This story won't be too long, but I had to do something to make up for the one I deleted. I just had no intention of ever finishing that, so I figured I'd just get rid of it altogether without the epic "hiatus" sign or anything. Sorry to any of you that cared, and for those for you that didn't, here ya go! :)
"Wolfram, come on! I wasn't doing anything, I swear!"
"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT, YOU LITTLE FLIRT?"
Yuuri gulped and ran for his life, dodging several surprised soldiers who quickly looked away. They knew better than to try and get involved when the 'little lord brat' was moody...
Wolfram was hot on his heels, glaring menacingly with emerald eyes that could almost kill. He couldn't believe his fiance had been flirting with that little tramp from the castle market again!
Lately, Yuuri had been going down to the castle market every other day, supposedly improving relations with his people and taking Greta on father-daughter outings. And for the longest time Wolfram agreed to trust him, so he stayed behind to drill his soldiers whenever the young maoh went out. He was content with it, until the day Yuuri came back with a strange, woven bracelet dangling on his wrist...
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"Yuuri, Greta! You're back!" The blonde demon knelt down and scooped his daughter up into his arms, as his fiance waved happily and came over to them. "Did you have a good day?"
"Yeah!" The child exclaimed, beaming brightly and holding up a small bag draped across her shoulder. "Yuuri and I got to go shopping with Conrad, and he bought me all these neat presents!"
Wolfram smiled, patting her head softly. "That's great, Greta! I'm glad you had a good time."
He set her down after a while, telling her to go run off and find the maids. The weather was fair enough, so they could have a nice little tea party in the courtyard that afternoon. Greta nodded happily before doing as she was told, leaving the two boys alone...
The double black smiled at him. "So, how'd the training go today? I bet you keep your men working hard."
Wolfram scoffed, shaking his head in annoyance. "Of course! We have to be ready for anything, especially with such a wimp maoh guiding us!" Yuuri gave him a brief look but shrugged it off, probably deeming it not worth arguing over. Wolfram always noticed these little gestures, but he smiled secretly each time, knowing he was getting his way.
Something colorful on Yuuri's wrist caught his eye then, and he looked down to see a small, thin woven band tied loosely around it. It contained threads of red and blue, with a little bit of purple and black mixed in, and the pattern of the threads was relatively simple. But the presence of the bracelet caught him slightly off guard, and there was something about it he didn't like.
"Hey, Yuuri? What is that thing on your wrist? I didn't think you were the type to wear jewelry." He asked innocently. The young maoh blinked at him, confused, before glancing down at his wrist and chuckling slightly. Was that a nervous chuckle?
"Oh yeah, that. Well, usually I'm not, but it was a present from a friend of mine who lives by the market. It's called a friendship bracelet..." He explained, looking a little embarrassed.
Wolfram raised an eyebrow. "Which friend is that?" He'd never heard of the concept of such bracelets before. It must be a new fad or something...
"Actually, you haven't met her yet." Yuuri answered, rubbing the back of his head and looking down a little.
Woah, woah, back up! Her? Wolfram didn't like the sound of this. Was Yuuri cheating on him? He knew the boy would say no, that he was just being silly, but then why hadn't Yuuri mentioned this friend before? Or even introduced them? And they were exchanging gifts?
The blonde demon felt himself beginning to frown, and he began his usual question and answer session, complete with mildly threatening tone. "And why is that?"
Yuuri blushed a little, but smiled reassuringly. "W-Well, I just met her recently. When I was shopping at the market the other day, I found one of the stall owners yelling at her for stealing an apple from his cart. Of course, I had to step in and help her, and once things were settled she invited me back to her house to thank me."
Wolfram listened, though none too patiently, as the angry vein began throbbing in the back of his head. 'Invited me back to her house'...'thank me'...He was getting all the wrong ideas. And Yuuri's small blush wasn't helping.
"I visited her a couple of times since then. Her family has been having some hard times, and she told me that she was stealing the apple to feed her sick mother, who was bed-ridden and unable to work. She was all alone, so what could I do?"
Then Yuuri smiled a little more. "I gave her some money to help them get by, and when I went to see her today, she gave me this bracelet. She said she made it herself, and it was the best she could offer to thank me for all my help. You're right, I'm not really into jewelry all that much. But it meant a lot to her, and I promised I'd wear it and visit her often."
