Royal Reputation

Chapter 25

George awoke feeling very peaceful. Isn't that strange? He had all the reason to be stressed out, he had a war looming over his head, he had repressed trauma bubbling up to the surface, on top of all the other stresses of being a king!

But even so, he was laid atop his boyfriend that obviously cared about him and his well being more than anything. It was nice, getting his hair massaged as they both wake up after a stressful night, feeling a little refreshed.

Although, when George first awoke in the morning, he was flooded with a wave of guilt and shame as he remembered his behavior from last night. He had swore to himself to never let that desire happen over again, and he blew it!

Dream, of course, reassured him. And he was right, it wasn't his fault, he's been getting better, and this was only a minor setback. Why did he have to be right all the time?

Sapnap wasn't having this late morning improv cuddle session, they had an looming battle over their head, and they had to start prepping.

Sapnap hurried them through their morning routine, as busily chatted with them about the plan for the day as they walked through the halls to the battle wing. They had to have a quick meeting with all of the generals before the main meeting with all of Evenere as people started arriving later that day.

All of them agreed in the meeting that the last plan of having everyone working in groups worked a charm, and why fix something that isn't broken? They'd all have the same groupings as well, seeing as people who already know each other work better together.

Dream watched as everyone filtered out of the room to get onto the stage to address everyone. But on their way out, he stopped Sapnap.

"Hey Sapnap? Can I talk to you about something?" He asked, hesitantly.

Sapnap stopped in his tracks, and turned to face Dream. "Sure, make it quick though, we need to get up there."

"I will, I will. I just- I know you said we might want to lead two different advanced groups instead of one like last time, but I'm hesitant to that idea."

Sapnap looked at him confused. "Why not? We'd get more done in the short time we have if we split up the work." He said, now addressing him with a new found concern.

Dream looked away, he knew it would theoretically be more efficient but... "Well, it's just, I know we told everyone at the party to not go talking about the- events of that night but... I worry people won't be so keen on listening to me, or even be in the same vicinity as me without someone else they feel can protect them."

Sapnap understood now. The whole birthday fiasco, Dream figured people wouldn't trust him. And... sad to say... they probably wouldn't. He gave his friend a look of sympathy and nodded in agreement.

"I get it, we can do just the one. Just, try to help people as much as you can, okay?" Sapnap said, giving Dream a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Dream gave a half smile and nodded. "Ya, I will. Just figured I'd need someone else when they inevitably won't listen to me."

The conversation ended there, as someone came in to tell them to hurry up. They got out onto the stage, welcomed by a crowd of people.

The opening speech went without a hitch, the words feeling all too familiar. Everyone was dismissed into their groups, and people started preparing. In the middle of the day, George got news that the letter in question from King James had been found, and that it confirmed their suspicions.

This was going to be a long couple of weeks.

—

George was brought out of his fog of kingly duties when someone knocked on his door in the middle of the day. It startled him, both Dream and Sapnap were busy training. Maybe they needed something, but why would they knock?