His Royal Majesty

Dorian Ellington-Aragona

The King of Italy

How very unprepared he was for that sheer opulence that palace so had to offer! It was a foolish notion, truly, to hold any belief that his own palace was by far the most glorious of all those within the modern world. Dorian long having suspected that within the vast expanse of the world itself there was surely other palaces whom might yet prove to be astounding in their makeup and yet a near naive, childish part within himself had so desired to simply believe that Caserta, in the very least, might surely be one of the most grand. Perhaps it was, at least, when it came to scale and gardens, and yet the manner of opulence was another entirely. One England had already begun to rival with its front gate alone! Dorian's silver gaze lingered readily upon that ebony framework as the town car halted but briefly outside those gates, his eye drawn inexplicably to the gilded golden crest that ebony iron held in to place. Caserta's gates, by comparison, were nothing if not bland. Bland! Dorian assured he had never once considered such a word in relation to his own palace until this very moment. Such internal consideration prompting that very pout to his features. One that had so hardly gone unnoticed by his lover. That boyish displeasure seeming only to prompt Sebastian's amusement as that rich laughter filled the car. His husband so proceeding to inform him that this was merely the beginning of what England might offer them. How readily Sebastian had told him of the British Crown and its wealth and yet he had so failed to take such words to heart when surely he should have. Dorian wholly determined in the notion that Caserta would have new gates before the year was out. Gates far more splendid then even this.

How utterly absurd it surely was that he might allow such frivolous emotions as jealousy over a Palace to exist and yet he could so hardly help it! It was simply....not fair. Dorian wholly determined to rectify his very home and so bring about a series of renovations if need be. Italy would meet that modern world as England had done. Dorian nothing if not committed to such a goal. Sebastian, surely, would not deny him any such plans. The Monarch inclined to consider that he might carry through with such plans regardless of Sebastian's thoughts upon it all the same. They were surely a necessity after all. That town car so smoothly pulled up at the base of the steps that led into the palace itself. A red capet having been laid out for their entry as several footman gathered with umbrellas to assist them in moving from the car to the interior without being so assaulted by the continual downpour of rain that so seemed to be the norm for England. Dorian not unwilling to admit that even he had come to find a fondness of sorts in that rain and dreary sky. At least- when one was nestled within the depths of one's bed sheets. How very much he so desired to return to their bed! How he wished they had never left it! Necessary though it was. The very thought of returning to his husbands arms later this evening so prompting within him a wholly determined desire to see this meeting through. Dorian's gaze shifting toward his husband then as that footman so welcomed him home. How foolish it was that after so taking his lover only this very evening he still so desired it again. Sebastian was nothing short of ravishing within such an outfit and with Italy's own crown nestled atop his head. How very dangerous such thoughts surely were here and now! Dorian shifting where he stood in a distinct effort to waylay his own thoughts to the manner at hand and follow their guide into the depths of Buckingham itself.

Sebastian fell easily into place beside him and ever so slightly back as was to be expected, the pair led further into that Palace and reception room, Dorian so eyeing but each and every part of that room from its walls to its gilded staircase. It laced the grandeur, perhaps, of the marble off his own and yet how glorious that golden hue! Those very gates outside all but put to shame by the interior! This quite unlike anything he had seen before. It was far smaller than his own Palace and yet it so contained within it a glorious warmth all its own. The sheer amount of gold within so captivating him entirely. Gold, after all, had so eternally been a weakness for the Italian Monarch. Perhaps his own gates were not all that needed renovating. Perhaps he might do the interior of their Palace in turn. Dorian wholly oblivious in that moment to the notion Sebastian had so already considered those golden thrones they were yet to see and the very effect they might have upon him! The Fae King adjusted his pace but slightly then to fall into step with his own husband, Dorian whispering but softly of those very plans he had already decided upon for their own palace. Sebastian appearing nothing if not amused once more. Wretched creature he was.

