Akoya surveyed the throne room as if he'd been away for years instead of overnight.

Home, sweet home, he thought, wryly amused. Well, he was going to have to step lightly if he was going to make this his home again. He hoped his unwitting accomplices would perform up to par. That was an unpredictable thing, considering the quality of material he had to work with. He hoped devoutly that these men had been living their unlawful lifestyle long enough to avoid doing something so stupid as to get them arrested and hauled away at once. It was going to be a delicate balance. He wanted them to be stupid, yes, but only stupid enough to get all eyes on them for a few seconds...

Kinshiro managed to tear his eyes off of Atsushi as Io and Ryuu entered the room.

"This is an affront," he blustered. "How dare you allow ruffians such as these to manhandle a prince? I demand that you have these men arrested and executed at once!"

Bless Kinshiro, Akoya thought fondly. Of course he would decide to make a scene right about now.

Well, drama was what Akoya needed. With all eyes on Kinshiro, Akoya began edging slowly off to the side, concentrating on looking bowed and frightened, as if he was too terrified of this riffraff to want to be near them a second longer.

Io gave Kinshiro a long cool look.

"I am king here," he said mildly, "and I will decide how to mete out justice." He turned his attention on the man who seemed to be the leader. "I see you've brought our lost prince back to us. We are grateful. If you let him go now and back down quietly, we will be lenient."

"Oh, no," said the leader. "That's not how we're going to negotiate. We're gonna talk this out man to man, with none of these guards." A casual movement, and suddenly a knife was in his hand, hovering close to Atsushi's throat. "Otherwise, I might get nervous, and my hand might slip."

Kinshiro sucked in a breath and made a movement as if he might rush forward and snatch the knife away. Arima put a hand on Kinshiro's shoulder, restraining him. Io bit his lip, looking torn. Akoya chanced raising his head again, and found Ryuu staring directly at him.

Please, trust me, Akoya thought. He nodded, ever so slightly, and saw comprehension flash across Ryuu's face. Ryuu leaned towards Io and whispered something to him, and Io's eyebrows rose slightly. Nevertheless, he raised his head and fixed the lead kidnapper with a confident look.

"Very well," he said. "Would everyone who is not directly involved in this negotiation please leave?"

There was a general migration towards the exit, as guards, courtiers, and servants began slinking out of the room, casting looks back over their shoulders. Akoya took the opportunity to begin edging away.

"I'm not leaving," said Kinshiro flatly.

"I stay where Prince Kinshiro stays," Arima chimed in.

Io looked to the man with the knife. "Well? May Prince Kinshiro and his companion remain?"

Akoya could almost hear the calculations going on in the man's head, as he weighed the danger of having even more royalty in the room versus the benefit of extra leverage. Kinshiro wasn't making any effort at hiding the desperation on his face, and the looks Atsushi was sending him were equally filled with longing. It would, Akoya thought, be rather romantic under other circumstances. He eased a few more steps towards the exit and tucked himself discretely out of sight behind a carved pillar. With all eyes on the drama in the center of the room, he didn't think even the ever-savvy Ryuu noticed him.

"They can stay," said the lead man grandly. "But if they've got any weapons on 'em, they'd better give them up."

Kinshiro looked less than happy about that, but he made a show of removing the ceremonial sword from his belt and kicking it towards a far corner. Arima removed several knives and tossed them away.

I didn't know he carried knives, Akoya thought, momentarily distracted from removing the last of his disguise. The things he learned about that man would never cease to amaze him. He dropped his cloak on the floor and kicked it into a shadowed corner.

"Good," said the tough with the knife. He swept a last look around the room, checking for any possible dangers. When he saw nothing, he continued, "Now, here's how we're going to do this. We're going to negotiate a price for this prince. You're going to give us the money and guarantee us safe passage - no following us, no sending the guards after us as soon as we're out of the room. Once we've got the money in our hands, we'll take our friend here..." He gave Atsushi a nudge. "...with us to the edge of town. We'll turn him loose there, don't worry - we don't need to carry some useless spoiled prince with us across the desert. We'll be keeping a sharp eye out, and if we see any tails following us, we'll kill him and run. Otherwise, he'll be free to walk home. You'll get your prince, we'll have our money, and everyone will be happy. All right?"

