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A Marriage of State	By : Niko Category: +G to L > Kyou Kara Maou Views: 2727 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou or any rights to its story, characters or plot. I make no money from this.

Chapter List
- 8
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Chapter Eight
In Yuuri's mind, everything had been an elaborate set up. Gwendal, Murata and Flynn had all conspired to make the perfect situation for kidnapping Wolfram down to the last detail with Conrad probably hiding in the wings somewhere, the pocket ace with horses waiting for a hasty retreat. Gwendal would fight off Alfgeir on his own, making amends through his tireless efforts to reclaim his brother. Tapestries would be used as nets, there would be mass havoc and confusion, maybe a food fight, but in the end they would find their way to their ships already waiting to depart and set sail for familiar shores. It would have been perfect, like any other number of fantastic rescues he'd seen in movies or been a part of himself. He couldn't readily recall any party he'd attended in their world which hadn't somehow ended in an elaborate escape. But here he sat, amidst music and gaiety, no sign of flight in sight. He hated that reality carried harsher consequences for such actions than his imagination.
With Gwendal having joined them at the table, stiff and awkward conversation about the weather and the party was replaced with technical aspects of naval ships as Alfgeir seemed to be a bit of an enthusiast. Neither Yuuri nor Wolfram had much to say on the subject, the two of them looking to each other with looks of boredom and the occasional eye-roll, amusing themselves with their lack of amusement.
Wolfram seemed more mature somehow, even as he scrunched up his pretty face at the continued talk of sail canvas and steam engines. Yuuri imagined it was probably to do with it being one of the first public occasions they'd attended together where the blonde mazoku had not spent his time chasing him down and threatening him, calling him a cheater, on guard and on his back all night long. The possessive prince had nothing to guard this time and sat calmly and patiently without his characteristic excitement. Yuuri appreciated it as much as he wished to see more of the Wolfram he knew best. Dressed in the red of the Trebic royal house, this was their Wolfram.
Alfgeir wrapped an arm around his husband's shoulders, leaning him closer to speak over the music. "Wolfy, you look bored. Why don't you and Yuuri dance or find something to entertain yourselves with. I'm sure His Majesty will be safe in your hands while I've got his retainer occupied."
Gwendal nodded. "My men are posted around the area."
Yuuri felt a rush of surprise and excitement. Perhaps this was where the great escape began. He stood slowly, not sure why his knees were shaking. "Ah.., I'm a terrible dancer but maybe we could just walk around or get some fresh air?"
"I have no intention of letting you step on my feet tonight," Wolfram said with a smile, rising as well. Alfgeir gave his shoulders a pat of encouragement, sending Wolfram stumbling forward, Yuuri holding out his arms to steady him as the ginger man laughed. Though Wolfram was no longer in any danger of falling, Yuuri kept his hand on his arm as the walked away from the table towards the veranda and the moonlit gardens still covered in snow.
Yuuri looked over his shoulder, watching Alfgeir smile and wave them on before turning back to Gwendal with another animated explanation of Trebic's latest naval marvel. "Is he always like that?"
"Always." Wolfram sighed heavily, shaking his head.
Despite the chill, the gardens were far from empty, several couples walking hand in hand through the rows of frosted bushes and snow peaked evergreens. Yuuri pulled Wolfram along, away from the half shadowed kissers and starry eyed pairs. They found a spot under a snow topped bough and ducked under its cover, standing with the mist of their breath hanging in air.
"Is he hard to put up with?" Yuuri asked.
Wolfram shrugged, picking at the tree's bark which came off like thick puzzle pieces. "I used to think so. Most people only carry on like that because they're hiding something. But Alfie's sort of like Conrad I guess in that he's just naturally easy going. He even reminds me of you sometimes."
Yuuri couldn't imagine how. He rubbed his hands together, wishing he'd thought to bring gloves. The cool lining of his trouser pockets made them less than ideal for keeping his hands warm. He'd rather be cold than lose the time he had, though he was at a loss for what to say. "You know, there are probably a million different questions I could ask you but the only ones I really want to ask are the ones you've already answered."
"I'm fine, Yuuri."
The king shook his head, unsatisfied by the recycled response."Fine isn't great. Fine isn't even okay. Fine is just an easy way to get out of a complicated explanation."
"Fine is tolerable. Fine is necessary," Wolfram explained.
"This isn't necessary."
"It is now."
Yuuri crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands under his arms for warmth as his brow furrowed in deep concentration. He hated that explanation, the understanding that there had once been a time when things could have been undone that had passed before Yuuri had even know there was something to object to. It was sudden, unexpected, an unprecedented betrayal of his trust and Gwendal was not the sole culprit. Yuuri watched Wolfram shiver as a cold drop of ice-water dripped onto his cheek from above. "Why did you do it?" he asked. "It may have been Gwendal's idea but it's not as though he forced you. Why did you chose to do this? I don't understand." He stepped closer, the fog of his breath mingling with Wolfram's as he lowered his voice in the presence of possible eavesdroppers. "I mean.. you talk about how much you love me and you go on and on about how we're going to be married some day and I was even scared you were busy planning the wedding behind my back and one day I'd come back and there you'd be checking off the guest list. But instead I come back and you're not there anymore and everyone is talking about how you married someone else. Did something happen? Did I do something?"
