Jude sipped at the cup of tea that had just been dropped off by a servant, looking over the letter from Callie that had arrived with his tea. The warm, early summer breeze crinkled the paper and Jude folded it along the crease line, tucking it under the edge of his now empty tea cup. She was off, travelling. She and Mariana had made fast friends and Callie had talked her into travelling with her. They couldn't go off without escorts and so, Mariana's two brothers, Jesus and Brandon, had accompanied them. It had left Jude alone in the castle with Stef, Lena, Connor, and Adam. He had tried to get to know the other servants, but, while they were friendly, they weren't friends. The fact that Jude had been the one to break the spell had left them treating him with more respect than he was used to. Plus, he was the Prince's lover. That meant something to them too.

Jude left the table and walked to the edge of the balcony, looking down at the garden that was now in full bloom. He had to admit, he was getting bored here. He felt like a bird in a cage – however gilded that cage may be. With every letter, Callie added a postmark on where to meet her, if he so choose. He was starting to consider it. He had stayed behind for Connor, but with the breaking of the curse, had also come the restoration of the royal family's lands and, by extension, responsibilities. Connor and Adam were busy running a country. Jude couldn't even begin to fathom all that entailed. What he knew was that it kept Connor busy. So busy that they barely saw one another, despite his best intentions.

He tucked the letter in his pocket and picked up his dishes, carrying them down to the kitchens. He had been told – repeatedly – that it wasn't something he had to do, but it seemed rude to just leave them there. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of someone picking up after him like that. However luxurious the castle had been during the time of enchantment, it was more so now, and that was another thing that Jude found hard to wrap his head around.

Jude dropped his dishes off and went out to the stables. They weren't empty. Adam had acquired horses and there was a diplomat of some sort visiting and so he and his entourage had taken up a healthy amount of space. He dodged a few stable boys and tacked Phillipe himself. He had been surprised when Callie hadn't even tried to take Phillipe with her on her journey and had, instead, taken one of the young horses Adam had offered the group. She'd said Phillipe was old, but Jude knew that she was lying. Either way, she was glad that she had left him Phillipe.

Jude knew he wasn't supposed to stray too far from the castle unless he had a guard with him. Adam was concerned about political enemies, particularly if news of his and Connor's true relationship had gotten around. Jude had decided he'd be concerned about that later. Adam hadn't had his kingdom back for long and he'd made sure that Connor and Jude weren't mentioning what they were to anyone who wasn't a trusted servant.

"But that's a whole other problem, isn't it, Phillipe?" Jude asked as he Phillipe trotted along a worn forest path.

He felt like he had a lot of problems lately and he wasn't sure what to make of any of them. He would try and talk to Connor tonight and see where that went. He spent every night with Connor – supposedly. Sometimes Connor wouldn't come in until very late and Jude barely woke up for that anymore. Even when he did, they were too tired to speak. Connor was often gone when Jude woke. Sometimes they would get to have breakfast with one another, but rarely lunch or dinner. It was getting easier, now that Adam was back at the castle. He had been doing a lot of travelling before that, trying to get his affairs in order. That had left Connor, alone and confused, to try and run the household. Jude had been worried he was going to run himself to death at that time. They'd had one good week after Connor's transformation and then this had all started.

Jude stayed out with Phillipe until he noticed the sun was beginning to go down. He knew that if he was out after dark a manhunt likely would start and that was the last thing he wanted. He was back home within minutes, waving to the guards on duty. He took care of Phillipe himself and then went inside for dinner. Connor and Adam were busy and so he ate with the Stef and Lena, at the servants table in the kitchen. It was nice there, warm and homey, and they were easy to speak to, but they could only give him advice that he already knew: he had to speak to Connor.

"Easier said then done," Jude said. He looked down at his nearly empty plate. "Be honest with me, all right?"

"We always do our best to be," Stef assured him, and Jude believed her.

