A/N: Ooh... thank you so much to all who reviewed! Namely: maldita08, Princess Sin, shagshag, Bogizan89, Howl3, YukiEiri4, phantome101, lazy fat kitsune, Yuuram88, contravene431, HADmatter, and especially starlight2005. My first major exam is over (which lasted for five hours straight without a break) and now I have the energy to update! That, and the fact that I told some of the reviewers that they could use my ribcage for a doorstop if I didn't update this week. Unforutnately, this is only a brief break between finishing my Physics notes, so... without further ado, I present to you chapter one.

Chapter One: Swords and Slumber, the Lies in our Sleep

The clash of steel against steel; it was a sound that Wolfram thrilled to, a siren song that made his blood quicken. He found the sounds of a sword to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music in the world.

"Hey Wolfram," Yuuri said. He had accompanied Wolfram to training, at the blonde's insistence that he should learn some swordsmanship, but Wolfram was busy teaching some of his private guards. Inwardly, he thought of them as the blonde squad; all of them seemed to have hair in some shade of yellow. He was getting a headache, being surrounded by all these blue-clad, golden-haired boys. "Aren't you getting tired?"

"Not in the least," Wolfram said, parrying a blow from the soldier he was battling. "And stop distracting me, Yuuri, I'm busy here."

Yuuri sighed. He had only gone along because he didn't want a repeat of yesterday's fight, and because Wolfram had assured him that Conrart would be his teacher later in the day. He had already tried having Wolfram teach him and all that he had learned was that he should never, ever try to have the hot-tempered prince for a teacher.

Although he did have to admit, Wolfram was completely transformed when he was fighting. His cheeks flushed, and his eyes lit up; it made a nice change to see him so happy and enthusiastic about something.

"Yes, he's a glorious sight, isn't he?"

Yuuri jumped. "Murata! Don't sneak up on me like that."

"You didn't hear me coming." The Great Sage sat down beside him. "Watching your fiancé?"

"I'm waiting for Conrart, that's all. Wolfram said that he'd show up today."

"Ah, so Captain Weller is returning." Conrart had been away for several days with Jossak, inspecting the borders for one reason or another. "That's good news. The castle misses his calm presence."

Yuuri shrugged. "I'm just glad to have my godfather back."

"Why don't you have Wolfram teach you?"

Wolfram came over to them, wiping away the perspiration on his brow. Evidently he had just defeated the other man. "Because the wimp here would never be able to stand my training," he answered, sheathing his sword. "Hello, Great Sage, you're late today, I see." Yuuri puzzled over the comment, but neither Wolfram not Murata elaborated on it.

Instead, Wolfram sighed. "Isn't Lord Weller here yet?"

"He and Jossak may have gotten delayed. Probably they're giving a report to Gwendal."

"That would explain it," agreed Wolfram. "Either that, or Anissina's roped them into being guinea pigs for her latest experiment."

"Heaven forbid. I want them back in one piece," protested Yuuri.

Wolfram smiled. "Excuse me, but I have to get back to training."

"He's a lot more patient when he's handling his guards," Murata noted.

"Yeah. He loves them," Yuuri said. "It's amazing to see him so tolerant when they make mistakes. Although, on his off days when he's in a bad mood, he usually gives them a hard time."

Murata watched Wolfram demonstrate the proper grip to one of his comrades. "I know. I watch them train everyday."

Oh. That kind of explained the earlier comment. "Why?"

"It's a pleasure to do so. I have nothing else to do, for one thing. And besides, it helps if I familiarize myself with his soldiers. They're useful." Murata smirked. "They're all very much in love with your fiancé, you know."

"What?" Yuuri said, shocked. He looked back at them. He saw Wolfram position one soldier's hands on the sword, and he saw the cadet trembling, his cheeks flushed. The others were looking on enviously. "I never really noticed before."

"And they're all insanely jealous of you," Murata added. He was trying to keep in his laughter at the sight of Yuuri's face. "It's interesting, though. They consider you to be the most fortunate of men."

"Because I'm betrothed to Wolfram?"

"Yup. Hard as it may be for you to believe, Your Majesty, they want to be in your place. Every single one of them." He smiled. "Wolfram is… how did they say it? Very cool."

"Man…"

Wolfram was sweating heavily, and the white fabric of his shirt was clinging to his skin. Annoyed, he just took it off and tossed it to one side—normally he would never have done that, but ever since Yuuri had come along, he had learned that it wasn't that embarrassing to go around half-clothed. "Let's go through that again, Devon," he told the cadet, positioning himself behind him, his arms around the soldier. "Grip it like this."

Devon blushed even more. "Yes, Lord von Bielefeld!"

