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"My hair ribbon." he muttered. "My other one is with the King and Prime Minister." he muttered, sighing before fixing the rest of his clothes, making sure they were on properly until Tsume offered the black string. "Oh." he stared at it, gently picking it up with his index finger and thumb. "Are you sure?" and looked at Tsume before tying his hair back. "Thank you." he murmured, opening a different drawer and pulling out the bandages, tying them nice and tight where they belonged over his right eye. "So, let's go get the bedroom ready for our guest tomorrow before going to clean." and exited the bathroom.

"Is it a surprise? I like surprises!" and kissed the Prime Minister back on his cheek, hugging him and pulling away before pausing. "What's on your neck?" she asked, pointing but not touching the mark. "Is this why you wear high collars all the time? To cover it?"

Alvaro made a mental note that Annabelle was very much like her mother, noticing all the small things no one else noticed. He hoped it would not be a problem as she grew older.

"We have classes today." Emily said, her father washing her hair. "Or I think we do. If we don't I was going to go find Justin and shadow him again. he does a lot more then clean dishes. And his mom is getting better."

"That's good, I heard that poor Megan was sick." he said, mind still thinking of what to tell Annabelle about Lewis's mark.

"is it a mark of power like Nix's?" Martha asked. "Nix has a mark on her side since she's with water. What's yours for?"

"It would seem so." he sighed. "At least the Dwarves were happy with my unintentional gift." and looked at himself in the nearby mirror. He looked completely out of place. "If I catch my death they are to blame. Shall I carry the fabrics as we head to the study? Or would you like to go to the drawing room for your sewing?" he questioned.

The hare led the wolf back upstairs to the second floor, though taking a much different route from where the main bedrooms were, walking around the staircase and going the opposite way. "Guest bedrooms are actually over here, your room was supposed to be Leo's, and the other bedrooms are there for when the triplets finally decide to stop sleeping together." he explained. "Normally guests wouldn't sleep on the same floor as the royal family, but the family is so small, what with no extended family to occupy the castle, so a lot of the floors are unoccupied. Some of the servants sleep on that floor and births normally happen up there." he thought a moment, wishing he knew which kind of guest was staying over. The weekly meeting he'd been distracted from because the King and Prime Minister dragged him off. Luckily for him a rabbit eared maid (only he could spot the difference, anyway) rolled with with the laundry cart. "Ah! Penelope!" he exclaimed, walking toward her. "The guest coming over tomorrow,"

The woman thought a moment before pulling out a paper from the pocket in her apron. "This should have everything. She's staying for an indefinite amount of time, so she needs to be as comfortable as possible."

He unfolded the paper. "why is she here?"

"To meet with the prince. I find it odd though." she murmured.

"Why's that?" he asked, placing the paper in his own pocket.

"Well The prince has Princess Lily, right? Oh and you'll love this next part." she leaned in close, speaking so low to where only their ears (and possibly tsume's) could hear. "I just walked past the bathroom where the king and his daughter are currently bathing upstairs, and apparently the Princess is pregnant with the prince's child."

"What?!" he exclaimed loudly, the woman hushing him.

"That is all I heard. Catrina heard something completely different. Apparently Megan's son said that the princess is really a prince. Everyone is buzzing and wondering about the truth because Justin never lies." she shrugged, standing up straight. "But if this woman is to be his fiance then everything gets more complicated. I've already emptied the room, you just need to dust and fix the sheets and curtains." and rolled away, leaving a rather pale Kashi standing.

Annabelle stared curiously. "Before you met Dad? Did it hurt getting the ink in your skin?" and then found herself dunked underneath the water, coming back up for a breath. "That was mean!' and splashed him angrily.

Martha nodded. "Yea, we can't skip anymore because Ipo is our attendant again and Brother's back to force us back into class in case we sneak out."

"Will Tsume mind that you're learning about Nalenyr instead of Falia?" Emily asked as her own hair was rinsed out. "I wonder if our lessons are different from yours."

"All right. Let me gather the fabrics over here." and picked them all up to the best of his ability, chuckling. "I shall try not to this time, but it is tempting. If I spill ink on them I can toss them out." and walked out and down the stairs, faintly hearing a servant talking to someone down a hall elsewhere. He couldn't make out the words he was too far away, but it didn't matter, soon on the ground floor and walking down the hall to his study, struggling to grab the handle of the door without dropping the fabrics.

