Even once Judal had dozed peacefully off, Sinbad had laid awake for what was probably too long, staring up into the ceiling with Judal curled up like a kitten on his chest, dozing peacefully into the night.

I received a letter from Kouen today.

It was foolish to think about but Sinbad couldn't get his mind off of those words. Ren Kouen had sent a letter. To Judal. Hadn't the prince and princess promised to be back in two weeks for their magi? Two weeks had more than passed. It had been nearly a month since Judal had been left in Sinbad's care, so the prince and princess would be coming back for Judal sooner or later and Sinbad was just going to have to face that, and to do everything that he could to ensure Judal was still at his side when they left.

Sinbad gazed into Judal's peaceful features, eyes slid shut as he snoozed quietly, long hair soft and smooth as it spilled across Sinbad's warm skin. Judal was very beautiful, not only by his exterior, but to his interior as well. The pale, moon-kissed skin and hair of endless midnight and sweet, delicate features were impressive and lovely, without a doubt. But Judal was soft at heart, too, he was pretty even from within. For years this side of him had been concealed, and while Sinbad always thought that Judal was very pretty that was tempered by the cruel and nasty disposition that laid within. But Judal was neither cruel nor nasty. He was soft and sweet and kind, even through everything that Al-Thamen had put him through. It was these delicate virtues that made him so lovely to Sinbad, that made Sinbad feel for him more than he'd ever felt for the pretty girls he'd known before.

Sinbad admired Judal, for all of this.

Apparently, Kouen did too.

Perhaps he was overreacting. Kouen probably cared for Judal more as a magi than anything else, as an asset rather than a lover. Or perhaps even then, maybe he was only a friend. But Sinbad couldn't help worrying. Judal was so fair and pretty, both inside and out; anyone would want for him. Sinbad knew that he did, but what if Kouen did too?

Sinbad had begun to realize that he could not imagine a life without Judal. It hadn't been long since they'd known each other like this but God, Sinbad could barely remember what it was like to wake up with a hatred for the magi, to wake up without that worry for his well-being and instead with a sickness in his stomach. Judal had given Sinbad something so tender, something he hadn't known before, and while Sinbad had never really loved another nor did he know what it felt like, perhaps he could have loved Judal, one day. Lying with him like this under the veil of moonlight made it very easy to love Judal.

The night dragged painfully on. Morning fell and the sun rose, and Sinbad did in turn, though he had little sleep in the night with his many worries of what was to come. He'd kissed the dark crown of Judal's pretty head before he rose, knowing that it was easier to treasure every moment with his magi than to assure himself that there was no reason to worry for their time together.

Ah. His magi. Sinbad would never tire of hearing it, and he would ensure that he could hear those pretty words for many moons to come.

He was probably being over-dramatic. Everything would probably be fine, in the end. But the time Sinbad had spent with Judal was precious to Sinbad, it was not something he would trade for the world, and he couldn't lose him, not now, not ever.

Judal said that he belonged with Sinbad. That was what he had said the other night, so there was no reason to worry. And yet, Sinbad did.

"Judal said he received a letter from Kouen yesterday," Sinbad began when he found Ja'far in the office. He was met with a long sigh.

"Yeah," said Ja'far. He didn't look up from the papers in his arms. "He did."

Sinbad made a sound as though he were a wounded animal. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I figured that he would have told you himself," Ja'far sighed as he finally looked up. "Was I right?"

Sinbad sighed as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "I guess," he grumbled, "but it would've been nice to know before he dropped it on me."

Ja'far couldn't hide the faintest hint of a smirk. "You sound worried."

It must've been plain on his face, from how his brow creased and his lips worried into a frown. Sinbad was not a man who worried often (worrying meant wrinkles) but he was willing to spare a lifetime of worry over Judal. "Not really."

Ja'far sighed, but there was amusement sparkling in his coal black eyes. "I don't want to watch the Kingdom collapse because your boyfriend decided to go back home."

"He's not my—" Sinbad paused for a moment, because he realized, Judal was his boyfriend. It was a strange thing to think of and even stranger to hear it out loud. Judal. His boyfriend. It sounded strange just to think about it, strangely informal, but it wasn't a bad sort of strange. It was something Sinbad could get used to. "Oh," said Sinbad. "I guess that he is."

"Do you think that he will leave?"

Sinbad paused for a moment. Did he? Judal had said that he belonged with Sinbad, but that didn't mean that he didn't long for Kou. Saying and meaning were two entirely different things and Sinbad didn't think he would be able to bear it if Judal really meant that he wanted to go back home.

