Fifth Meeting

“How was the prince?” Lord Grey asked when they were reunited outside the castle.

Edward sighed. He had just spent an hour in what could only be described as social hell. Prince Sebastian had been mostly silent and irritable whilst Camilla kept making cutting remarks that were indirectly or directly aimed at him. For some reason the royal advisor hated his guts and he felt the exact same way about her.

“Unsociable,” he told his father.

Lord Grey rolled his eyes.

“Unsociable git more like,” he muttered and pulled on his jacket. “Let’s leave this place.”

They got in the car and he drove off immediately. It was faster to get through all the security this time. Edward only managed to relax when the car was on the main road. It had been a very mixed day.

Prince Sebastian was a mystery so far.

He was definitely nothing like the image he showed in public. Instead of being a charming young man with a nice smile, he came across as more of a sulky teenager. Admittedly he was actually a teenager and had only just turned 18 so it was partially understandable, but he was the heir to the throne, not an average teenager.

Edward tried to give him some credit and considered how things were from the prince’s perspective rather than his own.

Prince Sebastian probably didn’t want to marry him either. They were living in a modern era, the time of old fashioned arranged marriages should be over.

Additionally, for all he knew Prince Sebastian might have even had a girlfriend or boyfriend that he had been forced to break up with so he could marry him.

Edward decided he didn’t want to think about it anymore and turned his focus to looking out of the window. He watched the fields and trees roll by and by the time they reached home, he was almost ready to sleep.

“Are we home already?” he asked with a yawn.

“We are home,” Lord Grey confirmed. “Just in time for dinner. I know what’s being served and it’s one of your favourites.”

Edward’s stomach rumbled on cue and his father laughed.

“They didn’t feed me at the castle,” he griped. “We could have had a royal afternoon tea, but no, I had to sit there feeling worthless with nothing to eat.”

Lord Grey waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ve had afternoon tea at the royal palace in my time, it’s nothing special. The one we have at home is much better,” he said and got out of the car.

Edward released his seatbelt and stepped out of the car before stretching his arms widely. It had been a long car ride to and from the castle. He was glad that his father had taken him there rather than the family driver. He didn’t want everyone to know how depressed he felt after an hour at the castle.

***

Sebastian felt the same way Edward did about their meeting. It had been his chance to get to know him and they could have grown closer, instead Camilla had just sat there and insulted his future husband in subtle and unsubtle ways.

It had been quickly obvious that Camilla was nastier to Edward when he was nice to Edward so the easiest thing had been to sit there in silence. The likely result of that was probably Edward hating him even more.

He needed to do something or there would be no chance of getting to Edward’s heart or even becoming friends with him.

There was something he could do. There was one person in the royal family who could overturn Camilla’s position as the head royal advisor of all things related to his marriage. He just had to approach the subject in the right way.

Sebastian was determined to win over Edward no matter how many obstacles were in his path.

***

Another invitation arrived the week after the first.

It had been a fun week that now felt too short. As the planned holiday to France had been cancelled, Edward had been free to meet up with his school friends. He was also training for a charity football match.

“I take it that you are ‘cordially invited’ somewhere again,” his mother said at the breakfast table when he started opening the heavy envelope.

“You guessed right,” he replied after reading the invitation.

This invitation was the same as the first, the only difference was the date. His stomach turned over at the thought of a repeat of the previous meeting. He didn’t feel like his patience could take another hour of Camilla treating him like dirt under her shoe.

“I’ll take you there again,” his father said quickly.

His stern expression showed that he wouldn’t take a refusal. He had given his parents a brief summary of how the previous meeting had gone and they had both been ready to fight Camilla. Whilst Edward would love for that to happen, they couldn’t beat up a royal advisor without repercussions.

***

The day of the next meeting bloomed bright and clear. It was an unexpectedly warm day and the sky was a vivid blue with no clouds to cloak it.

Edward scowled up at the sky when they arrived at the castle. It was a shame to waste the good weather on a day where he was mostly in a car and spending time with a sulking prince and a contemptuous royal advisor.

Hayden had asked if he wanted to go to the beach and Edward knew the weather would have been perfect for a beach trip. Instead of being at the beach, he was stuck having a chaperoned meeting with his future husband who he hadn't chosen to marry.

“That’s interesting,” Lord Grey commented. “It’s someone different this time.”

Edward looked out the window to see a man coming towards them instead of Camilla in her neatly pressed suit. Edward got out of the car just as the man came to a stop in front of him. He was tall and had a beaming smile.

