The Prince's Servant

Chapter 1

** Author: This is my first real fanfiction that I've actually published. I've had this idea for a while after seeing two wonderful pieces of fanart (I don't recall the artist), but I just feel like this story doesn't really add up to what I originally thought it would be. I'm not sure if I'm even going to keep this story up, but please give me some feedback on what I have so far so I can decide whether to scrap it or not. Hope it's not too terrible. **

His life was in danger.

That was all the prince knew as he ran blindly through the dark forest. The crack of twigs followed only a few yards behind him, his shoulder-length chestnut hair flying in wild strands.

All he'd wanted was a small taste of the freedom of village life, and now he and the future of his kingdom hung in the balance.

He leapt out of the path of an arrow and dodged around trees as he tried to form a plan. He needed a distraction.

Suddenly, his foot hit a gnarled root, sending him tumbling to the ground. He scrambled to get back to his feet, but froze when a boot pressed firmly into his back.

"I have to say, I expected a good fight from you, Prince James," the attacker sneered.

A thousand possibilities flew through James' mind, but what happened next was beyond his imagining. A small, fragile-looking boy appeared from the trees and hurled himself at the attacker. Although his weight wasn't enough to knock the larger man over, it did put him off-balance. James used this to his advantage and closed his hands around his attacker's ankle, yanking as hard as he could. He got to his feet just in time to see his attacker disappear into the darkness of the forest. The young prince knew there was no use running after the man, so he turned to the boy who'd saved his life instead.

The royal's chocolate eyes met bright blue ones that blazed with fire. James recognized that spirit, the very thing he looked for when choosing his knights. The boy was far too weak to be a knight though. It looked as if a strong gust of wind would snap his small frame in half, if not blow him away. "What's your name, boy?"

"Steve," came his reply, a trembling voice masked with fake confidence.

James turned to look at him with a soft smile. "C'mere," he beckoned.

Steve hesitantly stepped forward and looked up at the prince. "Am I coming with you to the palace?" he asked timidly, his false demeanor having slipped away.

The young prince gave him a small nod. "You saved my life. For that you shall be greatly rewarded."

"It's what any one of your subjects would've done."

That earned a soft chuckle from James. "Trust me, it's not. Now c'mon." He took off towards the palace.

Steve was left with no choice but to accept the reward, whatever it turned out to be. He ran to catch up and stayed close to the prince's side. James was sure he was scared of the woods, especially when the blonde took his hand, clutching it tightly as they emerged from the shadows of the trees.

"Sorry," Steve mumbled and let go of his hand, looking down so James couldn't see his face.

"Why are you apologizing?" James questioned, his voice gentle as he took his hand again. "You did nothing wrong."

When he received no reply other than Steve pulling his hand away, the prince sighed and shook his head a little. "Alright then, just don't fall behind. I'd hate to see you in the dungeon for breaking curfew." With that, James strode off towards the castle, knowing he'd follow this time.

With Steve by his side, he felt something he hadn't felt in years. It only upset him even more to know that he could never speak a word of it to anyone, no matter how much he wanted to. His father would surely disapprove of it, and it'd be a disaster if he found out.

With this in mind, James led Steve into the lower part of the castle, avoiding most of the guards patrolling the corridors. He quickly pulled the blonde into a nook off the main hallway to explain the reward he was receiving. The prince was struggling to keep his composure as he spoke, resisting the urge to just lean in and kiss him.

Steve blinked a few times, almost as if he'd been in a trance. "You want me to be your manservant?" he asked in disbelief.

"Being the prince's manservant is the highest honor I can give you for saving my life." He ruffled Steve's scruff of blonde hair. "At least give yourself this chance. You deserve it, Steve."

The smaller boy closed his eyes for a moment before finally nodding. "Okay. I accept your offer, Your Highness."

"Great. You can start tomorrow. Now hurry home before your Ma and Pa get worried. And please, no titles. I hate them."

Steve bit his lip at the mention of his parents. "My Ma and Pa are both dead," he whispered.

The prince frowned. "I'm sorry... do you have a place to stay?"

The blonde simply shook his head.

James paused momentarily and took both his hands in his own. "Stay with me, then. My room is plenty bigger than I'll ever need."

He smiled when Steve nodded and led him through the corridors up to his own room. "I hope you don't mind sharing a bed," he said, pushing open the door.

Steve's aqua hues went wide as he saw the inside of the prince's quarters. James guessed he'd probably never imagined staying anywhere as grand in his life.

He gave the smaller boy a gentle nudge. "As fun as it is watching you gape at everything, you should get some sleep."

While Steve climbed into the bed - which only made him look smaller, and the bed bigger - James stripped down to his underclothes and blew out the candle. He then crawled under the covers and sighed, looking at the moon out his open window.

"Is it okay if I give you a nickname?" Steve asked quietly.

"Yeah, go ahead." If he were being honest, James would let Steve call him anything he wanted. "Just not Jamie," he added quickly. "That's what mother called me."

Steve nodded and was silent for so long that James thought maybe he'd fallen asleep. "Bucky," he finally said. "That's what I'll call you."

"Bucky..." He nodded. "I like it. Now get some sleep, we've got a long day tomorrow."

James wasn't sure how long it was before he finally fell asleep, wondering how it came to be that the only love he wanted was the one he couldn't have.

** Author: If you've made it here, congratulations! If you have any comments, suggestions, etc., please let me know! As I said, I'm really unsure about this so far, so any sort of feedback or advice is appreciated! **