Wolfram raised his eyebrow again, frowning. This story sounded fishy...a little too convenient, really. Gwendal's reports showed that there was little to no poverty in the area immediately near the castle, and he himself had never once visited a house that wasn't middle class or above. How could there be a family so destitute in the town? And there were some possible 'implications' in the boy's story. There had to be something Yuuri wasn't telling him...
"I don't really like you wearing it, Yuuri. It isn't something befitting a strong, fearsome maoh." He tried making up an excuse that didn't make him sound like a jealous lover, but as usual, Yuuri saw right through it, glaring at him briefly.
"There's nothing going on, Wolfram. And it's my arm; I can wear whatever I want on it." The double black was clearly irked, but just then a very familiar came up behind them and stood stock-still, coughing a little to call Yuuri's attention.
"Your Majesty, Gwendal is asking that you come to his office as soon as possible."
"It's Yuuri, Conrad. And I'll go right now."
The brunette smiled. "Alright, Yuuri."
As he and the king turned to walk back into the castle, Conrad shot a sideways glance at Wolfram before he followed swiftly behind Yuuri, leaving the blonde alone by the front door.
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Needless to say, Wolfram had kept a watchful eye on Yuuri since then, trying to catch him slipping up or sleeping around. It began to put a strain on their friendship, as the blonde would assault him with questions and he would cooly reply, "I don't have to explain myself to you. There's nothing wrong with Elsa, so just drop it!"
Wolfram asked Greta about it, but she said she'd never met a little girl of that description. She said that Yuuri would occasionally go off on his own for a while and she would play with the other children at the market, but Yuuri had never taken her to meet Elsa. He'd mentioned her, yes, but the little girls had never met. The girls were close in age, or so his fiance had told him, so wouldn't they be perfect playmates for each other?
He also tried asking Conrad, but the soldier would have none of it. He only ruffled his younger brother's hair, smiling and saying, "You two work this out on your own. It's not for me to say." Of course, Conrad was just being annoyingly difficult...
Wolfram had even taken to following Yuuri once in a while to the market, watching him like a hawk everywhere he went. Though, the young maoh seemed to be more tired and worried-looking as of late, and he would go off to the girls house threatening Wolfram not to follow him. The blonde would blink in anger and surprise. Why was he being so weird about this?
Well, back to the present, Yuuri ducked into a small bedroom and tried to slam the door, but Wolfram was too quick. The angry blonde grabbed the handle and pulled back with amazing force, and the young maoh yelped in surprise as he tried to hold the door shut.
Finally, though, Wolfram yanked the door open and stalked in, glaring at Yuuri with a few tears in his eyes. He slammed the door behind him and locked it.
"Why, Yuuri? Why do you do this to me? I'm you're fiance!"
The scared boy suddenly became angrier, and even as he backed away slightly he held a firm glare and tone.
"Wolf, you're being ridiculous! Why can't you just trust me for once? And I've told you a hundred times; that proposal was an accident!"
The blonde advanced on him, pinning him against the wall and stared into his coal-black eyes. He grabbed Yuuri's shoulders roughly and shook him a little.
"HOW DARE YOU GO OUT AND FLIRT WITH SOME LITTLE TART WHEN YOU PROMISED TO BE WITH ME? WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO DISTANT, YUURI? WHY CAN'T YOU LOVE ME?"
Yuuri pushed him off and spat back, no longer letting his fear stop him.
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER THAT! AND I'M NOT INTO GUYS, WOLFRAM! I'VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN; I CAN'T LOVE YOU THAT WAY!"
Something in Wolfram snapped then, like a small, fragile twig that was cracked by a foot in the forest. Or by the heat and pressure of a fire. He was angry and sad, and in so much pain then as he saw that Yuuri looked serious. Before the boy could say anything more though, Wolfram grabbed him roughly by the neck and held him there as he shrieked. Yuuri's eyes widened in surprise and fear at his friend's actions.
"WHY, YUURI? WHY CAN'T YOU LOVE ME?"
Wolfram shook his fiance slightly, as Yuuri began to choke and gasp. His hold kept tightening, and the young maoh's throat burned painfully as he tried to take in air.