Kashi was silent as he walked to the bedroom, finding the sheets folded at the edge of the bed. It was as though Tsume wasn't there, unfolding, spreading, stretching, tucking, making the bed perfect and smooth while making it hold every ounce of luxury a possible fiance should have. This couldn't be right, not at all, the prince getting married? it was unheard of because he'd always thought the prince was into men. How foolish he'd been, he hadn't sent Kashi away because he was caught, he'd sent him away because he was gay. Tears stung at his eyes, grabbing the curtains and setting them on the rods. And what was even worse was that there was possibility of Lily being pregnant with Elliot's child! The prince loved women! There was no way he could love a man, no way at all. The hare wanted to bury his face in the curtains but held back, knowing he'd wrinkle them and then the fiance would be unhappy. And he'd thought it a dream instead of a vision, Lily's pregnancy, yet it held all the signs of a vision, and he'd sketched it just in case. "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck." he said in a choked voice, wiping his eyes before moving to the chair where the duster was. He hated his talent, the Princess was pregnant with Elliot's child and he'd shrugged off that vision as a dream because he hoped otherwise.

"Come here so I can dunk your head under the water!" and tried to, but she was too weak to bring a full grown man underwater, that and she didn't want to pull his hair.

"Could we attend your lessons after ours or will they be held at the same time?" Emily asked as her father scrubbed her back. This girl really didn't care or she really didn't know how to bathe herself, it was hard to tell, Alvaro lifting her arm so he could continue to scrub. "I'd really love to learn about Falia. Brother went to Falia so he got first hand experience, I'm jealous."

"I'm done." Martha said, getting out of the bath and drying off. "You guys talk all boring. I'm going to my room to change." And left. She didn't like the fact that she still had no personal friend. Annabelle had the Prime Minister, Emily had Justin and Nix was all around. Why didn't Martha have a friend yet? Was it because she wanted to be a boy? "Maybe I could grow my hair out a little bit."

Elliot stared at him. "You always tell me these things after and make me feel guilty. You enjoy doing that don't you?" he asked, placing the fabrics down to leo's chair and looking at his messy desk which had not been touch. "I forgot I had spilled ink." and picked up a nearly black paper, the only words he was able to read were Monin and visitor. "Can't read it, trash." and crumpled it, tossing it away before sitting down, feeling the chains of work bind him to his seat before sighing and grabbing the stack of papers. "Let's see now,"

"B-Because this means that Elliot likes women!" he wailed "With the Princess being pregnant and a female fiance coming over there was never any chance of him holding any feelings for me!" he said, gasping for breath before continuing his sobbing, hitting Tsume as though it were his fault. "I ignored my prediction about Miss Lily being pregnant because I thought it was a draem! I don't dream I just see the future and I ginored it for my own benefit!" He probably could have saved himself all this pain if he'd just accepted it then and there. "it's not fir! It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair!" and finally leaned against the leather clad chance, hands over his mouth as he tried to silence himself, emitting a high pitched whine before it silenced, he sniffled, then was released all over again as the tears dropped from his face.

Annabelle gave a happy scream, moving to the other side of the tub and smiled, letting it falter when Martha left. "Hey can you bring out my orange dress?" she called, but the girl was gone and Nix was quick to follow. "if she wants to be alone let her." she muttered, grabbing a sponge and washing her own body, Emily being rinsed off.

"I'll leave you three alone. I need breakfast. Enjoy the rest of your morning." and grabbed a towel, exiting as well.

Annebelle sat there looking at the two men. "So why did Nix call you Uncle 'Ewis?"

Martha looked back, letting go of the small lock of hair she'd been holding. "That's stupid!" she said suddenly. "I'm a boy, and I don't want long hair. It'll get in my way." and opened the bedroom door, seeing Emily walking behind them. "Really? I dunno he seemed kind of mean." because he'd scolded her and made her near tears which no one had been able to do except her dad. "If he doesn't mind though I'll go." she said, going to the wardrobe, hearing the door click shut as Emily entered.

"Would you like to wear some of our clothes, Nix?" Emily asked softly, not wanting to interrupt their conversation completely.

"I speak before I think, I'm sorry." he said, reading over the papers and signing the ones that only needed his signature, placing them on the left side of the table. It seemed as though the king managed to get some work done the month he was gone, hardly anything new had returned, allowing him to re-read some of his old drafts with a clear head and work on them. "Leo," he murmured. "Have you ever thought about having your own room to just hold your things?" he asked. "You can still sleep with me, but I've noticed my room becoming taken over." and his wardrobe which the maids filled with Leo's clothes. "That or we can move into a bigger room down the hall. We can look at it later if you'd like."

"What does it matter? If the Princess is pregnant with Elliot's child he obviously loves women!" though this was all muffled by his hands. "Either way he'll be having an heir with a woman!" He would've crouched on the floor had the tan arms not held him in place, though at the mention of the king and prime minister he did silence, still hiccuping and sniffling. Finally though, Kashi pulled his trembling hands from his mouth and spoke, "They do not count. The love one another very much and very deeply. That... That only happened because I am unable to sleep without brother, so I decided to wander around and the Prime Minister found me. We spoke and he figured out my situation and let me sleep in his bed. I wasn't aware his bed was the King's" he murmured. "They have something I want, but you cannot share that with a third person, it is impossible. Plus I am much to young, they probably see me as a child or a new partner and that is all." Sure they were nice, but they couldn't think of him much more then a friend, the way the two had looked at each other before he had fallen asleep. "I am envious, so envious it makes my heart bitter, Mr. Tsume."