"And what sort of price would you ask for a prince?" Io asked. "I'm assuming you had a number in mind?"

The lout grinned, clearly thinking he'd found an easy mark. "Why don't you make me an offer?"

Well, that's going to go over well, Akoya thought, amused. He began scampering up the side of the pillar, taking advantage of its elaborate carvings to give himself footholds. He wished briefly that he'd been wearing his soft dancing slippers, and not the clumsy walking shoes he'd been wearing, but he could cope. It was a good thing, he thought, that Io had never gone through with his tentative plans of simplifying his throne room.

A good thing, too, that he hadn't had time to take down some of Akoya's performance apparatus. Many of Akoya's routines involved suspending himself from ropes and other objects attached to the ceiling. The last props Akoya had used were still there, as were the ropes and scaffolds the staff had used to fix them in place.

And a good thing I'm not afraid of heights, Akoya mused, as he carefully clambered his way across a series of decorative carvings. I feel like some sort of spider. There's a thought I never thought I'd have.

He gritted his teeth and focused his attention on getting safely to his goal. Below him, he could hear the negotiations continuing.

"...understand the sentiment," said Io in his best businesslike tones, "but you must understand that this is not a cash-rich kingdom. Much of my resources have already been spent on improving the state of the kingdom."

"He's a prince," said one of the men, pointing at Kinshiro. "If he's so interested in the guy, let him pay part of the ransom."'

Kinshiro scowled. "I don't have that sort of money with me. It would take me days to get it transported this far, even if I could persuade the treasury to release those funds to me. My great-uncle still rules, not I."

"I do have saleable goods I can offer you," said Io placatingly. "Perhaps if we loaded them into a caravan wagon...?"

"You're just trying to slow us down," the lead kidnapper snapped. "Look, stop whining about being poor. Scrape together all the cash you have and bring it in here now, or..."

They never found out what threat he was going to make, because at that moment, Akoya came swooping down from the ceiling, swinging on one of the ropes to crash into the middle of their party. He'd aimed his descent well - his outstretched feet rammed into the side of the man with the knife, and he and his weapon spilled to the floor. Atsushi, who had been anticipating just such an event, ducked out of the way and tumbled across the floor to relative safety. Akoya let go of his rope and dropped lightly to his feet. He flashed the men a winning smile.

"Hello, boys," he crooned. "Remember me? I thought I told you not to get into so much mischief."

"You again," the leader snarled. "I thought you'd have learned your lesson the last time!"

"That's my line," said Akoya primly. "You don't seem to have healed from the last time we met. Some people just don't learn, do you?"

"Boss!" shouted one of the men, pointing towards Atsushi. "He's getting away!"

"Then get him back!" the boss shouted.

"Oh, no you don't!" said Akoya.

He seized the man who had been trying to grab the escaping Atsushi and hauled him back. Confusion reigned as some of the men tried to grab for Atsushi, some for Akoya, and some apparently trying to make a break for it. Akoya didn't like that - he didn't want them to get away before he was finished with them. The more convincingly he could thrash them, the better it would be - for him, at least.

"This will teach you to try to rob me," said Akoya, almost conversationally, as he kneed one of the men in the solar plexus. The man doubled over, suddenly unable to breathe. "Though, really, I'd have thought last time would have been enough."

One of the men tried to make a break for it. He got as far as the door before he was nabbed by the guards, who had apparently not gone very far. Two more came at Akoya and tried their best to surround him, one coming at him from the front while the other snuck up behind. Akoya dodged just fast enough to avoid taking a cudgel to the face, and was annoyed to feel someone yanking hard on his braid.

"How dare you!" Akoya yelped. He whirled on the attacker and struck, driving the heel of his hand as hard as he could into the man's chin. The man staggered backwards, and Akoya yanked his hair back with an irritated jerk before his erstwhile assailant could fall over while still holding on to it.

"Nobody grabs my hair!" he said with righteous indignation. He was about to turn back to deal with his second attacker when it dawned on him that he'd lost track of the leader of the gang. Where had the awful man run off to?

