Nathan has had enough of Derrick denying his feelings. If he was the prince, he would have swooped his soulmate off their feet and kissed them until no tomorrow. The king imagined that Jake would also probably do the same if Derrick allowed him to.

The problem was: Derrick didn't allow him to.

So, as Derrick and Jake went to the gardens, Nathan sat in the Solar room, which was basically a living room or a sitting room, and tried to devise a plan.

If only he had Pickle in his head. They would make a great team.

However, Pickle was pretty much on the field, constantly getting Jake riled up with thoughts of Derrick.

Nathan felt like it was his duty to get Derrick on board.

He had sat there for a full forty-five minutes, before almost giving up.

Then he realized: why was he sitting and creating a plan for his CRUSH to get together with his soulmate?

Wasn't he supposed to be the evil one in this situation? In the VERY few books he's read, the evil character was always after one of three things: revenge, power, or the person was just extremely jelly.

So, why didn't he feel jealous?

Then he had a hopeful thought.

Maybe it was because his soulmate was still alive? What if- What if it was because they were near?

Ba-dump.

His heart warmed at the thought. The king looked around just in case, naive and desperate. The silent room was empty. All he could hear was his own heart beating fast, as if he had ran a marathon. Which he did, metaphorically, always running after love, as cheesy as it sounds. He was an affectionate guy, therefore he craved affection. And being here alone- it made him feel worse.

No, no. This isn't about you, he thought, this is about Derrick.

Right. Derrick.

Nathan explored ideas of what he could possibly do to bring the two closer. Obviously, the soulmate bond was making them get a bit closer everyday. Nathan knew this; he had studied up on soulmates pretty much everyday at his castle. But Nathan wanted it to happen faster. He wanted Derrick- and Jake too- to enjoy what he never received as soon as possible.

He couldn't see why they couldn't just accept it. He would jump onto the chance if he could.

Then it hit him like a brick to Jason's face.

Nathan leaped up from the chair he was previously sitting in with sudden revelation; he knew exactly what he could do, but he needed some dough to do it.

The king exited the room and walked swiftly down the hall, not really knowing where he was going, but turning down the hallways that looked familiar.

See, there was two ways you could get someone together. At least, in Nathan's mind there was.

One was: let them figure it out on their own that they were perfect for each other. Let them slowly develop their feelings and figure out what they felt about the other person. Then, after weeks and weeks and perhaps months, they will get together!

Or, you could throw them to the sharks or create a situation where they can't stay away from each other. Lock them in a room together. Make it to where they have to sleep in the same room-or even bed. Make sexual comments about their "friendship" as much as possible. Get them blushing and alone and then BAM. Three to four days and you're set.

Nathan found the second option a lot more amusing and convenient.

How did he know all of these things? Well, it seems like when you are sitting on the sidelines, you pick up on a lot more mistakes than anyone else would. You see the whole game. And since Nathan knew a lot about soulmates, he was going to make this happen.

He was now determined.

But what the king didn't realize, as he was searching for Derrick's dad to lend him money, was that his crush on Derrick seemed to be slowly melting away.

And he didn't even realize it himself.

Nathan kept walking, searching the corridors for the only other king in the castle. Servants busied themselves, with-who-knows what. Nathan glanced at the sheets and clothing they held as they went by.

Seriously, how much work did it take, with four people living in the castle, to make the hallways so busy?

Nathan also noticed a few shy maids and even servant boys eyeing him as he walked by. He wouldn't deny it- he was pretty hot.

Okay, really hot.

But then, suddenly, one of the maids stopped him by putting a dainty hand on his chest. The others hesitated, watching the woman. No one in the staff had ever touched the nobles before, unless by accident.

Nathan raised an eyebrow, looked at his her hand on his chest, and then looked back up at her dirt smudged, yet pretty, face.

"Can I...help you?" Nathan questioned. Sure she was sorta pretty, but Nathan liked all genders. Also, he noted that he had been leaning towards boys ever since Derrick. Maybe he was less bisexual than he thought. But nevertheless.

"Help me? Oh, you could help me in many ways," the girl purred, tracing a chilling finger down his chest, "I could help you too. I heard you were looking for a wife."

Okay. That went from zero to a hundred pretty fast. Nathan stalled for only a few seconds before deciding on what to say.

"Husband actually," Nathan corrected, "Thanks for the offer, but it's really not appreciated. You are a pretty girl, yes, but really not my type. Just a tad bit creepy too- no offense. But I do need help finding the king of this castle...mind taking that finger off my chest and instead pointing me the way?"

The girl scoffed, gave the king a dirty look, hmph-ed, and angrily stomped away. Another maid, one of the many who stopped to watch, started to laugh hysterically, while the others just smiled and resumed their work. Nathan walked up to the laughing maid, who was doubled over now, and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Oh my God," said the maid, as she stood up and wiped her eyes, "That was great. Why am I even laughing this much?"

"Who are you?" Nathan asked, curious. This maid seemed different than the rest. She wasn't shy or closed off. She seemed...normal. Independent, in fact. The girl had brown hair that looked as if it went through a shredder. It was cut short and sticking out every-which-way. She had dark mischievous eyes and a beautiful complexion. The only strange thing was a series of designs- a mandala- he thought etched into her skin.