They were led at last to that lounge, the footman assuring them that Her Majesty would arrive in a matter of moments before he offered them both that polite bow and so saw himself out of the room. Dorian so at last left alone with his lover within yet another gloriously decorated space. That waiting tea and biscuits so near instantly capturing his attention as he gestured toward the plate with that insistence it appeared Her Majesty had recalled Sebastian's favoured biscuits. Those the very kind he was assured his lover partook of at home. The vampires soft assurance that they were, in fact, terribly popular in England and had been served by the royal court for years so prompting that faint frown to the Monarch's own features.

"Oh, I had not considered that."

He had almost hoped, truly, that Her Majesty had recalled those favoured biscuits if only to lessen that nervousness he knew still existed within his husband all the same. Even despite his own efforts to steal away that anxiety. This very meeting, no matter how informal, meant a terribly great deal to Sebastian. Dorian nothing if not determined to assure it went smoothly. It was that very desire, perhaps, that so saw the Fae King ask further after that room he was assured his husband must have stood within but a hundred times before and whether or not it had changed terribly much. Sebastian quick to insist that beyond the occasional shift in furniture it was much the same as it had always been. Their own Palace on Caserta prone to that very same.....sameness. After all, so many of those rooms were historical in their own right. Furniture was rotated but the layout of the room was rarely if ever changed if only for the significance and function of the room itself. Another thought so prompted that warm simper to Dorian's own lips as his gaze returned to his lover beside him upon the couch.

"I quite enjoy so picturing you within this very room in your earlier days. I like to imagine just what you might of worn and how you might have appeared. Had I existed within this Palace in that time I am assured I would have tried to garner your attention- scandalous though it would have been. Then again-"

Dorian's head tilted but slightly as if so further considertion but a particular thought. That simper upon his lips so becoming near impish in that moment, the Monarch casting but the briefest of looks about that room to assure himself no one else had arrived before he so moved to press his lips to his husbands jaw. Dorian allowing that kiss to trail ever so briefly downward, a mere flutter upon that skin of Sebastian's neck before he so smoothly lent away.

"-I could simply have asked for you to be sent to my room. I might have a new game for us to play. Next time."

That bright, teasing grin so easily found his features then, Dorian wholly aware of his own choice of words in that moment. A soft chuckle so rising within his throat before he so reclined further atop that sofa in a ready contentment. His gaze returned to that room at large only to so suddenly fall upon the sight of that golden piano. How glorious! Surely they so required one in turn! Dorian wholly quick to make that very suggestion along with the notion that Sebastian had perhaps married the wrong Monarch after all. His husbands insistence he had surely tried for the first all the same prompted yet another chuckle from within Dorian himself. The Fae King entirely content to believe his lover had done just that before Sebastian spoke of that piano once more. His lovers knowledge of those instruments was nothing short of impressive. To hear Sebastian speak so passionately of that piano was nothing short of enchanting. Dorian quite adoring to hear his husband talk of such things. The notion that his piano was special so prompting that look of intrigue to his features.

"You have played that very piano?"

Dorian's gaze so shifted from that aforementioned Erard to Sebastian and back again. Chopin, he knew, was nothing short off his lovers very idol. The meaning and significance of that instrument hardly lost upon him. His features so frowning once more in a consideration of sorts.

"You know, if we could come by one of these Erard's, even one in poor condition, we could always ask Matteo to restore it. Are they always gold? I do fancy that gold terribly. I think I should find you very attractive at a golden piano. I should love to hear it played too."

Sebastian's insistence that such an instrument had a different sound was nothing short of intriguing. Dorian quite assured he would very much like to hear it played.Any further talk upon that piano was abruptly ended by the arrival of Her Majesty herself, Sebastian hurrying so quickly to his feet in that effort to maintain politeness Dorian could so hardly prevent that simper that found his lips before rising in turn. The Fae King so easily extended his hand for the Queen's own, his head nodded in the polite and yet formal greeting so shared between those of equal status. They exchanged those simple pleasantries, Dorian quite taken aback by how....small the woman was. Her age, perhaps, having surely affected her stature. The Fae King so having become terribly used to the relative youth of his own court and its members. The immortality of the Fae race so assuring very few in his court, outside those of mortal birth, showed by any sign of age at all. The aging of the human species one he found terribly curious of not rather....saddening to consider. Dorian so moved to step aside in the wake of his greeting of Her Majesty to allow her to engage Sebastian. His husband, he knew, by far of more intrigue to Her Majesty then he was himself. To have a member of the British Court marry into the royalty of another, after all, would have no doubt caused quote the discussion within the royal household even if Sebastian's position within that English Monarchy had not been of the same prominence as his place in Italy.