"That will do," Wolfram said. "Very good." He released his hold on him. "That's much better. Just remember to keep practicing."

"That's Devon. One of the new recruits. That's why Wolfram's been training a lot with him," Murata explained to Yuuri as Wolfram moved on to another cadet.

Yuuri, however, wasn't focusing on that. "Doesn't Wolfram even realize the way that they're looking at him?" he said. "I mean, taking his shirt off like that—!"

"I'm sure that you've seen him bare-chested before. Does it offend you?"

"Of… of course not!" Yuuri sputtered. "But it's… it's disgusting."

"What's so disgusting about it?" Murata turned his eyes on Wolfram. He was beautiful. "If you ask me, he's anything but disgusting."

"I don't mean Wolfram is disgusting." He hesitated. "The way that they look at him..."

"He's good-looking. They're simply admiring that." Murata chuckled. "It's nothing to do with you if they're looking at him with 'bedroom eyes'—at least, I believe that's how they say it. After all, you can't see whatever dirty thoughts they may be thinking."

Yuuri let out a strangled sound. "That… is just…"

He was saved by Conrart coming up from behind them. "Hello, Lord Weller," Murata greeted him, ending Yuuri's indignant spluttering.

"About time!" Wolfram called out, momentarily halting his troops' training. His men all saluted Conrart. "Men, you are dismissed for the day. You can train by yourselves if you wish."

"Yes, sir."

Wolfram paused. "Devon, I want you to take extra practice with me later tonight."

Devon's cheeks heated. "Y… yes, Lord von Bielefeld," he said.

"At ease, cadet."

"Sorry, Wolfram," Conrart apologized as the blonde squad went away in a chattering mass of Bielefeld blue—many of them were congratulating Devon or asking if they could come along. "I had to give a full report to Gwendal first."

Wolfram's face softened. "Understood."

Conrart turned back to Yuuri. "Your Majesty—"

"My name is Yuuri."

Conrart smiled. "All right, sorry. Yuuri. Shall we go?"

Wolfram sat down beside Murata, taking Yuuri's place. He grinned at the Great Sage. "I hope that Lord Weller gives that wimp a real workout."

"Here," Murata said, handing him a towel and fresh shirt.

"Thank you," Wolfram said, accepting them. "My troops are getting better every day that I see them."

"And they all fall in love with you a little bit more every day."

Wolfram reddened. "They're very loyal to me, I acknowledge that. But I don't really appreciate that joke, Great Sage."

Murata shrugged. "Is it my fault that it's so easy to fall in love with you, Lord von Bielefeld?"

Really, it was immensely entertaining to see him blush so much. "Murata!"

"Sorry, sorry," the Great Sage, duly surrendering. "You're really very handsome when you blush like that."

Wolfram reddened even more. It was rare that he was flustered like this. "I'm going to…" He fumbled for an excuse. "Well, I'm going to do… something."

"I'm only teasing, Wolfram. Don't go."

The prince seemed undecided for a moment. "Oh, all right," he said grudgingly.

"Thank you."

Evening had already fallen when Conrart decided to stop. "That's enough for today, Yuuri."

Yuuri was only glad that Conrart was so nice about his training. Wolfram never took it easy on him—he inevitably went to bed feeling so tired and bruised that he could barely move without feeling pain. "Okay, Conrart. You sure that we're done?"

"Of course, Your Majesty. And I must admit that I have some ulterior motives as well—I'm going out tonight."

His eyebrows shot up. "Gee, Conrart, I never thought that you were a ladies' man."

Conrart looked both amused and uncomfortable. "Ah, no. I'm not. Its just Jossak. The two of us have some time off later, and we decided it would be nice o have some drinks and reminisce a little about old times."

"Oh."

"You go and relax as well, Yuuri. I think that Günter has something new planned for your lessons tomorrow. I passed by his room and he was humming something about… well, I don't really want to spoil the surprise."

Yuuri flinched. Oh, God. The last time Günter had 'something new' for his lessons, he ended up… well, it was really better not to think about it. "I don't suppose you could arrange for me to be busy tomorrow?"

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Conrart said, laughing. "You're on your own with this one. Good night."

Yuuri nodded back absent-mindedly. He noticed Wolfram and Murata. Wolfram was fast asleep, his head on Murata's shoulder.

"Hey, Shibuya," Murata greeted him. "Done for the day, I see."

"Hey. Wolfram's out?"

"For the count," confirmed Murata. "Guess all that training gets to him after all." He smiled. "He didn't want to admit it, but soon enough he was nodding off. I didn't really have the heart to push his head off me."

