So before I start to thank you to everyone who is voting and requesting. Y'all are probably annoyed with all the POV changes but this is how I thought it would go. This is my longest one yet. Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johns POV
The one I was to marry was arriving today. Needless to say, I was nervous. What if he didn't like me? I looked at the letter again. It wouldn't matter if he liked me or not. The only thing that matters is peace. I sighed. Sherlock Holmes huh? This was gonna be fun.
Sherlocks POV
I gasped as the carriage threw me around. I really hated travelling. I preferred to stay in the castle and send letters. I knew we had always fought with the southern kingdoms but I didn't know that I would have to go down and negotiate peace. My king never made me go to other kingdoms so this was a first. I did think that it was weird that he made me bring everything I owned. Not that I owned much. Only a few dress clothes, nightshirts and books. My king was famous for treating everyone nicely, except those close to him. Which sadly happened to be me. King James Moriarty, famous for getting into wars. I just hoped I wouldn't have to stop this one. I looked out the window. Well, it looks like I'll be arriving in an hour or so. I hope the king is nice.
Johns POV
He was here. Oh my gosh, he was here. I need to breathe. How do you breathe? How do you even act around someone you've never met? Let alone have to marry. The door opened and a tall lanky man was led in. He looked around curiously. I got a glimpse of his eyes. Wow, he was beautiful. He had plain clothes on and a rope with a dark blue stone on it. He caught my eye and smiled. "Hello, I'm Sherlock Holmes," he said.
I smiled. "John Watson," I said.
He froze. I just smiled and stuck out my hand. He shook it. "Sorry I just didn't think that you would be the one to greet me," he said nervously.
"That makes sense. I should probably show you where you'll be sleeping."
He nodded. I turned around and started walking down a hallway to my left. He started trailing behind me. "You can come closer you know," I said.
He blushed and we walked side by side down the hallway. I tended to try and keep things modest. "How does King James keep his castle?" I asked.
He looked at me. "Well, this is the medium I guess. Perfect. You're not overdoing it, but you're not undergoing it. King Moriarty tends to keep everything that people can see, well over the top. I suspect his room and guest rooms are the same." he said.
I nodded. "What about what people can't see?"
He took a deep breath. "Well, not exactly the same. I don't want to be rude to him or speak badly but," he paused, "it's not in the best condition. Servant quarters are pretty ratty. I have to share my quarters with the knights. They're not fun to be around after they've had a few drinks."
I nodded. I had fired some of my best knights after they had committed crimes under the influence. I shuddered when I thought about my sister. We reached a flight of stairs and started up them. "How many knights?"
"Three. They change from time to time. You get the king's trust, you get a better room. He doesn't exactly like me. I've stopped him from going to war far more times than he appreciates."
"Shouldn't a king be happy when war is stopped or delayed?"
He chuckled. "He's a bit bloodthirsty."
"What about his husband? Surely he would try to stop him. Sherlock laughed. I have decided that I really liked his laugh. "Oh, King Sebastian. He's worse. I've seen him come back to the palace covered in blood."
He shuddered. I have also decided that I don't like Moriarty or Sebastian. I don't like anyone who makes him scared. I've already grown fond of him. I stopped when we arrived at his room. "Well, this one's yours. I'm right down the hall if you need me.'' I said.
He cocked his head. "Thank you?"
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I'm just surprised I'm being treated like royalty."
"Well you better get used to it," I said and walked down the hall to my room.
Sherlocks POV
"Well, you better get used to it."
With that, he walked off. I blinked rapidly. Wow. Ok, that was weird. I was beginning to think I wasn't here to keep the peace.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
I walked around the room. This was probably the best room I've ever slept in. the wallpaper was dark green and navy blue. It had almost a palm leaf print. The carpet was dark green, almost black. The bed followed the same colour scheme. Navy and dark green pillows and blankets. I put my bag down by the bed. I smiled as I thought about the king. He was so nice. I went to sit on the chair in front of the desk. The bed looked more comfortable but I was scared that I would mess it up. A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. "Yes?" I called.