Wolfram stared at him for a few breaths, green eyes narrow but without anger. They were emerald orbs of ash more than embers, the remains of a fire that had slowly gone out. He looked away before long, his attention returning to the bark of the tree, the crinkle of feet compacting the snow on the garden paths, the sheltered giggles of couples far more passionate than them. The smell of wood-fires and evergreen gave each shuddered breath a taste of winter. Wolfram let his head hang low as he looked out under the bough."There are very few ways in which you let me love you. And for the first time I was offered an opportunity to give you something no one else could. We lost over a hundred lives in the previous battles with Trebic, and that's just on the Shin Makoku side. I have saved hundreds more lives just by promising a few decades of my life to someone."
"You'll miss out on Greta's life in those few decades."
The noble winced slightly, not from the cold. "Hopefully I will have at least played some part in giving our daughter the world her father has always wanted for her so she never has to live by my example."
"I would never let-"
"She's a princess, Yuuri." Wolfram barked, a slight spark returning to his eyes with a flash of anger. "With all the privileges and responsibilities that her title entails. If King Lanzhil or even the next Big Cimarron king said he would end his campaign against Shin Makoku if and only if you gave him Greta, could you honestly turn it down? You don't want to win this war with violence, how many other options do you think are left?"
"I'll find a way," he promised, grabbing Wolfram's arm and pulling him to look at him, to see his sincerity and believe in him as he thought he did.
The mazoku prince continued to glare. "I hope you do. But no matter what you do, there are going to be sacrifices."
"You're wrong."
"How many times have you been prepared to die for your country, Yuuri? You think you're the only one who cares that much or the only one who can do it?" The king opened his mouth to reply but Wolfram was not finished, pulling his arm from his grasp and shoving against his chest as his voice raised in anger. "If I had died in battle you wouldn't be upset with me but because I chose to fight this war with my heart instead of my sword, you can't accept it! If you're so scared of my love for you, if you can't accept it, if you have to run away from it every time it's too real for you, why do you care if I married Alfie?"
"Because you're not happy!" Yuuri yelled back, grabbing Wolfram's arms to keep him from running off. Fine wasn't happy.
"And watching you flirt with women and run from me made me happy at home? At least now I'm doing something!"
The king winced, mouth running on auto pilot as both their tempers broke free. "You abandoned Greta!"
"Don't you even dare try and talk to me about abandoning her! I've been the only one there for her more than half the time since you decided to adopt her!"
Yuuri's pulse was racing, a sweat forming on his brow even in the crisp winter air. He tightened his grip, more worried than ever that Wolfram would pull away and run. Their time now was too precious to waste in useless bickering. "Look, I don't want to fight!"
"No, you just don't want to lose the fight. You know I'm right, dammit!
Not knowing what else to do, in the absence of all rational thought, pulse pounding and anxiety making his hands tremble in their frightened grasp, Yuuri pulled Wolfram close and kissed him. His lips didn't linger, a short but firm pressure, noses only barely missing. He kissed him and pulled back, staring with mouth hanging open and eyes just as startled as the green ones staring back at him.
He'd kissed Wolfram.
Yuuri let him go slowly, his knuckles nearly frozen into place, not wanting to unfurl from his arms. He'd kissed another man. The strange tingle of sensation across his lips warmed them far more than the tremble of his breath. His first real kiss. "S-sorry... I... I don't know what...I'm really sorry."
Wolfram's hands, cold as ice, fell upon his cheeks as he pulled his face close and kissed him back. His kiss was not an innocent laying of lips but a siege of sensitive flesh, mouth parted, breath hot. Yuuri froze in place, part of the elements, as shocked by Wolfram as he had been by himself. He parted his lips slightly, letting Wolfram's close over them. They were gasping. There was no time to breathe--their bodies had found better means to survive. Yuuri wrapped his arms around him, finding the small of his back and pulling him close. It was warm and comfortable, flat chest to flat chest like a single mold's broken halves.
The snow above fell over them, bough knocked free of its heavy burden and sending the two friends leaping in opposite directions in shocked response. Yuuri shook the snow from his hair, knees weak but somehow still supporting him. Looking down he saw two pairs of feet in the snow and raising his face found two pairs of eyes from two very different faces. Yuuri's heart sank, the chill running down his spine having very little to do with the racing rivers of snow water seeping down his shirt.
"You were heard arguing. There was some concern you might start a fight," Gwendal said, looking between the two, eyes refusing to linger too long on either.
Alfgeir took off his dress jacket and slung the mighty thing over Wolfram's shoulders, the size of it engulfing him like a child playing in their father's things. He took his husband's hands in his own, pressing warmth into the cold digits. "Wolfie, you're frozen. Come inside. I'll ask that someone show us to our room and get us a fire started."
Wolfram nodded mutely, eyes still locked on Yuuri.
There was nothing to say.
Alfgeir pulled Wolfram close, rubbing at his arms to warm him as they walked back into the elegant halls through the garden doors. Yuuri could feel Gwendal standing close, his disproving stare boring down into him as he watched Wolfram leave instead. Without warning the weight of Gwendal's own dress jacket plopped down on Yuuri's head, landing him in an oasis of borrowed warmth as he closed it across his chest.
"Don't ever get caught again."
Yuuri looked over his shoulder at his retainer, shaking with cold and perhaps a bit of fear. Gwendal said nothing more as he too took the path back into the estate leaving his king under the watchful eyes of his men and the moon.
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A Marriage of State