[Fic] [Round 12] Title: Almost, Rating: PG-13
Author: Isha
Title: Almost
Pairings: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 3,425
Rating: PG-13, I guess
Any Warnings: None, really.
Prompt being used: Quote: "Apparently that isn't his/her natural hair color after all."
Timeline: Yuuri is arriving!
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series. Follows from ‘Moments’.
Also, yay! I get to be the first entry for this round. =)
~
‘Is it true?’
He brought his heaving horse under control, looking down at Conrart as he waited for an answer.
His brother nodded. ‘Lady Ulrike tells us that His Majesty is somewhere in Shin Makoku even as we speak.’
Gwendal patted his horse as he dismounted; he had ridden hard and fast and he was grateful that the animal had not let him down.
He followed Conrart into the castle, determinedly not looking around to see what had changed in the years he had been away. He had lived in this castle for years, he’d be damned if he’d start gawking like a tourist.
They went straight to the throne room, where his mother and Stoffel were waiting. He was pleased to see that Stoffel hadn’t taken the Maou’s throne himself; rather, the man was sitting in a chair he had had placed at the foot of the throne.
He frowned as he caught his first glimpse of his uncle. From what he knew of the man, Stoffel would be very reluctant to give up his power, but his uncle smiled serenely at him as he entered. He was immediately suspicious, and decided to be on his guard.
‘Gwendal!’
He turned to his mother at her joyous cry, and allowed himself to be hugged and held close in public. She was visibly overjoyed to see him again, her eyes shone and she looked to be on the verge of tears. He gave her a small smile as he disengaged himself from her, and she beamed back at him.
‘We have much to discuss,’ Stoffel said, standing up and leading the way to the adjoining room. ‘Come.’ He turned at the entrance to the room, and spoke to Conrart: ‘I’m sure you have tasks of your own to attend to, Lord Weller, so let us not keep you.’
Conrart said nothing, his face going blank as he bowed and walked away without a word. Gwendal grit his teeth at the slight, Conrart had given all he could to Shin Makoku, he had proved himself more of a patriot than Stoffel could ever be, and still the man had the audacity to treat his brother that way.
He clenched his fists as he saw his mother gaze after Conrart sorrowfully-without a word-before averting her gaze as she entered the room. He followed her, giving a wide berth to his uncle’s retainer, and saw that Gunter was waiting for them, reading glasses perched on his nose, and a large map of Shin Makoku spread on the table before him.
‘Welcome back, Gwendal,’ he said, looking up with a tired smile. He nodded back at the man, and crossed the room to stand at his side and look down at the map, too.
‘Gunter, if you would like to tell Gwendal all that has been happening in his absence,’ Stoffel prompted, and Gunter’s lips thinned as he looked up at the man and nodded. ‘Yes, your Excellency.’
He looked down into the map again, and Gwendal followed his gaze.
‘Lady Ulrike tells us she cannot pinpoint the exact location of the new Maou because he has never visited this world before, and his life force is unfamiliar to her. Therefore, he is not visible to her, and we must search for him ourselves.’
‘When did he arrive?’
‘Nearly an hour ago. Lady Ulrike said she felt the Great One’s power drawing him here, but now it is up to us to find the new Maou.’
‘Is there any way of identifying him?’ Gwendal asked, suddenly struck by how vast a task this was. No wonder Gunter had seemed so relieved to see him.
‘Conrart told us that the new Maou is almost certainly a double black,’ Gunter replied, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead. ‘Which should make him easy to identify, wouldn’t you agree?’
‘A double black?!’ He looked at Gunter in amazement, and the man nodded.
‘That is what Conrart says.’
‘I see.’
He stared down at the map, already calculating the number of men they would need to do a proper and thorough search, and whether the other Nobles would have to be involved, as well. When he had gotten the carrier pigeon that summoned him because the Maou had arrived, his heart had leapt at the thought that he could finally leave Voltaire, and he had assumed that he would arrive to greet the new king. Now, however…
He leaned forward, resting his hands on the map. ‘We’ll need to search every province,’ he said, and Gunter nodded. ‘Word has already been sent to each of the Nobles,’ he replied. ‘They shall each be on the lookout, but it is up to us to search the more far flung areas of the kingdom. I was planning to send Conrart and Yozak to the areas along the borders with the human countries, they can search there without any fear of the humans’ magic.’
