August's sewn reign would begin with the color red. Siles watched the seamstress begin her work, wrinkling his nose at the similarity between the beginning of August's section and the end of Samira's. It wouldn't happen again, at least. Not for a very long time. Queen Thalia had signed the official surrender documents confirming that she would not attack again.

The royal alchemist had found her solution to the anti-magic within the castle gardens. Crushed mint mixed with thyme did the trick, for some reason having to do with chemical bonds and chirality. Siles and August kept a jar of the mixture by their bedside, even though Siles would be able to protect them both regardless of the Southern Queen's chemical. August had also had compartment built into his throne to store the mixture, though only he, Siles, and the woman who had built the compartment knew about its existence. Nobody could poison the mixture, that way.

Siles glanced back at where August reclined on the throne, his legs dangling over one armrest while his head rested on the other. He was still smiling from the results of the recent Council elections. After laughing, learning and training alongside commoners, the magician soldiers had overwhelmingly voted to include the commoners within the voting pool. With the commoners voting, the Council had become overwhelmingly non-magical. Amanda and one other magician were the only ones who had maintained their positions. That meant Amanda had to deal with the recently elected Sonia. Siles didn't like Sonia, but he loved watching her drive Amanda crazy.

August sat up straight on his throne, his expression suddenly serious. He leaned forward and beckoned Siles closer. "Can we talk in private?" he whispered.

The only private place in a castle full of servants and magicians was August's room. Siles tried to think of what August could want to talk about, but most of the latest political developments weren't the kind that required private discussion. For once, very few people were plotting to kill the King. As Siles stepped closer to August, he noticed the nervousness in August's gaze. The matter had to be something personal. Siles resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sure," Siles said.

He waited for August to stand then followed him through the corridors to the second story. Usually, August filled the time it took to reach his quarters with pointless conversation about pointless topics. Today, he was silent. Siles was tempted to ask him what was wrong, but that would require breaking the silence. He didn't break silences as a matter of principle. It made him look desperate.

Siles shut the door to August's quarters as August perched on the edge of his chair by the fireplace. He waited for August to begin speaking, but August motioned for him to sit first. Siles squinted at him as he obliged.

August frowned back at him. "Why are you squinting at me?"

"You're acting weird," Siles said.

"No, I'm not," August said.

"Yes, you are. You're being quiet. You usually never shut up," Siles said.

August mockingly squinted back at him then shook his head. "Fine. Yes. I'm acting weird. It's just... I don't know how to ask this. Especially since you always want people to take you seriously. I know public displays of affection aren't your favorite thing."

Siles shrunk back in his chair. He could put up with the constant hand-holding. He kind of enjoyed it. But he dreaded the idea of anything more than that. Did August want them to kiss more in public? It was thrilling in private, but the idea of doing such a thing in public horrified him. Did August somehow have something worse in mind? Siles shuddered at the thought. He liked August – he even loved him; he just didn't like the fact that he was the King. Anytime the King did anything, everybody knew about it.

August took a deep breath. He stared at his palms as he spoke, since Siles was sure that there was no reassurance in his own expression. "I wish I could ask this in a fancier way, but at least I know you don't care for pomp and circumstance. So... will you marry me? At some point? It doesn't have to be soon; I just want to know if you would even consider it. Because I want to marry you. Eventually." August finally looked up at him.

Siles stared into August's wide brown eyes. He loved those eyes. He used to find them annoying. Honestly, he still found them annoying sometimes. But he loved them. Every morning that he woke up to August's face beside him felt like the best morning in the world. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling as he responded, "Yes. At some point, I'll marry you. I'll even put up with a ceremony if you want."

August beamed at him. He had the most childish grin. He radiated joy, as always. Siles couldn't help but smile back. August sprung to his feet. "Stay here. I have a ring. Two rings. I'll go get them." He scrambled into the bedroom as if he were racing against a clock.

Siles couldn't help but laugh at him. Of course he didn't have the rings on him. Siles could hear August digging through a drawer in the other room. He half expected August to have lost them, but he pranced back into the room seconds later with two rings in hand. One had a blue sapphire perched on its edge while the other was gem-less intricately carved steel. Both bands were silver, like the mask he no longer wore.

"I had the blacksmith make a serious one for you. It's made of some pretty hardy steel so you can break noses without breaking the ring," August said as he took Siles' hand. He slid the ring onto his finger.

Siles stared down at the ring and felt his heart begin to thud in his chest. He was surprised that he cared so much. He had never even considered marriage before, but now it felt like the best thing in the world. He tried to swallow his smile and bury his excitement, but he found himself grinning nevertheless. They were going to get married.

"So for the wedding, should we do something masquerade style?" August asked.

"No. No more masks."

~