Chapter 29: Dinner for two
Fire was fascinating.
No matter its origin. Be it a deadly blaze of flames engulfing an entire village, or a candle's gentle flicker licking up and down the wick it proved a mesmerizing sight nonetheless.
Protesting with soft crackles and a spark here and there, Izaya watched the patterns of red, orange and yellow ripple in waves across the ledge of wood that he had just fed to the fireplace.
It was late.
The moon had long gone up and the darkness revealed a set of beautiful stars glittering above the castle. With the window open, a blanket around his frame and the warmth of the fire in front Izaya felt quite content.
Or at least more relaxed than he had ever hoped to feel.
The queen's chamber had been an exquisite one and he thought he had seen most of the wealth residing within the castle already, but upon stepping inside Shizuo's chamber he realized how wrong he had been.
The decorations left here and there in the hallways and the glimpses of indicated wealth like the chandelier in the hall were but a cherry on top of the cake.
Golden patterns, not painted, mind you, but poured in its entirety were decorating every single joist inside Shizuo's bedroom.
Fabrics of the finest velvet had been used for the curtains as well as the bed and its various sheets and pillows. Seeing as the frame caged the object of rest , there was only more gold, delicate patterns and jewels to be found on it.
The figures itself proved a quite artistic touch as whoever had designed them hadn't opted for faces or small fat angel babies, but patterns of symmetry, circles, rectangles and a general sense of arithmetics.
Especially the headboard of the bed, partly made of oakwood, but mostly of jewels, proved a fancy sight as the smallest patterns of fine gold drew fine lines all across.
It was funny, Izaya had been here before, yet somehow with his vision tunneling towards the poison and his impending death he had overlooked all these details.
But now?
With fresh eyes and a clear mind?
It was pretty impressive.
Cozy too. And comfortable.
Leaning forward just a little bit Izaya brought his palms towards the lingering waves of heat.
Not only had his sight improved, but also his conscience. He knew what needed to be done and the steps that were necessary to be taken.
The maids had been worried about their queen and so he humored them for the rest of the day. They showed him new embroidery, inspected the castle grounds and offered Izaya a chance to redesign the castle if he so wished. Meals, daily visits, everything was matched according to Izaya's desired schedule.
It had been quite fun considering his little secret.
Sprawled on the fur serving as a carpet, Izaya's dress was still sitting in place. He was waiting for Shizuo to return. Taking it off already had been an urge as soon as James disappeared into the hallway with nothing but wishes for a good night's rest, but somehow Izaya felt more at ease wearing the disguise.
At least until Shizuo was here.
Of course he wasn't silly enough to think he would return with his sisters after just one day of searching, but he needed to talk to him about so much more than his mere pretense.
Izaya promised that merchant his weight in gold if he brought him the knife along with the culprit. Not following his word would cast a dark shadow on Shizuo's reputation. Same for his actions. His illness.
Izaya didn't need to be a genius to know the neighboring countries were probably already spreading rumors about how Shizuo had probably mistreated him during the wedding night and almost killed him.
It was funny.
The staff in the castle knew Shizuo so well, the townsfolk too, yet everything that laid beyond the borders couldn't have a worse opinion even if they tried.
A soft gush of visible air hovered in front of Izaya's face as he left the warmth of his blanket to grab another piece of wood. The flame was threateningly close to dying and the time was moving forward relentlessly.
It was just then with the blanket slipped off his body and the dress mindlessly sprawled around Izaya that the door to the chamber finally opened.
The sound of metal hitting marble ground perturbed the silence filled with nothing but the soft crackling of wood.
Shizuo.
Dirt, dents and cuts of all sorts decorated the king's armory. They were proof of his deeds. Of the amount of effort he put in to protect the land.
Any other king would have probably long exchanged the arguably ruined armor for a more elegant one, but not Shizuo.
Taking off his breastplate on the go a flash of amusement crossed his expression as he spotted his false wife in a very unladylike position on the ground.
Legs crossed, dress not adjusted in the slightest and barely covered by the blanket, Izaya proved a bit of a funny sight.
"Is that how queens behave?" he asked with amusement as he pointed towards the rim of the dress. It had slid up considerably, revealing way more than a lady was supposed to.
A soft snort followed by Izaya as he noticed his slight error.
"Probably not."
Unlike the queen he was supposed to act like, no embarrassment or shame was to be spotted on Izaya's expression.
After all, what for?
