Edward cleared his throat and managed to speak.“...Don’t cry…”He tried to move his hand and found that there was an IV in his arm that was preventing him from moving his hand without feeling pain.“I’ll stop in a moment,” Sebastian promised him. “I need to tell the doctors that you’ve woken up.”Sebastian pressed the button above his bed and Edward assessed the situation from what he could see. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, there was an IV in his arm and another tube that he was unsure about. He must be in intensive care. That made sense, he had been shot after all.A team of doctors quickly arrived and took control of the situation. Edward lost sight of Sebastian and was poked and prodded by the doctors and was asked a lot of questions that he did his best to answer with his croaky voice.Eventually the examination came to an end and Sebastian was able to sit at his
Edward stared at Sebastian in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting this at all.“Why are you giving me this choice?” he questioned.“I drew you into a dangerous and unfair world when I went to the government office to get my match last year,” Sebastian told him. “You’ve been threatened and have received serious injuries because of your association with me. I can’t sit here and let it happen again. You didn’t have a choice last year, but I will give you one now.”The silence between them was long.Edward didn’t know how to answer the question. When he had first been forced into the complicated world of the royal family, he would have loved to have a chance to step away from it. Now that he was much more deeply involved, he wasn’t as willing to leave.He appreciated that Sebastian wanted to give him the choice now. If the situation was reversed, he would have done the same for Sebastian.If he stepped away from royal matters now, he would be leaving Sebastian to steer through any future pr
The next week for Edward was mostly about his physiotherapy sessions in the morning and resting for the rest of the day.His bullet wound was healing up well and the royal doctor had told him that the scar would heal well.He enjoyed his peaceful time, but he was also aware that it was like living in a bubble. He had no idea what was going on outside of the palace.For all he knew the media was trashing the royal family. The arrests of the two princes would not have been good PR for the royal family. He wanted to know what was happening outside of the palace gates. Despite his desire to know, he was deliberately avoiding looking up anything on the internet in case his name was involved.Bernadette walked past the sitting room and he sprang up. She always had answers to all PR related questions.“You want to know about how the royal family is doing in the news?” she asked after he told her his troubles. “But you’re worried about seeing articles about yourself so you’re avoiding taking a
Their second holiday together considerably had less problems than the first one. Edward didn’t wear out Sebastian by dragging him out on exhausting hikes, he didn’t have enough stamina for a hike himself.Instead of long hikes, they went on short walks and watched the sunset every afternoon. It was a very serene holiday.They also didn’t get married in secret again.The days slowly drifted by and then it was their last night. Edward took the bowl of popcorn out of the microwave and carried it to the living room where Sebastian was waiting on the sofa.“What are we watching tonight?” Edward asked and sat down with the bowl of popcorn.Sebastian took a piece before answering.“I found this badly reviewed film about a prince marrying a normal citizen. It’s considered to be bad in a legendary way. I thought it would be fun for us to watch as we know how royal things work.”“It will als
Edward tried to hide his shock. He had never expected this to be Sebastian’s surprise for him.It added up with the clues he had been given. Abolishing the marriage match tradition was a major change as the tradition was so synonymous with Albion. It was no wonder Sebastian had needed to negotiate with the prime minister.“It’s a tradition that has become less necessary over the years,” Sebastian said. “After meeting my fiancé, I came to realise that the marriage tradition only benefits the royal family and it’s wholly unfair for the matched person to never have a say in the marriage.”Edward kept his face in check as there were cameras filming him at the moment. He wanted to smile widely, but he restrained himself. He could express his gratitude later on in private.“I understand that it is a tradition that has been going on for a long time and the country is proud of its traditions, but I think this
Edward reached out and moved a stray hair on Sebastian's head back into place and looked around them in contentment.It was now June and the sun was shining in the sky. It felt everything had aligned for the perfect wedding. The gardens looked beautiful in the sunlight and it brought back his happy memories of frolicking around in the gardens with Sebastian during their courting days.“Let’s get married,” he said.They walked down the aisle slowly. The aisle was one of the stone pathways in the garden that had been lined with arches of flowers. Their guests were sitting on chairs on either side of the archways and there were not many of them.On Edward’s side there were his parents and his bodyguards. Sebastian’s side consisted of royal staff and the prime minister as he didn’t have any relations that would be invited to the wedding.They reached the archbishop as the music stopped. Unlike the heavy and tense mood in the cathedral, the mood was light in the gardens and Edward didn’t fe
