Our hope

"And here I was worried about you." The Rebel mumbled from slightly behind the Prince.

"I have no idea why." The Prince backed down from his attack. "You were saying something about talking to your mother?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. I was going to try and find a reason she will agree with. I'm not going to leave you down here when you belong roaming the halls with me. Especially if you are to be King."

The Lord dropped his jaw that he just finished picking up off the floor.

"Right. Not sure she will agree with any reason you come up with." The Prince walked back to his bench.

"That's why we need to be on the same page. Besides I need someone to do all the boring stuff anyways."

"Of course you will. You need to remember there is still certain precedents that are assigned to each of the crowns. You don't get to have all the fun."

"Why don't we figure that out when you are not in jail yeah."

"So I will be having a talk with you two later today?" The three in the room turned to the person in the door. The Rebel Leader, Martha, Ace's mother. The Prince gave a small bow with his head as she was now leading the kingdom till everything gets stabilised.

"I want you both in the war room along with the captain of the guard. We will meet at the third clock chime. Then we will figure out how to take the first few steps to rebuilding."

She held out keys that the Rebel took unlocking the Prince who was now holding his books. The Lord was still standing in the corner in shock. The Rebel took the Prince's hand and dragged him out of the dungeon. The lord was left reeling, not only did he meet the new Prince and future king but also the Rebel that organised the whole attack.

The Prince did happen to be right that complex thought was a bit above his limit. The Rebel stopped being the leading one of the two as the Prince dragged them the rest of the way to their room. The two burst into the room the Prince spinning around in the middle as the Rebel closed and locked the door.

"Oh, can you believe it Ace." The Prince asked in higher voice then they normally use, "We have both made it out alive. It's a better feeling then I was anticipating."

The Rebel caught the Prince mid spin holding him still, "We are not out of the woods yet star. Why don't you get changed and we can both have a little nap before heading back off to battle?"

"I think that would be a good idea. Are you tired at all my love?"

"I haven't slept since I left yesterday morning. We should get changed; wash you down a bit. I don't want blood in our bed." The Prince giggled walking over to the folding changing wall.

"What are you laughing at?" The Rebel asked walking over to get clean clothes for the both of them.

"You called it our bed. Is that a recent name of your or is that always how you thought of it?" He peaked his head around the side accepting the clothes.

"Well, we have been sharing for a while now. Besides most couples call it our when they share."

"I can call us a proper couple now, can't I?" The Prince asked. The Rebel bowed a little to kiss him.

"Of course you can love. As far as I'm concerned nothing can hurt you when you're beside me." They said confidently.

"Then you better not go to far for a little bit yet." The Prince ducked back behind the wall. The Rebel walked back from the folding wall to around the middle of the room.

"What do you think my mother will have us talk about since you might have thought this through."

"Only a little; probably a clean up, what to do with all the nobles, something about rebuilding structure, how the coronation is going to go. Things like that."

The Rebel rolled their eyes picking up their own lightly used sleep clothes. "Now clean up is something I can get behind. Have you see the mess they made?"

The Rebel asked thinking about all the fires they passed to get to the throne room. "Let's just say I'm glad I got as many people as I did to safety before things started."

The Rebel was just pulling their shirt over their head when the Prince came back around the wall. "There is just one more thing to make this one of the best days of our life." The Rebel picked through their clothes looking for something.

"How could us finally being a couple get any better?" The Prince said walking up to them. The Rebel turned around and got down on one knee.

They kept a gold ring with a small red stone around their neck from before they met the Prince. It was a possession that only the Prince and their mother knew about.

"Oh my god." The Prince said taking a few steps back.

"I know you weren't considered my boyfriend before, but I want you to be my husband." The Prince knew what this ring meant as it signified their change in self and loss of previous friends. This could not be a heat of the moment thing.

"I, you can't, oh my god." The Prince said getting tears in his eyes. The Prince started nodding as he quickly tried to show what he was really feeling but unable to voice. The Rebel just gave a small smile and time for the Prince to calm down.

"With that, how could you?" He managed to choke out.

"You're worth it. Now that we can be an us I think if we were going to rule the kingdom being married will work in our favor. At least in the public eye." The Prince calmed down enough to move forward crashing to his knees in front of the Rebel. He wrapped his arms around them and pulled them in tight.

