Disclaimer: I do not own Kyo Kara Maoh.
Pairings: Yuuri x Wolfram
Our Once Upon a Time
By V. Shalyr
11. Power and Peace
Emerald eyes hidden behind colored contacts that made them look almost gray peered around the marketplace with open curiosity. The truth was that Wolfram had never been to any kingdom other than Shin Makoku. It seemed a little strange really to think that he'd been to a whole other world but never seen the next country over from the place where he'd been born. And honestly, he'd never felt the lack before either. Yuuri was the adventurous one, the one who dreamed about seeing other places and exploring lands where no one else had ever been. The double black had gotten them into so much trouble when they were younger sneaking off into the town or exploring the forest while their parents' and brothers' backs were turned. And of course Wolfram always went with him. He never cared where they went as long as Yuuri promised not to leave him behind.
"I've never seen this kind of fruit before," he noted, picking up one of the bright blue spheres then putting it down again before the owner of the stand could object or insist that he buy it. "What do you think it is, Yuuri?"
"Don't know, but it doesn't look like a lot of people are buying it so maybe it doesn't taste very good."
Now that Yuuri had mentioned it, it did seem as though the blue fruit was the only one still available in large quantities this late in the day. Their group had arrived on the outskirts of the capitol city just as the afternoon was turning into evening, and Yuuri had volunteered them to buy supplies while Yozak slipped off to the castle. Wolfram suspected that what his fiancé had really wanted was to get a look around and supplies were just an excuse. Not that it mattered either way though. What the fire wielder really wanted after days of traveling through poor countryside and back roads was to sleep in an actual inn, but they were close now to places where Rakell had grown up and they were afraid that someone might recognize her.
"What about this?"
Wolfram looked at the display in front of them. "Is that pork?"
Yuuri shrugged. "It kind of looks like pork, or maybe it's steak. But hey, meat's meat, right?"
To someone who had spent a lot more time in the kitchen with Jennifer Shibuya, no. But Wolfram supposed there wasn't really much point in being picky. "I guess it will do. How much should be buy? Don't forget that we still have that rabbit we caught this morning."
By the time they finally returned to the small camp they'd set up some distance from the road but still within sight of the settlement lights, night had truly fallen. Wolfram lit the fire and he and Conrad set about preparing dinner. Rakell sat watching them with her baby sister in her lap, close enough to enjoy the fire's warmth but far enough away to not get in the way. They had bought milk from a farm they'd passed earlier in the day and the child was now sleeping.
"Are you okay? You've barely spoken since we've gotten close to the capitol."
She glanced up as the double black came to stand beside her, though his gaze was also trained on the happenings beside the fire. "I suppose I'm just nervous about being back here. I left it in such a hurry and everything that's happened still doesn't feel real sometimes."
"Do you miss them?" Yuuri asked quietly. "Your parents."
He could only imagine how he'd feel if someone had killed his parents. He'd be furious, and somehow, he doubted he'd be able to keep the anger in check if the killer had been right there in front of him.
The young woman's smile was a little sad. "I don't have time to miss them, not yet."
And it was strange to realize then how different the rulers of different countries could be. Rakell wasn't a Mazoku. She probably didn't even know how to handle a sword let alone magic of any kind. She was brave and determined, but bravery and determination didn't count for much sometimes. If he'd really been so inclined, Yuuri could probably destroy entire kingdoms with the kind of power he wielded both as the Maoh and as himself, become the kind of demon king people of this kingdom had probably told nightmarish stories to their children about. And even though he hadn't and didn't believe he would ever choose to do such a thing, it was a possibility, and just the possibility was enough.
"We'll find a way to help you make things right."
Rakell laughed, shaking her head in amusement. "So now I'm being helped by the real Maoh of Shin Makoku in order to get back a throne stolen by someone else claiming to be supported by the Maoh of Shin Makoku. Well, I suppose stranger things have happened. Though I still can't believe you're the demon king."
"Why not? Demons and humans really aren't so different when you get down to it. We might live a little longer and have different abilities, but you know, that's true of a lot of humans too. We're all different but we all live in this world and we all want to be happy. If you ask me, that's more than enough for people to have in common."
"Yuuri," Wolfram's voice reached them from the other side of the camp where he was rummaging through their packs and frowning, "did we buy any salt? The meat is far too bland."
"I'm pretty sure we did that a few days ago. I'll check the wagon."
