King William considered himself a good ruler. He wasn't sure he could be classified as a good man. He found that good rulers very nearly never seemed to be good men. He believed himself to be a good ruler though. He was as honest as the safety of his country and politics would allow. He was as high minded as he could be given what happened to his daughter. He was an intelligent man, one who didn't listen to rumors, that was his brother's job. Yet one persistent and troubling rumor had reached his ears, one about his dear nephew Frederick.
Frederick had been the closest thing to a son, a child he could raise, as King William would ever get. The King loved his daughter more than just about anything, but he had a special place in his heart for Prince Frederick, the boy he'd raised to be king. He found it almost a shame that the bright, good hearted, proper boy would not be King, yet the rightful heir had returned, and there was such a thing as the Divine Right of Kings.
The rumor had bothered the King. Frederick was so proper and perfectly politic. He never did anything in public that would be misconstrued or seem off color. Although the young man did seem to enjoy the bawdy joke when it was just the two of them, and indulged in tobacco like a normal man, it was never where any but his most trusted would witness or get word about his off habits. Frederick was a proper gentleman and a proper young man. What the King heard flying around on the lips of servants disturbed him because it was so not like his nephew.
The King was smart enough to know his nephew was hardly chaste or virginal, but he'd never heard of him slipping off to a brothel, or sleeping around with even the lowest maid. In fact he seemed such a proper gentleman that the normal rumors were that he was queer. Frederick seemed to think the idea was hilarious, which helped to keep the rumors fairly well quashed. No one would ever accuse Frederick of doing a noble lady wrong, which was why this rumor was so disturbing. It was why the king called Frederick in to speak to him.
"Frederick, it's been a while since it's been just the two of us," the King said, offering his nephew a seat and a bit of tobacco for his pipe. Frederick accepted both and struck the match for the both of them. Neither of them smoked in public or around many people at all. Queen Catherine abhorred the habit, which was more than enough deterrent to not make it a regular habit.
"Yes, but the King has limited time, and you need to spend time with my darling cousin," Frederick said with a broad and charming smile. If King William didn't know any better sometimes he'd swear the boy would be a fine trickster, it was hard not to trust him when he smiled.
"Yes… Frederick I need to speak with you, and not as your King but as your uncle, do you understand?" King William asked, jumping to the heart of the matter.
"Of course uncle," Frederick said, understanding the different between Uncle William and King William and the necessity of both.
"I've heard an odd rumor running around about you. You know I'm not one for such things, but this one caught my attention," the King said, taking a puff from his pipe.
"How so uncle?" Frederick asked, also smoking his pipe. He didn't seem at all worried.
"It's about you," the King said.
"It's not the old one about me being queer as a bedbug is it uncle? Because I thought we'd gone over that one enough," Frederick said in startling good humor for that time of morning for him.
"No," the King said, giving his nephew a wary look. "I wish it was… no it's a new one. You know I dislike idle talk, especially about my family, but I had a hard time ignoring this one. There were reports that after the Winter Ball you took a court lady back to your room, and spent the night with her. Servants say they saw you with her in your bed after your ordered food from the kitchen to be brought up." The King spoke frankly. "Now normally I disregard such rumors, but it's so not like you that it really shocked me."
The King would have said more but Prince Frederick held up his hand, indicating he wanted to speak. He took another pleasant puff from his pipe, the smoke wafting out of his mouth as he spoke. "No need to say any more uncle, I have heard the rumors to, and they're true," the Prince said with a smile.
"Well of course these rumors are fal- what?" The King stopped, his brain racing to catch up with his mouth. "They're true!"
Prince Frederick smiled, again, lazily smoking from his pipe, seeming content and not at all bothered by the allegation. "Yes uncle they're true."
"What's gotten into you Frederick," the King demanded. "Normally you're so careful!"
"Uncle, please calm down, this isn't a problem," the Prince said. He held up his hand once more to keep his Uncle from interjecting while the Prince stopped to breathe. "They are very true, and there is a reason. The woman is question is Lady Lephia, you remember her, yes?"
"Yes, the girl from the ball that my daughter-"
"Yes, that Rapunzel stepped on," Frederick said, not wanting the King to finish that sentence. "I took her back to my room when I led her off. I was panicked at the time. She's such a nice young woman and I felt bad for her. We get along very well… and one thing led to another and we spent the night together… and the next day… and the night after that." Frederick smiled. "Uncle, you've gone white as a ghost," he said in a boyish-teasing tone.