"What's it going to take for me to be an equal? If I were a woman, a princess to his prince, this would all be different, wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps," Lena said. "It's not just that you're a man, Jude. You're also a peasant. You were never taught the things that someone of noble status would have engrained in them from birth."

"I can be taught those things," Jude said, "but I'll never be a woman. I wouldn't want to be, even if I were given the option."

"My advice about this," Stef said, "would be to wait for the dust to settle and then speak to King Adam about it. There are places within the royal court that you could be trained for and that would keep you close to Connor."

"How long is it going to take for the dust to settle?" Jude asked, trying not to let it show how frustrated it was.

"It's hard to tell," Stef said.

"But we will keep an eye on it for you," Lena added. "We'll help you with this. All we want is for you and Connor to be happy."

"Thank you," Jude said. "I wouldn't be able to do any of this without the two of you."

"You're welcome, Jude."

He ate the last few bites of his supper and put his dishes by the sink. When he glanced back at Stef and Lena, he saw that they were holding hands under the table. They always did and he always found himself checking for it. He just liked seeing their affection. It gave him hope. Jude left the kitchen and went to the library, fetching something new to read. He had finished his last book and he didn't know what to do next. He thought about finding something adventurous and exciting, but that wasn't what he ended up carrying to the West Wing. He ended up taking a book on the royal family. If he wanted to be a productive member of court, eventually, then he was going to have to know everything that he possibly could about it.

Jude still wasn't over the changes that had occurred in the West Wing, in particular, since the transformation. The furniture was repaired, elegant and beautiful. There were plush rugs, new tapestries, and the ripped portrait that Jude had noticed on his first visit – that turned out to be a well-done portrait of Connor as a child – had been put back together as well. He was no longer scared of the space. He and Connor shared the West Wing now, the room that he had originally inhabited return to its old status as a guest room.

Despite the fact that it was still early in the evening, Jude changed into his night clothes. He wasn't physically exhausted but, mentally, he was getting there. He nudged one of the plush chairs in the room further underneath one of the torches on the wall and settled down with the old book. He mouthed the words to himself as he went, finding it easier to concentrate if he did so. He was only a few pages in when he heard sounds outside his door. He perked up. There shouldn't be servants in here at this time of night; in the evenings, they usually left Jude alone with his privacy. There was a bell system to alert them if he needed something, but Jude had never used it. If he needed something, he would go again fetch it himself.

The door to the room opened and Jude almost jumped up indignantly. He didn't want to be bothered, especially if whoever was on the other side didn't want to knock. But, when the door swung open, it was Connor standing there. Connor closed the heavy door and leant against it, letting out an exhausted sigh.

"You," Connor said, "are the best thing I've seen all day."

"I should be," Jude said. "Not that you've seen much of me at all, lately."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Connor pushed himself off the door, only to curl up on Jude's lap, squeezing the both of them into the chair. He pulled the book out of Jude's hand, inspecting the title. "Why would you want to read this?"

"I just thought I should be more educated," Jude said. He pressed his face into Connor's shoulder, but the clothing he was wearing was starchy and formal. Connor always seemed to be dressed formally these days. It didn't stop him from snaking his arms around Connor's waist and holding onto him tightly.

"If that's what you want, we can help with that. Father is sending me back to my tutors. You can join me."

"I'll consider that."

Connor put the book on the ground and kicked his shoes off next to it before pressing himself back into Jude.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Connor said.

"Me too. Actually, a lot of things."

"Who should go first?"

"Me," Jude said decisively.

Connor pressed a kiss to Jude's cheek. "Let's hear it."

Jude wasn't sure how to go about choosing his exact words, and so he just went for it. "How does this end?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're royalty. I'm not. You've got this whole world that I'm not part of. What am I supposed to do, Connor? Stay cooped up forever, just waiting for the five minutes I get to spend with you? What happens to me if other responsibilities get in the way?"

