Use Me, Royal Stranger (mxm)

Chapter 12 - You've Got A Friend In Me

        Alaric made a sound of annoyance as he shook his head at how blatantly rude his best friend was. "No one is going know about anything between Carlen and myself, except you. We're keeping it a secret."

        Lance raised a brow and nodded skeptically. "Uh huh."

        Alaric sighed again as he dropped his gaze, "As for taking a queen, Carlen knows that if the royal court demands for it, that I will have to go through with it. He knows that, and he has accepted it as such. Apart from that, we have no plans."

        "Okay, so you're going to sneak around and be blissful until you have to rip poor Carlen's heart out and take a royal bride. Got that. We have to think of a plan to make sure you both don't look suspicious and get caught in the mean time." Lance paused to think, "Oh, and I think I should get to meet the poor kid. After all, my best friend is going to rip his heart to shreds and because I am such a good friend, I will stick around to take care of him after you've destroyed him. I know that favour is going to come up some day soon. Don't worry about it." Lance raised his hands suddenly with an enthusiasm that could rival a child's, "Oh oh! Question! Are you going to mate with him?"

        Alaric groaned deeply and buried his face into his hands. He hated thinking about all these things. Why couldn't he just enjoy the time he had with Carlen and then think about the things that needs to be thought about when it happens? He shrugged, "I want to say no, that I am not cruel enough to bond his wolf permanently to mine because we know how much damage that's going to be when I take a bride, if I take a bride. But Lance, he can be convincing and I, am not opposed to being convinced." Alaric could sense the disapproving glare Lance was throwing at him and he felt guilty for saying it, "I don't think that I have the willpower to spend so much time and share- intimacies with Carlen without marking him as mine."

        "You. Selfish. Bastard."

        Alaric's temper flared despite knowing that Lance was not seriously berating him, "Did you think I didn't know that? Did you think this is the type of affection and love that I would wish upon my own mate?" Alaric felt guilt eating at his heart as he dropped his voice down to almost a whisper, "I wish that it was different for us. I wish that it wasn't a problem that Carlen cannot bear me an heir. I wish I wasn't born a royal crown prince. I wish I could say to hell with obligations and expectations. I wish that I could give Carlen everything he wanted and deserved. I wish that I had the power and the courage to not put Carlen through such pain and hurt. But I am a selfish bastard. I want Carlen as long as he wants me."

        Silence passed between the warrior and his crown prince. Alaric was seething at how right Lance was about him ultimately being a selfish asshole and hurting Carlen, but now that he has made the decision to try things out with Carlen, he couldn't help it, he wanted Carlen.

        "Then let's make the best of this." Lance said, patting his friend on the shoulder, "You my friend, you're talking to the expert of sneaking around."  

∞

        It was heaven and hell, in Healer Naomi's opinion, the difference that she had seen in Carlen between the moment she left to tend to the queen's ailments, and when she came back to her darling boy. She had expected to enter an empty brewing room and to still see the mess that she made strewn all over the floor. She had not expect to see Carlen bent over a spare cauldron, stirring what looked like the same type of salve she was previously brewing. Neither was she expecting her boy to be humming a cheerful tune as he did so.

        Not that she would complain of course. It was a relief to see that Carlen was back on his feet and looking much healthier in complexion than she remembered. If it was merely a facade, Naomi couldn't tell at the moment. She didn't dare ask what happened while she was gone, lest it sparked another depressing moment. For now, she would just have to keep an eye on Carlen to make sure nothing drastically depressing happens again.