Cornadopia - Thank you!

RichardIII1955 - Tybalt is indeed a lazy git. And thanks so much!

So Mercutio has told the truth at last! But what consequences will it have for him and his friends? And what about Angelo, who was so ceremoniously outed by Gabriel?


"Come on, wake up," urged Rosaline. Gabriel stirred.

"Not now, it's so early."

"It's eight."

"Then I've only had an hour of sleep!"

"I need to talk to you! Come on, get up. We have to get out of here. We need to plan our next move."

"Fine," Gabriel sat up, and laid his blanket over Tudor, where he slept. He was going to have a raging headache when he woke up. Gabriel had given him some parcetemol and a glass of water, along with some bread, which would hopefully soak up the hangover, but it was a long shot.

They walked through the house. It was silent. All the guests were crashed out. Gabriel rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. Was that King Edward really surrounded by all those half naked girls? Rosaline shook her head disgustedly. Once they were out of the Manor, Rosaline burst into conversation.

"Hermia and Juliet came to me with some more information. The Montagues were behind this! They are such...pigs! Tybalt was right. We should feud with them until we kill them all."

"Rosaline!" gasped Gabriel.

"What?" snapped Rosaline.

"We'll lose the peace that Escalus has tried so hard to achieve," replied Gabriel, "Look at England. Do you want us to be like the Yorkists and Lancasters again?"

"Why not?" hissed Rosaline, "They offended and humiliated our family. The Montagues are the enemy!"

"Calm down!" ordered Gabriel, "I'd like to hear the full story first, and I doubt the whole of the Montague family were behind this. It's probably just one or two of them with a personal grudge. They're not the enemy."

Rosaline turned to him. Her golden hair gleamed in the sun, and her ice blue eyes were narrowed and catlike, "Anyone who isn't us is an enemy."

"Who told you that?"

"Queen Elizabeth and Lady Macbeth."

"Just as I would have thought."

"What's the problem?"

"The problem is where us begins and where us ends."

"Us, means our family!"

"So is that just you and the Oftmoros? Or you, me, Livia, Angelo and Alexei? Your cousins? Your extended family? Because already I can think of a couple of problems with that train of thought."

"I just mean that we should protect our own. We should be out for each other."

"I understand. But if you are talking of feuding then I have to say that if the Capulet vs. Montague feud had gotten anymore ugly than it was beginning too, somebody could have ended up dead. How would you like it if Tybalt got killed whilst having one of his temper tantrums?"

"Which Montague would kill Tybalt, Gabriel? Would Benvolio poke his eye out with his glasses? Or would Beatrix hit him over the head with a copy of Twilight? Or, better, would Romeo throw a love poem at him? None of them could hurt Tibby even if they tried. And anyway, we'll be Lord and Lady Oftmoro, not Capulets. We can do what we want. Hermia and Juliet might be engaged to Montagues, but we're not."

"You're not Lady Oftmoro yet. You don't have the Grange."

"No, I don't, and my mother isn't dead yet. But I thought of a plan to get the house. I'm going to tell Juliet that Uncle Tancredo is planning to challenge her to be Lord Capulet after Uncle Egues dies. She'll be grateful to me for this information, as I am on the information concerning our dad. In return, I will ask her for a loan, which I will use to buy the rights to the Grange. I'll kick Mariana out, and then-"

"Rosaline!" Gabriel gasped again, "You can't just kick her out!"

"Why not?"

"Because we need to keep her sweet, if we want to win her over to our side. We need friends. We need alliances."

"Of course," said Rosaline sullenly, "Anyway, Hermia and Juliet came to me with a very interesting report."

"I'm listening."

Rosaline told him.

"Bloody conservatives," Gabriel cursed, "Bloody rich people! Those selfish-"

"I know. And I was right. This whole scheme serves the Montague family, each and every one of them, although it amuses me that they think Romeo is too unintelligent to keep his own family afloat. But why didn't you tell me Amparo was behind this as well?"

Gabriel was silent.

"Gabriel, I asked you-"

"I know," Gabriel sighed sadly, "I just...I still love her."

Rosaline rolled her eyes, "After she did this?"

"I can't help who I fall in love with!"

"Now you sound like that Montague," Rosaline shook her head, "Why else?"

"Verona needs a competent Deputy, one who the people will like, and who people will vote for," replied Gabriel, "If we can't get Angelo back to how he was, and if Amparo doesn't get the job, then the only other option is someone in the party who doesn't want it, isn't prepared, and then that runs the risk of letting Vincent's party get in charge. Which we don't want, because he is a woman-hater, a racist, and a homophobe."

