Chapter 30
Ivan and Arthur sat in the circle, Samanthe across from them as they looked up, seeing Lukas grin at them. "When you see the glow, each of you touch one of her hands. Make sure you don't touch each other, or you'll be brothers." Lukas spoke as the two nodded. As the light started glowing they did as they were told and each reached out, touching one of the girl's hands. She winced, feeling her body pull into their touch and frowned, feeling her body change. It wasn't a lot, but it was still uncomfortable. "That should be enough. Just sit still for a few minutes, no one touch anyone." Lukas spoke as the light stayed active around them. Arthur felt a slight pain in his fingers where they'd touched the girl and he looked down, seeing blood ooze out of the pinprick he'd gotten before this started. He glanced over to Ivan, who stared at the girl in surprise as her eyes closed.
"You're alright, Da?" He asked and she nodded.
It was a few more minutes til Lukas dropped the circle and Ivan reached out, grabbing her before she fell. "She's grown weak. Was it too much for her?" Ivan asked and Lukas pointed to a cot. She was laid down and Lukas looked her over, shaking his head.
"She's just tired. It looks like it worked, though. Congratulations, you're parents." Lukas looked up with a smile and Arthur stared at the girl with wide eyes.
She sat up and shook her head. "Can I go up to bed?" She asked and Arthur smiled, patting her shoulder. She glanced up and Arthur stilled, staring at her for a moment. "What?"
"Your eye color changed." Arthur stared, surprised. "I kind of hoped she'd keep my eyes." Arthur looked up as Ivan looked down into eyes nearly the same color of violet as his.
"It's pretty, da? She's got my hair and eyes, and your figure. She'll be a very popular princess." Ivan grinned as Samanthe stumbled to her feet, grumbling.
"I don't feel right." She mumbled as she trudged forward, feeling her stomach turn and her head spin.
"It'll wear off soon, love." Arthur smiled, patting her back.
She looked less like him now than she had before. He carefully walked her to her room, noticing she seemed a bit off, but figured it was due to the stress and fatigue of the spell.
It was a good thing Lukas decided to do this just before bedtime.
Matthew sat with Sasha as the spell had been performed, watching the magical circles with wonder.
"Can I do that?" He looked up to Sasha, who smiled.
"I don't know. Arthur's a great magician, but Alfred doesn't seem too skilled. We'll probably have to get you tested and if you can, we can start training you." Sasha smiled as he tickled the boy's tummy, making him giggle and roll around on his lap.
Ivan turned to Lukas with a frown. "She seemed... very out of sorts."
"This may have changed her personality some. Remember, she's become the mixture of you two, and Arthur seems like in his predisposition, he was probably very... surly."
"Surly?" Ivan stared, surprised. "I've never gotten that from him." Ivan glanced out the door, though the other was already gone.
"Of course not. He wasn't allowed to be with you, but with the rest of us, he was quiet and reserved and honestly a little snippy when we first met. He did his best to hide it, but that's the mental predisposition he had. She may have gotten that from him as well."
"But she was such a happy and smiling child." Ivan nearly cried, wondering if they'd made a grave mistake.
"She won't change entirely, probably. You have to realize, a lot just changed in her. She's going to have to get used to it. Be there to support her." Lukas smiled as he patted Ivan's shoulder.
"So, She's my sister now?" Matthew looked up at Sasha, who laughed.
"Not exactly. She's your niece now. You're her uncle." Sasha watched as he frowned and thought before looking back up.
"Like you're my uncle?"
"Actually..." Sasha sighed, thinking, "If your brother and my brother have a baby, that kind of makes us brothers." Sasha looked down and Matthew who's eyes widened in surprise before he grinned and giggled again, hugging Sasha.
"Yay! Three brothers now!"
"Four." Sasha smiled. "Nikolai is your brother too." Sasha watched as he giggled more.
"Five." Ivan turned with a smile. "Since I'm with your brother, that would make me your brother as well. Is that alright?" Ivan asked and Matthew looked up and reached out his little hands to him. Ivan smiled as he lifted the child, chuckling at the look of dejection on Sasha's face. He cradled Matthew softly in his arms and smiled, seeing the boy grinning, wide purple eyes looked over Ivan's face before Matthew's arms closed around his neck and Ivan hugged him back.
He may have just been his lover's brother, but something about his hug was horribly comforting. He was so small, and delicate, and the realization that this little boy would be with him from now on made Ivan's heart pound. "I see why you like this little one so much." Ivan smiled as he hugged the boy. "He's very comforting." Ivan chuckled, seeing the look on Sasha's face break into a grin.
"He's very comforting, but remember, he needs comforted as well. He's been through a lot. He needs a lot of love and affection to help make up for it." Sasha smiled as the boy in his brother's arms turned back to Sasha and held his hands out again.
