Hey my dear readers!
I have to apologize to all of you who were waiting for the next chapter and I am really sorry for not updating sooner. But I hope my finding about being pregnant with a little girl justifies my long absence a bit. This chapter wasn't easy to finish since I didn't want this story to turn into something way too...fluffy. My brain turned into a mush and there were only things like babies and...kittens(don't really know why) in my head. But recently I seem to get used to my new way of thinking (as my dear husband named it 'pregnant brain') and finally got to finish this chapter.
I wanted all of you to know, I didn't abondon this story and I'm already working on chapter 7, so I hope you will stay with me for some time yet.
Well, enough with my nonsence, go enjoy the chapter.
Many thanks as always to my wonderful beta Ichigo-chanNya formerly known as kagomegirl2004.
Chapter 6 – Midnight Visitors
"Yuuri!"
The King was finally nearing the royal bedchambers. A sleeping Wolfram was snuggling into his neck, safely tucked in his arms.
"Conrad." The king fixed his godfather with tired eyes.
"What happened?" asked the brunette, immediately attempting to take his little brother from Yuuri's arms.
However, the double black refused his offer and instead answered: "It's nothing to worry about, Conrad. We wanted to check on our horses before going to bed, and Wolfram fell asleep while we were out there."
At Yuuri's words, Conrad nodded in understanding. "I checked your bedchambers while you were away, just to be sure. And I checked on Greta, as well. She's alright and sleeping. Yozak will inform her of the situation tomorrow morning."
"Oh my God! Greta. We completely forgot about her!" Yuuri admitted guiltily.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she will understand." Conrad smiled widely at his godson and opened the bedchamber door for the royal couple.
"Thanks, Conrad." Yuuri carefully delivered his blond cargo through the door and turned to look at the people standing outside.
"Do you need assistance, Your Majesty?" asked Conrad as he looked significantly at the blond in Yuuri's arms.
Yuuri's eyes slipped down to the sleeping Wolfram. "No, Conrad, but thanks. We'll be alright from here."
"Of course." Conrad smiled again as Yuuri turned and started for the bed. "Sleep well, Your Majesty." At that, Yuuri threw at his godfather the look across his shoulder. "Yuuri," corrected the soldier with another shining smile and as the king smiled back, the door closed with a quiet thud.
As the door closed and separated the hall from Wolfram and His Majesty, Conrad turned to the four remaining men by his side, his eyes troubled. "I'm going to take the rest of the night shift here with Corporal Theesen," he stated to Wilfried, who was already standing at his previous place by the side of the door for his shift. "And I want to have a word with Captain von Voltaire." He dismissed the two half demon soldiers from Yuuri's guard and signaled for Gerarth to stay.
Even though Gerarth von Voltaire was Gwendal's youngest cousin, he was nothing like Conrad's gray haired older brother. They had very similar facial features, but Gerarth's hair and eyes were a dark brown. Sometimes it was almost scary to see someone who looked so much like Gwendal smile so much, because Gerarth has a very open personality compared to his cousin. But Gerarth's skills in military were extraordinary even at his young age, which led him to the position he now held as a captain of the King's personal guard. Wolfram knew the soldier from his days at academy and it was the blond consort that recommended the young lord when they were solving the problem of appointing the King's personal guard. Conrad was happy about the choice, since he had the opportunity to serve with the young soldier several times before and was impressed by his capability as both a leader and a subordinate. Summarized, Gerarth is a very flexible soldier.
When only Conrad, Wilfried and Gerarth remained, the only half demon among them spoke in a slightly hushed voice, not wanting to trouble the king to overhear and worry unnecessarily. "I want you all to be extra careful about His Majesty's safety. We all know this place was safe. Those men weren't just ordinary thieves or assassins. They got through all of our defenses, even though the horses were guarded and the soldiers were all well trained. They were still rendered unconscious. I decided it would be best to send his Majesty, Wolfram and Greta, along with both horses, to Earth, just to be sure and to get ourselves as much time as we could get to solve this. I know the wedding is a pressing matter—and that is why we need to hurry."
Both Gerarth and Wilfried nodded, well aware that this would not by any means be an easy thing to do. "I will try to send them as soon as possible, but until then, we must all do our best," Conrad continued. "And Wilfried, I know he won't like it, but I want Wolfram to be watched, by at least one guard, at all times. I'm aware they probably weren't after him tonight, but he was wounded the most. If he protests about this in the morning, come to me and I will talk to him." Wilfried nodded shortly in understanding.
