venenatus.venustas (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} digindeeper) wrote,@ 2008-11-17 01:23:00 |
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| Entry tags: | f: w-inds., p: keixryu, x: multi |
Till Death Do Us Part AU (Keita/Ryuichi, R, Part 6)
Title: Till Death Do Us Part
Pairing: Keita/Ryuichi
Author: venenatus.venustas
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Don’t own them.
Warnings: So much crack.
Summary: In an ancient world reigned by a woman, Ryuichi is nothing more than the Queen’s brother, locked up in the palace and waiting for an appointed marriage. What happens when the Queen finally decides on a match for him?
Continued from: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5
A/N: Wow it's been a long time, ne~! I'm so sorry T-T m( _ _ )m
O.o o.O
It was dark, windy, stormy, with the rain coming down in diagonal sheets, like slashes in the night as the moonlight glinted off the water. The air was hot and muggy, humid, and it clung to Ryuichi’s skin like moss as he sat in the rose garden, rain pouring over him, hitting painfully against his face. It was the middle of the night, and his servants had been asleep when Ryuichi slipped out of the manor.
“Your Highness blushes like this kiss of colour on a white rose,” Takizawa murmured to Ryuichi, gazing meaningfully at him as his fingers traced over the petals.
Ryuichi hid a smile behind his fan. “Lord Takizawa, you flatter me.”
“Ah, but what rose can possibly compare to your beauty, Highness?” Takizawa sighed, turning away from the bush of white roses.
Ryuichi let out a soft laugh, and glanced over to the side, where Keita was standing watch. He leaned in closer to Takizawa. “And what think you of red roses?” He gave another quick glance towards Keita, whose eyes were sparkling dangerously at how close Ryuichi was to Takizawa.
“Red…such a dangerous colour,” Takizawa murmured, tracing the tip of his index finger along Ryuichi’s jaw.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryuichi saw Keita take a step forward.
“Passionate, no?” Ryuichi inquired, arching an eyebrow. The corners of his mouth curved into a smile when Takizawa’s fingertip brushed over his lower lip.
“Oh yes,” Takizawa answered, leaning in even closer.
“Your Highness,” Keita said tightly, forcing himself between Ryuichi and Takizawa. “It looks like rain.”
“Nonsense!” Takizawa said, glaring at Keita. “There is not a cloud in the sky!”
“I am rather tired,” Ryuichi said, sighing. He held his hand out. “Take me back to my rooms.”
Keita bowed deeply as he offered his arm. “Yes, Your Highness.” Ryuichi fluttered his fan as Takizawa paid his respects, staying in his bow for Ryuichi to be escorted out of the gardens. He flicked his hair over his shoulder as he turned back to the palace, hand on Keita’s arm, and was rewarded when Keita stiffened at the scent of his perfume, cheeks flushing and lips tightening as a frown furrowed his brow.
Ryuichi just hid his smirk behind the delicate lace of his fan.
Ryuichi sighed. The rain was cold, and he was shivering despite the heat and humidity, his head pounding in time with the raindrops hitting against him.
“Your Highness!”
Ryuichi whirled, gasping. “Keita! How did you find me?”
“Your Highness, you must return with me. It is not safe.”
“I’m not going back there! Not to a court full of people that bow at my feet and still manage to curse me behind my back.”
“That’s not true!” Keita insisted, grabbing Ryuichi by the wrist.
“Unhand me this instant!” Ryuichi ordered, and Keita fell to his knees in front of Ryuichi.
“Your Highness, I beg you, return with me!”
“No!” Ryuichi spun, but Keita grabbed him again, refusing to let go even though Ryuichi was shouting at him. “You are soiling me with your earthly touch!” Ryuichi screamed. “How dare you?”
He could see tears prickling in Keita’s eyes, but all he said was, “Your Highness, please return with me. You are a beloved prince, and I will not let you disappear when you are under my guard.”
“You’re asking me to go back to a prison! A prison where they stare at me like the demon they think I am! You think that too, don’t you? I am the curse that ended the thousand years of tradition! I am the curse that the magicians say will bring down the greatest dynasty in history!”
“I don’t think that! I don’t think ANY of that!” Keita shook him fiercely, and Ryuichi stared at him, eyes wide. “I never thought that,” he said, voice gentle, and Ryuichi’s vision clouded over in tears.
