Eighth Meeting

Edward was taken aback by that announcement. It was quite a thing to promise. The obvious benefit of that statement was that it visibly impressed his parents. His father looked significantly less foreboding as he stepped forward and laid his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder.

“Your majesty, you’d better keep to that,” he said sternly.

“I would say that we should hope there’s never a situation where Edward needs saving,” Lady  Grey spoke up.

The prince smiled dazzlingly and Edward wanted to hide his face. That smile was lethal.

“Let’s have some afternoon tea,” he said. “I’ve set it up in the garden.”

This time the castle appeared less cold and foreboding as they walked through the hallways and out into the gardens. By now Edward knew the route and was more inclined to look around at the interior instead of focusing on following Sebastian. All the furnishings looked like they were antiques and there was no sign of anything modern.

Sebastian led them to yet another area of the gardens. This time there was a table with four chairs set up for afternoon tea. Edward was especially approving of the well filled cake stand.

The prince pulled out the first chair and gestured for him to sit down. Edward sat down and watched as Sebastian did the same for his parents.

“You are very charming today,” his mother commented.

“Anything to impress my future parents-in-law,” the prince replied without missing a beat. “I will also serve the tea.”

Next to the three tiered cake stand was a large teapot covered with a handmade rainbow patterned tea cosy. Edward smiled when he saw it. He hadn’t seen a tea cosy in a long time. They didn’t bother with one in the Grey household. Tea didn’t stay in the teapot long enough to get cold.

Sebastian saw his glance and looked curious.

“I haven’t seen a tea cosy like that before,” he explained.

“I made it after being taught how to knit,” the prince admitted. “It’s not perfect, but the head cook still loves it and finds any opportunity to use it when serving me. Only one side of this looks good.”

He turned the teapot around to show him his knitting mistakes. Edward found the idea of a young Sebastian earnestly knitting a tea cosy adorable, but decided not to say anything. Sebastian might take it as a sign to flirt with him.

Sebastian poured him a cup of very fragrant tea first and hesitated over the sugar pot after adding the milk. Edward realised Sebastian’s problem and spoke up to help him out.

“One spoon of sugar,” he said.

Sebastian smiled and added one spoonful of sugar before handing the teacup over.

“Thank you,” he replied.

Edward realised the prince wouldn’t know his parents’ tea preferences either and knew it would be best to help him out. Sebastian didn’t seem quite comfortable in his parents’ presence yet.

“For Lord Grey, it’s no sugar and a very small amount of milk. For Lady Grey, it’s two spoons of sugar and lots of milk,” he told him.

“Thank you, I will make sure to remember in the future,” Sebastian replied as he picked out another two teacups.

“We will hold you to that,” Lord Grey said with a laugh.

Edward was impressed at how quickly Sebastian had charmed his biggest critic. It was that or his father was playing along.

The prince deftly poured out two more cups of tea with the preferred amounts of milk and sugar and handed them over to his parents who looked impressed. Edward observed Sebastian’s own preferences which were two spoonfuls of sugar and an average amount of milk for future reference.

“Please try some cake,” Sebastian said and gestured to the cake stand. “Or some strawberries and cream. The strawberries are from the garden and were picked only this morning. There’s also the Victoria sponge cake that Lord Grey liked when he last visited as well.”

Edward picked out a cupcake from the cake stand. It was decorated with pink frosting surrounding a strawberry in the centre. He took a bite and found it tasted as good as it looked. The sweetness and softness of the cake, strawberry and frosting were well balanced.

He sampled the other cakes and was impressed with the baking. There might be a silver lining to the black cloud that was his future with the royal family.

“The cakes are very delicious,” his mother commented in delight.

Sebastian smiled charmingly at her.

“I’m very glad to hear that, Lady Grey. I will make sure to pass your compliments onto the royal pastry chef,” he said.

His blond hair ruffled in the breeze and Edward was momentarily entranced by the sight. The prince was very good looking and he would have to marry him in the future. He picked out another cupcake to distract himself. He didn’t like the prince as anything more than an acquaintance yet.

“Why did you ask to meet all of us here?” Lord Grey asked after finishing the contents of his teacup and one cupcake. “Given that previously only my son has been invited here, I was surprised to have our presence requested.”

Edward had been curious about that as well. The previous invites had indicated his parents were no longer important in the arranged marriage process. He was of course an adult so his parents didn’t have any legal hold on him, but he was still their son.

“I thought it was unfair to not have Edward’s parents involved in the whole process. I haven’t had much say in this situation myself and I know it’s worse for Edward. The royal advisors didn’t seem to consider that Edward would have his own opinions or that you two would have any concerns,” Sebastian explained. “I don’t agree with that approach which is why I wanted to meet the three of you together.”

