Sorry this chapter came out so late DX

ItalianCrybaby: Arthur, Gupta, Roderich

Yamiyodarknight: Alfred, Matthew

Hope you enjoy n_n


Alfred landed in the gardens; where he usually did when they had to be at the kingdom. But what startled him was the fact that Matthew was already there waiting for him and his brother looked extremely worried.

"Matthew?"

"A-Alfred! What the hell is going on?!" Matthew demanded, running up to them.

Alfred frowned. What did he mean?

"There's so many rumors flying around that Arthur killed a dragon and attacked his mate!" Matthew exclaimed, panicking. "But I know he wouldn't do that! What's going on?!"

Arthur became completely still at Matthew's news. The King already knew about the dragon? How had he found out so quickly?! They had just gotten here! …Was Gupta behind this?

Fear settled in the knight's stomach. "I…" Arthur hesitated. He felt sick to his stomach trying to explain this to Matthew. "Matthew I swear, it was an accident. I didn't mean for it to happen."

Matthew paled, but the color and back into his face and he stepped over to Arthur, helping him off of his brother's back. "Well, then something serious had to have happened for you to come to that." He pulled Arthur in for a hug. "I know you would never willingly do something like that. It's alright. I'll stay by your side along with Alfred."

The violet dragon pulled away and squeezed Arthur's shoulder. "I'm sure that we can think of a way to get you out of this."

Alfred changed back to his human form and stepped over to the other two. "Arthur wasn't the only one involved though."

Matthew stared at him, bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"I was the one who attacked that dragon's mate."

"But that wasn't entirely Alfred's fault." Arthur cut in. "Gupta, the dragon that is, kept provoking him."

Matthew frowned and his brows furrowed. "That's...that's not what anyone was told here." He crossed his arms. "We were all told it was only your doing. There was no mention of Alfred."

"Well, it wasn't. And even if it had been, it doesn't change the fact that he acted in selfdefense!" Alfred snapped. He grit his teeth and then sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm still very-"

"Upset and worked up, I can tell." Matthew said, finishing Alfred's sentence.

Arthur gave Alfred a one armed hug, his other was still quite useless, and questioned Matthew, "Where's the King? We have to explain what happened before any more rumors pop up."

"Rumors are flying around faster than you can even blink so it's a bit late for that." Matthew sighed. "But I know he's in quite a serious meeting with the council right now. He seems just as worried about this matter as you do. I can take you to him, so just follow me."

Alfred scooped Arthur into his arms, ignoring protests, and nodded at his brother. "Lead the way."

Matthew nodded and turned before walking ahead.

"Honestly, Alfred! It's my arm that's broken, not my legs. I can walk just fine!" Arthur argued as Matthew led them into the castle

"Yes, well, you're injured enough," Alfred retorted. "I'm not letting you go."

"Honestly Arthur. You should know how stubborn he is by now," Matthew called back to them, giving a small shrug of his shoulders. "Whatever he wants to do, he's gonna do it."

Arthur was about to retort back with something along the lines of "I can be quite stubborn myself." But was prevented from doing so when a distressed voice called out…

"That's him! That's the knight that killed my mate!"

Arthur turned his head quickly to find Gupta, looking heavily injured and distraught, standing next to the King.

"Kirkland." The King approached the three that had just entered the room. He looked worried for a moment when he saw Arthur's condition but quickly regained his professional appearance. "This dragon is accusing you of attacking him and killing his mate. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Alfred snarled at Gupta, eyes narrowing at the dragon, but then reluctantly turned his angry gaze to Roderich. "We'd be more than happy to tell you, but I don't want himanywhere near us otherwise you're going to have another dead dragon in your hands," he hissed.

Matthew frowned and bowed at Roderich apologetically. "I'm sorry. There was apparently a lot that went on and I think it's best if you do as he says. He's not in the best mood right now."

"Why should I have to leave?!" Gupta asked frantically. "It's not fair for you to make me leave. I should be allowed to stay here and defend my fallen mate! Are you trying to give some sort of special treatment for your knight?"