“I would rather I had never been born,” Ryuichi said, chin trembling.
“Shh,” Keita said, wiping away the tears. “You cannot blame your birth for her death. I know what happened that night you were born. Complications…you cannot blame yourself for them. It was a miracle that you were saved. And I believe that the spirit of Her Majesty lives on in you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Ryuichi hiccupped as he leaned his head onto Keita’s chest, and Keita stood, shocked, arms by his side as Ryuichi cried into his robe.
“Your Highness,” Keita said softly, and raised a trembling hand to touch Ryuichi’s hair, so light that Ryuichi thought he imagined it. “Will you go back with me?”
Ryuichi shook his head. “No. I cannot. I will not.”
“Then forgive me,” Keita said, and before Ryuichi could respond, picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” Ryuichi screamed, kicking wildly.
“Your Highness, I am your sworn Protector. I would give my life to keep you from harm. There is no place outside of the palace that is safe for you to go, and so I must take you back with me, even against your wishes.”
But suddenly, Ryuichi was thrown from Keita’s shoulder, and there were hands on him, pulling him up off the ground. He looked up and saw Keita hunched over, hand pressed over a knife wound to his side that he had just managed to dodge from being stabbed in the stomach.
“Keita!” Ryuichi shouted, but a handkerchief was clasped over his mouth, and his head spun almost instantly. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Keita screaming for him, drawing his sword just in time to block another blow from their attackers.
Ryuichi lay down sideways on the stone bench he was sitting on. It would be nice, he thought, to die here.
The rain wasn’t letting up, and he was starting to feel dizzy, but Ryuichi didn’t move, raindrops sliding off his eyelashes as he squinted at the rose bush in front of him. Keita used to bring him roses whenever it rained and Ryuichi was not allowed outside. Everyone knew that the young prince loved roses the best, but no one knew that it happened starting from the day Keita won the coveted position as the Royal Protector, when he knelt before the thirteen-year-old prince, offering him a single white rose, and his life.
O.o o.O
“Master! Master!” Hikaru and Kaoru burst into Keita’s bedroom, not even bothering to knock.
“Get out,” Keita muttered, from behind the drawn curtains of his bed.
“Mistress!” Kaoru gasped. “He…”
“Rain,” Hikaru panted, both of them winded from having sprinted through the manor.
“Last night,” Kaoru wheezed.
Keita sighed, sitting up. “Speak properly, or leave me be.”
“Mistress was missing so we went looking and he was in the rose garden and he was soaked and oh my god fever burning him up so we carried him back but he’s delirious and oh god what should we do?” the twins managed to say in one breath, and Keita felt his chest seize up, hands shaking as he yanked the curtains away to get out of bed.
“I need to see him. Send for the doctor.”
“I will go,” Mori said immediately, as Keita strode out of his suite.
“Hurry! Take my horse,” Keita said, catching Mori on the elbow as he passed. “It’s the fastest.”
“Yes, Master.” A quick bow, and Mori was gone.
Keita’s heart pulsed loudly, blood rushing through his ears as he practically ran through the manor, Honey at his heels and the twins scurrying along behind them.
If anything happened to Ryuichi…well, it didn’t matter, because Keita was already blaming himself.
O.o o.O
It was so, so hot.
And he was so, so cold.
Ryuichi shivered, sweat making his nightgown stick to his skin, making his hair clump in locks to the sides of his face and the back of his neck.
A cool, wet towel wiped the dampness off his brow, and Ryuichi moaned when the towel made its way to his neck and shoulders. It felt so good against the sweltering heat of his body, but gooseflesh rose on his skin as he shuddered from the cold, hands fisting even tighter into his fluffy down comforter.
“Hush, my love, bear with me. This will make you more comfortable.”
Soft, warm lips pressed against his forehead briefly, and Ryuichi groaned before sighing, turning his head to the side as he sunk back into the recesses of sleep.
O.o o.O
Manami was rarely let out of the palace, confined within its walls for security reasons, and so it was a surprise to all when Ryohei, staying in one of the guest suites, announced that Her Majesty the Queen would be arriving that very afternoon. Bad news, of course, travel by the swiftest wings, and Manami had heard of her brother’s illness only hours after the doctor had been informed of it herself.
