Chapter 7: Truce

Victor never knew his father. He used to feel a wave of envy, watching his father laugh and joke with the young Nikiforov Mages from every part of the kingdom training under his family name. He imagined as a child, what if he had powers, maybe his father would smile and place his warm hands on his back. The resemblance between Victor and his father was uncanny. They had silvery locks of the identical shade, the same aquamarine eyes, sharp jaw and narrow nose. They even shared the same name.

For years Victor wasn't allowed to wear the regal red robes and gloves of the Nikiforov Mages because he never showed a hint of powers. Each time he returned home he wore white, symbolizing the unawakened, until most Mages younger than him were red clad. He grew used to the whispers about him in the King's court ridiculing him for the irony of possessing the most potent magical blood in his veins yet not showing any hint of power. He wasn't allowed to cut his hair either for the same reason. Shorter hair was a symbol of power in the Nikiforov tradition. His father's was close to his scalp and neatly trimmed, while for years Victor's hair ended at the small of his back. Until that day in his moment of weakness when he was twenty five, when Yuuri never came as promised, Victor's powers had awoken. He parted with his silver mane with his sword under the same tree where Yuuri never came.

When he turned eleven years old he thought his father was giving him the intricate silver knife as a present. Instead, his father asked if he wanted to be useful to the Nikiforov family, to which he nodded without hesitation. Maybe his father was sorry. His father used it to cut his palm instead, slaughtering the glimmer of hope. Since then the only time they spoke was his father demanding his blood every few months. This became a routine - the only reason Victor returned to his home where the young mages resided during training in the castle with cold white stone walls. Victor didn't care to stay one moment longer.

Nothing changed after Victor connected with his powers. His father didn't acknowledge him. Maybe his father blamed him for his mother's death when she brought him into the world.

He wasn't sure the reason he was summoned today. He left a goblet filled with his blood only a week ago.

His riding boots tapped the ground reverberating from the cold stone walls. He wore white in spite of his father. One of his hands gripped the hilt of his sword. Instead of feeling sorry for himself amidst the whispers of the court about him without powers, he trained with General Plisetsky, Yura's grandfather, in the art of swordsmanship until nobody in this kingdom could defeat him. He became the King's personal guard.

The wooden door with his family crest of the wolf casted in silver creaked open.

His father's office was simple yet grand. He sat behind tall mahogany desk with carvings of wolves and vines around the edges. The older man with sharp blue-green eyes interlaced his fingers while resting his elbows on the table.

"Father," without any expression on his face he nodded at the man who appeared to be an older version of his own reflection.

"Victor, you are getting married in two days." The tone of his father's voice final as the King's decree.

Victor's heart turned cold, like a rock falling into the dark well. He refused to show any trace of weakness. He put on the blank mask identical to the man before him. He excused himself and left the castle that he detested with every corner of his being.

Chris was with a client that night.


Victor met Rochelle Aurelia for the first time on their wedding day. He couldn't pay attention to even the King's blessings when they exchanged their vows. He glanced at the feast, the nobles, his expression blank.

Victor felt numb. He knew he could not part from the capital. He fantasized about leaving everything behind, the King, his father who didn't give a shit, this cursed city that sold demons into slavery. He wished he wasn't born a Nikiforov more than anything. He wanted to disappear into the forest with Yuuri. But the thought of the young mages trained under someone like his father, Yura, and the flashback where Chris swooping in to rescue Mila from the slave handlers held him back.

Yuuri needed him to find the truth behind his parents' execution that sparked the war between the mages and demons fourteen years ago. As more and more demon slaves poured into the palace wearing manacles and shapeshifters being hunted like animals, Victor felt the balance of power shift. Yura's grandfather was placed under house arrest for speaking up for the demons. The nobles were less than sympathetic. He couldn't walk away from everything, not as the Victor that Yuuri loved.

The high domed ceiling of the castle was embellished by illusion of stars in the night sky to mimic the sky outside. The banquet hall lit by thousands of candles flickering, casting their shadows on the bouquet on every table made of peonies, lilies and yellow roses. The crowd applauded as the rings were exchanged with mechanical motions. Victor, clad in the Nikiforov colors of bright crimson from head to toe gazed at his bride for the first time.

Her dark red hair was braided and tucked into an elegant knot on the side. Her white gown tinted with a blush of dawn trailed behind her on the white marble ground. Fine golden chains weaved through her hair ending in a glistening topaz above her eyes of the same shade.

He took her hand as they walked down the steps from the altar to the middle of the banquet hall. He tried his best to plaster on a fake smile.

