His Royal Secret

Chapter One

“Oh and before I forget Harriett will be here at five sharp, don’t be late for dinner” I internally groaned, Harriett. Another of my many problems, we had known each other for as long I learnt to walk. Her parents were close friends of the family as her dad was a high ranked governor or something. You would think that being in such a well-to-do family she would be a ‘good daughter’ but she was exactly the opposite. She’d had her fair share of bad press doing things she shouldn’t have been doing and took everything and everyone for granted thinking she owned the entire world, and unfortunately that meant me too.

When we were fourteen Harriett came up to me as I watched people get on with their day to day lives through the palace window and said ‘one day we will be married and rule all these people’ which only made me dislike her even more. In fact, I think it made me realise just how much more I preferred men to women. Obviously my mum didn’t see that side of her and thought she was just a girl growing up in the spotlight filled with pressures, and that one day I was going to marry her and live happily ever after. As there had never been a public announcement on our relationship the public thought we were dating since we were always spotted together on royal duties which annoyed the heck out of me. How wrong they were though, the thought made me want to laugh or throw up.

I knew when the time came they would expect me to propose to her, I hoped rather fierce-fully that by that time I would have told them I’m gay and would have learnt to accept it, hoped being the main word. Don’t get me wrong I want to tell my parents more than anything, it would be such a relief not having to hide it anymore. If I lived a normal life without being a prince then I would have told them by now, but I simply couldn’t ruin the family name that has been royalty for generations.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly, I watched TV from my room rating guys on a scale from one (ew!) to ten (give me a fan because I’m about to faint from their hotness) which I often found myself doing, sad I know, but not even a prince is perfect. Throughout the evening it consisted of me pretending I was in love with Harriett for the rest of the family, when in reality I wanted to put her in a saucepan and slowly heat it…

By the time I made it back to my suite I tiredly threw everything I’d been wearing on a chair (except my boxers which I slept in) too lazy to put them away, before brushing my teeth and hopping into bed. As you do when you try and fall to sleep I let my mind wonder thinking about what the new butler would be like. I hoped he wasn’t an old man past his expiry date – no disrespect to old men it’s just I need someone to bring energy and fun into my already boring life. As different faces popped into my mind darkness closed in on me.

I was dreaming, I was dreaming I was myself. The real me, the one that didn’t have to hide. I was on a boat in the hot sun lying on a towel, my arm thrown carelessly over a boys shoulder. He turned and smiled dazzling me, his piercing grey eyes never leaving my ordinary brown ones. My heart jumped in my chest, and just like the waves around us our lips crashed together.

“Theo” an unfamiliar masculine voice said waking me up from an amazing dream, I didn’t want it to end. Rolling over so my face buried in the pillow I mumbled something hoping whoever it was would leave me alone, I wasn’t much of a morning person. A hand touched my bare shoulder and jolted me up, not because it was cold, but because it felt weird. I’d never felt a sensation like that before.

As I sat up grey eyes met mine, a stranger’s face rather closer than I expected it to be. I jumped back in my bed, the eyes were exactly like the ones that pierced me in my dream, yet I’d never met the owner of them before.

“Hi I’m Charlie Miller your new butler” he smirked. I looked up at him startled, he wasn’t anything like I’d imagined last night, not even close. He was far better looking, something pulled me towards him. If it wasn’t his grey eyes it was his crooked smirk, his tan skin begged me to touch it yet I didn’t reach out. I stared at him in shock.

“I’m Theodore but call me Theo” I said somehow sticking my hand out for him to shake. Normally I would ignore the gesture but I needed to see if I felt that weird feeling again or if I was getting confused with my dream. He looked at my hand before his grey eyes met mine, my eyes never leaving his face. As his hand made contact with mine the feeling was still there, still present. His eyebrows creased and I quickly took my lingering hand from his not knowing what to think.

“Oh I know Theo” he smirked again; there was something about the way he said it which I couldn’t point out. He stood up properly giving me the chance to look at his features. Apart from his hypnotic grey eyes he had a muddy shade of blonde hair which complemented his skin tone; his frame like mine was a large build, and his eyes. Did I mention his eyes?

“Wait a minute, what do you know?” I asked copying him standing up before realizing I only had boxers on and quickly sat back down wrapping a blanket round me, I was vaguely aware I had turned red in embarrassment; Charlie’s smirk still hadn’t left his face.

“You swing for the other team” it was still early so my brain was still in processing mode; it always took me a while to wake up properly.

“I swing for the other wha- oh” it had suddenly dawned on me what he meant, he knew my secret. I hadn’t even known him ten minutes and already he had figured out my biggest secret, this was not good. “Don’t worry I can keep a secret” he grinned his crooked way, grey eyes glistening before me as he reached for the door handle.

“Hold up, you’re not-“ I asked suggestively still not working out how he had figured it out. His eyes went wide before vigorously shaking his head. “Oh no. No. I’m as straight as a ruler” he announced before walking out my suite closing the door gently behind him. He left me thinking that not all rulers are straight, some weren’t meant to be and some bend.

A/N – First chapter! Let me know what you think! Comment, vote, fan!