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gaygryffindorgal · 4 months

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A Christmas Prince; The Royal Wedding

Chapter 7: Something Old, Something New

Summary: The fate of Alderly hangs in the balance as Dawn, Quincey, Evander, and the others race to uncover the conspiracy behind The New Alderly Initiative.

A/N: Here it is; The final chapter of the second installment! I'm proud to have finished this, though I have to admit that it didn't turn out quite as I would have wanted it. I had to leave a lot of stuff out and I didn't have time to really dig into the potential this AU has. Regardless, I'm very fond of this universe and I'm excited for next Christmas's story already.

Thank you to everyone who's been reading this year! I appreciate your reactions, comments, and tags more than I could ever express.

And as always, a massive thank you goes to my partner in crime Annie (@potionboy3), without whom this story would never have seen the light of day. Thank you❤️

Words: 3.8k

Characters:

Dawn and Evan Harvelle, Rosa Yaxley, Evander Alderly, Maxim Raeburn, and Jimmy Crouch by @potionboy3

Quincey, Olympia, and Isabella Alderly, Tess Brandon

Rocky Weasley by @magicallymalted

Pandora Lovelace and Nymeria Lee by @gcldensnitch

Jupiter Durand by @cursed-herbalist

Diana Somerset by @endlessly-cursed

Mentioned:

Nova Hartley

Nate Mackade by @unfortunate-arrow

John Arthur by @potionboy3

Lainey Bell by @gcldensnitch

Gaia Alden by @cursed-herbalist

Beatrice Somerset by @camillejeaneshphm

Beginning | Previous Chapter

Want to read the first fic in the series, A Christmas Prince? Click here!

Chapter 7: Something Old, Something New

Dawn and Quincey rode back to the palace with haste. When they got to the room where Dawn had left Tess and Evander, everyone turned to look at them and Dawn felt a chill go down his spine at the expressions on their faces.

“What is it?” Dawn asked.

“We cracked the database,” said Evander. “And I’m afraid you’re not going to like what we found.”

“Tell me,” said Quincey.

Olympia walked up to them. She looked like she might have been crying, or maybe it was just the lack of sleep. She took Quincey’s hand.

“You’re scaring me now,” he told her.

“It’s mother. She’s been siphoning the country’s money for… I don’t know what purpose.”

Quincey blinked. He looked from Olympia to Evander, who nodded. Then he turned his gaze back to his sister.

“That can’t be,” he said. “What reason would she have to steal from herself?”

“Come see for yourself,” said Evander. Quincey walked over and Evander showed him the laptop. Dawn followed him and saw it on the screen, clear as day. Isabella Alderly was the CEO of Glockenspiel Consortium.

“Quince…,” said Dawn. This was not a turn of events he had been anticipating, no matter how much he might have disliked Isabella. He’d been half convinced the real culprit was Miss Pince, but despite all their animosity, Pince did love the crown more than anything, or so it seemed.

“I must speak with her,” Quincey said.

“We’re coming with you,” said Dawn.

“We should accompany you,” said Evander, almost at the same time. “And you should know, this information wasn’t obtained entirely… legally.”

“So, it won’t hold at court?” asked Quincey.

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then I’ll have to deal with this my way.”

When Dawn and the others located the queen, she was with most of the senior staff, Miss Yaxley, and Dawn’s dad.

“Dawn?” asked Evan. “Thank goodness you’re alright, I was worried.” Evan came to hug him but Dawn said: “Not now, dad, something’s happened.”

“What?” asked Evan.

“I’ll explain everything, I promise.”

“Good, you’re all here,” said Evander. “We might need an audience for this.”

“Is everything alright?” asked Isabella.

“No, no it isn’t,” said Quincey.

“If this is about the wedding,” started Isabella. “A little modernization won’t be a threat to the monarchy, as long as the memory of your dear father is respected.”

“We’ll get to that,” said Dawn. Isabella blinked at him in surprise, as if only now realizing he was even present. “There is a threat to the monarchy, but it’s not modernization.”

“What ever are you talking about?” asked Pince. Dawn didn’t take his eyes off Isabella.

“I’m sorry mother,” said Quincey. “But the jig, as they say, is up.”

“What?” asked Isabella, still feigning innocence.

“The New Alderly initiative has been failing,” started Quincey. “Because you've been siphoning off the money.”

Isabella looked aghast. “That's absurd.”

“People lost their jobs because of you,” said Dawn.

“And you lied to our faces,” added Olympia.