"If he's escaped..." Akoya muttered.

But he hadn't escaped. A cry of fear and outrage drew everyone's attention to the far side of the room, where Kinshiro and Arima had been watching the drama unfold. The lead ruffian had apparently decided that one prince was as good as another, and had gone after Kinshiro. Akokya couldn't help but grimace.

You lovestruck fool - you never took your eyes off Atsushi for an instant, did you?

Well, now what was he supposed to do? Akoya hadn't planned on this - he'd trusted in his ability to beat these fools again as he had before, and he'd taken the precaution of making sure Atsushi could get his hands free if things turned ugly. He hadn't given a thought about anyone else in the room. Even now, he could see Arima edging closer to where he'd tossed his knives, but the odds of him actually deciding to use them were slim. He might have affected a vague and silly manner at times, but he was no fool, and he adored Kinshiro more than anyone. He'd never make a move that might put him in danger, and there was little chance he could get past Kinshiro's captor when that captor had a knife to Kinshiro's throat.

Before Akoya could react, there was a squawk of outrage from, of all people, Atsushi.

"Get your hands off my fiancé!" he shouted.

The ruffian laughed. "Oh, is this one yours? You gonna make me, little prince?"

He threw back his head and laughed. That was why he didn't see Atsushi shrug off his bonds and seize on the nearest movable object, which turned out to be a heavy bronze vase. He gave it a mighty heave and hurled it across the room, where it struck the big man squarely in the forehead. It made a surprisingly melodious ringing sound as it struck. The man abruptly stopped laughing. His knife nicked a thin line of red across Kinshiro's white throat before Kinshiro was able to jump away.

Well, that's one problem taken care of.

For a moment, there was stillness in the hall, broken only by the sound of tense breathing. Akoya realized that the man he'd been fighting with was still staring, amazed, at the downfall of his leader. Akoya turned around and punched the man in the nose. The man stopped watching in favor of dropping to his knees and clapping his hands over his face while blood poured between his fingers. Akoya ignored him, instead looking around the room to see if there was anything else he was going to need to deal with. There didn't seem to be - all of the would-be kidnappers were either unconscious, incapacitated, or in the hands of the guards. There was no one left for Akoya to deal with... no one but Kinshiro, Ryuu, and Io.

He hadn't been afraid of the ruffians. He knew how to fight back against them. Just now, suddenly, Akoya was afraid.

Arima was the first to pull himself together. He approached Kinshiro with a handkerchief in one hand.

"You're hurt," he said gently, reaching out to dab at the cut on Kinshiro's throat.

"Hm?" said Kinshiro. He reached up to touch the cut and drew his fingers back with a smear of red on them. "Oh, that. It's nothing."

Atsushi hurried across the floor towards him. "Kinshiro, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Just a scratch," said Kinshiro distractedly. "Are you all right? Those men - if they hurt you..."

"I'm fine. They just scared me a little, that's all," said Atsushi. "Seeing you get hurt scared me more." He reached out to brush Kinshiro's disheveled hair back in place. Kinshiro went a vivid red.

"I'm safe, thanks to you," he said. "You saved me. You... you called me your fiancé."

It was Atsushi's turn to blush. "Well, we never formally broke it off. As far as I'm concerned, we're still engaged." He paused, looking worried. "Unless... you want to break it off?"

"No!" Kinshiro blurted. "I mean... Atsushi, about before... the reason I stopped replying to you..."

Atsushi held up a hand. "It's all right. It doesn't really matter. We can talk about it later, if you want, but the important thing is that we're together now, right?"

Kinshiro offered a hesitant smile. "And we're going to stay together this time."

"That's right," said Atsushi. "I've never wanted to be with anyone but you, so as long as you feel the same way..."

"I do," said Kinshiro. "I've never loved anyone but you, Atsushi. I don't think I ever could."

"Good," said Atsushi. "So I can tell my parents the wedding is back on?"

"Absolutely," said Kinshiro. "Tell them it will be soon."

"That's just what I wanted to hear," said Atsushi.

