Gwendal spun around to glare at Conrad.
"You're doing what?" the General spat.
"We have to make sure that the impostor really isn't his majesty," Conrad explained. "And the best way is by summoning him to us."
"You can't seriously think bringing him into another human territory is a good idea?" Gwendal hissed. "Look what happened the last time! We had to run when Morgif decided to..."
"I'm not saying he'll be coming with us into Svelera," the Captain continued. "Only that it would be prudent to make sure his majesty really isn't captured in a human territory."
Gwendal gave an annoyed huff before mounting his horse.
"Fine," the General snapped. "I'll ride ahead with my men then. I'll meet you at the border town."
Conrad gave a quick bow and Gwendal rode out of the castle.
Things hadn't been as bad lately, but Gwendal had attributed the peace between him and Conrad to the fact Yuuri wasn't presently in the kingdom. He could only imagine how much fighting him and his brother were going to get into now that the Maou would return. For the past few weeks, Gwendal had spent his time with his nose buried in paperwork while Conrad took over most of his other duties concerning security and Wolfram and Gunter helped with negotiations with the nobles. Though they hadn't fought for a few days now, tensions were rising as rumors of the Maou being in Svelera circulated. Gwendal had immediately dismissed them as he was certain the Maou was safe in his other world, but Conrad and Gunter had been their usual worried selves when it came to the youth.
Irritation caused Gwendal to tighten his reins.
Conrad had been infuriatingly nosy since he'd learned from Gunter of Anissina's disbelief in Gwendal's sincerity towards the engagement. For her part, Anissina had been rather mute on the subject, bringing it up only in jest from time to time as if she found it amusing to tease him with. She didn't take the engagement serious at all and he wondered if she had expressed this to either Gunter or Conrad.
Spying the border town, he tried to focus instead on preparing for the long trek through the desert instead of the worrisome thoughts his family brought him.
"The search party should already be there waiting for us," Conrad announced, motioning ahead of them. "See? Over there."
Yuuri peered from around Wolfram to the small desert town where he could just make out some soldiers and the green coat of the General.
He pulled a face.
"G-Gwendal."
"You're not excited to see your fiance?" Wolfram accused and Yuuri flinched.
"Oh, no! I-i-it's just he looks grumpy!" Yuuri corrected, rubbing at the back of his head where his hair had been colored red.
Conrad narrowed his eyes at the youth, but made no comment as they neared the town's entrance.
Gwendal looked up when his men alerted him to the arrival of Conrad and Wolfram and his chest tightened at the sight of Yuuri dressed in a disguise. His initial response was anger and he spun on his heel to walk some distance away from his men where he waited for the three newcomers to join him.
"What is he doing here?" Gwendal asked gruffly, glaring at Conrad.
"Don't be upset," Conrad chided. "He wishes to explain in person to Svelera that their captive is an imposter."
The General wanted nothing more than to throw sand in his brother's eyes if only so the Captain had an excuse for being so blind.
"Explain?" was all he could choke out in his fury.
"Yes, that's right," Yuuri started, but gulped when Gwendal turned his ice blue eyes on him. "I-I want to explain things to them. I'm not letting any lookalike get killed for me. I'm doing what's right and you're going to..."
"Conrart!" Gwendal snapped, interrupting Yuuri. "Take him back home!"
"What?" the boy king helped.
"I'm sorry, Gwendal" Conrad was giving the General a look the demon couldn't decipher. "But I take my orders from his majesty now."
"It is far too dangerous..." Gwendal objected, but even Wolfram rose to Yuuri's defense.
"He's in a disguise! It worked last time, didn't it?"
"When has his disguise ever worked?" the General argued. "He loses his contacts or he summons his magic or worse he does something incredibly stupid so as to reveal who he is!"
"It is not your place to decide when his majesty can be involved," Conrad stated.
Gwendal gave his brother a glare, but decided it wasn't worth the continued argument.
"Fine!" he barked and marched over to his men to give them orders.
