Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this latest chapter.
Playing By The Rules
Eggsy wore an amused expression, which in all honesty Harry found a tad annoying since he'd been obsessing and worrying about this since he'd learned about their upcoming mating. But since Eggsy was obviously trying to make the best of their situation, or was just so optimistic he had yet to process just what mating with him meant, Harry pushed down his annoyance and remembered his manners, asking if Eggsy wanted him to ring for tea.
"No need, less ya want some." Eggsy shrugged, motioning towards the chairs.
Taking the hint Harry went back to take his seat, watching as Eggsy took the one directly across from him.
"I figured we should go over some stuff, get things in order for when we is mated."
"Such as?"
"Well I know how ya like to have everything in order." Eggsy grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows in what was probably a gesture meant to make him feel better about the situation they found themselves in. "And since we was talkin bout business and stuff, I figure we could start with that, yeah? Merlin says that King's got managers and stuff lookin after your money and businesses, but I figure you'll want ta be more hands on about it now. And ya could teach me that sort of that business running shit too, right, cause I ain't gonna be your boy toy, no offense."
"You…hands on?"
"Well ya said that your dad trained ya to take over the businesses at first, right? Before yous all knew that ya was an omega. And ya gave me those tips bout the stock market and stuff, and I made some good money from doin what ya said. Either way ya know way more than I do."
"But I'm not allowed to run a business, Eggsy, much less everything my father left me."
"Says King, not me. Other dragon want their mates ta stay home and with the sprogs, yeah, but I don't need ya ta do that, now do I? Whenever ya talk about ow it was before they figured ya was an omega, it was obvious ya was lookin forward to bein a businessman, running the companies and shit. Now ya can."
Stunned speechless, he couldn't believe what Eggsy was suggesting, Harry felt a wild hope flare up in his chest at just the idea that he might be able to be more than what he'd been for the past few decades. That he could be the man he'd wanted and worked to be all those years ago. Because while it was true that…dear God, what he did with his life was dictated by his dominant, Harry realized in a sudden flash of understanding. And if Eggsy wanted him to work then he could work. King wouldn't be able to stop him.
The head of the Guild could influence certain aspects of their lives, but when it came to another dominant's mate the dragon didn't have any say unless actual laws were broken. Chester could give Eggsy shit for it, and would most likely hold him in contempt for allowing his omega to have a real job, but it was against their laws for another dominant, even their leader, to tell another dominant what he could and couldn't do with his personal property. And Harry would be Eggsy's property.
"We'd be partners, the two of us. If that's okay with ya, I mean."
"If I…Eggsy…there's nothing I want more." Just imagining it had Harry's throat closing up, unable to find the words to tell Eggsy what this meant to him.
But he could see that Eggsy knew, the boy looking very pleased with himself.
"Well since ya is all emotional now anyway, suppose I should mention I was thinkin we could move in ta Andrew's place, after we gets hitched officially. My place ain't big enough for us all, and we is gonna be newlyweds and should have our own place, sorta. But Daisy needs me around too, so I was thinking she and Mum could move into one of the flats above one of the stores near us. If that's okay."
Andrew had been his father's lover for decades, and was the closest thing to a mother Harry had had after his own mother had passed away when he was very young. Andrew had passed away a couple years ago, and he'd left his house and the adjacent buildings that Harry's father had given him years ago to Harry. Being human, Andrew had willed the property to Harry by human laws which meant Chester hadn't been able to touch the properties, and hadn't cared enough to order Harry to sign it over to him. He wouldn't have done that though, even if his mate had ordered him to. All his happiest memories were in that place, and letting Chester get his hands on it…it would have been over his dead body.
"You…you want to live there. With me?"
"If it's okay with ya. I know what it means ta ya after all. It was just a thought I had. We can find someplace else if ya'd rather…"
All but leaping out of his seat Harry closed the distance between them, yanking Eggsy up to his feet as well and then pulling the younger man into the tightest, most emotion filled hug he'd ever given the boy. He couldn't tell Eggsy what this meant to him, so he was trying to show him so that he didn't completely embarrass himself by turning into a stammering, blubbering mess.
The way Eggsy hugged him back made it clear that he did understand, thank heavens.
)
He was so wrapped up in Eggsy, in the hope he'd just been given, that Harry didn't even hear the door open. But Eggsy did, the boy suddenly letting him go and pushing him behind him, even though Harry was technical taller than Eggsy. But Eggsy was his bodyguard, and it was his job to protect him as long as he was the consort.