"But why should we give Amparo what she wants?"

"I'm not thinking of her, I'm thinking of Verona. She can do a good job, she cares about the people, and the people adore her. It would be selfish of us to kick her out of power, and leave Verona to Vincent's mercy."

"Right you are, I suppose," Rosaline chewed her lip, "Ok. Shall we plan our next move?"

"I promised Angelo I would clear his name," said Gabriel, "And that is what I intend to do."

"So we'll need to ask Escalus for an appeal against the written warning. And we'll need to make sure it's public, so that the people will see it, see for themselves that he is innocent, and stop shaming him as a pervert."

"And we need to make sure Mariana doesn't sell anymore stories to the press. So we need to keep her sweet. No kicking her out of her house."

"My house."

"Your house, Khaleesi."

"Not funny, Joffrey!"

"I'm not Joffrey! Edouard was bloody Joffrey!" Gabriel playfully shoved her, "Would you be able to get Hermia and Juliet to come forward?"

"I don't know," shrugged Rosaline, "They're loyal to the Montague family, and they need to make sure the Montague inheritance is secure, and the family name clear, because Juliet is engaged to Romeo, who's the heir, and their children will be his heirs, and the Capulet family heirs. And Hermia for the same reasons, because if Juliet doesn't manage to whelp a thousand stinking brats, then Eliseo will become Lord Montague someday. And possibly also Lord Capulet, if Uncle Tancredo will have it."

"And what does Shari say about Lady Mariana in the moated Grange?"

"She says she has not married yet, she has no boyfriend or fiancé, and she rarely receives visitors. She seems very isolated. As for the house itself, it is mainly in good condition, however, Mariana doesn't maintain it very well, and there are several repairs that need to be made. Also, a lot of the land is being uncared for, when it could be used to bring profit and-"

"Ok, enough about the house. We'll deal with that later. I'll help you get it back. We need to sort out Angelo first. So, we have Mercutio. Since I got him to make a very public confession, he can't back down. We've got him, Rosaline. It doesn't matter if we can't get the others. We have Mercutio."

"But remember," said Rosaline, "Mercutio is mad. Will anyone believe him?"


The two siblings made their way back to Angelo's mansion, arm in arm. As they walked, they discussed their favourite fashions for the autumn, and the current situation in England, and some of the hilarious antics from the previous night. They were quite unprepared for what would happen next.

"Why are all these people outside Angelo's house?" frowned Gabriel.

"How come you still call him just Angelo, after all these years?"

"I don't know. I just do," Gabriel shrugged. He caught sight of a sign held by one of the crowd, "Oh my God! That is sick!"

Rosaline caught sight of it, "They...how dare they!"

As they grew closer, more signs became visible. They all said the same thing. God hates fags.

Gabriel was the first to lose control.

"How DARE you!" he roared, "Get away from my house, you homophobic pigs!"

"Look, there's his kids!" the protesters called out.

"Your father is sick!"

"He's going to hell!"

"No, he is not!" screamed Gabriel, running into the crowd, "Liars! There's no such place as hell! Go back to your churches and-"

"Gabriel, don't argue with them! They have no logic. Let's just get in the house!" cried Rosaline.

"They're insulting him!" screeched Gabriel, waving his arms around furiously. He turned back to the protestors, "You have no right! Get off of my land! Get out! Piss off!"

Rosaline fought her way through the thongs of people, and grabbed Gabriel.

"They're calling him a pervert again! They're saying that because he's bi, it's no wonder he's a creep! There's nothing wrong with being bi!" shrieked Gabriel.

"It's a sin!"

"No, it's not, it's natural! People are born this way!"

"Don't fight them!" urged Rosaline, "Just get to the gates, and we can get in. We'll call security. No, we'll call the police!"

"You have no right to be here!" seethed Gabriel, standing in front of the protesters. He spotted some children, who were even younger than Tudor, holding signs and copying their parents. He was disgusted, "How dare they lay...siege to the house like this! My son is in this house! My baby son!"

Rosaline hammered the button on the gate, "It's Gabriel and Rosaline. Let us in!"

"We can't open the gates. It will compromise our safety," replied one of the security.

"Then how do you expect me to get in?" Gabriel shouted, "And how does Angelo expect to be able to get to hospital today? Shall I climb the walls? Just open the gates a little. Rosaline and I are slim, we can sneak in, and then shut them again."

