Nico was lost in a completely different world as he stared into the deep ocean of Will's eyes. He didn't know how long he was staring or if anyone had realised. Snapping him back to reality, King Apollo spoke: "As my son has chosen a bride, I have invited my sister and her family over to help with the preparations of the wedding. Lady Artemis, her husband and his son will be arriving within the next week."

The wedding. The king was already preparing for the wedding. Nico was scared that his father - sat to his left - could hear the sound of Nico's heart breaking.

"The wedding? How soon are we to be married?" Will spoke up.

The king paused so Queen Naomi replied instead: "The wedding won't be for a while, a few months maybe." Nico could've jumped up and kissed the queen. He has a few months to be as close to Will as he could before his sister married him.

Nico and Will spent the rest of the meal 'accidentally' making eye contact. The looks had Nico's face slowly turning pink whereas Will seemed to be able to uphold his composure, completely unaffected. Nico didn't know if Will was trying or if he was just losing interest in the dark haired prince.

After the meal, Nico headed towards Will's rooms. He knocked on the dark wood doors and waited, nervously shifting for one foot to the other and wringing his hands.

No answer.

Nico knocked again. Still no answer.

A servant came around the corner and noticed Nico standing there. She stopped what she was doing and spoke to Nico. "If you're looking for Prince William, sir, I saw him heading out into the courtyard." She then told Nico how to get to the courtyard and the prince headed on his way.

The dark haired prince felt slightly embarrassed after standing in front of the door waiting for Will when he wasn't even there. However, he pushed that feeling down as he opened the door that lead to the courtyard.

There he found Will laying down, staring at the sky, surrounded by pansies of varying colours. He looked deep in thought so Nico just sat down and watching Will stare up at the clouds high above, floating in the amber sky.

After a while, Will sat up and noticed Nico. He jumped slightly and let out a breathy "oh" of shock.

"Sorry," Nico said. "That was probably a bit weird. Gods, I'm a freak, watching you-"

Will cut him off. "No. No, not at all. I was just shocked, that's all."

The two princes sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few heartbeats.

"What were you thinking about... When you were staring up at the clouds?" Nico asked, attempting to make conversation.

"My aunt and her family." Nico made a face that said he wanted Will to elaborate. "I love my aunt to pieces. She's probably my favourite relative. But her step-son, Octavian, is definitely my least favourite, maybe even my least favourite person I've ever met."

"Oh. And, as a prince, I know you've met a lot of people. What's so bad about him anyway."

Will just shook his head. "You'll see."

~time lapse~

Prince Nico, his two sisters, father and step mother stood at the foot of the dais in which Will and his parents were currently seated. They had just received the news that Lady Artemis and her family were very close to arriving.

Nico could feel Will's eyes on him as the doors of the throne room were hauled open.

First to enter the room was Lady Artemis. She was the opposite to her brother, King Apollo. She had waist length dark hair that was tied back in an elegant braid. Where Apollo filled the room with his presence, Artemis seemed to keep herself to herself, as if she was watching everyone else, calculating. She was much shorted than her brother and smaller in size, though she was still muscular, something that was uncommon in women, which made Nico like her.

Next to walk through the door was her husband. He wasn't much taller than his wife and didn't seem to be anything spectacular. Artemis was clearly the stronger and more dominant of the pair. He seemed incredibly anxious around her.

Finally, Octavian sauntered in, his excessive purple cloak billowing behind him. He had blond hair like his father but cropped close to his head unlike his father's who's hair was pulled back in a ponytail. This boy seemed to be radiating pride and self-righteousness. It made Nico feel physically sick.

Nico could still feel Will's eyes on the back of his head. He watched as Octavian's watery blue eyes flicked between Will and Nico, taking note of how Will was looking at the dark haired prince instead of his fiancé.

This was going to be interesting.

**********

a/n:

So we have now met Octavian. If you've read my other fic then I'm sure you have an idea of what kind of person he's going to be. (If you haven't read it, please don't. I'm not proud of it and think it's really messy).

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm no longer going to apologise for the time it's taken me to update. You'll all just have to put up with it as I'm shit at time management.

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Thank you
~Em

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