I'd Give Up The World For You

Rukelion was anxious the next several days. He needed to speak to Harland but finding the chance to do so was difficult considering how swarmed he was as the winner of the tournament. 

He wasn't able to do it directly but did hear what he needed to from Conrad when he and Elaine invited them over for dinner one night. She had been spending a lot of time with Daisy since the wedding and wanted to show that her cooking skills could be put to good use. 

While the women sat around discussing recipes he looked expectantly at his friend, who immediately knew what he wanted. "Harland's background check went through. He reports to the palace in two days to begin his training. It'll be strange not having him around since he's been a part of the squad longer than I have."

"I bet," Rukelion said casually. "Did he say how long he'll be in training?"

"He was told two weeks," Conrad replied with a shrug. 

Two weeks. During that time Harland likely wouldn't have any days off or be left on his own. However, he would still see a lot of the castle during his training. He could report back on whatever he had seen on his first day off. 

After that he might need a week or two of nighttime exploring to figure out all the secret passages they weren't already aware of. He had always been resourceful. 

Two weeks to train, two weeks to explore, and maybe another week or two to hear back from his allies. They could potentially get this done in a month and a half. That would line up almost perfectly with when Daisy planned to visit Ira. They could execute their plan as soon as she was gone. 

"Those will be a rough two weeks for him," Rukelion predicted, needing to say something in order to hide his glee. 

Conrad seemed to catch on. "Mmhmm. I've heard royal guard training is much more intense than basic military training. Though he did join up with decent dual wielding skills and was able to be promoted straight to a third-rank soldier like I was. He should be fine."

The majority of the top squads were like that. Made up of people who didn't slowly but surely work their way up the ranks. People didn't tend to want to stay in the military longer than they absolutely had to unless they went the career route trying to become officers. Most of the people who participated in the slaughter of Katalya had already left by the time Rukelion came onto the scene. 

That still bothered him. He was never going to be able to exact justice the way he wanted since he wouldn't be able to track down and kill every single person involved in the massacre. 

Justice would never be complete unless he wanted to lose the support of his military allies. Unfortunately, he couldn't allow that to happen. He sincerely hoped that getting rid of the royal family would be enough to satisfy the demands of his thirst for revenge. 

"I'm not too worried about him," Rukelion added for the sake of the conversation. 

The subject changed then and he managed to get through the rest of the evening with the same restlessness that plaguing him that had been present since the end of the tournament. He couldn't stop thinking feverishly about how close he was. It was becoming difficult to get anything done. 

At least Daisy hadn't noticed anything was off about him yet…or so he thought. She called him out later that night once they were back home on the sofa. 

"Are you okay, Leo? You've seemed on edge the last few days," she said in concern. 

"I have a lot of excess energy and nowhere to put it," Rukelion admitted. "I have some work stuff going on but I'll be fine so don't worry about me, alright? It isn't bad or anything but it is top secret so I can't tell you about it."

"Hmm. Well, if it's energy you need to work off I can think of a way to do it."

Daisy scooted over and parked herself on his lap before kissing him thoroughly. He understood immediately and returned her kisses, his revenge plans the last thing on his mind. 

There was no better distraction than the woman he loved. The taste of her lips, the feeling of her hand in his hair, and his own racing heart overtook him completely. He was up in the clouds and nothing could bring him back down. She was pure bliss. 

Rukelion's head was still full of Daisy much later as they lay in bed. She blinked up at him with those lively green eyes and asked, "Did it work?"

Laughter bubbled out of him and he kissed her forehead. "Your methods are foolproof."

"I'll keep that in mind." 

There was a long pause before she spoke up again and she did so hesitantly. "Hey, Leo…do you believe in fate? That there are certain things that will happen no matter what and there is no escaping them?"

That was out of the blue. Why would she ask him something so random? "I don't. I believe people make their own choices and that they can affect others but not that there is anything pulling the strings behind them. Why?"

"I…had a strange conversation earlier today. About fate. I agree with your opinion more than theirs."

Rukelion frowned. That was a strange topic of conversation. Who had she been talking with? It certainly hadn't been Elaine since he was there the whole time. It must have happened at work. 

"And what did they think?"

Daisy's voice hardened. "That certain things are set in stone. They had no idea what they were talking about. They were wrong."

It sounded like there was a lot more to that conversation than she was letting on but she also clearly didn't want to talk about it. She changed the subject and her demeanor a moment later as she snuggled closer. 

"That isn't important though. Forget I said anything. Do you want to go to the bakery on our next day off? I'm in the mood for a cinnamon roll. We can get you an apple tart too. Does that sound good?"

If she wanted a cinnamon roll she must be more bothered by her conversation about fate than she was willing to admit. 

Rukelion was very curious who she had talked to but wasn't about to pry. She didn't pry into his affairs so he would respect her privacy the same way even if his curiosity was gnawing at him. Mostly he was concerned that this was going to continue weighing on her mind. 

"We can go shopping too if you like. It's been a while since you got a new dress or even a new ribbon," he offered. 

Daisy smiled at him. "That would be great!" 

Eventually, she fell asleep on his chest but he remained wide awake. It took a lot to bother his wife. She was normally so happy-go-lucky. Easy to please but difficult to upset. So why had she sounded like that earlier?

In all the time Rukelion had known her he had never heard her use such an angry tone. She was as gentle and delicate as the flowers for which she had been named. She could get exasperated on occasion but it was always brief. This was different. 

He couldn't deny being concerned about whatever was bothering her but she acted like nothing was wrong come morning and greeted him the way she always did. Over the next several days they gardened, hung around talking, and spent the day out as planned. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

Had Daisy already let it go or had she buried it down deep inside the way he always did when he was upset? He wasn't sure and not knowing was distressing. 

The last thing he wanted was for his wife to be upset. If he could he would find whoever did this and tear their hair out but he didn't even know if the offender was male or female, let alone where and when she had talked to them. 

For all he knew it could have been some random stranger on the street asking strange questions. She would never tell. 

Rukelion wished there was something he could do. Worrying about Daisy had eclipsed his anticipation regarding executing his revenge. At the moment he was more concerned about whatever was going on with her. 

She acted like she was fine…but was she really? He had been a bit distracted the night she offered to help him work off his excess energy but since then he had noticed she was especially clingy, kissing him nearly as desperately as when he came back from Zel. 

Not that he was complaining but that was yet another sign that something was off.. She wouldn't act like that without a reason. Who on earth had she talked to?