marlowemuses | Fools in Love, for gentry

"Shh!" Laurent said, laughing and covering Butternut's ears with his hand. "We're not alone."

She lifted her head, confused but tolerant of this odd human nonsense.

Laurent kissed her nose, then winked at Gansey, happy and playful. "I think we should plan ahead for that, though. Make sure that the actual stable grooms know not to interrupt."

Gansey laughed, "Oh, Butternut's been around the stables a time or two. She knows how it goes."

Kneeling down beside Laurent, Gansey pressed an adoring kiss to Butternut's nose as well. "I know. It would be a bit awkward if we were caught, wouldn't it?" More than a bit. "That would get around the castle faster than we could get our trousers on." Smiling at Laurent, he leaned in to steal a kiss from his fiance.

"While we're running around solving problems today, we should take a look at places where we can hole up after the reception is over. Unless you'd like to stay in the castle?"

"I trust your judgement on that. I'm happy to be surprised, or we can tour places, if you'd like." Laurent shrugged, petting Butternut for a few more minutes and then getting up. He reached for Gansey's hand, giving it a squeeze and pulling him to his feet. "Shall we go get to work?"

Winking at Butternut, Laurent pulled Gansey close for a kiss, lingering for a moment because he didn't want to let go.

Gansey hummed into the kiss, lingering on Laurent's lips as he considered getting to work. "I guess we must," he chuckled, smoothing his fingers through his fiance's lovely hair.

"Let's take my coach today, shall we? Much as I'd love to take the horses, they wouldn't do well in the city." Leading the way out of the stables and toward where they'd catch his coach, he gave Laurent a vague idea of how they'd handle the day.

"We'll tackle the feud between the farms first, and then move onto the feud between the farms and the smiths. Then move onto the issue with the marriage arrangement and meet with the merchants that would like to trade with us. I expect by the time we're done with that, it'll be time for dinner. Are you sure you want to tag along? It'll be boring."

"I suppose I could spend the day napping instead, and then continue my affair with the stable groom," Laurent said, slipping his hand around Gansey's waist as they walked. "Or I could stay with the man I love and help him to do his job."

Kissing Gansey's cheek, he smiled. "I'm not leaving your side. I'm looking forward to this, Gansey. You're not the only one who has been trained to rule. This is exactly where I want to be."

Gansey smiled, absolutely besotted with Laurent all over again. The man was a marvel. Smart, kind, passionate, clever, and dedicated... Gansey's heart swelled with affection. To think, this man was going to be his husband. Their wedding was only two weeks away yet it couldn't come quickly enough.

"I'm glad. I feel the best when you're at my side."

The men were already setting his coach up, raising the royal flags and making sure everything was tidy for its use. Gansey didn't normally take it. It was green with brown trim, handsome, lined with velvet and padded seats. He held out his hand so that he could help Laurent inside and then hopped in after his lover.

It took just about as long as Gansey had anticipated. The feuds took a while to settle because all parties were stubborn, and it turned out that some of the merchants wanted to trade in hallucinogens and other supposed medical pills. The marriage arrangement had to be dissolved because of an issue. By the time they returned to the castle and fell asleep, Gansey was bone exhausted, too tired to initiate lovemaking or anything of the sort once his back hit the bed.

He only woke the next morning when a servant knocked on the door to the tower, saying that a package had arrived for him. Giving Laurent a quizzical look, he dragged himself out of bed to collect. It was a long, rectangular thing.

"Is this yours?"

"Yes," Laurent said, sitting up with a grin. The package was the size and weight of a large jewelry box or a small chest, with the heft and solidity of wood. "Open it. It's for you."

He shifted to sit cross-legged on the bed, grinning with excitement.

The brown paper and string fell away easily, revealing a beautifully made wooden box of fawn-colored wood. There was no clasp, no lock, nothing, but the different patterns in the wood grain made it somewhat clear that the whole thing was a puzzle box.

"I told the craftsman that I wanted something that would take you three days to solve," Laurent said, with a wry smirk. "You've got two weeks."

All he knew about it was what he'd commissioned, from the boxmaker and the jeweler. At the very heart of the puzzle box would be a gold ring, which was inscribed on the inside with I love you in Laurent's handwriting, or the nearest approximation that the jeweler could get from the note Laurent had given him.

