Read it on AO3 here archiveofourown .org /works /385788 /chapters /631927 Will always be updated first and most likely faster than here.
There is a quick sharp rap at the door as both you and John turn to see a guard walk in. Bowing to John he announces that the King is now able to attend to them.
Your eyes flicker to the prince next to you in time to see his mouth set into a hard line. Quickly enough the pair of you find yourselves in front of what you guessed was the kings private study. The guard that had been leading opened the large wooden doors and ushered you in with a bow, leaving as soon as the pair of you were safe inside.
Sitting at his old, age worn desk was the king; you felt the insides of your palms go a bit slick in his presence, really whos wouldn't, it was the first time you had ever met the king let along be in the same room as him.
The features you caught made him seem more like a kind older baker than a king: a man who would slip you an extra sweet cake now and then, would always remember who your family was and asked them. But you could see the effects the kingship had on him: worry lines at his brow and creases next to his gray-blue eyes, his frown lines just as deep as those from his smiles, and the gray wings of hair at his temples blending into his salt and peeper hair. He looked tired, more so than a man who had just lost his son, you guessed it must be hard to hold a kingdom on you shoulders.
Jolted from your examination the king gave a soft cough to break the silence the room had been cloaked in. He looked up at the both of you standing before his desk, and met each pair of eyes seriously before he spoke.
"Most adults would choose to keep away words of hardship and sadness from the ears of children, and I too would give nothing more that I would not be the very predicament where I must." He sighed letting his head fall into his hand as he rubbed his tired eyes.
"But we have fallen in troubled times, heralded by the deaths of both you brothers, and keeping any information from either you could very well cost you your lives. The matter is I have gotten word from the Master of Stables that during the investigation of both Jake and Dirks horses that they were fed silver root, which as they exercised during the Princes forest stroll sent both the horses into a maddened frenzy driving the pair of horses crazy and uncontrollable. Resulting in the...death..of their riders. My Spy Master has also told me of whispers he has been hearing, of dissenters and the plans of a coup'. Theses matters are not new nor surprising within in any kingdom but with this most recent action we see we do have a troubling threat on our hands. With your sisters, Jane and Jade, unable to inherit the throne, nor their children, they are relatively safe."
"Unlike you, my son. The next course of action would be to assassinate you next then usurp my unsteady seat as King. And I will do everything in my power to stop such a thing from ever happening, but this threat cannot disappear because I wish it so. From the evidence of an inside job there is not many I can trust to to protect you in this castle. That's why I have appointed you, young Strider, as Johns new guardian and knight. You who has also just lost your brother to this terrible plot are one of the only ones I can trust with the Johns safety. I will still have a guard around you both at all times but a guard cannot be present or close enough at every private moment."
"Strider you will be the last defense in the event of any danger. You will be accompanying my son every conceivable minute of the day, and night.
Now I know this is not the best arrangement for two 15 year old adolescent boys-but troubled times make for odd bedfellows. I trust you both will act as you must and keep the safety of either of you as the top priority." There was a loud and definite pause as the King once again locked eyes with the two of you, before sighing again once more.
"It is getting late and we all have had a very tiring day. Go to bed both of you and I will speak to you more tomorrow John."
You blinked a bit at surprise at the Kings sudden cut off, not even allowing either of you to speak or comment. You looked over a John whose pale complexion most likely matched yours, or anyone's for that matter-it was very disconcerting hearing the possibility of your own likely, and planned, demise.
Knowing a dismissal when he heard one John folded himself into a deep bow, only a hairs breath before you followed suite. The next sound your aware of is the loud click of the heavy door as it shuts behind you. The walk to John's quarters is silent and heavy, the contrast between the armored boots of the pair of guards flanking you and the quieter steps of yours and Johns leather soles fill the air.
The guards stop in front of a dark wooded door, large, but not one you would think belonged to a prince. There is not much of a pause as John rushes in, leaving you alone in his wake. Choosing your only option you give a small nod to both custodians standing at attention by the door frame and walk in following your Prince.
Johns room is large, well large by you standards in comparison to the pages barracks. On one wall a welcome fire was lit to keep the room warm in the chilled spring nights that continued to linger. Taking up most of the space in the room was a large bed, large enough to fit three adults comfortably-you guessed. The rest of the area was filled with a wardrobe, a chest at the foot of the bed, and a small table with a pair of chairs finishing off the room. Glancing around you note the tapestries lining the walls and the rugs on the floor, hiding the cold stone beneath, followed by a door which you guessed led to a private wash room.
Finally you felt you had spent long enough observing the room you correctly believed would now house you too, and to turn your attention back to the blue eyed boy apparently laying face first, in a very un-princely fashion, into the mattress.
