Chapter Twenty-Two

Vincent had been expecting the question, or at least a variant of that concern. Mortrin and Morgan had both warned him separately that after what Orion had gone through, he was going to fret against the limitations the time it took to heal was giving him. Onyx had been equally blunt, sending Vincent a long message once he learned what Vincent was doing, warning him that Orion didn't believe in his own value, and that Vincent was going to have to be patient if he genuinely wanted their marriage to last.

"I've always been a pasty man myself, but they're not as easy to eat on the move." He chuckled as the carriage wobbled against a rut in the road, causing him to drop crumbs on his shirt. "As you can see. But as to your question, I have some thoughts on that, but I'd first like to hear your concerns."

"I would've thought that was obvious." Orion sighed, his body slumped against the back of the carriage seat. "I'm worn out. Exhausted. One carriage trip, where all I have to do is sit here, and then a brief walk around, and I'm ready to collapse into bed and have an afternoon nap. I know Mortrin keeps saying that the body takes time to heal, but I can't stop thinking about the itinerary John told me about on our wedding day. You had events planned in Monce, Scythe, and Faast – all of which I assume have been postponed for now. But those people will still want to see you. I'm just not sure I can accompany you and I'm not sure where that leaves us going forward."

"I do think we need to attend at least one event in the near future. But that's in Faast. The rest of them I have already canceled, not simply postponed. My mother will want to present you to the court as my husband soon after we arrive there, and I do think that's a good idea. Now hear me out," he added as Orion was clearly going to object.

"That event is important to my mother, and for you, too, in your role as the crown prince consort. My heart rejoiced when you forgave me for my blunders at Carntan, and I know we said we wouldn't speak of it again, but you need to see with your own eyes that I have changed, and I would never behave so badly toward you again. The people we will rule one day need to see how important you are to me. Because you are. In case I hadn't mentioned it before."

That got Vincent a small smile. "You're fast becoming important to me as well," Orion said slowly. "Which is why I feel we have to discuss this honestly and logically. Your previous behaviors aside, there is still the little matter of me never likely to be interesting to your friends, or even being able to dance with you for very long. Being sociable and attending one event after another is a huge part of your life. I don't fit in that world, Vincent. I never have, and to be brutally honest, even if I didn't have the physical limitations I'm experiencing right now, I'm not sure I want that sort of life."

Vincent took a mouthful of his pasty, and thought about how to frame his answer. Orion was perfectly correct in one respect. Parties and socializing was basically all Vincent had ever done… until Orion's accident. Swallowing and reaching for a bottle of water, he said, "Would you believe me if I said that the only reason I attended so many events was because that was the only way I knew how to fit in with others?"

"You don't have any reason to lie to me about something like that, and I do believe you. But I think you need to explain yourself a bit more." Orion was nibbling on his pasty.

"I like being around people." Taking a swig from the bottle, Vincent went to pass it to Orion who shook his head, so he capped it and put it back in the basket. "You're right about that side of things. Being raised as the heir to a country, I learned that my only value came from being seen, making friends, networking, and generally showing people from royal and society families that I was a friendly, amiable person. I wasn't always successful," he added as Orion coughed. "But that was my role. That was how I fit in. That was what I was told a crown prince was supposed to do."

"You're proving my point." Orion waved in the direction of the mine. "Crown princes don't work. Just having my name on that sign back there is going to scream to anyone who reads it that I'm a working prince, and that's looked down on by so many people of rank. In turn, that's going to reflect badly on you and your reputation."

"Only if we let it," Vincent said. "One of the first things my dance partners at that event we no longer discuss said about you was that you worked for a living. No one could tell me what you did, or how they knew, but they talked about it in the same tone as they might mention you running naked down the street on the night of a full moon."

"You're doing a very good job in proving my point yet again. I'm sure you were equally concerned and horrified about it."

"Hmm. In the spirit of honesty, I thought by marrying me, I would be saving you from a working life." Vincent laughed. It sounded ridiculous to him now, when he had callouses and one of his blisters on his thumb was stinging. "I never knew, until you gave me the opportunity to see for myself, how satisfying and invigorating having something meaningful to do can be. I want to do it again."

"Open another mine, you mean?" Orion frowned. "I'm not sure we're ready to do that just yet. We need to see how successful this one mine can be first."

"Not another mine as such, no. Not yet. But what if we found another project – a community project in Faast perhaps. Something like what you've done with the mine, where we can help build something or create a business perhaps providing opportunities for the people who will call us king and consort one day."

Orion's frown deepened. "But then your people will see you working. Your society friends, your family, everyone who is important to you."

Vincent was good at picking up cues – all right, most of the time he was good at picking up cues from others. No one was perfect, but Orion sounded cautiously optimistic despite the furrows in his brow, and Vincent could work with that. "Wouldn't that be a good thing? If you think about it, I know your brother works every minute of every day, even if he doesn't get any recognition for it."

