To Turn the Other Cheek
part fiveWolfram extracted his face from his mother’s cleavage with an annoyed furrow of his brow, wondering absently if the lace along her bosom had imprinted its pattern on his cheeks. “Mother, you act as though you haven’t seen me in years,” he said in exasperation, straightening out his formal attire so it lay flat, its creases crisp and collar uncurled.
“Oh, Wolf, it’s been months!” Cecilie exclaimed, grooming his hair for him in a nervous fashion. “Are you sure you’re eating alright? You look thin. Maybe you should stay home for a while just to be sure you’re not coming down with something.”
Her son smiled at her tiredly, taking her hand and petting its back fondly. “Mother, I’m fine. Besides, I have too much to do to simply stay here. If I hadn’t promised Gwendel I’d come, I wouldn’t have bothered tearing myself away just yet.”
“Oh, but you couldn’t have missed this! Isn’t it grand?”
Cecilie gestured to the great hall around them, which was adorned with the new crest of the Maou. It was packed full of familiar and friendly faces along with guests invited simply out of social and political etiquette. The music was cheerful yet calming, no doubt picked by Gunter to accentuate the personality of the one they were brought together to honor. Everyone was happy and having a good time, laughter ringing almost louder than the joyful tunes that sang above the excitement. It truly was a marvelous evening, reminiscent of several others he’d spent in the castle, some with bittersweet memories.
“Yes. It’s very nice,” he admitted. He found himself searching for Yuri in the crowd and scowled at himself, turning back to his mother to distract himself from such destructive behavior. “How have you been?”
“Simply wonderful, Wolf. I met so many charming gentlemen on my cruise—I wish you could have met some of them. They might have been your type more so than mine.” She raked her long nails along his scalp in a soothing manner. “What about you? Have you been all right? I heard about what happened between you and his highness, Yuri.”
“Oh? And what is it you’ve heard?”
“You know. Nothing too vulgar. I think you were both too young to settle down, anyway, as wonderful a match as it was. Now you’re both free to find new and exciting romances!”
Wolfram nodded a little, more to pacify his mother than because he agreed with her. “So...Yuri. Have many woman been presented to him as marriage prospects?”
“Several. Oh, Wolfram, you should have seen them. Such lovely young girls. I know many of them are here tonight under special invitation. His highness is beside himself.”
The young man felt his insides twist and calcify, becoming a cold mass inside his body that weighed more than he could bear.
“Wolf? I’m sorry. How insensitive of me. I was carried away, I suppose. I get so excited when love is in the air,” she apologized, wrapping her arms around her youngest son once more. “Why don’t we get you a nice flute of champagne and we’ll talk about more pleasant things. You can tell me all about what you’ve been doing with yourself these past months.”
Wolfram nodded again, this time in agreement. They stepped out from the balcony and into the crowed, dipping past royals and diplomats and smiling in proper fashion. It was then that he heard the whispers. Nothing too obvious, hardly even audible. They didn’t need to speak loudly though; there eyes were on him as he cut through beside his mother. This was the first time he’d appeared in public since Yuri had announced the cancellation of their engagement. It was now a brewery of suspicion and gossip.
“Actually, Mother, I don’t feel so good. Perhaps you were right. I think I may just find my quarters and rest a bit.” He smiled at her pouting face. “Don’t worry, I’ll rejoin you later. Then you can tell me all about the hearts you broke tonight in your stunning gown.”
Cecilie chuckled to herself, as though she’d had enough drinks for one night already. “You sound like Conrad.”
Wolfram smiled a bit and nodded to her as he made his way quickly to the main hall, eager to leave the stares and whispers, as well as the would-be-brides and the pleasantries of the court, behind him. He hated them and their judgmental hearts and he felt no need to tolerate them in his presence.
He heard his name called and paused, his heart rising into his throat at the all too familiar sound. It used to give him such pleasure to be called by him. Now it gave him goose bumps, a mixture of dread and anticipation sending shivers down his spine.
“Wolfram!”
He turned, facing the approaching figure that was his king. “Your highness?”
Yuri made a face at him as he came to stand before him. “What’s with this ‘your highness’ stuff? You know you can call me by my name.”
“Of course, your highness Yuri. Happy Birthday”
“Wolfram.” The king’s face softened into a sorrowful pout. He really was still such a child. “Are you leaving again already? I’d rather you stayed. I want to talk to you about things.”
“I’m retiring to my quarters for a moment, that’s all. It’s too hot and stuffy in that room; they’re likely to ruin my suit with their sweat.”
“I’ll walk you there, then,” Yuri offered, standing beside him. “Which room is yours?”
Wolfram rattled off its location and, by the king’s _expression, he was not pleased. “Those aren’t even proper guest quarters.”
“I am a soldier on duty. They suit me just fine.”
Yuri shook his head. “This is your home; you deserve to sleep somewhere nicer. If all you want to do it sit down for a bit, let’s go to my room and you can use my bed. I’ll see about moving you into a nicer room for tonight.”
“As often as you've tried to drive me out of your room, I never thought I would hear you offer to let me in,” Wolfram jibed. “I don’t expect kindness from you, your highness. My room is fine.”
“As you wish. We can talk in private in my room for now, though.”
“Is there something you wish to speak to me about, your highness?”
“It’s Yuri. And yes, you know there is. How can you not think there is?”
Wolfram’s face remained impassive. “Fine. In private then.”