Edward stretched his arms in contentment. There was only one minute left before it was the end of school forever. He was finally at the end of compulsory schooling. It was a wonderful feeling to behold. Naturally the last day of school had been the best school day he'd ever had. He had eaten lots of party food and played plenty of games with everyone in his year group, but the best part was undeniably winning the sports trophy. There was a general feeling of excitement in the air as he sat in the classroom waiting for the last minute to tick by. A lot of it came from the day being the end of the school year, but there was something else. Today was the day that Prince Sebastian Hallowswift, the future king of the country turned 18. When an heir to the throne turned 18, their marriage partner was picked out by the government system. The government system held a profile on everyone who was considered eligible to marry into royalty and the prince would input his
Edward quickly dismissed his mental theory. The government system would have picked out a female, not him. The prince must be visiting them first for some reason before going to his actual fiancé's house.That must be it.“Come and sit down,” his mother told him and led him to the sofa. “This lady is Camilla Roberts and I’m sure you know who the other visitor is.”The blonde woman nodded at him. Her eyes were an icy blue and he got a feeling that she wasn’t going to turn out to be a friendly person.“It’s nice to meet you,” Edward said politely.“I am pleased to meet you as well. Mr Grey, this is the heir to the throne, Prince Sebastian Hallowswift. I am his royal advisor, hence my presence here.”Edward took a deep breath and bowed his head to the prince. Some part of his brain was registering that the boy that most girls at his school had a crush on was sitting in the
Edward reached out and moved a stray hair on Sebastian's head back into place and looked around them in contentment.It was now June and the sun was shining in the sky. It felt everything had aligned for the perfect wedding. The gardens looked beautiful in the sunlight and it brought back his happy memories of frolicking around in the gardens with Sebastian during their courting days.“Let’s get married,” he said.They walked down the aisle slowly. The aisle was one of the stone pathways in the garden that had been lined with arches of flowers. Their guests were sitting on chairs on either side of the archways and there were not many of them.On Edward’s side there were his parents and his bodyguards. Sebastian’s side consisted of royal staff and the prime minister as he didn’t have any relations that would be invited to the wedding.They reached the archbishop as the music stopped. Unlike the heavy and tense mood in the cathedral, the mood was light in the gardens and Edward didn’t fe
Edward tried to hide his shock. He had never expected this to be Sebastian’s surprise for him.It added up with the clues he had been given. Abolishing the marriage match tradition was a major change as the tradition was so synonymous with Albion. It was no wonder Sebastian had needed to negotiate with the prime minister.“It’s a tradition that has become less necessary over the years,” Sebastian said. “After meeting my fiancé, I came to realise that the marriage tradition only benefits the royal family and it’s wholly unfair for the matched person to never have a say in the marriage.”Edward kept his face in check as there were cameras filming him at the moment. He wanted to smile widely, but he restrained himself. He could express his gratitude later on in private.“I understand that it is a tradition that has been going on for a long time and the country is proud of its traditions, but I think this
Their second holiday together considerably had less problems than the first one. Edward didn’t wear out Sebastian by dragging him out on exhausting hikes, he didn’t have enough stamina for a hike himself.Instead of long hikes, they went on short walks and watched the sunset every afternoon. It was a very serene holiday.They also didn’t get married in secret again.The days slowly drifted by and then it was their last night. Edward took the bowl of popcorn out of the microwave and carried it to the living room where Sebastian was waiting on the sofa.“What are we watching tonight?” Edward asked and sat down with the bowl of popcorn.Sebastian took a piece before answering.“I found this badly reviewed film about a prince marrying a normal citizen. It’s considered to be bad in a legendary way. I thought it would be fun for us to watch as we know how royal things work.”“It will als
