тσ cσмρℓεтε _____________ αη∂ яειηƒσrcε. «« [Finnaholic and I.]

Prince Nicholas had been saddened by the passing of his father when he was seven years old. His father's will had placed him in the care of one of the former king's advisors. Nicholas personally didn't trust the man, but he couldn't go against his father's last wishes. The two years after his father's death went peacefully enough, but just a few days after his ninth birthday, Nicholas had woken to a couple guards knocking on his chamber doors, under orders to arrest the young king.

It was during his long imprisonment that he'd met and befriended one of the guards assigned to stand outside his prison cell. Though it wasn't the same room he'd spent the first part of his life in, it was still better than something a person who wasn't of noble blood would get. His friendship with the guard, Vladilan, grew into something deeper. As time passed, he'd come to accept his imprisonment, as it had given him something he might not have had otherwise.

As it got closer to the day that he would be old enough to take back what was rightfully his, he was filled with a growing sense of dread. He was sitting by the barred window, having seen his lover head for the town square, followed by the man who'd imprisoned him. He knew something was going on, though he wasn't yet aware of what exactly. He just hoped that Vladilan returned soon to let him know what Gottfried had told the people of his kingdom.

“Vladilen,” said a voice directly in front of him and to his right, a sharp bark worn with age into an annoyed snarl at best. The Knight turned his helmeted head and regarded the Regent from behind his helmet, a shadow cast from the sun confidently blacking out the upper half of his face and hiding his expressive honey colored eyes. The Regent was watching him with his usual expression a mixture of amusement and deviousness, his steel gray hair combed back from his brow severely, and his thick brows lowered over his hooded eyes.

He responded in a tone that was full of dignified respect, ”My Lord?” Just looking at the man filled him with disgust, especially in light of his newest scheme, but what could he do but treat him with the utmost respect? Gottfried was the current stand-in for the King and it was looking as though he would more than likely be crowned, and end up becoming the King of Solatrir.

Lord Gottfried continued, facing forward again, “Prepare the prisoner to be moved to the lower chamber until tomorrow morning. Tell him that he may have a Priest if he wishes it.” And with that, he climbed into the rear of the carriage awaiting him and was gone.

The knight stared after him for a long while, his mouth drawn in a frown, until his thoughts were interrupted by a lower ranking member of the order riding up beside him. The man drew his horse to an abrupt stop, which almost resulted in him being flung from the saddle, and grinned at his superior. “S’real shame,” he drawled, drawing up beside Vladien as be turned his steed towards the stables. “ ‘bout the Prince, I mean.” He was met with silence, but he recognized the look in Vladien’s eyes as something not to be trifled with.

”I’ve got to go see him,” he said simply, dismounting abruptly, but with grace. ”Take care of this.” He pushed the reins at his Southern friend, and with little preliminaries, and was gone, on his way to the Prince’s chambers as per his orders. He had the shortest path to the Prince’s room engraved in his memory, and would undoubtedly be able to find his way there in record times even in complete blindness. He nodded the young guard from his post, and rapped heavily on the door before churning the heavy gold key in its old lock. It yielded to the push of his right hand, the other was raised to his head to remove his helmet. ”Your Majesty?”

Nicholas remained in his seat by the barred window, watching the proceedings in the town square, though he was too far away to hear anything. Whatever Gottfried had to say, it wasn't a very long speech, as he left the square almost as quickly as he'd arrived there. Even from his vantage point, he could make out the armor of his beloved, watching as he spoke briefly with the Regent before the man climbed into his carriage and left the square.

There was a smile on his face when he noticed that Vladilen started to make his way toward the tower Nicholas was imprisoned in. As the knight got closer to the tower, Nicholas moved from the window to sit in a chair by his bed. He knew that the knight was coming to see him, though he had yet to know just what was going on.

He kept his eyes on the door to his cell when he heard the key turn in the lock. In case it was another guard coming in, he didn't want to seem too eager to have company, in case it somehow got back to the Regent that there was something going on between him and the Order's head knight. Only when the door was closed behind Vladilen did Nicholas move, wrapping his arms loosely around his lover's neck. "I have missed you, Vladilen."

He wrapped his strong arms around the Prince’s torso in a protective manner, his face lowered to Nicholas’s hair. The embrace was long and warm, and spoke much more than a response when he placed a tender kiss on the prisoner’s upturned face. His grip tightened about his waist, lifting him to the tips of his toes for a moment, his armor pressing into the modestly dressed royal. He towered over the prince, almost an entire foot taller even bent over him as he was.

Somewhat reluctantly, he broke the much needed contact, knowing that if it continued he would be unable to break to him the horrible news he had learned. “And I you, Nicholas,” he murmured, his dark eyes unreadable as he watched him. He didn’t want to tell him anything just yet, enjoying his company and the eagerness he displayed when he paid him a visit; this may have had less to do with Nicholas’s love for him and more to do with his lack of visitors.

”Are the other guards being nice to you?” he inquired, running his free hand through his thick hair. In his opposite he cradled his helmet, like the unseeing skull of a dead man staring lifelessly at the ceiling above their heads. He meant this question half in jest, but was also partially serious. He didn’t know how well he would be able to handle his temper if he found out that the guards were mistreating Nicholas, the only person he had precious to him in his life any more.