Gwendal nodded. He would have to send a pigeon to Voltaire castle, as well, asking them to take up the search. ‘I shall have my men stationed at the border checkposts of each province. Granted, a double black will cause comment and commotion wherever he goes, but we must be prepared for everything. I, myself, will be at the checkposts to the capital city.’
‘I wish you luck,’ Stoffel said, and he looked up to meet the other man’s eyes. ‘We must all hope to find His Majesty quickly. After all, the future of Shin Makoku depends on it.’
Stoffel smiled at him, and Gwendal narrowed his eyes. Yes, the man was definitely planning something.
~
He got his answer three hours later, when a messenger came from Covenant castle for him, with urgent summons from his mother: the Maou had been found.
He took off as quickly as he could, somehow feeling suspicious of the whole thing. The Maou had been found too easily for someone who did not know the language and the country. But then, he was a conspicuous double black, so perhaps it was not so strange that he had been found so soon.
As a precaution, however, he sent a carrier pigeon to Conrart before he set out, just to check up on a few little details.
He entered the castle and dismounted easily, smiling wryly at the feeling of déjà vu he experienced. He made his way quickly to the throne room, certain that he would find everyone there. The murmur of conversation reached his ears, and he entered to find Stoffel in his familiar throne, his retainer Raven a shadow at his side, as always. His mother was seated at his uncle’s side, but she looked pensive, while Gunter sat next to her, frowning.
‘Well, where is he?’
‘Ah, Gwendal,’ Stoffel said, smiling. ‘Direct as always.’ He turned to his retainer. ‘Raven, be so kind as to escort our new Maou here.’ The man bowed, and moved away. ‘Have a seat, nephew,’ Stoffel went on, still with that damned smile in place. ‘Make yourself comfortable.’
He clenched his fist and ignored his anger as he took his seat next to Gunter. He leaned closer to the man, muttering quietly so that Stoffel wouldn’t hear him. ‘Who found the Maou?’
‘One of Stoffel’s men, which is why both Lady Celi and I were suspicious. We felt it was best for you to be here as well.’
He nodded, agreeing with the wisdom of the words. At that moment, the doors to the throne room were opened again, and Raven entered and bowed.
‘His Majesty King Yuuri Shibuya, Maou of Shin Makoku.’
A black haired, black eyed man entered, sweeping them all a haughty look. He was dressed as Stoffel was, and Gwendal narrowed his eyes at the proprietary manner in which he assessed the room.
‘So this is your throne room, is it?’ he drawled in a bored tone. ‘Well, I suppose it will have to do.’
Gwendal exchanged a glance with Gunter. The man seemed to speak their language easily enough, which was surprising. Conrart had told them that anyone from the alternate world would find it difficult to speak their own tongue, but this man seemed to have no problems. He also seemed to be overly familiar with the castle, something else which did not sit right.
‘Welcome, your Majesty,’ his mother said, standing up with a smile. ‘We are so pleased that you have come, at last.’
The man nodded to her, and Raven murmured quietly at his side: ‘Allow me to introduce our twenty sixth Maou to your Majesty. This is Lady Cecilie von Spitzveg, whom you will be replacing.’
This had gone on long enough. Gwendal stood abruptly, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at the double black. ‘Forgive me, but we cannot just accept that you are the Maou without proof.’
‘Proof!?’ the man snarled angrily. ‘You would demand proof from your king? The insolence! I should have you-’
‘Now, now, your Majesty,’ Stoffel broke in, ‘Lord von Voltaire is only doing what he thinks best. You wouldn’t expect any less from the Commander of your Army, would you?’
The man subsided at the words, and now Gwendal was almost certain that he was a fake, it seemed as if Stoffel had jumped in before he could give it away by saying too much. Now all he had to do was wait for the message from Conrart, and then he could be sure.
He glared at the man claiming to be the Maou, and he glared back at him. ‘We need some proof,’ he reiterated, and Stoffel stood up, as well.
‘What would you have our Maou do, Gwendal?’ he asked, still in that reasonable tone of voice, as if the man wanted nothing more than to satisfy him completely.
