His Royal Majesty

Dorian Ellington-Aragona

The King of Italy

Samantha, he was certain, did not seem nearly so distressed about her current state as he was certain she should have been. Did she not fear the harsh judgement of society? Did she not not worry for her child being so labelled a bastard? Did she not fear he might be denied his inheritance if his Father chose not to recognise him? Then again, Dorian supposed, in this day and age it was perhaps decidedly likely that there was no true...inheritance to speak off. It was also not terribly...uncommon four a couple to have a child before they were wed even if Dorian still remained unable to look upon such a thing without judgement. It was hypocritical of him, he supposed, he himself had been born a bastard child and yet such a thing had been well outside his control. Dorian too so remembered the very struggles of that stigma. A child of questionable parentage was looked down upon from the moment they were born! How desperately he did not desire Samantha's child to suffer that same fate. Still, perhaps he need hold more faith in the modern world and its changing views. Had they truly changed this much? Samantha's sudden insistence that the Father of her child was hardly of questionable character prompted a look of surprise to the Monarch's features. One that only increased all the more at the very notion that he already knew some member of his family. This Kit Marks who had fathered Samantha's child was apparently the brother of none other than Troy. Heavens but this was a potent line of Fae!

"Troy is a good man. It is at least comforting to know that this Kit you speak off is from a good family."

Comforting perhaps, but still not terribly ideal. Really, Dorian was given to wonder how Troy had reacted to this news- if his brother had chosen to share it with him. Perhaps he was being too...judgemental and yet how the Monarch could hardly help such a thing! Dorian, after all, was nothing if not a product of his time. The Fae distinctly determined to blame Kit for this entire affair all the same. Dorian's very insistence that, if needed, he would most certainly speak to this other Fae was met with a near sharp rebuttal from Samantha herself. The young woman abruptly claiming that he would not. Dorian so merely allowed one silver eye to raise in surprise. It had been....years since any being had dared command him in any fashion. Indeed, he was near certain that those early days in which Samantha and himself had lived together had been the last time in which he had been commanded by any one. How...obscure it was to hear such a tone. The Monarch, for now, so dismissing it all the same as Samantha insisted such things as marriage would come in time. How oblivious Dorian was to the very notion it was Samantha herself who held off that marriage! The Monarch was so hardly able to prevent that look of concern that lingered upon his features all the same. Dorian seemed to contemplate his own words for several moments before those accente lyrics left his lips. The Monarch sighing softly as he did.

"You will need to forgive my....judgements on this matter. I am from a very different time when things were very difficult for unmarried Mothers- if not impossible. I struggle to remember that the world is a different place. That Kit desires to be involved, in the very least though, is pleasing. And I cannot deny that you seem terribly happy."

A soft simper found the Monarch's lips in that moment. After all, Samantha did, indeed, seem wonderfully happy and that in itself was surely important. It had been a long time since he had seen her smile so brightly as this. Perhaps he could be accepting of it. A silence fell back over that room then as Samantha seemed to contemplate her words all the more, the woman seeming near...hesitant to continue before the Monarch sought to prompt her onward. They were friends, after all, surely she could speak her mind to him, after all this time? That veritable rush of words the Monarch was met with however were nothing short of unexpected! The younger Fae's request for a job was overshadowed only by her request that he might take up that role of Godfather for her daughter! A daughter. That sudden query on the child's gender seemed to prompt Samantha's smile to widen all the more as she insisted the doctor had confirmed her own beliefs only days before. How terribly marvelous that modern technology was! To know the gender of a child before it was born. Raven too, he recalled, had known she carried a son well before the child's birth.

"You are to have a daughter then! How very splendid! What will you name her?"

Names after all, in Dorians own time, had hardly been so secretive as they often were now. After all, most sons were named for their fathers or grandfathers, those same names used over and over. Daughters were named in the same fashion for mothers or grandmothers, for objects or places of beauty in the hopes they might grow to embody such traits. It was Samantha's very request for their continued friendship, however, that prompte a soft simper to Dorian's lips once more. Had they not always been friends, even if Samantha had travelled from the city and he had found his own happiness with Sebastian? Dorian's soft assurance that he would always remain her friend seemed to bring about that joy within the young woman once more. Friendship, after all, was something he was wholly willing to offer her. They had, after all, been through a great deal together in the early days of their acquaintance. Dorian so hardly having forgotten how much she had assisted him. It was her very request for a job, however, that was perhaps harder to fill. His household staff was terribly small and largely employed by Sebastian. His personal assistant had been with him for several years and how terribly loath he would be to fire dear Emma! There was, surely, a veritable multitude of jobs he might offer Samantha however- in Italy. His Palace staff was forever growing and always in need of extra hands. There was surely a place for her within court or even within the kitchen or laundry and yet how certain he was that she and Kit did not desire to move to another country. One where neither was likely to speak the language and Samantha due to have a child in but a few months.

