The King & the Stable Boy

BONUS: It's Been Six Years... (And Our Paths Have Both Been Rocky)

William

I was fifteen sitting in some Natan field holding hands with a seelie lord, my first ever boyfriend, tucked beneath his breathtaking wings, looking up at the stars in the sky.

"You ever wonder what it'll be like?" Avon asked.

"What do you mean?" I question, looking away from the Big Dipper.

"To have a mate."

"Not much. I just hope that we're happy like my mama and papa."

"You're so lucky you have a mate."

"I'm lucky? You get to choose! That's so much more exciting! You don't have to guess and wait so long!"

Avon shook his head. "But the Gods didn't think I was good enough to have someone perfect for me."

"No, they were confident that you were special enough to know who that person was without their guidance."

-

Six weeks earlier...

I chucked the pebble across the lake, watching as the rock skipped over the surface of the water. I'd been doing this for ten, maybe fifteen minutes, trying to get my mind off my mother's memory. Perhaps one day it wouldn't hurt to think of her smiles, her meddling ways, and her charm but today wasn't then.

People's condolences helped me with the memories. I enjoyed hearing tales of her youth and stories she's never shared with me. But it didn't stop me from being heartbroken about her death.

"You know, it's okay to show emotion." Enzo rumbled.

It shocked me so bad I jumped and tripped over a boulder behind me, causing me to crash to the ground. I heard footsteps rush towards me and groaned, trying to get up, but wincing. Of course I would twist my ankle on the way down.

"Your grace! Here let me help you up," a man said extending his hand. I took it, getting back to my feet and limping onto a bench. "Quite the fall you had there."

"I got frightened."

"But you were alone."

I looked at the man silently. I couldn't exactly just divulge that my spirt spoke to me for the first time in twenty years. That's not a normal thing to say. The last thing I needed to do was tell my sob story to some random member of Robin's court. Olympus, he probably already thought me mad.

"Alright... You don't have to tell me what that was about. I suppose even King's are allowed a tumble."

"Speak of this to anyone here and I will see to it that you get framed for some crime that warrants the stocks."

"The stocks? That's a punishment reserved for children and teenagers who need to be humbled." The lord laughed. He laughed at me.

I shot him a glare, surely turning beet red. How was I meant to know that? I spent majority of my time here in my youth, there was no way to know that Natan's used the stocks like a face the wall time out.

"Put away the death glare. Your secret's safe with me. We wouldn't want a revival of the Wobbly Willy nickname."

My eyes widened, and I was sure I looked horrified. It was as if he took Jade and Sammy and threatened them before me. That childhood nickname was Gods awful and deserved to remain forgotten by history. I'd repressed the memory so deep that him saying it caused a violent shutter to run through me. Wobbly Willy was a reminder of childhood trauma and innocence lost.