Chapter 4

Yuuri

About an hour passed and Wolfram fell asleep in my arms. Gisela came in then to check up on me. A look of shock flicked across her face when she saw me sat up in bed, awake, and with Wolfram lightly snoring in my arms. Then she smiled, she was obviously relieved that I was well enough to be awake. Ignoring the fact that I had only just come out of a coma I asked her, "Gisela, What's happening with this war? Don't try to deny it, I saw it all from my dreams, I know full well what's going on." Again she looked shocked then she nodded, understanding my feelings, and replied, "Rebellions of the treaty have attacked our borders and all soldiers have left to fight. They are fighting for you; they want revenge for one of their lot hurting you!" That annoyed me; they had no idea of the situation and had made a rushed decision without my consent. That pissed me off. "How dare they do this without consulting me? Belal was the one who stabbed me, the human rebellions had nothing to do with it. I thought I made this clear, I will not have war during MY reign!" I moved to get out of bed, accidentally waking Wolfram up on the way. His eyes flickered open and he sat up wiping sleeping dust out of them. "Huh? Yuuri? What's going on?" I apologised quickly telling him to go back to sleep, but he was fully awake now and seemed to be catching onto the situation just fine. A look of horror registered on his face when he realised I was trying to leave. "Yuuri you can't leave you've only just woken up!" he begged, holding onto my hand and pulling me back onto the infirmary bed. I ignored him, pulling my hand out of his grasp as a look of determination plastered itself onto my face. This was MY kingdom; I couldn't let it be destroyed. "Gisela seemed to understand and nodded her head in acceptance, "Alright Your Majesty I'll ready your horses, but, if your injuries are even worse than they are now when you get back, don't expect me to go easy on you!" she said as she left the room. I smiled, glad she understood, and then I turned to Wolfram, hoping he would understand as well. He seemed to be shocked at how Gisela had agreed but then he saw the look on my face. I could tell he was worried but he just nodded accepting the situation and then said, "I'm coming with you!" I smiled; happy he understood where I was coming from.

It was dawn and the sun was just rising as we set off on our horses. The sky was blood red, signifying the lives that had been lost in this war. In a matter of days it had turned from what seemed like a border squabble to an all out war. Wolfram and I galloped like the wind to the battlefield. Towns and villages rushed past us, barely registering themselves in my mind. What I did see though shook me to my core. My people were suffering. They were starving and they were hurt and it had barely been a week. The fact that this had happened right beneath my nose terrified me, I wished I could've stopped it earlier. I could not change the past but I would shape the future.

We slowed down and stopped as we came over the hill and the battlefield came in to view. It would have been an understatement to say that it was horrific. The rocks and valley floor were covered in blood. Bodies lay mangled scattered all over the place. Many lay injured, no help coming to them and not being able to move themselves. These people would die of lack of blood if stray swords didn't get them first. I felt a look of not anger but determination come over my face.

"Wolfram?" I said.

He replied with, "Yer?"

"Stay here!" I ordered. Then I pushed Aoi to go and cantered strait into the middle of the battle field. I barely heard as Wolfram screamed, "Yuuri..." as I left him behind because blood was pounding in my ears.

"ENOUGH!" I screamed. I became my demon king form and blew everyone away, scattering them to their sides of the valley they were fighting in. The injured from both sides I gently lay down by Gisela who had come with us. I heard a collective gasp from both sides as they saw who was at the head of the massive power blowing them away.

"It's the demon king!" I heard many from each side shout. There were terrified gasps as some scrambled to get away. The bravest of each side tried to get past me to continue the battle. I froze them all in place.

"How dare you disobey what I have decreed?" I started. In the silence my loud voice echoed and reached even the farthest away. "This is MY kingdom and this is MY reign! During MY reign there will be NO war!" I shouted at the top of my voice and I'm sure everyone in the kingdom heard my words.

"Why would we listen to you? You are an evil beast who kills humans like us. The only reason there is an alliance is because you threatened the rulers of our countries!" one brave human from the rebellions side shouted at me, breaking through my freezing spell as Wolfram had done all those years ago.

"Do not judge before you know the whole story, before you know who I am. Your rulers met me in person; they decided for themselves, on the truth that they saw with their own eyes, what kind of person I was. I count myself lucky they were willing to look into my heart!"

"Into your heart? You have no heart! You are a cold blooded killer!"

At that moment a few of my soldiers, including Gunter, Conrad and Gwendal, broke free from my spell and cried, "How dare you! Never once has our beloved king killed! He never wanted to be our king; we forced him into the title. Our King only agreed because he wanted to stop the war, because he didn't want innocent people to suffer anymore!"

