I can't believe I'm writing this. It's bad enough that I have a million things to do in H/D land without getting sucked into another fandom! cries Why the hell won't this stupid arse bunny leave me alone? sighs Please bear with me, flist, as I try my hand at writing KKM fic for the very first time. I've spent years lurking in this fandom and damn it, if OAV3 hadn't just shoved me out the proverbial closet by giving me more Yuuram fangirl love than I know what do with. shakes head So plot? Check. Angst? Right here. Involved storyline? That too. facepalm I am so fucked, aren't I?

Title: Hellsfire in Frozen Land (1/?)
Author: Aoife Malfoy
Pairings : Eventual Yuuri/Wolfram, Implied Shinou/Dajenkya, Wolfram Murata (friendship)
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Rating: PG-13 for violence and language
Genre: Angst/Romance
Beta: the fabulous emmalificent
Warnings: AU. Wolfram-centric. OOC.
Disclaimer: KKM is not mine, you do not sue.
Summary: After ten years in a neglected engagement, Wolfram finally faces some hard truths. Meanwhile, an ancient nemesis awakens and is ready to take on an unlikely target.

1: Ennui

It was insanity.

That was really the only way to describe it. What else would you call doing something over and over again and still insisting on getting different results? Every day it was the same. Even the things Yuuri shouted at him were repeated so often that he could hear them even when the Maou wasn't in their world. "Sleep in your own room, Wolfram!" or "We're both boys!" and of course his favorite: "The engagement was an accident!!!"

And Wolfram Von Bielefeld had just about had enough.

He wasn't blind nor was he stupid. He knew his king didn't love him. It was a knowledge that had been burned into the back of his mind and tattooed on his bleeding heart. And every time this truth came to mind he would always place another word right after it to dispel its devastating implication.

Yuuri didn't love him…yet.

However, it had been ten years. Ten very long and difficult years of loving someone who never even took the time of day to understand him, listen to him or even really wanted his company. The evidence of that could be seen right in front of his very eyes and if he were to be honest with himself, he'd find the evidence of it everywhere.

Wolfram sighed as he leaned against the balcony, watching the scene in the courtyard with a mixture of elation and sadness. Yuuri was back and being greeted by everyone as usual. A suffocating hug from Gunter made him grit his teeth. A brief nod for Gwendal, who had gone down to see what the commotion was all about. A warm embrace for their daughter made Wolfram's gaze soften as he looked on. And, of course, a special bright smile for Conrad, which the half-blood happily reciprocated.

Wolfram clenched his fists and growled. It was moments like these that haunted his mind and whispered doubts into his ears. Those two were so comfortable with each other and Yuuri always looked like he was just so happy to see the man. He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. Every time Yuuri's eyes settled on Weller, he lit up like a thousand suns and his smile always became softer, gentler.

When Yuuri's gaze fell upon Weller, it was only then that he finally looked like he was glad to be home.

And that hurt more than any insult that Wolfram could ever hurl at Yuuri's stupid head. Because he loved the idiot; completely, and truly. For the first time in years, he had thought of someone other than himself, had even gone so far as to chase the man all over the world, endure tumultuous sea voyages and endless slights against his pride. Though he had done it begrudgingly, angrily and loudly the whole way, he had still done it.

He'd done it all for Yuuri.

It hadn't been enough.

Yuuri still flinched every time he got too close. He still grimaced whenever he saw him in their bed. He still denied the engagement even though he'd never done anything to get out of it.

Usually that last thought was enough to bring him scrambling after his dashed hopes. Normally, it was all that it would take to keep the doubts at bay.

But not today. No, not today. Today was different.

Today was the day where he finally opened his eyes and saw. He watched as those two exchanged soft smiles more than once and he felt the last vestiges of his resolve finally break. The fact that Yuuri didn't ask for him as everyone headed for the dining room drove the point home.

Yuuri didn't love him…and he probably never would.

"He'll never love me, will he?" Wolfram whispered to the falling darkness, his head bowed and his eyes heavily lidded. The question was uncharacteristic and it certainly echoed heavily with threads of weakness, but Wolfram still had to ask. He had to confirm what he had known all along, even if it was with someone who he'd never truly spoken to. At least, with the Great Sage, even with his enigmatic smile, his words were always wise and undeniably true.

