Flowers all Around
Prince Willow Florentine Trobados was the third child out of five. The very lucky invisible middle child in a family of royalty and rules. His eldest sibling was the crown prince, his older sister being groomed for court life, and his younger sisters being taught academically. Without any real responsibility, Willow was the spare. But Willow's brother was so perfect that no one really needed Willow around. So, Willow spent his days doing whatever he wanted to. He read as many books as he could find. He learned different languages and different cultures. He learned a thing or two in the kitchen when they weren't too busy, and he spent time helping his older sister, Marigold, listening to her delivered speeches or spending teatime with her to help her learn etiquette.
This behavior was uncommon for a Prince. Princes were bold, daring, dashing, handsome. They had no fear, and they could sword fight their way out of any bad situation. Most boys were taught to hunt, or at least fish. Willow, however, had sort of been forgotten, and all of that stuff seemed very unnecessary and gross to him anyway.
The only attention Williw received from the court or his parents were by way of comparison to his brother.
Willow wasn't as muscular as Crysanthemum. (Even though he was half an inch taller.)
Willow didn't have Crysanthemum's handsome face. (Though he wasn't too bad looking by any stretch.)
Willow wasn't half as useful or brave as his brother. (Even if his brother was scared to death of birds, which Willow definitely was not.)
They didn't talk much about him otherwise. Williw liked it that way. He would much rather talk to his sensible sisters anyway, especially Marigold. And he wouldn't want the stress and pressure of being next in line for the throne of his father.
Willow realized when he was sixteen that something else was very different about him.
The castle ladies and maids had been flirtatious for weeks and really all it was doing was making him uncomfortable.
Marigold would laugh and point out the good ones, the better ones, and the best ones, in case he was ever interested, but none of them ever made him feel infatuated.
He was reading his book in the garden when an arrow went sailing past him. He sighed, closed the book, and moved away to find a new place.
"I'm sorry! Are you alright?" a voice called.
Willow turned around to find one of the knights looking at him worriedly.
"I'm not trained in the art of the bow. I'll be more aware in the future of my surroundings, my lord."
The man bowed, his brown ponytail flipping onto his shoulder.
Willow's heart pounded. His face heated.
The man was young, handsome, with a defined jaw and friendly brown eyes. The muscles that were that he found so unnecessary on his brother suddenly became a source of fascination that he couldn't look away from.
"Are you well, my lord? You look flushed. I didn't think I had frightened you so badly. Do I need to take you to a physician?"
The man studied him, brows drawn together.
Willow felt his face go red hot, and he twisted away to look at the ground, embarrassed that he'd been caught staring.
"I-" his voice cracked and he felt even more mortified.
He cleared his throat and tried again.
"I-I'm well. I was suprised, but unharmed. I will, uh, just remove myself from the danger zone as you practice."
Willow fidgeted with his book, his fingers tracing the leather cover.
"If you're certain, my lord." The man's voice was pretty too.
No, wait. What was he thinking?
Willow nodded and stumbled away awkwardly, knowing he must look ridiculous. As soon as he made it out of sight, he leaned against a stone wall and let out a sigh, willing his heart to calm down and stop panicking within his chest.
After the incident with that knight, Willow caught himself with all the symptoms for men that a man usually showed to a woman.
He was embarrassed, majorly.
Or he was, until he'd had afternoon tea with Marigold who used her "queenly" tone of voice and beautiful skills in speech to let Willow know that he was normal, and he wasn't alone.
The moment that anyone heard he was attracted to men, people began to ignore him even more.
Ugly rumors passed through the castle, but the worst bullying came from the knights that trained with his brother.
Lewd sounds and words, degrading statements and words sent to stab at him.
Willow retreated more and more into the castle walls, certain that if he put a little more distance between them, he wouldn't hear them, or maybe it wouldn't hurt so bad.
Eventually he spent so much time sequestered in the library that he only ever spent time with his sisters over tea.
Everyday life for Willow was best when the knights were as far away as possible.
They were sent off questing with his older brother in search of some healing spell or such nonsense, but their absence made Willow's life easier.
Until the knights began returning, one by one. Each exhausted and wounded, separated from the group weeks before. None of them knew where the others were or what had become of them.
Many of them arrived, but Willow's brother did not.
After two years of hunting for him and sending messages far and wide, it was determined that something must be done. The people were starting to say Crysanthemum was dead, and with that assumption, Willow needed to take his rightful place as crown prince.
There were several problems with that. Willow had no idea HOW to be crown prince. He didn't do that sort of thing.
Many tutors were brought, but they left not long after, manipulated or deliberately pushed by Willow into leaving.
The king and queen were not pleased with Willow at all, but they decided the solution to Willow's lack of perfection was to find him the ultimate tutor. Someone who was the paragon of princes and perfect in every way.
Because Crysanthemum was gone, that job fell to the prince of a neighboring kingdom who was second best.
He was promptly invited to stay at the castle with the finest treatment as a royal guest.
A treaty was agreed upon. As soon as Willow was made into a model prince, the visiting prince would be handsomely rewarded and free to return home.
It was a last ditch effort, so no one was expecting the return of a squire from that kingdom with a letter agreeing to the terms.
It was the sort of thing that Willow saw as a challenge. He would get rid of this uptight prince, the same way he'd gotten rid of the nobility and all the tutors.
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