The door to the Lord Council room was flanked by more than a few tanky looking fellows in heavy armor. So they did have actual, proper armor. For a while there he thought they would all be useless in the vent of an emergency.
They glared at the both of them as they passed by, even though they had permission to enter as explicitly stated by the Guard Captain. Inside, the King paced back and forth while the Queen and her council were busy planning. Tracking food, and the amount of supplies and weapons available. Army units stationed and deployed, escape routes for everyone. The complete works.
Nobody except the King saw them enter. The man’s shoulders dropped and his face failed to hide his fear. He must have received intel on what happened in Obraria and had been stewing in his own turmoil of emotions since then, instead of on the riot threatening to break down his front door.
Yarro couldn’t help but smirk at his reaction. His original plans probably never expected the duo to get out of there alive. Perhaps he knew what he did was wrong? Yarro could only hope the King had the inner self reflection necessary to come to such a conclusion. Yarro was done playing nice.
King Wen stopped pacing. He leaned on the back of a chair, his knuckles turning white. He kept glancing at all the people in the room. Counting? Guessing who would be quickest at capturing him? The world seemed to scratch to a halt as he prepared himself to be outed. It took Yarro every ounce of control he had to not instantly attack the King. Doing so would have himself executed, no matter how good his reason was.
Yarro turned to the Queen, and he and Kael bowed formally. “Your Majesty. Seila has been found and safely returned to her father.”
The room grew silent and Queen Illa looked up from her scroll. “Good. I hope you killed every last one of those barbarians. Where was she?”
Yarro pointedly glared at King Wen. He couldn't gleam any more emotion from him, but King Wen was returning the look. “Actually, Emperor Sopros helped us find her. He didn’t even know she had been kidnapped,” he said.
“Nonsense. Is he supposed to concern himself with every missing child of ours?” Lord Marshal Eris said.
“He could not help rescue Seila personally, of course, as she was in a shed, beaten and malnourished, and in the backyard of our very own embassy.” Amazingly, King Wen had not made a move yet. Probably because he hadn't been named yet.
The Queen straightened up, her eyes narrowed. “The only people who have access to that area are our own people. Say what you actually want to say, Demideity,” she spat.
“Men under King Wen's orders guarded that shed. We had to fight at most half a dozen people to get to her.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowded room. Queen Illa turned to a guard. “Get me Seila. And Demideity, you better hope that’s the truth.” Behind her stern, Queenly face, he saw a hint of resignation in her eyes. Had she already suspected something was off?
King Wen scoffed. “Are we asking children for testimonies now? Surely we’re not going to rely on some traumatized kid to clear my innocence?” He exuded all confidence. His voice boomed against the stone wall, and commanded all attention towards him. He stood tall, and not a single flicker of doubt surfaced his face.
“You would want me to take the Demideity at his word?” All eyes fell on him. The people could turn on him in at the drop of a pin.
The King looked around. His eyes fell to Yarro, mouth pressed thin as the seconds ticked on. Frustration and anger became more clear the longer he stared. He couldn't come up with an answer. He was going to do something. Something drastic, and Yarro's own body began to heat up in accordance. He needed to be ready.
Finally the King exhaled. “There is no need.” Queen Illa studied her husband carefully, and her face fell to resignation as she realized what he was about to say. “I did it.”
Chaos erupted in the room and Queen Illa’s face went through a range of emotions, from shock, to anger. However, even just knowing King Wen admitted his claims did nothing to sooth Yarro’s rage. It boiled inside him. He wanted revenge. No, he needed it. And it wasn’t just the anger that turned his eyes into a glowing ember, it was the passion he had in making sure the King couldn’t do this again. Yarro heard nothing except his heart beat in his ears and his own heavy breath slowly ramp up. He took a step forward, but the Queen held out her hand to stop him. MultiplegGuards blocked him out from King Wen.
“Why?” She simply asked her husband.
