Page 111 of Trained Royal

“Tell me. How was the ride? I bet it was chilly.” She rubbed her arms and chuckled.

Patrick laughed with her. “It was colder than I thought it would be, especially at the lake.”

“I can imagine. How did you enjoy your first ride, Kieren?”

He cleared his throat. “It was good. A little nerve-wracking, to begin with, but I got the hang of it.”

“Good. Patrick loves to ride, don’t you? You don’t do it as much as you used to, though. Maybe you could get back into it now?”

“I’d like that. I’d have to see how much time I have with the coursework I have, but it would be nice to do it to relax.” He glanced at Kieren. “Did you enjoy it enough to do it again?”

Kieren nodded. “Yes. It’s another way I could see myself travelling.” He laughed. “Although, I don’t think the horse would like to ride all the way from Bagshot Park to London every day.”

They laughed with him, and Patrick squeezed his hand, telegraphing what he was about to do. “We do have some news,” Patrick said, staring at his mother. “Is Father here?”

She raised her eyebrows, her mouth curving slightly, and Kieren knew she had already guessed. “No, he’s with Andrew and William. I’m not sure what they’re doing, though. Do you want to wait for him?”

Patrick shook his head and glanced at Kieren, smiling. “I asked Kieren to marry me, and he agreed.” He turned back to his mother.

Her hands covered most of her smiling mouth, and she looked like someone who’d been given the best gift ever, settling Kieren’s concerns.

“Oh, my! I’m so happy for you! We have to celebrate!”

Patrick shook his head. “No. We’ll announce it at dinner this evening, but we’re not making a huge thing of it. It’s a Christmas celebration, after all.”

Victoria pushed to her feet, and he and Patrick followed suit. She enfolded her son in her arms again, whispering something in his ear, and moved to Kieren. When her arms tightened around him, he had to swallow hard to stop the emotion from overflowing. More so when she whispered, “You are an amazing man, Kieren. I couldn’t wish for anyone better for my son. Welcome to the family, son of mine.” She cupped his cheeks when she pulled back, and he smiled, though his chin wobbled.

“Well, regardless. I think we should celebrate. Both my sons are engaged! What more could a mother ask for?”

****

When everyone was sitting at the dinner table that evening, and before they had served the food, Patrick stood and clinked his glass.

“Happy Christmas Eve, everyone.” Murmurs replied to him. “I just want to say a quick word because I have some news. Orwehave some news.” He reached a hand down to clasp Kieren’s. “We’re getting married.”

Everyone spoke at once, and Patrick laughed, the joyous sound barely muted by the almost thunderous noise of conversation. After everyone settled down, and they received the congratulations, the household staff served the food.

Kieren closed his eyes and just listened to the people around him. Never in his wildest dreams as a young man had he ever believed he’d be living a fairy tale. He was marrying a prince, and although the fairy tales of his childhood were completely different to reality, the truth remained the same. He, a commoner with no family to his name, was marrying the love of his life. The man he couldn’t live without. The man who came to him with a family whose hearts were large enough to take him in.

“Are you okay?” Patrick whispered in his ear.

Kieren stared at his fiancé, and his heart missed a beat. “I love you so much.”

Patrick smiled and pecked a kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

“Whoop, whoop!” someone shouted from down the table, and Kieren laughed. If he hadn’t been surrounded by the parents of the men and women at the table, he would’ve put up his middle finger to them all. Instead, he ignored them and focused on his food.

Life would not be easy for them. For any of them. Charlotte, though they knew it was she who was the mastermind behind all the incidents happening, couldn’t be touched because there was no physical evidence to prove it. She was smarter than he’d given her credit for, but he was determined that they would find a way for her to pay for what she’d done. She’d got away with it for far too long, but the end was coming. He could feel it.

He peered at the occupants of the table, noticing the smiling, happy faces in all but four people: Freddie, Damon, Kean and Andrew. He understood Andrew’s expression; although happy, he was hurting, and when the man caught his gaze, Andrew gave a small smile and nod, answering Kieren’s unasked question of whether he was okay. The loss of his wife would be closer to the surface than ever during this time. Not only because it had been her favourite time of year, but because of the incident. It brought home how close he’d come to losing more of them. He only knew that because he’d been to see the man earlier in the day to check on him. They’d had a long discussion about Queen Louisa and what he wanted to do in her memory, and Kieren was all for it.

As for Freddie and Damon, he wished there was something he could do to help. Patrick had told him of his opinion about their relationship, or rather, the relationship he thought they were teetering on the edge of, and Kieren could see it. But they had much they needed to talk over before they could be happy. Not only the issue that everyone presumed Freddie was straight, even Freddie himself. If that wasn’t something that needed to be discussed, nothing was.

Kean, on the other hand, had lost his brother, Simon, the previous year, and it was still fresh in his mind from what Patrick had told him. Kean had been close with the family and best friends with Henry for years before a misunderstanding caused them to split. It had taken over a year for them to become friends again, but Kean still had a sadness about him. Maybe he’d mention it to Henry and see if there was anything they could do to help him.

Everyone else was full of the joys of Christmas, despite what had happened earlier that week. They were eager for the next day when they would have a large present opening event after they’d been to the church for morning service. Kieren had bought two presents for Patrick. One he could open in front of everyone else and one he would be opening tonight before they went to bed. Something for the two of them, really.

Now that Kieren was fully into the impact play Patrick had introduced him to, he’d been researching and found a flogger and some restraints he wanted to try. So, although they were a gift for Patrick, it was definitely for them both.

How he ever believed he could live without Patrick in his life, he’d never know. But it goes to show that fate sends what people need when they need it.

He reached for Patrick’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “Merry Christmas Eve, sweetheart.”

“Merry Christmas Eve, Kieren.”

They shared another kiss, and Kieren wished for many years to come with the man beside him and the family surrounding him.

****