#(that'll be my tag for this AU so I can find stuff I've said about it later)

[gaycey-sketchit]

Ooh tell me about your knight/prince au

I'd love to!!

Okay so I don't really have anything written down for it, but it's lived rent free in my brain since like. 2018. The gist of it is:

Drew is a prince, first in line to inherit the throne, so he should probably have somebody protecting him. So his mothers, the queens, appoint a very special young knight for this--despite Ash's youth he has proven himself to be brave and noble and generally perfect for the job. And he and Drew are the same age, and the queens think maybe their son could benefit from having some company his own age.

Drew does not appreciate this, because he's proud and stubborn and doesn't need a bodyguard bothering him all the time. He is generally annoyed by Ash's presence, Ash gets annoyed right back because he's trying to do his job, no your highness I cannot leave you alone that would be treason, they are generally not on the best footing for a while.

Drew likes to sneak off sometimes, just to escape the pressures of everything and have some peace. But eventually he runs into trouble. Ash comes to the rescue and afterward Drew is like "I could've handled it on my own" and Ash is like "whatever your highness, but you're hurt and can I help?" and Drew lets him. And they strayed pretty far from home so they spend the night under the stars and get to talking and both sort of realize the other isn't so bad.

After that, they start to warm up to each other. Drew shows Ash the royal gardens he's always loved, Ash teaches Drew about swordfighting, they bond. Ash whispers jokes in Drew's ear during boring diplomatic meetings and it definitely makes them less boring. At some point in all this, their feelings evolve from friendship to something Else.

They have to keep up an act of propriety in front of other people, but if in the dead of night Drew leads Ash up to the highest balcony in the castle to kiss under the most amazing view of the stars, nobody has to know about that.

Drew is betrothed to the princess of a neighboring kingdom, has been for years. This has never been a problem before because he and May have known each other since they were little and have been good friends for most of that time, and wouldn't have minded being married. But now that Drew has a secret knight boyfriend, this is a bit of a problem. When he gets to talk to May about this, she finds his secret love for his knight very romantic and sweet, but agrees that it's a bit of a sticky situation. She agrees to keep their secret and help how she can.

Meanwhile, the rest of the royal guard has noticed Ash seems different. They are speculating about why this is and "he's finally stopped being so dense and found a girlfriend/boyfriend" is on the table. He is not a good liar, which is a problem when you're in a secret forbidden relationship, so they figure out that much but he does manage to keep the details of who his relationship is with under wraps.

This all culminates in many things I haven't quite figured out yet. Their secret love grows deeper and they both think they'd like to be married someday but that simply. Isn't possible.

Ash gets an idea and asks if Drew is happy here, being a prince. Drew is kind of taken aback by this because nobody's ever asked how he feels about the position he was born into. And he loves his mothers and the garden and his favorite mare in the palace stable, but he's not much of a people person and honestly hates all the diplomacy and the pressure of having to always appear perfect.

Ash suggests they finally throw propriety to the wind and run away together, start a life far away from it all, with the freedom to be who they are without all the pressure and everything standing in their way. And Drew is like that is the most insane thing I've ever heard. Let me think about it.

And they probably do end up running away together in the end and then I write a sequel about them fumbling through life as Drew tries to figure out how to do things he's never had to do for himself and Ash tries to protect everyone because he's used to that being his job and they're both trying not to raise suspicion about where they came from, but they're also very happy to be able to be in love without hiding it.

#Andrew answers #eondragon #prince and lionheart #(that'll be my tag for this AU so I can find stuff I've said about it later) #respectshipping