As though in reply, Wolfram shifted a little and mumbled something, burrowing his face in closer.

"Wolfram, wake up," Murata said, shaking him gently.

"No, let him sleep," Yuuri said. It was hard to believe that this sleeping, angelic young man was such a demon when he was awake. He looked so innocent when he slumbered.

"Sorry, no can do. He told me that he has to meet with that cadet Devon tonight, in a few minutes." Murata shook Wolfram again. "Wolfram."

Finally he opened one emerald eye. "I'm awake," he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes like a little child. It was…

"So cute!" whispered one of the watching maids from their hiding spot behind some foliage. "Lord von Bielefeld is such a god!"

"But did you see how wonderful he and His Highness looked together? Oh, I could just die!" giggled another.

Wolfram flushed bright red. "You should have stopped me," he scolded Murata. "I'm sorry for falling asleep on you like that."

"It's okay. You were tired."

"His Majesty looks confused," noted one of the maids. "What do you think this means for his relationship with Lord von Bielefeld?"

"But they were doing so well together! And besides, they sleep in the same bed."

"I wonder how His Majesty will be punishing him later tonight," said another. They all giggled madly at the insinuation.

"So you're finally done, wimp," Wolfram said, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "Did Lord Weller go easy on you as usual?"

"If you mean, 'Did Conrart not put you through my training camp of doom?' then yes, he went easy on me."

"Typical." Wolfram wanted to keep on sleeping. Murata's shoulder was rather comfortable, now that he thought about it.

"I'm going to go on up and take a bath," said Yuuri. "You coming up too, Murata?"

"No, it's okay. I'll just go up with Wolfram later. I don't really feel like going back right now." Murata waved at him. "Good night, Shibuya."

"Good night." Yuuri looked falteringly at Wolfram. "Ah, I'll wait up for you…"

"Thanks," Wolfram said, looking pleased. "But you should just go to bed. I'm sure that you're tired, even if Lord Weller gave you namby-pamby training."

Yuuri laughed and left. Murata smiled at Wolfram. "Fully awake now?"

"Yes," Wolfram said, hastily swallowing back his yawn. "I don't know what got into me."

Murata simply smiled. "I see your cadet is here now."

"Devon. Right on time," Wolfram said approvingly.

The young man nervously pushed back his curly blonde hair. "Good evening. Lord von Bielefeld. Your Highness," he added quickly. It was actually a breach of protocol to greet Wolfram before Murata, but almost all of Wolfram's cadets invariably did it. Even to Yuuri. Anyway, Murata didn't mind in the least.

"I'm sorry to take time from your evenings, but you're new, and you really need the extra practice," Wolfram apologized.

"Your Majesty?" one of the maids squeaked as Yuuri darted into the bushes, not expecting to see a group of maids clustered there. He turned bright red once he saw them.

"I, uh… I'm just…"

"Is something wrong, Your Majesty?"

Murata turned to look at the shrubbery, tilting his head to one side. He smiled—no, smirked was probably the right term.

Yuuri looked embarrassed. "I, I was just, examining the… the bushes." He did an abrupt three-sixty and ran off.

"You know," one of them said in a hushed voice, "I think he wanted to spy on Lord von Bielefeld."

"Oh, how romantic!"

"I marvel at you," Murata told Wolfram as they climbed back up the stairs to the castle. "In only a week, Devon's been doing so well. Almost as though he'd been inspired." Secretly, he thought that the young cadet had been inspired—by Wolfram, that is. "His progress is amazing. He has a lot of potential."

"Yes, he has. He'll be even better, given more time," Wolfram replied with a satisfied nod. "I have high hopes for him."

"I'm going to see Shibuya," Murata added.

"Oh, okay. See if the wimp's still up. I'm going to take a bath." Wolfram nodded at him. "See you later."

Murata watched with affection as he walked away. He looked so very, very like him… the similarity was enough to make his head spin, as illogical as it was. Then again, love itself wasn't very logical, was it? "Shinou, this could destroy us all," he whispered, shaking his head.

"Murata!" Yuuri said in surprise when he came in the door after knocking. "Hey, I wasn't expecting you. So Wolfram's done for the day?"

"Yeah, he went off to wash."

"Uh, any special reason why you're here?"

Murata shrugged. "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to know if there's something that you have to tell me."

Yuuri hesitated for a fraction of a second. "No, there's nothing," he said firmly. A little too firmly, perhaps.

"Shibuya, I'm not going to pry anything out of you before you're ready to say a word."

"There's really nothing," he said with conviction.

"If that's your answer, then… I'll just let things take their course," Murata said.

"Hey, Murata… do you have… you know, anyone?"