He began to wonder when it was Conrad began to push him around and decided it had to be the moment Yuuri stumbled into their lives. Trying to calm his nerves, he mounted up and gave the command to move out. A glee wiggled into his chest when he saw Conrad, Wolfram, and Yuuri have to scramble to get on their horses in time to keep up with the General and his company. The Captain gave his brother a glare, but Gwendal simply looked away and kept moving.
They had a long trip ahead of them and they couldn't be fighting the whole way.
"Tell me," Yuuri muttered after a few minutes into the ride. "Why did Gwendal come all the way out here?"
"Mainly because he sent out a search party for the demon flute twenty years ago," Conrad explained. "It was bad. Gwendal's family was among them."
"Family?" the teenager repeated in surprise.
"Yes, his cousin: Lord Griesela Gegenhuber," Conrad gave a sigh. "Unfortunately, the man went missing some time during the search."
"I see." Yuuri gave a small smile. "Gwendal's here because he's hoping to find him. What heartwarming cousinly love."
Conrad knew better, but the desire to show some of Gwendal's real colors got the best of him.
"Actually, Gwendal banished his cousin here."
"Conrart!" Wolfram hissed in alarm, giving the Captain a shocked look.
"W-what do you mean?" Yuuri questioned in disbelief.
"Nothing!" Wolfram encouraged his horse into a trot until they were riding up beside Gwendal.
The General gave them a glance, but otherwise paid them no more attention.
Conrad gave a sigh before riding up to Gwendal's other side.
The General peered over at his brother before pulling his horse back and allowing the three to get ahead of him.
"What do you mean Gwendal banished his cousin?" Yuuri repeated as soon as Gwendal was far enough away.
"There's no need for you to know any more," Wolfram insisted.
"Wolfram has a point," Conrad sighed. "Besides, that was right after the war."
"Conrart!"
"War?" Yuuri asked, eyebrows shooting up. "What war?"
"That's enough." Wolfram cast Conrad a glare. "We don't talk about it."
"You don't?" the teenager looked at the blond. "Why not? What happened?"
"It doesn't matter," Wolfram growled.
"But why was he banished?"
"It's not important."
"But it is!" Yuuri argued. "I want to know!"
"Then I suggest you ask Gwendal about it," Wolfram hissed.
Yuuri glanced back at the General, whose brow lifted when he noticed the action.
"Nah," Yuuri sighed, facing forward again. "I think I'm good."
"You don't feel comfortable asking Gwendal?" Conrad questioned, hoping his voice sounded innocent. "Wolfram had me under the impression you wanted this engagement."
The young Maou jerked and looked away from the Captain, but didn't reply.
Suspicions rising, Conrart didn't push for more answers.
Gwendal had started to think about gags at noon. The whining from the Maou had been going on for about an hour, long enough for the General to consider how much trouble he would get in if he tied and gagged the youth. He knew Conrad would be angry with him, but he honestly couldn't remember a single law that didn't say anything about punishment for gagging the Maou as long as it was a safety concern. The safety of Gwendal's sanity was certainly at stake and he was positive he could speak for the soldiers as well.
"A panda?" Conrad's alarmed voice brought Gwendal's scowl from his horse's mane to the riders ahead of them.
Abruptly, the horses began to slide down and Gwendal immediately dismounted, yanking rope from off of his saddle.
"It's a sandbear!" Conrad shouted and then Wolfram was swept away.
Gwendal tossed one end of the rope to Conrad and the Captain caught it before sliding down into the pit to support Yuuri. The General quickly reached down to grab hold of Yuuri's coat collar and began to lift the boy up.
"But what about Wolfram?" Yuuri's voice reached his ears. "Is he going to die in there?"
Gwendal gave a grunt. "If luck is against him."
"It's all right," Conrad reassured the Maou. "He'll survive if he manages to hold his breath until he finds a byway out of there."
The General felt a tug on the rope as Conrad lost his footing for a moment.
"Quickly, your majesty!" Conrad yelled.
"No!" Yuuri hollered back. "We have to save him!"
"What good would you be to him?" Gwendal argued as he tried to adjust his loosening grip on the boy's collar without letting go. "He'd only have to then save you!"
There was a pause as Yuuri struggled over what to do and then he gave Conrad the order to go after Wolfram.