Keita’s household had naturally been terrified when they heard the news, having never been in the presence of the Queen. Keita, however, remained by Ryuichi’s side, Ryohei’s whispered words barely registering in his ears.
“Keita,” Ryohei said urgently, shaking Keita by the shoulders. “The Queen. You need to…you can’t…”
“If she’s going to behead me for writing about divorcing Ryuichi, then so be it. I have caused him so much suffering already…I do not deserve to live,” Keita muttered in reply, taking Ryuichi’s hand in his and pressing a kiss to it. “As long as he recovers, I shall be content with whatever punishment is decided for me.”
Ryohei made a frustrated noise, fluttering his fan as he turned away from Keita. “I’m going to receive her,” he said. “She will not take this insult lightly.” Keita ignored him, stroking Ryuichi’s hand, damp with sweat, and brushed some hair away from Ryuichi’s face when he turned on the pillow, lips falling open as he sighed in his sleep.
When the double doors of Ryuichi’s bedroom were flung open with a loud bang, Keita kissed Ryuichi’s hand again, keeping his head lowered.
“Well now, White Lord, a good day to you too.” The Queen’s voice rang in Ryuichi’s bedroom, and Keita merely bowed his head.
“A good day to you, Your Majesty. I can only hope most humbly that Your Majesty will forgive my insolence, for I cannot bear to leave my lady’s side.”
“Is that so?” The Queen stopped by Ryuichi’s bedside, across from where Keita was sitting. “It certainly didn’t seem that way when I received your last letter.”
Keita opened his mouth to reply, mind buzzing as he thought frantically for an answer that would not incense Her Majesty any more, but he was interrupted when she spoke again.
“Enough about that matter. I am here to see my brother. Leave me with him; I have no wish to see you.”
Keita would rather cut off his own right arm than to leave Ryuichi when he was like this – gasping and tossing and all the times in between lying there in bed pale and still as a corpse – but he knew not to argue with the Queen, and so stood, giving an elaborate bow before backing away and closing the doors to Ryuichi’s bedroom softly after him.
O.o o.O
“Your Majesty,” Keita murmured, having fallen forward from where he had been kneeling on one knee, now prostrated on the ground before the Queen. “I beg of you to reconsider.”
“I have made my decision,” the Queen said. “My brother shall be removed from your household as soon as he is well enough to move. The doctor believes that he will be well enough to make the journey in two days.”
“Your Majesty –”
“Are you protesting, my dear White Lord, when I have only just received a letter from you, in your handwriting, requesting a divorce?” the Queen asked mildly, and Keita lowered his head, thankful his mask hid the look of shame on his face. “I am giving you an easy way out, my Lord. There will be no divorce to speak of; I will not hear of it. My brother will remain at the palace for health reasons.”
Keita’s throat constricted, and he struggled to reply. “Your Majesty is most kind and generous,” he began, “but my wife…”
“He is your wife only in name now,” the Queen said abruptly. “Do not misunderstand my generosity for weakness, White Lord. You are capable and brilliant, and I do not want to lose you but so help me if you push me any further –” The Queen’s hand was drawn up into a fist, trembling slightly, and Keita crawled forward, grasping the hem of her robe to kiss.
“Your Majesty –”
The Queen stepped back. “That will be all.”
Keita’s vision blurred, and he was glad his lowered head hid the tears that threatened to spill. “I thank you, Your Majesty.”
O.o o.O
“Ryuichi?” Ryohei asked tentatively, when Ryuichi’s lashes fluttered and his dry, cracked lips parted as he shifted under the covers.
“Ryohei?” Ryuichi’s voice was hoarse, and he swallowed, licking his lips, and Ryohei handed him a glass of juice.
“Here, take a sip of this.”
The sweet tang of cold apple juice seemed to bring his mouth back to life, and Ryuichi could suddenly taste how bitter his breath was and how dry his throat was and oh god, nothing had ever tasted so good to him before.
“That’s enough,” Ryohei said, taking the glass away from him. “You’ll upset your stomach.”
Ryuichi lay down again, closing his eyes against the sharp throbbing in his head and the weariness in his limbs. “What happened? Why are you here?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you instead? What were you trying to do, kill yourself?”
