This Is My Duty (Why Fight It?)
"I knew what my fate was to be, and I embraced it. I ran towards it. Because it was the only way for things to begin changing, for events to be set in motion."
-Nehemia
Crown of Midnight
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"You have your orders."
"Yes, my lord."
"You have a plan."
"Yes, my lord."
"And no worries?"
"None, my lord."
King Ivan of Siarus giggled childishly. "Then go, my dear assassin. Go and kill Prince Alfred."
The slender boy bowed once more, dark eyes glittering with the closest thing to emotion they ever showed. "Yes, Ivan-sama."
The Royal Assassin turned and left, as graceful as ever. He had duties to perform.
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Yao sighed. His duties were hard enough on a normal night, but when the kings of Dangeld ordered a banquet to celebrate their sons' nineteenth birthdays, it got a lot more complicated. Bad enough he was Crown Prince Alfred's bodyguard, but now he'd have to keep the girls away, guard Alfred, and keep Prince Matthew from sneaking off with his not-so-secret boyfriend; Gilbert, the Royal Huntsman. Even one of those would be hard enough, but he had to juggle all three!
To be fair, he didn't really have to keep Matthew and Gilbert from sneaking off. He was Alfred's bodyguard, not Matthew's human chastity belt. But King Francis had pulled him discreetly aside earlier and said that it would better if King Arthur was kept in the dark about their… activities. And a king's discreet suggestion translated to 'do it or else'. So he had to handle everything. On his own.
The twenty three year old sighed again. He just wanted to curl up in his room with The Complete History of the Six Kingdoms of Eria and do nothing but research for a few hours. As for why he was researching the six kingdoms of Eria… well, the Lost Kingdom interested him. As it did everyone.
But never mind that, he had a job to do. A job the others around him were making very difficult.
"So… why am I here, again? I didn't even want to be in this country…"
"Play nice, Emmi!" Prince Alfred clapped a hand down on the younger boy's shoulder. The Ice Prince glared at him, effectively ignoring the way his knees nearly buckled under the weight.
"It's Emil. If you call me Emmi one more time-"
Yao coughed. "Ah, my lord, perhaps you shouldn't finish that sentence with a large collection of highly strung guards around~aru?"
Prince Emil of Fornirdivec sighed, blowing his famous silvery hair out of his eyes. "Fine. But there's a reason they call me the Ice Prince, y'know."
Gilbert chuckled, leaning against Yao's shoulder. "Lots of royalty here today, huh? Toni said he might stop by at some point over the next few weeks. Bring that boy toy of his."
Yao groaned. "Toni as in… King Antonio of Sapin? Aiyah, as if there wasn't enough to do… And I doubt referring to Lord Lovino as King Antonio's boy toy is good for your health."
Prince Matthew smiled sympathetically at him. "I'm sure we can figure out a way to make it easier. I know, Gilbert and I could go get out of your hair-"
"-And into each other's' pants," Emil muttered. Yao rolled his eyes.
"That boy is too observant for his own good~aru. No, you two are staying here. I promised your father I'd keep an eye on you."
"Which one?" the younger prince of Dangeld questioned.
"King Francis. Gilbert, help me with these streamers."
The Huntsman looked at him pleadingly, but was met only with impassive amber eyes. He sighed, accepting the streamers from the older man. "I hate banquets."
"You love banquets, Gil," Matthew murmured.
"I hate preparing for banquets," the nineteen year old amended. Yao rolled his eyes.
"Hurry up! We're expecting the Royal Ambassador of Sideldemat later today, and if Gilbert's right and King Antonio's coming…"
"My brothers might show up too," Emil mentioned casually. "My parents will be too busy."
"And you only thought to mention this now?! Aiyah, this is not in my job description."
"What, babysitting bratty teenagers?" Gilbert muttered. Yao restrained a snicker.
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Just two more hours…
Yao pinched the bridge of his nose. This little party was causing so many issues, it wasn't even funny. Already he'd had to rake Gilbert over the coals a couple times to keep him away from the prince, the girls were going nuts, Prince Emil was—luckily—distracted by the newly arrived Ambassador of Sideldemat, Sadiq…
And then there was that. The sense that someone was watching. That if he turned around there'd be someone there, but there wasn't. He'd checked. "I'm getting paranoid…"
Then there was a scream. A very familiar scream.
"Alfred!"
The bodyguard sprinted off down the hall, cursing himself for believing there was no threat.
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The prince was weak.
The Assassin smirked coldly behind the mask concealing his face, eyes gleaming as he focused on his prey. Getting into the palace had been easy. Some might say amusingly so. The guards had been so confident in their own abilities… It had been child's play to someone like him.
And he could almost taste the prince's fear in the air. Some 'hero' he was. Such a coward.
The Assassin drew a dagger from his belt, raising it, ready to throw-
Someone barreled into him from behind, knocking him into the wall with enough force to yank the air from his lungs and leave him gasping on the floor. So undignified. The Assassin frowned, pulling himself upright, steadying himself until he could breathe again. He scooped up the knife from where it had landed, turning to face the new threat.
