The Road To Happiness

 

A/N: This story is beta by Kylee any other mistakes you find are mine and not her. This story is related to follow your heart. And to let everyone know the next story to be update is Shadow of the past and Follow your heart, both are already send to Kylee my beta.

yaoilovers.

 

Chapter One:



 

Two soldiers stood on each side. In between them, a half dead man covered in cuts and bruises weakly lifted his bloodied head to stare at his husband and young son. The soldiers’ commander came forward and slammed his fist hard into the man’s face. He then drew out his sword and tossed it to the man’s husband.

“Kill him or I will kill your child!” As if to prove that he was serious, the soldiers’ commander stalked over to the man’s husband and roughly tore the baby from him. He positioned his knife over the baby’s heart.

“Kill him or your child will die,” the ruthless commander said coldly.

“Kill me Lufa! Save our child.”

Lufa with tears rolling down his cheek, crawled over to the commander and wrapped his arms around his leg. "Please I beg you Father, don't make me choose. Please let us go," he pleaded as tears rolled down his cheeks like a waterfall, blurring his vision.

His father shook him off his leg and kicked Lufa roughly, sending him rolling towards the other prisoner. “Decide quickly you traitorous son, or I will decide for you, and I can assure you that you will not like my decision,” his father said coldly with his unfeeling eyes focused on Lufa.

“Just kill me Lufa!” his husband shouted to him.

Lufa cried and shook his head as he crawled slowly in the dirt over to his husband. He cupped his husband’s bloody face with both his hands. “I love you so much my king... Please don't ask me to kill you.”

“I love you too Lufa... That is why I need you to do this... I would rather die by your hands... than die by our enemies’ hands... Please Lufa... do it... Kill me and save our young son.”

His father kicked the sword to Lufa’s side. Lufa unwillingly reached out for it. He hugged his husband tight and shut his eyes tight right before he thrust the sword into his husband.

“Promise me... Lufa... that you... will be strong... and live on... with our son...” his husband gasped out and then died in his arms. Lufa threw his head back and cried out in agony until his tears turned into blood. “My king I swear to only love you.” He vowed inside himself right before he fainted. His father ordered his husband’s body to be burned to ashes.

One month later.

In a dark prison with only a small window to allow some light to shine into it, Lufa sat with the other people who had been taken prisoner along with him and his young son.

Lufa put his son in the hammock and gently rocked him to sleep as he sang him a song.

“Sleep my child sleep. Please don't cry out for your father for he is no longer here with us. It pains me deeply to think of your father, of the blissful life we used to have.” Tears rolled down his face as he sang to his baby. “Sleep my beloved son for I will always be here for you in your father’s place...”

A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder and he looked up into his friend’s eyes. His friend gently wiped his tears away for him. “Lufa be strong.”

“ I am trying Willow. I am doing my best to be strong for my son,” he told his friend as he rocked his baby to sleep.

The sound of approaching footsteps got Lufa and all the other prisoners’ attention. They turned towards the huge iron door as they heard the lock unclick and the door swing open. The soldier stepped inside and went straight for Lufa. He grasped Lufa’s elbow tightly and forcefully dragged him out of the dark prison.

“Let me go! Where are you taking me?” Lufa shouted as he tried to free his elbow from the soldier’s grip. "The Lord wants a meeting with you," replied the soldier coldly as he dragged Lufa with him.

They reached a big door and Lufa was pushed inside. The door was locked right behind him, leaving him alone in the room with a man who seemed to be more interested in the birds than in him.

Without turning around to face his way, his father spoke up in a commanding voice. “You are to be married to the dark lord. He will be here tonight for you.”

“Married?” Lufa gasped, feeling the air escape from his lungs. He stared at his father and shook his head. “No, I refuse! Why are you doing this to me Father? First you forced me to kill my own husband, and now you are forcing me to marry against my will.”

His father, the Lord of Soren whirled around and stalked over to him. He smacked him hard across the cheek. “Don't you dare refuse, you traitor! I didn't force you to kill your husband, you chose to kill him yourself!  I only gave you an option.”

“How is that any different Father? Making me chose my son’s life over my husband.  I am not a traitor Father, I just happened to fall in love with a human.” Lufa retorted, ignoring the pain from his bruised cheek.

“Enough! You are going to marry the Lord of Darkness. This is the price you must pay for being a traitor. Believe me when I say this Lufa, nothing would please me more than to see you and your bastard son killed. If I hadn't promised you to the Lord of Darkness, you and your son would be dead right now. You will agree to this marriage or I will give orders for your son to be tossed alive into a pot of boiling lava.”

Lufa gasped in horror and unwillingly nodded his head in agreement. He had never hated his father until a month ago, but right now he hated him even more.

----------

It was love at first sight for the two of them when they met that day down by the river. Lufa was bathing in the water when he saw his future husband, who happened to fall into the river right in front of him. “Are you alright” he asked with a warm smile.

“Yes I am fi-- Oh my God you’re so beautiful! Are you a water nymph? If you are, feel free to take me with you.”

Lufa laughed softly and shook his head. They didn't meet again till a couple of days later.

It was a night that Lufa remembered very clearly. It was the night that his future husband confessed his love to him. "I love you my prince. Please come with me to my kingdom. I think of you night and day without sleeping, and when I do sleep, I dream only of you my beloved prince.

“My father will not allow me to marry you. You are a human. My father regards you and your people as our enemies.”

