Rain paces the hall, trying to wait patiently for the door in front of him to open and his parent's servants to tell him he can go in to see them. His heart seems to be working overtime and had from the moment he had first received the summons to the chambers of the king and queen.
The hope, that he barely even dares to give thought to, is that his parents have finally decided to see reason and agree to let Rain marry after he had been begging them for almost a year.
When the door finally opens its all Rain can do to act like the dignified prince he is supposed to be and not rush into the room. His father's look is stern but there is an undertone of affection in it, his mother gives him a small smile. Rain knows his parents love him and want what is best for him. The only problem is what they believe is best for him and what Rain *knows* is best for him are two separate things.
"Sit," his father says in way of greeting and Rain takes the chair across from them. He knows his father won't be rushed so he just quietly waits for the man to begin what he has to say.
"Rain, your mother and I have decided that it is time to marry." Rain leans forward, unable to stop the hope that is building in his chest. "We received an offer from a nearby kingdom who will send their crown Prince here."
Rain's heart stops, the hope dying just as it had begun to grow. "But Prince Phayu......" he begins, hoping one last time to change his parent's mind.
His mother looks at him sadly, "Rain you know your father and I adore Prince Phayu, he practically grew up in this household. However his kingdom is poor and has been in a state of dishevel since our parents' time. Prince Prapai comes from a large peaceful kingdom. He is the better match for you."
"Prince Phayu and Prince Saifah have been winning the war. Their people love and adore them. Just give them time, please." Rain begged. He had received a letter from Phayu just yesterday full of good news about the battles they had fought and that many of his people were now unwilling to follow their cousin and had come over to their side instead. He just somehow had to buy time. He is sure he can convince his parents to accept Phayu's proposal once the war is over.
"Rain," his father says sternly, "you are 19 years old. You should have been married last year, our people are pushing for a good match to be made. Prince Prapai and his people will be here next week. I expect you to be courteous to him and on your best behavior. You will do everything in your power to make sure these marriage negotiations are successful."
"Do I have a choice?" Rain asks a little sourly.
"No," his father says simply. Rain already hates this Prince Prapai. He must find a way out of this marriage.
Rain immediately decides that Prince Prapai's entourage looks gaudy and the prince himself is a preening peacock. He is handsome sure, although nowhere near as handsome as his Phayu, but his clothes are garish and just the fact he needs to travel with so many people and carriage makes him seem like a show off.
Rain knows he's probably being unfair but fairness isn't topmost of his priorities at the moment.
They are formally introduced under many watchful eyes and Rain plays the part of the elegant and well mannered Prince to a fault.
"Prince Prapai, so happy to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you." Rain says, offering his hand. This was true enough, Rain's tutors had spent the past week drilling him on Prince Prapai and his kingdom.
"Prince Rain, how charming." Prince Prapai actually had the nerve to bring Rain's offered hand to his lips and kiss it. If it had been Phayu who had done this, Rain would have melted into a puddle but he feels nothing when Prince Prapai does it.
After formal introductions Rain has been instructed to give Prince Prapai a private tour of the castle and grounds. Well as private as it can be with guards and servants traveling behind. It's supposed to be a chance for the two of them to get to know each other. Rain doesn't mind, it will be a chance to find out what makes the other man tick and what buttons to push to make him back out of this marriage contract.
Once they are away from prying eyes Prince Prapai drops the foppishly over the top charm but Rain decides this isn't a bad thing. Under any other circumstances Rain thinks he might have liked Prince Prapai's friendly manners and humor. Rain had never had a brother but Prince Prapai would have filled that role perfectly.
Rain comes to the conclusion that honesty might be his best route with Prince Prapai. The man seems reasonable enough. He waits until they are far away from their servants to not be overheard and turns to Prince Prapai.
"Prince Prapai there's something you should know, I'm in love with someone else." He says and waits for the man's reaction. What he doesn't expect is for Prince Prapai to burst into laughter.
"I think we can dispense with the Prince Rain and Prince Prapai in private, because it seems we might become allies. You see, Rain, I am also in love with someone else."
Rain looks at him with wide eyes, once again that little seed of hope blossoms in his chest. "Really? Do your parents disapprove as well?"
"Actually they like Sky, the problem is he is a commoner and to marry him I will have to abdicate the throne in favor of my brother. They aren't happy with my plan to do just that and made me agree to this meeting as a last resort before I take that drastic step." Prapai tells him. "Nothing will keep me apart from my Sky though."
Rain has never considered abdicating the throne, although he now realizes he absolutely would if it were a choice between that and Phayu. Rain doesn't have a brother the next in line after him is a distant cousin he has met once. It's something to consider if his parents still refuse to listen.
"Why did you agree to meet with me then?" Rain asks.
"Two reasons, one to appease my parents and two because my friend Yu asked me too." Prapai says.
"You know my Phayu?" Rain asks excitedly.
Prapai nods. "We are very close friends. If I hadn't agreed to meet with you my brother would have been sent in my place. Plerng is a good person but he wouldn't hesitate to go through with this marriage for the benefit of our kingdom. I am here to buy you some time and make our parents realize that a marriage between our two households is bad luck for everyone."
"How do we do that?" Rain asks.