"I am aware of my place in the world. Despite my father being a kind man, I know who I promise myself to isn't up to me. But the naive part of me still can dream, right?" She held her hand out to begin their first dance.

He took her hand. He didn't say anything, reflections of candlelight flickered in his ocean colored orbs. Why are you telling me this?

"I want someone who only had eyes for me, Victor. You already found Yuuri, Chris told me. Forgive me for intruding, I have been friends with him for a long time. When all of this is over we can call this off...but all I ask for now is that we pretend for the sake my honor...if you would please..." Rochelle whispered in his ears as he lead her across the dance floor, "I want to set things right for the demon kind as much as you do. I needed a reason to stay in the palace to uncover the truth."

Victor's turquoise eyes widened. "What do you mean," he whispered into her ears as he interlaced his fingers with hers as they encircled each other for the next part of the wedding dance that every mage knew.

"I know what started the war," she whispered, "but to stop it I need your help."

Victor's heart pounded against his chest. Rochelle bowed at him, a few of her dark red ringlets fell in front of her face. He caught glimpses of the way men gazed at her. There was more behind her beauty, behind those golden eyes there were neither fear nor regrets.

She had the eyes of a warrior.

Victor pursed his lips and nodded. One million questions exploded through his mind. Maybe she has the answers we have been searching for.

Amidst the dying rhythm of their song and the cheering crowd, for the first time in two days his smile reached his eyes. He met his father's glacial gaze for a split second, his lips curled even higher. I will be happy, in spite of you, father. At least I will pretend to be for Rochelle's sake. The older man first broke their eye contact.


"Mila," Chris turned to face her in his huge four poster bed without touching her, "I wonder if I did the right thing." He sighed.

Since he rescued her from the slave handlers, she feared to be alone in the dark. Because for countless nights, just as she thought she was on her own, the handlers were upon her. They did things to her that sometimes at night she woke up drenched in cold sweat, where the only the she could do was to cling onto Chris's firm shoulders.

"You did your best," her bellflower eyes bright even hidden by the cloak of darkness, "to protect Rochelle's secret, and to protect Victor too." She had gotten used to the warmth radiating from the lean yet muscular figure next to her. They were not lovers, because she was still too far gone from the atrocities committed to her body by the slave traffickers. She caught glimpses of the extent of Chris's knowledge of the secrets in every dark crevasse of the capital from living with him. There were rumours and whispers that Victor and the King's nephew Yura were connected to the demons. They were seen too many times at the place where Yura's grandfather was placed under house arrest for being deemed a 'demon loving lunatic'.

"I should have warned him when word came from the North," Chris's closed his eyes as he winced.

"Chris, don't be harsh on yourself," Mila turned closer to him, "Victor said himself that he would do anything to end this war. And only then he could join finally join Yuuri and forget about this whole damn place. Even if you warned him about his engagement, do you think it would have made a difference?"

Chris sighed and didn't say anything.

"Do you...suspect the King...being one of them?" Mila changed the topic.

"Without Rochelle's powers to confirm, anyone could be one of them. Without protection from someone from our side, she won't last one week inside the palace," Chris's voice chilled Mila to the bone, "Rochelle is strong, but she voluntarily walked straight into the pit full of vipers."

"You are saying this city is crawling with the Fallen?" Mila gripped the cover.

"Without a doubt."

Mila shuddered, as she thought about the invisible enemy. Few possess the powers to see the angels of the North since ancient times. One or at most two mages in every century were born with those powers. The angels had the choice to reveal themselves to the mankind. Since the beginning of time they watched over the Northern Kingdom and brought upon peace and prosperity to the small yet untouchable land by their enemies.

As for the Fallen, they were angels once, according to Chris, that committed the unspeakable.


They returned to Victor's bedroom after the ceremony. Fatigue caught up with them because preparation started since the crack of dawn. Victor was grateful to free himself from the thick crimson attire in the Nikiforov color, "listen Rochelle," he sank into the dark brown cushions of the couch in the chamber connected to the bedroom and interlaced his hands, "you have my word, I would never make you do anything you don't want to do."

To his surprise, she laughed, " Chris told me you would say that." She removed her veil, "ow! It's stuck, can you help me?"

Victor hesitated because he had no clue what to do either, he walked behind her and lightly freed the red strands with gentle hands as if tending a wounded bird.

"I am relieved today was over with," she removed too many pins from her hair she lost count, "this is more exhausting than going to the battlefield."

Victor nodded in agreement, "you can use the bath first and sleep in the bed. I will spend the night here." There was only one person Victor thought of tonight. How am I going to explain this to Yuuri. A pang of guilt twisting and gnawing him from inside. Would he forgive me? Is this betrayal? He had an urge to sleep outside tonight like he did with Yuuri and, pretending that he was close again.