“But I love you my prince. It hardly matters to me that we are from opposing sides.”

Touched by his future husband’s words back then, Lufa agreed to elope with his husband to the human kingdom.  Never in his life did he ever regret that choice until now. Lufa buried his head in his knees and cried silently. “I miss you so much,” he murmured to himself as memories of his life with his husband ran through his head.

“Lufa, don't worry about your son. I'll watch him for you,” he heard his friend Willow whisper.

Lufa looked up with watery eyes and forced a smile onto his lips for his caring friend.

“Thank you,” he whispered back as he wiped his tears away. He turned and looked at his sleeping son. “For you, I will do anything my son,” he told his son silently and bent down to kiss his cheek.

The prison door swung open once more that day and the same commander came walking in. "The dark lord is here and he wishes to meet you now."

Lufa took one last look at his son and forced himself to walk away and out of the prison. "I will be back my son," he promised silently as he followed the guard up the stairs.

 Half an hour later, he stood before the dark lord. He had hair that was darker than black, and eyes that were bluer than the sky. Just one look at the man and Lufa knew at once that this man was dangerous when provoked.

“You are Lufa?”

Lufa simply nodded his head to indicate that he had heard him.

“I was disappointed when your father told me that you chose to not join us for dinner,” the dark lord said.

Lufa forced a smile to his lips. “I'm sorry,” he apologized to the man. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his father breathe out a sigh of relief. He wondered why.

“If you don't mind Lord Soren, I would like to talk with your son privately.” The Lord of

Darkness was not asking but ordering his father to leave them alone, and to Lufa’s amazement, his father left right away.

"Lufa, I could tell with one glance that your father had placed a spell preventing you from using your birth powers. May I ask why?" the Lord of Darkness asked him right after his father left.

“To stop me from trying to escape my Lord,” he answered honestly.

“I see. Am I right to guess that you don't want to be wed to me Lufa?” the Lord of Darkness asked him.

“I am going to be honest with you my Lord.  I don't wish to be wed to you. I just recently became a widow with a young son and I am still pretty much in love with my late husband.”  Lufa told the Lord of Darkness his true feelings.

“Then why did you agree to marry me?” asked the Lord of Darkness.

"The answer is simple my Lord. My father threatened to have my son killed if I did not agree to marry you,” Lufa replied honestly, looking straight into the Lord of Darkness’ blue eyes.

"Since you are being honest with me, I will be honest with you too Lufa. I was also reluctant to marry you, but after meeting you I have changed my mind.”

“It hardly makes any difference to me my Lord. I am still to be wed against my will.” Lufa sighed.

“I believe that life with me will be better for you and your son. Now why don't you go get your son so we can leave right away? We have five hours of riding to do.”

“Can I bring a friend with me as well?” Lufa asked, with hope reflected in his voice and eyes.

“Yes.”

“As soon as Lufa heard yes, he fled the room right away to get his son and to tell his good friend Willow the good news.

After Lufa left, his father returned to the room. “He will try to escape you know? You really shouldn't have allowed him to bring his son and friend with him.”

James turned and stared coldly at Lord Soren. “I believe that your son is more trustworthy than you are Lord Soren. He won't run away. I could tell when he looked me straight in the eyes and answered me honestly. Unlike someone I know who tried to lie his way out of a contract with me to save his own life, and when that didn't work, that someone willingly offered his only son to me to save himself from death.”

James put on his white gloves. “From today on your son Lufa and his son are mine. His life and his son’s life will be of no concern to you, but I doubt that you care about what will become of them, as long as you can save your own hide Soren.” Without a backward glance, James walked down the hall in his black clothes, humming to himself.

--------

Lufa said his “I do” with his son in his arms and his friend Willow by his side. He was thankful that the Lord of Darkness had allowed him to do so. Soon after the quick ceremony, he found himself in a carriage, sitting across from the dark lord himself, with his friend Willow next to him and trembling nervously. The carriage drove off into the darkness carrying Lufa towards his new home along with his son and his friend.

“What is his name?”

Lufa looked up from his baby and smiled. “My late husband and I named him Faith because we both believed that it was because of faith that we met and fell in love,” Lufa answered as his finger gently brushed his baby’s chubby cheek. A small laugh escaped from his lips when his baby giggled and gripped his finger tightly then tried to put it in his mouth.

“A lovely name to go with a lovely baby,” James complimented with a smile, then he turned to look out the carriage window.  “I want a son of my own as well Lufa. Do you think that you could give me one?”

Lufa glanced up at James. “I don't know if I could bear to have another man touch me in that way my Lord. I know that I am a life bearer and that I must bear children, but I only want to bear children for the man I love my Lord.”

James turned his eyes to Lufa and smiled. “Then if  you fall in love with me there won't be any problem. Right Lufa?”

Lufa sat there speechless as his son sucked on his finger. His friend Willow leaned over and whispered to him, “He’s got you there Lufa.”

“No, it’s impossible my Lord. I won't fall in love with you no matter what you do because I love only my late husband.” Lufa declared loudly and turned his eyes away from James.

“There is no other man for me besides my late husband. I only married you because of circumstance. Please understand that my Lord. If you really want children, you can have them with other lifebearers,” he added.

 

Lufa held his baby close to his chest. “I only need one child, Faith is the only one I need,” He announced softly as images of his late husband entered his thoughts.