Vincent fought to keep his opinions of King Oscar to himself. Orion would see for himself soon enough that his mother, Queen Julia, was nothing like that man, and her gender had nothing to do with it. She was a queen who cared about everyone, when King Oscar only cared about himself. "We could set our own trend, showing through example how good works benefit the community and improve the lives of the people we will rule one day. By actually working, even if we didn't have to, can't you see how some society family members, for example, might want to join in?"

"Honestly?" Orion's eyebrow quirked in the most delightful way. "I think you're giving society family members, those who you dance and play around with, too much credit. But that could be me being unfair," Orion added quickly. "I don't know those people."

"No, you don't, and it's possible you still wouldn't like them even if you spent time with them." Vincent had been in that situation more than once. "It's equally possible that they truly believe that their only worth is to stand around and gossip about others in a misguided attempt to prove something to themselves. I don't know. However, you and I have an ace card up our sleeves." Vincent grinned at his husband.

"You're talking about cheating now? Is that how we ended up married in the first place?"

"No, you wonderfully delightful man." Vincent took Orion's napkin from his hands, throwing it in the basket, so he could hold those hands in his own. "I won that game fair and square. But the ace I'm talking about, the edge if you want to call it that, is that ultimately you and I are crown prince and crown prince consort. A mouthful, I know, but we can set our own trends and given our positions, we don't have to care about how other people view us.

"Those men at the mines, the ones working for you before the accident. They didn't care that you were a prince. They genuinely believe that you're a decent person, and once they saw I was prepared to roll up my sleeves and show I could work too, their impressions of me improved as well."

"I thought you were the one loved by everyone. But that approval from the men at the mine really meant something to you, didn't it?"

Vincent could see they weren't far from the inn and knew he had to speak quickly. Not even Morgan knew how much that approval meant to him.

"Those men, with their roughened hands and their blunt way of speaking, their approval meant more than any compliments I used to get from those people I used to consider friends. I learned something so profound, working for just that short time.

"I felt I had value, something useful to offer. You gave me that opportunity. You showed me there was another way of living – one with a lot more purpose. You keep telling me how grateful you are for what I did at the mine, but it's me who should be thanking you for trusting me with your project in the first place."

That was a stretch. Vincent and Orion both knew it. Vincent started working at the mine while Orion was unconscious, but he could've told Vincent to stop when he woke up. "Don't you see," he said, staring into Orion's intriguing gray eyes, "those evenings spent planning and finding solutions to problems, sharing achievements and laughing about those random silly things that happen in a day. I've never had that with anyone else but you, and I want more times like that with you."

For the longest time Orion didn't say anything, just meeting his gaze steadily. The carriage was going to pull up at the inn any minute, and Vincent mentally willed his husband to say something. Anything.

"I'm not sure how long it will take me to heal completely," Orion said at last. "I'm also not strictly sure it's fair of me to insist or even suggest you change the habits and behaviors you've lived with your whole life, just because of me. In fact, I know it's not."

"Your sister insisted on the same changes from Jaxon and they're both perfectly happy. And these are changes I want for myself as well." Come on, Orion. Say yes.

"That still doesn't change the fact that if we attend an event, I will have to spend most of my time sitting down watching you have fun with others. At the moment it wouldn't be possible for me to enjoy more than one dance with you, if I could manage even that."

"You're getting healthier every day."

"But even at full health, I can't and won't spend all my time around people who don't care that I exist. I know I'm worth more than that."

"I know that now, too, and I won't let you down again. Don't you want to work with me even if it means attending a couple of events a year as the Crown Prince Consort of Faast? Imagine what we could achieve together, what we could do for the people of Faast like you have done for Tyrion. Please, Orion. Take a chance on me. You've shown me I can be different. Let me prove to you that I am."

It took another minute. A minute in which the carriage had indeed pulled to a stop outside the inn, but Orion finally nodded. "If I can walk back into a cave that's already fallen on me once, I can attend another function with you as your crown prince consort. There's going to be a lot of gossip about us after last time. I hope you're prepared for that, but I sincerely hope that attendance will be successful as I'd dearly love to explore possibilities regarding a project in Faast. I believe I would enjoy working on other community projects with you."

"That's a yes. Thank you." Vincent wanted to grab his husband and hug the stuffing out of him. But he couldn't ignore the tired lines around Orion's mouth. "We should get you inside."

"I fear I'm going to need your help getting up the stairs." Orion sighed. "My legs have jellified, and my lower back is aching. But that's my reality for now. It was a lovely morning. Thank you. Thank you for all that you've done."

"We're just getting started. You wait and see. We're going to have so much fun, you and I."

"I need a nap just thinking about it." But Orion was chuckling as Vincent bounded out of the carriage and hurried around to get Orion's door.