The two of them stood together, clasping each other's hands and gazing into each other's eyes. The rest of the room might as well have not existed. Arima looked on, beaming like a proud father, while Ryuu and Io stood a little ways away, looking faintly puzzled.

Somehow, Akoya thought, I'm not convinced my reunion with them is going to be quite so overwhelmingly positive. Still, he had no choice but to face the music. He turned around and gave them an inquiring look.

"Well?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to behead me now?"

"You idiot!" Ryuu exclaimed. He darted forward and smacked Akoya's arm. "What did you think you were trying to pull?"

"That's a fine way to say thank you," Akoya huffed. "I was under the impression that I just helped stop a war. Unless Prince Kinshiro and his fiancé still feel inclined to march on us?"

Kinshiro glanced at Atsushi. "What do you think? Do you forgive them for letting you be kidnapped?"

"I think I can let it slide," said Atsushi, smiling, "since our friend here was kind enough to get me un-kidnapped."

"Fair enough," said Kinshiro. His gaze shifted to Akoya. "I'm still not altogether pleased about you walking out on me, but for this, I can forgive you. Any time you change your mind, feel free to come home."

"Thank you, Kinshiro," said Akoya, "and I hope we can still be friends... but I know where my home is." He glanced back at Io and Ryuu. "Assuming they'll let me stay."

"I think that's something we need to talk about," said Io. He turned to Kinshiro and Atsushi. "I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do. Feel free to enjoy the hospitality of my palace as long as you like. Guards, clean up this mess," he added, waving at the various stricken men on his floor. "Akoya, you come with us."

Stomach sinking, Akoya made a perfunctory bow to Kinshiro and Atsushi before following Io and Ryuu into one of the lesser audience chambers. He had dared to hope that if Kinshiro, master of the long-term grudge, could forgive him, then someone gentler would surely be willing to let bygones be bygones. If they were insisting on talking to him in private, though...

They reached the chamber, and Ryuu shut the door firmly behind them. As soon as the three of them were safely in private, Io turned and fixed Akoya with a look.

"Now," he said, "do you want to explain what just happened?"

"What's to explain?" Akoya asked. "Someone just tried to hold Prince Atsushi for ransom. I stopped them. Atsushi and Kinshiro are happy together again, Kinshiro has agreed not to invade, and everyone is happy."

"Come off it," said Io. "I know you. You're a performer. Everything you do is an act. I want to know what's going on behind the scenes."

Akoya raised an eyebrow. "And you'll listen this time? No jumping to conclusions and storming out of the room?"

Io opened his mouth to reply, paused a moment, then shut it again. Ryuu began to laugh. He came over to put an arm around his husband.

"He's got you dead to rights," he said.

Io smiled slightly. "All right, all right, I'll admit it. I overreacted. I should have listened when you staid you were innocent."

"You certainly should have," said Akoya loftily. Then he softened. "But I understand why you did it. I'm not angry. I just want to come home."

He looked at them pleadingly, holding his breath.

This isn't an act. Please believe me...

"Of course you can come home," said Io gently. "We want you back."

Akoya sighed with relief. "Thank you."

Ryuu laughed and spread his arms wide. "Aw, c'mere, you."

Akoya gratefully let himself fall into the embrace. Io put his arms around him from the other side, and for a few seconds, the world was exactly as it should be.

I'm never going to leave again. This is where I belong.

"So," said Ryuu into his ear, "now that we've got you pinned down, how about explaining to us what really just happened?"

"Cheater," Akoya accused, but he was laughing. "Are you sure you want to hear it all? We were having such a nice reunion."

"Don't worry," said Io. "We aren't going to change our minds. I think we've guessed a lot of it already."

"Besides," said Ryuu, "if you're going to get into trouble when we aren't watching you, that's just another good reason for us to keep you close where we can keep an eye on you."

"Fair enough," said Akoya, smiling. "All right, then. In the interest of keeping you happy with me, I'll tell all. It started like this..."