Looking after the departing Mazoku, Rakell wondered what kind of a place Shin Makoku really was. She'd never stopped to think about it before, but maybe she should have. And she felt more than a bit lucky to have run into this particular group of people at such a time as this. Perhaps Fate really was looking out for them all as her father had said.
Shortly afterwards, Yozak arrived back at camp, ditching what looked suspiciously like the uniform of the castle guards and just in time for dinner too. Carefully setting her sleeping sister in a makeshift crib the spy had rustled up, Rakell moved to join them.
.
"It seems that we're in luck," Yozak announced, finally setting down his empty plate. "This Izare fellow might have taken over this place for the most part, but the hearts of quite a few of the original royal guards still belong to the royal family—well, the ones that are still alive anyway."
"Yozak," Conrad said warningly, casting a worried look at the princess.
"Sorry, Captain—and Princess. That was a bit tactless of me."
"I suppose that's good news," Wolfram conceded, prodding the fire with a twig. "But it's not going to be much help with how many of the rebels are stationed around here."
"No, not if an actual battle broke out. But there are more than enough of them to take care of Lady Rakell here and get her to safety in case we have to detain some very confused and angry rebels. We're not here to start a revolution, folks. We're here to get the sword, clear our name, and get out of here. It sounds like there was a lot of discontent with the previous order of things, but there's also still a lot of hope that it can be better, especially since it seems the princess had a fairly good reputation. That should be more than enough to give the princess here and those loyal to her a chance to get back the throne. That's the thing when you try to rule by fear. People don't like you. And as soon as that fear factor is removed, they'll jump at the chance to be rid of these people."
Rakell nodded slowly, her gaze wandering back to the dancing flames. "That will be more than enough, thank you."
Yuuri frowned. "Are you sure there isn't more we can do?"
She shook her head. "It'll be enough that people know Izare's a liar, and that the real Maoh stepped in. You see…" She hesitated then raised her chin and continued, "a lot of the discontent Izare was able to build off of was because of the prejudice in our government against Mazoku blood. As you probably know, Rawsha has always been a very conservative and closed off kind of country, but that doesn't change the fact that we're right next to Shin Makoku. You might be surprised at how many people here have at least a touch of demon blood from way back in their family trees. It's not really talked about, but I'm beginning to think that's the problem. We never talk about it and so the resentment just keeps building up until you get something like this."
She waved her hands emphatically to indicate the landscape around them and the city in the distance. "I… I knew that there are people trying to build an opposition group, but I guess I didn't have the courage to look for them. I had a lot of things to think through, but then you people came along and—I think I've figured some things out. I don't know exactly what yet, but it's about time I stopped running."
They all went quiet, their faces grim as their minds wandered back to different things, different realizations that they'd had at some point in their lives when important decisions had to be made. Ryego finally broke the silence.
"I do not understand how Izare managed to get a hold of the sword in the first place," he observed, his forehead wrinkling in a way that reminded Wolfram strongly of his eldest brother. "From my research, I thought that the demon sword was left on an island in a place where only the Maoh could retrieve it. And yet it's here."
"We're sure it's not a fake, right?" Eiri asked.
Conrad nodded. "It was the first thing we checked when we heard the news."
"Hold on," Eiri piped up, "didn't someone say that this kingdom was crawling with human magic users? If you had enough magic or maybe enough magic users combined, do you think you could somehow make the sword—I don't know, safe?"
Everyone looked at Rakell, being the one probably most familiar with human sorcery out of the seven of them.
"Izare's never claimed to be a magic user, but it would explain a lot of the things he's been able to do."
"You sound like you know him," Wolfram noted. He'd dropped his twig and was now playing with a spark he'd pulled from the fire, idly letting it dance above his fingers. It had taken so much work and practice for him to be able to do this, though Yuuri was probably the only one who'd ever know how frustrated the exercise had made him when it had become known that it would be on the fire users' final exams. The blonde was a powerful fire user, but like a lot of inexperienced fire users, lacked control. It was a regular side affect of the rather bright and temperamental element.
"He used to be a friend of my mother's, or maybe they just knew each other from their parents having been close. I don't think he was ever a real friend. Mother did tell me one thing about him once that I never forgot. She said that he once told her that what he really wanted was to be a demon. That deep down, he's just really afraid."