The boy was poised to protect, but it wasn't an enemy in the typical meaning of the word, though the man who walked coolly into the room was no friend to either of them.
"Galahad."
Inclining his head in response to the use of his code name, Eggsy gave their Guild Master an equally cool look as he greeted him by his title, which Harry echoed as he came to stand at Eggsy side in a protective move Harry didn't doubt his current mate would notice.
"You know that you have no business being alone with him in here." Chester said it conversationally, his eyes never leaving Eggsy's, ignoring Harry completely. "I would have every right to kill you for touching what's mine."
Automatically Harry stiffened, while Eggsy's posture remained relaxed in the face of King's threat.
"I'm still one of the consort's bodyguards and therefore I'm allowed to be alone with him." Eggsy informed the much older man just as coolly, his grammar and accent having automatically reverted to the upper class façade Eggsy adopted when he had to. "And unless the rules have changed without my notification, I am allowed to touch him provided it's with his permission and in no way inappropriate or sexual."
"And I hugged him first." Harry added, not about to just let Eggsy take all the blame.
The snake like look his mate sent him did nothing to cow Harry, who met the man's gaze squarely. That he could and would do that was just one of the many reasons the man had always hated being mated to him. Once he'd realized that Harry's will couldn't be broken Chester had lost what little interest he'd had in him in the first place.
"As you'll be mated in less than three weeks it's inappropriate for the two of you to be alone without a chaperone. You can no longer serve as his bodyguard."
If they'd been human, or had been married under human laws it would have taken well over a year for he and his present mate to divorce, especially given the amount of assets and such there was to deal with, but they were dragons. The process of divorcing was relatively simple, especially when the Guild Master himself was the one pushing for the union to be dissolved.
"Then will you permit me to meet up with him at later dates provided I bring a chaperone? I'll also need permission from you to communicate with him through email during the course of the next few weeks. There are decisions that need to be made that I'll need his input on."
"Such as?"
"Well we have to set up house, Guild Master. I'd prefer to have our home ready for our occupation before we're mated."
"Yes, I'm sure it will be quite an adjustment for you, won't it?" The look Chester aimed in their direction, as well as the way he subtly motioned towards the opulence of the room they were in, made it clear that he was implying that Harry was soon going to have to adjust to living in lesser surroundings. "But I'm sure it will be lovely. And actually, I am glad that I ran into you here, as you and I have a few things to discuss."
"Oh?"
Rather than answer the implied question in Eggsy's response Chester King motioned towards the seating arrangement in front of them, indicating that they should take their seats so that they could discuss this in a polite and 'pleasant' manner. And knowing better than to press him just yet Harry went to retake his seat, betraying nothing when Eggsy aimed a series of sign language gestures at him from behind Chester's back, the words 'have to', 'sorry', and 'assehole'.
That couldn't be good.
Last to take his seat Eggsy causally crossed his legs in front of him and then asked King oh so politely what he could do for him.
"Technically he shouldn't be around during this discussion, but I'm sure you won't mind." The smile Chester aimed in Eggsy's direction was not reassuring, his statement that Harry should be excused if they were talking business true, but obviously Chester wanted him here to hear whatever they were going to be discussing. Which, given that Chester was a stickler for that sort of protocol and asseholeness, did not bode well for Harry.
"I have no problem with the consort remaining, no."
"Excellent. And this shouldn't take long, especially since I intend to be most reasonable when it comes to the dowry you'll be obligated to pay once you take my consort as your mate."
Eyes going wide behind his glasses, Harry had to bite down on his tongue hard enough to taste blood, the look Eggsy giving him ordering him not to speak. But what did Eggsy think he was going to do?!
A dowry was expected to be paid when an omega was mated as a compensation to his or her family for their loss as well as a reward for successful raising and providing their kind with a son or daughter who could continue their line. And Eggsy did not have the monetary assets to be able to afford someone of Harry's status and bloodlines. It would bankrupt him, especially since he wouldn't be able to use Harry's money to pay Chester off.
"I hate to argue you with you, Guild Master, or contradict you in any way, but it is you who will, by our laws, owe me money. Not the other way around."
"And you believe that because..?"
"Because I didn't ask for Harry's hand. You've ordered me to mate with him as Guild Master, and thus rendered him to the status of a dependent you are unwilling to support despite him being a part of your house. Technically, according to our laws, you owe me a stipend for taking on the responsibility and expense of housing a member of our guild who will in no way benefit me in terms of future heirs or monetary gain since what assets he will bring with him will be for his care alone. And on that note, unfortunately, there's also the matter of the fact that your business managers have mismanaged a number of his businesses and financial assets, thus necessitating that you compensate for those losses out of pocket."
