okay so basically, steve is a prince and nancy is the princess from a neighboring country and they have an arranged marriage
at first its pretty okay, they get along fine, kinda have the whole "i'll learn to love you" mindset going on
like steve finds himself looking forward to council meetings, which he usually dreads, because him and nancy just don't click
obviously neither of them say anything, they pretend everything is fine, it's their duty, they owe this to their respective countries
but fuck there's another issue
the captain of the guard, william, is so fucking captivating
like him and steve argue during council meetings and what's the best course of action for certain situations
(they 100% didn't get along at first but steve's seen william comfort some of the kids in the town and seen how he is with his horse and they end up bonding over their psuedo siblings)
they joke and banter and william is one of the only people who can best steve at sword fighting
"that was quite some fancy footwork, sir william–"
"billy, you can call me billy....your majesty"
all steve can think about is how warm william–billy's hand is against his own, hauling him off the ground
so steve ends up laying awake at night feeling guilty as all hell, laying there next to nancy, his wife, but hasn't stopped thinking about billy's hand in his from earlier
so he just avoids and avoids billy, finds things to do when billy starts to approach him, finds other people to spar with
until billy's pulling him into the horse stables, asking what the fuck is going on, is he okay?
and steve realizes what he's doing and decides he has to table his feelings–whatever these feelings are–because billy doesn't deserve to be avoided like this
and it's....fine, it's fine
steve stills finds himself staring when billy's hauling his saddle up onto his horse and his muscles are rippling and his skin is glistening and he's got this focused face
and it just goes like this for forever
and billy keeps brushing up against steve and it's a lot
until steve's trying to find dustin, who's somewhere in this fucking labyrinth they call a castle
and he peeks into this broom closet and finds nancy
being pushed up against the wall by the painter in town–jonathan or something
steve just closes the door and stares at the ground, processing
they talk about it, later in their room, nancy nervously fiddling with her dress and on the verge of tears
but steve's okay with it, really it's okay, because maybe he's been thinking about someone else
"and it's....it's not like we love each other"
its hurts to say but they don't, they aren't in love, they're only married to bring unity to their two kingdoms, only married for political reasons
obviously they stay married but
nancy can see jonathan, can sneak him into the palace and watch him paint from the view of one of the towers, can read all the books in their endless library at their leisure
steve can stare without a cloud of guilt hanging over him
steve can spar with billy, knowing he's going to knock him onto his ass, and grip billy's hand a little tighter, a little longer when he's pulling him up
steve can help billy brush his horse and go all mushy on the inside when billy talks to his horse
steve can meet max and laugh when billy ruffles her hair and when they argue over nothing
steve can tell billy to meet him by the gates, and bring warm cloaks and food and shushes billy when he asks what steve's up to too loudly and grasps billy's hand and pulls him out into the woods, into the woods he grew up in, pretending to fight dragons and save princesses
pulls billy out to this clearing where to sky in crystal clear and there's a funky little lean-to against a huge maple tree that steve built when he was a kid
spreads a quilt out and throws one of the cloaks over billy's shoulders and fastens it, missing the soft look billy's giving him
and they talk all night, munching on the basket of food steve brought
and the moment comes, the moment where the world stops and all steve can see are the constellations in billy's freckles and the moonlight in billy's eyes
and billy leans and presses his lips to steve's like he's been waiting, like he was just waiting for steve to ask
and he has, ever since he that first argument in the council room over something stupid, steve in just a tunic and messy hair, arguing point for point with determination on his face