Prisoner 27 & Epilogue
Mar. 22nd, 2007 06:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maderrThankee for reading ^___^ I do not know yet know for certain what I shall finish next, but I'll def have something next Thursday.
Chapter Twenty Seven
“Spring is most certainly a season of change,” Matthias said.
Esta rolled her eyes. “Do stop grinning so, Matthias, people will think you are gloating.”
“I am gloating,” Matthias replied, settling back in his seat and looking quite pleased with himself.
Kalan laughed from where he stood at Matthias’s right. “As well he should.” He motioned to the crowd filling the ballroom. “We have accomplished a great deal in the past month, and all of it without magic. Even the King has given up protesting.”
Esta made a face. “Given up protesting, yes…” She sighed, and shoved the thoughts away. There was nothing to be done about the King. Even she had not been able to coax him out of his room, not even for this grand occasion.
Not that she could entirely blame him; she’d much rather be in her room. She skimmed the ballroom for anything which needed attending, smiling faintly to see her brother and Sol conversing with a handful of soldiers – both Illussor and Krian – on the far side.
Though she supposed that wasn’t entirely fair. They’d all forsaken Kria to follow the Scarlet Wolf here. They were, even though many were still struggling with the language, Illussor now. If she were to order them to return to Kria, which in a few short hours would be within her power, they would be put to death.
She thoroughly disliked seeing swords everywhere, but they could hardly do without such things now. The underlying power structure of Salhara was crippled, the Seven Star having lost three stars forever. Kria was not fairing much better, with three Generals and the Kaiser dead, and the next Kaiser still to be born. Both countries would become troublesome again, someday, for she doubted either would feel like peace talks now…but it wouldn’t be for many years yet.
Looking across the ballroom, she sought out the two men who were responsible for that – and shook her head when she saw them on opposite sides, still ignoring each other.
Ever since Beraht had been rescued they’d barely spoken to each other – barely even tolerated being in the same room. At present, Beraht was trapped in a corner surrounded by those who were brave enough to quench their curiosity. Those less brave stood close enough to overhear, and more than a few in the surrounding area were giving the corner many an inquisitive glance.
And perhaps a few predatory, Esta noted. Beraht cut a fine figure when dressed in full regalia. His pale hair was only darker than that of a full-blooded Illussor, skin fair though she suspected that with the warming weather it would tan. Beraht did not seem the type to ever stay idly indoors. To accent his features, draw out the blazing yellow of his eyes, she’d bid the tailors put him in blue with accents of silver. If he wanted company tonight, Beraht would find himself with more offers than he could handle.
However, she suspected he would not be seeking any company.
She shifted her gaze to seek out the Wolf, unsurprised to find him high above on the balcony overlooking the ballroom. Many soldiers and older lords were gathered there, and Dieter stood in quiet conversation with Reinhard and the Illussor man who held the same position as Reinhard, balancing the power between the still blending halves of the new Illussor army.
Dieter was clearly involved in the conversation, but his eyes were fastened to the ballroom floor. Esta didn’t have to look to see where particularly his gaze was directed.
Honestly.
If men weren’t obnoxious and presumptuous, as were Matti and Kalan, they were obtuse and stubborn.
“Won’t you sit, Essie?” Matti asked.
Esta sniffed, pointedly turning away from the seat Matti was offering her. “Not yet. I want to dance first.”
“Shall I trod upon your toes?” Kalan asked.
“No, you shall not,” Esta replied, gathering the skirts of her pale green gown, light catching on the gold and silver beads decorating it in a delicate pattern of small flowers. “You may stay here and continue to be smug and aggravating with Matti.”
Laughing, the men let her go.
The crowd parted for her as she crossed the ballroom, and she returned the bows and curtseys with nods and murmured greetings. Stars, she was going to kill Matti. Yes, it was a good idea…and she’d always known Matti would get his way eventually…longer than he had, the idiot…but this new level of deference was disconcerting.
She smiled in greeting as she reached Beraht, holding out her hand, repressing a fond laugh at the way he awkwardly took it. “I don’t suppose you would indulge me with a dance, dear Beraht? I’m afraid my fiancé and his favorite cohort are being quite insufferable.”
“If you don’t mind having your toes broken,” Beraht said with a grimace, but obediently led her through the crowd and to the dance floor. “Do I know this one?”
“You do,” Esta said, and got them into position, seeing comprehension flood Beraht’s face. “Are you enjoying the ball at all?”
Beraht shrugged, and did not reply as the music started up, more focused on the dance steps. Esta left him in peace, following his lead, smiling and nodding at the people who waved or called as they whirled by on the turns. After the first set, Beraht finally spoke again. “It’s not what I’m used to, and people keep pestering me with questions.” He frowned.
Esta laughed. “Yes, they are always going to do that. You are quite the source of curiosity, Breaker.”
Grimacing, Beraht again fell silent as they stepped and turned. When they came together again, Esta noticed his focus had wandered. The next step reversed their position, and she was not at all surprised to see Dieter speaking with Matti and Kalan, and that Dieter was watching them. His gaze shifted before she was once more turned away.
She politely ignored the way Beraht’s gaze again wandered.
The dance ended a moment later, and Esta was gratified that Beraht did not immediately take off. “Would you dance once more with me?” she asked. “I promise to release you after.”
Beraht shrugged and took up the starting position as the strains of the next dance began to play. “I don’t mind.” He flashed a brief smile, the hesitance in it cute. “Breaking toes is better than being trapped in that corner again.”
Esta laughed as she was spun, and was still laughing when the dance brought her close to Beraht again. “I am flattered you find dancing with me more interesting than being lavished with attention. I think you will do quite well as a Duke, Beraht.”
“I am not a lord,” Beraht said stubbornly, looking slightly ill – but Matthias was adamant. He had titles to give away, and so he would. Technically they were the King’s to give away, but every day Matthias took up more and more the roll of King.
“Not yet,” Esta said, smiling at Beraht’s disgruntled look. “You are a fine dancer, you know, despite what you think. Even if you were breaking my toes, it’s better than listening to Matti gloat all night.”
Beraht glanced back toward the dais where Matti sat, conversing still with Kalan and Dieter, something amusing him vastly enough Esta could hear him laughing over the noise and music. “If you are that unhappy about it…”
Esta rolled her eyes. “I’m not. If I didn’t want to marry him, I wouldn’t. He’s just being very much a braggart about it. I’ll make him pay.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Beraht said with a grin, and spun her around in the turn that completed the set, smoothly moving into the steps of the second set. He really was a fine dancer.
His eyes again wandered, and Esta knew where they lingered, why those shadows were there. Honestly. If it weren’t for the fact she genuinely liked Beraht, she would leave them both to rot in their thickheaded behavior. “Could I ask you a question, Beraht? It’s been piquing my curiosity for some time, but I’ve never troubled to figure it out.”
“Of course,” Beraht said, brow wrinkling with confusion. “I doubt I’ve an interesting answer to give, whatever it is.”
Esta smiled, and fell silent until she was led through the turn and into the third set. “Your name is Krian, yes?”
“Yes,” Beraht said tightly, eyes going immediately past her shoulder.