"Gwendal," the Captain gave his brother a pointed look. "Take charge."
"I will," the General promised, but he felt as if the command was unnecessary.
With the last of his strength, Conrad used his footing to help Gwendal tug Yuuri over the edge of the pit before Conrad finally let go of the rope.
Gwendal wasn't sure if the situation was a curse or a blessing. They no longer had their soldiers and most of their supplies were gone and the men were missing and in peril, but the General finally had the Maou alone, away from his brothers and the duties of Shin Makoku. If ever there was a time for him to get Yuuri on his side, now was it.
Instead, he sat at the edge of the campfire under the stars, worrying about his brothers.
He was confident in both Wolfram and Conrad's skills, but Sandbear pits were dangerous even for expert survivalists. And once they were out of the pit, they were in an even worse state than Gwendal and Yuuri, who at least weren't lost and who did have some supplies left.
"Gwendal," Yuuri's concerned voice brought the General out of his thoughts. "Do you think they got out of there?"
"Yes," the demon answered simply, even if it was more to assure himself.
"How come I'm the only one who saw that panda?" Yuuri asked. "I mean none of you saw it waiting for us."
Gwendal thought about answering, but then wondered if perhaps the boy was asking a rhetorical question. He wasn't looking at Gwendal and seemed to be lost in thought. The General wanted to be lost in thought. Already, he was working through multiple plans to get where they needed to go, to find safety, shelter, food, and water, to evade dangerous humans who would wish them ill, and to search for Conrad and the others if the worst came to pass.
"Hey!" Yuuri's voice shocked him away from his pondering. "Why don't you stop being a grouch and communicate a little?"
The General turned to see the youth had thrown off his cloak and was glaring at him in anger. The demon's eyes washed over the red hair and brown eyes of the youth's disguise before dipping down to the blue of the youth's uniform, reminding him of how young Yuuri really was. Then something caught his attention: attached to Yuuri's belt was a small ornament of an animal, vaguely similar to a shark.
Yuuri appeared to notice Gwendal's gaze and reached down to tug the ornament, causing it to make a kind of chuckling sound.
"My bandou doll?" Yuuri mumbled before smiling up at the demon. "You want him?"
Gwendal tensed at the idea and looked away from Yuuri.
"No, thanks," he muttered. "From what I see, it appears to be extremely valuable.
"I want you to have it," Yuuri insisted as he removed the ornament from his belt and held it out to Gwendal. "It's yours."
Gently, the demon took the ornament from Yuuri and stared at it for a few moments, surprised the youth would be so willing to part a gift to him. Then he realized this could be seen as the customary first gift of a true engagement. Heat rushed up to his cheeks and he cleared his throat.
"Your question," Gwendal began, trying to diver this thoughts from what had just happened. "I guess I should answer that."
"I would appreciate it."
"The reason only you could see the Sandbear was probably due to the ineffectiveness of the esoteric skills used to delude us," Gwendal explained. "Or perhaps you're just thickheaded by nature."
Yuuri ignored the jab and asked, "Who's doing this deluding? More importantly what are these esoteric skills I keep hearing about. Are they different from magic skills?"
Gwendal was surprised how comforting it felt to explain things to Yuuri. It took his mind away from his brothers and away from the desperate situation he and the Maou had been placed in. For the first time since they had set out on this adventure he relaxed.
Abruptly, Yuuri sneezed and pulled his cloak tighter around himself.
"It's cold," he complained with a shiver. "I can't believe how freezing it gets in the desert at night."
Carefully, Gwendal wrapped his arm around Yuuri's shoulders and pulled the boy against him.
"Better?" the demon asked after a moment of awkward silence.
"It's much warmer," Yuuri admitted. "Thank you."
The General tightened his grip for a moment before shifting so he could be closer to Yuuri. They fell into another silence, but this one didn't feel as unpleasant as before. Gwendal was surprised he enjoyed the warmth of the youth snuggled against him and tried to quell the increase in his heart rate.
"Gwendal," Yuuri suddenly spoke and the demon noticed the thinly veiled nervousness in the boy's voice. "I want to ask you a question, but...I don't want you to get mad at me when I do."