It was a beautiful box. Immediately charmed, Gansey sat cross-legged on the bed with it in his lap, running his hands over the grains and grooves. It was smooth beneath his fingers and clearly very well made. So this was what Laurent had done on his own? It warmed Gansey to the core.

"Three days? Oh, you fox. That means I'll be lucky to have it open by the wedding." He had no guesses as to what could be inside. It was tempting to shake the box like a child might, but that might compromise whatever was inside, and Gansey didn't want to risk it.

"I love it. Thank you." Leaning over, he snagged a kiss. When he sat back he was wearing the most dazzling smile, pure and uninhibited.

"I can't wait to marry you."

Laurent grinned, thrilled that his present had been such a success. He scooted over, hugging his arms around Gansey's waist and resting his head on his lover's shoulder. "So open it," he teased, grinning.

"The craftsman must have worked non-stop on this. The design, the crafting of it... I'll have to send him an additional gift in thanks for finishing it so quickly." Fascinated by the box, Laurent nuzzled at Gansey again to encourage him to hurry up and open it.

Gansey laughed again, hands still smoothing over the box.

"I don't even know where to begin," he admitted, turning his head so that he could nuzzle at Laurent in return. "But I'll open it. I promise." A promise was a promise.

Turning the box over, he worked on finding where he should begin. It was slow work; a lot of love had clearly went into its craftsmanship. "I think you're right," Gansey agreed as he gently worked the first piece open, sliding the grooves against one another. "He must have worked very hard on this."

"Lucky for us, we don't have any pressing business, since we covered so much ground yesterday." Looking up, he gave Laurent a curious look, "Have you heard from your family? I'm sure they've gotten the wedding invitations by now, knowing my mother." Really, he expected she sent them out the day they met.

"No," Laurent said, thoroughly content with his head on Gansey's shoulder as Gansey worked on the puzzle. "I wrote to them, but I haven't received a response yet. Auguste is going to be insufferably smug that we get along so well."

Getting up, Laurent went to call for breakfast, returning as soon as possible to cuddle up against Gansey's side. He loved the sight of Gansey working on a puzzle. Gansey's love of games and attention to detail on projects like his small model of the kingdom had convinced Laurent that the puzzle box would be the perfect gift, and he loved watching the intimate way that Gansey's hands moved over the wood. "How do you want to spend the day, my love?"

"Lounging around with you?"

He kissed Laurent's temple when he returned to the bed, turning his attention back on the box right after. "We never got the chance to look at all the suites, even if I still think Helen's is the best. I think it would be wise of us to take these next week weeks—one week and six days—as restfully as possible. The day before the wedding will be a busy one. Our customs dictate that we aren't supposed to see each other at all from sun break that morning, until the alter at the church on the wedding day. Helen will be keeping you busy during that time, I expect."

And for him, his guess was that Henry was going to drag him off in an attempt to get him to live up being a bachelor for one last night.

"And then after that we'll be off to our honeymoon and then visiting all the towns and cities."

"I'm supposed to survive without you for an entire day?" Laurent groaned, even though he was sure he'd be kept plenty busy with preparations for the wedding. "I like the plan of lounging. We could go to the ruins again. Perhaps you'll find a sleeping fairy in a meadow, who will fall in love with you at first sight." He grinned, playful and inventive. "Or perhaps I'll discover the ancient Raven King, and he'll ravish me among the ruins."

He trailed his fingertips up Gansey's spine, hands roaming idly over Gansey's skin, admiring the smooth warmth of it. "We'll have to be sure to take some oil along either way."

"Oh, don't give me ideas," he laughed, very distracted from his puzzle box with idle hands tracing over his skin like that. The fingertips up his spine made him shiver, body taking a sudden and definite interest in the events that were taking place.

"I'll really want to do it. Cheesy acting and all."

Sex outside was, admittedly, on his bucket list. Among ruins? Even better. Grinning, Gansey gently put the puzzle box to the side and crawled toward Laurent, cocking his head.

"I wonder, could I coax you open with my fingers, too?"

"Definitely," Laurent said, grinning at him and squirming backward out of reach. He went to grab a change of clothing, keeping an eye on Gansey with a smirk, ready to dodge playfully out of the way again if Gansey tried to catch him.