“It’s not a name with which I am familiar, and I am rusty at best in the Krian language. Whatever does your name mean? If it’s all right to ask, I mean. I do not know the Salharan etiquette for such things at all.”
Beraht shrugged. “I am not Salharan any longer, so it hardly matters whether you know the etiquette or not. My name means ‘bright’.” He frowned briefly, eyes once more wandering as if of their own volition.
Esta doubted he realized he was doing it.
“That’s peculiar,” she said with a frown. “Does the word ‘bright’ have special meaning to the Krians? Is it a popular word?”
“What?” Beraht asked, his own frown deepening, confusion growing. “There is nothing special about it, nor do I think it popular…it’s just an ordinary word. Why?”
“Well, it’s just I’m relatively certain I heard the Lord General say one day to the soldiers that his sword was named Bright, though if you ask me it’s strange they name…” She kept her expression blank as they stumbled to a halt in the middle of the dance floor.
Beraht stared at her. “What?”
“I said Dieter named his sword Bright…”
Oblivious to the fact they stood still in the middle of the dance floor, Beraht looked toward the dais with a strange expression on his face – almost immediately it turned into a familiar glower. “Where did that stars refused bastard go?” he asked aloud.
Esta turned and saw that Dieter had, indeed, vanished. She turned back and saw Dieter once more on the balcony – headed for the door that led to the halls beyond. She pointed. “There. I believe he’s retreating.”
Beraht jerked around. “Bastard,” he swore softly, then abruptly started heading that way, pausing mid step to turn back. “Pardon me, Princess,” he said hastily, then took off at a near run through the crowded ballroom, not noticing a bit the people who barely scrambled out of his way in time, taking the stairs two at a time and vanishing a second later from the ballroom.
Esta shook out the skirts of her ball gown, then gathered them close and walked sedately off the dance floor toward the dais. She accepted the hand Matti held out to her, and gracefully took her place in the seat beside his.
“What are you up to, Essie?” Matthias asked.
“I merely wanted to dance,” Esta said primly. “Are you going to give me your mother’s wedding ring or not?”
Matthias grinned and pulled a delicate gold ring from his pocket. “She told me when I was sixteen that I was going to give this to you one day.”
Esta sniffed. “Matti, she told me when I twelve that you would give me this ring someday.”
Kalan threw his head back and laughed at the expression on Matthias’s face.
Feeling the evening one well managed, Esta rose with Matthias as the dance came to an end, sliding the ring on her finger and placing her hand in his. He lifted their joined hands as the music died away and the crowd turned to face them. “To your future Queen!” he called, and kissed the back of Esta’s hand as the room bowed, curtsied, and burst into cheering.
Beraht bolted through the hallways, wishing his ability to breathe would return, or that his heart would stop pounding in his chest.
Esta had to have lost her mind. There was no way…
It wasn’t true, and even if it was…
Stars refuse that bastard! What game was he playing?
Beraht stormed around a corner – and faltered to a stop.
The bastard himself, and for once Beraht didn’t know what to do about him. He hadn’t known since Dieter had rescued him. Had tried very hard not to think about the tangle in which Dieter had left his emotions.
“You stars refused bastard!” he bellowed, fisting his hands to still their sudden trembling.
Dieter stopped, then turned slowly around.
He made, Beraht had noted sourly earlier in the evening, an impressive figure. Esta had somehow gotten the man to wear a color other than black. Granted, the green was deep enough to pass for black in weaker light, but in the ballroom the dark green trimmed in silver had…well, looked good. Up close he had no doubt it brought out his strange gray-green eyes, made the gray touches almost silver. Bastard.
“What did I do this time?” Dieter asked, and Beraht was brought up short by the utter weariness in his tone.
Beraht stalked closer, titling his head up to meet the cool gaze of those eyes. “You drive me mad.”
“The feeling is entirely mutual,” Dieter snapped, annoyance beginning to enter his tone. “Though I would like to know what I have done this time.”
“You breathe!” Beraht replied, feeling the last of his temper slip free of restraint. “You exist! I have never in my life met anyone half so infuriating and confounding as you!” He could feel his nails digging into his palms, and a sticky warmth told him he’d broken the skin. “Bastard,” he whispered, still glaring into Dieter’s eyes. He spoke again before Dieter could interrupt. “What is your sword’s name?”
The dismay that flickered across Dieter’s face was startling to the point it took Beraht’s breath away. Such a vulnerable expression seldom found a place on the face of the Wolf. “Go away, Beraht.”
“I asked you a question, you stupid Wolf!” Beraht snarled. “What is your sword’s name?”
Dieter’s mouth twisted. “Bright,” he said curtly.
“Why?” Beraht managed to ask, unable to believe it.
“Tits of the Winter Princess, do you think I know?” Dieter bellowed, expression as uncertain as it was angry.
Beraht shook his head, unable to comprehend anything. “Is that what you meant—in the tent—“
“Yes,” Dieter said.
He couldn’t believe it. There was no way this made sense. It was impossible. They hated each other. “Bastard,” he hissed. “Are you trying to be amusing?”
“Amusing?” Dieter said in a soft, dangerous tone that usually meant Beraht was about to find himself on the floor badly bruised, if not unconscious. He fought the urge to back away as Dieter stalked toward him, a shiver running up his spine and he suddenly felt exactly as he had in the tent a little more than a month ago—
—Except this time Dieter was kissing him.
The thought left Beraht reeling, or would have if the kiss itself wasn’t already doing that.
This was nothing like the kiss Dieter had given him in the coliseum. That had been necessary. Brutal and hard. Flavored of arcen and blood. This kiss tasted only of Dieter, who seldom drank anything but tea, and while his lips were most definitely bruising it wasn’t in an unpleasant way.
No, far from it. As much as he hated to admit it, as hard as it was to believe this was happening – Dieter could kiss. Stars, the man could kiss. Beraht wondered briefly it had to do with being trained to be the perfect gift to a Kaiser.
Then his thoughts skittered away, as Dieter’s kiss went from fierce to consuming, and Beraht moaned wholly against his will.
He gasped for air when Dieter finally broke the kiss, and wondered when precisely he’d wound up pressed against the wall and why in the stars his hands were in Dieter’s hair. This was not happening. Against his better judgment he shifted his gaze up.
He’d been right. Against the deep green fabric and silver trim, those gray-green eyes shone. Beraht drew a shaky breath. “Dieter…”
A smile he’d never seen before flickered ever so briefly across Dieter’s face, lighting those eyes up even more. “That’s the first time you’ve said my name, Beraht.”
Beraht shuddered, hands tightening where they refused to let go of Dieter’s thick hair. He’d always hated the way Dieter said his name because of the mockery in it. There had been no mockery this time, and that made it devastating. Stars refuse him for a fool, he should not like it so much that Dieter said his name that way. Possessively. Knowingly. As if it meant something.
Never had anyone uttered his name while they kissed him, bedded him. They said nothing at all, or whispered the name of another. He’d never had a name for someone to say. Nor had he known what it was like to say the name of another. Always he’d been nameless and silent.
He spoke again, just because he could, because this entire situation was unreal and he realized with sudden, painful clarity that he wanted it to be real. “Dieter.” He moaned low again as Dieter once more took his mouth, kissing back furiously, pouring every last thing he felt into it. If he was going to endure this, by the stars he wouldn’t do so alone.
