AU in which Danny is the Ghost King.
He'd never really wanted to be king.
He didn't want to rule, or hold any power over anyone, really.
Sure, he wanted to be respected, but who doesn't? If you're not respected, you get hurt.
But he never wanted people to fear him like they do.
People jump when they hear his voice. There's always a little light of fear in their eyes, behind their faked emotions.
Nobody liked him.
Even the people who supposedly liked him, his friends, his family, they were all scared of him. They only acted like they weren't so he wouldn't do something to them.
He didn't know where the rumors started. Some prisoner probably decided they would trash the boy king, and for whatever reason, it caught on.
He'd heard the gossip from the maids. They thought he couldn't hear, but he head everything.
"I've heard he massacred an entire village, all on his own!"
"Did you hear about the prisoners? The guards say they've all been tortured! Even the ones who were just in there for petty crimes!"
"Word on the street is that he'll take orphans in and kill them,then string 'em up in his room like art!"
Every new rumor he heard was like a knife to his heart.
He would never hurt anyone like that, let alone his own people. Why didn't they trust him?
Just because the last king ended up like that didn't mean he would.