"Frederick, it's one thing for a nobleman to sleep with a servant or a whore, but it's another thing to dishonor a noblewoman, especially in such a manner. There is no way for her family to broker a proper marriage for her now, which that family desperately needs," the King said, horrified for his nephew's clear disregard. "I taught you better than this."
"But you did uncle," Prince Frederick said, still smiling. "And there is a way for her to still be properly married."
"How? And will you stop smiling!" The King demanded, starting to get very angry.
"No dear uncle, I won't stop smiling. I can't stop smiling. If you weren't so enraged on her behalf you'd understand that you don't need to be enraged on her behalf."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm say that I love her. I'm love with that wonderful creature, and I've asked her to marry me," Frederick said. "She's so so wonderful, and brilliant. I don't care about someone being so close to the throne is supposed to marry better or more politic. I don't care about what you have to say, or aunt Catherine, or even Lephia's family. I don't care. I adore her, and I'm going to marry her, with, or without your blessing, and by God, you gave Rapunzel your blessing and she'd in love with a criminal who only a few months ago who was feet away from the gallows for stealing the crown jewels!" Frederick exclaimed.
The King and Prince sat in silence for a moment. Slowly the King went back to smoking his pipe, something he hadn't done since he'd first lit up. He watched his nephew's face, replayed his nephew's words in his mind, and considered what he'd found out. "You really do love her don't you? I've seen you impassioned about war, about philosophy, about politics… but never this impassioned, and never about a person. You do love her, don't you?" the King asked.
"I love her… My God I really love you," Frederick said, putting his pipe out on his uncle's desk something, the King noted with slight annoyance but more amusement, the boy never would have done even when angry. "I'd assumed I'd have a political marriage of some form, even before Rapunzel returned, and after I was sure of it… but I love Lephia, I absolutely adore her. I actually understand her, and we think alike… it's rather terrifying," the Prince said with a little smile, and a small chuckle. "I didn't expect this."
"Most people don't," the King said, leaning back in his chair, smoking thoughtfully. "You know I had arranged marriage. I got to pick from the daughters of my father's best friend, a man who owned a lot of land. Whoever I picked would inherit all of his land, and that land would be her dowry, and before part of the kingdom. It was a merger. I picked Catherine because she was the prettiest. It was a foolish choice as I was sore, young, and stupid." That made Frederick laugh, and the King joined him.
"You both get along very well," Frederick pointed out.
"That's because my wife is smarter than me," the King said, making them both laugh. "I picked the prettiest one, which was stupid of me… It terrifies me because of Catherina hadn't been a little prettier than her sisters I would have picked another… of course she insists that I thought she was prettier because I was already attracted to her. Rubish I say, she's far more beautiful than her sisters…" The King let out a wistful sigh.
"And?" Frederick asked, urging the King to continue his story.
"I started to fall in love with her over the honeymoon. I won't say sex makes love, but it doesn't hurt," he said, making his nephew laugh and shake his head while the other man smiled. "But the more I talked to her the more I came to like her. Eventually I was very much in love with her… and it was heart breaking when she got sick and nearly died. The physicians said they could abort and save Catherine, but she wouldn't hear of it," the King said, looking sad.
"That's when you heard about the flower," Frederick said, having heard the story for that point.
"Yes," the King said with a sad smile. "That was when…" he sighed heavily before looking at Frederick. "Do right by this girl Freddie, do right by her or I swear I'll just kill you."
Frederick smiled despite his uncle's very real threat. "I know uncle; I plan to be very, very good to her."
News of Prince Frederick and Lady Lephia's wedding spread very quickly. Many people were glad to hear about the Prince's engagement, especially after hearing some very nasty rumors about him taking a court woman to bed. The two most happy with the news, aside from the couple themselves, was probably the Queen and her daughter. Queen Catherine immediately took a liking to the young woman and very soon after hearing about the engagement started to start planning the wedding. Rapunzel also took a liking to Lady Lephia. She embraced the young woman like she would a new sister.