Everyone’s eyes now turned to the queen. Isabella didn’t look shaken, only annoyed. “How dare you imply such thing?” she asked. “My own children, no less.”

“We know, mother,” said Quincey. “All of us. We know.”

“I will not stand for this,” said Isabella. “This is slander.”

“As king, I hereby relieve you of your active role as a member of the royal family. You may keep your titles, a modest allowance, and your house in the county, and we’ll keep this under wraps. The monarchy’s fate is unsteady as it is. But that’s all you’ll get. Ever again,” said Quincey grimly.

“You can’t do this,” said Isabella. “You have no proof.”

“Then why do I hear the dulcet tones of a glockenspiel?” asked Evander. “As in Glockenspiel Consortium.”

Isabella glared at her nephew and Evander looked pleased with himself. Dawn, wanting to bring him down a peg, kicked his shin and said: “It’s not that clever.”

“Mr. Flitwick,” said Quincey. “Why don’t you escort the queen to her rooms, and make sure she stays there.”

“Yes, sir,” said Flitwick.

“Quentin, please, listen to me,” said Isabella and took a step closer to her son. “They’re trying to manipulate you against me. They’re deliberately driving a wedge between us, I–,”

“The only one manipulating me here has been you,” Quincey snapped. “And I may not be able to prove anything, but I know what you’ve done. I know it was you and you’ve been pretending to help me all this time, leading me down wrong paths to keep me off your tracks.”

Isabella just stared at Quincey, speechless, for the first time.

“You know this is actually treason, right?” asked Olympia.

The queen seemed to finally realize that there was nothing she could do. “All I’ve ever done is try to protect this family. This country.”

“By stealing from it?” asked Dawn.

“By making my son realize that bringing in dangerous variables is not good for the family,” she didn’t look at Dawn as she said it, but the implication was clear enough.

“I think I’ve heard enough,” said Quincey. “Take her away.”

Flitwick, along with two other members of the security team, escorted the queen away. Everyone was left in stunned silence and Dawn took Quincey’s hand discreetly.

When they had gone, Quincey took a deep breath, and said: “I’m so sorry. I should have seen this.”

“She did a damn good job keeping you in the dark,” said Evander. “And keeping Dawn and I out.”

Dawn looked at Evander. “Me?”

“You already had plenty of reason to dislike her so she wouldn’t have been able to fool you so easily,” Evander explained.

“And you went to business school,” finished Dawn. “I get it.”

“Still,” said Quincey. “We must try to get the money back. Maybe arrange some sort of Christmas bonuses to everyone who lost their jobs.”

“Can that be done?”

“I’ll put some people on it,” said Quincey.

“Put me on it,” said Evander.

Quincey looked at him for a moment and then said: “Not before you’ve had at least ten hours of sleep.”

Evander looked rather surprised. “Oh, alright, then.”

“And Miss Yaxley,” said Quincey. Rosa perked up, looking anxious at being addressed under the circumstances.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Do you think you’d still have time to make some changes to the wedding plans?” Quincey asked.

“What kind of changes?”

Quincey looked at Dawn, who shrugged. “Well, I’d prefer it if it was just a lot… less.”

“I think I might be able to manage that,” said Rosa. “I assume this also includes your outfit, Mr. Harvelle?”

“Oh yes, yes it does.”

Rosa looked almost relieved. Miss Pince’s face was unreadable, but she remained silent.

“Alright, I’ll see what can be done.”

“Thank you,” said Quincey. “Now everyone should get back to the preparations. We don’t have all that much time.”

As the staff dispersed, Dawn went to his dad. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“What matters is that you’re alright,” said Evan. “Are you alright?”

“I think I will be,” Dawn said.

“Loyal Alderlians, I'm happy to announce that I am able to tear up the script that I was given for tonight's speech, one which glossed over the hardships that I know a lot of you have been facing. I can instead announce, thanks to the Mr. Dawn Harvelle and my cousin, Count Evander, that severe corruption is responsible for our recent hardships. It has been discovered and eliminated. The funds have been recovered, and every one of you will be paid the wages you are owed, along with a Christmas bonus for every hard-working person in Alderly,” Quincey spoke into the mic.

The speech was held in the courtyard, in front of the tree Dawn and Quincey had chosen. It was shown on live television so everyone in Alderly could tune in. A lot hinged on the speech. They’d concluded that Isabella’s corruption could not be revealed to the world. Dawn didn’t exactly agree but he could see why it might be the final spark to ignite the powder keg that was Alderly. Isabella was to attend the Christmas festivities and the wedding as normal and after that she was to depart, either for her country estate or for Monaco, Quincey had said he didn’t much care which, as long as he didn’t have to lay eyes on her. Maybe after Christmas there could be opportunity to examine how this kind of corruption had been allowed to happen in the first place but for now, he prepared himself for what Quincey had to say next.