"I think we know who the favorite brother is." Ivan sighed, as he passed him back, causing Sasha to giggle.
"Maybe now would be a good time for a bath." Ivan sighed.
"Let's wait for Arthur to return. It's a good thing we have that giant bath tub." Sasha grinned.
"It's a good thing it's expandable as well. I have a feeling the others will be joining us." Ivan glanced down the hallway, finding the Assassin's squad still in wait, as Lukas hadn't wanted too many in the room at the time.
They waited in the hallway for Arthur to return and Lukas decided to join them as they went and told the group everything went as planned.
"Her eyes changed to violet." Arthur pouted and Alfred patted his back.
"It's cool, bro! What did she get from you?"
"I didn't see anything." Arthur sighed.
"She got your body size. She shrank a few inches, I noticed." Lukas spoke up.
"She has your love for reading. That's a good thing." Ivan grinned.
"Here's hoping she didn't get your 'running off with the king of another land' thing down as well." Alfred grinned and Arthur smacked his arm, rolling his eyes.
"Come, I think it's time for a bath." Ivan sighed and the others nodded before Yao frowned.
"Bath not big enough. Tiny, Aru." He frowned and Sasha grinned.
"Not for long." he grinned, though Arthur could only stare.
"You call that tiny?!"
They walked in and Sasha patted a hand over a circle engraved on the side of the tub. The wall seemed to move back as the tub started to shift, growing to twice the size it had been, Comfortable seats around the sides and on a dais in the center.
"Big..." Matthew stared, his eyes wide and Sasha smiled.
"Shower first, alright?" He spoke and Matthew looked up with a frown.
"Shower?" He asked and Arthur smiled.
"It's like the rain. Where water comes out of the sky." He watched as Matthew looked even more confused.
"Water falls out of the sky?" He asked and the group stared at him.
He'd been blind and locked in a house. He'd never played in the rain before. "Come, love. I'll help you." Arthur smiled as he held out his hand and everyone undressed before jumping into the showers.
It wasn't long before they were soaking in the tub. The water just came up to Matthew's chin, so everyone kept an eye on him as he walked around, just enjoying the feeling of the water against himself. "This is comfy." Matthew smiled as he just walked around, his little body wasn't used to so much movement in one day. He walked over to Arthur after a while and laid down on his lap with a yawn.
"I think I should get this little one into bed." Arthur smiled as Matthew's eyes closed.
"His room is between ours and Samanthe's." Ivan spoke softly as the group all looked at the boy before Arthur carried him out of the bath, grabbing towels to dry themselves off before carrying him out of the room, a towel around his waist.
It was only a few minutes later he returned, as red as could be, wrapped in a robe. "Ivan, someone is here to see you." Arthur frowned as Ivan glanced over, shrugging.
"Can you bring them in?"
"There's a girl with them. I don't know how appropriate that would be." Arthur watched as Ivan grumbled, having to agree.
"I'm guessing she found you in a towel?" He grinned as Arthur blushed brighter red.
"She ripped it off of me and with Matthew in my arms, I couldn't get it back on." He covered his face as Ivan laughed.
"It's fine, dorogoy." Ivan smiled, kissing his cheek as he dried himself off. Arthur held out a robe he'd brought for Ivan and Ivan kissed him again in thanks before they headed out to the throne room.
"Sorry for my lacking attire." Ivan smiled as he walked out, Arthur standing at his side. Ivan sat and watched as one of the men from the City Council nodded, realizing he may have caught them at a bad time.
"We looked over the registry from your latest excursion and see that you've brought two children back with you. Please, tell me they aren't slaves?" The man asked, his children, Tino and Sophia at his sides, grinning at Arthur.
"Ah, no." Ivan shook his head. "One is a brother, the other is our child now." Ivan spoke and the man stared, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"One is Arthur and Alfred's little brother. The other was from the same orphanage that Arthur was from, and was being put under the same threats he had been put to as a child, so Arthur and myself went through the bloodright. She's our daughter now." He spoke, watching as the man before him sputtered, his eyes wide.
"The king can't have an illegitimate child! This is preposterous! It's a tragedy!" The man panicked as Ivan turned to Alfred with a grin.
"I was planning to ask him to marry me at the introductory ball in a couple of weeks." Ivan spoke softly and Arthur turned to him with wide eyes.
"Make that one week, and guarantee he'll say yes and maybe General Winter won't have a heart attack!" The man panicked further, missing the look of disappointment that crossed his children's faces.
"Papa?" Samanthe came out with a yawn. "Mattie woke me up, crawling into my bed. I'm thirsty." She mumbled and Arthur smiled, walking over to her.
"I'll get you a drink in just a moment. First, you should meet these people." Arthur brought her over to the side of the throne. "Samanthe, This is Sophia and Tino."
"It's a pleasure." She spoke softly as she looked at the two, offering a light bow.
