Disclaimer: Characters belong to Sid Fleicshman/Max Brindle. Except the Countess Maria, who is my creation (and she is very wicked). Lyrics are Tori Amos'-- she inspires some of these scenes.
Universe: Prince Brat and the Whipping Boy. Mostly movieverse, because eight year olds are too young and Nic Knight and Truan Munro are very adorable. But bookverse for the facts, such as, no Annyrose, and creepy murderers. (Those two in the film are brilliant but come on! Too funny! They were disturbing in the book.) I will be using movie!Betsy &Cap. Nipps, though.
Rating: T. May go to M.
Warnings: Slash, slight torture, sexuality and possibly light language. Jemmy/Horace.
Author's Note: I love this universe and this pairing. If you read this, please review because I know hardly anyone will even be looking for this.
"Maybe we're a bliss: of another kind." -TORI AMOS
Professional Widows Chapter I-- Unabridged
There were the likenesses of two boys, young men, rather, portrayed in a large and handsome portrait which was displayed in the main hall of the palace. Their story was popular in the province and beyond, their story was inspiring, tear-springing, loving and daring. Their story was only half-written, however, but the two of them were writing chapters daily, juicy paragraphs by the minute.
A prince known as Brat and his whipping boy Jemmy, as the old story went, had stolen away one night with a picnic basket and pure intentions and had been intercepted by two of the most wanted murderers in all of England: highwaymen Hold-Your-Nose-Billy (a huge, seven foot tall, burly beast with a black beard) and his apprentice Cutwater (a slight, strange man with dark eyes and a soft, affectionate murmur of a voice that would make the hair on grown men's necks stand on end). The boys escaped and learned more about each other--- they became best friends and class systems no longer mattered to them. Through this journey, Prince Brat had learned that his nasty ways were due to lack of attention from parental figures (specifically his recently widowed father, King Horace) and Jemmy learned that intelligence comes in many forms. When the prince and his friend returned to the castle, they were changed lads, which then changed the king, which changed the way the kingdom's policies dealt with the poor and orphaned. Laws changed, deals were made, treaties accomplished. The kingdom became a much better place, all due to this story.
However, if the citizens of the kingdom knew the continuing chapters of their beloved story, they might not be so keen on the two boys, young men, rather, who were so highly esteemed.
Five years had passed since the boys' bravery, and five years had shaped the two twelve year olds into taller seventeen year olds who were, for lack of a better phrase, very close. Jemmy and Horace, since their adventure, had become totally inseparable, attending lessons together, taking meals together, going on countryside and city jaunts together. They were, to the common eye, not unlike other young boys with good mates. They were, to the common eye, just friends.
Oh, but the chapters that Horace and Jemmy wrote during cold nights in the castle, the beautiful cursive script running up and down their backs and throughout blankets, was translated to mean more than just friends. The lip prints on Jemmy's abdomen and the small bruises on the prince's neck coincided with the popular opinion that they were just friends. The welts and yelps and thoughtless words were surely not spoken and accomplished by just friends.
That popular little Brattenburg bedtime story, of peace and tranquility? That story about winning back a father's love and gaining a true best friend?
Why, it certainly was true, and it certainly was well and good, but it did not stop there.
There were volumes of chapters that Horace and Jemmy wrote inklessly, on sheets and each other, and these chapters were thicker and more delicious than fresh clotted cream.
But not everything is all wounds and roses.
There were territory disputes and treaty-breachings to contend with in this little, personal kingdom.