“On behalf of the entire royal family… Queen Isabella, Princess Olympia, Count Evander, Prince-Consort-to-be Dawn, and the newly minted Count Evan Harvelle, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Let's celebrate with the lighting of the royal Christmas tree!”

“Three, two, one!”

The tree was lit with white and gold, just as Pince had planned but it made Dawn very happy that the tree currently displayed on many screens across the country was the one he had chosen. The cameras shut down and Quincey walked to them from the spotlight.

“How did that go?” he asked.

“Not too bad,” said Evander.

Quincey gave him a look. “Evander,” he started. “I believe I owe you a great deal.”

“No, not at all,” said Evander but then added: “But, now that I've proven my mettle, and there being an open seat on your Advisory Council…”

Quincey laughed and said: “Don't push your luck.”

“Fair enough.”

“But I think I’m ready to bury the hatchet,” said Quincey and extended a hand to Evander. He shook it and nodded. Next to Dawn, Olympia eyed them, warily.

“You did us all a great service,” she said. “And I’m grateful. However, if you try any shit–,”

“Dawn already gave me this speech, dear cousin,” said Evander. “Consider me warned.”

The next morning the guest began to arrive, first among them Jimmy, Maxim, Jupiter, and Nymeria. Dawn, Rocky, and Pandora met them happily outside the palace doors. Dawn, glad to see all his friends, hugged them all in turn.

“Woah, there,” said Jimmy when it was his turn. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Mate, you would not believe the shit that’s been going on here these last few days,” said Rocky.

“I expect you three are going to tell us,” said Maxim.

“You had better,” added Nymeria.

“We better get inside,” said Dawn. “And get some glühwein.”

“Hell yes to that,” said Pandora.

Back inside, in what Dawn had begun to think of in his mind as the living room, but which really was one of multiple sitting rooms, Dawn, Rocky and Pandora explained in detail everything that had happened in Alderly, from the strikes and the missing funds to their investigations to finding out Isabella had been behind it all. To say they were surprised would be an exaggeration.

“Dawn, your life is like some kind of soap opera,” said Jupiter, sipping her glühwein.

“You’re telling me,” said Dawn. “Oh, and did I mention; I didn’t even get a proper bachelor party.”

“We have to remedy this, immediately,” Maxim declared.

“Boy’s night out?” asked Rocky.

“Boy’s night out,” agreed Maxim.

“What are we supposed to do?” asked Nymeria.

“Oh, I think I can help with that…,” said Pandora.

There was a knock on the door, and Quincey stepped in. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” he asked.

“Oh, not at all,” said Jupiter. “Dawn was just planning to ditch us to go party with the lads.”

Quincey laughed. “Well, that’s just rude.”

“Hey, I didn’t get a proper stag night because the country was falling apart.”

“Hmm,” begun Quincey. “Neither did I.”

“You’re welcome to tag along with us,” said Pandora.

“Really?” asked Quincey.

“It would be an honour,” said Pandora with mock-deference. Quincey smiled.

“Alright, since you so cordially invited me. Can I bring a few guests?”

“For sure,” said Nymeria. “Wait, it’s not your mum, is it?”

“Oh no,” said Quincey. “Just Lainey and Olympia.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“Wait,” said Dawn. “There’s something I forgot.”

He dug out his phone from his pocket as everyone’s eyes turned to him. “An important ceremony, of sorts…”

“What?” asked Jimmy.

“I hereby propose King Quentin of Aldelry to be added to the bristol squad group chat,” Dawn started. “Those in favour?”

His friends repeated: hear, hear, and raised their hands. Quincey shook his head, amused.

Dawn added him to the chat. “Oh, I’ve just realized we can’t be the bristol squad anymore…”

“Why’s that?” asked Maxim.

“Well, Quincey and I live in Alderly now…”

“Dawn,” said Pandora. “I love you, but you’re an idiot. Most of us haven’t lived in Bristol in a while, or like, ever.”

Dawn blinked at her. “Well, yeah, but now it’s different.”

“How is it different?” asked Jupiter but Dawn was too busy coming up with an incredible idea.

“I’ve got it!” he announced. “From this day henceforth, we shall be known as alderlies assemble!”

He typed in the new name as his friends laughed.

“Mate,” said Rocky. “I didn’t know we were all marrying Quincey.”