‘If he is truly from another world, he should be able to tell us a little about it,’ he replied, hoping desperately that Conrart’s reply would come soon. He couldn’t betray himself with a glance at the window, but he could’ve sworn he could hear the flap of wings coming his way…
‘What’s that?’ Gunter murmured quietly, and everyone turned to the window. ‘It looks like a carrier pigeon,’ he went on. He cut a glance at Gwendal, who nodded imperceptibly. ‘I shall see to it, please do not let yourselves be disturbed,’ Gunter said smoothly as he stood up and made his way to the window.
‘What do you want to know about the other world?’ the king asked, now back to his bored drawl. ‘It is very much like this one, with large provinces, and a king ruling over the land-’
‘Does this king know about you, the Maou?’
‘Of course not,’ Yuuri said with a smirk. ‘Surely he would see me as a rival for his power. I have spent my life pretending to be an ordinary citizen until the moment when I could come here to claim my birthright.’
Gunter stepped back toward them, and passed the note into Gwendal’s hand. He looked down at it, and smirked in triumph. ‘And could you tell us something of the language you speak there, your Majesty?’
‘Language?’
He looked up to see a momentary spasm of worry cross the man’s face. Got you, he thought exultantly, cutting his eyes to Stoffel’s own impassive face. He could see it all now, his uncle had planted a fake double black somewhere, coaching him to impersonate the new Maou; but he did not know the things only Conrart knew, because he had never thought any information a half breed like Conrart could give them would be worthwhile.
‘Yes,’ he went on, enjoying the look on the impostor’s face. ‘Language. What is it that you speak there?’
‘Lord von Voltaire, your questions grow impertinent!’ the fake king shouted, hoping he could bluff his way out of it with bluster. ‘I should have you-’
‘No, I shall have you arrested for attempting to impersonate the king!’ Gwendal thundered, crumpling the note in his hand and slipping it into his pocket. ‘Guards!’ The doors burst open, and five soldiers rushed in. ‘Arrest him, and have him taken down into the dungeons. I shall be down to deal with him momentarily.’
The man went wild then, there really was no other explanation for it. With a desperate look at the guards, he flung up an arm and called on his maryokou. Before his strike could attack the guards, however, Gunter called up a barrier around the soldiers, and Raven had disarmed the man with a blow to the head. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious, and the spell that had been used to change the colour of his hair faded away, leaving it a pale purple.
‘Apparently that wasn’t his natural hair colour, after all,’ his mother said gaily, laughing as she looked up at him, her eyes shining with pride. ‘Well done, Gwendal.’
He gave her a smile in return, but it stiffened in place when Stoffel smiled at him as well, congratulating him on saving them all from making a grave mistake. I know you’re behind it, you bastard, he thought. I know it, and you know I know it, but you’re also smart enough to cover your tracks, so I’ll find nothing when I question this man, and all we can do is smile at each other like this.
‘Excellency!’
He turned away from Stoffel’s smug smile and looked at the messenger that had just run into the room.
‘Excellency, Lord Weller has just sent a dispatch! He’s found the Maou!’
~
She stopped on her third circuit of her lab, clenching her hands behind her back as she tried to get herself under control. It seemed like everything had happened in one day, Gwendal’s return, the Maou’s arrival, his engagement to Wolfram and the subsequent duel-with the new Maou’s impressive display of maryokou-oh, how she’d love to get her hands on him for one of her experiments…
And Gwendal hadn’t come to see her yet.
Granted, the man was busy, but he could have spared five minutes of his time for her! He knew she had no way of meeting the Maou right away, the least he could have done was to find a moment to tell her about their new king.
Of course, it had been nearly nine years since they had spoken at all-they had only been able to share a brief nod of greeting and a quick clasp of the hand when he had passed her in the corridor on the way to dinner with the Maou-and she was looking forward to catching up with him, too.
And still he had not come.
With a sigh, she turned away from the door, where she had paused in her pacing, and strode briskly to the beaker where her latest potion was brewing. Lady Celi had been very impressed by it; gushing that the test sample she’d left in the bath had directly led to Wolfram’s engagement to the Maou, and she’d immediately requested another large bottle. Anissina smirked as she stirred it with a spoon and turned off the burner underneath it. People called her a ‘crazy inventor’, but it just took them a while to see the genius behind her work.
She held her hand over the beaker and called on her maryokou, directing the wind so that it quickly cooled the potion. Perfect, she thought, lifting it up and examining the pale pink liquid for any impurities. Taking the bottle Celi had given her, she poured the potion quickly and expertly into it. Setting the beaker aside, she made her way to the door and started walking down the moon brightened corridors. Perhaps now that the Maou was asleep, she could find a few minutes to talk to Gwendal.