Ryuichi didn’t answer, looking down as he smoothed his hands over the bed covers.
Ryohei sighed. “God, Ryuichi. I don’t know what happened, but everything’s a mess. Her Majesty is here as well; she heard of your illness and came almost immediately.”
“Manami?” Ryuichi brightened. “She’s here? May I see her?”
“Wait.” Ryohei took Ryuichi’s hand as he perched on the edge of the bed. “Ryuichi, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“What…what is it?” Dread filled Ryuichi’s stomach, widening his eyes and paling his already pallid cheeks.
“Keita…he…”
“He’s leaving me,” Ryuichi said faintly.
Ryohei licked his lips nervously. “He asked for a divorce.”
Ryuichi’s hand clenched around Ryohei’s painfully, but Ryohei let him without a flinch or a complaint. “Divorce?” Ryuichi repeated, voice faint.
“Yes. I know there is no way Her Majesty will ever allow it, but she is moving you back into the palace, into your old quarters.”
“I don’t…why…” Ryuichi felt dizzy, and Ryohei’s voice sounded so far away, as if Ryuichi were underwater.
“I know Keita doesn’t want you to go, but Her Majesty is so riled up at the thought of – Ryuichi are you listening to me? Ryuichi? Oh my god, Ryuichi!” Ryohei jumped up as Ryuichi’s eyes rolled back into his head and his body went slack. “Someone get the doctor!” Ryohei ordered, turning to glare at the twin servants that stood in the corner of the room. “Oh god, Ryuichi,” he murmured to himself, lifting Ryuichi’s head back onto his pillow. “Please be alright.”
O.o o.O
It was after midnight when Keita crept into Ryuichi’s room like a thief in his own manor. Ryuichi’s curtains were drawn, and Keita pulled one back, careful to keep the fabric from the flames of the single candle that served as his only source of light.
Ryuichi slept deeply, if not peacefully, shifting occasionally and sighing as he would fling his covers away, too hot, but then shiver and draw them back around his shoulders.
Keita dipped and wrung the small towel that hung off the side of a basin of cool water, folding it and pressing it against Ryuichi’s forehead, temples, neck. “I’m sorry,” Keita murmured, his voice no more than a wrinkle in the still room. “You’ll be happier this way.”
He left ten minutes later, without looking back.
O.o o.O
TBC~!!!! :D
A/N: Wow it's been a long time, ne~! I'm so sorry T-T m( _ _ )m
O.o o.O
It was dark, windy, stormy, with the rain coming down in diagonal sheets, like slashes in the night as the moonlight glinted off the water. The air was hot and muggy, humid, and it clung to Ryuichi’s skin like moss as he sat in the rose garden, rain pouring over him, hitting painfully against his face. It was the middle of the night, and his servants had been asleep when Ryuichi slipped out of the manor.
“Your Highness blushes like this kiss of colour on a white rose,” Takizawa murmured to Ryuichi, gazing meaningfully at him as his fingers traced over the petals.
Ryuichi hid a smile behind his fan. “Lord Takizawa, you flatter me.”
“Ah, but what rose can possibly compare to your beauty, Highness?” Takizawa sighed, turning away from the bush of white roses.
Ryuichi let out a soft laugh, and glanced over to the side, where Keita was standing watch. He leaned in closer to Takizawa. “And what think you of red roses?” He gave another quick glance towards Keita, whose eyes were sparkling dangerously at how close Ryuichi was to Takizawa.
“Red…such a dangerous colour,” Takizawa murmured, tracing the tip of his index finger along Ryuichi’s jaw.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryuichi saw Keita take a step forward.
“Passionate, no?” Ryuichi inquired, arching an eyebrow. The corners of his mouth curved into a smile when Takizawa’s fingertip brushed over his lower lip.
“Oh yes,” Takizawa answered, leaning in even closer.
“Your Highness,” Keita said tightly, forcing himself between Ryuichi and Takizawa. “It looks like rain.”
“Nonsense!” Takizawa said, glaring at Keita. “There is not a cloud in the sky!”
“I am rather tired,” Ryuichi said, sighing. He held his hand out. “Take me back to my rooms.”