Wolfram's tone and posture spoke of a defeat that had happened long before today and it spurred the other silent occupant of the hall into answering.

"Eh Wolfram? Don't be so sad! Shibuya will come around!" Murata tried to say cheerfully as he approached the blonde warily. He had been walking along the corridor on the way to meet with Yuuri when he had chanced upon the strangely subdued blond. He hadn't meant to spy on him but the desolate picture Wolfram made had intrigued him. It wasn't like the Mazoku prince to brood, especially when Yuuri was in the near vicinity.

"Is that how you want to play it then, Geika?" Wolfram answered him solemnly. "Because if that is so, I'm afraid I don't have time for lies. I've already wasted ten years on them."

"Ano, Wolfram." Murata scratches his head. "What's wrong? Did you and Shibuya fight again?" He knew this wasn't the case but he needed to venture onto familiar ground. Yuuri just got home, after all, and he doubted even they could get into an argument a mere five minutes after his arrival.

Wolfram shook his head, his eyes dropping and his face shuttering into his usual haughty mask. "Nothing," he mumbled wearily. "It's nothing you should concern yourself with."

"I think I'll be the judge of that. Thanks." Murata gave the man a soft smile. "You're obviously brooding here for a reason. Plus you stopped me from going my way with a question, so you obviously want to talk to someone."

"I am not brooding!" Wolfram bristled at the insinuation. "And I merely stopped you from gawking at me from the pillar like a bloody pervert! Don't think I haven't noticed! You are not as subtle as you'd like to think!"

Murata laughed easily at this. "Yes, that is true. I must be getting old!" He held up his hands to appease the man. "Oh come on, Bielefeld! It's not like I'm going to run to Shibuya with your worries! You're my friend too, you know!"

"Hmph! I don't need friends!" Wolfram tilted his chin up haughtily.

"Perhaps not, but you have one in me anyway!" Murata merely continued smiling, unabashed.

"You're not leaving me alone until I tell you, are you?" Wolfram raised an eyebrow.

"You got it!" Murata smiled as he walked up to the blond and planted himself firmly beside him. "So what did Shibuya do now?"

Wolfram shook his head and gazed out at the sky above them. "It's more like what he didn't do," he whispered softly. "What he never does."

Berating himself for how maudlin he sounded, Wolfram shook his head and stopped whatever the Great Sage was about to say by cutting him of.

"I'm ending the engagement."

"What? But why? I thought you loved him!" Murata couldn't help but cry out. Even he couldn't have predicted this outcome. He and Shinou had both been so sure that these two were meant to be together, no matter how ridiculously dense they were being!

"That's not the problem. It never has been," The blond threw his head back and laughed sardonically. "It's that he doesn't love me. He never will."

"Oh come on, Wolfram! Never is a really long time! Who knows maybe-"

"No! Haven't I waited long enough? Endured long enough? Deluded myself enough? I can think of nothing else I could do to make him at least look at me the way he does at Weller!" he growled.

"Ano- You could try holding on to your temper a bit longer, ne?" Murata suggested warily, his eyes already seeking out the various exit points in the area.

Wolfram snarled. "Don't you think I haven't tried? Don't you think if I could change something as impossible as my temperament I would have done it? I've tried holding back and letting things go, but I can't! It drives me crazy when he's around all those fawning women and when he's with anyone but me!" He pounded his fist on the ledge, his eyes shut tight and his fingers clenched painfully. "I can't change who I am. I tried and it hurt and he didn't even notice anyway. So what's the point? If he's too much of a wimp to end this, then I will."

"Wolfram-"

"No. Don't waste your breath." Wolfram wiped angrily at the burning behind his eyelids. How embarrassing. "Gods, nobody's supposed to see this."

"I'm glad I did," Murata said sincerely as he clasped a hand on Wolfram's back. "Look, I don't agree with it, but I can see you've made up your mind about this. But have you considered how it's going to be like after the engagement is broken? What about Greta? Your brothers and your mother? The rest of the kingdom? What about Yuuri?"