“I think my cabinet may draw the line at polygamy…” Quincey pondered.

“Boo,” said Dawn. “It’s a great name.”

“It is,” said Pandora. “I like it.”

The next few days were a blur. Christmas Eve spent with his family and Quincey’s, all his friends present and actually getting to plan the wedding with Rosa and Quincey. The ceremony obviously still had to have the elegance of a royal wedding, but they toned it down substantially with Quincey’s full support.

“I don’t think a grand ceremony is what the country wants to see right now,” said Quincey while they were planning the seating arrangement.

“Not unless your goal is to get us both guillotined,” said Dawn.

“I think I’d prefer to keep my head, where it is.”

“I prefer it there as well,” said Dawn. They hadn’t really talked about the past week since the cabin and a lot of Dawn’s anger had subsided since then, but he still felt hurt, he couldn’t help it. “But you could do with a little modernization initiative yourself.”

“I know I acted foolishly,” said Quincey. “You’d think I’d have learned my lesson since last year, but I suddenly got so scared. I’m going against hundreds of years of tradition just by being openly myself and mother managed to convince me that I must balance it out by being otherwise as conventional as I can. By following every rule and doing everything by the book.”

“You could have talked to me about it.”

“I felt like a coward.”

“I don’t think you’re a coward,” said Dawn.

“I let you down.”

“Well,” said Dawn. “I guess it is daunting to be the first of anything. Especially being the first openly gay king of your country, marrying his boyfriend.”

“You could say that.”

“But I want us to be there for each other and it doesn’t work if you keep things from me,” Dawn said.

“Nor if you keep things from me,” Quincey countered.

“I don’t want to.”

“I don’t either.”

Dawn sighed. “Good. Communication is the key.”

“Speaking of,” Quincey said. “Tess told me about the necklace. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what it was when Pince told you to take it off. I’d love it if you wore it for the wedding.”

Dawn smiled. “Alright.”

Quincey gave him a small smile in return. “If we work together, we can do this.”

“Alright, best give it a shot, then.”

In the end, Rosa had put together beautiful decorations for the ceremony and reception. Wild Alderlian winter flowers along with fairy lights, candles, and red and green. To Dawn, it felt a little bit like walking through a fairy forest Christmas party. If fairies celebrated Christmas. His outfit had been changed from the traditional costume to a more toned-down suit that was definitely not anything to write home about, but it was sleek and stylish. Quincey was dressed in a similar fashion and the entire ceremony was kept as low key as royal protocol allowed. Not that it wasn’t beautiful, still. The grand throne room had been converted into a wedding venue, complete with an aisle decorated with flowers. After the actual ceremony, the guests gathered into the slightly smaller but no less impressive ball room for food, drinks, and dancing. All things considered, it was a small wedding, though the thought did make Dawn chuckle. A year ago, this would have been one of the biggest weddings he could imagine.

After cutting cake and the first dance, Dawn searched for his friends. He spotted Nymeria and Maxim on the dance floor, as well as Olympia who was dancing with Gaia Alden. Dawn grinned to himself like some sort of crazy person. He didn’t spot Jimmy or Jupiter but finally he saw Rocky by the drinks, talking to a familiar face.

“So, you’re also from Bristol?” asked Rosa.

“I live there, yeah,” Rocky said and leaned against the table in a cool and aloof manner.

“Hi guys,” said Dawn, interrupting. Both turned to look at him.

“Congratulations, your highness,” said Rosa with something that could have been a genuine smile.

“Thank you,” said Dawn. “Really. Thank you, for all this. I don’t know how you pulled it off but it’s all so beautiful.”

“It was definitely a challenge,” said Rosa and took a sip of her champagne.

“It’s impressive,” said Rocky and Rosa might have blushed or maybe she’d just had more glasses of champagne, that was anybody’s guess. Dawn took a glass himself. “He’s right. I can’t say I ever much thought about what my wedding would look like, but this is probably better than anything I would’ve come up with.”

“Thanks,” said Rosa. Dawn nodded to them as he spotted Quincey coming his way. He excused himself and walked up to him.

“Husband,” said Dawn.

Quincey laughed. “Husband,” he echoed.

“Is everything to your liking?” Dawn asked.

“Yes,” said Quincey. “It’s perfect.”

“Well, not perfect,” said Evander who had suddenly materialized from the crowd. “But it’s not all too bad.”

“Hello, Evander,” said Quincey.

“I thought you should know,” Evander continued. “Your mother’s trying to weasel her way into the good graces of some foreign dignitaries. I made Flitwick keep an eye on her.”