"Wolfram...please...stop..." He brought his hands up to claw at the one holding his neck, but the grip was like a vice. He began to feel dizzy and heavy, coughing through the blocked passage and feeling his legs wobble beneath him. And still the blonde would not let up.
'WHY WOULD YOU CHOOSE HER OVER ME? WHY? WHY?" Each 'why' got successively louder, but Yuuri was beginning to feel far away.
"Wolf...ah...s-stop..."
"WHY?"
"Your Majesty?"
Wolfram was shocked out of his episode by knocking at the door, followed by the voice of a soldier. He looked back to Yuuri and gasped in horror, seeing that he was choking the boy to the point that he turned bluish-white. The blonde stifled a terrified cry as he released him, watching as the young maoh crumbled to the floor.
The man outside seemed to be getting worried, fiddling with the handle of the door. "Your Majesty? Lord von Christ sent me to come get you. He says it's urgent...Are you alright?"
Wolfram merely stood there, in utter silence and shock. He was too afraid to answer the door for multiple reasons, but the biggest one was his unconscious fiance laying on the ground at his feet. He gasped again when, upon further inspection, he saw large, ugly purple bruises beginning to form on the pale, delicate skin.
My god...D-Did I just-
"Your Majesty! Please answer!" There was banging at the door now, and soon Wolfram could hear his brothers out there as well. He knew Conrad would be in the very front, trying to break the door down.
"Yuuri! Yuuri!" There it was.
Wolfram panicked, sinking to his knees and sobbing loudly. How could his anger have run away with him like that? How could he have let it?
It didn't take long before the door fell in, and in barged Conrad and Gunter, swords drawn and eyes full of worry. They surveyed the room and found a sobbing Wolfram and an unconscious Yuuri in the middle of the floor...
"Yuuri!"
"Your Majesty!"
They raced to him, Gunter taking the black-haired boy up in his arms and Conrad checking him for injuries and signs of life. He growled as he saw the purple marks forming on his godson's neck, but as he felt the boy's wrist he sighed with relief upon finding a steady pulse. No one knew what had happened yet, but at least Yuuri was still alive...
Gunter turned back to Wolfram, who sat sobbing and transfixed on that one spot on the floor.
"Wolfram! What happened to his majesty?" He asked urgently, looking around but finding no attackers. The window wasn't even unlocked or broken...
The blonde said nothing, only muttered incoherently and shook violently as he swam in the realm of his dark thoughts. I almost killed him...I almost killed him...
"Wolfram? Please tell us what happened!"
He jumped and yelped at the hand that was suddenly on his shoulder, turning to meet his second oldest brother's worried gaze. The soldier looked concerned for him; Yuuri's vital signs were fine and there seemed to be nothing else wrong with him. Wolfram, on the other hand, looked like he'd seen a ghost. Or maybe been possessed by one...
"I...I..." The blonde stuttered, completely at a loss for words. He was a traitor now. He'd almost murdered his king, and if that wasn't bad enough, he's probably destroyed the little hope they had of being happy together in any kind of relationship. All his hopes and dreams dashed like rocks on a beach, being slowly but surely and painfully worn away with time.
"I..." Tears filled his eyes, as all eyes in the room turned to him for answers and assurance. He looked at Yuuri once more, seeing his adorable face so pale and pained, and his heart cracked. He stood and ran from the room, not certain of where he was going. But he didn't care, he just kept ignoring the shouts from the room where the remains of his old life were still being broken and smashed, the sound of it lingering in his ears...
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Yosak came into the room then, watching as Conrad laid Yuuri on the bed and Gunter told a nearby soldier to send for Gisela. The spy stood by his old friend, watching the sleeping boy before him sadly. Poor Yuuri...and poor Wolfram...
"Yosak..." Conrad's voice was firm but soft, and he wasn't looking at him as he said it. He never took his eyes off Yuuri, cursing himself inside for not being there when the boy needed him most. "Did you see who did this?"
His friend sighed heavily, shaking his head sadly. "You're not gonna like what I have to say. And as soon as the kid wakes up, he isn't going to like it either."
"Please, Yosak. I have to know."
Another heavy sigh, and a brief period of silence.
"It was Wolfram."