"I Love you."

The Rebel let out a breath and hugged back. "I love you too. I assume this is a yes."

"Yes! Of course, yes." He pulled back and kiss the Rebel before they separated to put the ring on. The red stone was inlayed enough that there would be no hindrance if he were to sleep with it on.

"Wait, I have something for you too." The Prince got up and went to his bookcase. Climbing up the ladder he reached the top shelf. There he picked up a small box, not terribly ornate but you couldn't call it simple.

He opened it quickly pulling something out before closing the box and put it back. After sliding down the ladder he came back to where the Rebel was now standing.

"I couldn't tell you how many time I made sure this was in my nightstand waiting for the right time to ask. I made sure to put it away when everything went down so it wasn't missing when we came back.

I did want to do this in a more romantic situation but if I'm yours," He got down on one knee pulling a gold ring with a dark blue stone in the middle of it. It had a very similar inlay of the stone as the red one.

If you glanced at them you would think they were a set. There was a couple white stones on either side of the blue one. "Would you consider being mine?" The Rebel looked at the ring then at the Prince's face.

"Sure, I'll consider it." The Rebel glanced around the room like they didn't already made the decision. "Took a long time to consider your offer and I think it's a fair trade."

They held out their hand to let the Prince slid on the ring. Thankfully they both had roughly the same sized hands. The Prince's dominant hand the Rebel's non-dominant hand of course. It was the same hands they use to hold when walking.

"Normally I would gag at you being so romantic but, I think I'll make an exception." The Prince stood up bringing the Rebel in close.

"Normally I would chide you for teasing me, this time I think it could be forgiven." They kissed at the Rebel guided them back towards the bed. "Now, hopefully this decision wasn't made in the delirium of sleep deprivation."

"English Starboy." The Prince sat on the bed with the Rebel standing in between his legs.

"Hopefully we are in the right mind to make this choice."

"Won't know till I wake up with you in my arms." They both move to settle under the covers wrapped in each others arms in the early morning light shining through the balcony. It was late morning when they woke up with the bell the marked the second hour of the afternoon.

"We have an hour to get ready. I need to make a good impression." The Prince said moving towards the wardrobe.

"Why would you need to make a good impression?" The Rebel yawning as they got out of bed.

"This is the first time I am going to be before your mother as not only your boyfriend but betrothed. I want to make sure I look good for my beheading." He got back to the closet. The Rebel came up behind the Prince putting their hands around his waist and head over his shoulder. The height difference making this easy.

"How about your riding leathers?" The Rebel suggested. Something that the Rebel had only seen him in once. The one time he went outside his room to meet with the rebel.

The outfit was tan leather pants with a match vest with a V-neck. Underneath was normally a fluffy white shirt. The black leather knee high boots almost matched with what the Rebel would normally be found wearing.

They were a more shiny with a bit of a heel. They were a little too cleaned up to be considered common clothes which is where the more faded colours came in later.

In the riding leathers the Prince had full range of motion and could brush up against things without the fabric snagging. Something that was important if you were running for your life.

"You really think that would be appropriate for this situation?" the Prince said already going to find the outfit.

"Considering I haven't seen you in a suit of armor yet, this is the next best thing."

"We are going to see your mother not go to war, besides what about you?" The Prince took the outfit suggested and walked over to the changing wall.

"I still have one emergency outfit here. I can go home and grab more stuff later." The Rebel opened the drawer with their clothing. "Talking to my mother might as well be war right now."

After they all had everything in place they looked at each other. They both got through the past day with no marks, no spilled blood. Losing your family would take a toll even if most of them acted that you were less than human for a two thirds of your life.

Making the only thing that could be counted on was the Prince's mental breakdown that was waiting in the background for everything to be ok enough for him to take a day.

"Ready to step into your roll as ruler?" The Rebel asked holding out their hand.

"Only if you will be right beside me as my consort." The Prince said taking the hand.

"Always." They left the room the Rebel tugging them down the hall. The Prince giggled till the Rebel stopped.

"What?" they asked.

"You're going the wrong way dear." The Prince corrected before guiding both of them to the war room. Both of them preparing to go to war with the Rebel Leader. Again.