"No," said Sinbad. "I don't think he will. But I can't know that for sure."

Ja'far cracked a smile. "Talk to him, then. He'll tell you, in his own way."

Sinbad managed a smile, but the weight was still there in his heart, for that was the thing that worried him the most.

Judal found that he was spending a lot of time lounging upon Sinbad's bed.

And it wasn't particularly in an intimate way, either, not in the way that could be expected. Rather than a concubine or a bedwarmer Judal was only a companion in the lesser sense of the word, in the sense that lacked physical intimacy but craved it emotionally. The most Judal and Sinbad ever did together was lay in one another's arms, and Judal didn't mind that one bit.

Judal wasn't sure what courtship entailed. Sinbad was such a busy man it was hard to steal him aside long enough for a date but Sinbad lavished more than enough time upon Judal, that was for sure. Whenever the day allowed a break, Sinbad would be there with Judal, there to share with him a platter of peaches or simply just a moment's company. They ate dinner together too-but only the mildest of delicacies were served for Judal, of course.

But the moments that meant the most were these, the ones spent sprawled across Sinbad's bed with Sinbad's hands running gently through his hair, touch fleeting against the small of his back. It was the moments like these of which Judal would never tire.

Judal rolled on his back, catlike in nature as he laid his head against Sinbad's hardened abdomen, long hair spilling like silk across the tanned skin. "What's got you so worked up now?"

Sinbad didn't seem to notice the tension tugging into his features until Judal spoke. His creased brow softened as his eyes met Judal's, and the shadow of a smile crossed his lips as he put an arm by the magi's waist and tugged him closer. "Nothing's bothering me, beautiful. I'm perfectly happy right where I am."

Judal's worries were nearly placated when Sinbad dropped a kiss against the crown of Judal's dark hair, gentle and loving as he did. But once the butterflies of happiness subsided in Judal's stomach, he remembered what he had asked, and on Sinbad's arm when he did not receive an answer to his question. "As much as I'm flattered," said Judal, laughter sparkling in his eyes, "I know that you're worrying. You can tell me if there's something wrong. You know that you can trust me by now, don't you?"

"Of course I know that," said Sinbad. "I would be a fool not to." Trust between them had come far more quickly than Judal had anticipated, maybe it was because they had known each other for so long, because Sinbad had watched Judal grow from an entitled child to a broken adult and knew that there was nothing truly nefarious in his nature. Judal liked the trust. He liked the closeness. He liked that he could tell when Sinbad was upset but he didn't like when the details were withheld from him.

"Then you know you can tell me." Judal spoke quietly, brought a hand (just slowly, just carefully) up to brush against the skin of Sinbad's cheek, thumb glossing over the prominent cheekbones that made women swoon wherever he passed. Judal leaned up and kissed his cheek, could feel the warmth beneath his lips that prickled against his skin even as he sat back. "You can always tell me."

Sinbad was silent, for a moment, and then he sighed. Judal felt the warm breath tickling his skin, felt the dip in Sinbad's chest as he exhaled, didn't have to look to know the way that his golden eyes softened at him. "Kouen is coming back soon, isn't he?"

Ah. Judal felt the shadow of a smile ghost across his features but instead of allowing Sinbad to see, he turned his face and buried it in the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent of spices and the sea from his hair. "Yeah," said Judal. "What, worried you can't take him? It'd be a good match, but I think you'd have him easy."

Sinbad chuckled. "No," he assured, "that would be much easier than this."

With that, Judal pulled back far enough so that he could meet Sinbad's gaze, so that he could see the raw tenderness in his features, could feel the weight behind the hand brushing through Judal's long hair. "What is it, then?"

"When he comes back," said Sinbad, slowly, "will you leave with him?"

Judal blew out through his nose, a scoff as he shook his head. "Leave with him? As in, go back to Kou?" He chuckled at the absurdity of it. "I always knew that you were stupid, but I thought you'd know me better than that by now."

Sinbad managed a rueful smile. "So you won't leave, then?"

Of all the things that Judal had thought of Sinbad he had never once taken him for insecure, or needing of any reassurances. Sinbad was the sort of man who had heard his entire life of what a prize he was, of what a man he was. He always knew that he was handsome, that he was cool and suave and in control and Judal could not blame him for that. But when he held Judal close and asked him, softly, if he would ever leave, it was hard for Judal not to smile.