"And..." Conrad hesitated a moment before he continued, "I think it's time we talk about you taking over for Wolfram. Since he's going to be the King's consort in less than two months, he will have other responsibilities."
"His Excellency mentioned something along these lines to me," confirmed Wilfried.
"Well, I'm sure he has, but I would like for you and his squad to become for Wolfram what the King's guard is for His Majesty. I know you've had guarding duty with Gerarth's men, but after the wedding, I want you to be the consort's guard full-time. No more patrolling duty, no more scouting and solving problems. Your first concern will be the Consort's safety. I think it's best for Wolfram trained you."
Wilfried took a breath, wanting to say something, but Conrad knew what was on his mind and spoke before Wilfried could utter a word.
"I will talk to Wolfram about what is and what isn't needed concerning his safety. I know it probably won't be easy with him at the beginning, but I'm certain he will get over being guarded day and night, in the end. He needs to understand, he will be almost as important as his Majesty is after the wedding. We can't afford to have king or his consort hurt, kidnapped or killed."
***The King's Prince***
When Yuuri woke up the next morning, it was to soft knocking on their bedchamber doors.
"Your Majesty, Your Excellency, are you awake?" The young king could hear the voice of the Captain of the Royal Guard – Gerarth.
The double black quickly wiped sleep from his eyes and glanced aside at Wolfram, who was thankfully still fast asleep. He didn't think twice about not wanting to raise the blond soldier from Dreamland yet, noting the other's tired expression. He decided his fiancé could definitely use some extra sleep today.
But all of his caring impulses for the blond went out the window as soon as the door suddenly slammed open and in came their cute, not so little anymore, daughter, with a rather furious expression in her beautiful eyes. Suddenly she didn't look all that cute anymore, noted Yuuri. Through the door he could see Gerarth giving him an apologizing look, to which he just dismissively waved his hand and the door closed.
Greta's expression changed the moment she saw him looking at her.
"Why didn't you let me know last night?" She pouted.
Yuuri had to take a while to get his thoughts together before he answered her questions about the previous night, and explained to her what exactly happened; this took him to the discovery that he didn't exactly know what had happened, or at least not well enough to explain it to someone else. So he made a mental note to catch Conrad later and ask him few questions.
"Everything happened really fast, Greta. We didn't really get time to think about it yet. I'm sorry we worried you." He smiled at her sheepishly, hoping she will understand and forgive them for forgetting about her.
Yuuri felt Wolfram's Maryoku shift, and when he looked to his side, the blond stirred and snuggled into Yuuri's pillow instead into his own. All the double black could think of was how 'adorable' Wolfram was acting as a small smile broke out on his lips. Then he turned back to Greta waiting for the future consort to fully wake up.
"I know. I'm sorry. I heard what happened from Conrad and it had to be awful. Poor Wolfram and Flawless..."
Yuuri patted the space on the edge of the bed for her to take. She lay beside him and snuggled into his side.
"Wolfram was awesome with helping his horse. I wouldn't be able to do half the things he did last night," Yuuri replied.
"I'm so glad you're both alright," sighed Greta.
Yuuri turned on his side towards Greta so he could look at her. Wolfram's Maryoku shifted again in reaction to loosing contact with him, and Yuuri felt him snuggle into his back. In that moment he recalled not the horrible things from last night, but the one thing that to him made everything better—the kiss that he had initiated. He felt like he managed to get somewhere with Wolfram with his spontaneous decision to assault the blond last night, and he felt like patting himself on the back for his victory. But something was still there. Could it be, that in the back of his mind, he was still not a hundred percent sure about everything? No, that wasn't it. This was fear. He could feel it seeping through his veins. Last night had scared him. The thought that someone came so near to actually hurting his family; the vision of pain on Wolfram's face when he tried to help his horse; it would forever be imprinted in his memory. The pain he never wanted to see again on anyone's face—that was why snuggling with Wolfram last night had actually been comfortable. And when their daughter came to lie beside them, it was suddenly all right to relax again.
"I'm really sorry we kind of forgot about you, but we knew Anissina was with you and I would like to see someone mad enough to challenge her." They both laughed, not because he was trying for a joke, but because it was true. When they stopped laughing, Yuuri looked at her gently and continued, "It's good to know you're safe." He took her hand.
"I'm not mad, you didn't worry about me. I was worried about you." She smiled kindly. "If I'm old enough to worry, then I'm old enough to know."