"Can you...come here for a second?" Rochelle's dark red hair flowed over her shoulder, "I can't breathe in this dress." She turned around and pulled her hair out of the way with a hint of blush on her face.

"Yea," Victor tugged the lace trapping her inside and turned automatically to face the window with his eyes locked onto the stars. He missed watching the stars with Yuuri more than anything. Yuuri used to rest his head on Victor's lap as he told him stories about the constellations passed down from the demons' ancestors that were not so different from the mages' own version.

"Thanks," she exhaled a sigh of relief. She clutched the front of the off-white gown studded with topaz and pearls and headed for the bath.


Rochelle returned from the in a mauve night gown ending with frills. Victor sat by the window, his sideways profile illuminated by the moonlight. His gaze transfixed onto the night sky above with his chin resting on his palm. The room filled with soft scent of lavender from her bath.

"Let's end this war Victor, so you and I can both be free. And you can join him," Rochelle leaned against the window.

"I can't help but ask, why are you doing all of this?" Victor peered at her through his silver lashes.

She hugged herself tight, "because in my Kingdom I saw the aftermath of slavery and this cursed war. I saw hundreds of orphaned demons, shapeshifters with broken wings, mutilated bodies after being treated no different than livestock. Some lost their minds from being violated over and over again...I couldn't watch anymore." She gripped onto the sleeves of her night gown as she shuddered, "I got tired of feeling powerless because my family insisted on hiding it from the rest of the world. They were afraid that the wrong people would come after me and to come after the angels because I could see them." She released her grip, "I grew up with the entire Kingdom whispering that I was born without magic."

Victor's inhaled sharply, I know what that's like. He whispered with his mind.

"That's why I picked up the sword," she turned to face the window watching the stars above.

Listening to Rochelle's story was the same as watching his own life unfold, "I know what that's like, growing up I wanted my powers to manifest more than anything," he didn't know he could laugh on a night like this, but he did, "I didn't find my powers until the age of twenty five. I figured, I could either feel sorry for myself or do something about it. I picked up the sword for the same reason." He felt as if he had known her all of his life.

"We should have a duel," Rochelle smirked, "I fought off all of the suitors that ever challenged me last year. But your reputation with the sword travelled as far as my kingdom."

Victor smiled back, "I would be honored."

They walked towards the balcony of the castle overlooking the kingdom illuminated by twilight.

Rochelle's expression turned serious all of a sudden, "Victor, do you want to see what I see?"

Victor shivered, he took a deep breath.

Rochelle wrapped her fingers around his palm.

The moment their bare skin touched, Victor's lips parted, the colour draining from his face. The city was crawling with translucent creatures from another world. Their dragged their wings that barely had any feathers left. Some of their wings stuck on at the wrong angles. Their eyes hollow and dark like the abyss. The enemy had been masquerading next to him the entire time. Some huddled along the rooftops, others hissed as they stalked people below.

Rochelle wasn't surprised by his reaction, "those are the lesser ones, we believe the greater ones already infiltrated the castle."

"Greater ones?"

"The Fallen are the renegade angels that committed the unforgivable, who snapped their own wings. That's how they become a Lesser one," Rochelle released his hands, "First their feathers fall off, their appearance change and they transform into what you see below."

The city returned to its normal appearance as she let go of his hand.

"To become more powerful and to multiply, the Fallen feast on death, the rotten bodies from the war. Eventually, they become more powerful and capable of attacking the living." Rochelle leaned against the balcony, facing him, as a wave of wind lifted some of her loose red locks.

"They ate the eyes and the heart of mages and demons," Victor wrinkled his eyebrows as he narrowed his eyes. The war. All of the missing pieces of the puzzle snapped together.

Rochelle nodded with a solemn expression, "as they begun their second transformation, they become harder to track, even for me. I suspect that's when they learn to take over the bodies of mages or demons like parasites. For this reason, I agreed to my father's proposal of marrying you."

Victor's aquamarine eyes locked onto the ground, his knuckles turning white from his grip on his balcony's ledge, "what happens to the souls of the ones they latched onto?"

"They slowly perish, until their body was nothing but an empty shell. At least, that's my theory so far."


"Yuuri, I have something to tell you," Victor kept his eyes on the ground as the storm clouds gathered overhead.

"What's wrong," Yuuri wore black gloves this time, he stroked Victor's hair parting it further to one side so he could stare at the face he would never grow tired of.

Victor struggled to keep his voice from breaking, as Yuuri stroked the side of his face. They promised no more secrets, "I am...married." He revealed the inevitable.