Speak of the devil, she thought, a smile crossing her face when she caught sight of his broad silhouette before her.
‘Gwendaaal!’ she called, and he started as he turned around. ‘Just the man I wanted to see!’ she cried, putting on a serious face. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to return, there’re a few inventions that need your maryokou-’
She broke off at the frightened look that crossed his face, doing her best to hold in her laughter, but it was too much. He frowned when she started laughing, narrowing his eyes at her in anger when she had to clap her free hand to her mouth to stifle the giggles.
‘Very funny,’ he said coldly, and she laughed harder.
‘Serves you right for being too busy to meet an old friend,’ she cried unrepentantly. ‘Really, Gwendal, you could have spared five minutes to tell me about the new Maou!’
‘I was> busy,’ he snapped back, crossing his arms defensively. ‘Not all of us spend our time making useless ‘inventions’,’ he said, putting a world of scorn into the last word.
‘Useless!’ she cried, stung to the quick. ‘Who made the swords and shields of your army stronger? Who invented Trebuchet-kun that was such a success in all the battles? Who-’
‘And what’s your latest invention?’ he interrupted challengingly, looking down at the bottle in her hands. ‘It doesn’t seem very useful to me.’
‘This resulted in Wolfram’s engagement, I’ll have you know!’
‘So you were the one responsible for that!’
‘And your mother was very happy with it, too!’
‘So what about you?’ he asked her, narrowing his eyes and moving closer. ‘Are you engaged, too?’
‘Engaged?’ she asked, frowning in confusion. ‘Of course not. Why do you ask?’
‘You’ve been exposed to that perfume for a while now, haven’t you? And since it’s success is measured in proposals,’ he scoffed, ‘I was wondering if you had received any. Or made any.’
‘Well, that just shows how little you know,’ she snapped back at him. ‘I’ve built an immunity to this perfume, after all, I’ve been around it for nearly a month now. And besides, there’s no one I was even remotely interested in. This castle is only full of irritating dunderheads like you!’
‘Good,’ he said softly, and she realised the insult had sailed right over his head. He took another step closer, and her hand tightened on the neck of the bottle in her hand as she stood her ground. Had he always been this tall, she wondered dazedly, staring up at him as he loomed over her. He raised a hand to her cheek, and her breath stuttered in her throat.
‘Gwendal,’ she said softly, her own hand finding its way to his collar as she took a step closer to him, unable to help herself. She forgot what she wanted to say, though, now that she was close enough to see that his eyes had dilated, and that his gaze was riveted to her open mouth…
Her heart was pounding, her breath coming in harsh pants, and he was staring at her with such heat in his eyes that she couldn’t take it anymore, she leaned up, her mouth a whisper away from his, his hot breath ghosting over her lips and making her shiver as she strained upwards to close the small gap between them…
‘Gwen!’
She gasped as he stepped away, blinking furiously as if dazed. His gaze skittered away from hers as he drew in a harsh inhale and turned to greet the newcomer.
‘Mother.’
‘Oooh, forgive me, dear,’ she cried as she came up to them, the mischief in her eyes positively indecent as she looked at the two of them. ‘I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?’
‘What is it, mother?’
‘Gunter wants to meet you,’ Lady Celi replied, her eyes dancing, even as a muscle ticked in her son’s cheek. ‘Something about one of the frontier villages.’
He nodded, and Anissina caught his brief moment of hesitation before he turned away. He didn’t look back at her, however, and she seethed as she watched him stride away from her as if they hadn’t just almost-
‘Oh, is that my perfume?’
She looked up, startled out of her thoughts. Lady Celi pointed at the bottle in her hands, repeating her question, and she nodded.
‘Yes, of course, Lady Celi.’ Anissina handed the bottle over to the woman, and bowed as she took it. ‘Goodnight, my lady.’
She did not wait for a reply, and thus she did not see Lady Celi smile, and fondly pat the bottle in her hands as she gazed after her.
~
A/N: So Yuuri is finally here! Yay! =)
Also, a trebuchet is something like a catapult. More info here.
Many thanks to all the readers, all concrit and comments are very welcome. =)
Sequel is Best Served Cold.
