Apollonia, 1750

"Antonio, Dimitrius! Wait for me!"

Antonio's dark head turned back to laugh at him and shout,

"That's the point of a race, Pete! We won't baby you like Mother does!"

But Peter noticed his older brother slow his pace slightly so that he could catch up.

"Thanks, Tony." he said, looking up into his lively green eyes.

Antonio looked away, smirking slightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Kings don't show mercy to their subjects."
"You're not King yet," Peter reminded him impishly, "and even when you are, I'll be your most trusted advisor."

"You and Dimitrius."

"I'm your brother!"

"He's close enough! Also, you're an idiot."

"I'm going to shove you in the pigpen!"

"I'll have you executed!"

"I'm your heir, you can't!"

This continued as they ran side by side to the greenhouse, where Dimitrius was already waiting for them. He stood up with a smile on his face, shaking his golden curls from his face.

"Gods, what took the two of you so long? Royal inbreeding finally catch up to you?"

"Pete and I decided to let you win for a change." Antonio said, giving Peter a nudge with his shoulder.

"For a change? I've never lost."

"Only because we let you win," Peter responded with a laugh.

Dimitrius chuckled, then put an arm around each of their shoulders.

"Your Highnesses, may I make a suggestion for how this lowly Doux may entertain you this afternoon?"

"Lowly? You're a ward of the crown!"

"You're tutored with us!"

"And Pete's a Doux too!"

"Shut up, both of you. I want to climb the fig tree."

Antonio shook his head vigorously.

"Too dangerous. Especially since Peter and I are the two next in line for the throne."

"They never let you do anything fun when you're about to be king."

Maybe it was his desire to seem braver than Antonio, or maybe it was the glimmer of mischief in Dimitrius' hazel eyes that made him say,

"Uncle Constantine's right. Second sons really do have all the fun."

"That's the spirit Pete! I'll go first, make sure it's safe for the spare to the throne." Dimitrius said, giving Peter a mock bow. "You stay down here and protect our precious Crown Prince!"

He saluted Dimitrius, standing comically straight.

"You're both getting the guillotine when I'm on the throne!" Antonio yelled, laughing.

"You won't say that if you want us to bring you a fig!"

Later, after Dimitrius and Peter had both climbed to the top of the tree and procured enough figs for the three of them, boys sat in the grass, eating their figs.

"So, Tony, how's married life treating you?"

Antonio rolled his eyes.

"It was just a proxy marriage. We don't actually get married until she's sixteen."

"Another five years? Pete and I could be married by then!"

"Danielle's parents want to wait, besides, I'm too young to do. . . whatever married people do."

Peter turned to him with raised eyebrows.

"Danielle? What happened to the Princess of Savoy? When did you start calling her by her given name?"

Antonio shoved him.

"If you must know, my wife and I have been exchanging letters before we actually meet, so it's less uncomfortable when we marry."

"I've heard 'it' is only uncomfortable for the woman!" said Dimitrius with a boyish giggle.

"What's uncomfortable? What are you talking about?" Peter asked, looking between the two of them. At twelve to Antonio and Dimitrius' thirteen, he hated feeling left out or younger.

The two older boys exchanged a smiling look.

"Kissing, Pete. Girls aren't allowed to unless they're married. Boys technically aren't supposed to either, but. . ." said Antonio, elbowing Dimitrius as he snorted behind his hand.

"That'll be easy for me. I've never wanted to kiss a girl. Ever." Peter said proudly.

Antonio smirked. "That'll change."

Peter looked to Dimitrius for confirmation. Not everyone read sonnets for fun like Antonio, after all.

Dimitrius simply smiled and put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly.

His hand lingered, for just a hair, then he quickly moved it as though Peter's clothes were on fire. A tingle went up in Peter's spine.

He glanced sideways at Dimitrius to see if he had a similar reaction, but he was just eating another fig as though nothing had happened.

It's probably nothing, he thought, looking back at the fig in his hand.

1754

Peter hopped off the gangplank, looking around for the royal carriage. He'd sent word to his parents that he'd be back from Amarna today, yet he saw no one to greet him. Strange.

"Peter! Pete! Your Royal Highness!" a familiar voice called, singing his title in an operatic voice.

