Silver Eyes

Asahi was in the room when D'rian returned that night. He immediately saw what Val had meant when he said that the Knight seemed distracted. The other man's normally cheerful demeanor was gone, and he was staring into space, deep in thought. He didn't even notice when D'rian entered the main room.

D'rian cleared his throat to try and get his attention. "So, how did your trip go?"

The redhead sighed, and shook his head. "The trip itself was fine; but the capital isn't. He just keeps getting worse; the Knights have all been forced out of the palace, and the general populace is starting to notice. The council is having a hard time keeping his illness under wraps."

"That bad, huh? Has there been talk about what to do to solve the problem?"

Apparently the solution wasn't something Asahi approved of, if the dark look that passed across his face was any indication. "Yea. They're putting a new king on the throne, and putting Kalen under guard in his quarters. With the Knights no longer guarding him, and even the army starting to question him, it shouldn't be a problem to do."

D'rian raised an eyebrow. If that was it, Asahi wouldn't look so upset. "Uh huh. And what key things are you not telling me?"

"We'll be going in to help the Knights. They figure that magic and illusions will make everything easier – especially as we have the Royal Wizard on our side."

Grimacing at the title, he nodded. "That doesn't sound too bad; you'll want to go back to the Knights after everything's over with anyway."

"No, I won't be."

"Why not?" That would explain his behaviour; he loved being a Knight, and D'rian would feel extremely guilty if this whole escapade lost him his career.

"Because they want me to take the throne instead."

D'rian was glad he was sitting. That wasn't something he was expecting. "But...why? Who is supposed to be next in line?"

"Duke Jalen, technically. But he's already said he won't take the crown; he doesn't want anyone saying he staged this whole thing to steal the throne from his brother. Which I suppose makes sense, but doesn't really help me at all. I was – am – betrothed to his daughter, so that makes me next after him."

"Wow. That's – a lot to take in. Are you really okay with all this?"

Asahi shrugged. "Not really – I love being a Knight. I enjoy helping people, and being able to travel. I'll be able to help people this way at least, but I'll be stuck in the palace all the time. Plus, I joined the Knights because I didn't want to be in politics; I've had no sort of training to rule."

"I'm sure that it won't be as bad as you think it will be. I'll help you sneak out of the palace when you want; you know I can make a very effective illusion already. As for the actual ruling part, that's what your council is for. You care about people, you are intelligent, and when you want to be, you can be tactful."

Finally D'rian coaxed a small smile out of the other man. "Thanks Rian. It's just – still a lot to take in. But I'm glad to hear you'll be with me."

"Of course – you need a Royal Wizard still right?"

Asahi grimaced then laughed. "I suppose – although I'll change the title if you'd like. I guess that answers what you'll be doing once this is all over?"

D'rian nodded. "I don't particularly have anything else to do. I just, well..." He found himself blushing as he realized he wanted to know where Valan would be. A small voice shouted that he really wanted to know where Kelian would be going, but he sternly ignored it. "I want to make sure Val is okay going to the capital."

"Val...D'rian! Did you get a boyfriend while I was gone?" D'rian's blush grew deeper, which effectively answered the Knight's question. "Good for you! I'll need to make sure I approve of course. But...well, I had thought you were interested in Kel?"

"Yea, well, Kel is interested in everyone. Now that I don't have any secrets to hide, I want a real relationship."

It must have come out a bit more bitter sounding than he wanted, because the larger man actually growled. "Did he do anything...?"

D'rian blinked. "No! No, I just got my hopes up when we first travelled with him, but now that I've seen he flirts with everyone, I was smart enough to not go there."

Asahi nodded. "Good. If he had hurt you I'd have to hurt him."

"You sound like you're trying to be my father." He was laughing, but at the same time, it felt good that he had a friend that cared enough to say that.

"No, more like overprotective older brother. Even if you're actually the older one."

"Well thank you then. But even if I haven't dated before, I'm smart enough to know who to avoid."