The king nodded and took him by the elbow for the first few steps to make sure that he accompanied him back to the elegant quarters. It was not a long walk from the grand hall, but there was a large dampening of the noise from the ongoing celebration. Behind the large closed doors, it was as though they were in another world entirely.
Wolfram kicked his boots off and lay down on the bed, habitually going to his side of the mattress. It was much cooler in the room and he could fell the stress begin to melt away in the calm cool of the king’s quarters.
Yuri sat bedside him, looking down at him with a pained _expression. “You didn’t even say goodbye, Wolfram. That wasn’t very nice. Whatever it was that had you upset could have been worked out.”
“No, your highness, it could not have been,” he stated, refusing to look him in the eyes. Wolfram tried not to let the nostalgia of the place soften his heart. “Didn’t Gwendel tell you goodbye for me?”
“Yes, but it’s not the same. Especially not since we had...you know. I mean, did you leave because I was terrible? Was it something I did?”
“Something you didn’t do,” the blonde said truthfully.
“What?”
“You didn’t love me back.”
Wolfram could hear the exasperation in his king’s voice. “You expected me to fall in love with you after having sex with you?”
“No. The sex was goodbye. I’d already planned to leave the next day.” He turned over onto his side, daring to look up at the one he had once called his fiancé. “I don’t have any hope that you’ll ever learn to love me. That hope is dead. You are an eyesore.”
Whatever reaction he had been expecting, the small smile that crossed the black haired man’s face was not it. “I was hoping you’d insult me. It’s not the same being in the same room with you and you being mostly pleasant.”
“You’re my king, it is not my place to insult you. Even if you are a wimp.”
Yuri smile broadened and he leaned down, hugging Wolfram gently. “I’ve missed you.”
It was the strangest reaction and turn of events Wolfram could have imagined. Yuri smelled wonderful, though, and his hair felt soft against his face. Wolfram melted into his embrace though he told himself not to get so comfortable.
Yuri pulled back after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Wolfram watched him, finding himself growing fonder of him by the minute. There was just something about him. No matter how much he tried to hate him or forget him, laying there in his presence, it was impossible to do. He smiled a bit to himself, feeling more like his old, antagonistic self in these surroundings.
“Why did you ask if you were terrible? Don’t you remember?”
Yuri blushed, not expecting for Wolfram to return to that question. “No, actually.... I didn’t...you know...change, did I?”
Wolfram chuckled a bit. “You were too quiet to have been that loud mouth.”
Yuri’s blush deepened. “So...why did you use your mother’s perfume to drug me?”
“I didn’t drug you, Yuri, it’s a pheromone. There’s a difference.” He sat up to fluff his pillow then flopped back down. “Like you said, you were avoiding me. I was just giving you a little help.”
“What if it had only made me really mad at you and we had nearly drowned each other?”
“I was willing to risk it,” Wolfram stated honestly.
“You were what?” Yuri’s pitch rose and he glared at his friend. “Wolfram, I really doubt getting into my pants was worth the risk.”
“Sorry it was so regrettable for you.”
Wolfram looked away again, closing his eyes as though he would fall asleep, though his mind was too involved in their conversation to let him relax any further.
“I didn’t say that. I mean...we shouldn’t have done it, but we did and...it’s stupid, I guess, but I actually have dreams about it.”
The blonde peeked through his long lashes at his king in surprise. “About me?”
“I guess. I mean, you wouldn’t do half the things you do in the dreams, I’m sure. The person just looked like you probably”
“What sort of things did I do?” he asked, honestly intrigued.
“I can’t tell you that!” Yuri squawked.
Wolfram sat up, rolling his eyes. “How can you still blush like a virgin after what we did?”
“I told you, I don’t remember all of what happened,” he combated.
“Are you saying you want a reminder?”
They blinked and stared at each other, both a little shocked at the words that hung between them. Wolfram bit his lip, wondering if he should take it back with a jest at Yuri’s integrity or let it be--see what answer Yuri had for him. Did he even want to sleep with Yuri again? He reminded himself where they were, alone in the king’s bedroom with all of the castle attending the celebration a long ways down the halls. They were completely isolated from the world with no worries of interruption.
Why not? He was leaving again in the morning. Why shouldn’t he take advantage of the moment? Out there were many women who would gladly give anything to sit where he was with the same sort of opportunity. One day, perhaps one would even get this far. It wouldn’t be this night though, he promised himself. Even if the dark haired king was now of age, he would not celebrate with the flesh of a woman tonight.
“What did you say?” Yuri asked, skeptical and shocked.
“Why not? I didn’t bring you a present. And it is your birthday.” He leaned in closer, watching Yuri shrink away with widened eyes. “That’s the thing about sex. Once you’ve done it once, however many times you do it afterwards doesn’t really matter. It’s how many people you do it with that counts.”
Yuri nodded mutely. “But I’m not....”
“You said you dreamed of me. Aren’t you curious just how far I’m willing to go? I can make your fantasies come true.”
“They’re not fantasies, just...dreams.”
Wolfram leaned over and kissed him. Yuri’s lips moved against his own clumsily, lacking the strength of will he’d possessed the last time he was kissed. Wolfram pulled back, gazing deeply into his eyes from the close distance.
“I know how it feels. You touch yourself, but it’s not the same anymore. You need more so you can feel that good again.” Wolfram rested his hand on Yuri’s thigh. “If tonight is your night, then I am the one you should bed.”
Yuri’s Adam’s apple dipped as he swallowed hard. “Wolfram...will you still be there in the morning?”
Wolfram nodded, pressing Yuri down till his back rested against the bed. “Anything for my king.”