Shivers laced down his spine as Dieter became bolder, as true to form the Wolf wasted no time in claiming his victory. Beraht suspected he’d still wake up with bruises, but found he didn’t care.
Abruptly he was pulled away from the wall, cold as Dieter pulled away, but his hand burning where Dieter held it, and Beraht realized after a moment where they were going. “We’re going to your room?”
Dieter smirked. “Why not? You’ve been sleeping in my bed since we met.”
Beraht rolled his eyes. “You’re still a smug, arrogant, infuriating, violently tempered bastard, Dieter.”
“You’re still too mouthy for your own good, Beraht.” Dieter replied.
There seemed nothing more to say, except to whisper Dieter’s name once more as the door closed behind them and he was pulled into his Wolf’s arms.
Epilogue
“Dieter!” Esta halted in the doorway to his office, planting her hands on her hips, hair unusually messy, one long strand spilling from the tidy knot at the back of her head to slip over her shoulder. Her skirts were equally disordered, no doubt from running about the palace on yet another chase. “Have you seen Benji?”
“No, Majesty,” Dieter replied, looking up briefly from his paperwork.
Cursing, Esta called a thank you as she vanished to search elsewhere.
Dieter reached beneath his desk and yanked, eyeing the gleeful smile on Benji’s face. “You are driving your mother mad, prince.”
“But her lessons are boring,” Benji protested. “I want swords, not forks.”
Thinking of his own etiquette lessons, drilled into him at length by his father and a tutor brought in at significant expense, all to prepare him for being utterly perfect for the Kaiser…Dieter could only sympathize. “Did you bring your sword, child of the devious Spring Lord?”
Benji laughed, amused as always by what seemed to him Dieter’s strange phrases. Then he squirmed free of Dieter’s hold and dropped down to crawl back under the desk, emerging a second later with a well-made wooden sword, the perfect weight and size for training a young child.
Dieter recognized natural talent when he saw it, and while he hoped Benji did not spend his life at war, he was not above training the boy when he should be learning his forks. “Your mother will worry until she finds you.”
“Daddy knows,” Benji said. “He’ll stop mommy.”
Shaking his head, almost feeling sorry for Esta that her son was all too much like his father, Dieter motioned for Benji to take up position in the center of the room, then began to drill him through the beginner lessons.
He didn’t think it would be much longer before they moved on to more advanced lessons – and avoiding his mother was already teaching Benji more than any lesson could about stealth and knowing your enemy.
Dieter laughed softly.
A sharp rap at the door interrupted them, but neither budged from their spot. When the door opened a moment later, Benji abandoned his sword and bolted to the new arrival. “Uncle Beraht! Can we go riding later?”
Beraht rolled his eyes. “If your mother doesn’t lock you in your room for running away from your lessons again.” He shot a glare at Dieter. “You don’t help.”
Dieter shrugged. “It is not my fault the woman thinks a seven year old wants to learn about forks rather than swords. She should stop the etiquette lessons until he is old enough to threaten or blackmail.”
“What’s blackmail?” Benji asked.
“Nothing,” Beraht replied, shooting Dieter another look.
Laughing, Dieter returned to where he’d been leaning against his desk. “Benji, go through all the forms again.”
“Yes, General!” Benji said cheerfully, snapping a salute before retrieving his sword and obediently going through all the forms. They were nearly perfect, and Benji immediately made every correction Dieter called out, seldom having to be told more than once what was wrong.
Another rap at the door interrupted them a second time, and this time Benji bolted to cling to Dieter, sword clutched tight. “I’m not done yet!” he protested even before the intruder could enter.
“Benji,” Matthias said with a fond smile, “your mother is on the warpath. I promise I will talk her into regular lessons for you – until then, please come learn your forks before she teaches knives to all of us.”
Dieter and Beraht laughed.
“Go,” Dieter said firmly.
Grumbling, face dejected, Benji went.
Matthias waved and followed his son out, and Dieter could just hear him bribing Benji with a visit to Sol and Iah to go fishing in their pond in a few days.
“You shouldn’t be encouraging his bad behavior,” Beraht said, leaning against the door and folding his arms across his chest.
Dieter shrugged. “Using forks does not require training movements and reactions into the body from a young age. The prince should know how to fight.”
“This isn’t Kria,” Beraht said, but the words were automatic, one of their dozens of arguments.
“No, if this were Kria, he would have started at three,” Dieter said, and levered himself off the desk and stalked across the room, looming over Beraht, who unfolded his arms to brace his hands on Dieter’s shoulders. “You’re back early.”
“The problem resolved itself by the time I got there,” Beraht said. “I had only to authorize a few things and then I was left with nothing to do. I would have been back sooner, but I stopped off to see Sol and Iah. They’re doing well, and are much busier than I. Why did I get the boring title?” He tilted his head up just a bit more in silent demand.
Dieter gave in, lowering his head to claim Beraht’s mouth, the taste of his lover still more intoxicating than any wine could ever be. “You certainly whine as expertly as any noble I’ve ever met,” he said when at last they broke apart.
Beraht kicked him. “Your office is remarkably empty.”
“I was tired of the racket,” Dieter replied, sliding one hand over Beraht’s hip and along his back, tracing the dips and rises of his spine before letting go long enough to lock the door against which Beraht was still braced, then pulled the key out and tucked it away in his jacket before turning his full attention to his lover. “I sent them off to train at the Regenbogen.” He smirked briefly as he thought about the fortress reclaimed by Illussor only a year ago.
Beraht rolled his eyes. “You’re as smug as any general I’ve ever met.”
Chuckling, Dieter once more covered Beraht’s mouth with his own, growling low as knowing fingers landed on the back of his neck and a hand began to open his clothes, his own intent upon removing Beraht’s. He broke the kiss to taste elsewhere, as stunned now as he had been years ago that this bright Salharan was his to kiss and touch and claim.
“How long do we have until his highness interrupts again?” Beraht asked, the question turning in to a long moan.
“Even his highness hasn’t yet figured out how to pick a lock,” Dieter said, greedily attacking Beraht’s throat, displeased that their three days apart had given his marks time to fade. Fingers tightened in his hair, Beraht shivering in his arms. “As I’ve got the only key, you are my prisoner here until I decide you may leave.”
But even as he spoke, he felt fingers wrap around the key in his jacket. He looked up, glaring.
Beraht smirked and tapped his cheek with the key. “Who’s the prisoner?”
Rolling his eyes, Dieter did not deign to respond, merely attacked Beraht with another hungry kiss as the key fell to the floor.
Chapter Twenty Seven
“Spring is most certainly a season of change,” Matthias said.
Esta rolled her eyes. “Do stop grinning so, Matthias, people will think you are gloating.”
“I am gloating,” Matthias replied, settling back in his seat and looking quite pleased with himself.
Kalan laughed from where he stood at Matthias’s right. “As well he should.” He motioned to the crowd filling the ballroom. “We have accomplished a great deal in the past month, and all of it without magic. Even the King has given up protesting.”
Esta made a face. “Given up protesting, yes…” She sighed, and shoved the thoughts away. There was nothing to be done about the King. Even she had not been able to coax him out of his room, not even for this grand occasion.
