Criticism most welcome!! 
Warnings: suggestive language, light m/m stuff. PG-15/R.
------------------------------------

-
"Beyond the Pale"
-

Evander sighed as he stood looking out over the balcony railing at the departing procession.  Once again he had defied his father... and won.  The king was a fair man, and Evander wasn’t entirely sure why he continuously defied the man but since learning of his true parentage and leaving his foster family to live in the capital city, Evander had challenged his birth father whenever the opportunity presented itself.  The opportunity usually presented in the form of a formal outing of the royal princes to visit nearby eligible noblewomen and while the results of his rebelliousness were mixed Evander had found for the most part his father was lenient when it came to his third son. Evander loved his father, as sovereign and parent, so why was it that every time he tried to speak to the man he started an argument instead?

Today Evander was not forced to be part of the procession of his brothers that filed out of the castle grounds, but for some reason his victory gave him no pleasure.  His expression was dark and thoughtful as he crushed the rose he held and scattered the petals on the wind to drift down over the heads of the procession, wishing them godspeed, the petals falling from vantage points all over the city giving the impression that an early winter of a strange color had fallen over the land.  The summer heat dispelled the illusion, and Evander watched as the procession slowly made its way into the distance.

He turned away from the sight and made his way back to the library, his bare feet soundless on the smooth floor of the castle's hallways.  He never went shod in the castle and he was rather glad he hadn't been required to attend the departure ceremony; it would have required him to don the uncomfortable formal garments required by his station as prince of the realm and he much preferred the comfort of his usual attire.  The library was cool and he retreated to its depths with welcome, picking up his book from the table where he'd left it when a page had notified him that the procession was leaving.  He'd wanted to see father off; even from the privacy of the hallway behind the library, where only he and his brothers ever went and where no one would see him, from which place he and father would know of the benediction in their hearts.

He sighed again.  His relationship with his father was... complicated.  He hardly knew how to treat the man he'd only come to know recently, having spent the entirety of his youth fostered with another noble family.  He truly cared for his father but wasn't sure how to show it... but by all the gods he was not going to show it by capitulation to the man's every whim.  Fair he might be known as but King Joshin was also a man of forceful personality and had a habit of arranging things to his own liking, until reminded that other people has ideas of their own.  Evander was not going along on this journey to the neighboring kingdom of Pryoaz, not when the sole reason for the journey was to see which brother the lovely princess there preferred.  Evander had met the Princess Tarinad and he already knew he did not care for her, neither as a dinner companion nor as a bed companion.  She had a cruel wit that embarrassed him and she was too boney. 

He let the book he held fall from his trailing hand to rest again on the table as he passed it and walked on to the high window in the back turret that was connected to his favorite section of the library.  This was where all the old books concerning the kingdom were kept; of all the classes the newly brought prince was "encouraged" to attend, he particularly enjoyed studying the culture of the people he had only a few years ago learned he was in a position to care for.  Though... perhaps he enjoyed that class so much for another reason. 

And maybe there was another reason he didn't care for the Princess Tarinad...

Evander groaned, leaning his head on the stone sill of the window, the beautiful vista before him suddenly not pleasing to his eyes.  The real reason for his fights with his father was his inability to... to tell the man something Evander had known for a long time. 

"Evander?"

The prince, startled, looked up.  Or down rather- down the stairs that lead from the high window back down into the library.  He knew that voice; it was Rosak.  He groaned, but softly so as not to be found; poetic justice that the source of his conundrum should come searching for him now, even as he evaded the rest of the world.  "Evander, I know you're here somewhere," Rosak called.  Evander heard one of the librarians approach the other man and remind him to keep his voice down so as to not disrupt the research of others.  Evander laughed softly; he'd been on the receiving end of that talk a time or two and while he didn't envy Rosak, he was glad the other would be forced to use quieter means to locate him.