He turned, and there was Dimitrius, barreling towards him in all his ruggedly handsome glory. Before he could brace himself, he was being lifted off of his feet in a bear hug, laughing as he said,

"Gods, Dimi! You scared me half to death!"

Dimitrius put him down, pulling away slightly so he could meet his eyes. "How could I scare you? Battling mummies and scaling pyramids in Amarna for six months? You're becoming quite the traveller!"

"I wasn't in Amarna the entire time. I went to the South Seas for a while, then Palladia, then I saw some operas and symphonies in Dulcemia."

"I envy you, my friend."

Impulsively, Peter said, "Come with me next time."

Bad idea. Didn't you leave to escape him and whatever new flirtation he has?

"And leave Antonio alone? Come on, poor lovesick sap would go crazy!"

Peter found himself arguing. "He has his letters from Danielle to moon over, he'd hardly notice!"

A smile took over Dimitrius' handsome face.

"You didn't hear the squeals from Amarna? She's here, begged her parents to let her come early. They're getting married next week. Thank the gods you got here now."

"So he doesn't need you anymore I suppose! Come with me."

Choose me over Antonio. Show me I'm not just your best friend's brother.

"Next time. But you need to at least say hello to your brother before you take off again. And attend his wedding."

Dimitrius put an arm around his shoulders as he led him towards the carriage. Peter tried to ignore the warmth in his chest. No, these six months away had done nothing to change the thoughts and feelings swirling in his mind.

He and Dimitrius entered the sunlit hall, laughing, when he saw Antonio. His long hair was tied back, but a few unruly chestnut waves fell forward as he leaned down to talk to a pretty girl, looking up at him as though he was the center of the world.

He smiled at something she said, a soft warm smile that seemed to make him glow with candlelight. Not like his usual sunny laughter with Peter and Dimitrius. Peter was briefly overtaken with a blushing panic as he wondered if he too wore his adoration that openly.

Dimitrius broke the spell in his usual manner. "Tony! Look who showed up!"

"Pete!" His brother's old smile quickly returned to his face as he strode across the room to embrace him with a hearty pat on the back.

"Gods, you're sunburnt. Do they not have hats in Amarna?"

"Shut up. You look like you have two sunburns on your cheeks. . ."

Antonio glowered at him, blushing even deeper.

"Speaking of which, there's someone here I'd like you to meet. Danielle?" Antonio held out a hand to the girl, and she practically ran to take it, smiling and blushing.

"I am so glad to finally meet you. Your brother has spoken highly of you." Her Savoyan accent made her words sound all the more elegant, and her face wore the same glow as Antonio's.

"I have heard similar praise of you. It seems you are well matched."

Antonio squeezed her hand affectionately, and she smiled at him adoringly.

Peter turned his head slightly to find Dimitrius watching him. He smiled, wondering if perhaps his affections weren't entirely one sided.

1758

Peter sat alone in the dark sickroom, tears streaming down his face. He'd held back his sobs until everyone else left, but as soon as the door closed behind his mother, he could no longer keep them at bay. He wasn't sure he'd ever stop crying.

Antonio was dead. His big brother, his hero, his best friend, was dead. Twenty-one years old, healthy, recently married, a baby on the way. He was going to be king, the best king Apollonia ever saw, everyone said. Now, every hope for what Antonio would become was shattered. Peter was Crown Prince at twenty, with perhaps a year to learn what his brother had spent twenty more studying.

He'd been so cloaked in his grief, he didn't even hear the door open and shut. He thought he was alone with his brother until he heard her whisper,

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here."

His head shot up.

"Danielle, you're not supposed to be here. You're with child, they don't want you to catch whatever he had!"

"And you're the next king, you could die just as easily as he did. You shouldn't be here either."

She was right of course, he was thinking like an adoring brother and not like a king. She didn't need to know that though. He was thinking about how to properly answer her, how Antonio would've answered her, when she said,

"I won't tell if you don't."

He smiled a little. His sister in law could always make everyone laugh. She would've been a good queen too

They were silent for a while before she spoke again.

"I'm glad you got back in time to say goodbye. I think he was holding on for you."

"You think?"