"Other responsibilities like what?" Connor asked, his eyes dark and tone serious.

"You're the only son of a king. What happens when you have to take over the throne and then you need your own heir? Do I stand back, play the illicit lover while you spend time with whatever princess you end up marrying?"

"Whoa," Connor said. "First of all, none of that is going to happen. This ends with you and me. I'm not giving you up for anything. Yes, I am my father's only child, but he's young still. He likely will remarry and produce more heirs. They can take the throne. If, for whatever reason, when my father passes those younger siblings or his new queen are unfit to rule, then I will until they are ready. After that, I will abdicate and it will be you and me. We'll stay in the castle or, maybe, we'll take over one of my father's other properties. Maybe we can even move to a village and see how I can fit into a peasant lifestyle. I think you'd find that funny."

Connor tilted Jude's chin up so that they were looking at one another, and Jude leant his face into Connor's hand.

"You'd never be able to live in a village," Jude mumbled. "But you're right. I would find it funny."

"It's you and me," Connor said. "That's what I want. I don't need to be king. I don't need to rule. There are very few things that I wouldn't sacrifice to be with you."

"What wouldn't you?" Jude asked, more out of curiousity than out of any real defensiveness.

"Things like Stef, Lena. The people we love. I don't think you would want me to do that, anyway."

"No," Jude agreed. "I wouldn't."

"I'll be around more," Connor said. "Soon. I promise. You may not see it, but things are starting to settle. Maybe I'll talk with my father about taking a position that will allow us to travel. For the time being, we can tell people you're my servant."

"That's romantic," Jude said. "I'm always going to be a secret, aren't I?"

"Not always," Connor said. "I won't let you."

"But?"

"But, right now, there are politics at play that are bigger than the both of us. That's all. You know it has nothing to do with the way I feel about you, right?"

Connor's thumb brushed over Jude's cheek gently. Connor always touched him carefully and Jude wondered how long it would take him to realize that he was never going to wake up with claws again. Jude pulled on the side of Connor's stiff jacket. He knew Connor was waiting for an answer, but he pulled off Connor's jacket instead, draping the finery over the back of the chair they were sitting in, rather than dropping it on the floor for a servant in the morning to find. He wrapped his arms back around Connor's waist, feeling the warmth of his body through his shirt. Connor was always so warm.

"I know that," Jude said finally. "But, sometimes, especially since you're not around, I don't feel it. Am I making sense?"

"Yes." Connor tilted Jude's head again, this time to kiss him. "My turn or did you have something else?"

"Um. I had something else. But, you take a turn."

"Do you miss Callie?"

"Of course I do. I wish I was with her," Jude confessed, "and seeing what she was seeing."

"Do you regret staying with me while she went?"

"I'd have a regret no matter what I chose," Jude said. "The only way I'd be happy is if you came too and I know better now to think that you could."

"Mmm, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I can," Connor said. "I mean, not right now, but if you could wait, then we could set out halfway through the summer, come back at the beginning of fall. We'll travel to the sea, remember, like we talked about? We can meet up with Mariana and the others there and come back together. What do you think?"

"Really? You'd be able to do that?"

"Yes. I haven't given Father a chance to say no," Connor said. He laughed and hugged Jude close. "If you want to do that. I know you've been bored. I know I haven't been here. And if you want to go and meet Callie now, then I will simply find you when you're ready to leave. What do you think?"

"I think I want to experience it with you," Jude said without hesitation. "Especially if we meet up with Callie near the end."

Connor smiled at him and Jude didn't know if he would ever get over how beautiful Connor's smile was to him. "I was hoping you would say that."

Connor rested his head on Jude's shoulder and Jude held him close. His leg was starting to go numb from how Connor was sitting on him, but he wasn't about to complain. They sat until Connor yawned.

"You should go to bed," Jude said.

"I have to be up early again," Connor said, as if he wasn't up early every morning. "I don't want to waste my time with you."