"Afraid, huh?" Yuuri rested his elbows on his knees, staring thoughtfully at the spark flickering in the air above Wolfram's hands. A sudden, almost evil grin spread across his face. "I think I have an idea. We're going to make sure we leave an impression that this Izare will never forget…"
It took until well past midnight for Yuuri to finish outlining his plans. The full blooded Mazoku would have a lot of work to do and Eiri, Ryego, and Wolfram excused themselves to get some sleep shortly after. Yuuri waited a little longer, walking around the perimeter of the camp and murmuring notes to himself. Finally, he stopped to say goodnight to the three people still sitting by the fire and retired as well.
Eiri had laid out seven sets of blankets, one for each of the adult members of their party. But instead of claiming one of the empty sleeping arrangements, Yuuri stifled another yawn and made a beeline for Wolfram, slipping under the covers beside him as though it was the most natural thing in the world and turning so he could wrap an arm around the blonde's waist and drag him back against his chest. Wolfram curled into himself a little more and grumbled something incoherent at being disturbed, but otherwise only settled back into this new position, his breathing evening out once more.
Rakell stared, blinked a few times then stared some more. "Do they…always sleep like that?"
Following the direction of her stare, Conrad smiled slightly. "As a matter of fact, yes they do."
"Oh." A contemplative pause then, "Are they…?"
"We expect the wedding will be taking place sometime in the next few years." Depending on how long it took their mothers to finish the necessary preparations.
Ah, well, that certainly explained a lot of things, including why the fire Mazoku occasionally threw suspicious glares her way for no apparent reason, usually when she was talking with the Maoh. And to think she'd thought she'd done something to offend him. Maybe they'd get along better if she let him know that she wasn't interested in trying to steal his fiancé.
.
The city looked completely different at night and not in a way that Wolfram liked. Sure, there were lights in a lot of windows and people could be heard talking in the warmth of their apartments and homes, but outside the streets were utterly deserted. It was downright creepy.
At the front of the small group, Rakell paused to check for any guards or people returning home late from work before turning down a narrow alley, the dark cloaks they'd all thrown over themselves making her blend into the darkness. Conrad lingered in the rear with his sword loose in its sheath, ready to act should their plans be interrupted. Yozak had wanted to accompany them as well but had been stuck with baby duty.
They didn't slow down until they reached the small woods behind the castle. Eiri cupped a hand to her ear and listened hard.
"There are several guards and servants still awake," she whispered.
"Don't worry. Not a lot of people know this route." Kneeling beside what seemed to be a collection of boulders Rakell shifted a few rocks, dug her fingers under the largest boulder, and heaved. With a soft thud, the boulder shifted aside to show that it had been hollowed out and used to block the opening to a narrow flight of stairs. "It was an escape passage designed by the Rawsha royal family when the castle was built. It's how I got away and it opens into most of the major parts of the castle, the ones where my ancestors thought their descendants would be if an attack came."
Peering down the rocky steps, Yuuri took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes narrowing. "Right, so everyone is clear on their parts, right? There will be no talking once we get into the castle."
His companions murmured their acknowledgement and they started down into the shadowy corridor, a tiny light flaring into life in Wolfram's hands as Conrad moved the rocky door back into place behind them.
Tracking down the man they were looking for proved…difficult. The castle was huge and they didn't have that much time to search it room by room. So in the end, Rakell led them to the northern wing of the castle where the largest personal living quarters were located and they waited a little anxiously for their target to come to them instead. Hopefully, Izare wasn't an insomniac.
They caught the sound of footsteps long before they saw anyone. Peeking through a peephole in the wall of their hideout, Rakell sucked in a sharp breath and spun around to give them a curt nod. It was the man they were after all right. Tension grew in the air as she spun back and then held up four fingers for them to see. He was headed for the fourth room down the hall. Without having to be prompted, Ryego reached into the stones of the castle with his Maryoku and reshaped them just enough to temporarily jam the door while the others hurried to the secret doorway that would bring them into the correct suite. Ryego watched Izare rattle the door with a slightly raised eyebrow, mentally counting to ten before freeing the door. It swung open with a slight squeak, its hinges just a little bent out of shape—oops—but thankfully not so much so as to be noticeable. As soon as the man disappeared inside and the door swung shut once more, Ryego resealed it, this time so that no amount of rattling would get it free, pulling the stone up to form a sturdy frame around what would no longer be an exit.