Just Gwendal then said, "We were going to start a war with you over something so small it barely mattered, over the fact that one of your border villages attacked us, it didn't even have anything to do with the royal army. We were stuck with the idea of war; we hated you with everything we had in us. But, Yuuri, he cried for the suffering of people he didn't even know. It upset him that we wanted to fight so badly. He believed in peace from the very beginning."

Conrad then took over, "I asked Yuuri if there was not conflict where he came from. He answered me that of course there was. There is always conflict everywhere, but the difference between us and the people of where he came from, was that they were always trying to do everything in their power to stop it as soon as possible. Deep down in their hearts they were all wishing for peace, whereas we didn't wish for peace, we waited around for a good enough reason to go to war. He only became our king to stop us from hurting you! Without knowing his personality you have no right to say anything against him. Yuuri was the only one in this damned world that ever gave a care about your lives, he was the only one who stood up and said no, the only one who only ever used his power to save innocents. Never, and I mean never, has he injured another living life form!"

Next was Gunter's turn. "There are now countless in this world who owe their lives to His Majesty. When we said we would kill you he said 'don't even try it'. When we ignored him and tried to anyway he forced us to stop. His power is only released when he is trying to protect and most often it is your people who he protects. His Majesty taught us many things. He taught us that we were a cruel people; he taught us that we were cold blooded savages. Of course that thought has never crossed his mind but since meeting him it has crossed mine dozens. He showed us that if we lay down our weapons and smile then we can change the world. His Majesty was not born of this world but still he loves it with all his heart, everyone in it and everything about it. Do not judge our most beloved king before you know the real him." I was shocked at their words, I never realised they cared that much. Then a small, soft smile crept over my face. It touched my heart to know that they thought so much of me. I was happy.

Silence ensued as this crossed my mind and then one from the human side spoke out, my spell no longer restricting them. "Any man stood here today can see how much you love your king. If you care for him so much then surely it begs the question, is he really that bad? So I will ask you now, why are there so many bad rumours about the demon king among our people when he is beloved amongst yours?"

A soldier from my side spoke up, "Because you don't have enough guts to come and find the truth for yourself!" My soldiers agreed with him on that.

Another from their side spoke up; this time he was the commanding officer. "No matter what you say we will not trust your king. We are willing to trust the demon people though; we are willing to believe that he is leading you on. If we can have the demon kings head we will accept the uniting of our countries and stop fighting. If we can have his head then people will no longer have to suffer and we will accept that you are good people."

I did not let my soldiers but in this time, this was my country to protect and I had made a vow that I would. "I do not know what a past demon king has done to deserve your hate, but I ensure you I am not that person. I hold a different soul and a different heart and I could never harm a person willingly. The world that I came from does not have demons nor magic. We do have conflict but we hate it. In that world we do not go around wielding swords and we are not ruled by monarchy. That world taught me to be kind. When I saw what was going on in this world I could not sit around and pretend it would stop on its own. The suffering of the people horrified me and I wished to do everything in my power to stop it. I didn't want everything to be handed to me on a platter. I did not wish to rule. I did what I had to do to help the people. When trouble came I did everything I could to protect them. I care nothing for my life, it is of no importance. If my head is what you want to let this world be at peace, then so be it. But, if you take my head then you must swear on it that you will use your lives to protect this world and keep it in peace. If it means that you will let peace come then it is alright. Please, take my life and take my head!" I said it so calmly; I had already accepted my fate. The humans looked shocked that I was willing to give my life to them. I did not care. My life was insignificant compared to the lives that would be spared at the loss of mine. I held a small smile on my face as I stood with my eyes closed, waiting for death to come.

"No!" My eyes snapped open at the sound of Wolframs voice and I, as did everyone else, turned to look at him. "It is not alright! Do you think we will be happy if you die? Do you think we will be happy if there is peace and you are not here to see it? What we spoke to the humans was not a lie. We do not love you because you are our king; we love you because you are so kind. We love you because your heart cares only for those around you. We love you because you are our family! We will not sit by and watch them take your life. You say that your life is insignificant, but, to us, it is the most precious of all. If you were to die then not just a few but the entire world would weep. You have touched so many hearts, your smile making the barriers they put up crumble without a second thought. We trust you and love you with our entire beings as you do us. When the miasma affected us you were the one to save us, when the box was unlocked with the wrong key you were the one to save us, when the originators returned you were the one to save us, when Janus attacked you were the one to save us. Always, it is always you who saves us and everyone in this world. Do not say that you do not care for your life. Do not throw it away without a care. Yuuri, you are our beloved king, the one we can always count on to be there, the one who will always melt our hearts of ice with his warm smile. Without you here this place, this world, would not be what it is today. Many lives would have already been lost and many would still be suffering. It is you we follow, it is your teachings we listen to. Without you it is meaningless! You are the light of this world. No man stood here today could live on if that light went out. Yuuri we love you, I love you! Please, don't disappear." Wolfram was shaking and his bangs covered his eyes. His hands were clenched into fists. I was shocked and did not know what to say. The human who had come to decapitate me seemed stunned as well. He stood still as stone, not knowing what to do. No one on the battlefield seemed to know how to respond to this.

