King Of My Heart (mpreg)

CH 32

I sat in my new house, the largest house in Rome. It was directly in the middle of the city but separated from it by an engraved wall and garden, like a miniature castle. Apparently it is where the Roman Emperors themselves lived; the house was a gift from the Lombardy family, the rulers of Italia, who gave it to me once they learned that I was favored by the Pope and Church.

The events of yesterday still hadn't really sunk in yet and it didn't help that no one really knew what it meant to be given the title of Fidei Defensor. The title has only been given four times and all of them to royals who never got a crown, all four had careers within the Church instead of ruling a kingdom; in those instances the royals became Cardinals automatically instead of climbing the Church hierarchy. Even Cardinal George didn't know exactly what the title meant for me, my future, or my kingdom.

I sat and watched a musician teach Harry to play the guitar as a small army of servants scurried to and fro as they brought all of my stuff from the villa to this new house and organized it under Culpepper's watchful eyes. I looked over at a ripple of red, and watched as Cardinal George approached me, followed by a Templar in full armor "Happy birthday your Highness and a happy christmas eve" Cardinal George said as the Templar stayed two paces back.

I nodded "Thank you and same to you, but I doubt that you came from the holy city to wish me a happy birthday" I said as I glanced at the Templar who was silent. "May I please introduce you to Archknight Devon " the Cardinal said before the Templar knelt on one knee in front of me as he took off his helmet. The Cardinal went on "Since you are a member of the Church, albeit an honorary one, you fall under of the protection of the Knights Templar. I chose him myself and he shall be the commander of your Templars. I thought it was fitting since he was born in a town in England".

I looked at the Templar, he was surprisingly young , maybe Liam's age. He had short black hair and freckles across his nose, his brown eyes were kept to the floor. "Pleased to meet you Mr Devon" I said. "I'm honored to stand before you, your Worship. I am from a small town near Manchester and I'm happy that I'll have a chance to return home to England but still be able to serve the Church and God through you. I shall assemble men from our homeland and they shall be your Templars; a great many of Britannia's powerful families fled here to escape the Norwegians so it should be easy enough to find men both loyal to you and to God".

"I thank you Mr Devon" I said before he reached inside his tunic and pulled out a sheathed dagger "A gift for you, to celebrate your new title and birthday". I took the dagger and unsheathed it, engraved on one side of the blade was a scene where a lion was taking down a deer and on the other was a lion fighting a wolf.

"According to history, the banner of the barbarians that lived on Britannia depicted a deer and the Roman legion that conquered our homeland had a lion, that is where the English Lion comes from; the wolf is obviously the Wolf of Norway" Devon explained. I sheathed the dagger "Thank you very much, it's a very thoughtful gift". Devon stood up "I shall take my leave then, your Grace, and start assembling your Templars myself".

After he and the Cardinal left, I waved over Eleanor who walked over after she was finished yelling at servant who nearly dropped a vase from the Princess of Austria. "Eleanor please gather up everyone and meet in my bedroom" I said before standing up and walking to my room to wait for everyone.

"So what does it mean that I now have Templars?" I asked once everyone came into my room. "That you're a high ranking member of the Church?" Edward offered. Culpepper shrugged "No one knows how to act Highness, I don't even think the Pope knows fully what it means for a Crowned Prince to be named Fidei Defensor. The Templars probably don't know what it means either and that's why you have some now, since in the past the Templars served the Fidei Defensor just as they serve any other Church member" Culpepper said.

I thought about it for a moment before saying "Eleanor, I want you to befriend Devon and find out his intentions. He claims to be loyal to me as well as God but he must place one above the other...if he favors God more than I'll probably just send him and his men to Canterbury, away from Harry and I...or maybe he'll be Maria's honor guard, I don't know yet." "Why would you send them away?" Harry asked. I smiled at him "Because I fully intend to pursue a relationship with you once we get back home, we both know it'll have to be secret but if the Templars are around...I would just like to avoid that situation".

Eleanor nodded "I understand". "Prince, I just remembered,I got word this morning from the Pope that preparations for the war will begin immediately after Christmas, which is tomorrow" Culpepper said "The armies of the faithful should be fully mobilized and on the march by mid January so they'll probably start the invasion sometime in early April. Also Prince Charles of Champagne is going to personally lead the invasion of Ireland". I nodded "That's the best news I've heard in a long, long time".

Later that day I was in the rear courtyard of my new house, sparring with Liam with wooden swords on Eleanor's suggestion since I needed to learn to defend myself on the battlefield. We both stopped though as we heard a crash and then Harry shouting. Because the windows were closed and we weren't that close to house, we couldn't hear what he was saying but it was definitely him.

"I forgot Harry had the ability to even become angry" I admitted. "I'm glad I'm not the one being shouted at" Liam nodded. I listened for a second before saying "Shouldn't we do something?" "I'm sure everything is fine" Liam said quickly. I shrugged "Well I'm going to check anyway." "Louis I don't think you need too" Liam said following me. We walked toward the door where Eleanor was standing but she didn't move "Sorry Louis, Harry said you're not allowed inside; Liam was supposed to keep you distracted, it's good I'm here."

"What?" I thought you were just watching us spar, you're standing guard?" I asked. She nodded "We needed to get you out of the house while we got ready for your birthday". I looked at Liam "Then I guess we have to wait" He nodded and opened his mouth to speak but ducked under my sword as I tried to catch him off guard. "Dammit let me win one, it's not fair that you were trained by the Shadows" I protested. I wheeled around when Niall started laughing "What's so funny Irish-man, you want to try to spar?!" Niall quickly shut up and shook his head. Since my back was turned, Liam stuck me across the shoulders with his wooden sword and I lunged at him with a shout of frustration.

We sparred a while longer, losing our shirts since it was so warm even though the sun was setting; more than once I caught Harry staring at me through a window but he gave no hint as to what he was doing inside. Liam and I paused as Edward came outside "Dinner is ready" he said, while carrying a large basin of rose water and a rag on his arm. Liam and I splashed our faces and neck with the water, to clean off the sweat before using the rag to dry off as Edward say "Harry has been planning this party since he arrived; my own wife barely remembers what month my birthday is in" he chuckled "I'm actually a little jealous."

I walked inside and I was stunned by what I smelled, and was instantly transported back home; I walked into the dining room and smiled as I saw everything: Boiled turnips, oatmeal, beans, leeks, roasted parsnips, and pork; all of the foods that I grew up with but haven't eaten since my arrival at Doncaster since they "weren't fit for a Prince".

Harry came out of the kitchen covered in flour and placed a basket of bread rolls on the table "Happy birthday Louis". "You did all this?" I asked, amazed. Harry nodded "Yes, I had some help but I cooked everything myself". I reached over the table and grabbed one of the still warm bread rolled before taking a bite, the bread was just a touch too salty, the way Harry used to make them back home.

"You've always said how much you missed our home, so I brought our home to you" Harry said. I smiled, amazed that Harry did all of this for me "Thank you". "...So can we eat now?" Edward asked "The smell is driving me crazy". Harry nodded "Yes, please" before he went back into the kitchen and came back out with a goblet of milk, still warm, and placed it in front of me.

"I just realized" I said, looking around as I sat down "Where is Maria and her brothers?" "They were less than excited when I told them what was for dinner, so they decided to eat elsewhere tonight" Harry answered "I was sad to see them go".

I smiled at Harry "I bet you were...thanks Harry this is the best birthday I've ever had". I looked over at Niall who looked at the food warily but smiled as Liam sat down and quickly started eating without us. "Happy birthday Louis" Liam said around a mouthful of bread roll.