The Prince's Captain

Chapter One

"You're just a royal pain in my ass!" The young blond man yelled, his anger aimed at the tall brunet standing before him.

"I'd rather be a royal pain, than a normal pain," the brunet smirks at the small blond, his perfectly sculpted eyebrows rising in a challenge and the blond never backed down from a challenge, especially not from Prince Tristan who just so happened to be one of his closest friends. So they stood in the hallway to the ballroom, arguing and saying nasty things until both their mothers rounded the corner at the sound of their bickering.

"Boys, when will you learn to behave in public?" The brunet's mother, Queen Arianna, says to them, a small frown taking over her delicate features. She had the same dark brown hair and bright green eyes her son had, but where his features were sharp and all lines, Arianna's face was soft and delicate with age; he resembled his father with his physical attributes. The woman beside the Queen laughed lightly under her breath at the Queen's fussing, her son crossing his arms and looking away from them. The woman walked over and wrapped an arm around her son's shoulders, bringing him a little way from him before brushing the blond hair out of his eyes. The boy and his mother looked nothing a like despite him having her height and her unusual eye colour, that being the colour of burnt oranges; an almost amber colour that looked gold in the light. Paired with his almost white hair and skin, he was a beautiful sight to behold; not that he felt like it when people stared at him.

"Theodore, darling, you know better than to argue with the Prince where others can hear you," her voice was sweet, calm and he smirked when he could see the amusement in her amber eyes.

"In all fairness, he started it on the walk here," Theodore, or Theo as he liked to be called, protested and the Prince snorts a laugh, earning a small glare from his mother.

"I did not, Theodore. Stop trying to blame me for your short comings," the Prince's eyes are a light with amusement and a silent challenge for Theo to react which he does with a hard glare.

"Is that a short joke?" Theo's mother places a hand on his arm, her eyebrows raised.

"What short comings?" She asked and started to worry when her son's face goes pink, obviously with embarrassment.

"My lady Eliza, he spent the night with a pretty woman, by the name of Gwen, but this morning when he woke, she tossed him and his stuff out. I was walking by when he landed on his ass," Tristan speaks calmly, but there's a storm of laughter behind his eyes as he recalls seeing his dearest friend being tossed out and landing at his feet, reeking of alcohol and smoke.

"Theo, I thought we were putting the women behind us?" His mother's voice is gentle and he looks away, embarrassed and ashamed that he had spent the night with yet another woman.

"Mother, I am sorry," his voice is sincere but he knew it would happen again if the opportunity arose.

"That's alright dear, we will just try harder," she pats his arm and links their arms together, the Queen and her son doing the same and the four of them walk out into the ballroom which at the moment was being used to make decorations for the party they would be having soon for the Prince's twenty-first birthday.

"We could really use both your help with this stuff." Arianna says, making both boys to groan before they started putting decorations together and showing the women as they work on other things for the party.

"I didn't realise you were off women." Tristan says quietly as they stand together and Theo shrugs.

"My mother thinks I've got a bad reputation and that I'll never find a wife because of it." Theo replies and Tristan looks him over as he keeps his eyes on their work. Tristan had always thought that Theo was very easy on the eyes with his big eyes, hair that was short on the sides but long on top and his lean frame, which Tristan knew held many muscles that had knocked him to the ground on multiple occasions when they were sparing. Theo didn't know why Tristan was suddenly staring at him but it didn't really concern him as he kept going on with the task at hand and eventually Tristan shook his head and started working on something else. They stayed in the ballroom until it was dinner time, walking with their mothers into the dining room where both their fathers were waiting for them and it was like looking in a mirror for Tristan what with his father having given him the looks he has and Theo just waving with a grin at his own father who he looks nothing like. His father had blond hair too but it was not the white that Theo was blessed with and his skin was sun kissed, tan but not overly so unlike Theo whose skin was very pale. Theo sat in between his father and mother as she took the seat opposite Arianna; the Queen sitting to the right of the King, Tristan next to his mother and his little brother, Xavier, next to him. The young men were opposite each other and gave each other a look before digging into the food that was laid out in front of them.