The thought of responding to the hail was not even a question.  He needed time, time alone, to figure out... what the hell to do.  He needed to tell his father that it wasn't just Tarinad, it was any princess, all princesses, or rather, all women he didn't care for.  Evander had known since he and his foster brother had stolen kisses from each other while sharing a blanket in an attic room too cold for sleeping that he would never look at a woman with the same degree of desire as he did at men.

It would be alright, wouldn't it?  He was a third son- of ten, currently, and there were at least four more he know of who hadn’t yet reached their majority.  It didn't matter if he never produced heirs, did it?  He had fifteen sisters as well, one of them even a full sibling; all of their sons would be princes of the blood.  No one would mind one childless son.  He supposed he could still marry... He wouldn't mind if his wife sought her own pleasures as he sought his. 

But maybe that was the problem- he didn't think he could be so cavalier about it.  He had loved only two men in his admittedly not that long life, and he didn't think he could indulge in casual relationships.  He leaned out the window, peering down at the ground far below him and the people who crawled there like ants.

"Evander." 

The voice behind him startled him again, and he stood up straight, his hands gripping the windowsill as he turned toward the voice.  "Rosak," he whispered in response.  Well, he'd been found. 

Rosak ducked his head to pass through the small doorframe separating the stairway from the turret room, frowning as he looked up at Evander.  "My prince, you were not at the ceremony."

Oh Rosak, Rosak...  Evander madly fought his inner desire to throw the man down and kiss him endlessly.  "Father excused me.  We made our farewells in private." 

Rosak paused just within the doorway.  "You do not go with them," he observed quietly. 

Evander turned back toward the window, his hands gripping tighter at the stone beneath them.  "How many brothers does one princess need to choose from?" he shot back bitterly.  Before Tarinad there had been Laurenin from Rouland to the north, and before her, Nis from Sendai.  Nis had fancied him, but he put her off... until she eloped with Auka, his youngest half brother, causing quite a stir and a treaty far more hastily arranged than had been desired.  "There are only six going to be sure, but do you think that will not hold her?"  He sighed, retracting the words even as he spoke them.  "Forgive me," he said, softly.  "I am... out of temper.  I should not take it out on you."  Except that it's partially... mostly... your fault...

Rosak appeared suddenly beside him at the window, Evander not having heard him cross the room.  "I do not see why you should not," the noble said, his voice soft.  "I disturbed you when you so clearly sought solitude.  Feel free to vent your tongue on me."  He looked up, his deep, amber brown eyes meeting Evander's for a moment.  He reached out and brushed Evander's long, pale hair back out of the prince's face before looking away and blushing, his gaze suddenly captured by something outside the window.

Evander had to pause and catch his breath at the pulse of electricity that ran through him at Rosak' touch.  He was so caught up in it that he almost didn't notice the other man's blush... almost.  He wondered what had caused it, but looking down at himself he realized immediately.  He was wearing one of his old maurian tunics in the style of the country house where had grown up.  The tunic was cut down the sides, the front and back pieces held together by rings of metal as the open panels allowed for easier ventilation of the body.  The nature of the garment prevented anything from being worn under it, appropriate since it was designed for wear in the heat of the summer.  The breezy palace was not terribly hot, but the clothing was comfortable and Evander hadn't even thought of it as being revealing until Rosak had first explained the reason for his constant blushing when confronting the prince in summer garb.  Rosak was from Sendai, and far in the north of that country as well, and even after the not short time he had spent in the court still hadn't adjusted to the clothing habits of people in warmer climates.  Evander glanced over the other man's full formal tunic, under-shirt, breeches, and tall boots.  "How are you not suffocating in that?"

It wasn't until after he said the words that he realized he'd spoken them aloud and Evander turned back to the window, his eyes now captured by something outside.  He heard Rosak moving but didn't look until the noble's hesitant voice called him, "Is this better?"