The door opened and a young woman was revealed. "Oh hello, your presence is requested at dinner," she said.
I stood up. "Thank you?" I said.
"Molly."
"Thank you, Molly. Though I don't know my way around," I said nervously.
"That's fine I was instructed to bring you down anyways," she said.
She seemed nice. I followed her down the hallway. Then down the stairs. I made sure to make a map in my head to where we were going. We passed a huge dining hall. It was fancier than most things in this place. Though we walked right past it. She must have noticed me looking. "The king uses it for meetings and parties. Other than that we don't like to use it. We eat dinner in another room. It's not as pretty but we all get by." she explained.
"You all eat dinner together?" I asked.
"Yes of course. The King feels that he should eat dinner with the servants to connect with them," she said.
We arrived in a different room. It had a long table like the fancy one. This was just plain wood with no table cloth. I followed Moly inside. The Servant's heads turned towards me as she led me to my seat. What used to be a loud noisy place was suddenly filled with whispers. I was suddenly very uncomfortable. "Sherlock hi," John said.
My seat was right next to his. John sat at the head of the table. "Hope you're finding everything to your liking," he said smiling.
"You're very kind."
"So tell me what the meal conditions were at Moriarty's castle?" he asked.
"Different from this. Why?"
"Well, you mentioned the housing wasn't the best so the food couldn't be any better."
"Well, James usually ate with Sebastian. Then the people who ranked highest on his favourite list ate. Then so on. Again he didn't like me."
His facial expression turned sour. "He's an idiot," he growled.
I went pale. I had never heard anyone talk about him like that. "He's not the best, no," I whispered.
He looked at me. "Sorry."
"No it's fine, I'm fine. Just never heard anyone speak about him like that."
"No wonder you took the deal to get out."
Deal? What is he talking about? He must have seen my confusion. He paled. "Wait, why do you think you're here?" he whispered.
"I'm here to negotiate peace. Right?"
His eyes widened. "You don't know?" he whispered.
I was scared now. "What am I here for?" I asked
"To avoid going to war Moriarty promised me a marriage."
"To whom?"
"You," he whispered.
Johns POV
I couldn't believe he didn't know. I had suspected that he would be upset about an arranged marriage. I still couldn't believe he didn't know. He looked shocked. "Oh," he said.
"Sherlock I'm so sorry."
I moved my hand over his. "Listen if you don't want to go through with this I don't blame you. You can stay here if you want."
He looked at me. "I'm so sorry I need to think."
I watched as he left the room. I was going to kill Moriarty.
I finished eating and said goodnight to my staff. I went to my quarters and pulled out a piece of paper. I like to declare war in a letter form.
Dear James,
I hope this letter finds you in good health. So it seems that Sherlock was not made aware of our agreement. First off how dare you. You insult his honour. I would love to hear what you have to say about this. If not I will gladly challenge you to a duel.
Sincerely, John
I didn't receive a reply until a week later. Throughout the week Sherlock and I got to know each other. He was extremely smart. He always got so nervous around others. My favourite memory was when he was reading in the garden. He looked so at peace. I ruined it and scared him. It became a nice joke though. I learned he liked poetry. I would often ask him to read it to me. He always asked why I didn't read it myself. I would never answer. The reason being was that his voice just made it feel right.
Dear John,
I would love to accept that duel if it comes to that. If you don't want Sherlock I can send another, someone who did agree. Though you must forgive me, I only sacrificed someone for my kingdom, someone who was useless, to begin with. Send him back and we can talk about that peace you want.
Sincerely, James
I crushed the letter in my hands and threw it in the fire.
Dear James,
Duels on. I'm keeping Sherlock.
Fuck you, John
Two days later I was saddling my horse. The duel was at dawn. The stable door banged open. Sherlock. "Is it true that you're going to have a duel?" he asked, out of breath.
He had obviously run here. "Well yes. I'll be fine. I've done this before."
"But he'll play dirty."
He had tears in his eyes. I walked over to him and hugged him. "I'll be fine," I said.
He sniffed. "I know. You're just the first person who cared," he whispered.