Not that she could entirely blame him; she’d much rather be in her room. She skimmed the ballroom for anything which needed attending, smiling faintly to see her brother and Sol conversing with a handful of soldiers – both Illussor and Krian – on the far side.
Though she supposed that wasn’t entirely fair. They’d all forsaken Kria to follow the Scarlet Wolf here. They were, even though many were still struggling with the language, Illussor now. If she were to order them to return to Kria, which in a few short hours would be within her power, they would be put to death.
She thoroughly disliked seeing swords everywhere, but they could hardly do without such things now. The underlying power structure of Salhara was crippled, the Seven Star having lost three stars forever. Kria was not fairing much better, with three Generals and the Kaiser dead, and the next Kaiser still to be born. Both countries would become troublesome again, someday, for she doubted either would feel like peace talks now…but it wouldn’t be for many years yet.
Looking across the ballroom, she sought out the two men who were responsible for that – and shook her head when she saw them on opposite sides, still ignoring each other.
Ever since Beraht had been rescued they’d barely spoken to each other – barely even tolerated being in the same room. At present, Beraht was trapped in a corner surrounded by those who were brave enough to quench their curiosity. Those less brave stood close enough to overhear, and more than a few in the surrounding area were giving the corner many an inquisitive glance.
And perhaps a few predatory, Esta noted. Beraht cut a fine figure when dressed in full regalia. His pale hair was only darker than that of a full-blooded Illussor, skin fair though she suspected that with the warming weather it would tan. Beraht did not seem the type to ever stay idly indoors. To accent his features, draw out the blazing yellow of his eyes, she’d bid the tailors put him in blue with accents of silver. If he wanted company tonight, Beraht would find himself with more offers than he could handle.
However, she suspected he would not be seeking any company.
She shifted her gaze to seek out the Wolf, unsurprised to find him high above on the balcony overlooking the ballroom. Many soldiers and older lords were gathered there, and Dieter stood in quiet conversation with Reinhard and the Illussor man who held the same position as Reinhard, balancing the power between the still blending halves of the new Illussor army.
Dieter was clearly involved in the conversation, but his eyes were fastened to the ballroom floor. Esta didn’t have to look to see where particularly his gaze was directed.
Honestly.
If men weren’t obnoxious and presumptuous, as were Matti and Kalan, they were obtuse and stubborn.
“Won’t you sit, Essie?” Matti asked.
Esta sniffed, pointedly turning away from the seat Matti was offering her. “Not yet. I want to dance first.”
“Shall I trod upon your toes?” Kalan asked.
“No, you shall not,” Esta replied, gathering the skirts of her pale green gown, light catching on the gold and silver beads decorating it in a delicate pattern of small flowers. “You may stay here and continue to be smug and aggravating with Matti.”
Laughing, the men let her go.
The crowd parted for her as she crossed the ballroom, and she returned the bows and curtseys with nods and murmured greetings. Stars, she was going to kill Matti. Yes, it was a good idea…and she’d always known Matti would get his way eventually…longer than he had, the idiot…but this new level of deference was disconcerting.
She smiled in greeting as she reached Beraht, holding out her hand, repressing a fond laugh at the way he awkwardly took it. “I don’t suppose you would indulge me with a dance, dear Beraht? I’m afraid my fiancé and his favorite cohort are being quite insufferable.”
“If you don’t mind having your toes broken,” Beraht said with a grimace, but obediently led her through the crowd and to the dance floor. “Do I know this one?”
“You do,” Esta said, and got them into position, seeing comprehension flood Beraht’s face. “Are you enjoying the ball at all?”
Beraht shrugged, and did not reply as the music started up, more focused on the dance steps. Esta left him in peace, following his lead, smiling and nodding at the people who waved or called as they whirled by on the turns. After the first set, Beraht finally spoke again. “It’s not what I’m used to, and people keep pestering me with questions.” He frowned.
Esta laughed. “Yes, they are always going to do that. You are quite the source of curiosity, Breaker.”
Grimacing, Beraht again fell silent as they stepped and turned. When they came together again, Esta noticed his focus had wandered. The next step reversed their position, and she was not at all surprised to see Dieter speaking with Matti and Kalan, and that Dieter was watching them. His gaze shifted before she was once more turned away.
She politely ignored the way Beraht’s gaze again wandered.
The dance ended a moment later, and Esta was gratified that Beraht did not immediately take off. “Would you dance once more with me?” she asked. “I promise to release you after.”
Beraht shrugged and took up the starting position as the strains of the next dance began to play. “I don’t mind.” He flashed a brief smile, the hesitance in it cute. “Breaking toes is better than being trapped in that corner again.”
Esta laughed as she was spun, and was still laughing when the dance brought her close to Beraht again. “I am flattered you find dancing with me more interesting than being lavished with attention. I think you will do quite well as a Duke, Beraht.”
“I am not a lord,” Beraht said stubbornly, looking slightly ill – but Matthias was adamant. He had titles to give away, and so he would. Technically they were the King’s to give away, but every day Matthias took up more and more the roll of King.
“Not yet,” Esta said, smiling at Beraht’s disgruntled look. “You are a fine dancer, you know, despite what you think. Even if you were breaking my toes, it’s better than listening to Matti gloat all night.”
Beraht glanced back toward the dais where Matti sat, conversing still with Kalan and Dieter, something amusing him vastly enough Esta could hear him laughing over the noise and music. “If you are that unhappy about it…”
Esta rolled her eyes. “I’m not. If I didn’t want to marry him, I wouldn’t. He’s just being very much a braggart about it. I’ll make him pay.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Beraht said with a grin, and spun her around in the turn that completed the set, smoothly moving into the steps of the second set. He really was a fine dancer.
His eyes again wandered, and Esta knew where they lingered, why those shadows were there. Honestly. If it weren’t for the fact she genuinely liked Beraht, she would leave them both to rot in their thickheaded behavior. “Could I ask you a question, Beraht? It’s been piquing my curiosity for some time, but I’ve never troubled to figure it out.”
“Of course,” Beraht said, brow wrinkling with confusion. “I doubt I’ve an interesting answer to give, whatever it is.”
Esta smiled, and fell silent until she was led through the turn and into the third set. “Your name is Krian, yes?”
“Yes,” Beraht said tightly, eyes going immediately past her shoulder.
“It’s not a name with which I am familiar, and I am rusty at best in the Krian language. Whatever does your name mean? If it’s all right to ask, I mean. I do not know the Salharan etiquette for such things at all.”
Beraht shrugged. “I am not Salharan any longer, so it hardly matters whether you know the etiquette or not. My name means ‘bright’.” He frowned briefly, eyes once more wandering as if of their own volition.
Esta doubted he realized he was doing it.
“That’s peculiar,” she said with a frown. “Does the word ‘bright’ have special meaning to the Krians? Is it a popular word?”
“What?” Beraht asked, his own frown deepening, confusion growing. “There is nothing special about it, nor do I think it popular…it’s just an ordinary word. Why?”
“Well, it’s just I’m relatively certain I heard the Lord General say one day to the soldiers that his sword was named Bright, though if you ask me it’s strange they name…” She kept her expression blank as they stumbled to a halt in the middle of the dance floor.
Beraht stared at her. “What?”