There was a lively crowd gathered in the pavilion outside Kinshiro's palace. All of them were dressed in their finest clothes - and given the quality of people Kinshiro had invited to sit with him at his wedding feast, this was very fine indeed. All of them were laughing, chatting, sipping wine and helping themselves to whatever they fancied from the trays servers were passing around. Two weeks ago, Kinshiro's great-uncle had finally passed away peacefully in his sleep. Today was the day of Kinshiro's official coronation, as well as his long-awaited wedding to Prince Atsushi. The two of them sat side by side now, at the center of the table, holding hands and gazing fondly at each other, while the food on their plates went uneaten. Arrayed on either side of them were various honored friends and guests, among them Arima, Io, Ryuu, and the new court wizard En. They, at least, were taking advantage of the bounty laid out for them, and enjoying the entertainment going on in the courtyard in front of them.

Eventually, the act finished, and everyone applauded - even the hosts, a bit belatedly. Akoya, pleased with his performance, swept his way back onto the pavilion, dropped into his seat, and snatched up a glass of pomegranate juice. He gulped the drink down thirstily. He had put his all into that performance, and dancing out under the hot sun was a far cry from performing in a palace. Besides, he hadn't wanted to indulge too much in the wedding feast before he put on his performance, and he was famished now. He latched on to the first plate that came within grabbing distance and began popping dates filled with nuts and honey into his mouth.

"The food around here has improved considerably since you got married," he observed.

"When Atsushi moved in, he brought a retinue with him," said En knowledgeably, "including a cook."

"Well, it would have been insulting to turn him away," said Kinshiro. "It has made for an interesting change."

"That's his way of saying he likes it," said Arima, "and doesn't want to admit it's an improvement on what he had before."

Kinshiro shot him a look, and apparently decided to change the subject.

"I enjoyed your performance, Akoya," he said.

Akoya smiled. "Liar. You never even looked my way."

"I did," said Kinshiro, blushing.

"No, no," said Akoya, wagging a teasing finger at him. "I know when someone has their eyes on me and when they don't. I could have walked off that stage and gone to have a drink and you never would have noticed. You have eyes only for your charming new husband."

"That's only right and proper," said Io, sounding amused.

Akoya flashed a smug smile his way. "Now, at our wedding, you watched every second of my performance."

"He was waiting for you to get it over with," Ryuu teased, "so we could get back to the good bits."

Akoya preened at that. He had enjoyed his wedding. They had held it just before Kinshiro and Atsushi had departed for White Sands to start planning their own wedding. Akoya's family had been rather miffed that he'd gone and gotten married without their say-so or even inviting them, but the knowledge that he was wedded to a king had taken some of the sting off. It didn't really matter to Akoya. He was quite content where he was, doing what he loved, with the people he loved. Io had even given him a proper title: Minister of Entertainment. He enjoyed teasing Ryuu about that - pointing out that Akoya had an actual job title, and all Ryuu had was a title by marriage. It started the most amusing fights, and even more amusing reconciliations.

"Well, I thought your performance just now was excellent," said Io, who was a champion at ignoring Ryuu's remarks when it suited him.

"It's gonna be a hard act to follow," En agreed. Atsushi had twisted his arm until he'd agreed to put on a fireworks show later that evening. "Hey, are you sure we can't convince you to stick around? You could help me with the entertainment around here."

"I think you're up to the job," said Atsushi, giving his old friend a nudge. "You've done fine so far."

"I hope you'll at least come back to visit often," said Arima. "It's not the same without you around."

"I will," Akoya promised. "Consider me an ambassador."

"You do not need another title!" Ryuu complained.

Akoya laughed. "You're making me want the job."

"I'll think about it," said Io. "I suppose it is thanks in part to you that peaceful relations between our kingdoms have been restored, so you do have some qualifications."

Ryuu winced. "You all are ganging up on me. Io, if you're giving out titles, I want one too!"

"Maybe you can be an ambassador," said Akoya. "I don't mind sharing."

And he didn't. He was glad to be here, celebrating with his friends, but he knew he didn't belong here anymore. He gazed fondly across the table at Ryuu and Io, knowing he looked every bit as besotted as Kinshiro and Atsushi were with each other, and not caring one bit. He had gone through a lot to be with them, and he knew it would be a long time before he didn't begrudge every second he had to spend away from them. So, for now, he would enjoy the celebration as much as he could.

But when it was over, he was going home.