Right on her face.

Ouch.

"Jeanie Katz," she said, smiling, "I'm assuming you need to see, his majesty, King Rastus?"

"Uh," Nathan nodded, "Yeah."

"Follow me," she smiled and started walking. Nathan could only look at her as she walked away. She seemed so confident for a maid. It was unreal.

"You coming?" she called over her shoulder. Nathan shook his head and proceeded to walk, easily catching up to her lazy gait with his swift one.

"So...who-who was that?" Nathan asked, pointing a thumb in the direction the creepy girl left.

"Who was who?" asked the maid, not even looking at him.

"The- That girl! The weird creepy one! Mrs. I-heard-you-were-looking for a wife. That one," Nathan specified.

"Oh, that girl, " the maid smirked, "That was my snooty ex-girlfriend, who thinks she's one crown short from becoming a queen. Psh, the only queen in this castle is moi and the amazing woman hanging in the hallway on the fourth floor. My ex? She ain't got no class nor dignity. She just wants fame, power, and riches. Ha! She'll be a princess when I marry a mage. Aka, Never."

Nathan actually smiled at this. He realized that this girl very may well be his new best friend.

She seemed very best-friend material.

"What about you?" She asked, "What's all this about a husband?"

"Well, I've been leaning more towards boys recently, " Nathan shrugged, "That's that. No biggie."

"Nice to know we have gay nobles now, " she commented, picking at the dirt underneath her fingernails.

Nathan laughed, "You have no idea."

"Maybe we could talk again sometime then? I'm no gossip, but I'd love to hear more about my people, " she chuckled, "I mean, after the whole...homophobic era..."

"Yeah, let's not talk about that," Nathan winced at the memory, "It just ended."

"True, true, " replied Jeanie, but the girl stopped. Nathan was tense. Why did she stop? Jeanie snorted as confusion kissed Nathan's face. "This is your stop, doofus."

Nathan looked away from her and fixed his gaze on the door, then back at Jeanie. "Thanks."

"No problemo. Hey, when you're done, maybe we could hang out? I've seen you around...you seem pretty lonely. That sucks, I should know," she rambled, "But hey, ya know, if you don't want to be seen around with a maid, I understand-"

"No, no! That's cool," Nathan smiled, "See you around." He nodded. They both turned in opposite directions. The king turned towards the door, about to open it, but then stopped. "Wait!" he called, turning around.

Jeanie turned, "Yeah?"

"Those things- on your face- what are they?" Nathan asked. Jeanie reached up to touch her face in confusion, before she realized what he was talking about.

"Oh," she said, "You mean my tattoos? Oh, um, my family moved to China when I was young, they have this art form called tattooing...inking your skin basically. It's like my passion in a way, but it's not very common to get a canvas. It's kinda painful. Maybe someday I could give you one?"

"That would be nice," Nathan laughed, "I think they look beautiful."

"Dude," the girl huffed, "If you haven't noticed, I'm a lesbian. Back off."

"I wasn't meaning it in THAT way!" Nathan gestured to himself, "I'm into boys, remember?!"

The girl dropped the serious face and laughed, "Ha ha! I'm messing with you! Geez, I've always remembered you as the laid-back dude when you visited."

Jeanie was still laughing a little when she turned and left Nathan at the door.

Nathan sighed and closed his eyes, tilting his head to the heavens.

He was the laid-back dude.

So then what was happening to him?

Nathan took in another deep breath, shut off his internal struggle, and turned back to the door.

He'll find out as soon as he deals with Derrick and Jake.

One thing at a time.

~{()}~

Derrick wanted to get in his bed to get warm, but Sleeping Beauty wouldn't wake up. Jake had been sleeping for a solid half-hour, if not more, which was unusual since the werewolf had slept all night. The prince was still a bit cold from the attic and falling into the snow in the gardens and had half a mind to get in bed with Jake just to get warmed up.

But, again, the prince was stubborn.

So instead, Derrick was sitting on top of the bed two feet beside Jake, keeping that distance steady.

But then Jake rolled over and caught him off guard, trapping his legs with his heavy arm. So, now, Derrick was trying to lift the dead-weight arm off of his legs without waking the beast beside him. Derrick was pretty strong though, so with a couple tries, had successfully lifted his legs from the werewolf's grasp. After the deed was done, Derrick huffed and slid off the bed. He wasn't going to sit on the bed anymore while Jake was in it. No way.

He was going to stalk off and do something, maybe ride Oliver around or find Nathan- wherever he went- when he heard, "Derrick."

Dear Lord Jesus, I woke him up didn't I? Derrick thought. The Prince turned around with a "What?" -and an annoyed look in his eyes, of course.

But when the werewolf didn't answer, Derrick groaned and trudged over to the side of the bed.

"I said," the prince stressed, "What?"

But the annoyed look slowly fell from his face when he realized...Jake was still asleep.

Oh, Derrick thought.

Jake said his name in his sleep. Derrick didn't know if he was disturbed by that or curious. What was Jake dreaming about that had to do with him? Why would he say his name?

Derrick bit his lip as he looked down at Jake's sleeping form.

Eh, Derrick decided, I'll ask him when he wakes up.