It was a curious thing, that....aloofness of sorts that so seemed to drape the British Monarch. Her Majesty greeting Sebastian with no lack of warmth or manner and yet there was a reservedness of sorts to her words all the same. Dorian content, for now, to merely watch that exchange with a clear curiosity as Her Majesty asked after that change in weather between their countries. That very request to seat themselves once more so prompted the Monarch to return to that sofa beside Sebastian. Her Majesty offered that congratulations upon their wedding, the mere mention of such an event prompting a warm smile to Dorian's lips once more before talk shifted to Sebastian's estates and any plans they might have for remaining within England for the long term. Dorian so hardly unaware of the very....potency of that question. How politely it was worded and yet he had so surely played this game of words long enough to know what Her Majesty truly sought confirmation of in that moment. Whether or not another Monarchy would exist within England. Sebastian, it seemed, was was wholly aware of that question in turn, his husband glancing but briefly towards him before assuring the Queen that they had no immediate plans to live within England for the long term. Italy requiring much of their attention. This answer seeming to satisfy Her Majesty as she nodded.

My family has long holidayed in Balmoral, the weather is agreeable and the natural environment incomparable. Have you travelled out this far yet, Dorian?

"No, Sebastian and I have not been to this, how you say, Balmoral yet. I adore the English countryside myself and yet I have been very taken with London in turn. Sebastian has taken me to many of the museums, your country has a very rich history."

You must visit the Tower of London and the Abby at Westminster. Sebastian can tell you much of them I am sure.

Her Majesty's head nodded softly toward Sebastian once more, a small simper so finding her lips as she did. To speak of her own country and its history so clearly a pleasing topic and one Dorian was, in turn, so more then willing to engage within. After all, he truly did find an utter delight in the history of England, a history so different to his countries own.

"Sebastian has promised to show me his University while we are here. I look very much forward to it."

Ah, Oxford or Cambridge?

Her Majesty's gaze shifted once more to Sebastian then. That the vampire would so surely have attended one of these very schools seemed so be a near unspoken understanding. Dorian's gaze shifted from the Queen to his husband and back once more before Her Majesty reached to pour herself a cup of tea from that waiting pot. Dorian wholly curious of just how that British Monarch might take her tea in comparison to his husband. The Fae King, so far, inclined to find Her Majesty an agreeable sort of person. The older woman addressing them both as she continued then.Her words nothing short of polite and yet direct once more. Elizabeth, Dorian had decided, not inclined to waste words and yet, truly, he was inclined to understand.

Your estates, Sebastian, have long been a part of England's history, estates that are now partially owned by the Italian Crown in turn. We are nothing but thrilled for your union, truly, yet we hope such estates will always remain at least partially British owned. Do you intend to leave them to your own children when you have them?

It was, Dorian supposed, so hardly an unreasonable question in any sense. Her Majesty so evidently expressing concern that those British estates might, so eventually, fall to Dorian's ownership alone were some tragedy to befall his husband. Those very homes so becoming entirely Italian owned in that very instance. Children, by that same token, the very question so many seemed content to put before them of late even if the Monarch remained assured they hardly need make any decisions upon heirs so early in their marriage. After all, their own immortality so surely applied a far lengthier period of time to that expectation of children that so seemed to be thrust upon mortal couples to produce within those first three to five years. Sooner, if that British example was to be followed. The Queen's own grandson having welcomed his first son only recently and barely a year into his marriage with his new wife! That Sebastian's metaphorical children might so be considered better guardians of those British Estates then himself so prompted the faintest of frowns to Dorian's features and yet....could Her Majesty truly be blamed for such consideration when they represented so much to the history of her country? That, Dorian was assured, he could not truly fault her for.