I pulled him closer. "I'll be back tomorrow."
We pulled away. "Wait," he grabbed the necklace he always wore, "take this."
He handed it to me. "Thank you," I said.
He looked nervous again. I hopped on my horse and rode away.
Sherlocks POV
I watched him ride away. He'll be fine. Right? The stone I had given him was my mothers. My entire family had died in a fire. The townspeople say it was tragic. I say it was arson. I turned around and went back to the castle.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
I was sitting by the fire with my book. I wasn't reading it. I was too worried. Really it was just an excuse so that people would leave me alone. I had been living in Johns castle for three weeks. I already loved it here. The staff was so nice and I really liked the king. I really hoped he was ok. Again the staff was amazing. Molly was really nice, it was obvious that she was dating the village prostitute, Irene Alder though. I had met Irene when I was trying to find a new book to read in town. She had tried flirting with me. She stopped when I mentioned Molly.
Lestrand was the head guard. I was told by John that I kept forgetting his name. It was Graham. Or was it Garry. I don't remember. He was nice though. Anderson and Sally were rude though. Sally was another maid. Anderson was the palace astronomer. Something to do with the stars. John had told me about it. I deleted it again. Anderson had a wife at home but had affairs with the maids. Mostly Sally.
Mike Staford was John's royal advisor. He was nice. I did manage to get Magnussen fired though. He was the librarian. Though he had threatened me. John caught him. I also didn't like Mary, she was another maid. Though she always had an excuse to touch John. She obviously likes him. She hated me for taking him from her. Though he wasn't really hers in the first place. I was interrupted from my thoughts when Molly ran into the room. "The King had returned," she said.
I stood up. "Where is he?"
"His bedroom. Though I have to warn you he's injured."
I froze. Injured? "Life-threatening?" I asked.
"I have no idea sorry sir."
She was almost in tears. "Sorry Molly, I'm sure he'll be fine."
She nodded and walked away. I ran out of my room and ran down the hall. Mary was at the door. Her ear pressed against it. Might as well ask the eavesdropper. "Is he ok?" I asked.
She whipped around to face me. Oh, she was mad. I took a step back. "This is your fault," she muttered.
"I didn't mean for him to get hurt. I told him not to."
She slapped me, hard. I winced. "You should have never come here."
She almost finished when the door flew open. "What's going on here?"
John! He looked between me and Mary. "Oh, sir. You're awake," she said. "Are you ok?"
With that, she approached him to try and touch his arm. John stepped back. "I'm fine Mary. Sherlock are you ok?"
I realized I still had a hand to my face. I opened my mouth to speak. "He was telling me how he wanted to go back to his other kingdom. We can arrange for the transport right?" Mary said.
John looked at Mary. Oh, thank god he was suspicious. Mary glared at me. She wanted me to agree. "No, I don't. I came to see if you were ok. I don't want to go back. I like it here." I said.
John glared at Mary. "we'll talk about this later. Sherlock came inside. I want to talk to you."
Mary stormed down the hallway. "She slapped you didn't she?"
I gulped. "Yes."
"Oh, I really don't want to fire her. Her mother was a dear friend of my mother. We were friends when we were younger. She got it in her head that we would marry."
I nodded. "Molly said you got injured," I whispered.
He nodded and rolled up his sleeve to show bandages on his shoulder. "I shot James in the leg and Sebastian shot me in the shoulder. I think that's fair."
I sighed. "You're an idiot."
"What?"
"I could have just gone back, then you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"Sherlock," he whispered.
I looked up. "How bout we do this properly," he said.
With that, he got down on one knee and held my hand. "Will you marry me?" he asked.
I gasped. "Yes," I whispered. He stood up and kissed me. I really like it here. And I love John.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Dear John,
I hope your shoulders are healing well. I still want Sherlock back. I gave him to you so that you could marry him. If you refuse, send him back. Send him back or we'll have war.
Sincerely, James.
Dear James,
I am marrying Sherlock. I hope this will bring peace to our kingdoms. Though I never want to go back to yours. Also hope your leg is healing.
Sincerely, John