Keita bowed deeply as he offered his arm. “Yes, Your Highness.” Ryuichi fluttered his fan as Takizawa paid his respects, staying in his bow for Ryuichi to be escorted out of the gardens. He flicked his hair over his shoulder as he turned back to the palace, hand on Keita’s arm, and was rewarded when Keita stiffened at the scent of his perfume, cheeks flushing and lips tightening as a frown furrowed his brow.
Ryuichi just hid his smirk behind the delicate lace of his fan.
Ryuichi sighed. The rain was cold, and he was shivering despite the heat and humidity, his head pounding in time with the raindrops hitting against him.
“Your Highness!”
Ryuichi whirled, gasping. “Keita! How did you find me?”
“Your Highness, you must return with me. It is not safe.”
“I’m not going back there! Not to a court full of people that bow at my feet and still manage to curse me behind my back.”
“That’s not true!” Keita insisted, grabbing Ryuichi by the wrist.
“Unhand me this instant!” Ryuichi ordered, and Keita fell to his knees in front of Ryuichi.
“Your Highness, I beg you, return with me!”
“No!” Ryuichi spun, but Keita grabbed him again, refusing to let go even though Ryuichi was shouting at him. “You are soiling me with your earthly touch!” Ryuichi screamed. “How dare you?”
He could see tears prickling in Keita’s eyes, but all he said was, “Your Highness, please return with me. You are a beloved prince, and I will not let you disappear when you are under my guard.”
“You’re asking me to go back to a prison! A prison where they stare at me like the demon they think I am! You think that too, don’t you? I am the curse that ended the thousand years of tradition! I am the curse that the magicians say will bring down the greatest dynasty in history!”
“I don’t think that! I don’t think ANY of that!” Keita shook him fiercely, and Ryuichi stared at him, eyes wide. “I never thought that,” he said, voice gentle, and Ryuichi’s vision clouded over in tears.
“I would rather I had never been born,” Ryuichi said, chin trembling.
“Shh,” Keita said, wiping away the tears. “You cannot blame your birth for her death. I know what happened that night you were born. Complications…you cannot blame yourself for them. It was a miracle that you were saved. And I believe that the spirit of Her Majesty lives on in you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Ryuichi hiccupped as he leaned his head onto Keita’s chest, and Keita stood, shocked, arms by his side as Ryuichi cried into his robe.
“Your Highness,” Keita said softly, and raised a trembling hand to touch Ryuichi’s hair, so light that Ryuichi thought he imagined it. “Will you go back with me?”
Ryuichi shook his head. “No. I cannot. I will not.”
“Then forgive me,” Keita said, and before Ryuichi could respond, picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.
“Put me down!” Ryuichi screamed, kicking wildly.
“Your Highness, I am your sworn Protector. I would give my life to keep you from harm. There is no place outside of the palace that is safe for you to go, and so I must take you back with me, even against your wishes.”
But suddenly, Ryuichi was thrown from Keita’s shoulder, and there were hands on him, pulling him up off the ground. He looked up and saw Keita hunched over, hand pressed over a knife wound to his side that he had just managed to dodge from being stabbed in the stomach.
“Keita!” Ryuichi shouted, but a handkerchief was clasped over his mouth, and his head spun almost instantly. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Keita screaming for him, drawing his sword just in time to block another blow from their attackers.
Ryuichi lay down sideways on the stone bench he was sitting on. It would be nice, he thought, to die here.
The rain wasn’t letting up, and he was starting to feel dizzy, but Ryuichi didn’t move, raindrops sliding off his eyelashes as he squinted at the rose bush in front of him. Keita used to bring him roses whenever it rained and Ryuichi was not allowed outside. Everyone knew that the young prince loved roses the best, but no one knew that it happened starting from the day Keita won the coveted position as the Royal Protector, when he knelt before the thirteen-year-old prince, offering him a single white rose, and his life.
O.o o.O
“Master! Master!” Hikaru and Kaoru burst into Keita’s bedroom, not even bothering to knock.
“Get out,” Keita muttered, from behind the drawn curtains of his bed.
“Mistress!” Kaoru gasped. “He…”
“Rain,” Hikaru panted, both of them winded from having sprinted through the manor.