"He loved you more than anything, Peter." she laughed shakily. "He even wanted to name our son after you."

"Our father would've killed him!"

"I know!"

He looked at Danielle's profile. She had a small smile on her face, but her blue eyes were swollen and red from crying. He pitied her, a widow with a baby on the way, and at only nineteen years old, exactly a year and a day younger than him.

"He loved you too, you know that right?"

She nodded, wiping away a stray tear.

"I didn't expect to fall in love with him so fast. But he was just so. . ."

"Wonderful? Perfect? Handsome?"

"All of that. But that doesn't make someone fall in love. You'll understand one day. A woman will come and make you feel. . . I can't even describe it. You'll know when it happens to you."

Peter was silent, hoping the darkness hid the faint blush rising on his cheeks. He thought of kisses behind closed doors, long nights in his quarters on ships, secret smiles and hand touches. He knew what it was to be in love like Danielle described, and though he adored his brother, a sick part of him was relieved Dimitrius still spoke and breathed.

Before, he'd allowed himself to daydream about him for days on end, and then run off to Dulcemia or Italia or the South Seas if he noticed Dimitrius getting close with a pretty courtier or duke's daughter.

In recent years, they'd sailed the world together, whispering in the dark about how they would never marry anyone else, live in one of their estates and grow old with one another.

Unless the child in Danielle's belly was a boy, Peter would have to marry, to provide an heir to the kingdom. He would have to kiss a woman, do more than that even. Dimitrius could no longer sneak into his rooms at night, he was no ordinary mistress after all.

Both he and Danielle had lost out on love, he supposed.

So he took her hand, she rested her head on his shoulder, and they cried together until sunrise.

1762

The child had been a boy, thank the gods. Peter was named Lord Protector and regent until he reached majority, but continued to call the boy a prince instead of his true title, even after Antonio III died. A child shouldn't have to become king before his third birthday, he and Danielle had reasoned together.

Today, the two of them were drinking tea in the greenhouse, watching Antonio play (there had been some talk of honoring Tony's wishes and naming him Peter, but it didn't feel right). He was a vibrant child, always laughing and jumping around, reminding him of his father. He wished Tony was here to see him. He wished Antonio had a little brother to play with.

Antonio ran up to him and Danielle, breathing heavily.

"Mama, Papa! I want to climb the fig tree! May I?"

"Antonio, I'm not your-"

Danielle cut him off with a hand on his arm.

"You are far too young to climb the tree. How about you go pick some flowers for your Uncle Dimitrius?"

"Yes Mama."

As soon as Antonio was out of earshot, Peter turned to Danielle, a thousand angry words at the ready.

Before he could say anything, "He has to call someone Papa, and I'd rather it wasn't a tombstone."

"I can't do that. I can't take this from Antonio."

"He wanted you to. We talked about it before he died."

"Does he think he was named after his uncle?"

"I believe he thinks he has two fathers. When I explained to him that his father is in the Elysian Fields, he asked why Hades hasn't come to see him yet."

Peter had to laugh at that.

She turned to him. "Marry me."

"What?"

"Antonio needs brothers and sisters. I don't mind that you'll never love me, I'll never love you in that way either. You can't just never marry and expect no one to question why you and Dimitrius have never spent a night in different houses. I can't reject marriage proposals forever."

"You're welcome to take a lover, Dan."

"I don't want anyone but your brother. If any men get too close, I want you to banish them."

"It's a promise."

"So you will marry me?"

"I can't think of another woman who I'd willingly marry."

1773

Anneliese Du Chatillon was an idiot. An overly emotional, entitled, irresponsible, lovesick idiot.

How dare she insinuate that he was being insensitive by suggesting Antonio marry one of her other daughters? That was the responsible thing to do when an older sibling died.

How dare they look his ambassador in the eyes and say they wanted a love match for their children? This wasn't Palladia, where the people's religion was supported by most of the world. Apollonia was the only kingdom in Europa still practicing Paganism. They needed the support of Christian countries to avoid being crusaded.

Great kings make sacrifices for their people. A king's first love was his country. Antonio would have to learn this too, he thought, as he drafted the betrothal agreement with Princess Luciana of Italia.