“Our children didn't need to go on that ship, but thanks to Arnold's insistnce they left. He sent our children to their deaths. He needs to know what it’s like. Not knowing if they’re dead or alive. Keeping himself up at night thinking of all the ways they could have died.” King Wen buried his head in his hands. “Missing their laughter. The toys they used to leave around. The hobbies they had.”
Queen Illa sighed in pity and placed a gentle hand on his back. “I miss them too. But that doesn’t give you the right to decide who lives and dies. You went against the law.”
King Wen looked up. “You don’t understand. It’s my job to protect them. If only I had gone on that ship with them, they would still be alive.”
“Or, I could be a widow.”
“Exactly, you don’t know for sure if they would have survived. You’re not as powerful as you think you are, Your Majesty,” Lord Treasurer May said.
“No! No. I would have saved them. It’s Arnold’s fault for sending them on that expedition.”
“Arnold merely proposed the idea. Your children volunteered to go,” Lord Marshal Eris said, her eyebrows furrosed. It seemed now that King Wen had confessed to the entire thing, his own associates were turning on him. Perhaps in hopes that they don’t end up with the same sentence. Or maybe they didn’t know his reasoning and found it childish now that it was spoken out loud.
“And he should have denied them! If he knew what was good for him, then he should have prevented them from going!”
“Wen, honey, they were adults. They could make their own decisions,” Queen Illa said. "Why did you send Seila, a defenceless child, to Obraria of all places! Especially when you kept her in the Embassy?"
"Didn't you say you needed their resources? I did this for you. Had you charged in there like you normally would have, we could have been rich." He looked around the room to see that everyone looked at him with disgust and disbelief. “"I did what I had to do."
With one swift motion, he wiped the crocodile tears from his face, and controlled the water around himself. Yarro watched as streaks of his hair turned gray, and the slight lines on his face hardened themselves into wrinkles. The few tears turned into a huge wave. He took the water from his own body, and its very life essence, to do this. It all swirled into itself near the ceiling until it nearly weighed him down with its weight.
"Please don't do this, my love," Queen Illa said, her hand outreached to him.
Without a glance to her, King Wen surged the water to the nearest window. It smashed open, and shards of glass flew everywhere. The water continued out and downwards. The King jumped out the window and slid down the water.
“NO!” Yarro jumped after him. Since the King was still controlling the water, Yarro couldn’t use it to stop his own fall. Instead he pumped out fire from his hands to slow it as best as he could. It wasn’t completely safe or effective, but it was good enough and his legs were still intact after he collided with the ground. He got up and barreled through the streets, following the mess the King had made. Kael was close behind, throwing rocks at the King. He easily dodged the first one, but the next rock was larger.
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King Wen brought up a wall of water to it. Had he not, it would have landed right in the back of his head. Continuing with the flow, he spun around, and each loop added more and more water. From where, Yarro couldn’t tell. He tried to throw what fire he could to interrupt him but it didn’t seem to even slow the man down. When Wen stopped, he unleashed a torrent of water towards the duo. It pushed them both further back, and when they came to, the King was gone.
The streets were empty on this side of the castle, but they could still hear the cacoughany of shouting and rioting from some distance away. They had lost the King.
The duo trudged back and in through the window they left, dejected. Guards stood oh-so diligently by all entrances to the castle, ready to defend at a moment’s notice. Yarro and Kael spent hours with the Lord Council and Guard Captain Lisa discussing where Wen could have gone. It would have been easy for him escape into the crowd, and multiple neighborhoods and districts nearby meant plenty of hiding spots.
By sundown enough of the protestors had gone home that Guard Captain Lisa could spare a few guards to help search for the now "former" King Wen. Yarro and Kael went with them to comb the nearby streets to no luck. Looking into buildings, interviewing citizens and such. They couldn't find any trace of him. No one knew how many supporters the King had managed to gain, or how many were protecting him. Such an unknown factor meant anyone could complicate this so much more than it already was.
Guard Captain Lisa suggested that part of the problem could just be normal people that sided with Wen were hiding from her guards or lying to them. Even though she seemed to root out most of the major troublemakers, gaining the people’s trust back was a slow process. Even if they saw something, there was no way they would tell someone. She needed to be careful and not push her luck, especially with elementalist guards.