“Last night,” Kaoru wheezed.
Keita sighed, sitting up. “Speak properly, or leave me be.”
“Mistress was missing so we went looking and he was in the rose garden and he was soaked and oh my god fever burning him up so we carried him back but he’s delirious and oh god what should we do?” the twins managed to say in one breath, and Keita felt his chest seize up, hands shaking as he yanked the curtains away to get out of bed.
“I need to see him. Send for the doctor.”
“I will go,” Mori said immediately, as Keita strode out of his suite.
“Hurry! Take my horse,” Keita said, catching Mori on the elbow as he passed. “It’s the fastest.”
“Yes, Master.” A quick bow, and Mori was gone.
Keita’s heart pulsed loudly, blood rushing through his ears as he practically ran through the manor, Honey at his heels and the twins scurrying along behind them.
If anything happened to Ryuichi…well, it didn’t matter, because Keita was already blaming himself.
O.o o.O
It was so, so hot.
And he was so, so cold.
Ryuichi shivered, sweat making his nightgown stick to his skin, making his hair clump in locks to the sides of his face and the back of his neck.
A cool, wet towel wiped the dampness off his brow, and Ryuichi moaned when the towel made its way to his neck and shoulders. It felt so good against the sweltering heat of his body, but gooseflesh rose on his skin as he shuddered from the cold, hands fisting even tighter into his fluffy down comforter.
“Hush, my love, bear with me. This will make you more comfortable.”
Soft, warm lips pressed against his forehead briefly, and Ryuichi groaned before sighing, turning his head to the side as he sunk back into the recesses of sleep.
O.o o.O
Manami was rarely let out of the palace, confined within its walls for security reasons, and so it was a surprise to all when Ryohei, staying in one of the guest suites, announced that Her Majesty the Queen would be arriving that very afternoon. Bad news, of course, travel by the swiftest wings, and Manami had heard of her brother’s illness only hours after the doctor had been informed of it herself.
Keita’s household had naturally been terrified when they heard the news, having never been in the presence of the Queen. Keita, however, remained by Ryuichi’s side, Ryohei’s whispered words barely registering in his ears.
“Keita,” Ryohei said urgently, shaking Keita by the shoulders. “The Queen. You need to…you can’t…”
“If she’s going to behead me for writing about divorcing Ryuichi, then so be it. I have caused him so much suffering already…I do not deserve to live,” Keita muttered in reply, taking Ryuichi’s hand in his and pressing a kiss to it. “As long as he recovers, I shall be content with whatever punishment is decided for me.”
Ryohei made a frustrated noise, fluttering his fan as he turned away from Keita. “I’m going to receive her,” he said. “She will not take this insult lightly.” Keita ignored him, stroking Ryuichi’s hand, damp with sweat, and brushed some hair away from Ryuichi’s face when he turned on the pillow, lips falling open as he sighed in his sleep.
When the double doors of Ryuichi’s bedroom were flung open with a loud bang, Keita kissed Ryuichi’s hand again, keeping his head lowered.
“Well now, White Lord, a good day to you too.” The Queen’s voice rang in Ryuichi’s bedroom, and Keita merely bowed his head.
“A good day to you, Your Majesty. I can only hope most humbly that Your Majesty will forgive my insolence, for I cannot bear to leave my lady’s side.”
“Is that so?” The Queen stopped by Ryuichi’s bedside, across from where Keita was sitting. “It certainly didn’t seem that way when I received your last letter.”
Keita opened his mouth to reply, mind buzzing as he thought frantically for an answer that would not incense Her Majesty any more, but he was interrupted when she spoke again.
“Enough about that matter. I am here to see my brother. Leave me with him; I have no wish to see you.”
Keita would rather cut off his own right arm than to leave Ryuichi when he was like this – gasping and tossing and all the times in between lying there in bed pale and still as a corpse – but he knew not to argue with the Queen, and so stood, giving an elaborate bow before backing away and closing the doors to Ryuichi’s bedroom softly after him.
O.o o.O
“Your Majesty,” Keita murmured, having fallen forward from where he had been kneeling on one knee, now prostrated on the ground before the Queen. “I beg of you to reconsider.”
“I have made my decision,” the Queen said. “My brother shall be removed from your household as soon as he is well enough to move. The doctor believes that he will be well enough to make the journey in two days.”