She's starting to get incredibly clever, thought Yuuri; he immediately shuddered. She had always been like that, had always been a bit older then a child her age should be. But when he thought about it, so was Beatrice and Lord Wincot's son. Perhaps it was something about aristocrats' children, because common children he to met were just that—children. Maybe the expectations laid upon them by society were the case. But that couldn't be helped. These children were future lords, ladies and rulers; they needed to know and be prepared for what life had in store for them.
"It wasn't our intention to hide things from you, Greta. Everything was simply out of order last night and we were about to tell you everything immediately upon seeing you this morning." Wolfram finally woke up fully and was watching Greta form behind Yuuri, where he supported himself on one hand. Yuuri was so lost in his thoughts, he had absolutely missed Wolfram waking up, which caused him to start a bit when the blond spoke from behind him. His jerking movements cased Wolfram to chuckle afterwards.
Greta locked her eyes with her blond haired papa and smiled widely.
"Wolfram, you're awake!" squawked the little princess excitedly, lunging across Yuuri's body to hug her other father.
"Ughh!" The breath from Yuuri's lungs was knocked out at the impact of her body with his stomach. "You're getting heavier," he stated breathlessly.
"Hey!" The princess looked at him pretending to be hurt by his comment. "That's not something a man should say to a lady!"
"Oh! Excuse my indiscretion, my Lady. For this humble lowbrow was never thought court manners," Yuuri continued to joke.
"Yuuri!" Wolfram scolded indignantly; he couldn't believe his king was degrading himself like that. It didn't matter that it was while playing with Greta. He was still a king, and he had to watch what he said.
Yuuri looked at him and shrugged. He then promptly took Wolfram by surprise as his beautiful pale face was suddenly met with one of their fluffy pillows. Greta's laugh filled the room followed by Yuuri's. "Don't be such a brat, Wolfram."
"I am not!" Wolfram urged the pillow back at the double black with evil gleam in his eyes. Another hit him and Greta dived into the sheets. Well, if war is what they wanted, they don't know what they got themselves into.
***The King's Prince***
After last night, the morning with Yuuri and Greta was very refreshing for Wolfram. He felt like everything was just a horrible dream. But it wasn't. It was horrifying how far they were able to get this time—how near the king was to actually getting hurt. Even if they hadn't been able to hurt Yuuri (physically, at least) directly, he would still feel it if they hurt Ao. Yuuri would be devastated.
Wolfram didn't want to even imagine the consequences. Knowing—feeling—your other part was out there somewhere being tortured. And it can last years, sometimes until the person went mad. It wouldn't be the first time. Wolfram heard about it mostly during the war, once the humans had found out about the connection between some of the Mazoku and their horses. It was fortunate he was too young to participate in the military back then, and present an opportunity for the enemy to take his horse. That wasn't the case anymore.
Yesterday, he told Yuuri they wanted Ao; and he hadn't lied. They would surely take both horses, if they could. But apparently Ao and Flawless didn't share their idea for a midnight ride and refused to go quietly. So they logically decided to eliminate the horse that held less value to them so they could take at least one.
Now he was waiting with Yuuri for his older brother, Conrad. They had spoken to him earlier that morning, wanting to know what he knew about the night before. Conrad wanted to meet them later to talk, as well. So there they were, in one of the smaller tea lounge bars, waiting for Conrad to appear.
Wolfram was sure his brother knew more than them. It would be highly unsettling if his brother didn't know at least something about what happened last night. Wolfram's internal musings were interrupted by knocking.
"Come in," answered the King. When the doors opened, Conrad and the Great Sage made their entrance.
"Your Majesty, Wolfram," greeted the brown haired soldier.
"Greetings Shibuya, Lord von Bielefeld." Murata waved with one hand.
After both Yuuri and Wolfram greeted them back, they all seated themselves and made themselves comfortable. They all knew this would be a long talk.
"So, what happened yesterday?" Yuuri didn't know what else to ask to make it more straight forward and to the point.
"Well, I will start from the beginning," sighed Conrad as he thought about how to actually begin to explain. He was glad he had been given the rest of the night before to think this over. He didn't know what he would be able to say if they demanded he tell them right after the incident had occurred.