How readily Samantha's face seemed to fall at that suggestion that such a job so surely existed only in Italy. The woman softly confirmed that she did not desire to move to another country. Dorian, in that moment, could hardly prevent that pang of regret he so felt at being unable to assist his companion further. Samantha seemed to grow further silent in that moment before suggesting that, perhaps, she simply desired to spend more time with him, that working for him seemed a splendid way to do such a thing. Dorian's head so softly shook then, the Monarch allowing that warm simper to find his lips once more.

"Darling, if you desire to spend more time with me you need only come over and, well, spend time with me."

How terribly simple such a thing was! Samantha, after all, was always welcome to visit. Even with his own busy schedule there was surely always time to be mad for tea with a companion. It was the young woman's insistence that she was willing to do anything to assure his success as Italy's King however that coaxed a simper near impish to his lips. The Monarch appeared thoughtful for a moment then.

"Hmmm. Is that so? I lack an heir of my own. If you are truly willing to assist me then I shall require your firstborn son."

That look of alarm upon the young woman's features so readily coaxed abrupt, warm laughter from Dorian's own. That sound so easily filling the room with delight.

"I am teasing you! I have learned to do that now. I am still not terribly good at it but one must admit that was rather funny. You should have seen the look on your face."

It was decidedly rare, in ever sense, for Dorian to joke. The Monarch was far more prone to seriousness and yet that moment had been terribly opportune. Another soft chuckle hummed within the monarch's throat before that topic became wholly serious once more. That request that he might take on the role of godparent to Samantha's daughter, after all, was nothing short of important. To be charged with guiding a child's spiritual well being was a significant task! One Dorian so found himself near delighted to take up. Samantha's insistence that she could think of no better person coaxed a soft simper to the elder Fae's lips once more.

"Those are very kind things to say, thank you."

How was it, in all this time, that he had not known Samantha was catholic!? Ow very many missed opportunities they had had to attend church on a sunday when they had lived together. Samantha seemed near...sheepish in that moment that followed. The woman admitting her own spirituality was somewhat lapsed and yet she desired her daughter might walk a different path, so to speak, one Dorian found himself wholly willing to guide her own.

"I will gladly assist in your daughter's spiritual education- I shall be nothing but pleased to do so. Spirituality, in these modern times, is far too lacking I am certain. Your daughter shall have every chance to explore it. Do you intend to baptize her?"

That baptism, after all, was surely the first step of such a process. Dorian's silver gaze met his companions near curiously before Samantha continued. The young woman near nervously suggested that she hoped Sebastian too, might take up that role. A near flicker of surprise danced across the monarch's features then. After all, it was no secret that Sebastian and Samantha had never seen eye to eye. Sebastian indeed had been nothing but blunt in his insistence that he did not...enjoy Samantha's company. Dorian, in turn, had been nothing but respectful of his husband's wishes. The Monarch so having kept the pair distinctly separate ever since. That Samantha wished to make amends was nothing short of admirable and yet there was every chance Sebastian would desire not to take up the role the young woman offered- such was his right to refuse it. Dorian's head nodded softly.

"I will speak to him in regards to your offer and your intention to make right that which happened in the past. I fear though that I am hardly certain of his response. Such a decision is his to make alone but, I promise, I will ask him on your behalf."

Such a choice, after all, was hardly his to influence in either way. If Sebastian wished to take up the offer then he might surely seek to meet with Samantha himself. If his husband desired not to engage in such a thing however, Dorian was wholly inclined to respect that choice in turn. Such business, after all, was between Samantha and Sebastian alone. That very notion for now however was pushed but further aside. Dorian's gaze so shifted to his companion once more as a simper found his lips.

"I am pleased you came today, Samantha. It was wonderful to see you and I am happy for you- truly I am."