“I said Dieter named his sword Bright…”
Oblivious to the fact they stood still in the middle of the dance floor, Beraht looked toward the dais with a strange expression on his face – almost immediately it turned into a familiar glower. “Where did that stars refused bastard go?” he asked aloud.
Esta turned and saw that Dieter had, indeed, vanished. She turned back and saw Dieter once more on the balcony – headed for the door that led to the halls beyond. She pointed. “There. I believe he’s retreating.”
Beraht jerked around. “Bastard,” he swore softly, then abruptly started heading that way, pausing mid step to turn back. “Pardon me, Princess,” he said hastily, then took off at a near run through the crowded ballroom, not noticing a bit the people who barely scrambled out of his way in time, taking the stairs two at a time and vanishing a second later from the ballroom.
Esta shook out the skirts of her ball gown, then gathered them close and walked sedately off the dance floor toward the dais. She accepted the hand Matti held out to her, and gracefully took her place in the seat beside his.
“What are you up to, Essie?” Matthias asked.
“I merely wanted to dance,” Esta said primly. “Are you going to give me your mother’s wedding ring or not?”
Matthias grinned and pulled a delicate gold ring from his pocket. “She told me when I was sixteen that I was going to give this to you one day.”
Esta sniffed. “Matti, she told me when I twelve that you would give me this ring someday.”
Kalan threw his head back and laughed at the expression on Matthias’s face.
Feeling the evening one well managed, Esta rose with Matthias as the dance came to an end, sliding the ring on her finger and placing her hand in his. He lifted their joined hands as the music died away and the crowd turned to face them. “To your future Queen!” he called, and kissed the back of Esta’s hand as the room bowed, curtsied, and burst into cheering.
Beraht bolted through the hallways, wishing his ability to breathe would return, or that his heart would stop pounding in his chest.
Esta had to have lost her mind. There was no way…
It wasn’t true, and even if it was…
Stars refuse that bastard! What game was he playing?
Beraht stormed around a corner – and faltered to a stop.
The bastard himself, and for once Beraht didn’t know what to do about him. He hadn’t known since Dieter had rescued him. Had tried very hard not to think about the tangle in which Dieter had left his emotions.
“You stars refused bastard!” he bellowed, fisting his hands to still their sudden trembling.
Dieter stopped, then turned slowly around.
He made, Beraht had noted sourly earlier in the evening, an impressive figure. Esta had somehow gotten the man to wear a color other than black. Granted, the green was deep enough to pass for black in weaker light, but in the ballroom the dark green trimmed in silver had…well, looked good. Up close he had no doubt it brought out his strange gray-green eyes, made the gray touches almost silver. Bastard.
“What did I do this time?” Dieter asked, and Beraht was brought up short by the utter weariness in his tone.
Beraht stalked closer, titling his head up to meet the cool gaze of those eyes. “You drive me mad.”
“The feeling is entirely mutual,” Dieter snapped, annoyance beginning to enter his tone. “Though I would like to know what I have done this time.”
“You breathe!” Beraht replied, feeling the last of his temper slip free of restraint. “You exist! I have never in my life met anyone half so infuriating and confounding as you!” He could feel his nails digging into his palms, and a sticky warmth told him he’d broken the skin. “Bastard,” he whispered, still glaring into Dieter’s eyes. He spoke again before Dieter could interrupt. “What is your sword’s name?”
The dismay that flickered across Dieter’s face was startling to the point it took Beraht’s breath away. Such a vulnerable expression seldom found a place on the face of the Wolf. “Go away, Beraht.”
“I asked you a question, you stupid Wolf!” Beraht snarled. “What is your sword’s name?”
Dieter’s mouth twisted. “Bright,” he said curtly.
“Why?” Beraht managed to ask, unable to believe it.
“Tits of the Winter Princess, do you think I know?” Dieter bellowed, expression as uncertain as it was angry.
Beraht shook his head, unable to comprehend anything. “Is that what you meant—in the tent—“
“Yes,” Dieter said.
He couldn’t believe it. There was no way this made sense. It was impossible. They hated each other. “Bastard,” he hissed. “Are you trying to be amusing?”
“Amusing?” Dieter said in a soft, dangerous tone that usually meant Beraht was about to find himself on the floor badly bruised, if not unconscious. He fought the urge to back away as Dieter stalked toward him, a shiver running up his spine and he suddenly felt exactly as he had in the tent a little more than a month ago—
—Except this time Dieter was kissing him.
The thought left Beraht reeling, or would have if the kiss itself wasn’t already doing that.
This was nothing like the kiss Dieter had given him in the coliseum. That had been necessary. Brutal and hard. Flavored of arcen and blood. This kiss tasted only of Dieter, who seldom drank anything but tea, and while his lips were most definitely bruising it wasn’t in an unpleasant way.
No, far from it. As much as he hated to admit it, as hard as it was to believe this was happening – Dieter could kiss. Stars, the man could kiss. Beraht wondered briefly it had to do with being trained to be the perfect gift to a Kaiser.
Then his thoughts skittered away, as Dieter’s kiss went from fierce to consuming, and Beraht moaned wholly against his will.
He gasped for air when Dieter finally broke the kiss, and wondered when precisely he’d wound up pressed against the wall and why in the stars his hands were in Dieter’s hair. This was not happening. Against his better judgment he shifted his gaze up.
He’d been right. Against the deep green fabric and silver trim, those gray-green eyes shone. Beraht drew a shaky breath. “Dieter…”
A smile he’d never seen before flickered ever so briefly across Dieter’s face, lighting those eyes up even more. “That’s the first time you’ve said my name, Beraht.”
Beraht shuddered, hands tightening where they refused to let go of Dieter’s thick hair. He’d always hated the way Dieter said his name because of the mockery in it. There had been no mockery this time, and that made it devastating. Stars refuse him for a fool, he should not like it so much that Dieter said his name that way. Possessively. Knowingly. As if it meant something.
Never had anyone uttered his name while they kissed him, bedded him. They said nothing at all, or whispered the name of another. He’d never had a name for someone to say. Nor had he known what it was like to say the name of another. Always he’d been nameless and silent.
He spoke again, just because he could, because this entire situation was unreal and he realized with sudden, painful clarity that he wanted it to be real. “Dieter.” He moaned low again as Dieter once more took his mouth, kissing back furiously, pouring every last thing he felt into it. If he was going to endure this, by the stars he wouldn’t do so alone.
Shivers laced down his spine as Dieter became bolder, as true to form the Wolf wasted no time in claiming his victory. Beraht suspected he’d still wake up with bruises, but found he didn’t care.
Abruptly he was pulled away from the wall, cold as Dieter pulled away, but his hand burning where Dieter held it, and Beraht realized after a moment where they were going. “We’re going to your room?”
Dieter smirked. “Why not? You’ve been sleeping in my bed since we met.”
Beraht rolled his eyes. “You’re still a smug, arrogant, infuriating, violently tempered bastard, Dieter.”
“You’re still too mouthy for your own good, Beraht.” Dieter replied.
There seemed nothing more to say, except to whisper Dieter’s name once more as the door closed behind them and he was pulled into his Wolf’s arms.