Even if it had been an embarrassing conversation, at least it had taken Asahi's mind off his own problems for a while. They parted ways, ready to get to sleep as they would be meeting with Alaex early the next morning.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Too soon, there was a messenger rousing the two to come and meet with Kelian and Alaex. They met up in Kelian's 'office', where the two were already deep in conversation.

Kel looked up as they entered, and waved to two chairs set up. "Sit; we're just determining the best way to go about this. I am mostly leaving this in Alaex's hands – this certainly wasn't what I had in mind when I started this venture!"

"Yea, but you've done a great job of it. A couple years ago, all you were doing was running around trying to help individuals, and being too late half of the time. Now you might be able to help the entire country."

Kel muttered something and pushed forward a few of the papers the two had been going over. "We have two options – one is to smuggle Kalen out of the throne room and back into his quarters, the other is to confront him and detain him there. Getting into the King's quarters will be difficult either way, but we're less likely to have problems if it's only the four of us going into his quarters. We keep him in there, Jalen can announce that his health has sharply declined, he will be taking care of his brother, and name Asahi his heir. All of which is true."

Asahi nodded. "Like all good forts, there are secret passageways that were built in case the royal family needed a quick escape. Once we're inside the castle, I'll be able to lead us through them. That way we'll only need Rian to hide us for a short while."

"We can go in as hired mercs; there are so many in the castle right now, they won't be expecting to recognize us. All Rian would have to do is hide our features." Alaex looked up at D'rian, who nodded his acceptance.

"Easy enough to do. I just can't actually change my eyes; everything else is easy enough to do, and I'll just avoid eye contact."

Alaex snorted inelegantly. "Kel could probably walk in with his half-Gryfon form and no one would say anything. The place was in minor chaos when we left, and it's only going to get worse."

"So I suppose we'll be leaving soon? Who is going? I'm assuming at the least Rian and I, who else be coming with us?"

"Just Alaex; I will be staying here. The less who are trying to sneak in the better; and I'll be needed here to organize everyone who wants to stay, those who want to continue through to Phyla, and those who are going to go back to wherever they originated from. You three should leave as soon as possible; tomorrow if you can manage it."

D'rian was slightly disappointed, but pushed it aside. He already knew how the other man got on a mission, and besides, he had Val now. He glanced at Asahi. "I'll ask Val if he can watch Naia again; I want to say goodbye to him anyway."

Asahi nodded. "Sounds good; Alaex and I will start packing for the trip, if that's okay?"

The blond nodded. "Fine with me. Would you like to grab breakfast and then start rounding up what we'll need?"

"Great. Rian, we'll meet up with you after dinner?"

D'rian stood, wanting to make the most of the one day he'd have with Val. "Sure thing; I'll see you two later." He practically dashed out of the room, heading back to the residential section and Val's rooms. It seemed unbelievable that tomorrow he'd be heading back to the capital, with a plan to overthrow the monarchy. And just a year ago all he was hoping for was to be left alone and not have his heritage discovered. Not that he could regret this; it meant a better life for every non-human in the country.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kel frowned as the three left his office. He knew where Rian was going, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. As much as he'd like to go on this trip to try and win Rian's affections, he couldn't put his personal life over the welfare of every person in the base.

Besides, the previous evening when they had returned was a pretty clear show that he had lost before he had even started. Rian had seemed equally grateful to get away from him and to see Valan.

Clenching his fist to keep from ripping up the parchments that he couldn't afford to destroy, he forced his mind back to the job at hand.

Rian was happy, and that was all that could matter to him.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Knocking on Val's door, he was greeted by an excited Paisha. He felt bad he'd be here for so short a time, but it was necessary.

"Rian! Val, Rian's back!"

The Fae walked into the room, a smile on his face. "Yes dear, I had noticed that, thank you." He greeted D'rian with a hug and a self-conscious peck on the cheek. The wizard pulled him into a deeper kiss, only breaking off when the sound of his sister chanting something about 'sitting in a tree' reminded him they weren't alone.

