Royal Matchmaker

Chapter Eleven

"Okay, so Jack is spending the day with Petra…" Tosh called out from her bedroom as she finished getting dressed, coming out to the main room to find Ianto sorting through all the profile sheets she'd created, Ianto had eliminated and she'd then filed away. Tosh frowned as she watched her boss scan them and toss them one after another onto the floor.

"So why are you still reading through profiles?" she asked gently, sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Ianto's chair.

"I don't know." Two more pages hit the floor. "I think… I feel like maybe I oversold him on Petra being the one and I want to make sure he has options."

"Okay," Tosh considered this. "And?"

"And, I don't want him to feel stuck or like he's convincing himself that…" Ianto floundered for words, "he…"

"He's in love," Tosh offered helpfully,

"Yeah," Ianto nodded, "I mean, nobody wants to feel that way." Another candidate's profile hit the floor.

"Hey, Ianto?"

"Hmm…?" ianto grunted as he studied the profile of a pretty blonde.

"You're always telling me to trust my gut; what's your gut telling you?"

Caught off guard by the question, Ianto flapped the papers in his hands around. "Well, we ran the numbers…" He got up from his chair and started pacing in front of Tosh. "Petra's definitely the best match," he stroked his chin thoughtfully, wondering where he could have gone wrong, he'd been so careful, so thorough.

Tosk grinned, it was unusual to see Ianto so flustered. "No, that's not what I'm asking." She waited until Ianto was looking at her to continue. "What's your gut telling you about Jack?"

"Oh, I know what you're getting at," Ianto smirked, "but she's the one."

Toshiko pursed her lips and wisely said nothing, although the look on her face spoke volumes and ianto didn't like it one little bit.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, then snapped it closed, pivoted on his heel and with his head held high, he marched from the room, although in Tosh's opinion it was definitely more of a pouty flounce. She couldn't keep the grin off her face as he disappeared.

'If only I'd had a camera for that little performance, I'd have blackmail material for a year!'

Jack and Petra emerged from the outside passageway to the kitchens, where Petra's delight in finding a horse and carriage waiting was contagious. Jack was carrying a large picnic basket and a blanket, and after helping his potential love into the carriage, he handed the blanket to her, set the basket by her feet and climbed in himself. Always the gentleman, he helped Petra arrange the blanket across her legs, then with a quick tap on the driver's back, the carriage was in motion, rattling across the cobblestone courtyard.

Returning from a stroll through his gardens, King Franklin was pleased and a bit surprised to see his son passing him by with a very happy smile on his face, and Jack gave a jaunty wave when he saw his father. Franklin hadn't seen his son smile that openly in over a decade at least, and it made the old man's heart glad.

In a small open glade alongside the Boeshane River, Jack and Petra were seated – well, Jack was sprawled but Petra was sitting as a lady should – with the remains of their picnic strewn around the red-plaid blanket also from the basket. The air was filled with birdsong, and there was just enough breeze coming off the water that Petra was glad Jack had insisted on the second blanket to put around her legs.

"I have to admit that when Ianto approached me, I was more than a little sceptical about meeting you."

"How so?" Jack frowned.

"Just the idea that someone had the ability to guide another to true love is… it seems…" she shrugged. "I don't know, preposterous."

Jack took a sip of wine before admitting, "I thought the same thing."

"I was busy travelling and I turned him down time and time again, but he persisted."

"Well, that's Ianto for you," Jack nodded. "He sets his sights on something or someone and he doesn't let go." He was unaware of the fond smile on his face as he spoke or of the warm tone to his voice.

"Yes, well, he really convinced me," Petra agreed. "I'm glad I kept an open mind," and she gave Jack one of her most engaging smiles. "I must say I've been more than a little pleasantly surprised."

"Yes," Jack raised his glass to her in a quick salute. "As have I," and although there was a smile on his face, he experienced an odd feeling of guilt.

"For the life of me I don't know how we haven't met before." Petra peered at the prince through her eyelashes, smiling coyly.

"According to Ianto, I have a tendency to keep people at arm's length."

Petra laughed lightly. "Yes, I call that blue blood syndrome," she explained. "You've never quite sure if people like you for who you are or if they're just being nice because they want something."

"Exactly!" Jack nodded his head vigorously. "It's impossible to not become cynical!"

She also nodded. "Not impossible, but certainly a challenge and like any other it took me a while." She gave him another coy smile. "I like to think I've learned the art of trusting my instincts implicitly and ever since, it hasn't led me astray."

Jack smiled at her enigmatically and drank his wine.

Having left the horse and carriage at the stables, and after giving the groomsman the picnic basket and blanket to return to the kitchens, Jack and Petra strolled across the palace's courtyard, enjoying the early spring sunshine.

"I don't know when I've enjoyed a more relaxing afternoon."

"Thank you, Your Highness, I did as well." Petra smiled at him, wondering what the rest of her stay in Boeshane might bring. "You made it feel very effortless."

Jack paused when they got to Petra's car. "What a wonderful description, but I know what you mean."

