It was a soft and gentle kiss. Sebastian’s brain short circuited and all he could do was press against Edward’s lips. Some part of his brain kicked in to tell him to draw back to see if Edward was liking the kiss. Edward looked as blank as he did, but he didn’t look like he had hated the kiss. That was good. He didn’t want Edward to regret anything and he didn’t want to make Edward unhappy either. “...Can we talk about some things?” Edward asked hesitantly. Sebastian was keen to kiss him again, but he knew there were some important things to talk about between them. Edward’s feelings towards him must have changed if he had been willing to kiss him. The crown prince led him over to the bench in the centre of the rose garden. It felt proper to have the conversation sitting down. “I’m surprised you wanted to kiss me,” he commented to begin the conversation. Edward’s face was still red and he looked positively adora

It was a Grey family tradition to agree on a prize for the winner of board game evenings. When he was younger Edward would make his parents agree to do his homework or let him off tidying his room. Now he just asked for cake. “If I win, the person with the least money has to buy me a bag of mint humbugs,” Lord Grey said immediately as he usually did. “I think the worst loser has to alphabetise the library,” Lady Grey suggested. “The books are out of order again.” “If I win, you all owe me a cupcake,” Edward announced. These evening Monopoly sessions had allowed him to have a cupboard in the kitchen dedicated to cake. He was keen to add to it today. He was fortunate to have a lifestyle and metabolism that allowed him not to worry about eating a lot of cake. The three of them looked at Sebastian who had been watching them announce their pledges with keen interest. “If I win, Edward owes me a favour,” he paused for emphasis. “For life.”

The building was very grand on every scale and living in a mansion hadn’t prepared him for it. Unlike the castle, the palace was crawling with security. Standing outside the entrance were two guards with visible guns. Edward found himself wondering how Sebastian had managed to sneak out unnoticed. “Someone is coming towards us,” his father whispered to him. Edward stood up straight and self consciously adjusted his suit. The invitation had stated formal dress so he was wearing his best suit that had been a present for his 18th birthday. He felt like he was going to be sick if the person approaching them turned out to be Camilla. The person became more visible and he saw it wasn’t Camilla. It was a much older grey haired woman wearing a brown suit and glasses on a chain. “Good afternoon, Lord Grey and Edward Grey. The prince is waiting for you in the second sitting room,” she said. “My name is Bernadette Berkley and I am the lead royal advisor in this

Sebastian made his way back to his study after Edward left. He was annoyed that they hadn’t been able to have much privacy.He was also annoyed that Bernadette had been watching them over the palace CCTV and had been monitoring where they went and how long they spent in rooms.The control wasn’t going to last forever. When they were married and had their own house, things would be very different. He just had to keep that in mind to get through this difficult period. They would be able to do what they wanted at any time. At least he had permission to visit Edward now. He would need to make arrangements with him in case Edward had a match to play.He had been embarrassed when Edward had found he liked watching videos of him online. He enjoyed watching Edward in action. It had probably seemed like he was watching the videos with a dirtier purpose in mind, but he really wasn’t.He sat down at his desk and looked over his schedule for the nex

Edward looked fondly at his boyfriend and noticed his mother was staring at him with a curious look on her face. He took action to distract her. “Can we play it again so it’s a best of three?” he asked. As he predicted, his request drew his mother’s attention to his father. Lord Grey was the one who made the game playing decisions. “We can play again, then no more Cluedo- I know what you’re like when you lose, Edward,” he said. The game started again and Edward knew he had lost twenty minutes later when Sebastian announced he was ready to guess the cards. As he had expected, Sebastian was right and he was the winner again. “How do you get good so quickly?” he asked in admiration. He had seen it happen once before. When they had played Monopoly, Sebastian had started the game as a standard player and had been an expert by the end. With Cluedo which was a shorter game to play, he had lost the first game and sharpened up dramatically to s