Come nightfall, they were still no closer to finding Wen, and the Queen still didn’t understand the reason for the riots. Yarro’s usefulness ended when he and Kael failed to catch the runaway criminal, so he wasn’t let in to explain the demands of the non-elementalists. Everything he heard was second-hand from the Guard Captain. She didn’t let him in despite his insistence but instead told them a little of what happened on the inside every now and then. They wouldn't let them leave after the search either, for whatever reason, so Yarro couldn't check on his family.
He was a nervous wreck and Kael could tell.
Eventually his other half dragged him to another part of the castle after eating dinner. To some hallway, dimly lit and far enough away from prying eyes and snooping ears. Kael had a certain look in his eyes as gentle fingerdrips drifted down her arm and clasped his hands. Lips touched skin, and made their way up his arm, to the nape of his neck and up to his cheek, before finally their soft lips met for a quick kiss. Yarro's skin tingled at each peck. “You’ve been far too busy, and I’ve run out of patience," Kael whispered in between kisses. "I need you."
Yarro gently thumbed the other’s jaw and brought him closer. His heavy eyelids switched between Kael’s dark eyes and his plush lips. Kael took one step forward, and Yarro matched it with a step back. Another step forward, and another step back. Another, and another, and another, continually teasing him until Yarro's back was pressed against the cold wall. He placed both hands on Kael’s face and brought him into another kiss. Deeper this time, arms slowly drifting up and around the other’s neck.
Kael shifted his body to prop him up with a knee between the legs. The limb carefully inched closer and closere northward to a certain sensitive area. They clung to each other, desperate hands scraped and roamed all over each others’ bodies. Yarro thumbed the edges of Kael's pants, daring himself to venture deeper. It wasn’t long before it became obvious for the both of them they would need a more private room. Yarro pulled away, the two of them gasping for breath, and his own face burning up. He checked once more for any people nearby. With an exposed neck, Kael took it as an opportunity to kiss his neck a few times. When the kisses turned a bit rougher he almost moaned, and had to quickly clamp his hand over his mouth.
“Watching you fight is so fucking sexy,” Kael mumbled into his neck.
Yarro smirked. “Is that what got you so horny? Me going after the King?”
“Mmmm….” He couldn’t even bother using words. Yarro scoffed at the answer but still, a lopsided smile formed on his face.
Luckily for them, the coast was clear. Yarro laced his hands with Kael’s, and reluctantly pulled them off of his body. “Let’s go.” They made their way to a random spare bedroom, away from the people, where they could be as loud as they wanted.
Yarro woke up some hours later, sweaty and aching all over, his arms wrapped around Kael’s chest rather tightly. His head snuggled at the nape of the other’s neck. He rubbed his eyes awake and yawned. The soft morning light coming in from the window lit up his partner perfectly. He couldn’t help but stare and smile. Yarro snuggled closer, content to simply, blissfully, stay together in bed like this for a while longer. Just being in the moment with Kael. Perhaps now that feelings took over and they taken care of each other, Yarro would be able to think more clearly about more important things.
He closed his eyes once more and just listened. Kael’s chest rose and fell to his breaths. The hustle and bustle of the castle servants getting ready for the day just past the door. Footsteps in the hallway back and forth. Carts and plates and the smell of food wafted into his nose. And in the distance, shouting and yelling. Still rioting. Yarro’s thoughts drifted back to the grayed look King Wen had after he rambled about his lost children and summoned water from his life essance. The man couldn’t accept that neither he nor Arnold did anything wrong.
A knock at the door.
Kael rustled , but didn’t wake up, as Yarro got up to get closer to the door. He didn’t open it, since he was less than decent and didn’t see anything he could use to cover himself. He sighed. They had both sothoroughly tired each other out that Yarro forgot to clean himself up. “Yes?”
The voice on the other side came out muffled. “The Queen and her council requests the presence of Demideity Yarro and his assistant, Soldier Kael, after breakfast. I've brought your meals."