The gates creaked open. Gabriel squeezed through and Rosaline followed. The crowd surged against them, trying to get in the house as well, but Gabriel and Rosaline pushed them back, and the security guards closed them again. Just before they ran into the safety of the house, Gabriel gave the protesters the finger, and rushed after Rosaline. They yelled and jeered angrily, calling him names. Gabriel felt his blood boil with anger. They had no right!

When they got inside, Angelo had closed all the curtains, and was standing in the living room, just glancing through a crack. He held Alexei in one arm. The baby was snuffling, sensing his grandfather's discomfort.

"Did you see that!" Gabriel exploded, "How dare they! The sick fucks! I'm going to slap them all!"

"Leave it, Gabriel," sighed Angelo. His voice was thick, as if he had been crying.


"You don't understand, I love him! I can't help the way I feel!"

"It's not natural, it's dirty!"

"It isn't! I promise! I love Michael like I loved all my girlfriends before...more, even. I want to be with him, I want him so much..."

"Get out of my house, you dirty little faggot!"


"You should call the police. They could turn violent, especially with Gabriel shrieking and shouting at them," advised Rosaline.


"It's about time I taught you a lesson!"

"No, please, I-"

His father Kurk slapped him around the face. Angelo felt himself fall to the floor. His cheek was ringing, and he could feel the blood pounding in his ears. He was too shocked to cry, to protest. His parents left the room, and they left him. His brother Iago simply looked at him. He didn't say a word, but he stalked after his parents. Angelo was alone.


"I always knew this would happen," Angelo sighed again, "Who told them? How did they find out about...my preferences?"

"I told them," mumbled Gabriel.

"You what?" Angelo frowned.

"Last nigh,t" Gabriel chewed his lip, "But I got you an alibi!"

"You told everyone I'm bi?"

"Yeah. It was an accident! It just came out because I was mad! I was yelling at Mercutio and trying to get him to come forward and say you were innocent. I was defending you!"

Angelo just sighed and shook his head, "Well, it was always inevitable. Before I know it, some delinquent is going to shoot me whilst I'm picking up my groceries. With any luck it might even be a quick death, rather than being slowly poisoned by this cancer and this horrible treatment."

"Dad! Don't say that!" cried Rosaline.

"What do we do?" asked Gabriel, "How shall I get you to the hospital for treatment? I could run a couple of those cunts over if you want"

"I'll just have to deal with it," Angelo sounded defeated. Alexei squirmed, sensing the bad mood of the family. Angelo rocked him, and then lifted him up and cuddled him.

"Well, no matter what those arseholes are saying, we're on your side, dad," said Rosaline, "And I'll defend you."

"Yes, and me!" added Gabriel. He reached out to hug Alexei and Angelo at the same time, "You still have us. Alexei loves you, see?"

Angelo kissed Alexei's head and then Gabriel's. He held Rosaline to him, and hugged her as well.

"There might be those dicks outside, but there are lots of LGBT people in Verona who will feel very glad you came out," said Rosaline.

"Perhaps this is your chance to gain your popularity again," Gabriel added, "I'll call Juno, and see if he can do something. And I managed to get Mercutio to admit that he didn't hear you harass Isabella. It's not just your word against hers, you have an alibi now."

"And Hermia and Juliet have both told me some interesting tales, regarding the Montague's involvement in this...smear campaign," said Rosaline disgustedly.

"I'm so lucky to have such clever children," Angelo ruffled Gabriel's hair with his free hand, "But don't let them have any excuse or reason to say nasty things about you in the press. You do not want these idiots protesting outside your house."

"They already are," retorted Gabriel, "And if they try, I'm ready. I don't care what people think of me. It's too late to people-please. I'm a ballet dancer, and I already dance with a male partner. They can come and get me, and I'll bitch-slap them!"

"I'll remove any potential weapons from the house so that Tibby doesn't go crazy," Rosaline shook her head, "Thank God we'll be back in Milan soon. Will you be all right alone?"

"We coped fine before," replied Angelo. He bounced Alexei gently, "Right. I think we better face the music."


Gabriel managed to get past the horrible protestors by shooting down the drive way at an astonishing speed. Angelo whimpered in horror as he smashed down a sign and then reversed over it several times. The gates slammed shut, almost trapping one of the protestors between them. Gabriel honked the horn several times and screamed several insults out the window, before playing horrible loud heavy metal music. Angelo groaned and rolled his eyes at the song choice.