"Under these circumstances, I think it would be best if you waited outside." King Roderich advised the dragon.

All pretenses of being tormented left Gupta's features at the King's words. His look hardened as he spoke. "No! I refuse to leave! I shouldn't have to leave. That knight is a murderer! I demand that you ask him right now whether or not he killed my mate!"

"Silence!" Roderich ordered angrily. "You have no right to speak to a King so disrespectfully."

Gupta clamped his mouth shut, but his hardened look did not waver.

Roderich turned his attention back to Arthur. "Kirkland… is it true that you killed this dragon's mate?" He questioned seriously.

Arthur shook slightly, but he tried his best to remain calm as he answered, "Yes… it's true. But please let me explain. It was an accident and it was only done in self def-"

"I told you he did it!" Gupta quickly cut in. "He just admitted it! He killed my mate and mercilessly attacked me! What are you going to do to punish him?!"

Before Roderich could answer, Alfred set Arthur down on his feet and stalked over to Gupta, grabbing him by the throat, smashing him into the wall next to him. "You will hold your tongue while he speaks," he snarled, eyes flashing a warning. "I've already had enough of you. You keep your mouth shut otherwise I can guarantee that this time I will kill you."

Gupta gave Alfred a murderous look as he struggled against his hold; but there was obvious fear lurking behind his daunting gaze.

Alfred's eyes, now an icy blue, turned to gaze at Roderich coldly. "Arthur attacked and killed his mate in self defense, but I attacked this lying snake myself. If you had looked at his injuries, you would have noticed claw marks, not the cuts of a sword. They were my doing and mine alone."

Roderich looked at the dragon struggling against Alfred's hold and deemed his words to be true.

"It seems that you were not completely truthful." The King stared coldly. "I don't have any authority over what your punishment should be, so I'll let your Elders decide your fate when they arrive. Until then… guards!" The King motioned for two of his guards to come forward. "Lock this dragon in the dungeons."

Arthur let out a small sigh of relief when the guards took the protesting dragon out of Alfred's grasp and carried him out of sight. At least Gupta wouldn't be hurting anyone else.

Alfred remained frowning, watching as the dragon was carried away struggling. He felt like Gupta was getting off so easily. He wanted to kill the dragon and deal with the consequences later. At least then there would be one less dangerous dragon for them to deal with.

"Calm down, Al," Matthew scolded. "Getting riled up will get you nowhere."

Alfred glared at his brother darkly, making him flinch.

Arthur put a comforting hand on the dragon's shoulder. "He's right, Alfred. Just calm down. Everything will be fine now."

"… I wouldn't be so sure about that." The King spoke gravely.

Arthur returned his attention back to the King. "What do you mean?"

The King looked hesitant before answering, " It might have been in self defense, but the fact still remains that you killed a dragon when it is now strictly against the law… Arthur, you know what the punishment is for taking another life."

Alfred started to growl again, and the sharp gaze trained on the king. "So even self defense is inexcusable?" He hissed.

"Al..." Matthew called warningly.

"If you're going to punish him, then you might as well punish me too!" Alfred snapped, turning on the king. "If he hadn't killed him, then I would have! He stopped me from killing that other bastard too! If he hadn't, there would have been two dead dragons, not one!"

He stepped protectively in front of Arthur, fangs bared. "If it can't be prevented, then I will go through it with him!"

"Alfred! Stop being absurd!" Arthur grabbed hold of the dragon and forced Alfred to face him. He looked at the dragon sternly. "You will not throw your life away for my mistakes!"

"I'm not being absurd! You can't tell me you wouldn't be sayin the same things I am if you were in my spot!" Alfred retorted. "I'm sticking by you and going through what you are, and that's that!"

"Will you both stop being so dramatic?!" Roderich cut in. "I never said Arthur would be given the death penalty. I was just reminding him of how serious his crime is." He said exasperatedly. "He, of course, will still need to be punished. It just won't be as serious under the circumstances. We will discuss all of that later… for now you two should take Arthur and mend him up."