After all this time and effort Kael hadn’t received a new title? “We will be right there,” Yarro replied. He went back to Kael and gently shook him awake. There was a deep breath and some adjusting of his head.
“Hmm?”
“Time to wake up. Queen Illa is looking for us.”
Kael sniffed and rubbed his eyes. Their eyes locked and they smiled at each other. “ Good morning,” Kael murmured in his husky morning voice. Kael brought in the food while Yarro cleaned himself up and got dressed in the same outfit he had on yesterday. They quickly ate breakfast, Kael got dressed, and they headed out tot see the Queen and heer Lord Council.
They arrived in the council room to find the entire council gathered around the war table. Guard Captain Lis and Army general Calina stood off to the side. Yarro presumed they were there to help strategize. “So glad you two could finally join us. Are you done prancing around?” Lisa asked with a pointed look.
Yarro could feel his face heat up in embarrassment. So everyone knew? “We weren’t needed, so we went to sleep for a few hours.” Nevermind the fact that they were physically banned from entering the coucil room. They must have found a use for them if they were here now.
“Well, I’m glad you got your beauty rest. The rest of us have been busy deciding how to quell the riots on our front doors,” Queen Illa said. She sounded like she had been up all night.
“I thought the riots had died down?” Kael said through a stifled yawn.
“Only directly in front of the castle. My guards have reported back that the people and its restlessness have spread throughout the entire city. The majority of the protestors seem to be non-elementalists as well.”
The Lord Marshal scoffed. “They’re just non-elementalists. How much damage could they cause?”
“As I’ve said before, Lord Marshal, the anger of a non-elementalists is just as destructive of a normal elementalist. Especially in numbers such as the ones we’re seeing,” Guard Captain Lisa said, clearly peeved. The Lord Marshal waved her hand dismissively. They must have had this same exact conversation dozens of times over the night.
“Enough, you two!” Queen Illa shouted. All eyes turned to her, but her eyes turned to Yarro. “Demideity. You have experience as a guard of the people. We… No, I was hoping that, while out looking for my husband today, you keep an ear to the crowds. Figure out what they want, truly.”
Yarro already knew of their complaints, and he was sure Kael knew as well. In fact, he could tell her right now. But it wasn't he right time, and he knew better than to object to the Queen. Instead he nodded. “Of course. Though, has anyone gotten the location of Wen?” Yarro hesitated saying the former King’s name without a title. It felt weird, especially since they were not on such familiar terms that warranted a lack of title. But the man had no other title that wasn’t related to the government, so he was unsure how else to address him.
“Wen’s location is still unknown. However we have reason to believe you would have better results at gaining information than my guards would,” Guard Captain Lisa said.
“You may have been stationed outside of the city, but you did grow up here, and you have Kael as well. We thought you would be perfect for the job,” Lord Treasurer May said.
Well that was a bit unsettling. “How do you know I grew up here?”
The Lord Treasurer smirked. “I am the Master of Records. I have the means to look into any person of interest, of course.”
“But I’m just a guy trying to save my home and make sure it doesn't happen again.”
“With enough strength you can level the city. Calling you a threat is a fact, not suspicion,” Lord Marshal Eris interrupted.
Yarro narrowed his eyes to her for a moment before turning his attention back to the Queen. “I will find your husband this time, and hear out the people’s cries.”
Queen Illa nodded. “Thank you. You are dismissed.” As they were leaving, the former Lord of Commerce entered. “Now, you. Explain your side. What happened?”
Kael decided the best way to leave the castle without gaining attention or worsening the riots would be to go out a side window from the second story. He took the both of them down by raising part of the ground to their level, then lowering the new platform back down again once they were on it.
“Before we go searching for Wen, I want to make sure my family is OK first.”
It had been quite a long while with them on their own, and despite his poor attempt at prayer to the Fire Deity, he had gotten no confirmation that they had neither recived the prayer nor answered it in the form of saving his family.
“I understand. Lead the way.”