"So then why does brother call you by your title instead of Uncle? Can we call you Uncle Lewis?" she questioned. "Dad can we call him Uncle Lewis?"

"That's not my decision, sweetie." The girls only called Lewis by his title because that's what Elliot called him and they picked it up.

"Well yea," Martha murmured as Emily smiled, running to get an extra dress for Nix. "But real boys have short hair, theirs is only long because they like other boys, right?" Illogical logic. "Become a knight?" the thought had never crossed her mind, only boys joined the brotherhood, thus why it was called the brotherhood. "That's an idea. I'll need to become super strong to join, I'd need to see the requirements." she murmured.

Emily came back with a dress small enough to fit Nix. "Here you go. I'd love to wear your clothes, but change first so you don't go walking around in a towel, okay?"

"It isn't a terrible problem, it was an observation." he said. His room smelled of both himself and Leo which was fine. "The only way you could inconvenience me is making me unable to hold you while I sleep. I will be very unhappy and very irritable if I am unable to do that much." and glanced back to smile at him. "I will not be offended if you want your own room, though and I will only enter when given permission. and you have all your gifts from Falia that are still unopened in to line the shelves of either room."

"Ma-majority of the workers here are girls." he muttered. "and Ipo has questioned every male. Very, very few are like myself or they're so ashamed that they hide it." he whimpered. The circumstances were the same in Kasp, however. They knew homosexuality existed, they just didn't speak of it so it was all right for people to hide it, but still. It hurt. "Tell them right away? I cannot do that, I could only confess if I knew their feelings." But Tsume's logic was hard to fight, he would find out on way or another of the other person's feelings if he confessed.

Annabelle smiled, hugging the man again. "And I'll tell Martha and Emily to call you Uncle Lewis too! And I'll make brother call you it again!" she said, clambering out and wrapping herself in a towel. "We're all family again!" she tripped on the tile floor, landing hard onto it but she picked herself back up and ran out.

Martha nodded, liking this idea more and more. "We'll have to go to the library to find a book though, you think the governess will take us into town to see the brotherhood?"

Emily gave a small shrug, helping Nix into the dress and tying where it needed to be tied. "If we're good and don't sneak out. But we'll be attending Tsume's lessons as well. It will probably have to wait for the weekend."

"Girls!" Annabelle said rushing in. "We're all going to call the Prime Minister 'Uncle Lewis' from now on! Brother used to call him that and now we can--hey Nix that's a nice ribbon." The easily distracted mind of a fashionista. The girl moved forward to look at the blue and white pattern. "I really like this. where did you get it?"

Elliot chuckled. "I only remembered them now which made me think of more space or a new room." he admitted, thinking of all the gifts he still had to open as well. Where were they? "We could always let the girls open them. Though it might take longer." Since they'll question everything. He moved his chair to look at Leo, paperwork easily and non-regrettably abandoned. "That is hard logic to argue against." he said, thinking a moment. "I thought it would be a nice sentiment, aside from the space you will have your place for your own thoughts, making this castle yours as well. You do not need to agree to it, I am merely suggesting it."

Ipo looked up hopefully as Tsume spoke about the men in Falia. "Really? Falia would?" He'd wanted so desperately to go but he'd stayed back in case the prince still disliked him for what happened a little over a year ago, so Ipo hopped aboard the position. "Ipo's very annoying." he murmured, removing himself from Tsume to start dusting off the room. "You lived in Falia, Mr. Tsume. I heard about it from Ipo, but you grew up there." He paused to carefully hold the empty porcelain bowl as he dusted it off inside and out. "Could you tell me what it was like?"

The king wrapped his arm around the prime minister's shoulders, giving them a squeeze. "We've been family, hun. We've been family." and kissed his head, resting his cheek on it and letting his fingers stroke the bare shoulder.

"Can I be a fanclub member?' She asked quickly. "I want Elliot and Leo to be married and happy with lots of babies! Where can I get a ribbon like that? You want one to, right Emily?"

The girl stared, putting on her glasses and moving closer to look at the ribbon. "I don't really want to choose favorites..." but nodded.

"Martha?"

"if it makes me look a little girlier I'll take one." was the weak excuse. "It's just a ribbon, if they get married it's their choice."

"Oh, I wonder if Uncle Lewis and Daddy would want one. And the maids." she mused. "We have so many to hand out. Ipo's a member? That's good he knows a lot of the maids!"

The prince moved forward to lean down and kiss the other. "You can say no. I don't want you being uncomfortable, all right? I would not force you into anything you dislike or would not want to do." and listened, giving a nod. "We'll move in, then. A small trial to see how we like it, I agree." and gave the other a short nuzzle before going back to his chair, moving it and deciding to work on the paper's again.