Yuuri's dark red irises never changed, but he forced Victor to look him in his eyes.

"Yuuri, I -" before Victor could finish, Yuuri placed one of his gloved fingers over his lips.

"I know, you only have eyes for me." Yuuri finished his sentence, "you don't have to apologize."

Victor felt the tight lump his throat tighten, he parted his lips then closed them again. They didn't need words anymore. Victor avoided his gaze, "we didn't do anything..."

"Given your position, sooner or later suitors would line up for you." Yuri curled his arms around him and buried his face in Victor's chest, his breaths warm through the thin white fabric of Victor's tunic, "I missed you...who is she?"

Victor pressed him closer, "Rochelle Aurelia."

"Princess of the North." Yuuri finished his sentence.

"She is on our side, Yuuri, she wanted the war to end," Victor couldn't help but feeling a wave of love sweeping through him for the girl who wagered her own life for the sake of the demons. "She agreed to marry me so she could reside within the palace. She had been investigating your parents' death since the beginning. When the war is over we promised each other freedom..." He told Yuuri everything, about Rochelle's powers that she kept a secret all of her life, about the Fallen swarming in the capital.

"The North," Yuuri sighed, "If only we could move everyone there fast enough and without being noticed. Recently the capital reinforced troops to the perimeters." Yuuri begun to undo Victor's buttons revealing a sliver of his pale chest, "The selfish part of me is envious of her, because I want you all to myself. But Rochelle is someone I could never bring myself to hate." Victor's tunic fluttered to the ground.

His dark crimson eyes made Victor weak, they are wide, without a hint of hatred like when they first met.

Yuuri's dark sleeves rolled down revealing intricate silver rings around his wrists.

Victor's ocean coloured eyes widened, "Yuuri why are you wearing demon manacles?!"

Yuuri laughed at last as he scratched his head, "I thought maybe that can suppress my powers and we can..."

Victor pulled him close again, exasperated, "you are unbelievable..." For me, he would toss away all of his pride, and wrap around the symbol of the enslavement of his kind around his wrists. He realized for Yuuri and to bring peace to the demon kind, he would give anything. He knew marrying Rochelle wasn't a mistake.

"Victor, judge me all you want. Minako trained me to resist the demon manacles," Yuuri flashed a small smile meant for him alone. He stroked the outline of Victor's face, traced his fingers down his neck and onto his muscular chest. Shivers ran down Victor's spine as Yuuri encircled his nipple.

Thick grey clouds blanketed the sky. They stood next to each other under their tree. Victor found himself completely naked next to Yuuri, who was still clad in his usual light armour the colour of midnight with his black traveling cloak fluttering in the wind.

Yuuri's eyes paused on the thin chain Victor wore with his wedding ring fastened at the end, then he rummaged through his dark cloak and opened his palm again.

Victor gasped because he knew exactly what the smooth sapphire with red streaks running across was. He fantasized this scene in his mind over and over.

Yuuri's dark crimson eyes never looked as mesmerizing as now, "I want you to have this."

"Your...Firestone." Victor could hear his own voice trembling and blood humming and pulsating within both of his ears.

Yuuri nodded, "if I may." He lifted the thin chain around Victor's neck with one hand and closed his palm around the thin malleable metal and his Firestone. A wave of warmth and an orange glow inside his palm followed, the stone became a part of the chain.

Victor felt its weight land onto his bare chest. He could hardly breathe. He remembered Yura's grandfather and Otabek speak fondly of the Firestones as the way demons promise themselves to each other. He now carried a piece of Yuuri's soul. He picked it up still warm from Yuuri's powers that could turn earth into an ocean of lava. He kissed it. Yuuri wrapped his arms around the small of his back, until he felt the demon's hot breaths on his lips.

"Walk with me through through the fire, when all of this is over," Yuuri's red irises bored into his. This was neither a question nor a command. It was a statement that Victor had no other answer to.

Victor leaned closer until their lips almost touched. His silvery locks mixed with Yuuri's dark hair. Yuuri cupped his face with his gloved hands.

A giant raindrop bounced from Victor's long silvery eyelashes onto Yuuri's forehead. Yuuri let out a small laugh as more drops trickled from the bridge of Victor's nose down to Yuuri's cheeks. A flash of lightning danced across the sky of the dimming horizon amidst the thick grey clouds. A wave of warm wind revealed the underside of the leaves of their tree next to the turquoise lake sacred to the demons.

"Yuuri, kiss me, I don't care if I burn..." Victor whispered as he intertwined his fingers with Yuuri's gloved hands. Another flash of lightning followed reflecting the silver of the demon manacles around Yuuri's wrists.