“Your Majesty –”
“Are you protesting, my dear White Lord, when I have only just received a letter from you, in your handwriting, requesting a divorce?” the Queen asked mildly, and Keita lowered his head, thankful his mask hid the look of shame on his face. “I am giving you an easy way out, my Lord. There will be no divorce to speak of; I will not hear of it. My brother will remain at the palace for health reasons.”
Keita’s throat constricted, and he struggled to reply. “Your Majesty is most kind and generous,” he began, “but my wife…”
“He is your wife only in name now,” the Queen said abruptly. “Do not misunderstand my generosity for weakness, White Lord. You are capable and brilliant, and I do not want to lose you but so help me if you push me any further –” The Queen’s hand was drawn up into a fist, trembling slightly, and Keita crawled forward, grasping the hem of her robe to kiss.
“Your Majesty –”
The Queen stepped back. “That will be all.”
Keita’s vision blurred, and he was glad his lowered head hid the tears that threatened to spill. “I thank you, Your Majesty.”
O.o o.O
“Ryuichi?” Ryohei asked tentatively, when Ryuichi’s lashes fluttered and his dry, cracked lips parted as he shifted under the covers.
“Ryohei?” Ryuichi’s voice was hoarse, and he swallowed, licking his lips, and Ryohei handed him a glass of juice.
“Here, take a sip of this.”
The sweet tang of cold apple juice seemed to bring his mouth back to life, and Ryuichi could suddenly taste how bitter his breath was and how dry his throat was and oh god, nothing had ever tasted so good to him before.
“That’s enough,” Ryohei said, taking the glass away from him. “You’ll upset your stomach.”
Ryuichi lay down again, closing his eyes against the sharp throbbing in his head and the weariness in his limbs. “What happened? Why are you here?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you instead? What were you trying to do, kill yourself?”
Ryuichi didn’t answer, looking down as he smoothed his hands over the bed covers.
Ryohei sighed. “God, Ryuichi. I don’t know what happened, but everything’s a mess. Her Majesty is here as well; she heard of your illness and came almost immediately.”
“Manami?” Ryuichi brightened. “She’s here? May I see her?”
“Wait.” Ryohei took Ryuichi’s hand as he perched on the edge of the bed. “Ryuichi, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“What…what is it?” Dread filled Ryuichi’s stomach, widening his eyes and paling his already pallid cheeks.
“Keita…he…”
“He’s leaving me,” Ryuichi said faintly.
Ryohei licked his lips nervously. “He asked for a divorce.”
Ryuichi’s hand clenched around Ryohei’s painfully, but Ryohei let him without a flinch or a complaint. “Divorce?” Ryuichi repeated, voice faint.
“Yes. I know there is no way Her Majesty will ever allow it, but she is moving you back into the palace, into your old quarters.”
“I don’t…why…” Ryuichi felt dizzy, and Ryohei’s voice sounded so far away, as if Ryuichi were underwater.
“I know Keita doesn’t want you to go, but Her Majesty is so riled up at the thought of – Ryuichi are you listening to me? Ryuichi? Oh my god, Ryuichi!” Ryohei jumped up as Ryuichi’s eyes rolled back into his head and his body went slack. “Someone get the doctor!” Ryohei ordered, turning to glare at the twin servants that stood in the corner of the room. “Oh god, Ryuichi,” he murmured to himself, lifting Ryuichi’s head back onto his pillow. “Please be alright.”
O.o o.O
It was after midnight when Keita crept into Ryuichi’s room like a thief in his own manor. Ryuichi’s curtains were drawn, and Keita pulled one back, careful to keep the fabric from the flames of the single candle that served as his only source of light.
Ryuichi slept deeply, if not peacefully, shifting occasionally and sighing as he would fling his covers away, too hot, but then shiver and draw them back around his shoulders.
Keita dipped and wrung the small towel that hung off the side of a basin of cool water, folding it and pressing it against Ryuichi’s forehead, temples, neck. “I’m sorry,” Keita murmured, his voice no more than a wrinkle in the still room. “You’ll be happier this way.”
He left ten minutes later, without looking back.
O.o o.O
TBC~!!!! :D