Alfred continued to frown and glared at Roderich. "I don't care. You still know that I also attacked another dragon. I don't care if I am one. If Arthur's being punished then you might as well punish me too."

"It's not my place to punish you Alfred." Roderich insisted sternly. "We are walking on eggshells trying to keep a good relationship with your people. I can't go ordering you around the way I see fit. I need to leave that to your Elders."

Alfred scowled and looked away bitterly, knowing he couldn't argue with that.

Why couldn't he seem to do anything right?

"Now I won't tell you again." Roderich dictated. "Go get Arthur cleaned up before I change my mind about being so lenient on you… I should be throwing both of you in the dungeon for what you've done. Until I've spoken with the court, you will both have to remain on castle grounds."

Arthur nodded in understanding. He gently took hold of Alfred's hand and muttered, "Come on, Alfred. Lets go."

Alfred glared at Roderich again, but stalked away with Arthur behind him, hissing quietly to himself.

Matthew watched with concern until they left before glancing at the king. "I, uh, should warn you. When he gets like this, he isn't easy to deal with. I'd word whatever you say very carefully otherwise you'll make him into an enemy and I don't really think you'd want that."

He paused and brushed some of his hair back over his shoulder. "I'm not threatening you by any means. Just warning you for your own sake. His rage isn't one that can be stopped so easily." His eyes grew solemn. "If you thought I was bad when the hatchling was killed, you would never understand exactly how dangerous Alfred can be."

Roderich's expression stayed solemn. "Thank you for the warning, Matthew. I appreciate it."

The King looked in deep thought as he stared at the door Alfred and Arthur had just left through. He gave a deep sigh and turned back to the dragon. "Matthew, I'd hate to ask this of you when you've just barely returned… but is it possible for you to notify your Elder's of what's happened here? I would like them to be prepared to help us get a better handle on this situation when they arrive."

Matthew nodded obediently. "I can do it. If there's something I can do to help, then I will do it. But I would also warn you to keep an eye on that dragon. He may be weakened now, but even a weak dragon is stronger than a human."

"Understood. I'll station my strongest mages to keep watch over him." Roderich answered. "You should stay and rest for a while before you go out again."

Matthew smiled. "Thank you. I shall let you know when I am leaving ahead of time." He bowed and trotted off.


"Do it Alfred!" Arthur gasped.

"A-are you sure? I don't want to hurt you, Artie." Alfred spoke worriedly.

"Alfred, I need this so just do it!"

"But, Artie…"

"If you won't do it then I'll just call in someone else who will."

"What?! No! I'm not gonna let anyone else touch you like this!"

"Then suck it up and do it already!"

Arthur gritted his teeth as Alfred finally relented and re-broke the knight's arm. He gave a small yelp as the dragon did so, but it needed to be done. His arm was broken in an awkward position so they needed to re-break it before they could set the arm properly.

"Jeez, I can't believe you would ask me to actually hurt you!" Alfred complained, making a makeshift sling for Arthur's broken arm. "You know I don't like you being hurt!" He slipped the sling into place and carefully set the knight's arm in it. "I especially don't like being the cause of it!"

"Would you rather have me unable to use that arm properly for the rest of my life?" Arthur said through clenched teeth as the pain slowly began to fade. He took a deep breath before speaking normally again. "Besides, I knew you weren't going to let someone else do it; that's why I asked you."

Alfred pouted and crossed his arms, looking quite like a sulking child. "I know I know. I just don't like you being hurt."

"I know, love." Arthur leant forward an placed a quick kiss on the dragon's cheek. "Thank you for doing it though. It feels much better than it did before."

Alfred grumbled his reply, though his cheeks reddened slightly at the kiss. "As long as you heal."

Arthur gave Alfred a strained smile. He knew the dragon was still very very upset with what had happened, and he didn't know how to handle it. "Alfred… I know you're still mad but will you try to relax now? It's not good for you to be doing this to yourself."