They were both men and perfectly aware of each other's physique. If anything then using the dress to cover up would probably result in seeming more obscene than the revealed skin.
Leaning back into his initial position, Izaya met the king's eyes.
"The maids… they moved everything in here. Since the queen and the king are supposed to sleep in one room. I tried to make them give me back my room but I couldn't quite convince them."
Dropping the belt and sword attached to each other on a stool in the corner of the room, Shizuo nodded.
"I know. It was the first James informed me of when I returned. I thought it was just a wedding night kind of tradition to have you here but apparently the common way to handle a freshly wedded couple is for them to share their room forever."
Forever, huh?
Redirecting his glance towards the glimmering coal within the fireplace, Izaya couldn't help but think of the time he was robbing Shizuo.
Time he could use to find a real wife.
Even if they found his sisters and cleared all misunderstandings by having the queen die so Izaya could return to his old life, Shizuo would have still lost an immeasurable amount of his lifetime and chances to find his own love.
Solemn silence wrapped around the two of them as Izaya wasn't quite sure what to speak of.
A common topic? Their situation? Maybe try to lighten the mood?
All of these options struck him as awkward and weird.
Shizuo seemed to notice as well.
Plucking the last piece of armory off his frame he stepped towards his queen.
Another piece of wood was grabbed before he joined Izaya on the carpet made of silky fur.
It had been a wolf or something, Shizuo didn't quite remember, but looking at the shades of silver gray it had to have been.
"What's wrong?" A glance of surprise and poorly masked emotions met Shizuo's face as Izaya blinked. "I didn't say anything."
"But you look like it."
Wow, what a way to dismantle a conversation. Izaya didn't quite know yet whether to dislike or appreciate that directness.
A soft sigh left his lips as he decided for the latter. There was no use dancing around the obvious topic at hand,was there?
"I feel like I'm intruding."
A quizzical expression, followed by the slightest hint of a smile followed.
"Don't." A simpler and more direct approach could not have been given by the king even if he tried. Izaya didn't doubt Shizuo's words, but the king's amount of patience had to have a limit. "Am I not getting on your nerves?" From what Izaya had learned Shizuo despised nothing more than lies and games of pretense. Wasn't this exactly what he thought?
A simple shrug was given, however, and Shizuo spoke- carefree, as if nothing in the world could bother him.
"You didn't so far, why would you now?"
Again.
Picking his sight off the curling flames Izaya directed his gaze at the king- a king that seemed like he truly meant every single syllable spoken.
"Are you trying to make me feel better?" Izaya tried.
"Is there anything to feel bad about?"
This guy…
His words implied that he harbored not a shred of ill will against him it seemed. It had to be a mask of some sorts in order to call Izaya down, but somehow looking at Shizuo, Izaya found he wasn't.
An innocent glance cast towards Izaya as the king finished fiddling with a couple strings that tightened the collar of his linen shirt.
… almost as if they were talking about the weather or a similarly nonchalant topic.
"... you are serious, aren't you?"
Putting the string aside the king propped up one of his knees to let his arm rest on it.
"Just because you switched the dress for pants doesn't turn you into a despicable monster you know?" Nothing but warmth radiated from Shizuo's smile as his lips curled into an amused grin.
It was infectious to the point that Izaya's did the same.
Okay.
It was truly okay.
Taking a deep breath Izaya felt as though he was suddenly sitting amidst a field of flowers on a warm spring day. The amount of air, freshness and simple freedom was overwhelming.
Of course, Izaya knew there had been nothing to fear as the king didn't intend to punish him for his pretense, but the guilt had still been weighing his shoulders down. And now Shizuo had managed to take even that away.
"Are you trying to say you find me sympathic?" Izaya suddenly found himself joking without the slightest fear of overstepping a line.
Shizuo seemed to enjoy the freedom of their conversation as much as Izaya did as he snorted.
"More than most people I meet for sure. You know a lot and you have a way with words. Everytime you speak I just know it's going to be something I will like listening to."
Ah. That-
Izaya couldn't help but feel the corner of his lips turn upwards at the compliment.
"You aren't half bad either." By then the light of the fireplace had considerably dimmed again and Shizuo took it upon himself to feed another lodge of wood to the dying flame.
It was funny, Izaya had felt cold in this chamber even with the fire surging high, yet right now despite the flames licking pathetically across dark coal he felt oddly warm. Comforted maybe.
Why was that?
Because Shizuo was there?