"Rain, you grew up with Yu and Fah. Don't tell me you never learned how to be mischievous." Prapai says with a wink.
Oh Rain definitely knows how to be mischievous.
There is one week before the ball to announce Prapai's and Rain's engagement is being held and Nui, Rain's personal designer, feels like she is going to pass out. Someone has left the windows open in the room where all of Rain's outfits for the night were being stored. What's worse is whoever did it apparently had left several pieces of fruit laying around. As a result an animal, possibly a monkey, got in and pretty well managed to wreck every single outfit. Had the seamstresses coated the fabric with honey?
What's worse is now the prince is apparently nowhere to be found for a new fitting. None of his servants seem to know where he is.
Nui meets a frantic looking Namtan, who is Prince Prapai's personal designer, in the hall only to find out the trunk with Prince Prapai's outfits somehow never made it to the castle even though Namtan had over seen them being packed herself. She is hoping for Nui's help with new clothing but apparently Prince Prapai also is missing. Nui sits down in the hall and buries her face in her hands.
Rain moves to openly admire the vase his future in-laws had sent for a betrothal gift. To his mother's dismay he picks it up for a closer look and accidentally drops it, shattering the beautiful vase into a hundred pieces.
Rain looks at his parents and Prapai's family with tears streaming down his cheeks, "I'm sorry, I'm just so clumsy."
"That's all right, dear." Prapai's mother says but sounds slightly choked up. Rain's mother pinches her nose as if she is getting a headache.
No one is sure exactly how the delicate porcelain dishes that had been bought and imported especially for the betrothal ball ended up being broken. They were fine when they arrived, each delicate piece carefully wrapped for transport. They were fine yesterday when Joy the head housekeeper and her staff had carefully cleaned and stacked each piece. This morning though they were found in shattered pieces on the floor. The staff has begun to talk about spirits and the bad luck that seemed to be surrounding this betrothal.
Rain waves and grins as Sky comes into the dining hall. He met the other man on the first day Prapai and his household had come to the castle. They had immediately hit it off.
"My Sky," Prapai says with a tender smile, "why are you here?" Prapai's parents look uncomfortable while Rain's parents only seem confused.
"I called him," Rain says to everyone's, but Prapai's and Sky's, surprise, "Sky is your *friend* right Prince Prapai? Of course he should have dinner with us."
Prapai pulls Sky down to sit next to him and immediately starts feeding him from his own plate. Normally Sky wouldn't allow this over the top behavior but the three of them had planned this ahead of time. Rain does note that Sky does look slightly embarrassed by the attention. It has the desired effect though. Rain's parents are watching the scene with raised eyebrows while Prapai's parents seem mortified. Rain just happily chats with Sky, pretending to be oblivious to everyone's reactions and Prapai's flirting.
The banquet hall is full of cats, Joy has never seen so many cats in one place in her life. These aren't just the domestic cats that roam the barns and granaries around the castle looking for mice, there are even a few wild tree cats roaming the hall.
The bouquets of flowers that had adorned each table have been shredded to pieces. Joy picks up one of these and examines it closely before turning in amazement to her staff. "Who added catmint to the bouquets?" She asks but feels she already knows the answer. As she suspects, no one knows.
There is only a few hours until the ball and Chef Aon looks around the kitchen in amazement. The food that had been prepared for the banquet is gone, literally disappeared, not even a scrap is left. No sign of what could have possibly happened is anywhere around the kitchen. No food has been dumped anywhere on the grounds and the unusually large number of urchins hanging around outside the castle walls only grin and claim to have seen nothing.
Rain and Prapai give each other a conspiratorial grin as they are called in to meet with their parents. Word has already gone out that because of unforeseen incidents the ball that night has been canceled.
Rain's father clears his throat once the two are seated. "After due consideration we have come to the conclusion that the marriage between our two households may be ill timed."
"Aww," Prapai says, giving both sets of parents his best puppy dog eyes, "how unfortunate."
"Yes, well the people are uneasy about all the incidents that surrounded the ball." Rain's father continues.
"It's true," Rain says, "so much bad luck must be a sign. Better not to take the chance."
Rain's mother looks at him shrewdly but doesn't say anything.
"Furthermore we have word from Prince Phayu and Prince Saifah. The war is over and their kingdom has been secured. Your mother and I have decided to no longer deny Prince Phayu's request to marry you." Rain's eyes shine happily at this second unexpected bit of news.
Prapai's parents look at their son for a moment before his mother adds her own good news, "After discussing it with Plerng your request to abdicate in favor of him has been approved on the condition that you stay on as a royal adviser. We will more than happily accept Sky in the family as your betrothed, maybe he will be able to control your wild streak." Prapai tries his best to look innocent but can't control the slight mischievous grin.
Mission successful all the way around.
Epilogue
Rain closes his eyes and slowly dances around the ball room. His happiness can't be contained and it does seem a shame to waste all the effort that had gone into preparing the room.
He is surprised when a pair of strong arms wraps around his waist but he would know the feel of those arms anywhere.
"Miss me, naughty boy?" A voice croons into his ear.
Rain grins, turns and kisses Phayu showing him exactly how much he has missed him.
********
Notes:
First of two Royalty Fics written for Noeul's Birthday