Edward’s opinion of the prince rose higher. He wasn’t perfect, but Edward liked that he was being respectful of his feelings and his parents’.

“I am happier to hear that,” Lord Grey replied. “I hate how this has all been arranged. We do have a lot of questions that haven’t been answered yet.”

“Please ask away,” Sebastian said. “I might not be able to answer all of your questions yet. There’s things I haven’t been told either.”

His back was very straight and he looked reliable. Edward knew it would be good to have some information on the arrangements that were being made without his input.

“Do you know when the public announcement of the marriage will actually be?” Lady Grey asked first.

That was a good question. Edward wanted to know when he would be unable to go outside without being recognised. In their country, most citizens paid attention to the royal news.

“It’s looking to be in mid September,” Sebastian replied. “They will announce that Edward was chosen by the government match system and despite the unconventional match, the marriage will go ahead as the royal family is progressive and does not discriminate against different sexualities.”

Edward was intrigued to know what the public reaction to a statement like that would be despite his personal involvement with the situation. Their country was ahead of others in terms of acceptance of different races, genders and orientation, but not every citizen was personally accepting.

“It will be clear that there can’t be another match,” Sebastian added. “We know that some close minded citizens will declare that I could just go back and choose someone else. Tradition dictates that I can’t do that.”

It was a shame that tradition was absolute for the royal family. He didn’t feel as sick of it as he usually did when he thought about his future marriage.

“I see,” Lady Grey replied and moved onto another question. “Will my son have to learn about royal etiquette?”

Edward did know some things about etiquette. He knew how to behave at a fancy dinner and which knives and forks to use in the right order. He had a feeling that wouldn’t quite be enough for the royal family.

“There will come a time when he will be taught some things. Given that he’s grown up in a good family and went to the best school in the country, I don’t think it will take very long,” the prince replied.

Edward was relieved to hear that. He hoped that the lessons would come before he had to meet the Queen. The thought of meeting Sebastian’s mother had his stomach turning over. Everyone knew that extra special manners were used when meeting the Queen. He just didn’t know what those extra special manners were.

“Where will you two be living after the wedding?” his father asked. “Also, will we be able to visit Edward?”

Sebastian didn’t reply for a moment.

“To my knowledge, that hasn’t been decided yet. I did stipulate that wherever we live will need to be very private and secure for both of us. I will insist that you two can visit if anyone says you can’t. I don’t want to cut Edward off from you two.”

Edward’s opinion of the prince rose a little higher again. The prince did have his interests at heart.

“Thank you for that,” his father said. “Those royal advisors seem to think that they can plan my son’s life without his or our input.”

“They are annoying like that,” Sebastian agreed and sipped his tea. “Before Edward came along, they were only planning my life. It’s strange to see it happen to someone else.”

Edward frowned and Sebastian put another cupcake on his plate. He accepted the distraction and ate the cupcake. He had training the following day so he was fine with eating a lot of cake.

“I think I need to walk off that cake,” his mother said when most of the cake stand had been decimated by the four of them.

“Most definitely, I need to burn the cake off before dinner,” Lord Grey agreed. “Should we take a look around the gardens? Edward said they were very large.”

“Please do, you are very welcome here,” Sebastian told them. “I will come and get you two if you don’t come back for a long time.”

Edward watched his parents get up and walk off arm in arm towards the sundial. That left him alone with the prince.

“How is Camilla?” he asked.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

“She was displeased to hear about the scandalous lack of a chaperone for these meetings. She can’t do anything about it though. You really won’t encounter each other for a while.”

Edward was relieved to hear that. He never wanted to see her again. It was natural that their paths would cross again as she still worked for the royal family and he was marrying into that family in the future.

“How’s her daughter?”

Sebastian smiled for a reason that shortly became clear.

“I met her the other day, Camilla planned it. She told me that she never wants to marry me because she doesn’t swing that way. That part was not planned by Camilla.”

Edward laughed.

“Her daughter is nice unlike her,” Sebastian added. “She has a secret girlfriend and is terrified of telling her mother she’s a lesbian because Camilla has been so intent on getting her to marry me.”

It was not hard to feel sympathy for Camilla’s daughter. He was still undecided on his sexuality and knew his parents wouldn’t shun him no matter what he decided, but he could sympathise with someone gay with a mother like Camilla.

“I hope Camilla gives up on her fruitless plan of trying to get you to marry her daughter,” Edward replied. “Should we go for a walk as well? I have eaten a lot of cake.”

Sebastian laughed and pulled him out of his chair.

“Come on then.”

They started walking down to the nearest greenhouse together. Sebastian’s hand reached for his. Edward hesitated and let Sebastian hold his hand. He felt like he could be closer to him now.

Their relationship had progressed.