"I'll show them," seethed Gabriel, "If I wasn't onstage tonight, I'd be launching fireworks at them, and putting a sign of my own up. How does 'God hates homophobes?' sound?"

"Blasphemous."

"How dare they drag religion into this! They can keep their beliefs to themselves. They're such damn hypocrites! I mean, they're abusing you, for being bisexual, yet their own priests molest little kids! What's more disgusting? Two men who love each other and have consensual relations with one another, or a paedophile priest? Urgh! And anyway, being bisexual has nothing to do with your abilities as a politician. I bet some of those people voted for you before."

"Either way, I've lost another chunk of voters."

"No, you've gained some. Some people were complaining you hadn't done enough. Now you're one of them, they'll understand."

"If I'm lucky."

As Angelo had his session of radiotherapy, Gabriel waited outside patiently. They wouldn't let him in case he became radioactive. During Angelo's first treatment, he had gripped Gabriel's hand so tight Gabriel thought he'd break a bone. When they told Gabriel he couldn't come in, Angelo had gone from completely white, to completely grey. Angelo seemed a little more at ease with the treatment now, but still suffered from the side effects. He was bleeding a little from an unpleasant place, and looked puffy. But it was October now, and so he was halfway through his treatment. It would be finished shortly after Angelo's forty eighth birthday, and with any luck, the whole ordeal would be over by the election.

Afternoon rehearsal was interesting, to say the least. Angelo was too paranoid to go home. He didn't admit it, but Gabriel knew. So, instead, Angelo and Alexei both sat in Gabriel's dressing room. The look on Angelo's face at all the make-up Gabriel wore onstage made him want to giggle. He left them both relaxing in his chair, and started to dance.

"No, no, no!" shrieked Rene at boy who played the prince. " 'ez all wrong! You no do it right! You are naughty prince!"

Gabriel burst out laughing, thinking of the other naughty prince.

"Vot ez funny?" demanded Rene, "My ballet show ez rubbish, ez zat funny?"

"No," giggled Gabriel, "Just...naughty prince is funny!"

"I saw you on Youtube!" added one of the other dancers.

"Youtube?" asked Gabriel.

"Yes! You're on Youtube! Mercutio uploaded the whole song, it's so funny!"

The dancer held out his phone and Rene took it. The phone rang out with, "He's a naughty prince, with a bad habit, bad habit for crime! He's a bratty prince, with a bad habit, bad habit for crime!"

"Oh, yeah. The musical," giggled Gabriel, "I played Edouard, the naughty prince of the song!"

"You're Youtube famous."

"Great."

Even Angelo had seen it by the time Gabriel was finished. He shook his head and sighed. Rene soon turned up outside his dressing room, and gave him a long lecture about not offending royal courts, in case it affected his ballet carer.

"You dance for prince, naughty or nice, not make fun of zem!"

Eventually, Gabriel called Juno and had him take Angelo and Alexei home. With any luck, those protesters might have gone away by then. He danced punishingly that night. He clutched at his prince, pushed him away, twirled him around. At the end of the show, he held the child like he was Alexei, and then set him down gently for bows. His flock of swans followed him onstage. Gabriel couldn't help but feel like his life was like that dance in that moment. Angelo was the prince, and his evil parents were the Queen and von Rothbart. Gabriel was the swan, he was always the swan, he was the freedom Angelo craved. He wasn't sure who everyone else was, but he knew they were there somewhere.

When he got home, Angelo was asleep in his bed, and Alexei was curled up under one arm. His fair hair was growing long and his smooth calm breathing was very different from Angelo's long, laboured breaths. Gabriel thought it best not to disturb them, and so he headed into his own room. Juno was asleep in his bed. Lately, Juno had taken to staying over. Gabriel liked it too. It had been ages since he'd had a friend, and they both loved to giggle together before they went to sleep like they used to when they were both boys.

It was at nights that he most missed Amparo. He thought about her often, the warmth pressed against him, her soft breathing, her wild curly hair tickling his cheek. He found he missed her less when he had company.

Juno roused as Gabriel clamoured in beside him, "How was the show?"

"Fine."

"I came to watch you dance one night, before Angelo hired me. You were good, really good."

"Thank you."

"Was it all worth it, in the end?"

"Yes," replied Gabriel, "It's my dream come true."

"Even better than doing what the teachers wanted and going to university?"

"Much better. I couldn't bear another three years of being lectured in a classroom, being told how to live my life, and not being able to focus on dancing completely."

