Seven years on, and all of them had changed so much, reflected Prince James as he sat against his bedroom window, watching them far below as they bustled about preparing the castle for the celebrations tonight. This was his childhood bedroom but he was no longer a child. At eighteen years of age, James had grown into a handsome young man, the spitting image of his father at that age. He still wore the same outfit he had worn in his younger years, though with some minor alterations. It was a darker green now, with elegant gold thread embroidery, and he wore knee-high black boots instead of shoes; two medals gleamed on his chest, one silver with a knight's helmet, the other gold with his family crest. He'd graduated from Chivalry Hall with the highest honours, which the silver one denoted, and had been officially knighted as Sir James, First Knight of Enchanica, as the gold one denoted. His armour, polished to a mirror shine, stood in the corner along with his standard. He had chosen a foxhound as his standard, after his much-loved late dog, Rex. However, even the pang at remembering his best childhood friend was overshadowed today. The silver band gleaming on his left ring finger showed that he was engaged; it was of the purest silver and inlaid with a large emerald. But despite its beauty, James felt sick and saddened whenever he looked at it. A knock on the door startled him and he tried to make his voice sound firm and unruffled as he answered.

"Come in."

Baileywick poked his head round the door. His greying hair was even greyer now, white streaks showing up here and there, but he remained a dedicated servant and steward of the castle.

"Prince James. Your presence is required downstairs. Princess Vivian and her family will arrive soon."

"Thanks, Baileywick."

He followed the steward down the stairs, watching him consult his ever-present pocket watch; he was very big on keeping time. James kept his face impassive in case Baileywick looked round, but inside he wanted to cry. Tomorrow was his wedding day, when he would marry Princess Vivian of Zumaria. Vivian had been one of his friends from their Royal Prep days, an extremely shy little girl who'd been unable to even talk to anyone until Sofia helped bring her out of her shell. They'd had a grand time once when he, Vivian and Amber talked Sofia into bringing their pets to school only for them to get mixed up thanks to a potion and cause havoc all over the place, landing them all in detention for the rest of the day. Now they were getting married, and he dreaded it. Not because of Vivian; she was a lovely girl and a truly wonderful musician, and he liked her a lot. But that was the problem; he didn't love her. He'd be told that he'd grow to love her, like a lot of their parents had done, and if he liked girls that way he might well do. But he didn't like girls; he liked boys, and he loved one in particular. A boy who would be at the party, and at the ceremony, and who he desperately wanted to be with. They passed three maids dusting the balustrade as they descended the main staircase, Marcy, Suzette and Violet, all of whom curtseyed. The castle was being given the biggest cleaning it had likely ever seen in preparation for his wedding, floors and furniture and accessories gleaming merrily. Two bowing footmen opened the main doors and they descended the front steps, where his family waited at the foot of them. They turned at his approach.

"Ah, James, there you are! And just in time."

Roland, now approaching his middle years, had formally stepped down as king when James and Amber became of age and allowed Amber, in keeping with tradition, to ascend. Miranda, still active as the Queen Mother, held his hand as they waited. Amber, resplendent as always in a yellow gown and silver crown with Enchancian flags running along it; she too had grown, into the spit of their late biological mother, Queen Lorelei. A diamond ring glittered on her finger as she stood arm in arm with her own husband. Prince Desmond, so small, quiet and shy during his years at Royal Prep, had surprised them all by not only falling in love with Amber, but being the one to propose to her. Having grown fond of him during their time as partners for school projects, Amber had agreed and they were very happy. Desmond was happy to let Amber be the one in charge, content with his studies and his new enchanted gardening greenhouse. He was training to replace Cedric as the new Royal Wizard and though his magic was still a bit rusty, he excelled at alchemy.

