Third Meeting

Unlike Edward, Sebastian was perfectly happy with the situation.

He hadn’t forgotten to specify 'female' in the gender category when he had been selecting his marriage partner, it had been deliberate.

He wasn’t really interested in females romantically so he had elected to not specify the gender and left the decision up to chance. The government system could have picked a female with his desired characteristics, but he had been lucky that a male had been chosen.

Now he had to pretend that he had completely forgotten to specify a female and that he was willing to go through with a gay marriage.

Edward Grey was very much his type. He was very attractive with his earnest green eyes, perfect nose and ebony hair. It was expected that he would like him as he had input his desires into the government system earlier in the day.

What he wasn’t sure about was Edward Grey’s feelings.

His fiancé had looked completely blindsided by it all which could only be expected. Like everyone, Edward was expecting his marriage partner to be female and not himself.

He hadn’t looked comfortable in his presence either. Or maybe Edward had been uncomfortable with Camilla. She was a bitch after all.

He would have to make sure she wasn’t too nasty to his future husband.

There was a knock at the door to his study. It had to be a message from his mother about his arranged marriage.

“Come in,” he said.

His mother’s personal secretary walked in and he knew what to expect.

“Her majesty has requested your presence at dinner. She wishes to discuss your marriage arrangements.”

“I will be there,” he assured the secretary. “I’m not going to run away.”

“I will pass the message on,” the secretary said and swiftly withdrew from his study.

Sebastian opened up the folder he had been given earlier. It detailed everything the government held on Edward Grey. He was a very law-abiding citizen of the country, came from a good family line, had good school grades and had very good sporting achievements.

It was a shame that the royal family was already interfering with his life. Edward had looked very disappointed when Camilla had said about choosing his university degree for him.

He hoped that there would not be much more interference with Edward’s wishes. He didn’t want to limit his independence.

Sebastian didn’t have much independence himself. He was always told where to be and what to do. Everything was normally decided by royal advisors, he didn’t get a choice. He could only get out of events and public appearances if he was very ill as that meant he wouldn’t photograph well.

Hopefully Edward had now recovered from the shock of being told he had to marry the heir to the throne and was being comforted by his parents. Lord and Lady Grey had come across as very loving parents when he had met them.

He was a little envious. His father had always been the affectionate parent and he had died when he was 10. His mother didn’t show him any love or affection, she only cared about his image as a prince.

Sometimes it felt like she was just another royal advisor interfering in his life.

Sebastian walked all the way to the dining room in the palace with a heavy feeling in his stomach. The queen wasn’t likely to overturn his marriage match, she was too focused on tradition. She wouldn’t make him choose again. She couldn’t.

“Good evening,” his mother said when he walked into the dining room. “Please sit down.”

Sebastian sat down at his usual place which was on the left side of the table. She always sat at the head of the table.

He waited until she had started eating to pick up his own knife and fork. The food he ate with his mother was very traditional and to be very frank, extremely flavourless. He preferred to not eat with her for her manner and also because of the food.

“Your mistake at the government office is going to cost a lot,” she said eventually after letting him stew in silence for a while. “Marrying a man is going to make producing an heir difficult.”

Sebastian hadn’t thought that far ahead. She had a very good point. He was an only child so producing an heir himself was very important.

“There is always surrogacy,” he pointed out.

“That is almost certainly how you are going to produce an heir,” his mother agreed. “This would have been much easier if you had picked the right criteria.”

Sebastian was keen for her to drop the subject. He had learnt that the best way to force a subject change onto the queen was to admit to any wrongdoing and tempt her with something else.

“I know I made a mistake and there is no going back now. Do you know anything about the Grey family?”

The queen nodded.

“I did look over Edward Grey’s government profile. If he was a female, he would be perfect to marry you. The Grey family is a decent family line, there’s no scandals in that family, their title is decent and they have no familial connections with us. It was an almost good choice.”