"Of course I won't." Judal put his arms around Sinbad's neck and tugged himself closer. "God, you're such an idiot. You know how much I hated it there. You know how much I like you here, I could never go back." Quietly, he added, "I don't want to go back."

Sinbad's smile grew, and all bitterness left it. "You don't?"

Judal cracked a smile. "I could never leave. After all," he went on, leaning his head against Sinbad's, catlike as he did. "I'm your magi."

"That's right," said Sinbad, grinning as he tugged Judal off balance and into his lap. Judal made a sound as he did, but it wasn't a hard tug and he landed safely and easily in Sinbad's arms. "You're mine."

Judal definitely liked the sound of that.

"Yeah, my stupid king," said Judal with the shadow of a smile, carmine eyes glistening like starlight. "I'm all yours."

It was a good feeling. Judal had always belonged to Al-Thamen but for the first time in his life he had known what it felt like to belong to oneself, the self governance and autonomy that he'd never had before. For the first time Judal had known what it was like to choose a lover, to give himself rather than to be taken. Judal was Sinbad's but he was his own person and his love (love?) was his to give, and there was no one else he'd rather give it to.

Sinbad cupped the back of Judal's head in his hand, and kissed him. Judal made a sound in the back of his throat as he dipped his head back, as he felt Sinbad playing fingers through his hair, coaxing him in for more. Sinbad had always been good at kissing. With Judal he was always gentle but there was a fire behind it even still, an unspoken passion that made Judal's breath quicken and his heart race. His touch was always tender, always sweet, Judal felt it as he leaned in and Sinbad brought his other hand to the small of Judal's back, exposed by his choli, and pressed flat against it. His hand was warm, heavy with warmth and want as he laid it against the gently sloping pane of Judal's pale, delicate skin.

Judal couldn't help his gasps, the air that slipped past his lips. Judal had been fucked before but this wasn't fucking, nowhere close, he had never known passion like this, never this incredible heat. Sinbad's lips broke away, only for a moment, just long enough that he could lean in again to pepper his kisses along Judal's jawline. His lips skimmed over the curve of it, sharp and yet sculpted lovingly all the same, as though he were wrought from fine marble. Sinbad held him with care all the same, careful not to shatter him, and Judal held on, arms thrown around his neck, pulled close into his embrace, breathing in the very scent of him, and hoped, silently, that Sinbad would never let go.

They had never gone very far past chaste kisses before, so Judal couldn't help his hard gasp when he felt Sinbad nipping and sucking at the tender skin of his neck at the hollow behind his ear, brushing aside the fall of soft hair. Judal had never had such great attention lavished upon one tender place of him, didn't know what to say, what to do but lengthen the pale column of his neck, old scars faded, red and bruising only where Sinbad's lips hovered above the skin.

Between breaths, Judal managed, "Sinbad, I…"

Judal could feel Sinbad's chuckle against his nape. "Do you like that, sweetheart?"

Ah. Sinbad's kisses had been lovely, of course, but the way he said it so gently, so lovingly, sweetheartmade Judal's heart swell all the more. Judal managed a fervent nod between breaths, arms wound over Sinbad's shoulders and around his neck, fingertips digging into the skin. "I like," said Judal, softer, "when you call me that, too."

There was a pause, then, and Sinbad's kisses slowed to an eventual halt. He tugged back far enough for Judal to see his knowing smile, the warmth in his eyes, raw and genuine. "Do you, now? Sweetheart?"

Judal felt his cheeks flare and he turned his face, long hair spilling forward to hide his delicate features from view. No one ever really called Judal with sweet names like that. Kougyoku called him Judal-chan sometimes but she did that to Alibaba too, so Judal couldn't count that (they could have their own lame pet names, anyways). But Judal liked the way that Sinbad said it. He liked the sweetness dripping from his words like honey, the tender manner in which he touched him. Judal liked that. "Yeah," he said. "I did."

Sinbad lifted a jeweled hand to brush the fall of hair back behind Judal's ear, glinting with a fine pearl drop. "Good," said Sinbad, dropping a kiss to the moon skin of Judal's cheek. "I'll be sure to call you that more often, then."

Judal, despite the warmth in his face, managed a smile. "Good," he murmured. He shifted himself against the sheets and laid back into Sinbad's arms, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Judal liked the kisses, liked the heat beneath Sinbad's lips. But sometimes he just wanted to be held, and his wish was granted when Sinbad's arms grew snug around his waist, bringing him close. "I'd like that."

When he said it like that, Sinbad could never resist.