"I'll be here," Jude promised.

"It's not fair to you. This wasn't what I thought it would be like," Connor said. "Though I don't know if I ever let myself get to the point where I was really picturing what life would be like if you broke the spell. It seemed so impossible that you could ever really fall in love with me."

"But I did. And I am. I can be patient while things settle as long as you can promise it won't always be like this."

"It won't," Connor said. "It will always be busy but times as busy as this are few and far between. We'll have some down time and some time to do things that we want to. I promise you."

"And I believe you," Jude replied. "But you should get to bed so that you can be productive tomorrow. The more you're productive, the closer that time comes, right?"

"I guess so," Connor said, and then he whined from the back of his throat. "But I'm so comfortable here with you."

"It's not like I won't be in bed with you," Jude said.

"I didn't know if you were going to stay up reading or not."

"I'll have all day tomorrow to read," Jude said.

"Not all day," Connor informed him. "Lunch tomorrow. We'll hide in the games room got an hour or two. Enough to play the tie-breaker we always end up in."

"Not always," Jude said.

"Mostly."

Jude made a small noise of agreement that turned into a whine when Connor actually did get off his lap. Connor laughed at him, but he didn't come back.

"You were the one that mentioned bed."

There was something alluring in the way Connor said it, and the idea of it too. Jude had been wowed by the feel of the bed he'd been given when he first arrived in the palace, but it was nothing compared to how a prince's large bed – with its brand new blankets and impossibly soft sheets – was. And nothing compared to how it felt to fall asleep with Connor right there and then to wake up to his face. It was another thing that Jude wouldn't take for granted.

The more he thought about bed, the more tempting it was to stand up and slide between the covers to wait for Connor, but he found himself just sitting. Sitting and watching. Connor slowly changed into his own night clothes, different from Jude's own. Connor liked to wear slightly less since he overheated during the night; Jude didn't mind that at all. Connor left his clothes in a heap on the floor, and Jude called him out on it.

"Didn't you learn anything about respecting your servants?"

"I do!" Connor said. "Have to give them a job, don't I?"

Jude snorted. "This place is large enough that they are always busy."

Connor moved his clothes to a more respectable spot than the floor. "You're good for me, you know."

"I hope so," Jude said.

Connor smiled at him and then offered Jude his hands, to help pull him from the chair. Jude quenched the torch he was using to read and followed Connor over to the bed, pushing the covers down and then pulling Connor in with him. They pulled the blankets up to their chins, their heads sharing a single pillow despite the plethora of pillows around them, and their hands held tightly together. Jude nestled even more into Connor's personal space and kissed him.

"Maybe we should stay awake tonight," Connor suggested, "and skip lunch tomorrow so we can nap instead."

"Whatever you wish, your highness."

"I thought I told you not to call me that."

"I think it's funny."

"Not when it's you." Connor pushed himself up on his elbows, leaning over Jude, his hands and body resting heavily against Jude's own being. "You're in a position of power over me, not the other way around."

"We're equal," Jude corrected.

Jude could see it in Connor's eyes that Connor didn't necessarily agree with him, but Jude knew he'd learn. When it came to one another, they were on equal footing. They'd talked about it before, Connor saying that Jude had saved him – it was true, Jude knew that, but he also knew that Connor failed to see just how Jude had felt, living in the village. However rocky it had been, coming to the castle had been his beginning too. Being gifted this life with Connor was being saved.

"We've got a long time to argue about it," Connor said finally. "I love you, Jude."

"I know," Jude said, smiling. "I love you too."

Then, Connor kissed him deeply and Jude was happy.

In fact, they lived happily ever after.

There was no official playlist for this story, but some songs were contributed to the small playlist anyway! If you would like to view the playlist, there are full versions that can be found on Youtube and on my tumblr! If you need some extra tips on how to access it, please message me and I'll help you out!

Thank you so much to those who read this story! Your support means a lot to me!

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~TLL~