Now, all Ryego could do was wait, and keep an eye out for anyone who might interrupt them. Damn, despite never having been a theatre fan, some small part of him really wanted to see the scene that was about to unfold. It was bound to be… Memorable.
As soon as Eiri felt Ryego close off the room's exit and spotted the man by the door, she summoned a violent gust of wind that swept about the suite, extinguishing all the lamps and leaving the rooms in complete darkness. The man muttered a curse under his breath, not yet aware that anything unusual had occurred—until the voice spoke in the blackness.
"Izare Endyena."
The cold, dark voice made everyone in the room shiver.
"Who's there?" the man demanded, startled. He stopped trying to find a way to relight the lamp nearest him and took a step back, his hand falling to the hilt of the sword at his side. "I'm warning you now. I—"
A low chuckle cut him off. Taking this as his cue, Wolfram concentrated and sent fire racing along the walls of the room, making sure that they only gave light instead of burning. They weren't trying to burn this place down after all. And since it was Yuuri, Wolfram put in the extra effort and turned the flames a brilliant, icy blue. He was rather proud of that trick.
The sudden illumination revealed a black-clad figure lounging regally in the room's single armchair. Narrowed eyes like dark ice fixed Izare with a penetrating gaze that Wolfram knew from experience could freeze a person right down to the bone. The ebony bangs that framed his sharp features lent him a menacing air that only intensified the longer he studied his prey.
Watching him, Wolfram found it a little hard to breathe and he was reminded of how much Yuuri had grown up in the last few decades. Beside him in their hiding place behind one of the side walls, Eiri stifled a gasp and Wolfram realized belatedly that not a lot of people had yet had a chance to see Yuuri like this. This was the normally easygoing double black in full Maoh mode and he was actually… Well, quite intimidating to be completely truthful, perhaps even more so precisely because they were all so accustomed to his amiable, much more forgiving side.
A little further back in the secret passageway, Rakell desperately wanted to see what was going on, but Conrad laid a soothing hand on her shoulder and shook his head, hoping she could see it well enough in the dark.
"Ah yes, the infamous demon sword," Yuuri observed, his voice still bitingly chilly. "Don't bother trying to lie to me. I know you can't use it."
Oh yes, the man was definitely a coward at heart. Even from their hiding place, Wolfram could see him shaking with growing fear, though he had to give him credit for managing to splutter an indignant, "What? How dare you! Of course I—"
"Can't," Yuuri finished for him, interrupting him yet again. "I know because it's mine. And I don't like people messing around with what belongs to me."
Yuuri could see the exact moment the realization dawned on the man just who exactly it was he was talking to. He let go of the sword hilt as though it had burnt him, his hazel eyes going wide. But then—then he bowed low to the demon king and said something none of them had been expecting.
"My deepest apologies, your Majesty," he said, and his voice only trembled a little from the fear that was written so obviously across his features. "But this was all for you and your kingdom."
Yuuri was taken aback by this but didn't let it show on his face. Instead, he raised one skeptical eyebrow and ordered, "Explain."
Izare swallowed hard, not quite daring to straighten up. "Of course, your Majesty. I assure you I had no intention of challenging your authority. I merely wished to offer you a gift so that I may perhaps make a humble request in return. And what better gift for a king than a kingdom?"
On the other side of the wall, Eiri and Wolfram exchanged wide-eyed looks of their own, silently agreeing on one thing. This man was clearly crazy.
Behind his mask of indifference, Yuuri silently agreed that Izare was a bit of a lunatic. Though out of curiosity, he couldn't help but ask, "And that request would be?"
He didn't have to see the eagerness on the man's face to hear it in his immediate reply.
"Life, your Majesty. Life as long as a Mazoku's."
Life as long as a Mazoku? Could he really do that? Yuuri wondered. He actually had no idea. He'd noticed that Shinou seemed to be able to do some unusual things with his Maryoku, things that no other Maryoku user could. Did being the Maoh grant him the ability to change people that way? Mentally, he gave himself a hard shake. This wasn't the time to be wondering about this. He could ask the ghost king or the head priestess Urike about it when they got home.
Resting his elbow against the arm of the chair, Yuuri made a displeased sound, noting the way Izare flinched. "That doesn't change the fact that you took something that does not belong to you. And unfortunately," for Izare anyway, "I have no interest in owning this kingdom."
