Theo was so nervous he thought he might be sick.

James must have made a mistake. He couldn’t do this. Well, he had been doing this for a week now. But managing an event from the safety of his bedroom was very different to doing it on-site. But as he was already on his way to Bodiam Castle, he figured there was no going back now.

It had taken him a while to get his confidence up. He had never worked with a large team before, let alone been put in charge of one. He was worried that they would resent him for coming out of nowhere and taking over. But so far, they had been nothing but supportive.

He’d mostly swapped emails with a woman named Jemima who seemed to have her head screwed on straight. She’d worked on dozens of events with the Royal Family, both large and small. She was the person to check protocol with and generally run ideas past.

She’d said several times that she was in contact with James, which Theo found reassuring. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said to Theo that he didn’t do emails. Theo hadn’t heard from him once since he had visited his house in Dagenham a week ago. At this point, Theo wondered if James even had an email address. But Jemima had assured Theo several times that he was happy with how the event was proceeding. In fact, he was thrilled, according to her. Theo didn’t know if she was just being nice, though.

Theo kept thinking he was going to fuck up any minute now and make a giant faux pas. Having been initially unsure if he could take on an event of this magnitude, now he was desperate to do a good job.

“Are you all right there, boss?” his driver asked from up front through the intercom. Theo had been stunned that James had sent him a car. He had been perfectly prepared to take the train. But he had to admit the castle was kind of in the middle of nowhere, and the car was much appreciated.

The chauffeur, a South Asian guy named Manjeet, seemed like a solid guy. He had a bit of an East London accent himself and talked to Theo like he was a human being rather than a mere commoner. Theo was so worried he would put his foot in it with his manners as well as the event. But so far, Manjeet had treated him respectfully.

“Yeah, not bad, thanks,” Theo said, looking through the partition glass. He offered Manjeet a shaky smile. “Just not really sure what to expect when we arrive.”

Manjeet shook his head. “Oh, you’ve got nothing to worry about. It’s a great team at Bodiam. You’ll fit right in.”

Theo wasn’t sure about that, but he appreciated Manjeet’s attempts to set his nerves at ease.

Theo’s phone dinged, but it wasn’t a work message for once.

Are you there yet? Sal’s excited text popped up.

About halfway, Theo replied with a heart emoji. He was following the route on his phone’s map app. It wasn’t in his nature to sit back and just be taken somewhere. He had to stay on top of the situation.

He was aware of Bodiam Castle, of course. But Blenheim, Windsor, Balmoral, Kensington…all these places just blended into one for him. They were more tourist attractions than anywhere people worked or lived. Until now. Now, he was headed straight into the belly of the beast.

Before James had left Dagenham a week ago, he’d assured Theo he would have his own room and be perfectly comfortable over the next week. Theo had hoped he might have heard from the prince again before he arrived. Just a text or something to assure him. But there’d been nothing.

Theo was relatively certain James wasn’t still pissed at him for their misunderstanding at the Queen’s Birthday honours ceremony. It was more likely that James didn’t waste his time talking to staff. He was a prince, after all. Theo was determined not to take it personally. He had a job to do, one he was going to work his arse off to do the best he could.

He wasn’t there to be friends with James, even if he’d gone all the way to Theo’s home and been nice to his nan.

Theo hugged his phone to his chest and looked out the window at the passing countryside. Fucking hell, if James wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, though. Theo had tried to be very strict with himself not to daydream about those eyes, blue like the ocean. But when James had smiled at him, it was like Theo was helpless to his charms.

His phone pinged again, but this time, it was work. He was able to distract himself for half an hour or so discussing orders with the florists and paying invoices. Jemima was lightning fast at replying to all his messages. She was also speaking to the head of the kitchen, a woman named Margaret McDonald, who had lots of exciting ideas for the catering. Apparently, they hadn’t hosted an event at Bodiam for about a decade.

When Theo was in the zone like this, he started to believe he could really pull this off. This week had been the most stimulating since he’d left school after his A-Levels at eighteen. His brain was firing on all cylinders as he juggled the demands of putting on such a large-scale event in such a short time. It had made him feel alive in a way he hadn’t done for years.

If he was lucky, it could maybe lead into other positions. He would love to use his skill in events planning to help more charities. There had to be all kinds of things he could do if he just had a little more budget to work with or any budget.

Not that he had been troubled with that for this ball. It was quite frankly unnerving to have so much money to play with. Although he ran everything past Jemima, Theo was still nervous about spending too much. If anything, though, she kept hinting he could spend a little more.

Although he knew the next week was going to be hard work, he couldn’t help but admit he was just a little bit excited about going away for a week as well. He’d done a couple of package holidays when he’d been younger. The 18-30 kind of trips, but specifically for gay guys. He’d drunk himself sick on tequila, spent his days hungover on the beach and his nights in different beds every time. Although this was for work, he couldn’t deny the appeal of spending several days at a picturesque castle in the height of summer.