"You remember the attempt on your life more than a year ago, Your Majesty," Conrad more stated than asked. Yuuri nodded in reply, not wanting to interrupt his godfather. "And you also know we were able to catch and imprison the men that were behind it." Both Yuuri and Wolfram nodded this time. "But approximately seven months ago, two of our spies, in different places in Big Cimaron, reported a very similar thing. We believe it was something similar to the happenings a year ago. They were recruiting people around the bigger towns around our borders, trying to persuade them that Shin Makoku and its people are evil. We are not sure they are the same organization that was trying to break our country's alliances with our allies and tried to assassinate you, but the scheme is disturbingly similar. We thought we were able to dispose of them this time at the beginning, before anything had a chance to happen, but it seems we were wrong." Neither Wolfram nor Yuuri commented about not being told all of this before. Yuuri was tempted to make a bit of scene, but then he was a king for a few years now and understood he had to trust his subjects in order to be a good king. Sometimes it was hard to persuade himself that he didn't need to know everything, and to trust his friends in that they would inform him if there was something crucial for him to know. It had been difficult at first, but it became easier every time.
"How can you be so sure? Yesterday's attack didn't have to have anything with the group a few months ago," said Wolfram.
It was Murata that answered him instead. The Sage brought to light an arrow Wolfram removed from his horse the night prior and pointed to the tip. There was a symbol – a circle with a tiny star in the middle. "This is the same mark that the later group used. They're calling themselves 'Midnight Saviors'. There is really no doubt as to which terrorists they are."
"They could have wanted it to seem that way."
"That is always a possibility, Lord von Bielefeld," admitted the Sage as he looked at the blond. "But apart from that, we don't have anything else. No other leads."
"Don't we?" Wolfram couldn't help himself. The Great Sage was always a step ahead of them. It was hard to believe he didn't hold at least something from them.
"If you know anything I don't, Lord von Bielefeld, now would probably be a great time to share it with the rest of us." The Great Sage regarded him with a piercing gaze.
Wolfram gulped stealthily. "No; of course not, Your Eminence." But even though he didn't say anything, he made a mental note to watch the Sage closely. The years of knowing him had taught him to be careful when dealing with the secretive ancient reincarnation.
"We will find them, Wolfram." Conrad put his hand comfortingly on his younger brother's shoulder. "That's mostly why I wanted to talk to you two." He looked from Wolfram to Yuuri. He knew he had their absolute attention, as both young man were intensively watching him. "I thought it will be better if the two of you and Greta went to Earth for a while."
"What? Why now? I won't run from problems!" Yuuri protested.
"I know how you feel, Yuuri, but for now, we have a royal wedding to plan and we need both the king and his future consort to be alive for that. And it will be safer for Greta on Earth too." He knew that mentioning Greta's safety would get him exactly where he wanted to be. "I won't lie to you—we really don't know anything. We don't know how many of them are out there, how far they are willing to go or what or who their goal is. Right now, before the wedding, there are many unknown people here for the preparations at the castle. They are needed there, and we perhaps wouldn't be able to prevent something similar to last night from happening again. Or worse, even."
"How long?" asked Wolfram constructively.
"At least till wedding, if we don't solve this matter earlier. If we do, we will contact you," Conrad specified.
"How?"
"I think Shinou won't mind being an errand-boy," answered the Sage.
"And what about you?" Yuuri asked the other double black. "Are you going with us?"
"No. I will be more helpful here."
"But they can target you, too."
"I don't think they will. I'm not that important. Besides, Shinou won't let anything happen to his favorite strategist," he added irritably.
Yuuri and Wolfram both raised their eyebrows at the remark.
"Is something wrong?" The king couldn't help asking.
"No." Murata shook his head dismissively. "He's just being a bit... well, clingy, lately. Seriously, he's acting more and more like a child with every passing day," the glasses-clad boy sighed. It was hard to believe, but that was what he really was—a boy, even with the memories of a ancient sage and all of his past lives. Now he was little more than a child again, and sometimes he didn't know how to deal with the childish, four-thousand-year-old spirit of the first king.
No one said anything for a few moments, because no one knew what to say. They may all have their speculations about the relationship the Sage had with the original king, but none of them really ever admitted or denied anything. So they had just that—speculations.
"Well," Conrad started at least. "I think it's time to tell your family about the wedding anyway. You haven't been to Earth since before the announcement and it would be shame not to have the king's family at the royal wedding."
Yuuri sighed. "You're probably right. It's good we don't have to think about the time difference anymore. I mean, otherwise we could easily miss the wedding, if I didn't estimate the time flow right."
"Well, then it's good Shinou-Heika told you how to lift the time difference once you graduated from high school and the difference wasn't needed anymore." His godfather smiled. "Anyway...there is one more thing. I want you to take Ao and Flawless with you to Earth."