He waited until the man started shifting uncomfortably on his feet before continuing. "I should kill you for your insolence."
The man all but stopped breathing.
"However… I am willing to overlook this as long as you return the sword to me now and then leave this place." Yuuri paused again then added carefully, "I hear that there are a lot of people with demon blood in this kingdom. You have disappointed a great many people with your actions, including people who may have ancestors from my own lands. Once you leave here, I want you to do everything you can to help these people as well as the humans. After all, you are human and no one likes a traitor, especially me. If you do your job well, ask me again in—oh, let's say two decades, and I will reconsider granting your request."
Izare was too relieved at being allowed to live to do anything other than nod. He pulled the sword free but before he could approach, Yuuri summoned a miniature water dragon and directed it to bring the weapon to him. It was always better to be cautious, and the goal of this entire display was to impress and terrify after all. Once the sheathed blade was in his grasp, Yuuri glared one last warning at Izare.
"If you disobey me and insist on pursuing this foolishness, I promise that you will die."
And with that, the light went out.
None of them spoke as they made their way back through the castle and into the underground passage that would bring them back to the woods. But at the foot of the steps, Rakell stopped. Frowning down at her feet, she asked quietly, "Do you think he'll do it?"
"By the way he was shaking in his boots, I'd say yes," Wolfram replied.
Yuuri nodded. "I hope so. Maybe then he can make up for at least some of what he's done."
"And if he doesn't? If he leaves here and just hurts more people?"
The flickering of Wolfram's flame cast stark shadows across the double black's face, his bangs momentarily obscuring his eyes. "Then he may have to die after all. I was being entirely serious about that. It's just… Well, I would like to believe that he will learn from this and take this opportunity to change and make amends. But as a leader, you have to protect the people who depend on you. You might not always like the decisions you have to make, but in the end, you still have to make them because you're the only one who can."
And that was never an easy lesson to learn.
.
"Yuuri? You didn't come to dinner."
The double black glanced up at the hesitant inquiry, smiling apologetically at the blond Mazoku. "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind."
"You don't like it here, do you?"
Yuuri started to lie then thought better of it. There really wasn't much point in lying to Wolfram. They'd known each other for far too long. "No, I don't."
They had been at the opposition camp for almost two weeks now. Unlike all the other members of their original party, the two of them had an entire tent to themselves, both out of deference and something else. It hadn't bothered him that much when they'd first arrived, but two weeks later and he'd had just about enough of it all. The problem being that losing his temper wouldn't help the situation at all.
"They're afraid of me, you know."
Wolfram could have scoffed at the humans' cowardice. He could have reminded Yuuri that that was to be expected seeing as he was the Maoh and fear may be a good thing—it was a part of respect. He could have said a lot of things, but one look at the shadow in Yuuri's eyes and he shut up. Instead, he just went to sit beside his fiancé on the sleeping cushions, mutely waiting for him to continue.
"It's not a good kind of fear," Yuuri said as though having read his mind. Then he laughed a little because there was a time when he would have automatically labeled all fear as a bad thing. It was just the kind of person he was. But he was a king now. Maybe he hadn't been one for very long officially, but he'd been preparing for it almost his entire life, and he knew that the world wasn't quite as simple as that.
"It's not the kind of fear you get in respect, or even the kind that everyone has when you know you should be wary of someone because—because they're dangerous. It's—" and he had to pause to find the right word "like dread and terror and despair all mixed into one. And I'm tired of it."
"So why don't we just leave?" Wolfram asked. He thought it was a rather reasonable question all considered. They didn't really have any more obligations here. Yuuri was the Maoh. All he had to do was say the word and they would be packed and ready to go by sundown.
"I would, but I still have to decide what to do with this." Yuuri tapped the sword resting across his lap, the skull face upon its hilt still fast asleep just as it had been when they'd first retrieved it.
"You haven't broken the seal yet? But why?"
"Honestly? I'm not sure that I should."
Now Wolfram was confused. "Wasn't that kind of the whole point?"
"I guess it was, but now…" Yuuri trailed off then sighed. Setting the sword aside, he moved to sit against a stack of pillows—way too many for just two people really—and motioned at Wolfram. The blonde crawled across the small sea of blankets and lay down as requested with his head on Yuuri's lap. Green eyes fluttered shut as fingers began to run through his hair then opened again to peer up at his fiancé.