Title: Almost
Pairings: Gwendal/Anissina
Word Count: 3,425
Rating: PG-13, I guess
Any Warnings: None, really.
Prompt being used: Quote: "Apparently that isn't his/her natural hair color after all."
Timeline: Yuuri is arriving!
Disclaimer: I own none of these very entertaining characters, please don’t sue me. Thank you.
Part of my Gwendal/Anissina series. Follows from ‘Moments’.
Also, yay! I get to be the first entry for this round. =)
~
‘Is it true?’
He brought his heaving horse under control, looking down at Conrart as he waited for an answer.
His brother nodded. ‘Lady Ulrike tells us that His Majesty is somewhere in Shin Makoku even as we speak.’
Gwendal patted his horse as he dismounted; he had ridden hard and fast and he was grateful that the animal had not let him down.
He followed Conrart into the castle, determinedly not looking around to see what had changed in the years he had been away. He had lived in this castle for years, he’d be damned if he’d start gawking like a tourist.
They went straight to the throne room, where his mother and Stoffel were waiting. He was pleased to see that Stoffel hadn’t taken the Maou’s throne himself; rather, the man was sitting in a chair he had had placed at the foot of the throne.
He frowned as he caught his first glimpse of his uncle. From what he knew of the man, Stoffel would be very reluctant to give up his power, but his uncle smiled serenely at him as he entered. He was immediately suspicious, and decided to be on his guard.
‘Gwendal!’
He turned to his mother at her joyous cry, and allowed himself to be hugged and held close in public. She was visibly overjoyed to see him again, her eyes shone and she looked to be on the verge of tears. He gave her a small smile as he disengaged himself from her, and she beamed back at him.
‘We have much to discuss,’ Stoffel said, standing up and leading the way to the adjoining room. ‘Come.’ He turned at the entrance to the room, and spoke to Conrart: ‘I’m sure you have tasks of your own to attend to, Lord Weller, so let us not keep you.’
Conrart said nothing, his face going blank as he bowed and walked away without a word. Gwendal grit his teeth at the slight, Conrart had given all he could to Shin Makoku, he had proved himself more of a patriot than Stoffel could ever be, and still the man had the audacity to treat his brother that way.
He clenched his fists as he saw his mother gaze after Conrart sorrowfully-without a word-before averting her gaze as she entered the room. He followed her, giving a wide berth to his uncle’s retainer, and saw that Gunter was waiting for them, reading glasses perched on his nose, and a large map of Shin Makoku spread on the table before him.
‘Welcome back, Gwendal,’ he said, looking up with a tired smile. He nodded back at the man, and crossed the room to stand at his side and look down at the map, too.
‘Gunter, if you would like to tell Gwendal all that has been happening in his absence,’ Stoffel prompted, and Gunter’s lips thinned as he looked up at the man and nodded. ‘Yes, your Excellency.’
He looked down into the map again, and Gwendal followed his gaze.
‘Lady Ulrike tells us she cannot pinpoint the exact location of the new Maou because he has never visited this world before, and his life force is unfamiliar to her. Therefore, he is not visible to her, and we must search for him ourselves.’
‘When did he arrive?’
‘Nearly an hour ago. Lady Ulrike said she felt the Great One’s power drawing him here, but now it is up to us to find the new Maou.’
‘Is there any way of identifying him?’ Gwendal asked, suddenly struck by how vast a task this was. No wonder Gunter had seemed so relieved to see him.
‘Conrart told us that the new Maou is almost certainly a double black,’ Gunter replied, taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead. ‘Which should make him easy to identify, wouldn’t you agree?’
‘A double black?!’ He looked at Gunter in amazement, and the man nodded.
‘That is what Conrart says.’
‘I see.’
He stared down at the map, already calculating the number of men they would need to do a proper and thorough search, and whether the other Nobles would have to be involved, as well. When he had gotten the carrier pigeon that summoned him because the Maou had arrived, his heart had leapt at the thought that he could finally leave Voltaire, and he had assumed that he would arrive to greet the new king. Now, however…
He leaned forward, resting his hands on the map. ‘We’ll need to search every province,’ he said, and Gunter nodded. ‘Word has already been sent to each of the Nobles,’ he replied. ‘They shall each be on the lookout, but it is up to us to search the more far flung areas of the kingdom. I was planning to send Conrart and Yozak to the areas along the borders with the human countries, they can search there without any fear of the humans’ magic.’
