Snippet for chapter 18
(bc I wrote a lot at work today but realised that this chapter will be MUCH longer than I thought it would be)
It’s not closed all the way, allowing sounds to leak to the outside. Sobs, to be exact. Charles recognises them for what they are no matter how faint and muffled they are.
“That’s Kimi,” Alex explains when Charles’ eyes land on him. “Today hasn’t been easy for him.”
“Yes, I can believe that… Should we check on him?”
Alex simply nods in turn and lets Charles go in first.
The room is dark as no one bothered to light any candles and the curtains are drawn, only a few ribbons of light escaping through gaps around the edges. It takes Charles’ eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness, but when they do, he jerks back, nearly colliding with Alex who follows close behind.
In turn, there are two surprised gasps. Yes, two.
Because Kimi isn’t alone where he sits against the wall all the way at the back of the room, no. Right next to him, plastered against his side with his arms slung tightly around the Prince, is Sir Ollie. That little fuck.
Charles isn’t sure how to react—etiquette lessons taught him that any affections beyond camaraderie between a knight and a prince are strictly forbidden, yet he himself finds that way of thinking kind of outdated—-until he hears a soft, muffled chuckle coming from behind him. When he looks back, he finds Alex covering his mouth, eyes glinting brightly with amusement.
“Putain de merde,” Charles lets out a quiet laugh of his own and shakes his head as he turns back around.
Ollie and Kimi are staring at him, eyes wide, awaiting his judgement. Charles gives it quickly, softened by Kimi’s tearstained face and Ollie’s not so subtle attempt at protectively covering the Prince with his own body.
“Relax, children!” Charles dismissively waves a hand at them and grins a little at the way they visibly sag in relief. “I am not your parents or the king, and I will not rat you out to them either.”
“It’s not like anything happened!” Ollie throws in quickly, gesturing with his hands as he explains, “I just… Prince Kimi wasn’t doing well when I found him, so I suggested we go somewhere quieter. I was only consoling him, I swear-”
“Again,” Charles lifts his hands in the way one does to calm an animal. “I won’t be telling anyone. Alex and I simply wanted to make sure everything is alright in here.”
He watches as Kimi’s gaze shifts to Alex and then quickly averts his gaze again when the Prince’s eyes turn incredibly sad. Wanting to give them a moment, Charles turns to Ollie instead and arches a brow, both questioningly and suggestively.
Ollie nearly jumps out of his skin, his whole face growing wide and shocked as he tries to non-verbally make Charles understand that he and Kimi really hadn’t done anything. There’s gesturing and headshaking and finger wagging, but all it takes is one simple gesture to make Ollie's face drop.
Charles only taps his own lower lip, then points at Ollie, silently telling him that “kid, your lips are way too swollen, who are you kidding”. The furious blush that spreads across Ollie’s face nearly makes Charles laugh out loud.
“I am fine, thank you for checking on me,” Kimi says eventually, his head turning back to Charles, who manages to straighten his face just in time. But then Kimi puts on a grin of his own and nods at Ollie, “You’ve got some very capable knights.”
“Oh yes, we are very proud of our knights and their capabilities,” Charles agrees in feigned earnestness.
He and Ollie exchange a wink, while Ollie turns away to hide his face, which turns such a bring red it nearly starts to glow. And Alex is back to laughing into his hand.
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Charles asks once they’ve all recovered.
“No, I believe… I am alright,” Kimi’s smile softens and he glances at Sir Ollie, sporting a blush of his own.
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