The Majesty of Choice

Beginning

It sounds like someone is having a conversation when Frank goes back to his bedroom, which is on the exact opposite side of the castle from where his Uncle's offices are. Curious, Frank hears Gerard's voice and he could swear there's a response by a different one, but as soon as he opens the door, it's just Gerard sitting in one of the chairs that he made fun of Frank for having in his room. He immediately closes the book on his lap at the sound of Frank entering the room. Maybe that's what people who can read do; they talk to their books.

"Hi!" Gerard says hurriedly, like he's trying to cover up for something and Frank thinks he's probably just embarrassed that he was talking to himself.

"Hey," Frank says smiling, "were you just talking to yourself?"

"Uh, don't worry about it," Gerard says, throwing the book on the chair and then standing up. "What did your Uncle want?"

"Oh..." Frank says, and he does not know how to start this conversation at all. He just told his Uncle that he's going to marry Gerard, and also, he has to become the King in order to make that happen. "Don't worry about it." He mirrors Gerard's answer. That's a matter for a different time.

"Okay," he goes to sit on the edge of the bed. The bed hasn't been remade yet today, but that's because Gerard's been lounging around the room all day. A servant knocked on the door a little earlier, not the same one as before, but when she saw Gerard she ran away after many apologies.

Frank goes to sit next to him, and Gerard lets him entwine their fingers together. Gerard's hands are so beautiful. He can't believe how beautiful everything about this man is. It's not possible for everything to be perfect about someone, and yet here Gerard is.

"There is one thing," Frank says.

"Which is?" He can sense the tone and he doesn't like it. Frank is about to say something to him that he's not going to like.

"We have to stay for a few more days, I think." Frank doesn't go into detail, but it's probably going to be a lot more days. If he has to become King in order to marry Gerard, then surely, he's going to have to become King before they can even leave. How long will it take for them to find this fairy of Gerard's? It could be weeks! Months even. What if he's many thousands of miles away? Only fairies can fly, he wishes so much that the two of them could fly to wherever Gerard's mysterious fairy is, but unfortunately, it's not possible.

"How long is 'a few more days'?" Gerard asks. He doesn't look upset. He doesn't even sound upset. He just looks scared. Frank hates to see that on his face. Maybe he doesn't need to become King before they leave. Maybe he can just announce his coronation and then they can go find Gerard's fairy. But he doesn't know how long that's going to take... Frank wishes he had all of the answers.

If he and Gerard were to leave tomorrow, he would be running away from a precarious situation and coming back to an impossible one. What if his Uncle finds someway to make his love illegal? He could probably do it by tomorrow! Frank doesn't know exactly how quickly an act can become law, but clearly, there's not a lot of oversight if what Gerard has told him is true, which it has to be at this point. But if he holds off on finding Gerard's fairy, is he not then betraying Gerard?

Neither of his options are good. Put off being King too long and he might not be able to keep Gerard. Put off finding Gerard's fairy for too long and he might not be able to keep Gerard for different reasons.

"If I told you..." Frank says, and then he looks at Gerard's face. What a perfect face. He's so soft, and his eyes look so scared. He wants nothing more than to find this fairy, and Frank doesn't know why he needs to find him, but the look in those brown eyes says it all. This is important. This is world changing important. Gerard has risked death to find this fairy and he missed his shot in Giantville. He's scared he's going to lose him again. Frank just can't betray him in this way. He just can't. Gerard's goals are more important, they have to be.