"How can I relax with all the things that are happening?!" Alfred snapped, bristling. "Finally, when I think everything is going right, something always happens for the worst andwe always end up taking the brunt of it! You've almost died twice, Arthur. Twice! That's two times too many in my opinion, and who knows what else could happen from now on!"

"We just need to be more cautious." Arthur replied uneasily. It worried him to see the dragon bristling up again. "I don't know why these things always happening, but we can't let it get to us. The King is already being lenient, so I think it's safe to assume that he will try his best to defend us. For now, we need to keep a calm head on our shoulders."

Alfred shook his head, eyes showing his disbelief. He leaned his head against Arthur's shoulder and closed his eyes. "I'm just so angry about all these things. I hate seeing you injured and near death. It's like I can't even look away without something happening to you." He wrapped his arms around the knight's torso, nuzzling against the blonde's neck. "That's why I don't want to leave you alone anymore."

"I'm not that fragile, Alfred." Arthur tried to sound resentful but ended up sounding soft as he rested his head against Alfred's. "Not that I don't want you by my side all the time… I just want to let you know that it will take a lot to bring take me down."

"Well, that 'lot' has been happening quite often, don't you think?" Alfred retorted weakly, gripping Arthur tighter.

"I'm still alive aren't I?" Arthur answered back. He took hold of Alfred's chin to lift his face to his own. He stared intently into Alfred's eyes. "I'm not going to leave you so soon."

"It had better stay that way, otherwise I'm not sure what exactly might happen," Alfred mumbled staring back at Arthur sadly.

Arthur felt lost in Alfred's gaze. He didn't know what else to say. So he let his actions speak for him. He closed the distance between them and kissed the dragon deeply with a bitter sweet longing kiss. I won't leave you.

Alfred kissed back solemnly, pressing Arthur onto his back on the bed before pulling away. "No more getting yourself hurt, alright?"

Arthur huffed at that but brought his hand up to stroke Alfred's face lovingly. "I won't get hurt… How many times do I have to tell you before you believe me?"

"Enough times until it stops happening," Alfred huffed back, brows furrowing. "But you need to get some rest, so go to sleep Artie." He stroked Arthur's hair with a soft sigh. "You're going to need as much as you can get."


"Arthur Kirkland, you are here for your crime of killing a dragon while it is against the law to do so. Although your crime is punishable by death, the court finds this to be too harsh a punishment seeing as you were acting on self defense. So instead, the court has decided that your title will be revoked." Roderich announced in finality.

Arthur, who was standing before the King and the members of his court, slumped his shoulders. He felt crushed that his title as knight was revoked once again, this time permanently… but at least his sentence wasn't death.

Alfred squirmed in his seat, anxious to jump out and scream his protests. It was selfdefense so why is Arthur being punished for it?! Why is he being hurt for something he had no control over?!

Arthur's saddened look frustrated him. He couldn't even help with this.

Why am I so useless?!

He was grateful that Arthur would not be killed, but...it was like they were taking his life away. Being a knight was what he did! What was he supposed to do now?

A flurry of apologies flew to his mind that he wanted to say to Arthur. But he knew that the replies would be for him not to apologize. But he wanted so badly to. He couldn't help it.

Arthur bowed to the court as he was dismissed. Without making eye contact with anyone else, he fled the room. He didn't even think to wait for Alfred. He just walked out, then ran once he was out of sight.

Arthur was greatly saddened that he could no longer be a knight. It was something he strived his entire life to do perfectly. It was something he was proud to be, and now that was gone.

The former knight stopped running, when he had reached the castle gardens. There sat down feeling miserable about the courts decision.

Alfred felt his heart clench when he saw Arthur flee the room. The dragon knew it had bothered him to have such a sentence, and just as well had probably disgrace him.

He stood, completely blowing off any calls for him to stay behind. He'd been questioned as well, seeing as he'd attacked Gupta which made him largely involved with what had happened. But that didn't matter. All he wanted was to comfort his hurt lover.