Curious, Evander turned; inhaling, the breath caught in his throat.  Rosak had removed the tunic and boots, the unfastened undershirt revealed a goodly portion of his chest decorated sparsely with the same silky black hair that covered his head.  His amber eyes looked up at Evander, though Rosak had several inches on the prince.  Evander tried not to laugh- the man looked too much like a puppy seeking approval, and Evander felt giddy already from trying to suppress his glee at seeing the man even partially unclothed.  "Yes, much."  He paused.  "You have lovely toes."  He had to turn away then, his shoulders shaking, and this time he heard Rosak' angry footsteps toward the door.  "Wait! I'm sorry my friend. Please don't go.  It's not you, I... I've been in a strange mood all day."  He glanced at Rosak, but turned back to the window, letting his hair fall around his face as he spoke the last, unsure as to whether his feelings were a topic he wanted to open to discussion.

Rosak' fingers again scoured his skin like fire as they brushed the hair away from his face, and Evander looked up, meeting the other man's gaze.  They stared at each other for a long time, and it wasn't until Evander realized that Rosak had leaned in toward him and he was stroking his thumb sensuously along the other man's chin that he jerked himself back to wakefulness, yanking his hand away.

Rosak pulled away as well.  "Forgive me, my prince," he said softly.  "I... I should leave.  I..."  He tried to step away but found that Evander was holding his sleeve.

Evander stared at his hand as if he wondered whether it was his.  Slowly he released Rosak's sleeve, letting his hand fall to his side where it curled slowly into a fist.  "Yes," he breathed.  "Do that."  He closed his eyes.  Dammit, dammit, dammit.  He couldn't do this.  Because... Rosak was too perfect, and he hadn't told his father yet.

He opened his eyes slowly to find Rosak still standing there, staring at him.  Slowly, as if his hands also were not entirely attached to his brain, he reached out and touched the prince, settling a hand on his hip.  It was no way they hadn't touched before, standing beside each other in recitation class, helping each other up after Master Ander knocked them around in fencing, but now- the summer air heavy around them- there was bare skin under his fingers and Rosak inhaled deeply. 

Evander felt his pulse begin to pick up as he stood there, as if in a dream.  Slowly, Rosak caressed the prince's side, his hand coming up until it traced the line of the tunic as it cut across Evander's chest. He traced that line, then slid his fingers under the cloth, slipping up until the pad of his middle finger found Evander's nipple and caressed the small nub. 

Evander gasped, "Oh gods," all the blood rushing immediately to his groin as his knees went weak and he fell back against the windowframe.  Rosak was beside him instantly, holding him up, gazing at him with concern.  Evander looked up at him, falling into the warmth of those eyes. 

"Your eyes are as green as the sea," Rosak murmured, brushing Evander's hair back away from his face again, as if fascinated by the feel of it against his fingers.  He leaned forward, their eyes holding each other until they were only a breath apart.  "My prince," Rosak spoke.  "Evander," he whispered, "I do not wish to destroy the friendship we have built, but let me say I have wanted to do this since first we met."  He kissed Evander, softly, firmly, deeply as he felt the mouth beneath his open to him willingly, his finger still teasing lightly at the prince's skin under the tunic. 

The kiss was long and sweet, and Evander moaned appreciatively.  As Rosak pulled away Evander asked him quietly, "Was that all?"  

It took all he had in him to keep his words cool while his heart was beating like that of a falcon in the dive.  He refused to allow himself to consider that the object of his crush returned his feelings fully. It was just a physical attraction on Rosak's part, he didn't care about Evander any deeper than a classmate and casual friend...

Rosak stepped back stiffly at the cool words.  "My prince."  His words were as stiff as his posture, and he bowed formally.  "Forgive me for inconveniencing you."  His cheeks were burning again as he walked to the door, too discomfit to remember his tunic and boots.

"Rosak," Evander called, and the noble stopped but didn't turn.  "You really do have lovely toes."

Rosak turned slowly, looking deeply at Evander.  "My prince," he said slowly, "I am not sure I understand you, but if I may answer your earlier question.  If you meant to ask if that was all I have dreamed of doing with you since I met you I must answer no, it was not.  In fact, the more I have come to know you since your arrival at the palace upon attaining your majority the more I have wanted to..." He stumbled, "to spend time with you, the more I have dreamed about touching you, and the more I have thought about being with you… for all of my life." 