Judal didn't visit Yamuraiha as often for healing, anymore. It wasn't because they had drifted apart, or anything, they still spoke just as often if not more, but the healing just hadn't been as necessary anymore. Though the process had been slow, there was a lot of natural lifting of the abrasive marks; the bruises had faded entirely, by then, and everything else from his most recent injuries, and all that remained was a faint shadow of his oldest and once painful marks.

But those, too, were beginning to fade. Judal thought that Yamuraiha had been playing him for a fool when she said that they'd never go away but she assured him that she had been genuine, and this was just a stroke of good fortune, or perhaps "good karma, because you've been behaving so well lately!"

Judal didn't believe in karma, not before, at least, not when everything had been so terrible, for what could a child have possibly done to deserve such a thing? But now, when he fell asleep in Sinbad's arms every night, when he hadn't a single thing to worry him, Judal decided that maybe karma had dealt a hand in his favour after all.

"You're healing so well," Yamuraiha mused, eyes big with awe as she studied the complexion of his thighs, leg dress hiked up to reveal the skin beneath, almost perfectly smooth. "Have you been doing the exercises I told you about?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Judal, waving a hand. He'd always had a terrible hand at life magic, but when combined with water magic he was a bit more adept. "I've been trying."

"Well, you've been doing a very good job, then."

"Hm."

"You know what I think it is," she began, knowing smile quirking at the corner of her lips. It was a look that made Judal wish he'd never brought it up. "You've been so happy with Sinbad that you stopped worrying about them, and that made them go away."

Judal snorted, brushing a lock of hair back behind his ear. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe, I don't know."

Her eyes went just faintly wider as he did. "This one is new, though." Yamuraiha brushed a hand against the side of his neck, at the tender skin once hidden behind the shackles of his collar, and Judal tensed up when she did. "What happened?"

It took Judal a moment to remember, and then he blushed. "Nothing," he grumbled. "Nothing happened."

"Ah," she said, smiling. "I see that what they say about Sinbad is true. He's an attentive lover."

Lover. They had done more kissing cuddling than anything close to making love, but to admit such a thing would make matters worse, so Judal forced a weak smile. "Yeah," he managed. "I guess so."

With a deft hand, she swept his long hair back over the bruise at his neck, a curtain to fall tactfully and discreetly over the mark in question. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

If Sinbad kept leaving his love bites all over Judal's fair skin, then Judal didn't think their secret would be a secret for very much longer.

He was about to say something else when there was a knock at the chamber door, and Yamuraiha motioned for the messenger's entrance. Judal regarded the low-ranking soldier with a look of disinterest. He was tired of politics, so why should he have stuck his nose into Sindria's? If Sinbad asked him to, he might have then, but for now Judal was perfectly content to remain oblivious.

"General Yamuraiha," the messenger began, faintly out of breath. "The High King has called for an audience."

"An audience?" she asked, arching an elegant brow. "Why? Has something happened?"

"The," he began, "the Emperor of Kou has just arrived. His ship broke land in Sindria only moments ago."

Judal went numb.

His first thought was Gyokuen, but no that couldn't be it, the messenger had said Emperor. Koutokou was long dead. Hakutoku was gone too, and Hakuyuu and Hakuren and Judal's head was spinning and somehow, on trembling legs, Judal shot up to his feet.

"Who is the Emperor of Kou?" He stormed to Yamuraiha's side, eyes blazing at the soldier, and perhaps he was making a scene but what did it matter if any of them were here?

"I'm not at liberty to—"

"Tell me!" Judal was shaking as he stood, his knees felt weak and his head felt light and he could barely breathe but he had to know. "I am King Consort of Sindria and you will tell me who the Emperor is now!"

Judal's pale hands were trembling and his eyes were just a little too bright, and Yamuraiha had to steady him to keep him upright. The numbness made it difficult to feel anything at all.

"Tell him!" Yamuraiha demanded after a moment when nothing was said, and with a sigh, the messenger finally gave in.

"Ren Kouen," he said, finally. "Emperor Ren Kouen of the Kou Empire."

Judal felt faint.

A/N: this took me so so long I am so so sorry I have no excuses or apologies enough but school was just so rough and I was going through a lot for the first few weeks of summer hooooooo boy.. im so sorry everyone

im gonna try to regulate my weekly updates again! ill be in japan from the july 10-19 so don't expect me to update at all during that time frame lmao but! other than that.. I am Back

(hopefully I'll be able to write some mermaid au too? even after I accidentally deleted all the comments AHH)

feedback is much appreciated!