Chapter 3: At First Glance
Gabriel sighed deeply, he was dreading this. He really was.
"There we are sir", announced Castiel, as he fitted the last piece of clothing onto the reluctant prince. "You look every inch the crown prince your father always wanted you to be."
Gabriel examined himself in the mirror. He despised dressing up for any occasion. Give him a simple tunic shirt and trousers any day. "I look like a tool", he muttered.
Castiel barely managed to contain his smile. He knew his friend hated wearing rich and wealthy clothes with ruffles. But orders were orders. Especially when they came from the king directly, "Just go out there and choose three to five suitors who will spend the next month with you in the castle."
"Yeah…oh and there's the little matter that one of them will be my partner for the rest of my life", said Gabriel sarcastically. "Seriously, how is this going to work out, Castiel? No one chooses the love of their life by picking them out randomly in a crowd."
"Then don't pick randomly", responded Castiel nonchalantly.
"What?..."
"Think about it", said Castiel a little roughly as he turned Gabriel around to face him, hands on his shoulders. "First off, you don't want someone who is afraid of you so don't pick the ones who are crying, look simply terrified, or won't meet your gaze. Secondly, you don't want someone who hates you so don't pick anyone glaring daggers at you. Thirdly, you don't want someone who is weak or easily manipulated so don't pick the ones who profess to love you right off the bat in order to avoid punishment. Trust me. No one decent will be thinking of you in a kind way at this point."
"Thanks for that", snapped Gabriel. But he knew Castiel had a point. "So who does that leave then for me to choose?"
"Someone who will understandably be afraid, but will try not to show it and will meet your gaze. Someone who looks as if they don't outright hate you, and perhaps maybe someone who looks a bit curious or interested in you", said Castiel gently.
"Yeah right, I'll be lucky if only three of them do all that", said Gabriel but silently he tucked all of Castiel's suggestions into his head. Who knows maybe he would get lucky.
A knock on the door woke the two friends out of their musings.
"It's time", said Castiel and as they headed to the entrance of the castle where all the potential suitors were assembled, Castiel whispered in his friend's ear, "it could always be worse. He could have just forced you to marry Lucifer." Gabriel shuddered at his friend's point. Yes, it could have been a lot worse.
Trumpets sounded, announcing the presence of the crown prince and Gabriel swiftly changed from an unsure man into the confident and aloof crown prince that only the public knew him as.
"Presenting His Royal Highness, The Crown Prince Gabriel of Norerica." Oh boy, Gabriel thought as he surveyed hundreds of young faces staring back at him. "His Most Royal Majesty, King Michael of Norerica, in his eternal wisdom has seen fit to honor each one of you for a chance to rise above your pitiful station in life. It is a privilege most unheard of and most unusual…"
Yada yada blah blah blah, thought Gabriel annoyed. Let's just get this over with.
Finally the Royal Announcer came to the end. "So it is with great joy that the Crown Prince Gabriel will inspect you and choose from your number three to five lucky young men who will live with the prince and his family in the castle for the following month and by the next full moon the prince will choose his consort." Or else, thought Gabriel darkly, he looked with sympathy at the crowd of young men. They were prisoners of circumstance much like he was.
"Go ahead Your Highness, choose", pressed the Royal Announcer. Gabriel shot him a look and immediately the man squeaked and fell silent. Finally, thought Gabriel, he couldn't stand much more of that man's yammering.
Walking into the sea of faces, Gabriel mentally kept Castiel's list of dos and don'ts in his head. After a few minutes of searching, he came across a young man with light green eyes and sandy blond hair who held his gaze and looked at him as if he was trying to size him up. He was young, Gabriel knew that but he carried himself confidently and his eyes held a sort of maturity that Gabriel knew was a result of hard circumstances.
He walked up to him. "What's your name?" Gabriel asked a little more stiffly than he would have liked. But, hell, this was awkward for him too.
The boy bit his bottom lip, he was nervous, Gabriel noted. But after a second, he gathered himself and looked directly into his eyes and replied, "Adam, sir."
Gabriel nodded. "And where are you from, Adam?"
"About twenty miles west of here, a little farming town called Windom."
A farm boy, thought Gabriel, well at least he could teach me all about agriculture which was an essential part of Norerica's economy.
"How old are you?"
"19, sire." Damn, he was young, thought Gabriel, but he couldn't be picky about age at this point.
"Can you read and write?"
"No, sire." Adam looked down, perhaps embarrassed.
"It's no matter", said Gabriel. In fact, he was not expecting a farm boy to be educated and those things can still be taught.
"How does your family feel about you coming here?" asked Gabriel. He knew it was a stupid question, but he wanted to see how the boy would react to it.
