Antonio once again looked into those green eyes much like his own. The man had grown a lot since he had last seen him on the battlefield. For the day he lost he vowed never to see his former lover again. Yet there he was.

"It has been a long time," Abel said as he broke the silence. Seeing his former lover made his heart ache. He did not want to hurt the former prince like that. But it was necessary and he had no other choice.

Antonio stared at him. He tried to keep a blank face like the other, but he could never hide how he felt. His anger and disgust were easy to see. "Indeed. It has been very long. I had hoped it would have been much longer." His words were like a dagger dipped in poison. They stung the blonde and killed him slowly.

Abel felt the urge to frown or throw his hands up into the air in despair. "It was unfortunate what happened so long ago. But I do wish to put all of that behind us. I have heard you very happy living as a man free to do whatever it is you wish."

"Yes. I get to do whatever I want. There are no duties holding me back or tying me down. I can even sleep with whomever I want. I do not have to court only those nobles who would benefit me." He smirked at the blonde.

It hurt to have such words rubbed into his face like that. He still harbored great feelings of affection for the man before him. He had never found anyone else to love or to share his bed with on cold and lonely nights. He frowned slightly. And Antonio did not miss that slight change in expression. It shined brighter than the hottest sun. It was the darkness that he knew the man was always hiding from the world.

"Well, if you are happy then I guess there is nothing for me to worry about. It was all for the best after all," Abel said. His voice slightly cracking. He could feel tears begin to fill his eyes. So, he quickly turned and began walking to his tent. He would never let the world see him fall apart. That was not the way of the Acalenians.

Belle watched as her brother left. She looked over at Antonio who looked very shocked for some reason. She did not know why her brother had left so suddenly, but her guess would have to be the insulting words from the former prince.

"I apologize on behalf of my brother for leaving so rudely. I do not believe he appreciates your bragging of other lovers. He never replaced you after all. Now, I will be going to help Miss Elizabeta get things prepared for tonight's battle." He bowed her head and left towards the weaponry tent.

He watched her leave as he thought about what she had said to him. After all these years Abel had not once replaced him? He had not bedded with another man? He had to assume that he had not slept with a woman as well. Suddenly he felt impure. He felt dirty.

He knew right then that his ex-lover still loved him. But he was unsure what to think about that. He did not know if he could forgive the man. The man had taken away his entire future and left him with nothing. How could he forgive such a thing?

With a heavy sigh he sat at the fire. The sun still shined brightly in the sky, but the weather was nearing temperatures of snow. They could probably expect the snow to come fairly soon. Hopefully the warriors were prepared for that. War was difficult as it was. Add in demons and snow and it is just a massacre waiting to happen.

All was silent around him. No mattered how hard he tried he could not stop thinking about the past. He could not stop thinking about all the good times he had had with Abel. All of the good times before the war.

After sitting in the cold for about an hour he decided to go talk to the man whom was now king. He went over to the tent and slowly peeked his head inside. The blonde man was fast asleep. Antonio entered the tent very quietly and laid next to him.

The stern and indifferent man looked completely different in his sleep. That was the only time his emotions were shown on his face. Abel wore a soft frown on his soft, pale lips. He hated to see a frown on him. Yet he tried not to care. He did not want to care for a man who took away his whole life from him.

He ran his hand through the blonde locks of hair. The hair was slightly dirtied, but he did not mind. He knew that the man had probably been fighting for days. Weeks even. He continued to play with the hair as he saw the man begin to smile. He blushed softly and continued the action until he fell asleep.

In his sleep he held the man close. It was not his intention to sleep with the man. Nor was it his intention to fall asleep. He had wanted to talk to the man. But for the time being it could wait.

Gilbert got dressed in his best warrior clothing. He knew he was not going to leave his room. But he could no longer wait. His people needed him and his brother needed to understand that.

He pulled on his dark brown pants and his blood red tunic. He pulled on his armor as well. Though he only ever wore the boot guards and the matching ones on his arms. He pulled on a blood red cloak as well. As he admired himself for a quick moment he prepared himself.

He pulled the hood of the cloak over his head. It was good enough at covering his horns and it was just long enough to hide his tails as well. Though it was hard to keep his tail from swaying. He somehow managed to do so until he marched into his brother's room. The king was still in bed with Dimitri when he came in and slammed the door shut.

