Chapter Text
Scott slowly walked through the hallways of the castle on his way to the throne room. He scanned the walls around him, loud and heavy sighs leaving him every few seconds. It was never a good thing when his father, the actual king from Rivendell, called Scott to him.
The days that Scott didn't see his father were good days, those were days without problems.
As Scott walked he tried to remember what he had done that could have possibly pissed his father off. He hadn't pranked anyone, he hadn't painted on a wall (again), he hadn't escaped the castle when he wasn't allowed to, he had actually been pretty good lately.
So what could this be about? The possibilities were endless.
King Himesh could be inviting him for literally anything. All of this could be a simple dinner invitation, but at the same time it could be an announcement that he'd started a war. Scott really hoped that his father wasn't starting another war, those never ended well.
Rivendell hadn't been in many wars, which Scott was thankful for. But he knew the reason. Other empires feared theirs, they were strong, powerful and had a big army. Anyone threatened by them quickly folded, giving them whatever they wanted to have.
Wars were awful, even when you lived in the empire that was on the winning side. Scott hated hearing about the deaths and about the destruction that was caused in the other empires. He hated how those things were celebrated by his father. But every time his father would say that it was worth all the lives that it took because it gained him power.
Scott rolled his eyes at that thought.
It took a few more steps before he arrived at the throne room. He stared at the closed door, feeling the way his heart sped up at the sight. After another moment of hesitation and a deep breath of air, he pushed the door open.
Chin up, chest out, with confidence, just like his father wanted him to walk.
Like a robot.
He kept walking until he stood right in front of his father's throne. "You called me here father," he said, his head down in respect. "Ah yes Scott, you're late." his father started, not a 'hello, how are you doing?' Nope just a 'You're late' in a disappointed tone. "Sorry father, I was out in the forest, it took the servants some time to find me. But I'm here now," Scott replied.
"Yes, you're here now, late. And why were you in that forest anyways? There is nothing for you over there." his father asked, his voice high and loud as it carried through the mostly empty room. He was right, there was nothing in the forest, except the best frozen lake ever.
It was lovely over there, amazing. Every time he entered the space he felt like himself, he felt at home. The one place where he was truly at peace. The trees hid him from unwanting eyes, the area felt like a fairy tale and it felt magical. But sure there was nothing for him there.
"Is there a reason that I had to come here?" Scott asked, not ready for another 'you're wasting your time.' talk. So he changed the subject, searching for the actual reason he had been called there. He looked up a little, searching his father's face to figure out what kind of mood the man was in, but it was no use.
His father always wore a permanent frown on his face
"Yes, I have started an alliance with Gilded Helianthia. As a sign of our alliance you will get to marry the princes, Pearl Moon. Oh and I won't be there for dinner tonight, I have some things to do." King Himesh said casually, his words lacking any kind of emotion.
Scott's whole world froze.
"I- I have to marry the princes of Gilded Herlianthia?" he asked, his voice lower than he wanted it to be. His mind was going a thousand miles per hour, trying to decide if he'd heard his father correctly. No, it couldn't be, no. That could not be true.
"Yes, it's all been arranged already," his father responded, pushing himself up, sending one look towards Scott before turning his head the other way. He started walking towards the huge window overlooking Rivendell, his frown never leaving or changing in any way.
"I know it's a bit of a shock. I mean the kingdom of ice having an alliance with the kingdom of farming, ridiculous right? Oh but don't tell your future bride that I told you that"
"Dad-" Scott started, the king turned towards him with a furious look, the most emotion he had shown since Scott had entered the room. Scott cleared his throat, taking a step back. "Sorry, I meant father. Father I don't wanna marry princess Moon, I don't wanna marry a girl at all. I thought we spoke about this." he protested.
It had been years since he came out as gay, but his father never really commented on it. The man acted as if he didn't know, but he did. Scott didn't want to marry a girl, especially not one that he didn't even know.
"Ugh, are you still talking about that? It doesn't matter, you don't have to love this girl anyway. You just need to marry her." The king said, not even looking at his son. It was as if he only had eyes for the kingdom, only cared about the kingdom.
It didn't matter to him that his son was getting married, it didn't matter that his son was forced to marry someone he didn't love. Someone he could never love. All he cared for was right in front of him, and it wasn't Scott.
"I don't want to marry her." Scott protested, allowing his voice to raise a little. It wasn't nearly as loud as his father's was, but the man had definitely heard him. He finally turned to him. "Are you speaking back to me?" The king asked.