Slowly Yuuri closed his eyes as the deafening thunder shook them to the core. The rain was so heavy that the presence of the tree above them made no difference. He leaned forwards and pressed his lips against Victor's in anticipation of pain because of their powers rejected each other with fury.

Neither of them cared about the pain anymore.

But this time, shielded by the rain, the burning never came.

They could not believe how simple the answer was. Yuuri threw his head back and couldn't help but laugh out loud. Maybe this is the higher power's idea of a sick joke.

For Yuuri's bare skin to not burn each time Victor touched him, all they need was something in between.

Rain.

They needed more than the gentle drops of the late spring.

The sky needed to weep its heart out.

They later discovered jumping into a lake was cheating. Their touch still brought excruciating pain despite being underwater.

Yuuri leaned in for a second kiss to confirm that this was real. He pinched himself to make sure this moment wasn't a figment of his imagination.

It wasn't.

His dark hair was plastered to his head from the downpour.

He leaned in for the third and fourth.

Yuuri ripped off his gloves and threw them onto the ground. Victor's fingers unclasped Yuuri's armour as his breast plate fell sending splashes of rain on their legs. His hands freed Yuuri's buttons. His hands snaked around Yuuri's back lifting his shirt.

Yuuri sealed his lips tight around Victor's neck as he left his mark.

Victor then parted Yuuri's lips with his tongue as Yuuri groaned into his mouth as he let him in.

They fumbled through Yuuri's wet clothes until they piled next to them on the ground. They raced against time because they knew once the rain stops, the truce between their powers would dissolve. They knew being this close was the same as playing with fire, they didn't give a damn.

Yuuri lowered Victor's back onto the grass. Six years ago, Yuuri laid on the ground as Victor asked him over and over to tell him if it hurt, and if he wanted to stop. This time, Yuuri's body pressed against his from the top until there were no space between them.

It felt right.

Yuuri interlaced his fingers within Victor's and felt his grasp tighten as they once again became as close as two beings could be.

After six years apart, they never lost faith, despite the entire universe protesting, telling them that they weren't meant to be. Despite their powers like ice and fire, destined to destroy each other.

Yuuri walked the fine line between gentleness and insatiable passion. Marks from his kisses now covered Victor's skin. His nails left streaks of red on Victor's back. His Firestone glistened at the place next to Victor's heart flush to his own.

They shuddered from the sweet rapture and the cold from the endless waterfall pouring from the sky.

"Did I hurt you?" Yuuri panted as he slowed down after unleashed all of his control and surrendered.

A warm trickle that was once a part of the demon prince he loved ran down his thigh. Victor shook his head, "I don't want this..." He rested his face against Yuuri's chest, "to end."

Yuuri ran his fingers through Victor's wet silvery locks. He felt the vibrations from Victor's heart beating next to his own, "you have mud in your hair." He kissed the top of Victor's head.

A small chuckle escaped Victor's throat as he propped himself up over Yuuri, "you do too." The feeling of Yuuri lingered inside his body. He leaned down and brushed his lips over Yuuri's eyes, his nose, the corner of his smile and his pointed demon ears, as if there were only two of them in the world.

Yuuri wasn't his first.

But he would be his last.


Author's note:

This is the chapter I was the most scared to write.

Maybe this will ruffle some feathers, but I decided to stay true to my story.

Rochelle is a character that I am proud of & I stand by her.

Let me know what you think!

xoxo

-Antares

P.S. With some unexpected inspiration I posted another story in a genre I never thought I would write. If you want to read the opposite of a fantasy, take a look at my story 'There Is' (a medical AU where Victor and Yuuri are doctors).


Re: Reviews:

AiVici: hope you enjoy this chapter! Glad the character guide was helpful. This story does get complicated (my story "There is" was intended to be the opposite of this one. A simpler plot without the heavy angst...the angst is only in the beginning, the remaining story is about hope). Thanks for your support as always

SomeRandomPerson: Thanks! I feel like this is one of those chapters where my readers goes: you did not. And I am responding with: I just did. Hope you enjoyed it...this twist was planned all along.

Cuckooo: thanks for reading! Rochelle will find her happiness...later on. Chris is fascinating, I can't say anymore. Hope you enjoyed this one!

BurleyKimLouise: I think most of your questions are answered in this chapter lol. As for Victor's dad, keep on reading. Thanks so much for leaving me your kind words!

MissMJS: Mila doesn't know who Yuuri is because for most of his life, his powers were locked away and he was living in the forest, until Phichit found him & his power had awakened. Thanks for your support.

Lectora fantasma: I had to use google translate to be able to read your comment, thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad you are able to enjoy my story with translation, that's such a huge compliment. Gracias!