Glancing around the room you look for a place to sit your—if you do say so yourself—well toned behind, and opt for the chair rather than the already occupied bed. Yeah John was cool and all for you just meeting him a few hours ago, but you weren't going to try to push any boundaries yet, including forcing yourself into his personal area. The thought dawned on you even more that the both of you had just lost whatever each of you would choose call personal, time or space, neither of them would be singularly yours for the foreseeable future.
"Now what?" God you were glad your voice came out as smooth as it did, not betraying your inner turmoil like last time. The teeniest of smirks graced your lips when you saw the Princes prone form twitch in surprise from the bed. Most likely you guessed he had forgotten you were in the room with him.
Your smirk grew into a barely restrained smile as the raven prince groaned, thrashed, and rolled himself deeper into the bed before finally sitting up and speaking. His hair now wild from the war he had just waged with the mattress and his face was set into what would almost be considered a pout, which became marginally better when he must of realized the face he was pulling.
"I...I don't know really. Now we both know our lives are at risk at any conceivable moment of the day, and my mind can barely wrap itself around that to even think of anything else. And all I really want to do is sleep and wake up to find that none of this had ever happened and Jake was alive and I was back to being just the second son who no one wanted to kill." By the end of the gush of words Johns voice broke into something akin to a wail.
You couldn't blame him, if being stoic and badass wasn't drilled into you by your older brother you knew the possibility of you mirroring his tone to be amazingly high.
Glancing up to steal a look at the other boys face you could even see a sheen of tears misting over his blue eyes. Shit, you couldn't have that, crying made you awkward, you never knew what to do with yourself when someone started bawling, you would always stiffly just pat them on the back and look away until they were done. Truly, you and feelings never meshed all too well.
Crossing the room you found your hand at Johns shoulder looking down at him, his sapphire eyes peering up through his lashes to lock with yours. Looking away from his gaze you finally managed to spit out what you were trying to say.
"Look, your father was right. We've both had a long and hard day, and its best if we just go to sleep. We can always deal with this together in the morning."
"...Together?"
"Yes together, I'm not going to ignore a direct order from the King that easily, and even if he hadn't ordered me to, I would of ended up squirming my way into this position whether he like it or not."
Shit why did you say that? That wasn't true. Who in their fucking mind would offer their ass to protect a walking target? You didn't even know the boy that well, all you really knew was that your brother gave his life to protect Johns brother. That didn't mean the responsibility was pass downed to you like some well warn pair of shoes, right?
All those thoughts ran through your head but stopped as you looked down again into Johns smiling face, beaming like you just proposed to him or something, it wasn't fair, him grinning that beautifully at you. And the awareness that your words were the trigger to cause this extreme change to his face made you bitterly realize that the words you had just spoken earlier weren't false. Both in pride of your older brothers legacy and the fact that you would protect this blue eyed boy forever, if only for him to never loose this smile of his.
Sighing loudly you removed your hand from Johns shoulder to rub your own weary face.
"Yeah lets..look lets just go to bed, OK?
John gave an affirmative noise and bobbed his head in agreement. Walking to the far side of the bed you promptly shucked off your coal colored tunic and matching leggings, and stripped down into your underthings.
All while facing the wall of course, you were not about to start your first night being a knight, by acting like a creeper watching the other boy get undressed. So still with you back to the rest of the room and its occupant, you finally managed to shuffle your way under the plush heavy comforter.
Still from across the room you heard quiet noises, the slap of bare feet padding on the few patches of bare stone floor. You saw and heard the the lit lamps in the room being blown out one by one before you eventually felt the mattress dip under Johns weight, as he too got himself situated.
For a few long moments there was an awkward silence, that kind you get when your in the bed with someone new and you become super conscious of your own breathing and you cant help but think its too loud and you end up just choosing not breath. But eventually you come to the point where you cant hold it in any longer, still try your best to exhale as softly as possible in the quiet room. Soon enough your own breathing stabilizes and you began to relax into the extremely comfortable bed before being shoved out of your languid state by Johns voice.
"Dave? Are you awake?" The kid cannot obviously whisper to save his life, your pretty sure the guards outside heard that yell of a whisper.
"No John, I am asleep and this is a dream, if I wait a few more moments you will turn into the sexy lady who will be entertaining me tonight. I shall call you humming bird."
"Pfft. Humming bird? Really Dave? But uh, what I wanted to say was thank you Dave. For being here with me, I mean, if you were anyone else I'd be treated like a prince the whole time—but you you treat me like just John, not the Prince, and I really appreciate that. So yeah, thanks Dave, I'm glad I'm at least stuck in this with you."
"Don't worry about it Egbert, I'd be happy to be stuck with me any day. But seriously its cool, just bed now, alright?"
"Mmm...Good night Dave."
"Night John."
Finally quiet. You shut your eyes once more falling quickly into the waiting arms of sleep, and you remember one of the last thoughts to cross your sleep fogged mind was the question of how your life was going to be now, you paired with this goofball of a prince. But as you heard the soft snores from the other side of the bed you came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, it wont be all that terrible.