"I- yes, I am. I can't just marry someone-" Scott began, but his father interrupted him again. "You will marry who I tell you to marry. This is what's best for my kingdom so you'll do it. We need strong alliances, Pearl Moon is a princess, she's powerful and she's going to rule over the Gilded Herlianthia one day." The king said, trying to make it sound like this was a good thing.
But it wasn't, it never was. Why couldn't his father see that?
"Now, I don't want to hear another word about this. Pearl will be arriving soon so that the two of you can meet, you better not mess this up for us, boy. This is for the greater good of the kingdom." the king said, ending their discussion.
Scott nodded as his father's shadow towered over him. He wanted to cry, to shout, he wanted to scream till his lungs gave out.
He didn't want this, he didn't want to marry some random princess. "What are you still doing here? You can leave now." the king said, staring at him until he actually left. Scott walked out of the room, tears appeared in his eyes.
With more force than necessary he opened the door, there was no need to slam it shut behind him, the cold wind did it for him. Scott walked out of the room, back to his own bedroom, with every step he took he got a little faster.
Every guard he passed stared at him down, but they didn't talk to him, didn't question him, they just stared.
Thoughts of running away came to him, but he knew that he couldn't do that. Everywhere he went, he would be recognized, for good or for bad. It was too dangerous anyway. If anyone saw the prince of Rivendell walking around all alone they would either call the king and his guards to him or kidnap him.
His father had told him that about a million times.
When Scott arrived at his bedroom he closed the door behind him, locking it. He walked to his bed and let himself fall down on top of it, the tears that he had been fighting ever since he'd turned his back to his father now streamed down his face.
The reality of the situation hit him like a truck.
He would be married off, there was no escaping this.
What would be next? Would he be forced to have children? Would he be forced to rule a kingdom? That wasn't what he wanted at all. He didn't know what he wanted, he just knew what his father wanted from him. According to his father that was all that mattered anyways.
A knock came from his window, snapping him out of his thoughts. He stared at the glass but didn't walk over to open it, he just waited for the one person that used the window as an entrance. The one person that would climb up to get in, the one person that knew he was allowed to do this.
Scott could hear the window open but still didn't do anything about it, he just kept laying on his bed, trying really hard not to let any tears fall. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, didn't want to be seen as weak. But the tears kept coming and there was no stopping them.
"Hey snowflake, what did the old man-" A sweet, friendly voice filled the room. His words followed by a gasp. "Are you okay? What happened?" Jimmy, Scott's boyfriend, asked. Jimmy was- Jimmy was Jimmy, he was amazing. He was the sweetest, loving and kind boy that Scott had ever met.
If he had to marry anyone, he wished that it would be Jimmy.
But that didn't feel like an option anymore.
Not that Scott's father would let him marry Jimmy anyway. Jimmy lived in the south of Rivendell with his family, they lived on a farm. His family made sure that there was enough food for the entire kingdom, well Jimmy's family and a whole lot of other farmers.
Jimmy didn't currently live with his family though, he was one of Scott's knights. "Do you know the Gilded Helianthia?" Scott started, finally looking at Jimmy. Jimmy was looking back at him with those big loving eyes of his, it was hard to feel sad when Jimmy was around, and yet right now Scott couldn't help but feel sad.
He and Jimmy had met a while back when Jimmy had been training. Scott liked watching the new knights train, just one of his many hobbies. Jimmy was dedicated but also very clumsy, he would often stay late and train when everyone else was already gone.
Scott loved watching this, loved hearing the cheers and seeing the smiles that the man gave whenever he succeeded in something. One time he had fallen during an attempt to do some kind of sword trick, Scott had seen and hadn't been able to keep his laugh in, revealing his position.
Jimmy had looked up, his face had gone as red as a tomato, only making Scott laugh harder. The man had commented on the situation, had joked with the other and a conversation had quickly started between the two of them.
At the time Jimmy didn't realize that he had been talking to the prince of Rivendell. But once he did realize this, it was too late, the two of them had become friends already. They were friends for a while until Scott confessed his love for Jimmy. They had been boyfriends even since.
Or well secret boyfriends. No one could know about the two of them. Nobody could be trusted with a secret like this, it would be dangerous. Jimmy would be thrown out of the kingdom, not that Jimmy really cared about that. Every time Jimmy wanted to be a little bit too clingy in public he would remind Scott that he didn't care about having to leave.
He just wanted to show Scott how much he loved him.
Scott's heart broke every time Jimmy said something like that, he felt like he didn't deserve someone like him. "Yeah? What about the Gilded Helianthia?" Jimmy asked, Scott took a deep breath. He looked up at the ceiling so that he didn't have to look at Jimmy as he replied.