"My mother died four months ago. She was all the family I had", said Adam softly trying to fight back tears. Gabriel had not been expecting that, but it explained the look in the boy's eyes he had seen earlier; the knowledge that he truly was alone in the world.
Taking a breath, Gabriel asked Adam, "How would you feel if you lived with me for a month?" Adam looked up at him thoughtfully and shrugged. An honest answer, thought Gabriel, he has no idea. "Well why don't you stand next to my manservant, Castiel, and he will explain to you what will happen during the duration of your visit. Adam nodded and did as he was told. One down, at least two more to go, Gabriel told himself.
During the next half hour, Gabriel met and chose two more young men.
Chuck, 22 years old, who was a printer journeyman and who had been working his way up to being a master printer in the hopes of owning his own shop. While he had seemed a little terrified at first, he had not been afraid to speak his mind and Gabriel admired that.
Then, there was Kevin who was 18 years of age. He was the only child of a well-to-do merchant's family who were ecstatic at the possibility that their son could be the consort of the crown prince. Kevin was shy but not overtly so. He was also an accomplished musician, some called him a protégé. Gabriel began to feel a little hopeful maybe one of them could learn to love him after all.
"Are you finished, sire?" asked one of his guards. A sudden movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. That's when he saw him. His wrists were tied and bloody, he looked like he hadn't bathed in at least a week, he was grimacing in pain but he was still fighting. He was beaten but not defeated. "Not yet", said Gabriel. "Stop!" He called to the man's captors. "I wish to speak to him." The men stopped in surprise, as Gabriel headed toward them he saw that they were Alistair's men. Figures, he thought in disgust, he had never understood why his father favored Alistair, personally, that man gave him the creeps.
"What has this man done which has required such rough handling?" Gabriel demanded. Both men looked at each other and then down at the ground. They were completely at a loss of what to say. "Speak!" shouted Gabriel.
"They were following my orders, Your Highness", said the oily voice of Captain Alistair. Gabriel suppressed a shudder as he turned to look at him.
"What did this man do?"
"It's simple, my prince, he defied the law."
Gabriel could barely contain his anger, "What law in particular, Alistair?"
With a deep sigh, Alistair answered, "you know the one where every eligible young man in the kingdom blah, blah, blah you get the idea."
"You mean he refused to come?" Gabriel was confused this man looked more around his age, not like the young ones he had just spent time picking through.
"No, he refused to tell us where he hid his younger brother, Your Grace." That made sense, thought Gabriel. His admiration for this man grew; he was protecting his brother, his family. He turned to get a good look at this man who was staring defiantly back at him. He had spectacular hazel eyes, dark brown hair, all in all he was extremely handsome even in his grimy state.
"What's your name?" asked Gabriel curious.
The man's eyes narrowed at him but he answered, "Dean."
"How old are you?"
"25." Dean smirked and added, "apparently too old for your liking."
Gabriel blushed, that wasn't fair. "It was my father's idea not mine." Why had he felt the need to explain himself? He didn't owe this man an explanation.
"Yeah right", Dean shot back. "You're pathetic. You can't find a mate yourself, so dear old Daddy has to force people to line up in front of you so you can pick and choose at will. It's sick!" Gabriel was so shocked at Dean's outburst that he didn't register the guard's hand reeling back to punch Dean until it was too late. Dean grunted and fell to the ground clutching his stomach.
"Stop!" commanded Gabriel and the guards looked at him again in surprise. No one should be able to talk to the crown prince like that. Gabriel turned back to Alistair, "Release him."
Alistair's eyes widened slightly. "You can't do that."
"I can and I will."
"He disobeyed the law. Your father's law. That requires punishment", proclaimed Alistair smugly.
Crap. He was right. However, it was within Gabriel's power to change the punishment.
"Then he shall take his brother's place. He will be my fourth candidate."
"But…Your Highness…his age!", sputtered Alistair visibly upset about this turn of events.
"As I stated before, that was my father's decision. Not mine. I couldn't care less about how old he is", Gabriel nodded to his own guards and they gently picked Dean up who was now drifting in an out of consciousness.
"He's dangerous, Your Highness", warned Alistair now desperate. "He's a hunter, they can't be trusted."
Gabriel turned sharply back to the disgusting man. "Are you saying I can't defend myself against a peasant?" Gabriel asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Alistair fidgeted, "No…I would never…"
"Then we are done discussing it", growled Gabriel. He turned to the Royal Announcer. "I'm finished. Everyone else is free to return home." Turning on his heel, he walked as quickly as he could into the castle, gave hurried directions to Castiel to specifically look after Dean and report to him later on his well-being. When he finally reached his room, he sat heavily in his chair, head in his hands, mind whirling from the day's events. What had just happened?
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