"What is your question?" the General asked.
"Promise you won't get mad," Yuuri begged, staring adamantly at the fire. "Please."
"I...promise I won't get mad."
Yuuri took a deep breath before blurting, "Conrad said you banished your cousin to Svelera."
Gwendal tensed at the words, his anger bubbling up before he could stop it.
"Did he?" he questioned through gritted teeth.
Beside him, Yuuri stiffened.
"Y-yeah...but he wouldn't say why. Wolfram...said I should ask you."
"I see..."
A lull fell in the conversation as Gwendal calmed his heart and breathing. When he felt relaxed enough, he finally answered.
"My cousin was prejudiced against the humans and especially against the half-demons," Gwendal explained, his muscles tensing again as he recalled the war in all its vivid horror. "Also, like Stoffel, he was ambitious and arrogant. Because of that...during the war...his actions led to many deaths."
"What exactly did he do?" Yuuri questioned as he looked up at the General's serious features.
"I don't want to talk about it," Gwendal snapped and then tried to compose his breathing again when Yuuri jumped at the outburst. "It's...painful."
"I'm sorry," the boy mumbled.
"I..." The demon struggled to continue, but pushed himself anyways. "I should have had him executed for his crimes."
"What?" Yuuri gasped. "But he's your cousin!"
"Exactly," Gwendal growled. "I permitted my sentiment to blind my judgment. Instead of executing him as would have been proper, I banished him to search for the demon flute under the belief he would never return as it was commonly accepted the demon flute could never be found."
"I think you did the right thing," Yuuri assured him.
"You can't make that judgment," the General stated. "You weren't there. You didn't see the war. You didn't see what Huber did."
Yuuri frowned when he saw the pain etching itself into the lines of the demon's face.
"You look..." Yuuri paused, reaching a hand up to the demon's cheek. "You look really old all of a sudden, Gwendal."
Forcing his emotions away, Gwendal smoothed his features and turned, hoping to hide the traces of feelings remaining in his eyes. Instead, he leaned into Yuuri's hand by accident. They froze like that with Gwendal's cheek resting against Yuuri's palm. Heat spread through their bodies and the demon's heart began to race.
Yuuri suddenly removed his hand and wrapped his arms around his legs while Gwendal cleared his throat.
"Sorry," the demon mumbled. "I shouldn't have said so much."
"No," the maou gasped, turning to the demon. "I'm glad you told me. That's what's so great about you, Gwendal. You don't keep me in the dark."
The General almost smiled, but his emotions were ripping apart his mind. Heaving a sigh, he leaned slightly into Yuuri, who surprisingly pressed against him.
"It's been a long time," Gwendal muttered. "Since any of us talked about Huber. None of us want to remember that time. It was...horrible."
"I'm sorry," Yuuri whispered. "I hope one day you can talk about it without pain."
The demon allowed himself a smile at those words and gave Yuuri a gentle squeeze.
"Gwendal?" the boy asked a few seconds.
"Yes, your highness?"
The youth fidgeted and glanced up at the General before shaking his head.
"Never mind."
"If you need to tell me something," Gwendal offered. "Feel free, your majesty."
"I was just..." Yuuri mumbled and then shook his head again. "Never mind. We should...rest."
"Yes, your majesty."
It didn't take long for Yuuri to fall asleep after that, exhausted from the adventures of the day.
Gwendal held up the ornament Yuuri had gave him and watched how the firelight gleamed off of it. He realized he would have to find a suitable gift in exchange as appreciation and as a sign of his...affection.
He exhaled at the thought, not sure if he was nervous or excited about it. Yuuri was his betrothed, but only because of an accident on Yuuri's part and manipulation on Gwendal's. Uneasiness shifted into his stomach and he wondered why he didn't feel as comfortable as he had at the beginning of their fake relationship. Quickly he shoved all thoughts that perhaps he was actually starting to care for the idiot nestled against him.
A glance down at the boy's sleeping features told him otherwise and he immediately began to focus on the strategies he had abandoned earlier.
Protecting the youth was a lot easier than thinking about him.