"I have to marry their princess."
The words came out of his mouth but they didn't feel real, didn't feel right. It felt like he was trapped in a nightmare, a nightmare he could never awaken from.
"Y-you what?" Jimmy asked, Scott turned his head to look at him, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "I have to marry princess Pearl moon." he explained, saying the words out loud made it more real. Saying the words out loud to Jimmy was even worse.
"Why? Can't you just say no? Yeah, you can say I don't and done." Jimmy said, Scott knew that he wasn't being serious. He wished it was that easy though.
"I can't say no, my father is forcing me to do it. He said that it's what's best for the kingdom." Scott responded, Jimmy sat down into the bed, taking his hands in his. "But what about what you want?" the man asked, that was a very good question but "My father doesn't care about what I want."
"But- but- there has to be some kind of way to get out of this. We- we could just run away, yes. We will go to- to another kingdom, we could start a new life." Jimmy said, a small smile appeared on Scott's face at the thought. "And what would we do there?" he asked, Jimmy smiled too.
"We would be happy."
"We would never have to see that father of yours ever again. We could do whatever we wanted." Jimmy continued on, excitement laced his tone. It was a nice thought, but that's all it was, a thought. The smile disappeared from Scott's face as he realized this.
"We can't do that" he said, blinking more tears away. Jimmy reached out a whipped a tear from his cheek, his own smile was gone and it simply didn't feel right seeing his face without that smile. "I know, but we can think about it. How can your father force you to marry someone?"
"He just doesn't care about my feelings, he only cares about his kingdom. This whole marriage is only because the Gilded Helianthia and Rivendell are becoming allies. The marriage is a sign of that." Scott said, putting on the best impression of his father that he could manage.
"That's stupid," Jimmy said, as he let himself fall down next to Scott. "Couldn't agree more." Scott replied, he turned to his side so that he could see Jimmy's face. "What happens now?" Jimmy asked, Scott sighed "Apparently the princess is visiting soon, I'll have to meet her then. I don't know how long I have until I have to marry her though."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to spend as much time together as we can until she arrives." Jimmy said, always seeing the bright side of things. "And you just need to make sure that if you do get married that you live here." Jimmy continued.
"If we move to the Gilded Helianthia, you're just coming with me." Scott said, no matter where he went, he would make sure Jimmy would be able to come with him. Jimmy laughed, "I am your personal knight, I think that it's best for your safety if I come with you wherever you go." the smile came back to Scott's face at Jimmy's words.
"I can't help but agree, but only because it's a matter of safety of course." Scott said, he rolled again so that he was on top of Jimmy. "Of course." Jimmy repeated, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.
Scott started pressing kisses all over Jimmy's face, making Jimmy let out giggles. "What? You said that we should spend as much time together as we can. This was your idea." Scott said, pressing a kiss to the tip of Jimmy's nose.
"Hey, I'm not complaining." Jimmy said, he cupped Scott's face and pulled him towards his face. The two started kissing like it would be their last kiss. Scott prayed that this wouldn't be their last kiss. He would make sure that this wouldn't be their last kiss.
The two stayed like that for a while before they finally pulled away to breathe. "You better not kiss that princess like this," Jimmy said, a smile on his face. Scott laughed as he got off of Jimmy. "Believe me, I won't." Scott said with a smile on his face.
He got off the bed and walked towards his closet "You wanna borrow some pj's again?" he asked as he looked through his closet. He had just decided that the two of them would be having a sleepover. "Yes, please." Jimmy said, he stood up and appeared next to Scott.
Scott handed the man some pants and took out his own pajamas. Jimmy took his shirt off and threw it into Scott's closet. "Wait, was that mine?" Scott asked, Jimmy smiled and turned back toward the bed, looking over his shoulder as he said "Maybe, just be happy that I returned it to you."
His own pants were off in a matter of seconds, he comfortable pj's a better replacement. Once he was dressed for sleep he jumped back onto Scott's bed, making himself comfortable as he stared at Scott.
"This time. At least you returned it this time." Scott said, he had already lost countless shirts to Jimmy. Scott took his own clothes off and put his pajamas on before he joined Jimmy on the bed. "Do you think that your future wife would be okay with us two sleeping together?" Jimmy asked.
"She better be, how else is the marriage supposed to last otherwise?" Scott joked, he wrapped his arms around Jimmy and rested his head on the man's chest.
Pearl, that would be the name of the woman that he was forced to marry, Pearl.