Disappointed in himself, and upset with his elder brother, Yuki stormed off down the deserted hallway towards wherever it would take him. His destination mattered not. The only thing that did matter was that he was as far away from Sal as possible.
“Yuki.” A gentle voice flowed out, catching him by surprise as he found himself entering the castle gardens. Any further than this and he knew he would probably be met with guards or some fancy barrier...yet it was the only place he thought of to bring peace to his mind.
“Yuki.” The voice tried again, noticing it hadn’t fully snagged his attention the first time. It was Willow.
“He sent you, didn’t he?” The prince huffed his reply, breathing out a deep, irritated sigh.
She shook her head. “No. In fact, he hadn’t called for me after that whole…” The queen paused, nibbling at her bottom lip in an attempt to find the correct word to describe the siblings spat. One that wouldn’t send the younger brother off in a tangent. “Mess.” She sighed herself, carrying her lithe body towards a nearby bench. “Come. Sit with me.”
“No.” Yuki huffed, crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away. He refused.
Willow narrowed her eyes, cracked each of her fingers individually and tried once more. “Come.”
The ravenet felt shivers run up and down his spine at the scene. “Stop that. I’ll sit...but only because I want to.” He fumbled with his words while making his way over to sit beside his sister in law.
She chuckled, folding both hands over her thighs now where they would disturb his ears less. “From the little I had gathered from the servants gossip, you’ve regained some of your magic?” Willow attempted to calmly bring up the topic as opposed to her husbands brash yelling.
Immediately, Yuki began to distance himself; scooting to the edge of the bench as she spoke. “Is that a problem?” He should have felt confident, strong, finally whole again after regaining bits of what he had lost, and yet it felt to him as if he was only straying further and further from what he was aiming to become…
What was he even aiming for at this point?
Sal’s approval?
The Kingdoms approval? He lost this and everything when he himself lost his own everything…
“No.” Willow brought him back, laying a warm palm atop one of his own freezing hands. “This is a wonderful thing, a celebration if anything!” She grinned widely, now grasping both of his hands.
“But Sal-” Yuki started.
“Is just overprotective and unprepared to handle a situation like this.” Willow finished for him. “Give him time. If we work on your magic in the mean time to make it stronger, maybe he’ll rethink his former outburst.”
‘Or maybe he’ll let himself fall further into whatever mess he got himself into instead.’ Yuki thought to himself, debating on if he even wanted this. What would strengthening his magic earn him?
Fame? He didn’t wish for that. In fact, he wanted anything but. Yet no matter what he did, it seemed it only worsened his reputation. The manaless prince; the royal whore.
He was nothing without Ryu…
Ryu...Somehow his mind seemed to continuously wander back to his former beloved, clawing deep into his subconscious.
‘He would be alive if only you were just more capable. Weakling. Coward.’
Then his mind drifted onwards to thoughts of Vayne, the younger brother. On the other hand, Ryu may not be alive, yet he was. As selfish as it was, Yuki felt a connection to the younger man from their few encounters.
Perhaps if he did accept Willow’s offer to rebuild his magic from the ground up once again, he could use it for the sake of this man.
Would it be wrong of him to use Vayne as an excuse to push himself forward? To mend one's broken self, one must first help others in a time of need. Not that he would be leaving these walls anytime soon, yet it was certainly an idea to look forward to.
Noticing his ever changing expression, Willow leaned in closer. “Is it that man he was yelling about before Yuki?” She gently prodded, knowing full well her boundaries; if she pushed to hard like Sal, Yuki would simply retract away.
“I-” His face flushes as he fumbled with his words, unexpecting the question. “Please don’t tell him...but yes.” Unbeknownst to himself, his eyes twinkled with delight as he responded, similar to that of the stars in the now midnight sky above.
With this positive reaction of Yuki’s, Willow pressed further. If there was future potential for a relationship between him and this man, she needed to know sooner rather than later. For his sake more so than her own. Hopefully he didn’t feel she was prodding too much into his personal business. “And do you...harbor potential feelings for this man? I know not your full interactions together so I am not able to piece things together but.” She paused, scratching nervously at her palms; a bad habit. “I wish to be a confident for you. If ever you need.”
Truly, this shocked Yuki. His day had been one huge spiral of mushed events of varying outcomes, yet this was something he had not foreseen. Inhaling a deep breath of the fresh night air, he sat back on the bench and pondered a response. And after a moment, he finally found an answer. For both himself, and for her.
“I had always thought Ryu to be my one and only.” He started, eyes trailing down towards a lone brick in the concrete path below. “When he died, I thought I lost everything. Including myself. Yet here, a year later, I meet his sibling. I barely see Ryu in Vayne, so that in it of itself is a breath of fresh air. He’s…” He paused, taking another moment or two to remember their past couple of rendezvous. “Charming. Knows how to push my buttons, but never goes too far. Handsome. I wouldn’t complain if he grew out his beard a little more. And he’s very soft, perhaps a little too much...Just today I found him injured and a sobbing mess.”
All while the prince ranted, Willow listened in intently, finding her heart filling with a sense of duty as the man finished. “Will you agree to meet me here, every odd night to train?” The queen proposed. “Both for your sake, and everyone else’s. Maybe the sooner we find a way to train you back to good, or even beyond, Sal will lower his so called ‘barrier’ and let you see your Vayne. I imagine that will be a reward itself. You both have my blessing.”
Yuki found a smile creep onto his face as he nodded his head in response. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate this. So…” He stood, offering his left hand to her to help her up and off the seat whilst scratching at a spot on his scalp. “I can’t remember anything other than restoration magic...care to start from the basics?”
This...would be a long night.
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