Hopping into his trousers, he glanced toward the window and grinned, excited for a day spent exploring and flirting with his beloved. "I'm glad we're going to honeymoon at the seaside castle. I want to see all the secrets of the place. I'd love to build a castle like a puzzle-box, all secret passages and one-way doors, tiny hidden libraries and tower reading nooks. With plenty of cushioned rooms for us to make love."

He tried a few times to catch his lover, but Laurent was too quick for him. Pouting but pulling on his clothes, he hummed softly to himself as Laurent spoke.

"Me too," he admitted. "I've only been there once, and it was for a very short time. It's not really a place for children. Not that there's anything lewd about, but it's very much supposed to be a romantic getaway sort of place. I want to see the architecture again. Everything that the Raven King supposedly built. The place he went with his lover, simply to exist, rather than be a king."

Stretching, he sent Laurent a lazy smile. "I'd like to see you build a castle. Not sure if I'd want to live in that kind, though. What if you needed to pee? I'm not so sure I'd be as fond as a puzzle if I had to solve it while trying not to wet myself."

Laurent laughed, admiring the stretch and coming over to slip his fingers up Gansey's shirt, tantalized by the brief flash of golden skin. "Well of course I wouldn't make the bathroom into a puzzle. It would just be like... a tree house. All whimsy and adventure."

He teased his fingers over Gansey's belly, stealing a soft kiss, then another, lingering in kiss after kiss. "We should go," he murmured against Gansey's lips, utterly distracted.

Gansey kissed back, sliding a hand across Laurent's lower back, stealing as many kisses as he could. "We should," he agreed, yet made no movements whatsoever to do that. Sliding his hand up Laurent's back he tugged his fiance a little closer, tilting his head so that he could get a real, proper kiss.

And then something a little less proper. He flicked his tongue against Laurent's lips, wanting to make the kiss deeper.

Laurent yielded to him, sliding his arms up around Gansey's shoulders and pressing their bodies close. He couldn't ever resist more kisses, and following Gansey's lead had become second nature to him. Moaning softly into Gansey's mouth, he shivered, licking at Gansey's tongue and winding a possessive hand into Gansey's hair.

"—Hnn..."

Oh, that was nice. He jerked Laurent's hips tight against his own as they kissed, sucking his mouth and making up for such a long period of time without any intimacy (read: a day). Hand wandering, he grabbed his lover's ass for a nice, healthy squeeze.

And without warning he broke it. Stepped away and gave his lover a playful wink, "Shall we go, then? Maybe we could have another ride while we're at it. The horses are just dying to get out, I'm sure."

Laurent gave him a whine in response, breathless and wobbly. Flushed, he swatted at Gansey, grinning at his lover. "Yes. Let's. I'd like the ride. And then the ravishing."

Still dazed, he caught Gansey's hand, walking with him out to the stables and enjoying the beautiful weather. "Are we going to take Star and Sky again, or a different pair?"

"It would be most fair to take a different pair. They all deserve a little bit of attention."

Leading the way into the stables, they were met with a sight: several of the hands around Butternut's stall, bringing buckets and rags. When one noticed them he bowed quickly, "Your highness."

Gansey, eyes bright with wonder, tugged Laurent's hand. "She must be foaling. Oh, fantastic!"

"Oh no," Laurent said, laughing. He went with Gansey, trying not to grimace.

Hanging back, since he didn't want to get in the way of people who might actually know what they were doing, Laurent leaned over the stall door to watch. He was nervous, and slightly squeamish. Blood and violence he could handle. Birthing? That was another matter.

Gansey hung back as well—he may have been a practiced hand with horses and loved them dearly, but helping one give birth was not on his list of talents.

But he was utterly fascinated. The hands worked quickly, but Butternut did most of the work by herself. Within fifteen minutes the hands were working on wiping down a beautiful new black filly. She was pure black, aside from the smattering of white circles along her backside.

"Huh," Gansey mused, rubbing his thumb across his lip, "I guess she takes after her father. You'll have to think of a name for her."

Laurent waited until the hands had finished wiping down the baby horse, and had left mother and child alone to recover. Then he stepped into the stall, taking a seat by Butternut and petting her, speaking softly to her while the filly dozed against her side. "She's lovely. You did very well."

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