"Greta will always be my child!" Wolfram snapped. "I've clothed her, fed her and educated her ever since Yuuri adopted her! I've actually stayed with her for far longer than he ever has. No matter what relationship I have or do not have with Yuuri that will never change. And I pity anyone who dares say otherwise!"

"Okay! Okay!" Murata held his hands up in a conciliatory manner. "But what about the rest?"

"What about them? Yuuri will probably be ecstatic because he will be free to openly cavort with whomever he pleases. Gunter will cry tears of joy now that the Selfish Loafer is no longer the King's Betrothed. Hahaue will be sad until she goes off again on one of her free love cruises. Gwendal will frown and worry and knit a dozen ponies that look like Bear Bees. And Weller, well who gives a rat's ass about Weller?" Wolfram crossed his arms.

"And the kingdom? What about the vicious rumors that will start at the news of your broken engagement? Or the thousands of women who will be lined up to take your place? What about those, Wolfram? Will you be able to sit idly by as Yuuri falls in love and marries another? As they slander your name and make a mockery of you?" Murata pressed on, the look on his face unreadable.

He took a shaky breath. Anger had long run out and now only a deep sorrow filled him to the bones. The picture of his most hated nightmare and his impeding future painted so vividly before him made him sick to his stomach. Yet his green eyes were still glowing with determination as he met Murata's head on.

"What other option is there?"

"It will kill you if you stay," Murata persisted.

"Then I'll leave."

"To where and to which end? You are Greta's other father, a Mazoku prince and a trained soldier, Wolfram! Where else could you go?"

"What would you have me do then, Great Sage?" Wolfram shot back, rage once again building at the pit of his stomach as helplessness threatened to overwhelm him. "I can't stay, so I'll leave!"

"Nothing is as simple as that!" Murata replied fervently. "Your leaving will solve nothing." His eyes widened. Could it be? Had Shinou actually given him the means to solve the latest dilemma at the temple?

"This is solving nothing!" Wolfram growled as he made to stalk past the infuriating man, but a hand caught his sleeve and he was forced to stop. "If you want your hand back in relatively one piece, it would be wise if you let me go right now, Geika."

"You will stay, Bielefeld." It was a command, a plain one and just as Wolfram was about to explode with both fury and flames, Murata held up his hand. "After the dissolution of your engagement, you will stay here but not at the Castle. You will stay on as the new High Guard at the Temple of the Original King."

"What?" Wolfram blinked at him in surprise. "My brother would never approve such a transfer! My troops-"

"Will be fine and can be left to their captain. Weren't you just telling Gwendal yesterday how proud you were of Sinclair and his training regimen?" Murata smirked, his glasses glinting in the torchlight.

"What?" He spluttered again. "How did you know that? Actually, never mind. You've always been a nosy bastard. Nevertheless, Gwendal still wouldn't-"

"He will, especially now." A shadow stole over the man's face. "Things haven't exactly been as peaceful up at the Temple as you've been led to believe."

"What? Has someone tried to attack?"

"No." Murata shook his head. "At least not a full on assault, but Ulrike and I have detected a sinister presence trying to get in. It feels bad, Wolfram, really bad and it's going to mean trouble."

"Why me, though?" Wolfram asked skeptically. "Why not have Gwendal or Weller step in as High Guard if it's so important? Surely, if they realize the danger-"

"Look, I can't explain it, Wolfram. It's just one of those Great Sage things I get sometimes." Murata smiled at him with a shrug. "I just know it has to be you. Shinou thinks so too."

"Kuso! I should've known he'd have say in this too." Wolfram snorted as he shook his head, his eyes traveling up the portrait of the Original King in front of them.

"Well, Shinou never really could stay out of anyone's business." Murata laughed offhandedly.

"Did he really look like this when he was alive?" Wolfram mused as he stared at the features so similar to his own. "Like me?"

"Uncannily. I suspect you'll look more and more like him as you grow older," Murata said softly. "You have his temper too and he was the most spoiled, arrogant man I've ever met! I always had to baby-sit him! Come to think of it, even in the after life, I still do!" He grinned wistfully.