A soft smile spread across his lips as he shook his head. Not the worst effect for sure.
"So, why are you still up? Couldn't sleep?" It was way past midnight after all and Shizuo had expected to find his newest partner resting in bed instead of sitting on the ground.
Izaya seemed a bit unsure of how to answer as his lips moved but hesitated to speak. A tired smile flashed towards Shizuo as he sighed.
"Can you blame me after a day like this?"
It made Shizuo wonder just what was going on in that beautiful mind of his.
A sudden knock caused both of them to flinch, as it was both quite late and unexpected.
Quickly adjusting the dress as well as his position Izaya cast Shizuo a short glance before he spoke.
"Yes?"
The sound of the door's hinges creaking seemed awfully loud within the peaceful silence of the night and a shy maid, Sophia was her name if Izaya remembered correctly, stepped into the light.
"Excuse me, my lord, you returned fairly late and I wondered whether you would care for a light meal," she uttered quickly and quietly as if she were already regretting to ask. A tray filled with various fruits, bread, cheese and a sausage was resting in her lithe arms as her gaze flickered back and forth between her queen and king. Embarrassment marked her expression as she quickly directed her gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry, I see I am intruding, I will just take this and-"
"No, no, it's a good idea. Leave it here," Shizuo quickly interrupted as she was on and about to move. A relieved smile flashed across her face as she quickly nodded.
"Of course, my lord."
Izaya couldn't help but suppress a chuckle. She was quite cute. Reminded him of Mika. Of course, they couldn't be more different considering Mika was saying more and quicker than she probably should while Sophia seemed to meticulously weigh each of her words on a gold scale, but somehow the air around them seemed to be the same.
Gentle and caring in front of anything else.
"I wish you a lovely night's rest." She quickly hushed under her breath as she had put the food onto Izaya`s table and hurriedly retreated to the door.
A quick nod was given by Shizuo and just like that she was gone again.
Relaxing in his seat Izaya sighed content as he resigned from his static position.
Pushing himself off the ground Shizuo reached for the tray.
"Join me, will you?" he asked curtly while placing the object on the ground between them.
Having been about to rise to his feet Izaya reversed the motion with amusement.
"To enlighten you with my words?"
Shizuo laughed, "I would love you to."
A slight hum followed as Izaya's fingers curled around a fine grape. It had been freshly picked and washed, it seemed, as it was fairly cold and moist to the touch.
"So then, what do you want me to speak about?" he asked before letting the fruit disappear behind his lips.
It seemed he had spiked curiosity as Shizuo's expression grew greedy.
"Tell me about yourself."
to be continued~
Helllloooo xD I have returned from my small break haha xD Thank you for your patience :3
August and July were two hell of months I swear xD So much to do, so much to unexpected troubles REEEEE xDDDD
BUT now everything is moving in smooth courses again and I should be able to update weekly again xD
Every story that is haha xD YES SnS is also getting an update again xD The guilt I feel for not updating that one is unreal lmao
Anyway~!
I have an announcement to make! Hello my people! :3
So this week is a special one xD
I have not only returned to update all my stories, BUT I have also finalized the date my Trilogy is going to start xD
First week of December 2023 will be the release of Yultesra part 1/3!
For those who don't know, I have been working on a fantasy trilogy for the past 10+ years and now the time has finally come to get it published xD
And well… I decided to upload the book here xD
That's right, you will get the entire first book xD
Every Saturday you will get another chapter until the end of November and in the first week of December I will physically publish the first part of Yultesra :3
I know you will probably ask, huh, why upload it here? No one will buy it if one can read it for free online….?
And you are right xD
But the thing is apparently when self-publishing my books on amazon only people from England, Germany/Austria and America can actually purchase a physical copy so far. And I know from reader stats on fanfiction that there are a lot of other countries who read my works, Russia, Japan etc. and so I thought I just didn't want to exclude those people from the story :3
Also, I am not writing to become rich anyway xD
All in front I want people to enjoy the plots and stories I come up with, so if you want to support me and it's an available option in your country you can purchase my book, but if you can't that's also fine :3
I'm just as happy and content to read your lovely comments xD
The first Shizaya stories were written so badly- and yet you stayed xDDD Some of you have been following me for years, some even became my closest friends, and some might have just joined- welcome to those who just stumbled across my works haha
So this book is like a gift to you all, for having accompanied me for almost ten years in my writing journey xD
With that being said… Enjoy! xD