Chapter 1

This goes AU after Season 2, I haven't seen Season 3 so everything relating to the Aristocrats is mostly my own creation.

Warnings: None for this chapter. It will get more mature as the series progresses.

"This doesn't have to happen. You know that, right?" Conrad leaned against the door of Wolfram's chambers in his typical stance, arms crossed.

Wolfram was seated on a small purple divan, in the middle of removing his boot. He paused for a moment, and then continued struggling with the laces on his boots.

"It's not like I've got a choice. Günter, Brother and the Great Sage spent hours to convince the wimp. Too bad nobody thought to speak to me about it first." That was something of a sore point and he was going to have words about it to Yuuri's advisors later on, especially now that he would be taking on the Prince Consort's role. He would need to be in on every decision made. This particular decision affected him directly and they had known about it for months, months, and it had been just as much a surprise to him as it had for Yuuri.

Wolfram was not going to be a trophy spouse, something to look pretty on the arms of the King. He certainly wasn't going to be relegated to house duties, hosting and event coordination, as some of the previous Monarch's spouses had been. This was something that the inner circle would learn clearly, and soon; he had been raised as a Prince and trained in far more than just court etiquette and swordplay. They would learn to respect his new position.

Conrad looked pained at his admission.

"You are engaged to him. I think they assumed you'd be happy, but I don't think that's true, is it?"

Wolfram didn't think Conrad had the right to be asking these questions, or barging into his private chambers at this late hour. He may be his big brother...half brother, but Conrad was first and foremost Yuuri's friend and protector. Why was Conrad here? Why wasn't he with Yuuri, comforting, or commiserating with the King? Lately Wolfram had come to trust his brother a bit more, but it didn't change the fact that Yuuri was Conrad's first concern, not Wolfram.

"Whether or not I want to marry the King is no longer a consideration. It's my duty." He gave up on his boots with a frustrated hiss and let his body flop back onto the divan, his head hitting the wall with a slight thump. "The Great Sage is right," he continued. "If the King remains single it will jeopardise the peace. We can't afford any more conflict or war, and for now he's better off marrying me than some young girl or boy we can't trust. Even Yuuri knows that my primary concern has always been his welfare, and he knows I love him." The last he said quietly. He refused to look at Conrad, not wanting to see pity.

He loved Yuuri. Everyone knew this; it was a fact, a constant like breathing. Three years ago he would have leapt at the opportunity to marry Yuuri, even if it was just a marriage of convenience for politics' sake; he now knew better. The engagement had dragged on for years. Yuuri was almost twenty and Wolfram had finally resigned himself to the fact that his love would never be returned the same way.

Yuuri loved him, true, as a friend, perhaps as family, like a brother. He didn't want him the same way that Wolfram wanted Yuuri, as a lover, as much more. It was the main reason he'd moved back into his old suite of rooms. Sleeping next to Yuuri was torture, and Yuuri had grown up to be quite an attractive man, if still unsure of his position and worth. It had always been a mystery to him why Yuuri hadn't broken off their engagement, had not protested as Wolfram was trained and gradually took on the duty of future Prince Consort.

Wolfram had never had the heart to break the engagement himself, had never been strong enough to walk away, though Shinou knew it would have saved him the pain. At least, he had thought, he could be near Yuuri, help him with his reign and help him share the burden of leadership. Some day he would train the true fiancé when Yuuri met the one he really wanted to marry, or so he had once thought.

Wolfram hadn't thought for a long time that it would be him who would marry Yuuri. He hadn't thought Yuuri would agree to a marriage between them or that everyone would take it as a fact, as something to be planned for.

"Besides," he said out loud in a voice devoid of any emotion, "Yuuri can divorce me in a few years when the crisis is over, or take on a lover, a mistress." He himself would never be allowed such a luxury. It would be treason against the crown and punishable by death, although he'd not even consider such a thing. In truth he'd doubt the wimp would either. He'd take the marriage vows seriously, no matter how much it would make him miserable. A misery they would both share.

"You know that his Majesty would never take on a mistress, and I doubt he'd divorce either. Wolfram, he'll take the marriage seriously. That's how he's been raised," Conrad said, mirroring Wolfram's thoughts.