Epilogue
“Dieter!” Esta halted in the doorway to his office, planting her hands on her hips, hair unusually messy, one long strand spilling from the tidy knot at the back of her head to slip over her shoulder. Her skirts were equally disordered, no doubt from running about the palace on yet another chase. “Have you seen Benji?”
“No, Majesty,” Dieter replied, looking up briefly from his paperwork.
Cursing, Esta called a thank you as she vanished to search elsewhere.
Dieter reached beneath his desk and yanked, eyeing the gleeful smile on Benji’s face. “You are driving your mother mad, prince.”
“But her lessons are boring,” Benji protested. “I want swords, not forks.”
Thinking of his own etiquette lessons, drilled into him at length by his father and a tutor brought in at significant expense, all to prepare him for being utterly perfect for the Kaiser…Dieter could only sympathize. “Did you bring your sword, child of the devious Spring Lord?”
Benji laughed, amused as always by what seemed to him Dieter’s strange phrases. Then he squirmed free of Dieter’s hold and dropped down to crawl back under the desk, emerging a second later with a well-made wooden sword, the perfect weight and size for training a young child.
Dieter recognized natural talent when he saw it, and while he hoped Benji did not spend his life at war, he was not above training the boy when he should be learning his forks. “Your mother will worry until she finds you.”
“Daddy knows,” Benji said. “He’ll stop mommy.”
Shaking his head, almost feeling sorry for Esta that her son was all too much like his father, Dieter motioned for Benji to take up position in the center of the room, then began to drill him through the beginner lessons.
He didn’t think it would be much longer before they moved on to more advanced lessons – and avoiding his mother was already teaching Benji more than any lesson could about stealth and knowing your enemy.
Dieter laughed softly.
A sharp rap at the door interrupted them, but neither budged from their spot. When the door opened a moment later, Benji abandoned his sword and bolted to the new arrival. “Uncle Beraht! Can we go riding later?”
Beraht rolled his eyes. “If your mother doesn’t lock you in your room for running away from your lessons again.” He shot a glare at Dieter. “You don’t help.”
Dieter shrugged. “It is not my fault the woman thinks a seven year old wants to learn about forks rather than swords. She should stop the etiquette lessons until he is old enough to threaten or blackmail.”
“What’s blackmail?” Benji asked.
“Nothing,” Beraht replied, shooting Dieter another look.
Laughing, Dieter returned to where he’d been leaning against his desk. “Benji, go through all the forms again.”
“Yes, General!” Benji said cheerfully, snapping a salute before retrieving his sword and obediently going through all the forms. They were nearly perfect, and Benji immediately made every correction Dieter called out, seldom having to be told more than once what was wrong.
Another rap at the door interrupted them a second time, and this time Benji bolted to cling to Dieter, sword clutched tight. “I’m not done yet!” he protested even before the intruder could enter.
“Benji,” Matthias said with a fond smile, “your mother is on the warpath. I promise I will talk her into regular lessons for you – until then, please come learn your forks before she teaches knives to all of us.”
Dieter and Beraht laughed.
“Go,” Dieter said firmly.
Grumbling, face dejected, Benji went.
Matthias waved and followed his son out, and Dieter could just hear him bribing Benji with a visit to Sol and Iah to go fishing in their pond in a few days.
“You shouldn’t be encouraging his bad behavior,” Beraht said, leaning against the door and folding his arms across his chest.
Dieter shrugged. “Using forks does not require training movements and reactions into the body from a young age. The prince should know how to fight.”
“This isn’t Kria,” Beraht said, but the words were automatic, one of their dozens of arguments.
“No, if this were Kria, he would have started at three,” Dieter said, and levered himself off the desk and stalked across the room, looming over Beraht, who unfolded his arms to brace his hands on Dieter’s shoulders. “You’re back early.”
“The problem resolved itself by the time I got there,” Beraht said. “I had only to authorize a few things and then I was left with nothing to do. I would have been back sooner, but I stopped off to see Sol and Iah. They’re doing well, and are much busier than I. Why did I get the boring title?” He tilted his head up just a bit more in silent demand.
Dieter gave in, lowering his head to claim Beraht’s mouth, the taste of his lover still more intoxicating than any wine could ever be. “You certainly whine as expertly as any noble I’ve ever met,” he said when at last they broke apart.
Beraht kicked him. “Your office is remarkably empty.”
“I was tired of the racket,” Dieter replied, sliding one hand over Beraht’s hip and along his back, tracing the dips and rises of his spine before letting go long enough to lock the door against which Beraht was still braced, then pulled the key out and tucked it away in his jacket before turning his full attention to his lover. “I sent them off to train at the Regenbogen.” He smirked briefly as he thought about the fortress reclaimed by Illussor only a year ago.
Beraht rolled his eyes. “You’re as smug as any general I’ve ever met.”
Chuckling, Dieter once more covered Beraht’s mouth with his own, growling low as knowing fingers landed on the back of his neck and a hand began to open his clothes, his own intent upon removing Beraht’s. He broke the kiss to taste elsewhere, as stunned now as he had been years ago that this bright Salharan was his to kiss and touch and claim.
“How long do we have until his highness interrupts again?” Beraht asked, the question turning in to a long moan.
“Even his highness hasn’t yet figured out how to pick a lock,” Dieter said, greedily attacking Beraht’s throat, displeased that their three days apart had given his marks time to fade. Fingers tightened in his hair, Beraht shivering in his arms. “As I’ve got the only key, you are my prisoner here until I decide you may leave.”
But even as he spoke, he felt fingers wrap around the key in his jacket. He looked up, glaring.
Beraht smirked and tapped his cheek with the key. “Who’s the prisoner?”
Rolling his eyes, Dieter did not deign to respond, merely attacked Beraht with another hungry kiss as the key fell to the floor.
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Date: 2007-03-22 12:34 pm (UTC)(As if any other time would have been worse).Although I love all of your stories in general-and have read most of them at least twice- I'd have to say Prisoner has been one of my favorite stories. It had such a tightly woven plot, a nice set of characters, and a couple that made me giggle with delight that there wasn't anything about it I could not love. The buildup of Dieter and Beraht's relationship was, in my opinion, well done (though at times I will admit I was screaming, "You two are huge idiots! ARGH!"), and these last few chapters just made my day... even if it's only 5:30 in the morning. Another aspect I liked was the misconceptions people had of others' cultures. It gave the story an element of realism, and I could see you put so much care into creating these misunderstandings. I also adored the way Beraht was subtly accepting his name more and more without making it obvious. You definitely have some good writing skills.
Now that I'm done being a complete fangirl (especially over Dieter and Beraht), thank you for writing such a wonderful story.
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Date: 2007-03-22 01:20 pm (UTC)Berath, get a clue! What guy names the person who slaughtered half (or more) of his soldiers "Bright"? It's more likely to go along the lines of "Bloodthirsty Salharan bastard" than anything else. Did that mean Dieter had a thing for him since then?
Kiss!!!
Where's the smex?Dieter and Benji!!!
He should definitely get Berath pregnant and have his own kidsCongratulations on another job well done! ^_^
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Date: 2007-03-22 02:01 pm (UTC)Esta sniffed. “Matti, she told me when I twelve that you would give me this ring someday.”
