Wolfram counted the footsteps as they came closer. Only two guards this time - they knew he was too weak to resist.
The key rattled against the heavy lock, but he didn't move. Only days ago he would have dragged himself upright for the sake of his pride. Now even his pride wasn't strong enough to move him. A few more days with almost nothing to eat or drink and he probably wouldn't have the strength to keep conscious between beatings. He would welcome that.
The door scraped open and the torchlight from the hallway blinded him after hours in total darkness. He blinked slowly against the moisture in his eyes and barely saw the feet of his tormentors.
"Up," one of the guards demanded, hauling Wolfram to his feet and shoving him at the other guard. They dragged the unresisting Mazoku to the Interrogation Room. Wolfram's mind supplied the more accurate description of "torture chamber."
They forced his hands up over his head, securing his wrists with heavy manacles.
Wolfram barely stopped himself from crying out as his right shoulder was wrenched. He'd dislocated it when he'd been captured, and although his captors probably meant it as punishment, they'd popped it back into place during one of their interrogations.
Wolfram let his head drop, closing his eyes against the sight of the dried blood on the floor under his bare feet. He didn't want to think about how much of that blood was his.
The guards left and he was alone, a single torch cast ominous shadows over the implements of torture that lined the walls.
He wondered how many days had passed since he'd been ambushed while returning to his castle. Yuuri had returned to that other world and Wolfram had decided to use their time apart to tend to Bielefeld business. Safeguarding his fiancé took precedence over his other duties, but he still had a responsibility to those dependant on his family.
The Bielefeld castle and lands were well inside Mazoku territory, so he'd foolishly sent all but two of his soldiers on ahead. He wondered if they had survived or if they'd been killed immediately, like his escorts Hans and Karl.
He hoped, at least, that they hadn't suffered.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway and Wolfram took a deep breath while he mustered what little strength he had left. He wondered if this room would be the last thing he'd see.
xxxxxx
Both his legs were broken.
Wolfram lay in a heap, just as he had fallen when the guards threw him back into his little cell. The last of his uniform was in shreds and blood still seeped from the lashes across his back.
His vision was fading. Even in total darkness he could feel his eyes failing. He closed them and tried to think of nothing, especially not Yuuri. He would not taint his memories of his fiancé by thinking of him in this evil place.
Wolfram finally understood why he was here, at least. It wasn't a royal with designs on ruling the world as he'd suspected. No, his captor was something far worse -- a human weapons merchant intent on making a profit by starting a war. The merchant had learned of Wolfram's status as the Maou's fiancé and intended to use Wolfram as bait to lure Yuuri into a trap. He was going to torture and kill Wolfram, then make it appear as if a local ruler were to blame. He had spread rumors throughout human and Mazoku territories already, preparing to sell his weapons at considerable profit.
Wolfram squinted at the water dish with its scant mouthful of dirty water and licked his chapped, swollen lips. The dish was so far away and it offered so little, but he gathered his resolve and dragged his body towards it anyway. He would not be defeated. Not today.
xxxxx
He would have begged for his own end if he had voice left to speak. Helpless, he curled tighter in on himself and tried to conserve warmth he no longer possessed.
The fourth bucket of icy water was emptied onto his shivering form before the guards left, one of them getting in a sharp kick on his way past.
Wolfram shivered uncontrollably even as he wiped droplets of the fluid from his skin and pressed them into his mouth.
xxxxx
He was delirious by the time the fighting started. He giggled when he heard a voice that sounded like Weller's and laughed outright when he started floating. He closed his eyes against the bright light and wondered why his life hadn't passed before them. He was vaguely disappointed that the end was so dull – he should have at least seen a vision of his loved ones.
Shouldn't he?
He wanted to call out his disappointment – demand a better finish, but he felt himself fading away.
xxxxx
"Take him to Gisela," he commanded, passing his bundle carefully into Günter's arms. Blood streaked Conrad's clothes, but Günter barely noticed. He understood what was at stake.
"Keep Heika away as long as you can."
Conrad nodded and hurried in the opposite direction, back to his older brother and his king.
There were battles throughout the isolated keep, but many of the mercenaries had been defeated or fled into the woods. The fiercest battle raged near a well-protected storage building that housed a daunting variety of weapons.
Conrad joined Gwendal and Yuuri who were waiting with a small contingent of soldiers well away, but still in sight of the main battle.
"Wolfram's alive," Conrad reported before Yuuri could ask. He saw the king studying the bloodstains on Conrad's uniform and tried to offer reassurance. "Günter has taken him to safety. Gisela will tend his wounds."
Yuuri wasn't distracted. He gestured to the bloodstains. "Are those Wolfram's?"
"Heika…"
"Answer me, Conrad. I've been your king and your friend for three years. I deserve the truth."
"He is seriously injured, but he is alive."
"Did they hurt him? Deliberately?" Yuuri's eyes were hard, demanding. Nothing like the eyes of the trusting young king Conrad was used to. The soldier nodded once.
"Thank you for being honest," Yuuri said before spurring his horse into sudden motion. The others cried out, scrambling to follow, but the Maou was not to be stopped. He dodged a few skirmishes along the way, stopping only at the outer fringe of the main battle. Without dismounting, he narrowed his eyes and summoned his powers.
xxxxx
The weapons merchant lay bloody and unconscious in the street, half-buried under a wooden construct that spelled "justice". The rest of his mercenaries were being dragged off by Conrad's soldiers.
Yuuri watched impassively while some of those soldiers started working to free the man who had kidnapped and tortured Wolfram.
He turned his horse away from the sight and demanded, "Take me to Wolfram."
Conrad nodded once, then urged his horse forward. He resisted the need to look back at Yuuri, to make sure the Maou was still there. Yuuri needed a moment to collect himself, to recover from the insane rage that had nearly led him to kill a man.
They arrived at the house that Günter had commandeered. Conrad waited for Yuuri to secure Ao, then followed him inside.
Günter met them just inside the door, ready to throw himself on his king. Yuuri stopped him with a look. The young king crossed the floor to his fiancé's bedside, stopping behind Gisela so as not to interfere with her healing spell.
The vision of his broken, bloody fiancé nearly sent Yuuri into another rage. He could feel Conrad and Günter bracing themselves for it. Instead, Yuuri clamped down hard on his emotions and turned to Conrad.
"Would he be dead?" Yuuri asked in an oddly neutral tone, referring to the weapons merchant. He looked directly into Conrad's eyes and demanded the truth. "If you hadn't stopped me?"
Conrad nodded, yes, and was surprised that Yuuri's expression didn't change.
"Remind me to thank you later," Yuuri said quietly before moving to the far side of Wolfram's bed and kneeling. He nodded to Gisela then closed his eyes, willing everything he had into a healing spell.
"Heika!" Günter protested, afraid that his king had already expended too much of his power.
"Let him be," Conrad spoke softly but forcefully, drawing Günter's attention away from the king and his beloved. "He knows the risk."
Günter wanted desperately to protest, but he really couldn't. He knew Conrad had been at Yuuri's side since his arrival in this world and Conrad knew better than anyone what Wolfram meant to the young king.
"I've arranged somewhere safe for them to rest, and a carriage to transport them." Günter looked out the window, catching sight of a group of shackled prisoners being led away. "I expect you to keep him here while I do what I must."
Conrad nodded. Just because he didn't wish to see blood on his king's hands didn't mean that dirty jobs could be left undone.
tbc