The next week for Edward was mostly about his physiotherapy sessions in the morning and resting for the rest of the day.His bullet wound was healing up well and the royal doctor had told him that the scar would heal well.He enjoyed his peaceful time, but he was also aware that it was like living in a bubble. He had no idea what was going on outside of the palace.For all he knew the media was trashing the royal family. The arrests of the two princes would not have been good PR for the royal family. He wanted to know what was happening outside of the palace gates. Despite his desire to know, he was deliberately avoiding looking up anything on the internet in case his name was involved.Bernadette walked past the sitting room and he sprang up. She always had answers to all PR related questions.“You want to know about how the royal family is doing in the news?” she asked after he told her his troubles. “But you’re worried about seeing articles about yourself so you’re avoiding taking a
Edward stared at Sebastian in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting this at all.“Why are you giving me this choice?” he questioned.“I drew you into a dangerous and unfair world when I went to the government office to get my match last year,” Sebastian told him. “You’ve been threatened and have received serious injuries because of your association with me. I can’t sit here and let it happen again. You didn’t have a choice last year, but I will give you one now.”The silence between them was long.Edward didn’t know how to answer the question. When he had first been forced into the complicated world of the royal family, he would have loved to have a chance to step away from it. Now that he was much more deeply involved, he wasn’t as willing to leave.He appreciated that Sebastian wanted to give him the choice now. If the situation was reversed, he would have done the same for Sebastian.If he stepped away from royal matters now, he would be leaving Sebastian to steer through any future pr
Edward cleared his throat and managed to speak.“...Don’t cry…”He tried to move his hand and found that there was an IV in his arm that was preventing him from moving his hand without feeling pain.“I’ll stop in a moment,” Sebastian promised him. “I need to tell the doctors that you’ve woken up.”Sebastian pressed the button above his bed and Edward assessed the situation from what he could see. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, there was an IV in his arm and another tube that he was unsure about. He must be in intensive care. That made sense, he had been shot after all.A team of doctors quickly arrived and took control of the situation. Edward lost sight of Sebastian and was poked and prodded by the doctors and was asked a lot of questions that he did his best to answer with his croaky voice.Eventually the examination came to an end and Sebastian was able to sit at his
Sebastian watched in horror as the bullet hit Edward’s chest and his prone body sank against him. Sebastian caught him immediately and laid him on the ground with care. He didn’t care who was watching anymore.He heard lots of shouts and screams that sounded like they were coming from far away. Edward’s eyes were closed and his breathing was laboured. Sebastian feared the worst.Their happiness couldn’t end on their wedding day.Someone in a paramedic uniform moved him gently to the side and a group of paramedics formed a circle around Edward. Sebastian could only stand and watch as Edward was moved to a stretcher and was rushed back up the aisle.This wasn’t how their wedding day was supposed to go.“I’ll take you to the hospital,” a voice at his side said.Sebastian turned to see Bernadette next to him. She always knew what to do so he let her lead him out of the cathedral. There were still crowds of people outside who were now panicking, likely due to the sound of the shot and the s
Edward smiled at his future husband and gave him a light kiss. Sebastian responded quickly.“Did you want to stay for a little longer?” Sebastian asked.“I do want to look like I have had some sleep,” Edward replied. “There’s only so much that makeup can cover up.”He got off the bed and shared a brief kiss with Sebastian. It was tempting to stay, but he knew they could be more open about their relationship after the wedding.He walked back through the secret passageway. Now that he had gone through it so many times, he didn’t pay much attention to what direction he was following. He had always had a rough idea of where he was. Edward came to a stop when he picked up the sounds of someone talking. It was an odd time for people to still be up talking.He put his ear to the wall in an effort to pick something up. It worked to some degree, he was able to hear some words.“....Cathedral… sniper… vows… fire escape… assassination…”Edward frowned. The voice sounded like Vincent. It made sen
Sebastian realised that it would be a good time to let go of Edward. There were plenty of people around and if they remained hugging, it would look suspicious.“I now feel that my present to you isn’t going to live up to the same standard,” he said and let go of him.He took a look at the photo frame again and knew that he could find a good place for it. Christmas was often considered a time for families to gather and knowing that this was his first Christmas without his mother had felt sad.It appeared that Edward had been able to perceive that and had decided to give him a family photo of his new family. It was a perfect present.He put the photo frame down carefully and passed over his present to Edward. It was the camera lens Edward had asked for.“It is still a good present,” Edward told him. “It was what I wanted.”The rest of Christmas day went without any issues. Vincent and Conrad didn&rsquo