Carry Me

"My prince, are you all right?" Silas knocks on the door. "I heard a loud thud coming from your room. Is everything in order?"

"Everything is in order, Silas." Julien's eyes widen as he smirks. "I accidentally tripped the chair over. I do apologize for the ruckus."

"No, my prince. I'm just making sure that you are bidding well."

"My chamber has been kept propre and everything is in order," Julien replies covering Gianni's mouth after he let out a cough. "I appreciate your worries, Silas. But I am well."

"If you say so, Prince," Silas' footsteps went away and slowly receded.

After that exchange, the two could not help but burst in laughter. Gianni has completely shrunk and has leaned against Julien's left chest. He could hear his heartbeat that is keeping the boy below him alive. He is absorbing Julien's warmth that felt different from the pierces of cold summer rain.

His chest is firm but soft, just the right consistency. It is well-trained too, I can feel dense muscle under the skin.

"Did you fall asleep?" Julien brushes Gianni's hair. "I guess my chest is really that comfortable huh?"

"N-no, I... uh... I apologize, your Highness," Gianni finally stands up and recovers his composure. He extends a hand for the prince to get him up. "I'm glad I covered you up in time."

Now that Gianni was standing, he can see the prince naked from head to toe, except for the area covered by the white piece of cloth that he grabbed to cover him. He can make out a large and long shape under the serviette from the folds and bumps on the surface.

"Are you looking at this now?" Julien laughs pinching the shape just a bit to tease Gianni. "You can't have all of me in just one hour, don't be greedy."

Gianni blushes intensely as Julien just laughs and stands up to fix the towel around his waist. The prince rummages through the closet and finds a fresh pair of clothes. He grabs a white chemise from the wardrobe and puts it on. He also puts on khaki breeches that matched perfectly with his top.

After he was finished changing, the prince looked outside through the window.

"This must be the last of the summer rain," he strides side to side in front of the window. "Things shall start to get cold from here on out."

He turns to Gianni to see him still wearing the rain-soaked butler's garments. Julien remembers how Gianni gave out a cough and knew that he was cold. Immediately, he pushes Gianni to the bed, jumps on him, and begins stripping him.

"Your Highness, what are you...?" Gianni says slowly, he could not find the words he wanted to say. What the prince was doing utterly shocked him. The prince took off his tux. As he was about to proceed to completely remove his clothes from his torso, Gianni held it down in protest. "Your Highness, please."

Julien stopped. He realized what he was doing and how it could be interpreted. He did not communicate his intentions well.

"My apologies. I wanted you to change clothes seeing you still wearing these utterly soaked garments. My intentions are good I assure you. Forgive me for not communicating them clearly," the prince gets of Gianni and grabs a set of chemise and breeches, one similar to his. "You can wear these. The rain is letting up. I'm heading downstairs to think of something for Louis' birthday."

Julien leaves the room. Gianni goes on to change.

I see. So, he wasn't... My prince you've only thought of what was good for me. I better go and apologize to him.

The mahogany floors that were intricately patterned into alternate diamonds of ivory white and bark brown that was kissed with lacquer seemed very old but they were kept in good condition. The walls were plastered with golden dye and the insignia of the royal family are at every corner of the wall. Paintings of former monarchs taking a picnic on the lake's delta hang on the walls. Gianni hears the prince and Silas conversing. He follows their voices to the kitchen where the floor changed to cobblestone. He sees Julien looking around the kitchen for something. Silas was helping him.

"Before my mother was queen, we used to come here with my grandmother and she would make use these peach-filled brioches," Julien looks through the kitchen cabinets. "There should be a recipe here somewhere."

"I'm sure we can find the recipe, your Highness, but what of the peaches?" Silas also opens some of the cabinets. "The peaches that used to grow around these parts are too old to bear fruit."

Gianni helps them search for the recipe. He opens a cabinet chiseled with a carnation on the surface. Inside, he finds a painting of the late queen and the young princes, Gianni and Louis. The queen was there carrying a babe which must be one of the young princesses.

"What did you find?" Julien pats Gianni's shoulder. He takes a look at the painting and laughs, "I remember this summer. I was eight or nine in this. The brioche that we were eating here. They were the ones that my brother loved. We used to help grandmother around the kitchen. I would be washing the peaches or putting the brioches in the hearth. Those were times when I did not have to worry about anything. A time when all I could think about was playing in the orchard and go swimming in the lake."

As he was inspecting the photo, Gianni notices a notch on the side of the frame. He unlatches the notch which opened the frame. Pieces of paper fell down from the back of the painting.

"What are these?" Silas picks them up one by one. "These are the recipes of Queen Helenessa. And one of them is of the brioche that you speak of."

Julien takes the paper containing the recipe. His face instantly lights up with joy and excitement.

"It's here," he smiles. "It's all here."

"We just have to find the peaches then," Gianni smiles back at the prince.

At once, Prince Julien and Gianni sets off to search for peach trees that are still have fruit. Julien takes the horse from the stable and mounts it. He lets Gianni sit in front of him this time.

"Why the change in position?" Gianni utters as Julien beats the reins.

"I want to see how it feels like putting my arms around someone's waist and leaning my head on their shoulder," Julien giggles. They go on as the prince tightens his embrace around Julien. "I remember an orchard of peach trees on the other side of the lake. We should go there."

They ride following the lake's delta. Unlike the road leading to the lake house, there was no road beyond. The muddy ground became chock full of bushes and grass. The road was on the eastern side of the like and the lake house was in a fork separated from the main road. The southern side and the west were undisturbed by human development.

"We can't go any further unless we walk," Julien dismounts. He helps Gianni down and grabs a rope. He ties the rope to the rein and ties the other end to a branch. "We should get to the other side. It's this way."

Julien and Gianni traverses over fallen branches, bushes, grass, twigs, rocks and pebbles, and all manner of debris. They make it halfway through the southern delta of the lake. However, a shallow lake opening awaited them. It formed a U-shape that protruded on land.

"It's shallow enough for us to cross," Julien tests the water. He walks to the middle of the water that only reached until his ankles. "We should almost..."

Before he could complete his sentence, Gianni trips on the bank and falls head first on the water. The white chemise that he wore became dull silver and he was completely soaked. The prince could not help but laugh as Gianni faced the predicament.

"Come on," Prince Julien lifts him up from the water and carries him in a manner similar to a princess. "I'll carry you until we reach the other side."

"Thank you for carrying me," Gianni blushes again. This was the nth time that his heart raced today. Anymore of it could be detrimental to his cardiovascular health. "My right foot slipped as I was walking into the water. I should be more careful next time."

"You should."

"Listen, your Highness, about what happened in the room earlier. I apologize for misinterpreting what you were doing."

"No, there are no apologies to be given. It was completely an error on my part for not communicating my actions and intentions properly. If I just said, perhaps, maybe, that I wanted you to change clothes instead of directly pushing you and jumping you. I offer my sincerest apologies, Gianni."

"You've already made it up to me by carrying me across."

They eventually reach the other side of the water.