Good Morning, Prince Ethan

Knock, knock, knock

“Rise and shine, your majesty!”

Ethan groaned and shoved one of the bed’s many pillows down around his ears. He didn’t want to wake up this early. He never would. Why were they still trying to make this happen?

Knock, knock, knock

“Go away, Colin!”

Wham

Ethan flinched instinctively, then rolled over to see his butler smirking in the doorway, still grasping the handle of the door that he had just flung open.

“Nope,” said the young man as he stepped lightly into the room.

Ethan sighed as he sat up. “Do you have to slam the door like that? I don’t think the king hired you to break his stuff.”

“Your father hired me to help teach you how to comport yourself as a prince should. To that end, I must ensure that you rise at a reasonable hour.”

“Fine. I’ll do better, alright? Just…just don’t do that thing with the door anymore, o-okay?”

Ethan made sure to avoid Colin’s gaze, but he could tell he had gotten through to him. He heard the butler’s breath catch in his throat as he realized his mistake, could practically see him wringing his hands together trying to figure out what to do next.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I do apologize for my lack of-”

“Look, it’s fine,” Ethan interrupted Colin as he slid out of bed. “Just forget it, okay? I’m up now.”

“Indeed.” Colin regained his composure. “Well then, should we go over the day’s schedule?”

“Might as well,” Ethan shrugged as he rummaged through his wardrobe.

“Well,” Ethan could practically feel the excitement in Colin’s voice as he unrolled his list, “you are going to have quite the day, Your Majesty. First of all, the delegation from the Flaming Woods arrived early this morning, so you will be joining the king and queen at breakfast to welcome them.”

“Didn’t a delegation just leave?”

“Yes, the delegation from Altmoor. And no one was sorry to see the back of them, I can tell you that.”

“What?!” Ethan almost had to laugh at the absurdity of what he was hearing. “But the whole time they were here, everyone was practically falling over themselves just for the chance to kiss their leader’s ass.”

“That, my dear naive prince, was diplomacy.”

“Diplomacy?!” Ethan paused halfway through stepping into his pants. “So the way you were cuddling up to the head bodyguard was politically motivated?”

Colin blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t,” Ethan grinned. “So anyway, what’s after breakfast?”

“Well, you have your history lesson, followed by astronomy, and by the time that’s over, your brother should be back.”

Ethan couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. He wasn’t happy that Oliver had had to stay at the house of healing for so long, but it was such a relief that his little brother was coming home at last. He worried about how he had fared on his own. Oliver had left the city before, of course, but this was only the second time since the adoption that he had been without Ethan, and the first time had only been for a few days. Not including the travel time, Oliver had been at the house of healing for a month. Ethan was more than ready to have him home.

He glanced up and saw Colin smiling back at him.

“What?” Ethan felt the smile melt off of his face. Colin shook his head affably.

“I just know how much you’ve been looking forward to having him back.”

Ethan allowed himself to smile again. “Yeah. Please tell me I have some free time this afternoon. I want a chance to catch up with Oliver.”

“Not to worry, Your Majesty. Your afternoon is obligation-free until dinnertime. We shall hold a special feast to celebrate Prince Oliver’s return.”

“Oh.” That took some of the wind out of Ethan’s sails. He felt so ungrateful for not liking the feasts. The entire staff put so much into them, and Ethan had to admit that the food was wonderful. But he couldn’t help it. They always reminded him of when he first came to Whitecrest. And that always made him think about how things had been back then. What he had been going through, who else had been with him…and who wasn’t here now.

Colin could see that Ethan was less than thrilled. He chose a cape from Ethan’s wardrobe and placed it around the young prince’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure everyone will understand if you boys prefer to leave early.”

“Thank you, Colin.” Ethan gave the butler a smile. “I guess we should be getting to breakfast, then.”

“Indeed.” Colin followed Ethan out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.