There was a deep silence after Conrad's last sentence. Yuuri's unbelievably wide eyes stared right back at his own.
"You're kidding, right?"
"No, I'm not, Your Majesty. It's the best place to hide your horses. They can stay there until the danger here passes."
"Well, my father will be ecstatic, especially for the lawn," Yuuri snorted sarcastically. "On the other hand, my mother will be ecstatic. That will probably make her the only one." He grimaced. "What will people say if suddenly two horses appear on our yard?"
"We can ask your brother for help. He's the future Maoh of Earth, he should be able to help," Wolfram interrupted. "We don't need to have the horses in sight all the time. It will suffice, if we know they're safe."
"Alright, we solve the whole issue of where the horses will be, how are we going to get them to Earth?"
"Just like we all travel to Earth. Two horses along with the two of us and Greta won't be the most you ever took with you."
"Well yeah, I'm not afraid of that, but they can't exactly hold their breath. They will drown."
"They can't drown, but we can have bags on their noses so the water won't get into their lungs unnecessarily. They won't suffocate, if we won't take too long. And we can stuff some plugs into their ears to make them more comfortable with the sinking too."
Yuuri knew when he was defeated.
***The King's Prince***
"Wolfram, Greta—are you both alright?" Sitting on Ao, Yuuri was the first to ask after emerging from the small pond in the middle of the midnight park. It was dark, with only a few lights here and there, and he had to try hard to focus so he could watch as Wolfram checked on Greta sitting in front of the blond. The park was dark, only few lights here and there.
"I'm fine," The wet princess huffed.
"As am I," Wolfram stated as he urged Flawless to the edge of the pond where they could leave the water. Yuuri followed with Ao.
After they stood safely on the dry ground, Wolfram jumped down from his horse and took off both of their muzzle bags along with removing the makeshift earplugs. Then he got back onto his horse, hugged Greta from behind and took the reins.
"We should get going, before someone sees us." Wolfram spurred his horse on to the road. "Left, or straight ahead?"
"Straight ahead," answered Yuuri, following right after Wolfram.
The water was slowly dripping from their drenched forms, leaving dark wet lines on the dimly illuminated road. They were surrounded by an orange hue as they passed under the street lights, accompanied with the clatter of hooves. It almost gave their journey a magical atmosphere. Luckily the weather had been warm that day, and the heat still hung in the air, so they weren't cold.
"This is so different from Shin Makoku," Greta breathed. She was watching her surroundings carefully. The little princess was here on Earth with her fathers once before, but one time is too short for really being filled up with impressions.
The trip to the Shibuya household was uncomfortable for all participants. The wet clothes rubbed against the skin of the saddles and the wet coat of their horses stuck out in all directions. Ao and Flawless soon started to shift uncomfortably. And Wolfram was now, more than ever, missing his Maryoku, with which he could dry everyone and made their journey more comfortable.
Fortunately, it only took about twenty minutes before they finally arrived in front of their goal. The house was covered in darkness, save for one window—Shori's. Yuuri got of off his horse and Wolfram followed, helping the princess get off too. Yuuri didn't waste any more time as he shivered under the wet clothes that had begun to cool against his skin, and went straight to the wooden doors. He didn't want to wake all neighbors by ringing the bell. And he knew knocking probably wouldn't wake his parents and his brother wouldn't hear it due to one of his perverse games. So he concentrated on his Maryoku and slowly tapped with it around the house, searching for his brother's signature.
In a moment the doors in front of him opened silently and his brother was standing before him, smiling widely.
"I knew about you the moment you arrived in that pond," he stating lazily, not needing to explain himself further.
"Yeah. I just didn't know if you weren't too absorbed in one of these games to come and greet us." Yuuri teased him with grin.
"I wouldn't miss my little brother."
"Yeah, yeah." Yuuri waved his brother off with a hand.
"Yuu-chan!" The doors opened further and Miko was suddenly around his neck. So much for not wanting to wake the neighbors, thought Yuuri.
"Hi Mom!" he greeted hesitantly.
"And Wol-chan and Greta-chan!" She released her younger son only to do the same to the blond and to the young princess. "Oh poor dears, you're all wet, you must be cold." She looked Greta over. "Yuu-chan, take the horses to the backyard and come in, I will make you something warm to drink and eat. Shori will help you get the horses settled." The brown-haired woman ordered without showing any surprise at having two horses at her doorstep. She pulled Greta into the house with her, shutting the doors behind them, leaving the three stunned boys outside.
-TBC-