It was easy to guess where he would be hiding. The garden was a place he knew they both liked since it was quiet and calming.

"Arthur," he called softly, stepping over slowly to the man. He stopped just behind the blonde and got to his knees before hugging him from behind. "Arthur, I'm sorry."

He couldn't think of anything else to say. They'd all probably just make it worse.

Arthur jumped slightly, for he did not hear anyone approach him, but he relaxed once he realized it was Alfred.

He placed a hand on top of Alfred's and smiled weakly. "You don't have to be sorry… it's my own ruddy fault that this happened. I should never have followed those dragons."

"It's not your fault!" Alfred protested firmly, squeezing tighter. "You didn't know! You were going to help someone you thought needed it, and you were betrayed. They tried to kill you and you didn't even intend to kill or fight back! It's not fair to you!"

Tears spilled over his eyes and he felt so horrible for letting his knight down once again. "It's not fair, Arthur! I hate it!"

Arthur turned himself around so that he was facing Alfred. He wiped away the dragon's tears and spoke softly. "I know it doesn't seem fair, but we shouldn't let it upset us. At least we have each other, right?"

Alfred didn't reply, instead choosing to bury his face against Arthur's shoulder. He felt extremely embarrassed. He'd come here to comfort his lover, but he was the one being comforted instead.

"Arthur," he mumbled, "I think we should get out of here for now." He looked up. "Since everything is over with for now, I think we should distance ourselves at least until Mattie gets back with the Elders."

Arthur looked at the dragon quizzically, "But where would we go?"

Alfred raised a brow incredulously. "What do you mean 'where'? I have a home, remember?"

"O-of course I remember!" Arthur stuttered as he turned red in embarrassment. "I-I just thought… that is… You made it sound like we were running far away or something like that." Arthur finished lamely, feeling ridiculous.

"No..." Alfred shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you like that. It's just that I'm...really kinda pissed at everyone right now, and I'm sure you're not too keen on everyone bothering you right now, right?"

He stood up and offered Arthur his hand, gaze becoming more pleading. "I want you all to myself right now, where no one will bother us. I want peace of mind that, at least for now, nothing bad will happen to you."

Arthur stared at Alfred's hand for a moment. He pondered over whether it was a good idea for them to run away from their problems… but then again it wasn't really running away. It was spending some much needed alone time with his dragon while things calmed down.

He took hold of Alfred's offered hand and stood up. "All right… lets get out of here."

Alfred smiled, letting go of Arthur's hand before shifting to his dragon form. "Yeah, let's ditch this place and go home. I don't think Roderich will like it too much if I were to burn the place down..." He snorted and nudged the man's chest with his snout.

"Roderich wouldn't be the only one displeased if you burned this place down."Arthur chuckled as he playfully swatted the dragon' snout. He then moved to climb on Alfred's back.

"Hey, I'd at least leave the gardens alone. They're too pretty to burn," Alfred retorted, helping Arthur onto his back. "I like flowers too much to burn them." He stood and stretched his wings out before flapping them to get back into the air.

"If you're still tired, you can relax. I won't let you fall," the dragon commented, gliding on soft winds as the rose higher up. "I'd never let you fall."

"I know you won't, love." Arthur grinned as they flew high into the sky.

All those other times he flew with Alfred, they had been on some important chore or mission. Now, he felt like they were flying just for the enjoyment of it… and that left Arthur feeling wonderfully carefree.

"I think I've rested enough. I just want to spend my time with you." He sighed happily as he took in the beautiful scenery.

"Trust me, you're not going anywhere without me," Alfred replied, grinning snidely. "I'm not letting you go for a long time."


Thank you for reading this chapter.

*Spoiler for L'erede if you haven't read it!*

Last chapter The Elders were really close to ever try making peace with the humans! But~, a certain love struck dragon convinced his grandfather to change his mind ;D

*End Spoiler*

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