The Sun Also Rises

It had been distinctly foolish of him, in every sense, to believe that Sebastian might have been...exaggerating when it came to the glory of the British throne. His lover was hardly prone to such things as exuberant description and yet Dorian had been inclined to believe that his husbands love of England might have, perhaps, clouded the vampires view of its magnificence to some extent. How very wrong he had been! Sebastian, if anything, had not done true justice to the glory of those English thrones that so sharply contrasted to their own within Caserta. The vampire, he was sure, had been modest in his descriptions of them. How very...inadequate Dorian was so inclined to feel when left to stand before their utter beauty. How golden they were! It was, surely, no secret that the Italian monarch so utterly adored that very colour. Gold, in all its forms, having allured the Fae King since he had been a mere boy. How very exquisite those thrones looked adorned in that shade. How many ideas it so provided him with for their own palace! Dorian's very request to touch that royal seat so prompted his lover to roll back upon his heels, Sebastian peered down that hall before insisting it would surely be fine. Her Majesty, surely, would not be too terribly put out by his desire to merely touch that golden chair, would she? After all, it was not as if either Dorian or Sebastian were permitted to sit within it. The laws of both their nations preventing such things and yet to merely touch it was hardly an elaborate request. The Monarch's hand extended gently then to rest upon the arm of Her Majesty's throne, Dorian so marvelling at the workmanship of the wood beneath his very touch and smoothness of both that carving and its embellishments. How wonderful. His silver gaze shifted but briefly to his lover once more, Dorian inquiring as to whether or not Sebastian had ever touched that throne before as the vampire nodded. Sebastian insisting that he had touched it many times when Edward was King. That very name was familiar, the Fae King assured his husband had mentioned it before and yet, much like his own beloved Italy, the names of rulers so tended to be recycled over and over again. How many Ferdinand's there had been! It was perhaps some small miracle that Matteo had chosen to name him Dorian rather then Alfonso or Ferdinand or any other overused name. Dorian, in the least, the first and only King of Italy to have that very moniker. The Fae assured he would be confused with no other over time.

"I remember you speaking of this Edward before. I think it is fortunate that I did not meet him. For him to have been your friend and had such a glorious throne would have been entirely too much."

A warm, ready grin so found the Monarch's features then, those words offered in clear jest as Dorian moved at last to step back from that chair and find his place at Sebastians side once more. For all the glory of those thrones, a glory to which his own could hardly compete, the Fae King so took at least some pleasure in the knowledge his throne room, if nothing else, was sufficiently more grand. Dorian so content to utter that very consideration to his lover only to be told that this was not the original throne room at all. Rather, at the time in which Sebastian had so walked those halls another room entirely had been used for those very chairs. His husbands query on whether he might like to see that original room was met with a near childish pout, Dorian, despite himself, terribly inclined to desire to see that room even if it would surely only further his own desires for dramatic and immediate renovation. That very chuckle that found Sebastian's lips was met with a near dubious look, his husband so suggesting such renovations were surely not necessary. Dorian, for now, inclined to believe that if that throne room was anything like those thrones then Caserta would only continue to pale.

The Fae King fell easily into step beside his husband then. Dorian more then happy to be led through those halls once more. Sebastian, even after all this time, seeming to remember those hallways and rooms with such ease! Buckingham, as Dorian had come to expect, continued to be nothing short of utterly lavish with its gilded halls and glorious finishes. How very tempting it was to desire to touch but each of those golden frames! It was this very thought that so prompted the Monarch to insist that if Sebastian's university so held nearly as much gold as this Palace then he would need to take down near all of Naples to rectify it. His words, it seemed, prompted ready amusement in his lover before Sebastian insisted Naples was surely safe in that regard. They turned readily into but another hallway then, this one, like so many, lined with those portraits of past rulers. Dorian, as always, taking but several moments to appreciate those works of art even if the beings within those pictures remained largely unknown to him. How very young some of them appeared. England, it seemed, had held its fair share of young rulers just as Italy had. Dorian, in that moment, content to enquire at just what age Sebastian had first been presented to Court by his own father. His husband quick to inform him he had been sixteen and that, soon after, he had attend those debutante balls as was the expectation.

"We did similar things within my own time. I miss those lavish parties on occasion. I enjoyed them, when I was younger, even if Ferdinand so used to refer to those events as 'Marriage Markets'."