Gwendal nodded. He would have to send a pigeon to Voltaire castle, as well, asking them to take up the search. ‘I shall have my men stationed at the border checkposts of each province. Granted, a double black will cause comment and commotion wherever he goes, but we must be prepared for everything. I, myself, will be at the checkposts to the capital city.’
‘I wish you luck,’ Stoffel said, and he looked up to meet the other man’s eyes. ‘We must all hope to find His Majesty quickly. After all, the future of Shin Makoku depends on it.’
Stoffel smiled at him, and Gwendal narrowed his eyes. Yes, the man was definitely planning something.
~
He got his answer three hours later, when a messenger came from Covenant castle for him, with urgent summons from his mother: the Maou had been found.
He took off as quickly as he could, somehow feeling suspicious of the whole thing. The Maou had been found too easily for someone who did not know the language and the country. But then, he was a conspicuous double black, so perhaps it was not so strange that he had been found so soon.
As a precaution, however, he sent a carrier pigeon to Conrart before he set out, just to check up on a few little details.
He entered the castle and dismounted easily, smiling wryly at the feeling of déjà vu he experienced. He made his way quickly to the throne room, certain that he would find everyone there. The murmur of conversation reached his ears, and he entered to find Stoffel in his familiar throne, his retainer Raven a shadow at his side, as always. His mother was seated at his uncle’s side, but she looked pensive, while Gunter sat next to her, frowning.
‘Well, where is he?’
‘Ah, Gwendal,’ Stoffel said, smiling. ‘Direct as always.’ He turned to his retainer. ‘Raven, be so kind as to escort our new Maou here.’ The man bowed, and moved away. ‘Have a seat, nephew,’ Stoffel went on, still with that damned smile in place. ‘Make yourself comfortable.’
He clenched his fist and ignored his anger as he took his seat next to Gunter. He leaned closer to the man, muttering quietly so that Stoffel wouldn’t hear him. ‘Who found the Maou?’
‘One of Stoffel’s men, which is why both Lady Celi and I were suspicious. We felt it was best for you to be here as well.’
He nodded, agreeing with the wisdom of the words. At that moment, the doors to the throne room were opened again, and Raven entered and bowed.
‘His Majesty King Yuuri Shibuya, Maou of Shin Makoku.’
A black haired, black eyed man entered, sweeping them all a haughty look. He was dressed as Stoffel was, and Gwendal narrowed his eyes at the proprietary manner in which he assessed the room.
‘So this is your throne room, is it?’ he drawled in a bored tone. ‘Well, I suppose it will have to do.’
Gwendal exchanged a glance with Gunter. The man seemed to speak their language easily enough, which was surprising. Conrart had told them that anyone from the alternate world would find it difficult to speak their own tongue, but this man seemed to have no problems. He also seemed to be overly familiar with the castle, something else which did not sit right.
‘Welcome, your Majesty,’ his mother said, standing up with a smile. ‘We are so pleased that you have come, at last.’
The man nodded to her, and Raven murmured quietly at his side: ‘Allow me to introduce our twenty sixth Maou to your Majesty. This is Lady Cecilie von Spitzveg, whom you will be replacing.’
This had gone on long enough. Gwendal stood abruptly, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at the double black. ‘Forgive me, but we cannot just accept that you are the Maou without proof.’
‘Proof!?’ the man snarled angrily. ‘You would demand proof from your king? The insolence! I should have you-’
‘Now, now, your Majesty,’ Stoffel broke in, ‘Lord von Voltaire is only doing what he thinks best. You wouldn’t expect any less from the Commander of your Army, would you?’
The man subsided at the words, and now Gwendal was almost certain that he was a fake, it seemed as if Stoffel had jumped in before he could give it away by saying too much. Now all he had to do was wait for the message from Conrart, and then he could be sure.
He glared at the man claiming to be the Maou, and he glared back at him. ‘We need some proof,’ he reiterated, and Stoffel stood up, as well.
‘What would you have our Maou do, Gwendal?’ he asked, still in that reasonable tone of voice, as if the man wanted nothing more than to satisfy him completely.