And what a castle. A gasp escaped his lips as Bodiam came into sight. Theo pressed his nose to the glass to absorb as much of the view as he possibly could.

Built several hundred years ago, Bodiam Castle was a square structure sitting in a moat so big it was technically a lake. A single bridge gave visitors access, stretching a hundred feet from the road to the large double doors in the front entrance over the water. The surrounding land was trees, fields and more lakes for several miles in most directions. It was so peaceful. Theo knew once the car’s engine stopped, all he’d be able to hear was birdsong.

The castle looked like something right out of an Arthurian legend. It had enormous round towers on each corner and the square crenellations at the top of every wall. As the car approached the driveway, Theo spotted a pair of swans on the lake, swimming peacefully together in the summer sunshine.

Theo could see why James wanted to have his ball here. Even before you crossed the threshold, you felt like you were entering a fairy tale. Theo was immensely pleased he and his team had already organised a firework display for the ball. It was going to look stunning over the rippling waters of the lake.

“It’s pretty stunning, isn’t it,” said Manjeet, who sounded almost as excited as Theo felt. They were on an empty side road which served as the only access route to Bodiam. Manjeet pulled up to the security gate and turned off the ignition.

Silence. Theo grinned.

“It’s proper lush,” he said, unable to hide how impressed he was. “I mean, it looks stunning in photos and stuff, but in reality?” He whistled.

Manjeet nodded and unclipped his seatbelt. “Wait until you see inside,” he said with a knowing grin.

Theo copied him and got out of the car and into the sunshine. He couldn’t believe the summer they were having. Hopefully the good weather would last until the ball a week tomorrow.

Manjeet removed Theo’s wheelie suitcase from the car boot and pulled it over to the security guard’s booth. “Oh,” said Theo, dashing over to him. “I can do that.”

Manjeet shook his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll walk you in,” he said cheerfully. “I can’t drive you to the door, so it’s the least I can do.”

Theo felt awkward at being fussed over. He wasn’t anyone special, after all. But he didn’t want to be rude or hurt Manjeet’s feelings. So he just followed him to the booth and showed the guy in there his provisional driver’s licence to prove his identity.

“Um, so, you know Prince James quite well?” Theo asked Manjeet as they waited for the gates to open. As stupid as he felt asking, it occurred to him he might be able to get an insight into his new employer.

Manjeet raised his eyebrows at him. “Oh, yeah,” he said enthusiastically. “He’s a top bloke. He likes you,” he added with a chuckle as he started walking over the bridge. “You must have really impressed him.”

Theo blinked and realised he should start walking too. “Really?” he said, catching up. “I basically shouted at him and sort of, uh, told him off when he upset me.”

To his surprise, Manjeet laughed even harder. “Yep, that’ll do it,” he said.

Theo wasn’t entirely sure what that meant but was too afraid to ask. Did James really like him because he was gobby?

Not for the first time, Theo wondered if James might like him. Theo was obviously gay, anyone could see it a mile off. So James had to know. But that was crazy. Princes weren’t gay. It just didn’t happen.

Theo needed to trust that James was genuinely impressed with his attitude and work ethic. For once in his life, he needed to accept some praise and be proud of himself.

He looked over the bridge as they crossed. “Cool swans,” he said for the sake of filling the silence between him and Manjeet.

Manjeet grinned and nodded towards where the pair were swimming through the water. “They’ve been here for over ten years Quintin reckons – he’s the butler here. They’re bloody territorial,” he said with a scoff. “No other pair would dare try and settle on the lake.” He nudged Theo’s arm with his elbow and winked. “Guess what? They’re gay.”

Theo felt a cold chill run through his body. But when he looked at Manjeet, he was still smiling and didn’t look to be taking the piss or winding Theo up. Was he just excited on Theo’s behalf?

“Oh, really?” he asked.

Manjeet nodded earnestly. “We had a vet come out a couple of years ago when one of them got sick and he confirmed it. Did you know that, like, penguins and giraffes and monkeys can all be gay, too? Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah,” Theo said, looking back at the pair as they continued swimming away from them. “Very cool.” Apparently Manjeet didn’t have a problem with Theo’s sexuality. That was a good sign.

The entrance was approaching. Theo felt another wave of nerves. It was okay. He had a week to get this sorted. A whole week to prove himself and not let James down. He had trusted Theo to pull this off, so that was what he would do.

He took a breath as Manjeet went in front of him and pushed open the heavy wooden door.

“Here we go,” Theo whispered to himself. “Be brave.”

It was easier said than done, though.