This made me laugh so hard. Esta is the best character ever! I love how she doesn't always get her way, and she is quite tempermental about it, but how she's always so kind as well. And you just know that she's goign to rule the roost, just from her comment.
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Date: 2007-03-22 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-22 03:40 pm (UTC)I loved this story...
Date: 2007-03-22 03:48 pm (UTC)It was wonderful, absolutely and marvelously well written. Now what am I going to do on Thursdays?
*shrugs*
Keep up the good work chica!
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Date: 2007-03-22 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-22 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-22 05:15 pm (UTC)At least it would be nice to find out how it will turn out. If the story is discontinued for good, then could you possibly write a short explanation of what was going to happen?
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Date: 2007-03-22 05:24 pm (UTC)Now I really hsould go and do some work... hm.
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Date: 2007-03-22 05:34 pm (UTC)I was worried I would never really warm to Dieter/Beraht. I kept thinking the only way for them to get together would be something vaguely Stockholm Syndrome-y and unpleasant, and, I feared, rushed to completion in the chapters left. But the development of their relationship as they finally realized stuff didn't seem rushed at all! It was perfect. The sort of dawning realization of what had been happening all along, what the constant antagonism meant, how they couldn't stop thinking about each other, how violence is just one more way to get your hands on someone... it worked. (I especially like that in the epilogue, they are kissing and Beraht still kicks Dieter's leg. They are both such violent little bastards, ahaha.)
I think if these two had met under different circumstances they would have been shagging within a fortnight. But they had to overcome the war first. For me, their relationship seems symbolic of the war in the story. Not until the threat was finally gone could their relationship progress beyond anything but warring and potshots and bouts of sudden violence, despite what, ahem, their subconscious might be whispering. With the threat of Kria and Salhara taken care of (for the moment D:) they could finally act on their repressed emotions and conclude their own battle! Brill.
I mean, Beraht and Dieter honestly hated each other in the beginning, and I thought that would be pretty hard for them to get over if they wanted to get off. But Dieter got to act out his slow torture in revenge for his men, Beraht saved Dieter's life thus making Dieter owe him, Dieter saved his in return (a lot, what with Benji and looking after him, then with the rescuing and stuff) and I'm glad Dieter appears to have suffered a bit. Seems he realized his feelings for Beraht first, from the "utter weariness" and the "dismay" at Beraht's discovery. (Poor Beraht was entirely too beaten up for my liking, and I'm happy Dieter got a little torture in return.) So there is a bit of Stockholm lurking around, but not in a creepy way. More in a they-were-thrown-together-so-long-they-worked-through-their-hatred kinda thing.
Um, anyway, what all this rambling means is that: I loved this story. It was a lot darker and, in some ways, more complex than your other stuff. I have actually never disliked a character of yours as much as I disliked Dieter, but in the end I warmed to him and began to feel for him. In the same way Beraht never had a name growing up and lived with his feelings of loneliness and desolation, I think Dieter never thought he'd ever posses a name either - for his sword, that is. In a way, both of them were nameless and named each other.
Maybe I have been writing to many critical literary analysis essays lately. Um.
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Date: 2007-03-22 06:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-03-22 05:37 pm (UTC)I was actually seriously contemplating what the roll of King is and how much significance can a pastry, royal or not, carry until I realized the only pastry around is the one in my head.
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Date: 2007-03-22 09:55 pm (UTC)*laugh* Whoops. Me and my homonyms. *shakes head*
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Date: 2007-03-22 07:14 pm (UTC)OMG I loved this story though. It was all kinds of awesome and I love how you are so good at making people like Dieter and Beraht get together without sacrificing their personalities (It amused me, too, that he kicked Dieter in the last scene :D)
Benji was adorable. Hiding under Dieter's desk, of all places! Dieter is good with children? Surprise XDDDD
So, in conclusion, *loves*. The double posting gave me the great chance to procrastinate my homework for my 12:00 class :P Reading that went by far too fast.
PS- Paradise :D
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Date: 2007-03-22 10:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2007-03-22 07:23 pm (UTC)What can I say? It's rich, not only with details and colors and sights and sounds, but just the feeling you get while reading it because of all those things. It makes me happy, this ending, while still making me smirk at the characters - because they're just...real.
I have to say, a pretty darn awesome way to start off the rest of my day. ^_^
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Date: 2007-03-22 07:36 pm (UTC)I would also have liked to see Beraht punch Dieter in the face. Just to see how Dieter would have reacted.
In spite of this, I have overwhelmingly loved this story, and will look forward to whatever you choose to put in the Thursday slot.
Much love!
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Date: 2007-03-22 07:47 pm (UTC)Wonderfulness - overload - *dances a happy dance* Ah, DieterxBeraht. So very worth the wait.
And I concur with other sentiments, I really like the way you built Dieter and Beraht's relationship. The entire scenario was a complex one that can be fairly difficult to pull off well, but you managed it with aplomb. I like how it really developed in increments over a long period of time, and it was clear that they had a mutual attraction and just either didn't know exactly what it was or didn't know what to do about it. Things like, really, each time in which one or the other of their lives were threatened, especially as the story progressed, the other seemed to realize their feelings a little more. Yet still, even after the big rescue scene, neither of them would have ever gotten anywhere (because, as we saw from the very beginning, they're both crap at realizing and dealing with their emotions) without an actual push in the right direction.
so, can we hear some "Thank you, Esta!"s?
(speaking of whom, it was nice she finally gave in to Matti - we all knew it was going to happen eventually. Even everyone in the story knew it. Including themselves. ^^)
so, about the end of the story - I like certain fundamental aspects of the Dieter/Beraht relationship never changed - like the sentence you casually added, about "one of many arguments". It was nice to actually see that not much had really changed ^^ Also, I LOVE your final play on the title. It's so appropriate. And wonderful.
I really have adored this story, it's so wonderful to see everything reach a nice conclusion. (And thankfully, I'm still in the state of being so happy everything turned out so well that the oh-no-it's-over! syndrome has yet to quite hit me ^^)
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Date: 2007-03-22 08:22 pm (UTC)I personally think she was holding out to tease/torture him XD;; And because it irked her he was so smug.
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Date: 2007-03-22 08:25 pm (UTC). . . is it bad that the question that keeps bothering me is what color Beraht's eyes really are?
. . . I think Deiter/Beraht is my favorite couple from any of your stories .__.;
I'm sad to see this is finished, and yet happy?
Oh well, there's always drabbles >_>Overall I think the story was well written :) The only thing I even sort of question is how convienient the concentrated cleanser was to keep Beraht from going over to orange/addiction permanently. But every story has a convienient plot device somewhere *shrug*.
Yay for fluff ♥
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Date: 2007-03-22 10:08 pm (UTC)Heh ^^; I could not resist, it seemed like what they'd do.
Brown, I think *would have to go find Ye Olde Notes*
^____^
Heh. Yes, always drabbles <3
Eh. I wasn't entirely satisfied with it, but I wanted to do the bastard a favor and it may yet become important later someday far far away.
Okay...Wow
Date: 2007-03-22 10:34 pm (UTC)Now all I can do is pray to the fangirl gods that there will be plenty of Beraht/Dieter Drabbles!