Sebastian accepted the jab at his mistake. It didn’t hurt too much as it had been a deliberate mistake.

“I am going to assume that he was very surprised to find you in his house when he came home from school,” she continued. “Do you think you could get along?”

The prince considered that answer to that question very carefully. He was very interested in getting along with Edward, he was his ideal type after all. He just didn’t know if Edward would want to get along with him.

“He was surprised,” he replied. “I think there is potential for us to get along once he accepts his future as my husband. According to his profile, he is open and friendly.”

“You don’t have to like each other,” the queen informed him. “As long as you two can look like you can tolerate each other in public, it will be fine. Not everyone falls in love with their arranged partner.”

It was easy to forget that his parents’ marriage had been arranged. Like him, on her 18th birthday, his mother had gone to the government office and put in her choices for her ideal marriage partner. Back then the process had been paper based and there had been a half hour wait. His father’s name had come up as her match and they had married.

Sebastian had always seen them as a loving couple so it was hard to associate them with an arranged marriage.

“Did you fall in love with Dad at first sight?” he asked.

It was a very daring question to ask. He didn’t normally ask her personal questions like that, but he was interested to know the answer and he had a feeling she would tell him this time.

The ghost of a smile appeared on his mother’s lips.

“I felt nothing when I first saw him and I feared the worst about my future,” she admitted. “Once we were left alone together without all the royal advisors speaking on my behalf and interfering, we got along much better and I did fall in love with him. He was the one who made the first advance to me and I returned it happily. It did not feel like an arranged marriage after that.”

Sebastian listened with close attention. He could apply that information to his situation. He had felt a lot when he had seen Edward for the first time, the lack of feeling appeared to be on Edward’s side. If he could get rid of the royal advisors and meet with him in private, their relationship really did stand a better chance of developing. If it had worked for his parents, it could work for him.

“So there could be a chance for Edward Grey and myself?”

His mother’s face rapidly returned to its normal stony state.

“I was fortunate in my arranged marriage. It depends on your future husband. He may hate you for your mistake in choosing your partner. You have made your decision so you will have to face the consequences. Tradition dictates that the selection cannot be reversed or chosen again. Whether Edward Grey likes it or not, he is marrying the prince.”

Sebastian paled. He had never considered the thought of Edward Grey hating him for being forced into an arranged marriage. He was going to have to work hard on winning him over.

***

Edward was happy to see his father already sitting at the table in the dining room when the butler announced dinner was ready.

“I just got back,” Lord Grey said and stood up to pull him in for a hug.

Lord Grey was very affectionate despite his stern appearance. He always looked like he was frowning and was about to tell someone off. Edward had always been slightly scared of him until he had been old enough to understand that some people show their love differently.

“What do you think about the situation?” Edward asked once they were all seated at the table.

He was happy to see that the cook had made his favourite fajitas. She had probably heard about his unhappy future and wanted to cheer him up.

“I think it’s absolutely ludicrous,” his father stated simply. “I suppose we will have to go along with it just because it’s the royal family and they always get what they want.”

His father’s voice was laced with disapproval and Edward wondered what he would have said if he had been present for his meeting with the prince.

“I still haven’t fully processed it,” Edward admitted. “I don’t think it will feel real until I’m standing in the church with a ring.”

The wedding would likely take place in the same church that all the past royal weddings in Albion had used. The arranged marriages had been going on for two centuries albeit with different selection processes.

His father shuddered.

“The wedding will be quite the horror to sit through. You all know how I hate being photographed.”

Edward smiled when he heard the familiar complaint and started eating.

“Edward, there is one thing we would like to say,” his mother said formally.

Edward put down his fajita and looked up at his mother. Her eyes were solemn and he knew what she had to say was serious.

“What is it?”

“...If it all becomes too much for you, we will do our best to assist in removing you from the clutches of the royal family, even if it’s at risk to ourselves,” his mother told him.

Edward didn’t realise how much he would be relying on that later on.