Their parents stood to the side between them, facing the crowd as they announced the arranged marriage.
The band began to play and Lady Constance took his hand, her manner graceful and her face sincere and joyous.
The crowd parted as they walked down the stairs, they were obviously expected to dance. Gabriel smiled a false smile of false happiness as he danced with false love. The audience awed at the junior monarchy, their dance supposedly being the start of a lifetime of true love. But Gabriel knew better. He knew he could never love this perfect girl, even though she was every boy's dream. He knew something was wrong with the picture.

The dance finished and the children were expected to mingle with the guests and their children, going from person to person. Constance did most of the talking, she seemed happy with the arrangement.
Gabriel was almost silent throughout the entire celebration.

They had stopped talking for a minute to get a drink, a woman from across the country's boarder was handing out wine with her thirteen year old son, older than Gabriel by a year and wearing a plain white button-up shirt and smart brown trousers. Him and Gabriel locked eyes for a moment and time stopped. Gabriel had no idea what was happening but he could feel his heart pounding. Staring into the blue eyes of a messy-haired brunette boy. They looked at each other in awe for such a small amount of time but it was so significant that it felt like so much longer.
"Charles, don't stare at the prince!" The boy's mother said through gritted teeth, smiling politely at Gabriel and Constance.
Charles handed Gabriel a small glass of wine and their hands touched for a moment before Gabriel pulled the wine towards him, forcing Charles to let go, and him and Constance's glasses tapped together as they smiled and said "cheers!"
Gabriel thought about the moment he had shared with Charles for the rest of the night. He didn't understand what it meant but he knew he needed more.
Is this.. love?
But it cannot be.
I am a boy and he is a he,
It doesn't work out.