"You know that makes me sleepy. You should probably stop if you want me to listen to you."
The king chuckled. "Sorry, but it helps me think. So do try to stay awake, okay?"
Wolfram nodded but shut his eyes again. He was just too comfortable to keep them open.
"If I break the seal and we take the sword back with us, all the other kingdoms will just be more afraid—like the people here were afraid. They aren't going to want to listen to proposals of peace like that."
"Yes they will. Because they wouldn't want to have to fight you."
Yuuri rolled his eyes. Leave it to his temperamental angel to say that. "I know, but what good would that do? That wouldn't be real peace. It would just be the false calm before a storm until people get scared and crazy and desperate enough to start the wars all over again. Besides, if I just show up and fight in a few border battles, I'm pretty sure they'll catch on quickly that they don't want to have to fight me. I don't need some ancient demon sword to prove that."
Well, Wolfram had to admit that that was probably true. "So then what do you want to do?"
The fingers stilled in his hair for a moment then started to move again as Yuuri answered, "If only there's some way to show everyone that I mean it when I say that I don't want to conquer other kingdoms or kill anyone as long as they respect my people and the boundaries of my kingdom. Something to show that I really do want peace."
"But even if you don't break the seal on the sword, they'll still know that you can. It would amount to pretty much the same thing."
Yuuri hummed thoughtfully. "That's true…"
And in that case, there was really only one thing he could do.
.
"You're leaving?" All activity paused as Rakell arrived on the edge of the scene, breathing hard as though she'd run all the way to meet them once she'd gotten their message.
Motioning for the others to continue their departure preparations, Yuuri went over to her with Wolfram trailing behind to watch. "Yeah, sorry for the short notice. I'm glad you came because I needed to ask you a favor."
"Anything I can do to repay all of your help."
Pulling the demon sword sheath and all from where he'd temporarily tucked it into his belt, Yuuri held it out to her. "I'd like you to hide this somewhere so neither I nor any of the people who serve me know where it is."
This announcement made everyone stop again to stare at him.
"Yuuri," Wolfram hissed in the shocked silence, "you can't just give it to her! I'm not saying that she'll use it against us or anything, but what if someone else gets a hold of it? What if someone else breaks the seal on it or finds a way to use it?"
Okay, so his angel had a point. It would be irresponsible of him to just leave the blade where anyone else could get a hold of it again; they could just end up repeating this whole fiasco. Yuuri thought for a moment then freed one hand to touch the skull engraved upon the hilt. Sapphire light flashed and the image of a dragon glowed momentarily along the blade before it faded once more. "There. Now I've put my own seal on it. I've made sure it won't harm you since you've got to carry it for now, Rakell, but once you've found a place for it to rest, no one will be able to touch it again. So in order for anyone to use the sword, they'd not only have to break the original human magic seal, they'll also have to get a Maoh to break mine so they can retrieve it."
And that was that. The Maoh had made his decision and he wasn't going to change his mind.
To her credit, Rakell didn't waste too much time on her surprise.
"I'll do that," she said, handling the sheathed blade a little gingerly as she took it. "Um, give me a moment—I'll be back. I wanted to ask a favor of you too."
That said, she dashed back towards the center of the camp where her own tent was, returning several moments later at a more sedate pace with something carefully cradled against her. Her eyes looked a bit sad but her shoulders were set with determination.
"I know this is kind of sudden," she started hesitantly, "but things are still going to be rather dangerous around here and I've got a lot of work ahead of me. So… Well, I was kind of hoping you could take care of my sister. I want her to grow up somewhere safe, somewhere beautiful, and…and I think she could learn a lot from you two."
This time, she wasn't just talking to Yuuri.
Caught totally off guard and stunned speechless for once, Wolfram looked at the bundle in Rakell's arms then at Yuuri, the question clear in his emerald eyes. The double black glanced from his fiancé to the baby then back again. Well, Wolfram had said that he liked kids.
Turning back to Rakell, he offered her a smile. "We'd love to."
The princess and soon-to-be queen of Rawsha smiled in return, one of the first, genuinely happy smiles they had ever seen on her face. "My deepest gratitude, and good luck—with everything. I look forward to seeing what kind of kingdom you will create."
"You're welcome," Yuuri assured her. "So…what's her name?"
Hugging her baby sister to her one last time, Rakell's expression softened. "Greta. Her name is Greta."
TBC…
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