Evander stared at him.  No... he was hallucinating.  This couldn't be... The realization came to him suddenly that he was standing there gapping like a gutted fish, the words that tumbled about in his head remained unspoken, and Rosak was leaving.  "Rosak," he called, unsure even as he called that there was air enough in his lungs to give voice to the name, until Rosak stopped again and turned.  Evander's knuckles were white where he gripped the window frame, leaning against it.  He wet his lips.  "I... I'm not sure I know how to say this, so please don't leave until I'm done.  It might take me awhile... I've been trying to say it to my father since I arrived here and I still haven't found a way, and it's been years.  But..." he looked up, meeting those warm amber eyes, "maybe I can tell you.  Fathers are something new to me, but friends I can speak to; lovers, I have experience with."  He took a deep breath, missing Rosak's slight stiffening at his last phrase.

"Rosak, you are... amazing.  You are everything I have ever loved in a man.  Your shoulders are gorgeous, and don't even let me start on how I fall into your eyes.  And, as if your physical perfection wasn't enough, you are the younger son of a small noble, so that I could even dream that a permanent union between us would not be forced apart for reasons out of our control.  As I came to know you, as it seems you did with me, I came to love your generous spirit, your ready wit, and your warm-heartedness even more than I loved your body.  I... I love every part of you, especially the ones you hate, like your feet and the way you rescue puppies from the carter who feeds them to the alligators in the back pond."  Rosak looked away, shuffling his feet and folding his arms over his chest. 

Evander stood, stepping away from the window, as if his confession gave him the strength to stand.  "I... still... I couldn't say anything to you.  I... I suppose you felt the same as I; it is better to keep something good, though it's not quite enough, rather than destroy it trying to reach something that may be out of your reach.  And... even more than that, I owed it to my father to tell him."  He rubbed his arms self-consciously.  "Before he walked in on me bending his favorite noble's son over the table, preferably."  He was standing close to Rosak now, and he looked up into the man's face, trying to catch his eyes. 

Rosak raised his head, meeting his gaze as the man's hands coming up as well to catch Evander between them, holding him, pulling him close.  Evander put his hands on Rosak's chest, toying with the bit of hair that peeked through the open laces of the man's shirt before snaking his hands up around Rosak's neck and pulling him down into a kiss. 

One kiss soon became five, became Rosak's hand on his thigh, sliding over his thigh, down between them, Rosak kneeling before him to press his lips reverently to that thigh while he brushed the length of the tunic aside and felt his way up between those thighs.  Evander found himself back, pressed against the window, gasping as he felt Rosak's mouth kiss his manhood softly before taking the length of it between his lips.  Evander tangled one hand in Rosak's unruly black hair, the other stroking the man's cheek.  He leaned back against the frame of the window, his pale hair blowing in the wind as he gasped and moaned and called Rosak's name, and as he climaxed over the man's tongue. 

Evander tried to calm his breathing, sinking down to sit beside Rosak, stroking the man's face with reverence of his own.  He dropped his other hand to Rosak's breeches, feeling the proof of his own arousal.  "Shall I return the favor, or would you prefer something else?"

Rosak blushed, pulling away.  "I... Evander," he breathed the name worshipfully, "I don't..." he ducked his head. "You seem very... experienced.  I'm... not."  He seemed uncertain as to whether he wanted to continue that thought, but he took a deep breath and said instead, "I'm not good at... just fooling around.  I don't want to just be your lover," he blushed, "or just your friend, or just anything."  He met Evander's eyes, trying to see if he was being understood.  "I... I want to be everything."

Evander sighed, leaning against Rosak.  "I did not mean to imply that I was exceptionally experienced.  I have had two lovers; one who decided after one try that he didn't care for it, and one who was forced into marriage and would not be unfaithful to his wife though he did not love her.  I... am not good at casual relationships either.  I would not want that from you, and I do not want you to think that I am... toying with you."