Only decades of training kept Harry's jaw from dropping as he watched Chester's face go from red to purple as he realized how Eggsy intended to turn the table on him, both of them watching in stunned silence as the young man in question got to his feet, asked them to excuse him for just a moment. And as they were too stunned to say anything the two ended up just watching as Eggsy walked across the room to retrieve a briefcase Harry hadn't even noticed earlier, he'd been so caught up in apologizing to Eggsy for the situation they were in.
Coming back over to take his seat Eggsy was all genial smiles as he opened up the case, explaining as he did so that he'd planned to drop the papers off with King's personal secretary before leaving, but would just give them to him now.
And then Eggsy handed over a thick folder full of papers. "This is a breakdown of the laws and precedents set down over the centuries concerning the situation we find ourselves in, as well as a list of the assets your consort was left by his father. There's also paperwork regarding those business that you integrated with your own or sold off over the years. I'm sure we can come up with plans to either separate those businesses from ours, since it's up to me to run them as his dominant, or for you to buy them out if necessary. I had Lord Morton look over all of this to make sure that it was all in order. I wouldn't want to waste your time after all."
This was an additional blow, since not only was Lord Morton one of the most respected and high status dragons in their guild, but the man was also mate to the son of a Guild Master whose guild happened to be one of their staunchest allies. And while Lord Morton's omega technically had no power within their society…everyone knew his father doted on him and would make things difficult for King if he heard the other Guild Master had done something to upset his precious baby boy. And Colin just happened to be a good friend of Harry's. Add in the fact that Eggsy happened to be best friends with the Mortons' only daughter…this was why he hadn't seen Eggsy since their upcoming mating had been announced, Harry realized. The boy hadn't been avoiding him, he'd been working on this the whole time.
Pride in his eyes now, it was all Harry could do not to beam at Eggsy for the intelligence and careful planning he was demonstrating.
Now it was Eggsy's turn to aim a very dragon look in Chester's direction, coldly ruthless while appearing mannered and logical. "And I want you to know that since you are giving me the honor of the consort's hand I have no intention of asking for the stipend mentioned earlier. It will be my pleasure to care for him in your place."
Harry could practically see all the arguments and curses resting on the tip of his mate's tongue, just itching to roll off of it and be spoken, but Chester wasn't stupid and was aware enough to know that Eggsy wouldn't be challenging him this way unless he was a hundred percent certain that he was right. If Morton had signed off on the contents of the folder than their laws were on Eggsy's side and it was Chester who was going to have to pay for casting Harry aside.
Of course there was always the possibility that Chester could turn around and try to force Harry to mate with someone else instead…but that wouldn't change the necessity of him having to pay whatever 'mate' he decided upon. And everyone knew that the man's harlot had insisted that it had to be Eggsy, and King was doing everything in his power to make her happy to encourage her to provide him with a heir ASAP.
"I'll have my people look over this and get back to you about setting up a meeting to discuss it."
"Of course. Whenever you're ready. Lord Morton's agreed to act as my advisor, since I'm not nearly so knowledgeable as either of you when it comes to this sort of thing. I would hate to waste your time due to my inexperience."
Hanging onto his temper by a thread, Harry could tell, their Guild Master got stiffly to his feet and stated that he'd get back to him as soon as possible. And that he was afraid he couldn't stay longer, especially since he'd need to schedule time for him to go over the contents of the folder personally.
"So I'm afraid you'll have to go now, as I have no one available at the moment to supervise a longer visit." King added in conclusion, trying to get at least one hit in without success, as Eggsy responded by asking if it would be all right to arrange for future, chaperoned visits with Harry through King's assistant, since he was no doubt far too busy to trouble himself with making those arrangements.
"I'll arrange for proper chaperons, and have my assistant contact you when meetings can be arranged."
"As you wish." Getting to his feet as well Eggsy gave King the slight bow he was required to make in the old man's presence before turning slightly to give a much more courtly bow in Harry's direction, softly stating that he'd look forward to their next visit when it could be arranged.
"I'll look forward to it as well." Harry informed him in turn, hoping that his eyes conveyed all that he couldn't say.
For now, anyway. Soon he'd be Eggsy's omega…and he'd be free to say whatever the hell he wanted.
He couldn't wait.
