#finpan

    Tino sighs heavily after reading the letter. As always, he wants to write one back. But receiving them is already suspicious enough. Thankfully, the guards don’t know they’re coming from the prince. But they do know they’re sealed with the royal crest, which is why none have dared open them yet. Yet, because he knows they’re super curious, and it wouldn’t take much to get them to tear into his letters. He crawls under his bed, and tugs up a loose floor tile. He brings the letter up to his lips, closes his eyes, and kisses the paper lovingly. “I won’t let you do all the work,” he mumbles. He opens his eyes slowly, and places the letter under the tile, with all the rest of them. He removes the one previously on top, and stares at his own handwriting in the gloom. He’s been writing on it every time he receives a letter from Kiku. Only a sentence at a time, but he’s gotten so many the entire page is nearly full. He’ll never let his prince see it, of course. It’s entirely too cheesy, and not at all put together well. It’s mostly flirtatious lines, but there are some of how much he misses the prince. He takes a deep breath, and adds I await the day I can be in your bed with you as well.

    He hears steps coming down the hall, and shoves the letter and tile back into place. He withdraws from under the bed, and hops onto the dusty covers of it. He coughs softly, swatting his hand in front of his face to clear the air a bit. A guard shoves a tray of food into his cell. “Who’s sending you letters from the palace?” Tino’s head snaps up, and he snarls at the guard. The man laughs softly, then lowers his voice. “Relax. Prince Kiku sent me. He can’t stand not hearing from you any longer. He wants you to write a letter. I’ve got the supplies. No other guard will be down this way. They were ordered to leave you be until you finish your meal. I was instructed to stay until that happens. Of course this was a placement from the Prince, but they don’t know that. So take as much time as you need. Here.” He hands him a cloth bag, smiling slightly. “I hope you don’t mind using the same type of parchment he does.”

    “Of course not. I’m actually really happy I get to use it!” He laughs, opening the bag excitedly, food forgotten. “I miss him a lot.” He frowns deeply. “We probably sound crazy. We knew each other for a few hours before deciding to get married. Then, they discovered I was in disguise.” The guard shakes his head.

    “You’re not crazy. You’re in love. Love at first sight is a very real thing. I found my own at a similar party. It wasn’t a masquerade though, so our meeting wasn’t as mysterious. But it was just as perfect.” He smiles at the Finnish man. “And, in your defense, the masquerade was so he could find someone to marry. He was supposed to find a woman, which is why you wound up down here.”

    “I know.” He sighs softly, closing his eyes. “They wouldn’t have let me in if I weren’t dressed as a woman though! I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Kiku. And I definitely wasn’t expecting him to fall in love with me back.” He shakes his head. “He didn’t want a wife. He was so happy when I told him I wasn’t a woman. Why did no one listen to him?”

    “He’s our prince. It’s tradition he marry a woman. But he’s threatened to run away and live with you as a peasant if he has to, the moment you are released. He’s brought it up to next week.” He brings a hand up to his mouth. “I’ve said too much. Write your letter and eat. I will give it to His Highness as soon as I can. And if there is anything you wish for me to tell him without putting it in writing, lest it get taken from me, I will relay that information to him as well. We are very close.” Tino opens his eyes slowly, and looks up at him. He nods solemnly, and gets to work writing.

    My beautiful, kind love,

I am so very thankful you have been sending me letter after letter. They have helped keep me company in this lonely place. I can almost hear your voice in my head as I read every perfect word. You have an elegant way with everything you do, especially writing. I only wish I had a sliver of that talent. All I can do is write how very much I love and miss you. Perhaps I could send you some tales of my time here? But my love first. I adore you. I have since the first moment I saw you. I wasn’t looking for love at that moment, but I could no longer deny it when I saw your eyes. They may be what most would consider a boring colour, but brown eyes show the most emotion. Even with your expression set firmly, I could see the curiosity dancing in that brown. Such a wonderfully infectious curiosity. And the trust. I have learned you do not trust easily, but there was so much of it on the night we met. You will never know how much that means to me, but I will try my hardest to show you, once I am out of here.

Speaking of here, it’s been… interesting. The guards gossip a lot. The halls echo, but the cells do not. The guards cannot say anything we all do not learn. But there is other knowledge here. Knowledge the guards do not know of. It is incredibly easy to spread information within the cells. The further back you go, the less likely you are to be overheard. Everyone here is bonded. From what I can gather, they have all done trivial things. Any serious criminals seem to go deeper, or get sentenced to death. I have made a friend I wish to speak with you about releasing, once things have settled between us. I do hope we can settle things. We are still supposed to marry, aren’t we? I know I am no woman, but I will love you with everything I have. I already do, so even if we cannot marry I will love no other. I shall wait for you.

Eagerly awaiting your company,

Your dearest beloved.

    “Please inform him I kept it vague so he would not be tried if it falls into the wrong hands. No one can trace who it is to for certain, and it will be difficult to trace it back to me as the sender, but not impossible. I have someone in mind if I am asked who it is to.” He folds the parchment carefully, and hands it to the man.

    “I am sure he will be thankful for that. Eat now, so I can return with an empty tray. But please, try to hurry. We have already taken enough time to become suspicious.” He nods, and hurries to eat the food offered to him. It tastes better than normal. He doesn’t ask what was done to it; he’s too hungry. Decent food is leagues better than the horrible slop he’s been given up until now. “This will be your best meal until the prince can get you out of here. He was able to distract the guards with his orders long enough for me to be able to slip some spices onto your food. He loves you very much, and thought this was the least he could do for being the reason you are here in the first place.”

    “Thank him for that. Please. This is gourmet compared to what I’ve been given. When I am out, I plan to take over cooking for them. I know what each one is allergic to, what they love, and what they hate. I know which cells they are in as well, so it will be easy to have it delivered to the proper place, if I cannot do it myself.” He bows his head shyly. “If Kiku will allow it.”

    “I am sure he would be more than happy to allow that. You have taken your time to get to know them, despite being put in here wrongly.” Tino shakes his head quickly.

    “I am not in here wrongly. I believe this was the reason I was caught. I was meant to improve their lives.” He tucks a strand of hair behind his ear, smiling sheepishly. “We are an unofficial family now. And I won’t stop fighting for them.” He nods confidently, then holds out the empty tray that previously held his food. “Here. Hurry. Thank you for all you have done.” He watches the man leave without a word, and falls back onto his bed, letting his eyes fall closed. Maybe he’ll get out, one day.

~

    A week later, the door to his cell opens, and a hooded figure makes their way inside quickly. Tino tenses up, fear coursing through his body. Who on Earth could it be? “Beloved?” The anxiety leaves him in a rush. He throws himself into the man’s arms, pushing the hood away from those beautiful black locks.

    “Kiku,” he breathes out, before kissing him passionately. He’s never felt more free.