*ON HOLD* Solangelo Royalty AU

One

William James Solace IV, crown prince of Soleil, heir to his father, King Apollo's throne, was the definition of spoiled. He had anything he could ever ask for, being the only child of the richest king in the land. However, there was one thing that the King and Queen could not give to their darling baby boy.

"Father?" Prince Will strode confidently up to the dais in which his father's and the rest of the family's thrones sat. His father was seated in the centre of the dais, Will's mother to his left, William's empty throne to his father's right. "You wanted to see me?"

"Ah yes. William-" Will cringed at his full name. "We, your mother and I that is, wanted to ask you about something very important."

Will's mother cut in. "Marriage."

"Marriage?" Will repeated, unable to comprehend what his mother was asking him about.

They want me to get married? I'm only 18! - Will thought.

"Yes William, marriage. As you know, you will be ascending to my throne in only a few years. You must have a wife, a queen, by your side. The law specifically states this." King Apollo explained.

Will interrupted his father's little speech. "Rewrite the law! You're the king. You can do that."

The king shook his head sadly. "In the eyes of the people, William, you would be considered an illegitimate king if you do not have a wife. Then they may end up plotting against you and having you executed and replaced! I cannot allow that to happen, my son."

Will was furious. He didn't want to get married, especially not to a woman. He was gay for heaven's sake! His parents knew it too. Why would his parents, his mother especially, make him go through this? He felt, in that moment, that the whole world was against him.

Life was so unfair for the young prince, or so he felt. He wanted nothing more than to storm out of the throne room, go back to his chambers and scream. Scream until he could scream no more. Scream until it hurt for him to speak. But he couldn't. He was the crown prince. He couldn't behave so childishly.

"William, we know that you don't want this, but it must be done. You understand, don't you." Will's mother, Queen Naomi, said, a warm smile plastered on her face. Will simply nodded in response. His mother smile dropped and she sighed. "We do love you William. You may feel like we're being horrible and unfair, but we're doing this because we love you."

King Apollo rose from his throne. Queen Naomi stood too. Will stared at his parents. Their marriage had been arranged by Apollo's father, Zeus. They did appear to be happy together, but Will questioned whether or not it was true happiness or relief that they hadn't ended with someone truly unbearable.

Hugs were shared between the prince and his parents then Will was dismissed from the throne room.

What now? - the prince thought to himself as he wandered aimlessly through the masterfully decorated halls of his father's castle.

After wandering for a while, he ended up at the library doors.

The oldest part of the castle was probably Will's favourite place to go. Everything looked so beautiful to him. Not that he felt the other parts of the castle weren't stunning, but those areas looked like they were trying to impress people. These halls were humble about their beauty. They were quiet whereas the other areas were loud, both literally and metaphorically. The old parts of the castle were used less. Few, if any, people visited these halls. It was a place for Will to be alone.

The young prince pushed the heavy oak doors open to reveal the countless rows of old, leather-bond books. He left the doors open since there was no way for him to open them from the inside, then turned to face the shelves.