“Edward Grey, I’m delighted to meet you,” he said warmly.

“I am as well,” Edward replied politely. “We were expecting to be greeted by Camilla.”

“I am Ryan Thomas and I am filling in for her at the moment,” he said. “You can call me Ryan. I am actually Prince Sebastian’s personal secretary.”

Edward was pleased with the news to say the least. No Camilla was his idea of heaven. There was sulky Prince Sebastian to consider, but that seemed bearable in comparison to Camilla.

“I am fine with the change,” he answered in a neutral tone.

He looked at his father who looked more at ease now he knew Camilla wasn’t going to pop up.

“Edward Grey, I will take you to Prince Sebastian now to start the meeting,” Ryan said. “Lord Grey, if you go to the kitchen, they will serve you some freshly made cake and tea.”

His father visibly perked up and they all walked to the kitchen together. Edward was much happier to see his father taken care of in the kitchen. Lord Grey gave him a cheerful wave as they walked away.

“Where am I meeting the prince today?” Edward asked when they returned to the part of the castle he recognised from his previous visit.

“In the gardens again,” Ryan answered. “The prince said it would be a waste of the good weather if you didn’t meet outside.”

Prince Sebastian rose ever so slightly in his estimation when he heard that. Edward would have been annoyed if their meeting took place inside the dingy castle on such a sunny day.

Ryan took him further into the gardens this time and he was able to understand the scale of them more this time. The gardens seemed to go on for miles and probably did. Eventually they came across a pair of deckchairs on the grass. Prince Sebastian was lying on one of them with his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes as Ryan came to a stop.

“Good afternoon, Edward,” Prince Sebastian said pleasantly and stood up.

“I will leave you two in peace,” Ryan said. “If anyone asks, I was here the entire time.”

It didn’t take long for Edward to process his meaning. They were going to have an unchaperoned meeting. He had come expecting an hour of hell and now it had taken a drastic turn for the better.

The prince waited until Ryanhad walked out of sight before kissing his hand. Edward drew his hand back instinctively and Prince Sebastian grinned at him. Now he looked more like a fun loving teenager than a sulky one.

“I know we didn’t start off well, but now that the bitch isn’t here, we can have fun today,” he said.

Edward blinked in surprise. He had definitely said ‘bitch’ in reference to Camilla. That wasn’t very princely language for the heir to the throne to use.

The prince gestured for him to sit down and he sat down in the other deckchair. He smiled gently at him and pulled over the parasol. Edward watched quietly as the prince spent a few minutes adjusting it so he was in the shade.

It was admittedly too hot for the smart shirt he was wearing so he was glad for the shade on such a hot day.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Anytime,” Sebastian said and sat down again. “Anyway, in case you were wondering, Camilla is a pain in the neck and I arranged to have her job changed so we could have some peace.”

Edward’s admiration for the prince rose dramatically. He had made sure he wouldn’t have to meet Camilla again.

“I cannot say she has been the most pleasant company,” he told him diplomatically.

“No, you mean she’s a bitch,” the prince replied in a very casual manner. “She seems to be nastier to you when I try to be friendly to you and that’s very unfair for you. You were definitely uncomfortable with her behaviour. That’s mainly why I arranged for her not to be here and persuaded Ryan that we could be left alone together.”

The prince bent down and passed him a popsicle from the coolbox under his deckchair. Edward was pleased to see it was his favourite lemonade flavour. He wasn’t sure if Prince Sebastian somehow knew it was his favourite flavour or if it was a coincidence.

It was the perfect weather for a popsicle.

“Thank you,” he replied and put it into his mouth.

“It’s the least I can do after those meetings we’ve had,” the prince explained. “Let’s pretend those times didn’t happen and today is the first time we’ve met.”

Edward approved of that idea. Forgetting all the discomfort and awkwardness was fine with him.

“I’m Edward Grey,” he said. “Please call me Edward.”

“I’m Prince Sebastian Hallowswift,” he replied. “You can call me Sebastian for now.”

That took a moment to process. He had permission to call the prince by his first name and Sebastian seemed to be indicating he could call him something else in the future.

Sebastian held his hand out to him and Edward shook it.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. “You look a lot like Prince Sebastian, do you know him?”

Sebastian snorted at his joke.

“I’m just a normal teenager,” he said. “Let’s get to know each other better now.”

Sebastian kissed his hand again and looked at him in the eyes with a smouldering gaze. Edward felt his heart skip a beat.