The Prince's Heart

Leila Rivers

Chapter Ten

That night, Nico arrived in the dining room to find his father, Hazel, Queen Athena, Lady Bea, King Apollo, and Princess Kayla waiting for him. The moment he sat down beside Lady Bea - the only available seat - she turned to him and grinned expectantly, though Nico didn't know what she was expecting. Choosing to ignore her, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not knowing where to look.

Earlier that day, after his father had told him he'd be marrying Lady Bea, he'd fled to his room, overwhelmed by everything that had happened over the last few days, and he was coming to regret that now. Princess Kayla was sitting across from him, shooting him quizzical looks, and he wished there was some way he could telepathically tell her about his father and Lady Bea, and apologise for not telling her earlier. Unfortunately, all he could do was focus on his drink and avoid eye contact with anyone.

As if he wasn't already on edge enough, a small troupe of servants entered the room and began topping up drinks and serving the appetisers - and of course one of those servants was Will. Nico briefly considered stabbing himself with his steak knife, just for any reason to be anywhere but there.

King Hades cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the entire room, and said, "The reason I've asked you all to join us tonight is to share a very exciting announcement." Nico noticed Lady Bea straighten and grin, trying once again to catch his eye.

"It is my pleasure," Hades continued, "to announce the engagement of Prince Nico to Lady Bea."

There was a clang in the corner of the room as Will stumbled and dropped a metal jug, and Nico flinched. To his side, Lady Bea was beaming, while across from him Princess Kayla was gaping at him with obvious betrayal in her eyes, and Hazel was glancing between all three of them in confusion. At least no one was paying attention to Will's blunder.

"Well, congratulations," said King Apollo, though it was obvious this wasn't the outcome he had been hoping for, "I suppose you'll be needing your space soon in order to begin planning the wedding?"

"Yes," said Hades, "but please don't feel that you're overstaying your welcome. Your court may stay as long as you like." Everyone at the table knew that Hades wanted them gone now that he no longer had a use for their presence, of course.

"Nonsense, my court and I will leave the moment the engagement is publicly announced."

Nico clenched his jaw, immediately on edge again. That could be anywhere from hours to weeks from now, but either way it meant he was going to lose Kayla and Will, and soon.

Nico was heading back to his room after dinner when he was cornered by Princess Kayla, who looked livid. Before he could say anything, she shoved him into a hidden alcove with far more force than was strictly necessary.

"What was that?!" She demanded, "What happened to our agreement? What, you just told me that you wanted to marry me and then changed your mind, and didn't even have the courtesy to tell me? What is wrong with you?!"

Nico swallowed thickly, staring at his shoes, "My father forced me into an engagement with Lady Bea. I tried to tell him I wanted to marry you, but he wouldn't listen." Princess Kayla was silent for a moment.

"It's because Prince Malcolm died, isn't it?" She asked, much quieter this time.

"That was part of it, yeah."

She pressed her lips together, then sighed. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," she said, "I was just worried you'd changed your mind about Will. I don't want him to get hurt."

"He's lucky to have you looking out for him," Nico said, reminded of how Bianca used to take care of him. It was probably weird for the person you'd been planning on marrying to remind you of your dead sister, but then, Nico's personal life had never exactly been normal.

"You need to talk to him about all of this," Kayla said, and though Nico dreaded that conversation, he knew she was right. He owed Will an explanation for everything that had happened over the last few days.

"Do you know where he is?" He asked.

"I'm pretty sure he's working in the stables again."

Nico found Will carrying a bale of hay toward one of the stalls, but Will froze in place the moment he saw him. He put down the bale of hay and moved closer, though there was an uncertainty written across his face that hurt Nico to see. They both avoided eye contact, and when the silence became unbearably awkward, Will cleared his throat.

"Listen," he said, "I knew this was going to happen eventually so, uh..." Will trailed off, his breath hitching, and Nico winced.

"Hey, I just... I need you to know that this isn't what I wanted," Nico said, fighting against an unexpected warble in his voice, "my father forced me into the engagement."

"I know, Nico, it's okay," Will said, but they both knew it wasn't.

"I just didn't want you to think that what happened between us didn't mean anything, or that I knew this would happen at the time, or anything like that," Nico was aware of the fact that he was starting to ramble, but he couldn't stop himself, and Will deserved to know all this anyway. "I talked to Princess Kayla after she caught us, and she said that since she didn't want to get married anyway, I could marry her so that you and I could stay together."

"Wait, what?" Will asked, looking stunned.

"Uh," Nico shifted nervously, struggling to believe he'd been stupid enough not to run the plan by Will first, "look, I know I should've talked to you about this sooner, but Princess Kayla and I were going to ask my father for his permission to get married, and she was going to offer to keep you here as one of her personal servants."

"You were going to do that... to be with me?"

"Well, yeah, that was the plan, but-" Nico was cut off by Will grabbing him by the collar and kissing him. Nico gasped against his lips, then, unable to resist, he closed his eyes and leaned into him. Will's hands moved up to his neck as Nico pulled him closer by the waist, then as Will began pressing his lips against Nico's more insistently, he ran his hands through Nico's hair, making him shiver against him. After a long time, they separated, and rested their foreheads against each other as they caught their breath. Nico studied Will's face, filling with warmth at the sight of the blush spread across his cheeks, and the way he was looking at him - like Nico was the only important person in the world. No one had ever looked at him like that before.

Nico withdrew, forcing himself to put some distance between them, and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm engaged to Lady Bea now, and my father's never going to change his mind." Will nodded, blinking rapidly.

"I know," Will said. He hesitated for a moment, then added, "Do you know when the engagement is going to be announced, and I'll have to leave?"

"I don't know for sure, but it won't be longer than a week or two," Nico said, and a heavy silence fell between them, until he heard Will drawing in a breath, as though steeling himself for what he was about to say.

"Can I... Can I see you again before then?"

Nico looked up sharply, then stared into Will's eyes and found that he was still giving him that look - the look that made Nico feel like he was melting. There was just so much affection and longing in Will's gaze that all Nico could think about was pulling him into another kiss.

"Yeah," Nico breathed, before he could stop himself. He knew that he was going into dangerous territory, and that this was a terrible idea that was only going to make it far more painful when they inevitably had to say goodbye, but Will broke out into a grin so heart-stopping that Nico couldn't bring himself to care.