“Good call,” said Quincey.

“Quincey, Dawn!” came a voice from behind Dawn, and as Dawn turned, Diana Somerset, Quincey’s distant cousin slash Isabella’s dream daughter-in-law walked to them.

“Hey!” exclaimed Quincey and hugged her. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“It was a beautiful ceremony,” she said and only then seemed to acknowledge the existence of Evander. “Hello,” she said, rather coldly.

“Diana,” said Evander. “It’s good to see you.”

Dawn eyed them both and Quincey seemed ready to start putting out fires.

Evander cleared his throat and said: “Actually, I wanted to talk to you.”

“You did?”

He nodded. “I wanted to apologize. For last year. I should never have done what I did, and I shouldn’t have tried to rope you into it.”

Diana looked at him a little warily. She looked to Quincey, probably to see his reaction, and then back to Evander. “It was pretty slimy,” she said. “But I hear you helped the country a great deal in recent days.”

“Well, I might have contributed,” said Evander. “A little.”

“Truce?” suggested Diana and offered her hand. Evander shook it and said: “Truce.”

Dawn and Quincey talked to many guests throughout the evening. Dawn’s old friend from school, John Arthur, had brought his new boyfriend as a date, which surprised Dawn almost more than anything else that had happened that day. Quincey was glad to meet more of Dawn's friends, and Dawn got to meet some of Quincey's. Aside from Lainey, they also chatted a while with Nate Mackade, Quincey's old dormmate from boarding school. He was attending with his girlfriend Nova. Dawn danced with Pandora, Tess and his dad, while Quincey danced with Olympia and Diana, as well as Diana’s twin sister Beatrice. Eventually Dawn's feet hurt so much he had to go find a seat. Tess sat next to him.

“Hi, your highness,” she said with a little laugh.

“Oh, come on.”

“What?” she asked innocently.

“I think they ought to make you a countess, or something, for all the work you’ve done for this country,” said Dawn.

“I didn’t even do anything.”

“You made a lot of coffee,” said Dawn. “For Evander.”

“He isn’t all that bad,” Tess said, and she was about to continue her explanation as to why on Earth she would think that, when she was interrupted.

“Who isn’t that bad?” asked Evander.

“Oh,” said Tess. “Hi, you.”

Dawn studied Evander’s expression which betrayed nothing.

“What is it? Did the queen turn into a lizard monster and is now eating the guests?” asked Dawn.

Evander rolled his eyes at him and then looked back to Tess, pretending like Dawn wasn't even there.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked her.

To Dawn’s surprise, a bright smile appeared on Tess’s face.

“Yeah,” she said. “I could dance.”

Dawn watched in some sort of shock, as Evander offered his hand and Tess took it, and he was still looking at them as they made their way to the dance floor.

“What the fuck…” he muttered to himself.

Half an hour later Dawn found Quincey in the courtyard. From his smile, he deduced he’d been expecting Dawn to show up.

“Hi,” Quincey said as Dawn walked closer.

“Hey,” replied Dawn.

“Are you having fun?”

Dawn nodded. “Although, I should tell you that Evander asked Tess to dance.”

“He did?”

“Yes, and she seemed happy about it.”

“Well, I’ll be…”

“He better not be plotting or scheming,” Dawn grumbled.

Quincey laughed, merrily.

“This is not a laughing matter, Quentin.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry…” said Quincey and raised both his hands in the air. “I’ll be sure to not grant my permission as a monarch for him to wed if it comes to that.”

Dawn stared at him. “It won’t come to that.”

He could not handle Evander as an uncle. That would be too much for anyone to handle.

“Did you see your friends?” asked Quincey, changing the subject.

“Yes, they all seem to be having fun.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Quincey.

“Yeah…”

Dawn looked at Quincey for a moment. Everything had happened so fast that he struggled to wrap his mind around the fact that they’d actually made it here, to this day. Overcome by some kind of sappy romance novel spirit, he grabbed Quincey’s face in both his hands and kissed him. Quincey smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Dawn.

When they pulled apart, he said: “Thank you for making this the best Christmas ever. I don't think we'll ever be able to top this one.”

Dawn laughed.

“Well, you never know,” he said. “Maybe next year the country won’t be in a crisis.”

“Well yes,” said Quincey. “Next year might be better.”

“I'm willing to try if you are,” said Dawn.

“Yes,” said Quincey and kissed him again.

He was fairly certain that whatever next year had in store, it couldn't possibly hold a candle to the last two. He certainly hoped it would be peaceful and uneventful.