Rosak turned his head, breathing against the back of Evander's neck, sending shivers down the prince's spine.  "How not toying with me, when you promised yourself you would tell your father before you bent me over a table? The first of which you have not done and the second of which you just offered to do for me."

Evander pulled away so that he could meet Rosak's eyes and grinned.  "You want that? Truly?"  He sobered.  "I will speak with him as soon as he returns."  He pressed the flat of his hand to Rosak's chest.  "Hold me to it if I cannot hold myself." 

The whinnying of a large group of horses in the courtyard below attracted their attention.  Evander went to the window frowning; there shouldn't be anyone here who would cause that much commotion.  He was both shocked and glad to see the king's standard among the chaos that milled about the courtyard.  "He's back." He turned to Rosak, joy and fear warring inside him.  Sudden apprehension as well... "Something must have happened." And in his mind, it must be a bad something.  He turned and ran down the stairs and out of the library, Rosak hard on his heels. 

It was only when he stopped in the door to the courtyard, breathing heavily, that he realized he wasn't dressed to receive and that neither was Rosak.  And neither of them had shoes.  He glanced at Rosak and saw from the man's reddening cheeks that he had just realized it as well.

"Evander!"

The prince found his attention called back to the yard as the king hailed him. "Father," he called in return, waving. 

The king rode over to him.  "My son! It is good to see you."  His eyes lingered over Rosak's state of undress and his flushed cheeks as he dismounted and allowed his horse to be lead away.

"Father, did something happen?" Evander asked anxiously.

"Eh? No!"  He clapped Evander's shoulder.  "Only that we met the princess Tarinad on the road, on her way here.  Seems messengers were crossed and confused the message.  We were closer to here, so we all came back."  He ran his eyes over his son.  "I suppose I'll wait till supper to present you, eh?" 

Evander flushed but reached out to grab his father's sleeve.  "Father, there is something I need to tell you.  Right now."  He took a deep breath.  "Before I lose my nerve again." 

The king eyed him carefully.  "Very well," he nodded.

"I don't like women," Evander blurted out, squeezing his eyes shut, his hands curled into fists.  "I don't want to marry, and I... I love Rosak."  He paused.  "I'm sorry, father, I'm sorry," he murmured, waiting for the man's reaction, but when it came he still flinched away in surprise.

His father took him by the shoulders and looked at him deeply, then pulled him close and held him, the king's arms wrapped around him.  "My dear boy," the king murmured, "you thought I didn't know?" 

Evander pulled away in surprise. "You... but... you never said..."  He frowned in confusion.  "You were going to make me marry Nis." 

"True enough.  I didn't know then, though I suspected; and you seemed willing, I was not going to stop you.  But Evander," He lifted the prince's chin so that their eyes met.  "I love you my son, whatever your flaws or favors."  He released him.  "Now get out of here before Tarinad sees you dressed like that."  His eyes rested on Rosak standing quietly behind Evander.  "And don't think your father hasn't a clue either, boy.  Though I think the pair of you should up and visit him.  Make a diplomatic trip of it."  He stroked his beard thoughtfully, liking the idea.  "Ha! That'll get you out of the palace my boy."  He winked at Evander before disappearing again into the whirling chaos that was the courtyard.

Evander couldn’t believe it.  Rosak had to pull at his arm to get him to remember they were supposed to leave and as they made their way back down the hall Evander felt a feeling of joy fill him and make him lightheaded.  Rosak was heading back to the library, probably to fetch his forgotten boots, but Evander pulled him into a side room.  Pushing the other noble back against the wall Evander kissed him, one hand slipping inside of Rosak’s opened shirt to lie flat against the warm skin of his chest.  Rosak moaned, his arms going around Evander to pull him closer.  They stayed that way, lips locked, bodies pressed together, until the shocked yelp of a serving maid told them they had been discovered.

Rosak blushed but Evander chuckled and, grabbing the other man’s hand, ran out of the room, back to the library.

~