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Date: 2007-03-22 10:52 pm (UTC)and yay for matti finally getting esta!! i love him dearly. and that benji likes to sneak off to play with swords *snicker*
now, kalan just needs to find a pretty boy... ^_____________^
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Date: 2007-03-22 11:02 pm (UTC)Needless to say, I love love loved this story, start to finish. I loved all the pairings and the build up and the thick, twisty plotiness. The world and the history of the three countries and their wars and how each was molded by magic. And the individual characters! Each so well crafted and likable or hate-able with such feeling.
And the epilogue is like a big yummy cherry on top. Benji!!!!!!! So cute, and I love Beraht reprimanding Dieter on siding with Benji against Esta. Hee!
I should hardly be praising this and begging for more in the same comment, but...
whenif you write drabbles about them, I would love to know more about Iah and Sol and their pond. ^_^Oh!! Also, I loved the prisoner line at the end of the epilogue. Perfect way to tie it all up.^_____________^
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Date: 2007-03-22 11:19 pm (UTC)Thank you.
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Date: 2007-03-22 11:54 pm (UTC)“You certainly whine as expertly as any noble I’ve ever met,” he said when at last they broke apart.
Beraht kicked him.
AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA, of course they're still violent to each other! I laughed so hard at that part. Because it makes perfect sense that insults and violence equals true love to them. Look at their courtship, after all!
Dieter said, greedily attacking Beraht’s throat, displeased that their three days apart had given his marks time to fade.
You know, I hadn't thought of how they would be like years in the future, but this detail that Dieter leaves marks on Beraht (and that, I assume, Beraht lets him and enjoys them) is just a perfect little addition that tells so much about them as a couple. As aggressive as ever but now turned into passion and possession. I love, love, LOVE it.
You know, I think you're only getting better with all of your stories. But this one especially is just...wow. All the political aspects and having the story include bits from each country, I know, is extremely hard to write (and keep track of things!), and you did a superb job. Bravo!
Granted, I'm a little surprised you didn't give Kalan someone to play with... ^__^
Ah, now what shall I wait with bated breath for on Thursdays?
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Date: 2007-03-23 04:04 am (UTC)So, um, enjoy, I hope? ^__^
***
Beraht listened with carefully concealed boredom as the prince’s advisers droned on. Yes, everything was going well. No, nothing from Salhara or Kria yet. Yes, Illussor was beginning to prosper again after the loss of their magic. The same reports as ever. After Beraht had given his report – and stars refuse the prince for having so gleefully pronounced Beraht a duke – there was nothing to do but listen to everybody else tell the same reports. Stars give him sneaking around the Scarlet camp again before having to survive another one of these meetings!
Speaking of Scarlet...
Beraht’s lips twitched upwards for a moment as his fingers pressed along the fabric of his tunic, tracing the mark on his hip. Not listening to another report on expected annual growth and harvest, Beraht instead remembered the night before when –
Dieter mouthed along his lover’s side as Beraht attempted to twist their positions. Instead, the Wolf only held Beraht’s hips tighter and growled, “Stop that.”
Trying to sound insolent but only managing breathless, he replied, “Then hurry up.”
Dieter mouthed along Beraht’s hipbone before biting deeply into the flesh, Beraht keening at the sensation of teeth and tongue on his skin.
“Dieter!”
The general looked up and smiled at Beraht before continuing to torment him.
“Then, you’re all free to go,” Matthias was saying as Beraht blinked back into the present.
He wasted no time in leaving that wretched room, inwardly cursing the day he’d allowed Matthias to put him in this position.
“Finally done playing nobleman?” a familiar voice spoke behind Beraht when he turned a corner a minute later.
He turned and smirked up at his lover. “Finally done beating some sense into your men?”
Dieter scowled. “Krian children could defeat these green recruits. With wooden swords.”
As always, Beraht responded, “This isn’t Kria.”
They turned another corner, and Beraht found himself pressed against the wall with Dieter’s mouth hard against his, the taste of tea dissipating as they kissed. Beraht held onto Dieter with fierce fingers against his shoulder and neck, and Dieter’s arms were tight around his waist, almost lifting him from the floor. Beraht moaned softly as Dieter bit his lower lip, then pulled back.
“With all your biting, you’d think wolves actually did raise you.” He threaded a hand through Dieter’s hair and added, “Then again, you were raised in Kria...”
Dieter kissed him again and then replied, “Careful, Beraht, or else I’ll take you right here, where any passing servant or noble can see that you’re mine.”
The image flashed through Beraht’s mind, and he pressed harder against the other man. “Bastard. As if they don’t already know.”
“Yes,” he whispered as he leaned down again to claim his lover’s mouth.
Without breaking the kiss, Beraht dropped one hand to one of Dieter’s and guided it to his hip, where his bite mark lay dark on his skin with five fingerprints fanned above it.
“Beraht,” Dieter whispered.
He smiled and leaned back into the general.
It looked like a wolf’s paw print on Beraht’s hip, marking him as the Wolf’s.
“Yes, Dieter,” he replied. “Yes.”
***
Eh-heh-heh, hope that wasn't too painful. *rubs back of neck* But I couldn't resist. Happy Friday, I suppose? ^__^
(no subject)
From:EIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Date: 2007-03-23 12:46 am (UTC)Oh, where to start!
1) I love the way you write Beraht. He's not at all comfortable with being a hero, or being surrounded by so many people who are important and well know, and he's not comfortable with being one of those people, particularly when he doesn't believe he's done much to be among them. He's spent so many years nameless and to suddenly be infamous instead...I'd hug him if I thought he'd let me. ^_^
2) I could have killed Beraht for doing that! And I could have killed Dieter for not expecting Beraht to do that! I mean, seriously, he all but said, 'oh, hello, this is what I'm going to do'. X_x Silly boys. *shakes them both silly* Oh, and when Beraht was certain that neither Dieter nor the Illussor would think him important enough to be worth ransoming. ;____; *huggles him anyway* I loved that part.
3) Okay, I admit it, I cheered like a mad fiend with Dieter killed Benno. ^_^;; That his general was pregant with the next king of Kria just made me go ewwwww. ^_^;;
4) I love that Beraht ends up getting cleansed to the point where he's unable to use arcen anymore. I just like that it's like the final knell in the idea that he's Salharan or that he belongs to Salhara. They didn't even think he was worth naming, and it is there loss as it helped to bring about their downfall. ^_^
5) Bwhahahahaha!!! Matti finally got Esta to agree to marry him. XD *snickers* I adore the way she finally gets fed up with them both and pretty much pushes Beraht to the realization that he means more to Dieter than he thinks. ^_^ Also, I LOVE the way you describe them at the ball. *hearts* Soooooo pretty. *________*
6) *dies happy* They kissed!! *does happy dance* I loved that whole scene. Just perfect! Squeee!!!! *tackle glomps* ^___^
7) Benji. XD *dies* Benji kills me. And Dieter following along in the subversion is just...*falls over snickering* Oh, they're so damned cute!!
8) You totally rock. Seriously. *hearts madly* Gyah, I'm so sorry to see the story end, but it was so worth it at the same time. You rock. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2007-03-23 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-23 02:48 am (UTC)now I"ve got to wait until dinner tomorrow to spew glee at you. I'm gonna 'splode before then!!