Wolfram smiled sadly at that and turned thoughtful eyes on the brunette before him. "Does this mean you were his Yuuri?"

Murata merely shook his head. "Shinou is Shinou and Daikenjya is Daikenjya. We lived in a different time and our tales are not the same." Then at seeing the light of understanding dim in Wolfram's eyes he hastened to add, "But if I were to compare it, I would actually be you."

"Oh." Wolfram gasped, taken aback. "Is that why?"

"Partly." Murata shrugged. "So I'll ask you again, are you seriously going to give him up?"

Wolfram looked away from those piercing eyes. "It's the last thing I want to do but it is also the only thing I can do and I have to do it now while I'm still able."

"Then will you accept your transfer as my High Guard?"

"What exactly is a High Guard? I've never heard of the temple having any of those!"

"There hasn't been a need for one. At least not for the past few centuries, all the attacks and grudges have been against the Crown. They're pretty much like Yuuri's Royal Guards with a few notable exceptions. One, the High Guard is solely entrusted with protecting the Great Sage at all times. And two, there has only been one sentry at a time."

"So instead of Yuuri's bodyguard, I'll be yours?" Wolfram asked him bewilderedly.

"Yup and you can easily avoid him if you want to and you don't have to answer to him anymore. Who knows? Maybe it will be better then." Murata shrugged.

"What are you up to, Daikenjya?" Wolfram squinted at him suspiciously. "What agenda are you trying to push? There's something you're not telling me."

"Can't a friend help a friend? Plus, is it wrong of me to think of a way to save my sorry ass in the middle of your crisis?" He laughed a bit sheepishly.

"I was right! You do have an ulterior motive! And a selfish one at that!" Wolfram pointed out indignantly. "No wonder you were the Wolfram in your relationship!" He chuckled as he shook his head.

"You realize you just insulted yourself?" Murata raised an eyebrow.

"As long as it still got you in the crossfire, I think I'll be okay," Wolfram retorted, a smirk still on his lips. "Are you sure this is a good idea? We're not exactly the most compatible of people. I can't even promise I won't try to kill you in your sleep if you irritate me enough."

"You are a brilliant swordsman and you are one of the most powerful Maryoku users in the country, second only to Yuuri himself. All that and you are a disciplined soldier. What more can I ask for?" Murata shrugged.

Wolfram blushed, unaccustomed to being complimented on his skills rather than his looks. "Wait, second most powerful? Is my magic really that strong?"

"If you harness it properly, yes, and your training as High Guard will help you with that."

"Alright." Wolfram nodded resolutely. "I accept, but we'll do this tomorrow night. I have to make arrangements."

"What? So soon? There's no rush!" Murata was taken aback.

Wolfram shook his head. "I told you it has to be soon. Plus, I doubt my new duties can wait."

"If you're sure." Murata sighed at the look of determination on the man's face. "I'll meet you in front of Gwendal's office before dinner."

Wolfram nodded and as he brushed past his new charge he couldn't help but add,

"Don't be late!"

"Hey!" Yuuri stopped as he was about to step inside the castle. "Where's Wolfram?"

The whole party that was gossiping happily amongst themselves stopped to look at each other and to survey the area around them. True enough, there was no scowling blond bishounens in sight.

"Oh! I saw Wolfram Papa out in the third story balcony earlier!" Greta piped up, happy that she remembered.

"Doesn't the third story balcony serve as Wolfram's art studio too?" Yuuri whispered under his breath to the brunette beside him.

Konrad couldn't help the smile that was struggling to get out at the comic look on the boy's face. "Why yes, Heika. I believe so."

"Eh? I told you to call me Yuuri!" He shook his head exasperatedly at the man. Then turning to the others, he said brightly, "Wolfram must be busy painting! I'm sure he'll come down when dinner's ready. What are we having tonight, Sangria? I'm starving!"

And with that, the party moved forward and their cheerful chatter once again filled the halls. The smell of food soon wafted throughout the castle and lively music resounded in the din. The wine flowed freely as did the laughter and although two individuals were curiously subdued; overall, it was a good night.

It would be a long time before another one of those came along.

TBC…

I would love to hear what you thought! frets anxiously