"I do not 'have' anyone, Shibuya," he replied. "Although I think I get the general gist of what you mean. No, I don't."

"Oh," Yuuri said.

"Why did you just ask that?"

"It just popped into my head." Yuuri was looking uncomfortable now.

Murata sighed. "Shibuya, I'm worried about you. And about Wolfram."

"Do you mean us separately, or…?"

"Both, actually. Your relationship with him is making me anxious. The way you react to him. I think that you love him."

"I'm not gay!"

Murata's eyes narrowed. "I make no distinctions about the norms, Shibuya. There's nothing wrong with loving someone of the same gender. It's completely normal. I thought that you were the one who said that love is held by no bounds."

"I know," Yuuri said. "I know that I said that. But whoever said that I cared for Wolfram?"

The Great Sage stared at him. "I can't believe that you just said that."

Yuuri paused. "I… I didn't mean to. That was a mistake."

"Do you, then?"

"As a friend, yes, I do! But do you even realize what you're asking here? I don't love Wolfram!"

"I think it was a mistake, coming here," Murata murmured. He had probably just made things a lot worse. But he couldn't' just sit back and watch them do nothing. He was fed up with it, he really was. And if he didn't act on Yuuri's behalf soon, he might have been tempted to act on his own behalf. "But I couldn't leave it, Shibuya. That thing in the bushes awhile ago—"

"I was just examining the leaves!"

"With the maids," Murata added skeptically. "Now, I have two theories. Either you were spying on Wolfram—and I see no reason for you not to, as he's wonderfully attractive, and I daresay that almost anyone would want to watch him; however, if you'd wanted to do that, you could have just stayed with me and waited until he was done. Or you were having a quick rendezvous with one of the maids."

Yuuri's cheeks flamed. "No, of course not! I would never have done that!" He sounded so guilty…

"Then what was going on?"

"I really don't know," Yuuri said, his head hanging down in defeat. "Murata… I order you to leave."

"You order me?"

Yuuri's head shot up. "I… didn't mean it like that," he said, looking horrified.

Murata just nodded. "Good night, Your Majesty. I apologize if I caused you any emotional trauma," he said, his eyes a little colder than usual. He turned his back and yanked the door open.

And found himself staring right at Wolfram, who was standing beside the door.

The blonde had his arms folded tightly across his chest, as though he had been shielding himself from heavy blows. "So."

"Wolfram, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough," the prince said abruptly. "I was going to get something from the room before having my bath. I thought that I shouldn't barge in on your little conversation, and I stopped outside to stand guard against any eavesdroppers. Turns out that I became the eavesdropper myself."

"He's waiting for you," Murata said. "You mustn't think that he meant what he said. He just wasn't thinking. What he says isn't necessarily what he feels."

"I know," Wolfram said hollowly. "All the same, I don't think that I can face him right now."

Murata understood. "Okay. You'll have to double up with one of the guards in the rooms… or maybe with Conrart, or Gwendal…"

But wild panic flitted across Wolfram's face at the very mention of it. "I would have to tell them what happened. They'd know that something was wrong with Yuuri and me. I don't…"

Murata finally wrenched the words out of him. "You can stay with me, then." He had definitely not foreseen this happening. And yet, maybe he had subconsciously known that this all would. Maybe he even wanted it to.

"Did you see that?" one of the maids whispered, wide-eyed.

"Oh no! Lord von Bielefeld and the Great Sage have finally made their move! I feel so sorry for His Majesty…"

"No, I think I feel more sorry for Lord von Bielefeld." One of them shook her head. "Why do you think he looked so sad?"

Conrart was already on his fifth drink with Jossak when they heard a loud knock. "Yuuri, what are you doing up so late?"

"It's Wolfram," Yuuri said. "He's… gone."

"Gone?"

"He was just taking a bath," he groaned. "I waited for hours before looking. He wasn't there."

"Well, he might have just gone for a walk, or something," Jossak said. "I wouldn't really worry about it if I were you."

"Wolfram can take care of himself," agreed Conrart. "I think that he can handle any trouble that comes his way. Besides, the castle's swarming with guards. And… I hate to say it, but you two had a fight yesterday, didn't you? Günter told us that you two had another one of those yelling sessions."

"Yeah, but we already made up with each other," protested Yuuri. "He and I were already cool about it."

"He might still be upset about you, but hiding it," Jossak advised wisely. "Maybe he went off to cool his head. Don't worry, Your Majesty. If I were you, I would just get some sleep."

Conrart smiled reassuringly. "If you're really all that worried, Jossak and I will have a look around before we turn in, all right? Just relax, Yuuri. You're exhausted. We'll wake you up if something's wrong.