"Same. I was so happy when the PR company gave me an apprenticeship. And they were really pleased with me! They said I was a natural, and they gave me to Angelo. It's harder than I expected, especially after what happened earlier."

"I'm sorry about that," sighed Gabriel, hugging his knees, "You've been given a nightmare case."

"You seem sad."

"I am," Gabriel admitted. Sad and lost.

"Do you want to tell me?"

"I miss Amparo," Gabriel hugged his knees, "I never knew how much I'd miss her. I miss having someone on my back, looking after me. Oh, Angelo's nice enough these days, but what I want is..."

"I know," sighed Juno, "But let's think positively," he chattered, hoping to distract Gabriel, "In a couple of weeks, this could all be over. You'll finish the season in time for Christmas, and then you'll start rehearsals in time for Giselle, which will be the classical ballet show you wanted to do in the first place. You'll make the perfect Loys. And I'll come and see you. Things at home will go back to normal. We can salvage Angelo's reputation. We still have a matter of weeks before the election."

"And by then, his radiotherapy will be finished, and we'll just be waiting to hear the 'All clear,' if, of course, it is all clear. Otherwise it's surgery," Gabriel shuddered.

"It'll be ok," Juno squeezed his hand, "People can recover from cancer. Oh, and I've spoken to Escalus. That's what I stuck around tonight for, so I could talk to you. Angelo was tired, and Alexei was tired too, so they went to bed and I stayed up to wait for you. I have drafted a statement for Angelo to give to the press when he's ready, about the whole bisexual thing. The shock will wear off soon, and anyway, this could also give him some support from LGBT groups. They'll understand what it's like, being too afraid to come out. People are compassionate. And, most importantly, I've arranged the appeal against the written warning, and I'm making sure it's in the press, so that people will find out that he is innocent, and that he's not a pervert, and that that Montage bitch is a lying attention-seeker. And lastly, if Angelo is better...then he'll rally his party and they'll win."

"I hope," sighed Gabriel, "It's not just about Angelo getting his job back, you know. It's about Verona. The future of Verona. I was explaining this to Rosaline earlier. She's mad at Amparo, you see, and if Angelo ends up resigning, she doesn't see why Amparo should get in power. But, I say that the party needs a competent leader. We can't just think of ourselves and petty little grudges, we have to think about the rest of Verona. We have to think of all the other people involved. Look at England. They couldn't decide who should be king, and now thousands of innocents are dead. I know it's a bit extreme compared to Verona, but you get the picture. If the Democratic Liberals doesn't have a competent leader, they're not going to win. And if Vincent and his party of evil fundamentalist republicans get in power, they'll ruin the whole city, and there will be little Escalus can do to stop it."

"But he's the prince, he can do what he wants!"

"The power of old money, old nobles, is fading. You saw what happened in England. They had a Kingmaker! No one listens to the ruler anymore, just because they're the ruler. It's all about money and power these days, and not necessarily because it's handed to you."

Juno nodded. It amazed Gabriel to the extent that he knew about politics these days. He knew far more than when he had lived with Angelo during his teenage years, and more than when he lived with Amparo. Nowadays, Angelo sat and explained things to him, giving him examples and discussing some of his experiences, rather than yelling at him for being stupid. And Gabriel listened now.

"If Vincent gets in power, we can kiss goodbye to women's rights. We can say goodbye to equal pay, even if they have the same qualifications and do the same job, and they'll cut down all the child care centres and child benefit, so they can't afford to work anyway. This will affect me, not just women, because of Alexei and such. I'm on my own, with him, and I have a demanding job. Rene was only saying how I ought to tour if I want to make my name known. And it won't just affect me, it'll affect Rosaline. Vincent and his republicans will cut down funding for culture and heritage things. Verona is a city that thrives on tourism. And tourism thrives on culture and heritage. Therefore, many of the local businesses are to do with tourism and culture, and many are authentic, family-run businesses. If they lose funding, they won't be able to afford to run anymore, and they'll have to close. If they close, Verona loses tourism, because everyone will think it's a shitty place to come. Rosaline has invested in a lot of them and if Vincent gets in charge, she'll lose her investments."

"Arse," agreed Juno.

"And don't get me started on same-sex rights. I'm such an idiot for outing Angelo. Vincent will come down on him like a tonne of bricks."

"Why would Vincent go down on Angelo? I thought he was a homophobe."

"Juno!"

The boys giggled naughtily.

"I'm glad we're friends again"

"So am I."