Sofia, even more beautiful now at the age of sixteen, was wearing her Protector uniform with the Amulet of Avalor, as always, hung around her neck. She served to protect the Ever Realm and Enchancia from magical threats, as she had done back when they were just little kids by defeating that evil witch who had invaded their castle and tried to take over the world. Her devotion to this, and her adventurous nature, had made it unlikely that she would ever find someone special. However, she had defied that expectation and the proof was the silver amethyst ring on her finger. Prince Frederick, one of their classmates from Royal Prep, had bumped into her while she was trying to find and capture a rogue wizard who'd holed up in the Tangu Hanging Gardens. Frederick, who was also of an adventurous nature, had helped her trap and arrest the wizard, in the process becoming smitten with her. She'd put him through hell and back testing his devotion, but he'd grimly held on and when he proposed for the tenth time, she accepted. James was happy for his little sister, but it was at her engagement party that his betrothal to Vivian had been announced. He was shaken out of his reverie by the sound of wings beating.

"Ahh, here they are!"

The carriage, drawn by two flying horses and bearing the Zumaria flag, touched down gently and rolled to a stop in front of the castle. The coachman disembarked and opened the door, allowing Vivian's parents to disembark: King Marcus, a robust and energetic man in a purple jacket and gold waistcoat, and Queen Cecily, regal and calm in a magnificent green dress and head and neck dripping with jewelry. They bowed to the Enchancians, who bowed back. Amber cleared her throat nervously; this was her first time addressing visitors as Queen.

"King Marcus, Queen Cecily, welcome to Enchancia."

"We are glad to be here, Queen Amber."

"Vivian? Vivy, dear, come out and say hello."

A girl of seventeen, wearing a magenta gown adorned with musical note patterns with long black hair that fell loosely down her back, stepped timidly out of the carriage. She was beautiful, James acknowledged that, but she wasn't Hugo. Vivian approached James and he kissed her hand politely, getting the formality out of the way. Vivian blushed, not meeting his eye. Thankfully, the blare of trumpets announcing the arrival of more carriages made a great interruption.

"Presenting the King and Queen of Tangu!"

"Zandar! Hey, Zandar!"

Zandar waved back, ever his excitable self. He was still the prince of Tangu, as King Habib was not yet ready to step down, but was engaged as well. Having given up on his little unrequited crush on Hildegarde, Zandar had finally noticed Lakshmi giving him those eyes and their love had blossomed. It had caused a wee bit of a stir, which was visible now; Lakshmi was six months into her pregnancy and showing it. James had teased his friend over being unable to keep it in his trousers, but truth be told he wasn't all that innocent himself. He'd lost his virginity to Hugo when he was fifteen, in the empty stables here. It had been magical and wonderful, writhing about under Hugo and feeling him inside him, followed by snuggles in the warm hay afterwards. Hugo liked to act all macho, but he was surprisingly tender as a lover.

More royals and nobles began to arrive, many of them old friends; Jin and Jun from Wei-Ling, Jin still playing the field and Jun arm in arm with Prince Toshi; Hildegarde, Queen of Freezenberg, leading Derek by the arm; Clio, known as the Singing Queen, from Corinthia; Zooey, still an adventurer, and her girlfriend Princess Kari. Then James saw the next carriage and his heart froze.

"Presenting the royal family of Bruma, King Axel and Queen Astrid, Prince Vladik and Prince Hugo."

Axel, Hugo's older brother, had married Hildegarde's older sister Astrid not long after they came of age and they had had a little boy, Vladik, who was a really cute kid. But it was Hugo who commanded James' full attention; if he was handsome, Hugo was gorgeous. Everything about him was perfect, from the chiseled jaw to the long and strong legs. He'd gone on to become an Ice Dancer, just as he'd dreamed, and become very good at it. He was called the most eligible bachelor of all the kingdoms, and with 138 of them that was up against some pretty stiff competition, and it begged the belief of many as to why he had not taken a wife or even a prospective courtship. James knew, of course, but he couldn't bring himself to break his family's heart even if doing so broke his own beyond repair. He forced himself to look at Hugo, to smile and shake his hand as though they were merely old school chums reunited. Beneath the smile, James was in agony and he wondered if, beneath his own smile, Hugo was the same. But now it was time to go inside for the party.