Dorian so allowed the silver of his gaze to roll ever so slightly at that decidedly aged memory. It had been years since he had considered it. Those events one of the few times his siblings had been far to occupied with attempting to find themselves suitable matches to bother with him. At least, until he had begun to attract far more attention from those young ladies then his elder, legitimate brothers. For all their wealth and status, none of his brothers had ever truly been ...fortunate looking. Dorian entirely inclined to blame Ferdinand for such matters of genetic failure. How distinctly fortunate he was that his Mother had been inclined to ...stray when it came to Matteo. Ah, but such a thought to have! Those very considerations so prompted a simper to the Monarchs own lips as they continued through the foyer and into the ballroom itself, the pair paused upon the threshold. That room was near unspeakably grand and terribly vast, Dorian so momentarily left merely staring at that very space, one now filled with those servants as they prepared those dinner tables with an immaculate precision. Dorian himself wholly aware of just how important those table settings were. The Monarch so allowed his silver gaze to be drawn to that very place Sebastian so indicated would be their own tomorrow night when they attended that state dinner before his lover near teasingly insisted the room was surely not big enough to require Dorian to demolish all of Caserta.

That ready simper of amusement so found Dorian's own features then, his own chuckle humming within his throat, the Fae ing careful to conceal that sound all the same lest is disrupt those beings as they worked. Several of them had already paused to offer theItalian King and his Prince those bow of acknowledgement as they past. Dorian so readily met his lovers gaze then as he offered those quiet words.

"I suppose not but it is still wonderfully grand. I think I know quite exactly what I should like to do with our own when we return to Italy next. I think I shall paint how I should like our new throne room to look and then, if you enjoy such designs too, I shall have them put into action. This Palace has given me so many ideas. Caserta shall be far more grand than it ever was before by the time we are done."

That firm nod of his head was offered in a ready gesture of finality before Dorian cast but another final look over that ballroom and so turned to follow his lover back out and into the hall. Caserta, he was sure, maintained a far older, far more grand architecture and yet so many years and so many rulers had seen it become ...tired perhaps. Dorian assured Sebastian and himself were nothing short of capable of guiding their Palace into the modern century.

"Bastian?"

Dorian so hardly paused as that pair wandered slowly back down that quiet, gilded golden hallway, his silver gaze tilting but briefly upward to his husband once more as he waited for Sebastian's gaze to fall upon him in turn.

"How much gold are you so willing to entertain within our new palace?"

That decided impishness had so found the Monarch's lips once more as he looked near expectantly at his lover. Sebastian, after all, was nothing short of tolerable of his adoration for that shade and yet, Dorian was distinctly aware that the vampire so surely had a limit upon just how much of his Italian home he was so willing to allow to be gilded. Dorian's attention shifted but briefly to glance further along that hallway then, that corridor remaining nothing short of empty, the vast majority of staff, after all, likely seeing to those dinner arrangements. Dorian moved near abruptly then to allow his hand to capture his lovers own, the Monarch so tugging his lover gently into the nearest alcove that so further hid them entirely from view. That very gesture so placing Dorian's own back agianst the wall as Sebastian was tugged agianst him. The Monarch so abruptly allowed his lips to find his husbands own in a kiss so hardly chaste in any fashion. That very kiss so laced with nothing short of distinct want in every sense. Dorians hands easily slid upward then, his fingers entangling within his husbands brunette locks, that hair becoming thoroughly and purposefully disheveled with that very act and yet for those precarious seconds Dorian so hardly cared before his lips pulled gently away from Sebastian's own.

"I really like gold."

That impish grin so danced upon the Monarchs lips once more. Just how much Dorian so adored that colour surely evident from that gesture alone and too, that very press of his figure agianst his lover's own in that moment. How very ... exciting he found that shade. That soft chuckle rose easily within the Monarch's throat then, Dorian so stepping away from his husband to step back into that hall, leaving the thoroughly disheveled vampire to follow.

"Come, let us see this University now."

Dorian turned once more to so meet his lovers gaze, that very grin so hardly faltering.

"You should wear your hair like that more often, darling. I rather like it. The room you stayed in at this.....university, that isn't gold is it? To think how I might have enjoyed that if it was...."

Dorian Ellington-Aragona