"The pleasure's all ours!" Tino grinned, looking her over. She wasn't too much younger than he was, to his surprise. "How old are you?" He asked as the girl stared, really looking over the boy before her.
"I'm ten." She spoke softly, grasping Arthur's hand.
"And how old are you?" Tino asked Arthur, who turned to Ivan, who nodded.
"I'm sixteen." He spoke and Ivan watched as the man below stared.
"You're only six years apart for father and daughter. That's going to be hard to get people to understand."
"Especially since the princess is only eight years younger than the king." Tino grinned. "It could almost be expected if she was adopted by one of them, but the ages are too close." Tino watched as his father looked near fainting.
"At the ball, would you save a dance for me?" He asked and Samanthe smiled before looking up at Arthur, who nodded.
"Alright." She smiled and bowed before looking back up at Arthur and turned, running down the hallway.
"One week, Your Highness. Make sure he says yes." The man spoke in a whimper before turning, his children following behind, though only one looked disappointed now.
Arthur looked down at Ivan who looked away with a bit of a frown. "I'm sorry I ruined the surprise." Ivan spoke and Arthur just stared for a moment, still a little in shock.
"Were you serious? You'd already planned to ask me?" Arthur asked and Ivan nodded.
"When you were so upset on the ship, thinking I'd leave you for some woman, I started trying to plan it all out. But since I have to make sure you'll say yes, Would you?" Ivan asked, seeing Arthur staring, still surprised. He reached out and grasped his hand, pulling Arthur to his lap and curled around him, kissing him sweetly. "Will you marry me?"
"Yeah." Arthur let out a soft hum, a bright grin plastering itself across his face. Ivan grinned, kissing him senseless, both of them missing a little giggle from the other side of the room as Samanthe snuck away to her room.
The next morning at breakfast everyone sat around at the largely unused dining room. Arthur had only been in here a few times, but for the sake of the children they thought it might be a good idea to start spending more time here.
"You look like hell." Alfred stared at Arthur, who was having a very hard time keeping his eyes open this morning.
"You look like hell... bloody wanker." Arthur mumbled as Alfred started laughing.
"Are you drunk?!"
"Still in recovery." Ivan smiled, patting him softly on the arm. Arthur groaned before falling sideways, his face nearly crushing itself against Ivan's shoulder. Ivan softly stood up, hearing Arthur groan from being forced to move.
"We have an announcement." Ivan smiled. "Last night, Arthur agreed to marry me." Ivan smiled happily before sitting down, letting a grin cover his face. He glanced over, seeing Arthur red, his face now pressed against Ivan's shoulder in embarrassment. He reached down and ran his hand over his head, kissing his forehead. Arthur looked up with a soft smile and grinned before Ivan stole a quick kiss.
"Aw! That's cute!" Alfred grinned.
"I'm gonna fucking die." Nikolai grumbled as he glared, Sasha clapping happily at his side, a happy, clapping Matthew at his side.
Samanthe sat beside Matthew, her head down against the table, Lukas sitting across from her, between Alfred and Yao, and Antonio and Lovino. "Are you alright?" He asked as she lifted her head, looking half alive.
"My parents are getting married. I feel like I'm frozen on the inside. Can I get some more coffee?" She asked her anger melting off into a plea at the end.
"Sure." Lukas stared, moving the pot towards her. "Maybe I should look you over. You look like a completely different person than you seemed like yesterday."
"I'm just tired. Mattie kept rolling over me in his sleep. I moved to his bed, and so did he." Her eyes shifted over to the little boy now looking at her with worry. "Don't worry about it. Just stay in your own bed from now on, alright?" She asked, patting his head and he frowned.
"I didn't know I walked away. I didn't wake up." He whispered softly and she frowned, staring.
"But I know it was you." She cocked her head to the side as she poured herself more coffee, her eyes shifting nearly nonstop between the mug and the boy.
"Alfred, do you sleepwalk as well?" Arthur asked, Alfred looking over with a blush.
"Yeah, you too I'm taking it?"
"Oh, yeah, he does." Nikolai rolled his eyes.
"This should be a really happy time for you!" Sasha smiled at the girl, who's morning 'I haven't had enough coffee' glare sent chills down the man's spine. "Or not..."
"She's happy." Mattie crawled over, wrapping his arms over the girl's shoulder. She tried to hold the angry look, but it melted fairly quickly as she hugged him back, earning a smile from Sasha.
"I wonder of someday I can have cute children like you two." He smiled as he patted Mattie's hair.
"Not if you never get a girlfriend." Lukas laughed, causing Sasha to blush.
"You don't have to be so mean about it!" Sasha pouted, causing a smile to cross Nikolai's face. Mattie looked up to Samanthe, who looked back with narrowing eyes before two small grins crossed their faces.
This would be fun.