Sebastian had been nothing short of right. In that evening that followed the one in which the man had experienced the ice for the first time Dorian had woken to find himself afflicted with more aches then he was sure one body was capable of tolerating. His muscles and frame as a whole were unused to that method of standing and moving, his feet too, determined to protest his having made them wear such skates at all. The Fae King found himself wholly unwilling to move, especially not in an effort to catch a flight, Dorian having become entirely fond of the bed within Lancaster House and as such saw little reason to move from it when his limbs were so content to protest. It was merely fortunate perhaps, that the flight from London to Naples was no more than three hours, the pair hardly needing to rush to the airport in preparation for a lengthy flight, this one capable of being completed within the same evening and with no need for either to be awake in any daylight hours. The notion of flying however, still sat poorly with the Monarch, Dorian at last allowing himself to be coaxed from that bed only to find a nervousness of sorts afflict him at the idea of getting back into those machines. A thought he was distracted from as those goodbyes were offered to Charles and Elizabeth and too the rest of the staff within Sebastian's London home. The vampire's staff, after all, were hardly needed within Dorian's own home and yet truly the King was sad to see them go. The Fae too- finding he was almost remiss to leave London at all. He liked the city with its noise and lights and snow and too he so enjoyed the delight it seemed to bring Sebastian to be home. That they would surely return next Christmas was at least something of a consolation.

That flight from London to his own country was a far shorter affair then even Dorian had anticipated. The man so attempting to come to terms with just how they could move from one country to another in a matter of hours! It was baffling to him and yet brilliant all the same. The Fae King so handling this flight perhaps a little better than he had the last, Sebastian so providing a sense of security with his presence alone. If his lover was not worried then surely there was no need to be. Dorian so content to spend the majority of that flight regaling the vampire with dinosaur facts learned from his newest book, the Fae so constantly awed by the creatures that he was assured his lover should be too. Take-off and landing, consequently, proved to be points of stress all the same. The man convinced they would fail on both accounts, his fingers gripping at that chair each time, refusing at all to look out the window at the city lights below no matter how lovely Sebastian claimed them to be lest he terrify himself all the more. Dorian was all too eager to disembark that plane, the pair having barely made it into that terminal when the sounds of those accented Italian lyrics became evident to the man, his lips so tugging upward in a grin of pleasure as his gaze returned briefly to Sebastian. His attention caught but a moment later by the sight of that city through those glass terminal windows, his breath near catching within his throat. He had, after all, failed to see his own home in so many centuries. A land that had once been field upon field and forest that touched the ocean had, over time, become a plethora of city lights and sandstone buildings.

"It is so different."

The words were very near breathed upon a whisper and yet he was assured Sebastian should hear them all the same, his fingers reaching to entwine with his lovers own then. It was almost overwhelming truly, that he might be expected to rule a country he had been within for centuries and yet that he knew near nothing about any longer. The reality of it striking to him as his silver gaze continued to linger on that sweeping city. It was his consort he so relied on then to navigate that airport terminal, Sebastian assuring him the drive would be no more than twenty five minutes, The Royal Palace of Caserta deceptively close. Acquiring a car to drive them proved to be a decidedly simple task for the vampire, Dorian so eternally in awe of his lovers simply knowledge on how these things were done before settling himself within the back seat and beside his companion once more, a nervousness of sorts so beginning to afflict him and yet even that was so swept away at the simple awe of being driven through his own city. It was so vast, so alive, so bright and vibrant and glorious! It was as busy as London itself and yet too that architecture and art was vastly different, the city awash with those fountains and monuments lit up against the night sky in a way Dorian had never seen them before. Those buildings however soon gave way to that one, single building that stood taller and wider and more grand then any that surrounded it, that towering sandstone palace rising from within those manicured gardens and lawns around it, the driveway itself adorned with those intricate fountains that paved the way to those double doors that had been sealed for far longer than Dorian cared to consider. The entirety of that building and its miles of gardens so surrounded however by that towering iron and stone fence, their driver pulling up outside it, this, he said, the closest he could get. Not that he understood why they desired to come here at all. It was closed, he assured them, the palace locked off to the public for as long as he could remember though there had been talk lately of allowing tour groups into the gardens after all these years, though they were at least a month too early for that. They were still refurbishing it and had they heard a King supposedly still lived there? It was a lie of course, a government conspiracy.

"Here will be fine."

Dorian so assured the man but a moment later if only to put an end to such conversation, the driver eyeing the Monarch for but a moment as they climbed from the vehicle before asking whether or not they had met before, Dorian apparently seeming familiar to him. The Fae King, for his part, hurrying to assure the man they had not before sending him on his way leaving the pair to stand, obscurely, on the footpath outside those palace gates. His own gaze flickered but briefly sideways, meeting Sebastian's own for but a moment, a soft simper touching his lips now as he so gestured to that terribly long pathway that eventually led to that sandstone palace.

"This, Bastian, would be my home."

A home for longer than he had ever cared it to be, Dorian so finding he was not truly sure as to how he felt to see such a palace again, a veritable maelstrom of emotions stirring within him before he reached to take his lovers hand once more and lead him towards those gates where two men stood guard so dressed in that traditional uniform. How curious it was that after all these years of trying to get out he might now so be attempting to get back in. He halted but once more before reaching those guards, one hand lifted to run but a finger along that fine chain about Sebastian's neck, lifting that Kings Seal from beneath his lover's shirt until it sat upon the outside and so clearly visible.

"For this evening at least, I think you should wear it where all might see it."

It was a display of both rank and his own favour after all, Dorian unwilling to allow there to be any mistake of Sebastian's identity as he at last reached the first of the guards. A Fae like himself and one he found he knew. The guard scowled in clear displeasure- his lips parting to tell the pair off when his very features seemed to pale entirely, shock having rendered the guard entirely mute as Dorian allowed but a single eye to raise in some faint touch of amusement.

"Good evening Emry, would you open the gates please?"

A order so seemed to prompt Emry into reaction, the guard immediately dropping to one knee in a far more ostentatious bow then Dorian was sure was needed. A gasp from the other guard all that was emitted before he too- dropped readily to his knees. Dorian taking but a moment to nod politely to each before once more gesturing to the gate. Emry so hurried to his feet then, unlocking those gates as the other guard moved to take their bags, the men immediately shifting into an escort formation, evidently of the believe Sebastian and himself could surely not make it up the drive unattended. It was only upon reaching those towering double doors that Emry hurried ahead to announce their arrival, Dorian paused outside them, hesitation evident upon him now as his heart fluttered nervously. He had spent so many years behind those doors, did he truly dare to walk into them again? His words but a whisper for his consort alone.

"I am so afraid of these doors."

One hand had barely extended to press against that wood when it was shifted from the inside, light suddenly flooding that darkness. Electricity. Someone had installed electricity even if only within that entrance hall. A short man with dark hair all peppered with grey so stood before him now, in his pyjamas no less. Dorian assured he would recognise his advisor anywhere. Benito's eyes widening then as he spoke. My god it is true, his Majesty is alive! It was with that single admission that the doors were both thrown open. Sebastian and himself admitted into that entrance hall so carved of exquisite marble and gleaming from floor to ceiling, the lanterns within all lit, their fixtures adorned in true gold. The sound of people coming echoed within that space as the court itself begun to appear from hallways and doorways and that single sweeping staircase ahead, one lady-in-waiting so bursting into tears and having to hide herself behind another. Benito the first to bow down, the rest of those present following in turn as Dorian and Sebastian stood within that doorway. Dorian still lingering on that threshold.

"Welcome to Caserta, Mon Cher."

Dorian Aragona