The man's amber eyes burned towards the slender Assassin who threatened the prince. "Run, my lord!" The boy listened as the prince sprinted down the hallway. Damn. Tracking him down would be irritating. He would take it out on this newcomer who'd interfered with his hunt.
"Surrender, and you will not be harmed~aru!"
The Assassin smirked again. Please. If he surrendered he would be executed for attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince of Dangeld. Instead of speaking, he leapt forward, flickering left, right, knocking the man's legs out from under him, running his sword through his opponent's heart-
What?
The sword froze in place, pressed against the guard's chest. No matter how much the Assassin struggled, he couldn't move it forward, couldn't kill this troublesome guard… He frowned. This had never happened before, never, he was the best, and no one could defeat him-
And yet.
He couldn't kill this guard. Couldn't move his sword and end it. How curious. He leaned forward until the lips carved on his mask touched the man's ear and spoke, forcing his voice rougher, deeper.
"This is only a short reprieve. That prince will die."
Then the Royal Assassin of Siarus turned and ran, leaping out the window he'd entered through and vanishing in a heartbeat.
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Yao frowned.
He could still feel the man's—boy's?—weight against him, the way the sword in his left hand had touched his chest, so light, yet so deadly. He had no doubt the would-be assassin could have killed him and gone after the prince in a second. And yet he hadn't. The bodyguard frowned in confusion.
Then the yelling started.
"Yao!"
"Hmm? What is it, Gilbert?"
The Huntsman panted for a moment, out of breath from sprinting down the hall. "Prince Alfred's manservant. Old Gaius."
"What about him~aru?"
"He's dead. Stabbed through the heart. A quick death, Birdie said. Instant."
Yao nodded, absorbing this latest disaster- and disregarding Gilbert's affectionate pet name for Prince Matthew. "Most likely killed by the assassin."
"Assassin?!"
"Yes, he came after Prince Alfred. I intervened, and he ran."
"What an exciting first day in this country!"
Both men spun around to see Lord Sadiq, Royal Ambassador of Sideldemat, standing behind them, the annoying brat- sorry, Prince Emil, leaning against the wall nearby.
"My lords, perhaps you should return to your chambers~aru?"
Both foreign nobles shook their heads. "This is the most interesting thing that's happened since I got here," Emil offered by way of explanation. Sadiq simply smiled, readjusting the mask that covered his eyes.
Yao sighed. This would be a long evening.
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"Nope. No. Na. Too old. Too ugly."
"My lord, you have to pick a new manservant eventually…"
"Why?" Alfred whined. "I don't want one. Nobody could beat Gaius, anyway."
Matthew pursed his lips. "What about… him?"
Prince and bodyguard both turned in the direction the younger twin indicated. There stood a slender young man, little more than a boy, with raven hair and eyes as deep and gleaming as the sunlit ocean, yet dark as night at the same time, darkened further by his pale skin. He was… exquisite. There was no other word for it.
Alfred nodded quietly. "He'll do."
Yao gestured for the boy to step forward. He did so, eyes glancing between the twin princes and the stern-looking bodyguard. Said guard chuckled softly. "Don't be nervous~aru. What's your name? How old are you?"
"I-I'm eighteen," the boy murmured.
"And your name?"
Those dark eyes flicked up to rest on Yao's face, and the guard found himself entranced, drawn in by the intoxicating mixture of light and darkness within.
"My name is Kiku."
Ah, Bitchy Emil. Why are you so fun to write? Also, did I overdo the bitchiness? If so, I apologize, but I think we can all agree Emmi—sorry Emil, please don't kill me—can be a massive bitch when he wants to be. Also, a seven page chapter? Now that is what I call a landmark! Hmmm, what else did I want to say…? Oh, yeah! How about a little contest? The rules are simple: if you get a question right, you can ask for a oneshot involving any character mentioned in this chapter, with the exceptions of Gaius and Sadiq. Gaius because he isn't designed to have a character in this, and Sadiq because I'm not comfortable writing him yet. Give me a few more chapters. Only the first person to answer gets a oneshot, and only one oneshot per person no matter how many you get right (unless specifically said otherwise), so don't answer multiple questions. That's not fair to everyone else. So, here are the questions! One: Where did the names for the different kingdoms—Dangeld, Siarus, Sideldemat, Sapin and Fornirdivec—come from? (Please only answer for one kingdom!) Two: How many Hetalia characters appeared in this chapter? An extra oneshot for the first person who tells me who they all are (human names (for those that are stated) I'll put up any winners—and what question they answered—in next week's chapter, and I'll be working on the oneshots in between, but only once chapters for this are done. Oh, and if you answer a question but get it wrong, next week you can try again or try a different question, but I don't want to risk someone answering multiple questions correctly, so only try one each time I update. If you get a question right… well, you can try for a second oneshot, if you want. That's all for now. Good luck~! -Bird