‘If he is truly from another world, he should be able to tell us a little about it,’ he replied, hoping desperately that Conrart’s reply would come soon. He couldn’t betray himself with a glance at the window, but he could’ve sworn he could hear the flap of wings coming his way…
‘What’s that?’ Gunter murmured quietly, and everyone turned to the window. ‘It looks like a carrier pigeon,’ he went on. He cut a glance at Gwendal, who nodded imperceptibly. ‘I shall see to it, please do not let yourselves be disturbed,’ Gunter said smoothly as he stood up and made his way to the window.
‘What do you want to know about the other world?’ the king asked, now back to his bored drawl. ‘It is very much like this one, with large provinces, and a king ruling over the land-’
‘Does this king know about you, the Maou?’
‘Of course not,’ Yuuri said with a smirk. ‘Surely he would see me as a rival for his power. I have spent my life pretending to be an ordinary citizen until the moment when I could come here to claim my birthright.’
Gunter stepped back toward them, and passed the note into Gwendal’s hand. He looked down at it, and smirked in triumph. ‘And could you tell us something of the language you speak there, your Majesty?’
‘Language?’
He looked up to see a momentary spasm of worry cross the man’s face. Got you, he thought exultantly, cutting his eyes to Stoffel’s own impassive face. He could see it all now, his uncle had planted a fake double black somewhere, coaching him to impersonate the new Maou; but he did not know the things only Conrart knew, because he had never thought any information a half breed like Conrart could give them would be worthwhile.
‘Yes,’ he went on, enjoying the look on the impostor’s face. ‘Language. What is it that you speak there?’
‘Lord von Voltaire, your questions grow impertinent!’ the fake king shouted, hoping he could bluff his way out of it with bluster. ‘I should have you-’
‘No, I shall have you arrested for attempting to impersonate the king!’ Gwendal thundered, crumpling the note in his hand and slipping it into his pocket. ‘Guards!’ The doors burst open, and five soldiers rushed in. ‘Arrest him, and have him taken down into the dungeons. I shall be down to deal with him momentarily.’
The man went wild then, there really was no other explanation for it. With a desperate look at the guards, he flung up an arm and called on his maryokou. Before his strike could attack the guards, however, Gunter called up a barrier around the soldiers, and Raven had disarmed the man with a blow to the head. He collapsed to the floor, unconscious, and the spell that had been used to change the colour of his hair faded away, leaving it a pale purple.
‘Apparently that wasn’t his natural hair colour, after all,’ his mother said gaily, laughing as she looked up at him, her eyes shining with pride. ‘Well done, Gwendal.’
He gave her a smile in return, but it stiffened in place when Stoffel smiled at him as well, congratulating him on saving them all from making a grave mistake. I know you’re behind it, you bastard, he thought. I know it, and you know I know it, but you’re also smart enough to cover your tracks, so I’ll find nothing when I question this man, and all we can do is smile at each other like this.
‘Excellency!’
He turned away from Stoffel’s smug smile and looked at the messenger that had just run into the room.
‘Excellency, Lord Weller has just sent a dispatch! He’s found the Maou!’
~
She stopped on her third circuit of her lab, clenching her hands behind her back as she tried to get herself under control. It seemed like everything had happened in one day, Gwendal’s return, the Maou’s arrival, his engagement to Wolfram and the subsequent duel-with the new Maou’s impressive display of maryokou-oh, how she’d love to get her hands on him for one of her experiments…
And Gwendal hadn’t come to see her yet.
Granted, the man was busy, but he could have spared five minutes of his time for her! He knew she had no way of meeting the Maou right away, the least he could have done was to find a moment to tell her about their new king.
Of course, it had been nearly nine years since they had spoken at all-they had only been able to share a brief nod of greeting and a quick clasp of the hand when he had passed her in the corridor on the way to dinner with the Maou-and she was looking forward to catching up with him, too.
And still he had not come.
With a sigh, she turned away from the door, where she had paused in her pacing, and strode briskly to the beaker where her latest potion was brewing. Lady Celi had been very impressed by it; gushing that the test sample she’d left in the bath had directly led to Wolfram’s engagement to the Maou, and she’d immediately requested another large bottle. Anissina smirked as she stirred it with a spoon and turned off the burner underneath it. People called her a ‘crazy inventor’, but it just took them a while to see the genius behind her work.
She held her hand over the beaker and called on her maryokou, directing the wind so that it quickly cooled the potion. Perfect, she thought, lifting it up and examining the pale pink liquid for any impurities. Taking the bottle Celi had given her, she poured the potion quickly and expertly into it. Setting the beaker aside, she made her way to the door and started walking down the moon brightened corridors. Perhaps now that the Maou was asleep, she could find a few minutes to talk to Gwendal.