There was one person who was not exactly happy with the arrangements, Eugene Fitzherbert. Eugene wasn't sure why the news bothered him. If anything it was good that Frederick was finally out of his hair. Frederick only saw Rapunzel now if Lady Lephia was around. Eugene should have been happy to have him gone, especially since he had other more pressing problems. There were still records of odd shipments arriving in the outer country, and shipments of food and weapons simply disappearing, though all records showed they arrived and were properly logged so no one could be blamed for their disappearance. There was also the matter of Prince Christian.
Prince Christian had been the first to find Rapunzel once she was willing to show her face again. He's tried to see her before, but until three days after the party, when her father imade/i her go out, Rapunzel had only taken company in the form of Eugene or her parents. The foreign Prince had been the first to seek her out after herself imposed confinement, and told her what both her parents and Eugene had told her over and over, that everyone has their bad nights, and she handled hers with great strength and grace.
Eugene understood that it was easy to feel like the people who loved you were just trying to make you feel better, and her understood that Prince Christian's own personal anecdotes were hilarious (he was still laughing at them over a week and a half later), but it annoyed the hell out of him that Prince Christian telling her she'd done well made her feel better than her or even her parents telling her that. He's kept that feeling of jealousy all to himself though. Prince Christian seemed kind, and he showed no interest in Rapunzel aside from being friendly. In fact Eugene got along with him fairly well when he was around, and the Prince made a seemingly conscious effort to speak to him whenever he saw him… but Eugene still didn't completely trust him.
He wondered if he just felt paranoid. Prince Frederick had set him off a lot, but the man didn't seem to pose any real threat. Prince Christian seemed like he was nice to everyone and not particularly singling him or Rapunzel out… or even flirting with Rapunzel. Yet Eugene couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He blamed it on being a commoner dating the Princess. He blamed it on having just gotten out of the hospital, even if he had been feeling paranoid before. He blamed it on attending the hangings of the Stabbington Brothers, and realizing how close he himself had been… and really still was if he stepped a toe too far out of line with Rapunzel, from taking the same drop. But nothing her told himself made him feel any less like there was something wrong with Prince Christian spending time with Rapunzel, and something even worse wrong with Prince Frederick spending time with her.
And with all the paranoia he was feeling the thing that was bothering him most was that the damn Prince was going to get married before him. Eugene didn't mind waiting to marry Rapunzel… that much. He didn't mind waiting to sleep with her until they were married… again, that much. He just couldn't quite get over the fact that the annoying bastard who, Eugene was sure, was trying to ruin the ex-thief's relationship with the Princess was getting married ibefore/i them.
He suspected that all of this was the driving force behind the incredibly stupid thing he'd done. During one of his daily times with Rapunzel, when she was happily settled in his lap and they were reading a large book of Fairy Tales he had popped the question. They'd just gotten to the part where the Fairy Prince married the beautiful maiden and they all lived happily ever after, when Eugene got this romantic urge.
"Rapunzel, I love you, will you marry me?" Eugene had asked very suddenly.
Rapunzel had laughed at first, thinking it all a joke until she'd realized he was very serious. "Oh…. Eugene… I don't… I don't think so."
"Why not, don't you love me?" Eugene had asked, half joking, and only half joking.
Rapunzel had smiled at him in a way that said 'you dear sweet man,' and kissed his cheek. "Of course I love you," she replied. "But we just can't, not now?"
"And why not?" Eugene demanded with more force than he really should have because he'd seen the way she winced. It made him self-consciously run his tongue over his teeth to be sure he wasn't turning into her biggest fear.
"Because Eugene, it's just too much. I've not even been here a full year yet. I'm still learning so much, and I still have so many things I'm not good at. You know I'm still afraid of people. Even going out among people, and Maximus's morning frying pan practice hasn't helped yet. Besides that I'm studying all the time, and so are. I still can't face the court, especially after the Winter Ball… and to top it all off Cousin Frederick and Lephia have just announced they're getting married, and I don't want to take away from them, which our wedding announcement probably will. I'm just not read," she told him.
He was sure he'd said something to the effect of 'yeah okay,' and had wanted very much to change the subject when she'd suddenly caught on as to why he'd asked.
"Eugene… you didn't ask me to marry you because Cousin Frederick and Lephia are getting married… did you?" She'd asked him the one question he really wanted her to not ask. He knew he'd answered it in the worst possible way. It wasn't much better than the time she'd begged him not to freak out after she'd healed his hand.
He hadn't seen her since then. It'd only been a day, but still. He knew he'd done something very stupid… something it was going to take a lot of work to fix.