Then Gisela spoke up, a small smile playing at her lips. "Your Majesty never have you broken a promise before. You promised the people of this world that you would bring peace and then uphold it. You promised me that you would not return to the castle in worse condition than you already are. Will you break those promises you made to us?" I looked at her, surprised she had spoken up.

"Your majesty I promised I would protect you, I can't very well let you throw away your life, now can I?" I whipped around to face Conrad, a frown forming itself on my brow at not calling me by name.

"Are you really gonna neglect all your duties and leave them to me again your majesty?" That was Gwendal.

"Your Majesty you can't die, you can't leave me behind again." That was Gunter in his usual crying voice.

"Your Majesty you can't leave my poor sons alone like that, they each need you in their own way since I am not around much." It was Lady Cheri this time.

Anissina then chimed in, "Us woman will take over if you're not careful Your Majesty." It registered in my mind that they were each in their own way trying to say what they felt out loud. I was too stunned to say a thing back. I wanted to run over, throw my arms around Wolfram and tell him everything would be alright. I couldn't though. My body would not obey my heart as I stood there still as stone. No words formed at my mouth. I did not know what to say to make them know that they would be okay without me.

My neck snapped up to look forward as I heard Wolfram say, "If you want to kill our king then you will have to kill me first!" As I stood there deep in thought Wolfram had come forward to stand in front of me. My soldiers nodded in agreement and rushed to stand with them. I was speechless and at the same time horrified that they would put their lives in danger for me.

The human leader then spoke and I turned to look at him. "We understand." He said, "We see now that we were wrong about you Your Majesty. To willingly give your life for the sake of this world is an act not many could take. I now understand that we were wrong. You are not evil merely misunderstood. Please forgive us for not realising sooner. We can see how much you love this world and the people in it. You are a kind man Your Majesty. Soldiers we are sorry that we threatened the life of your most treasured one. No man could be that loved if he was not of pure heart. We will not rebel again but work with you for ultimate peace. We will spread the word of your kindness to those with mistrust. With the king's help you have become a kind people, stay that way and peace will stay too. We trust you with the fate of this world; I know you can handle it with such a pure heart Your Majesty. Be happy and live on for the sake of those who could not live without you." He smiled and then him and his men left. It was over. I was stunned at what had happened so suddenly. The next moment a loud cheer erupted from my men and Wolfram bowled me to the ground hugging me. He had discarded his sword on the floor so as to be able to get to me quicker. For once he had laid down his weapon. I smiled still speechless and hugged him back. I cradled him to my chest as I sat back up. He cried into my shoulder out of pure joy at me being alive. As I looked around I saw that many other had tears streaming down their faces too. I had never realised just how much my lowly existence had meant to them, until now that is. Questioning eyes met me as I turned my head to face Conrad, Gwendal, Gunter, Anissina and Cheri.

At first I wondered why then Conrad said whilst glancing at mine and Wolframs arms around each other, "Did we miss something?" Gisela gave a sharp laugh; of course she had heard mine and Wolframs conversation in the infirmary. That was so typical. I just smiled sheepishly and stood up, bringing Wolfram with me. His eyes had once again grown puffy and red but now he had a huge, loving, heart-warming smile on his face. He did not let go of me as he faced the others and I did not let go of him. They would have found out sooner or later anyway. Ignoring their smirks I turned around and said, "I think we should go home now. We need to rest do we not? Let this be the only time I ever have to come stop a war again okay?" I narrowed my eyes and said the last part like an order. Let it be known that I would not tolerate fighting. I whistled and Aoi came to me. I swept Wolfram up like a princess and placed him on Aoi. I then got on behind him. I held the reigns with my arms around Wolfram, keeping him in place. A surprised look was on his but I could tell he was smiling at my open show of affection deep down. He did not even comment that he was not weak and could therefore ride his own horse. Conrad just smirked then jumped on his own horse taking the reins of Wolframs horse as well as his own. Everyone seemed to understand and just went along with it. By the time we got home it was midnight. We had not stopped once during the journey and were in need of good rest. The maids were relieved to see that we were all fine and took all the work on quickly. They took the horses and ushered us to bed, we knew there would be a lush meal ready for us when we awoke and we looked forward to it. Not once did I let go of Wolfram and he seemed content to stay in my arms. As we walked towards our chamber he almost fell asleep. I swooped him up princess style and carried him the rest of the way. By the time we arrived at our bedroom door he was snoring slightly. I lay him gently on the bed and then crept in next to him. I hugged Wolfram tight to my chest as I drifted in to sleep.