This made Wolfram unreasonably angry. Perhaps it was the stress of the day. Perhaps it was the fact that Conrad knew Yuuri just as well as his fiancé did. How he dare presume, how he dare come in here and rub into his face something that they both knew, something that need not be said aloud.

Wolfram leaned down and pulled one boot off, flinging it against the opposite wall with a clunk. It narrowly missed an ornate vase, a family heirloom atop an antique table. He stood up and faced Conrad.

"Well, Lord Weller." Conrad flinched as he used his title. "What would you have me do? The wimp needs to marry. Everyone knows this, Günter and the Great Sage have spent the last three months looking through books for a loophole in the Castle library and basement archives and if they don't know of a way out, I doubt there is one. Would you have him marry some aristocrat, some young girl from a family who has ambition? Perhaps Elizabeth?"

Conrad closed his eyes and scowled at that. They both knew that wouldn't end well politically. Conrad's obvious discomfort with Wolfram's outburst irritated Wolfram even further and he found his voice rising.

"Too bad you're a half-breed or else you'd be the perfect candidate. I'm sure that would make you both happy." Oh Shinou, did he say that? He watched as Conrad's eyes opened wide and darkened with anger. They both knew how much Conrad had loved Julia. Wolfram had always suspected that Conrad still harboured some of those feelings for Yuuri, although the Captain was way too noble to act on them, considering Yuuri's inexperience and the engagement. To say it out loud though, was a thing not easily forgotten.

It had always been a wedge between them. He loved his brother, but he also hated him for that. He loved Yuuri, right or wrong. Wise or not, Yuuri was the only thing he'd wanted since almost as soon as Yuuri had arrived in the kingdom. Conrad was his brother. How could Conrad, how could he hurt his youngest brother in that way? Over the last few years the pain, the wedge of that unspoken thing between them had lessened with the knowledge he'd never have Yuuri, and knowing that Conrad could never have him either.

He knew it was an irrational feeling, and that Conrad was just as unhappy as he was, but most of the time Wolfram couldn't, wouldn't let himself forgive his older brother entirely for that betrayal. But now he was to marry Yuuri, have him, but not have him, and why the hell was Conrad here anyway? It was all too damned complicated. His head hurt, and he just needed his mind to stop.

He flung himself back onto the divan, no longer wanting to see Conrad's anger and guilt. He leaned forward and covered his eyes with one hand. He'd tried so hard over the last few years to become more even-tempered and less prone to outbursts, but it wasn't in his nature, and the events of the day had him in turmoil.

"I'm sorry...it's just...It has to be done...but what I've said wasn't fair." It was true, but not fair.

It was silent for a while. Wolfram was afraid to uncover his face. Hot tears had started to flow behind his fingers and he expected that Conrad would leave, but there was no sound of that. Eventually Conrad spoke, apparently willing to forget Wolfram's outburst, almost gentle, tentative in a proffered truce.

"Wolfram, the marriage, it will need to be." Silence then a sigh. "You will...it needs to be consummated within three months if it is to recognised. I just...you...," Conrad stumbled over his words, but continued, "It's something that you will have to make sure happens. Would you prefer me to tell Yuuri, or perhaps..."

"I'll tell him, it's only fair." He wiped the tears from his face. It would have been fairer to let Yuuri know before he had accepted the marriage; not that it would make a difference on the eventual outcome. Yuuri would always choose peace no matter the personal sacrifice on his part, but it was something nobody wanted to raise with the young King, not in front of everyone, though it be standard marriage protocol for royalty. If only they had consulted him first. He pushed his frustration down. Yuuri became quite embarrassed when sexuality was brought up; he was fairly innocent in that way. It would be a difficult subject to bring up with him.

"Look, Conrad, I'm tired. It's been a long day. I need to sleep." Please go away.

Conrad took the hint. "Good night, Wolfram. Remember that there will be a meeting at nine tomorrow on security plans for the wedding...and sleep well."

He nodded and watched as Conrad left the room, closing the door behind him. He sighed. He was getting everything he'd always wanted – to be Yuuri's husband, to be Yuuri's first lover. Those thoughts now filled him with dread. This was not how he wanted it to be. This wasn't about love. Although there was enough love on his part.

This was to be about duty.

Chapter updated Feb 2011, betaed by gkeeper21, all errors are mine.