Ludwig sat up quickly. Not caring that he was bare of a shirt. "Brother! What are you doing roaming the castle?! You know how dangerous that is!" he shouted.

Gilbert stared at him with red eyes full of determination. "Brother, I can no longer just sit in my room and wait for Arthur to find a cure for me. I need to train. I need to be able to use my powers at their fullest. My men need me. This kingdom needs me to fight. We can no longer let these demons grow in number and kill our people. They are getting dangerously closer to the boarders. I can sense it now that I am one of them."

Ludwig sighed. "You know I cannot let you do that. It is too dangerous. If someone sees what you have become they will no doubt kill you. Do you not understand that?" The king sounded very concerned. The prince appreciated that. He truly did. But he could not let his people down.

"I know that you wish to keep me safe. But I wish to keep our people safe. I cannot do that from my room, Ludwig."

As the youngest of the two brothers was about to speak he was interrupted. "I think you should allow him to train. He needs to fight. You cannot protect him forever," a soft voice was heard saying. The voice belonged to the usually silent Dimitri. Both were shocked to hear him say something so bold. Let alone even talk.

Ludwig looked at his lover. He could not believe that he was taking his brother's side over his. "You cannot be serious," he said. Though he sounded very unsure of himself. He did not know what to think.

Dimitri smiled at his lover and his king. He grabbed onto the large, strong hand. "Do not think that I am going against you. I understand how you feel. Believe me I do. I myself have a brother. Though he is younger than I. I had to let him go on to be with the person he loved. Though I did not trust the man at all. He would not change his mind. I had to let him go and become what he wanted."

Ludwig sighed. He knew that the words of his lover were true. He had to let his brother go and become who he wanted to be. He had to let fate guide him. Little did he know that the brother his lover spoke of had turned into a demon for the man he loved.

The king turned to look at his brother. He could see the fire to fight in his eyes. There was no evil in those bright, red eyes. Only good could be seen. "I will let you train. But you must not run off into battle until you are in full control of your powers. The only exception being they get pass the boarder."

Gilbert smiled happily. He was overjoyed with his brother's decision. He wasted no time getting to the training grounds. He immediately blew the whistle in his pocket.

Lovino arrived within seconds as was usual. He was wearing brown and red just as his lover was. It was actually cute that they sort of matched, but the albino would not say that out loud. "Miss me already? I have not been gone that long," the brunette teased.

Gilbert rolled his eyes with a huff and a blush. "Oh, shut up. That is not the reason I called you. I have called you here because my brother gave me permission to do actual training."

Lovino lifted a brow. "Since when does permission matter to you?" he asked. "I know that you went out with your friend to train the other day."

The prince pursed his lips "So? We trained a bit. But he does not know how my magic works. You, on the other hand, seem to know exactly how it works. You have magic yourself. So, it makes sense for me to train with you. I need to battle against you and have you explain to me how to properly call upon my powers. You promised you would make me stronger. I trust in you to do that."

Lovino straightened his posture more than before and looked his lover straight in the eyes. "If a fight against me is what you wish than it is what you shall get. Giving you strength is the only way I can protect you in this world." He walked over to the man and kissed him gently. Biting his bottom lip softly. "Do prepare yourself," he said in a whisper.

He walked back over to where he was standing and closed his eyes. He was soon surrounded by green glowing light. His clothes began to turn into holy garments. He wore a pure white robe with a red sash. He seemed to be floating just slightly above the ground. When he was finished with his small transformation he was surround for white light aside from his hands. Those were still encased with green light.

Moving his hands to form strange symbols with the light he spoke silently. Gilbert knew that an attack was coming, but he did not know what kind of attack. The way Lovino used his magic was much different since he was a sorcerer and not a demon. He knew that he would have to use his magic his own way.

Soon, he was attacked by a mass of glowing needles. He tried to dodge them all, but he had not been quick enough. The pain was immensely irritating. "I will not let you die, but I will not be going on you easily. Do not assume that I will not hurt you."

Gilbert nodded and the next attack came just as quickly as the first. This time he was prepared. He called forth a field and the training went on for hours and hours onward.