He was standing in the center of the cell, awkwardly, as though he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. This in itself was strange, since the Knight was always brimming with confidence. His mouth was a straight line, and there was no playfulness in the way he watched him.

Nicholas would have liked to remain in Vladilen's embrace a little while longer but didn't object when the knight pulled away from him. The man was the only constant in his life, and he wanted to keep it that way. He could tell something was wrong, wondering if it had anything to do with the gathering in the town square just moments before. Taking the helmet from his lover's hand, Nicholas moved to set it on a table, turning again to face his companion. "They have treated me well enough, though they have been giving me strange looks all day. Like they know something is going to happen to me."

He found it odd that the man had yet to smile, even though they were together. Watching Vladilen, he moved to sit in a chair. "Why don't you remove your armor and join me, Vladilen? I would like to hear what was going on in town today. I saw Lord Gottfried addressing the townspeople from my window a short time ago. What did he have to say to them?"

The weight of the helmet lifted from his hands had a greater effect on Vladilen that it probably should have; he loosened the armor that plated his chest and shoulders but stopped, having evidently thought better of it. He wanted desperately to spend time with him, to shed the walls of protection that hugged him so closely when he was around anyone else. But Nicholas's life was at stake, his precious existence which was no more than a feeble candle flame before the might of the Regent on his tirade of power.

He closed the distance between himself and Nicholas in a stride, taking the boy's wrists into his hands and gazing into his eyes intensely. His dark eyes were urgent. "There is no time for that, Nicholas," he said, his voice just barely above a whisper for fear that their conversation would be over heard. He leant closer still so that his musky scent filled Nicholas's nostrils, his lips brushed the prince's ear tantalizingly, improper as it was for their current situation. "Lord Gottfried has done something terrible- he has ordered your execution for tomorrow. They will behead you in the town square like a common criminal." He stopped, unable to continue. The panic he had been suppressing welled up within him like a great tidal wave, but he was expertly trained to ignore such emotions.

He squeezed the prince's wrists almost painfully, his fingers clenching in desperation around the weak, slender bones. "Do not fear, my Nicholas," he whispered, a new flame of hope leaping behind his eyes. He shifted his massive form forward and rested his weight upon a knee, bowing his respect deeply to his true King. "I will protect you. I will free you from this place." He took one of Nicholas's cool hands into his own and kissed it with a face that was a little rough with unshaven hair, but lips that were smooth and capable.

Nicholas watched as Vladilen started to loosen his armor, a pout gracing his lips when the knight suddenly stopped. He couldn't understand why his knight didn't want to be with him, and for a very brief moment, thought that he'd been replaced in the man's heart. That thought caused his own heart to break, and he just stared at Vladilen through sad eyes.

He didn't fight when his wrists were taken into the hands of his beloved knight, fearing the words that would come next. They weren't what he had thought they would be, though, and a chill went through his body as he took in what Vladilen was saying. The closeness of his knight no longer registered as images of himself dying at the hands of the Regent played through his head. Panic filled him, and he started having trouble breathing.

The only thing that brought him out of it was the painful tightening of his knight's fingers around his wrists. If Vladilen tightened his grip any further, the bones in his wrists could snap like twigs. "You have to get me out of here tonight, Vlad.. The only problem is, where would we go? Lord Gottfried probably has men everywhere."

The knight's face appears thoughtful and solemn for several long moments, during which he merely stares into his doomed lover's eyes and tries to commit his young, earnest face to memory as it appears now- innocent, and despite the terror lancing in his eyes, achingly beautiful. His powerful hands squeeze once comfortingly this time around the hand he clasped, before he rose with speed that seemed impossible for his size. He snaked an arm around the smaller male's waist, drawing him into a warm embrace that presses them closely together, one of Vlad's hands behind his head, the other around his lower back. It was intimate, but raw with love for the boy, as though he feared this may be one of their last moments together should he fail to rescue him from his fate. If caught, they would both surely be executed, and the thought of casting Nicholas's life uselessly away was more painful than any wound he had ever gained in battle.

He pressed his lips against the boy's warmly, the boldness of the move alone enough to cause his heart to quicken; he released Nicholas quickly before he found himself unable to do so.

"We must depart tonight. Do you trust me, your Highness?" he asks as he straightens his armor, his face hidden behind his unruly hair. When he resumed his full height, he repeated the question. "Do you?"

Nicholas rested his head against the chest of his lover and only friend, knowing it could quite possibly the last time they held each other like this. He would have liked to spend one more night in bed with the knight before they went into hiding, but he knew in his heart that it wasn't possible. He put a hand to Vlad's face, giving him a light, yet sad smile. If things went badly tonight, then there would be no hope of freeing the people of Solatrir from the tyrant regent currently ruling. He couldn't bear the thought of being separated from the man in front of him, but he still kept hope that one day he would be able to remove Lord Gottfried from the throne that was rightfully his.

Surprised at the question asked, he again reached to caress his lover's face. "Vlad, you have been my only friend and companion during my entire imprisonment in this tower. So of course, I trust you. Even if we don't make it out of here alive, I believe that we will be together in the next life."