D'rian coughed. "Sorry, got a little carried away. I met with Kel and Alaex, and we're going heading back to the capital tomorrow. But I have all of today to spend with you."

Val smiled, although it was a little sad. "Well, I suppose I'll take what I can get? What did you want to do today then?"

The Fae thought about it a minute; there were limited things to do in the caves, although Kel and the others had tried their best, it still was, in the end, a series of caves in the middle of nowhere.

"Do you want to go for a swim? Then we could spend the afternoon with the girls and I could make you dinner?"

"Sounds perfect! I don't want to bring Naia for the swimming part though; with everything going on it never occurred to me to find out if she can or not."

Val took Paisha's hand and started to lead the group down to the one underground lake that swimming was allowed in.

"We can teach her while you're gone. It'll seem like she was born in the water by the time you return."

D'rian nodded; it would be pretty hard to drown with a Water Fae watching over you. "I'm sure she would love that, thank you." Hopefully it would also take her mind off the fact that her 'Daddy' and 'Uncle Rian' were leaving again.

Swimming ended up being a lot of fun; the three Fae splashed around like kids, even if only one of them actually was. D'rian couldn't remember the last time he had gone swimming; it was before he had gone to the Duke's household. While he was wandering he could sense easily enough if a human was approaching so it was safe to discard his robes for a while, but once he got to the city it simply wasn't feasible.

They were wrinkled and tired when their growling stomachs finally forced them out of the water. Their good mood lasted through lunch, until they returned to Valan's rooms. There they spent the afternoon just enjoying each other's company, and towards the evening, it was inevitable that the mood started to drop as well. D'rian was nervous about returning to the capital, and it was impossible to avoid thinking about it anymore.

Finally Val sighed and tightened his grip on the other man. "I am going to miss you. I wish we had had more time together. It's a shame you only returned yesterday and already have to leave."

"I'll miss you too, but you know I have to do this. Once everything's settled down, it would be great if you and Paisha joined us in the capital."

Val twisted to look at D'rian. "You're...going to stay in the capital?"

Frowning, D'rian nodded. "Well, yea. I'm going to stay with Asahi and help him as much as I can. Being a wizard is also the only thing I really know, so I want to go back to doing that. Maybe now that I'm not worried about giving myself away, I'll be able to do more good."

Clearly not happy, Val sighed, but nodded. "Alright, I suppose we can come join you. It might be good for Paisha to go to a city anyway; more kids her age."

D'rian didn't think that the Fae meant any of that, but he wasn't about to push it. He didn't want to get into an argument the first they were together and the night before he was leaving. The silence stretched on for several minutes, before D'rian changed the topic to something safer.

Eventually, however, D'rian wanted to go back to his room and get some more sleep. He wanted to enjoy his last night in a bed to the fullest. They kissed goodnight and he headed back. Asahi was finishing up the packs, and smiled wearily when the Fae entered.

"Got most everything packed up, you just need to pack your clothes and personal stuff, and we'll be ready to go."

D'rian smiled, and nodded. "Thank you Asahi, I appreciate it. Val's agreed to watch Naia again while we're gone."

"That's good to hear. And you guys had a good time then?" The Knight had a lewd grin on his face and D'rian threw the shirt he was holding at the other man, fighting to hide the blush.
"Not like that, pervert. We just went swimming and talked."

The grin didn't leave Asahi's face, and with a long suffering sigh D'rian went into his room. He should have expected the Knight to tease him when he got a boyfriend, but it didn't make it any less embarrassing.

Packing was finished interspersed with comments from the redhead, which D'rian did his best to ignore. Since they were leaving first thing in the morning, neither wanted to stay up any later than they had to, so once they were packed and ready to go, both retired for the night.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The following morning was nearly a repeat of when Alaex and Asahi first left, only this time D'rian was going with them. Val gave him another goodbye kiss, and with Kelian on the side looking somewhat upset, and only giving the three men a brief farewell, the group headed out the door.

tbc...