The party was tame as the main event would be the official wedding ceremony tomorrow afternoon. Nonetheless, it was quite a bash and James would have loved it under other circumstances. He and his soon-to-be bride were seated with each other, but they had barely spoken to each other the whole evening. James played idly with his fork, watching his sister and friends dance with their partners and each other. Vivian was chatting to Sofia and Lucinda, Sofia's witch friend from the village, along with Ruby and Jade, Sofia's other friends from Dunwiddie. James spotted Khalid, moping at a table with his parents and older sister Leena; Maya, his other sister, was dancing with her boyfriend Mike. Roland and Miranda sat further down the table, cementing the final details with Vivian's parents. He was on his own, no-one noticed him. Or so he thought. Looking up, he saw Hugo standing next to the open doors to the balcony outside; the older boy motioned with his head outside, then went out. James stood up and turned to Vivian.

"Will you excuse me, Vivian?"

"Of course, James."

She smiled, but her heart wasn't in it. James, however, was too busy to notice. Making for the doors, he shut and secured them before turning. Hugo stood by the edge, apparently deep in thought, hands on the railing as he looked up at the full moon. He didn't turn around immediately.

"Hey."

"Hey. Some party, huh?"

"Your sister always knew how to throw one, even if it's not for her own wedding."

"Heh, yeah. Classic Amber."

Hugo let out a small chuckle but still didn't turn around. James took a few steps forward, but stopped when Hugo spoke.

"Do you love her?"

"Who?"

"You know who. Vivian, do you love her?"

"I-I… I don't know."

"You don't know?"

There was a trace of the familiar sneer he'd once used all those years ago, the one that masked the pain and pressure he'd been hiding from everyone.

"OK, no. No, I don't love her. She's nice, and a good friend, but I don't love her."

"So why are you marrying her?"

The question was not mocking, but sincere.

"Because- Because I don't want to disappoint my family."

Now Hugo turned around to face him.

"So you think that what we had, what we did, was shameful? Better off forgotten?"

"No. No, of course not."

"Then why?"

James stood next to him now, leaning on the railing.

"I was going to ask you to marry me. When I left Chivalry Hall and you were an Ice Dancer, both grown-up, I was going to ask you at Sofia's engagement party. Then my father stood up and announced that marriage alliance. I saw how much it meant to him, to them all, and I couldn't bring myself to shatter that."

"Even if it shatters you? Me?"

"Me, yes. You, you aren't bound to anyone. You can still find someone else, another bloke who'll love you and can be with you."

"But, James, I don't want another bloke. I don't want any other bloke; I jsut want you."

Hugo's voice was breaking now with sadness, and James felt tears prick his eyes. He felt Hugo touch his shoulder.

"Please, James. You'll marry a woman you don't love, break your own heart, live in endless pain?"

"I-I'm sorry, Hugo."

"James."

He felt himself being turned to face Hugo; now they were face to face, noses almost touching in an embrace they'd done so many times before. But Hugo was holding him like he'd vanish once he let go and James knew he'd lose all control before long.

"Hugo. Hugo, please."

"James. I love you."

And Hugo kissed him; kissed him tenderly, lovingly, in that way James loved. And though James wanted to return it, he forced himself not to. Hugo pulled away, deep brown eyes looking at him with heartbreak. James pushed himself away.

"I'm sorry, Hugo."

"James."

"Don't. Just- Just go, please."

"But…"

"Please? For me?"

Hugo looked for a moment like he was going to ignore that and kiss him again, and James was unsure if he'd be able to resist it this time. But, with an obviously tremendous effort, Hugo turned towards the door. James watched as the only person he would ever love walked away from him, only to pause with his hand on the doorknob. He looked back, tears shining on his face.

"I will always love you, James. Always."

And then he was gone. James wanted to go after him so badly, but in the end he did not. The full moon above seemed to dim as he buried his head in his hands, slumped against the stone railing and began to cry and cry.