"Well, let us hope it can continue," Petra offered as politely yet openly as she could.

Try as he might, Jack couldn't bring himself to say "yes" or "I hope so" or even "maybe", so he merely smiled and bowed his head briefly,

Petra returned the gesture, a small part of her wondering if the Prince was going to kiss her good-bye, but he nodded to the footman, who quickly opened the door and then closed it behind her when she was seated.

As Jack watched the car leave the palace he realised he actually felt a little relieved that the day was over; he'd spent most of the afternoon feeling like he was being studied, evaluated, a check-list marked off as he and Petra had gotten to know one another. Conversation had remained polite, only safe topics discussed, nothing personal asked or revealed but still, he wondered if he'd passed the exam.

Wanting a quick think about things, Jack headed for the gardens, but he'd only gotten partway there when Ianto appeared from the palace's entrance and he gave a small chuckle, quite pleased to see the man.

Ianto waited until he'd heard the car engine die away before revealing himself to the Prince with a shy wave. "So, how did it go?" He walked over to stand in front of Jack. "Two dates down, is there a third one coming up? Maybe the Jubilee Ball?"

Unbeknownst to them, King Franklin stood in one of the upper windows, watching the interaction between the two men; there was a smile toying with the corners of his mouth as he watched his son, as he saw the very real smile that lit up his face. He could see what Jack didn't or wouldn't, that there was an attraction brewing between his son and his matchmaker and the older man wasn't honestly sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, he'd never seen his only child look so happy around someone else, so animated and engaged as when he was with Ianto Jones and truth be told, Franklin would be proud to call the Welshman his son-in-law.

However, on the other hand, Jack wasn't just any man, he was the heir-apparent to the Kingdom of Boeshane, the next man to rule the more than a millennia old country and Jack, like any other monarch had an obligation to produce a successor, an 'heir and a spare' as it had been crudely referred to historically.

"Quite possibly," Jack acknowledged, "and if anything does happen you'll be the first person I tell."

Trying to maintain a smile on his face, Ianto clutched tighter at the mug of tea he held. "So, things are going well with Petra?"

"They are, she's quite a woman."

Ianto nodded. "Butterflies?" he asked, dreading the answer. 'Please say no, please say no.'

"I've been trying to take your advice and not overthink everything," he teased, "but I would say we are definitely headed in the right direction."

"I'm glad to hear it." Ianto hid his dismay in his mug of tea.

As Jack resumed his walk toward the gardens, he found himself thinking not about Petra but about the pain he'd seen in Ianto's eyes when he heard things were going well with his matchmaking efforts. Then he started wondering what it would be like if he and Ianto had just spent the afternoon together, what they might have talked about and where he would take them on their next date. Part of him wanted to spin around and grab Ianto by the shoulders, shake him and demand to know why he was feeling this way about a man he'd known for less than a month, but he was afraid that if he opened that can of worms, there would be no turning back.

It didn't matter, he couldn't stop himself. "Ianto?" he called out, turning around and walking back to the man.

"Yes?" Ianto found his heart skipping a beat at the sound of his name on Jack's lips.

"I know when we first met I was a tad sceptical of your methods and beliefs…"

"No…" An elegant eyebrow rose. "Really? I never would have known," and he grinned cheekily.

"All right, maybe very sceptical," Jack admitted sheepishly. "But through your determined efforts you have slowly opened my eyes and turned me into somewhat of a believer."

"From baby steps to giant leaps." Ianto was pleased that all the work he'd done was paying off. He truly wanted Jack to be happy, no matter who he was with.

Jack gave him a sincere smile. "Thank you, Ianto."

Ianto shrugged, struggling to keep the smile on his own face. "Just doing my job."

Again, Jack could see pain in Ianto's eyes and he reached out to shake the man's hand but inexplicably found himself raising it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on Ianto's knuckles. The absolute pleasure Jack saw come over his face was worth every heartbeat of shock he'd experienced as he'd done that.

Still in the upstairs window, King Franklin saw the gesture and remembered the first time he'd kissed his bride-to-be's hand; it was the first day they'd met, theirs being an arranged marriage as was the custom nearly four decades ago. Even though they'd had shared almost twenty years of loving marriage together before her untimely death, shortly after Jack was finally born they'd agreed they would let their son find his own mate. It was a promise Franklin had despaired of keeping when there didn't seem to be anyone who caught Jack's eye for more than a moment, hence the matchmaker, but seeing Jack with Ianto, the king began to wonder if he might be able to honour his wife's wishes after all.

Nonplussed by Jack's gesture and unnerved by the tears he could feel welling up, Ianto smiled briefly and managed to murmur, "good night," before hurrying past the prince and into the safety of the palace.

Jack turned to watch Ianto go, wondering if he'd done the right thing or if he'd just made matters even more uncertain for them both. The joy in Ianto's eyes had been very real, but so had the pain and confusion.

King Franklin turned from the window with a heavy sigh as he went to sit in his favourite chair in front of the fireplace. Having just been witness to the scene below, he had a lot to think about.