Speak of the devil, she thought, a smile crossing her face when she caught sight of his broad silhouette before her.
‘Gwendaaal!’ she called, and he started as he turned around. ‘Just the man I wanted to see!’ she cried, putting on a serious face. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to return, there’re a few inventions that need your maryokou-’
She broke off at the frightened look that crossed his face, doing her best to hold in her laughter, but it was too much. He frowned when she started laughing, narrowing his eyes at her in anger when she had to clap her free hand to her mouth to stifle the giggles.
‘Very funny,’ he said coldly, and she laughed harder.
‘Serves you right for being too busy to meet an old friend,’ she cried unrepentantly. ‘Really, Gwendal, you could have spared five minutes to tell me about the new Maou!’
‘I was> busy,’ he snapped back, crossing his arms defensively. ‘Not all of us spend our time making useless ‘inventions’,’ he said, putting a world of scorn into the last word.
‘Useless!’ she cried, stung to the quick. ‘Who made the swords and shields of your army stronger? Who invented Trebuchet-kun that was such a success in all the battles? Who-’
‘And what’s your latest invention?’ he interrupted challengingly, looking down at the bottle in her hands. ‘It doesn’t seem very useful to me.’
‘This resulted in Wolfram’s engagement, I’ll have you know!’
‘So you were the one responsible for that!’
‘And your mother was very happy with it, too!’
‘So what about you?’ he asked her, narrowing his eyes and moving closer. ‘Are you engaged, too?’
‘Engaged?’ she asked, frowning in confusion. ‘Of course not. Why do you ask?’
‘You’ve been exposed to that perfume for a while now, haven’t you? And since it’s success is measured in proposals,’ he scoffed, ‘I was wondering if you had received any. Or made any.’
‘Well, that just shows how little you know,’ she snapped back at him. ‘I’ve built an immunity to this perfume, after all, I’ve been around it for nearly a month now. And besides, there’s no one I was even remotely interested in. This castle is only full of irritating dunderheads like you!’
‘Good,’ he said softly, and she realised the insult had sailed right over his head. He took another step closer, and her hand tightened on the neck of the bottle in her hand as she stood her ground. Had he always been this tall, she wondered dazedly, staring up at him as he loomed over her. He raised a hand to her cheek, and her breath stuttered in her throat.
‘Gwendal,’ she said softly, her own hand finding its way to his collar as she took a step closer to him, unable to help herself. She forgot what she wanted to say, though, now that she was close enough to see that his eyes had dilated, and that his gaze was riveted to her open mouth…
Her heart was pounding, her breath coming in harsh pants, and he was staring at her with such heat in his eyes that she couldn’t take it anymore, she leaned up, her mouth a whisper away from his, his hot breath ghosting over her lips and making her shiver as she strained upwards to close the small gap between them…
‘Gwen!’
She gasped as he stepped away, blinking furiously as if dazed. His gaze skittered away from hers as he drew in a harsh inhale and turned to greet the newcomer.
‘Mother.’
‘Oooh, forgive me, dear,’ she cried as she came up to them, the mischief in her eyes positively indecent as she looked at the two of them. ‘I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?’
‘What is it, mother?’
‘Gunter wants to meet you,’ Lady Celi replied, her eyes dancing, even as a muscle ticked in her son’s cheek. ‘Something about one of the frontier villages.’
He nodded, and Anissina caught his brief moment of hesitation before he turned away. He didn’t look back at her, however, and she seethed as she watched him stride away from her as if they hadn’t just almost-
‘Oh, is that my perfume?’
She looked up, startled out of her thoughts. Lady Celi pointed at the bottle in her hands, repeating her question, and she nodded.
‘Yes, of course, Lady Celi.’ Anissina handed the bottle over to the woman, and bowed as she took it. ‘Goodnight, my lady.’
She did not wait for a reply, and thus she did not see Lady Celi smile, and fondly pat the bottle in her hands as she gazed after her.
~
A/N: So Yuuri is finally here! Yay! =)
Also, a trebuchet is something like a catapult. More info here.
Many thanks to all the readers, all concrit and comments are very welcome. =)
Sequel is Best Served Cold.