"Okay, okay," Yuuri said blearily. "Goodnight."

The second he left, Jossak took one long at Conrart's tense face and sighed. "You're worried about him. You just didn't want His Majesty to freak out."

"Yes. Jossak, I'm sorry to cut our little chat short, but could we…?"

"Look for him? Of course."

Murata watched Wolfram as he slept. There was something so pure about him as he dreamt. He saw tears seeping out from beneath the young prince's eyelids, and he wanted to hit Yuuri. Wolfram didn't want him to see his real feelings, he knew, but he already had. Behind that calm veneer was so much pain.

"I just wanted you to be happy," he murmured disconsolately, tentatively reaching out a hand and stroking his fine golden hair. Oh Shinou, what on earth am I doing? I have to stop this.

Wolfram sighed in his sleep. He noticed that he took up a lot of space and tended to hog the blankets, but contrary to Yuuri's typical complaints, he didn't kick Murata off the bed. Instead, he snuggled in a little bit closer, burrowing himself into the sheets. Somehow his head ended up on Murata's chest.

Murata felt himself go cold. Wolfram wasn't exactly making it easy for him.

He heard someone knock softly on his door. Not good.

Conrart stuck his head in. "Great Sage?"

Murata couldn't move without disturbing Wolfram. Instead, he feigned sleep. He would explain to Lord Weller in the morning.

Jossak followed Conrart in. "Whoa. So this is where the little brat ended up."

"At least he's safe," Conrart murmured, taking in the intimate scene. "Yuuri had me worried there for a second."

As Conrart spoke, Wolfram let out a sleepy murmur and his arm moved, draping itself over Murata. Holy…

"I don't think that we should tell His Majesty about this," Jossak said.

"No, neither do I. I have no idea what's going on, but…" Conrart sighed. "Let's just tell him that Wolfram's safe and sound. He doesn't have to know about this."

Now Murata started to feel guilty. They made it sound… so… wrong. As though Wolfram would do anything like that. He would never, ever try to get back at Yuuri in this way, no matter how angry and hurt he might have felt. It was innocent. He was innocent.

"Let's go, Jossak," Conrart whispered, tugging on his arm.

Inside his room, Yuuri was tossing and turning. It seemed strange to actually be able to sleep properly without being worried about getting kicked off the bed. Usually he would have loved such an opportunity, but right now all he could think about was Wolfram. It felt weird without the other boy's presence beside him.

Conrart was looking for him. He's fine, he thought, repeating it over and over again like a mantra in his head. Conrart had promised that if something was wrong, he would come and wake him up. Since Conrart wasn't there… Wolfram had to be fine.

Wolfram's dreams were fractured and restless. Yuuri was talking to Murata. "No, I don't love him. What the heck's wrong with you? It's disgusting and wrong."

"There's nothing wrong with it!"

"I LOVE YOU!" the cry tore itself out of Wolfram's guts. "God, I love you so much that I think I would die for you."

Yuuri stared at him. "Then die."

Murata heard him let out a sob even in his sleep. He looked down at the pained face beneath him. Dear Shinou…

"Why do you hate me so much?" Wolfram said.

"I don't hate you. I just want you gone. Aren't you sick of being a thorn in my side?"

"I am! I'm sick of it. I've waited for how many years. You gave me so much to hope for. You never pushed me away. If you didn't want me around, why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"Because you're such a prima donna!" Yuuri snapped back. "If I told you, you would have gone on and on about it. And it's not like I don't have enough to bother me. Look at you now, being the usual childish Wolfram!"

Murata wrapped his arms tightly around Wolfram. He was getting a general idea of what the prince was talking about. He was talking in his sleep; he wondered whether Shibuya noticed it, but he doubted it. Shibuya slept pretty soundly. "Please don't suffer," he whispered.

"I don't think I can do this anymore," Wolfram whispered. Murata held him close, letting the tears seep into his pajama top without complaint.

"I've had enough."

"Shibuya, I've had enough of this as well," Murata said angrily, going to Wolfram's side. "You don't know how much you have. How much you're throwing away."

Wolfram surrendered himself to Murata's embrace, both in the dream and in his waking world.

A/N: Whoo... that was longer than I'd intended... I'm still working on another one of my fics, in another fandom, so I get kind of mixed up. I apologize, I know that it's kind of lackluster so far, but I'd really love to hear your input on it so far. Man... reading what I just wrote kind of makes me pissed off at Yuuri, although I have to say that after having experience with my incredibly homophobic friends, it makes sense. They'd rather cut off their right hands than say that they're gay.

More reviews equals faster updates. Promise!