I'd Give Up The World For You

Daisy frowned. If fire could beat plants, how had the king of Mirea managed to destroy everything Leo ever knew and loved? Was the king of Mirea that strong or had he somehow used a cheat to bypass that problem? 

She knew Leo was strong…but would he be strong enough to go up against such a formidable opponent who had managed to take his entire family out in one go? Juliet said it had been gruesome and she didn't want to imagine the details. 

"Ira, if someone reached a certain power level could they beat any element? Hypothetically speaking," she coughed. 

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Yes but that person would have to be insanely strong. Why do you ask?"

"…simple curiosity."

Ira shrugged it off easily enough. Thank goodness. She really didn't want him asking questions like if she knew of any other mages. Giving away Leo's secret was not an option since he told her it was a matter of life and death. 

Daisy had always believed it was serious but now that she knew he was out for revenge against someone so influential it made even more sense. The last thing she would ever do was put her husband in danger. 

She knew Leo was an incredibly strong soldier. He was the strongest in the military, at least in the capital. Strong enough that he had been able to essentially end two wars. 

Had he used his magic for that? He would never tell anyone he was a fire mage but she knew not all of his magic was visible. She couldn't see what heating something up without flame would do in the middle of a fight though. 

How strong was his magic, anyway? Nothing Daisy had ever seen him do was too flashy.

Juliet claimed that he burned the whole world down in the future but that would take an awful lot of firepower. Whoever he had learned magic from hadn't been strong enough to survive the purge of his people so he would have had to study extensively on his own to get to that level.

When would Leo even have the time? He was such a busy person! Then again, he had managed to become a sword master while simultaneously doing hours and hours of farm chores a day. 

There was that little stone house he had showed her once where he liked to practice his magic but he hadn't been able to go there very often away from prying eyes while living in the barracks. Would that really be enough time to practice and get to such a level?

Daisy had been angry at Juliet but wished she had asked more questions about the original story. Based on context clues, it seemed like originally Leo hadn't gone the military route. 

With a different life he would have had more time to practice his magic, wouldn't he? He wasn't some mindless raging inferno…but that also probably meant he wasn't as strong as in the book. 

Juliet mentioned her protagonists. Plural. It had taken multiple people to take him down in the novel. But what about now?

Would Leo be safe if he tried taking on the king? Daisy knew he was meticulous in the extreme but no one could account for everything. What if he got hurt or even killed? What would she do then? She needed him!

Even if he was supposed to be some horrible villain…even if he was bent on revenge…Leo was the only true warmth she had ever had. He wasn't a bad person. She knew that deep in her soul. All she wanted was for him to be safe and for the two of them to have a real future together.

What was he doing right now? Was he doing alright without her?

Daisy knew he always fared better when she was by his side. He needed her even more than she needed him. And now because of Juliet she knew why.

"Miss Veronica?" Ira asked as he furrowed his brow in concern.

She gave him her best attempt at a reassuring smile. "Sorry, Ira. I was spacing out for a minute there. What were you saying?"

"I asked if you wanted to go to the bakery. You've been traveling all day so you must be hungry."

Her stomach growled then to emphasize his point. "I could go for a snack." 

"Great!" 

Daisy followed him as he led her to the bakery and forced herself to snap out of it. Leo would be fine. She believed in him so she couldn't let her anxiety get the better of her. She needed to be a good foster mom and pay attention to Ira while she was here since it had been so long since she had seen him. Everything was going to be fine. 

=== 

Rukelion and his men had been rather busy in the weeks before Daisy left. Between Mabel Boon, Harland, and the rest of their unwitting castle worker informants it didn't take long to get a functional map of the place. 

As soon as that was done he sent out letters to the mercenaries and wind mages telling them to make their way to the capital immediately. Then came the truly difficult part. Coming up with a plan to seize the castle while minimizing loss of life. 

He was beyond relieved this would all be happening while his wife was gone because the last thing he needed was for her to potentially get caught in the fallout. He was going to be as careful as possible but anything could happen and he didn't want her within a hundred miles of it in case something went wrong. 

The difficult part was getting everyone involved in the plan together. Not everyone's days off lines up.

There was a solid chance they wouldn't be able to have everyone go over it until the night they decided to raid the castle. Even then not everyone would be able to be present. They would have to get a vague outline of the plan to Harland somehow before it happened and have him evacuate as many innocent servants as possible.

'What are you thinking about doing?' Conrad scribbled on a scrap of parchment while visiting Rukelion in his office.

'Dividing and conquering. We'll need relatively even groups of mercenaries, our soldiers, and wind mages take out royal guards as silently and quickly as possible while I go for the king. I'm the only one strong enough to take him down' he wrote back.

His friend pulled a face. 'Alone? Are you sure that's a good idea?'

It was the only choice. He was the strongest out of everyone involved but he also didn't want anyone seeing the bloodlust he felt whenever he was killing one of his enemies. It would ruin his reputation and make his men wary of him.

Rukelion had to kill off the entire royal family on his own. Just like the king of Mirea had done to his. That would be the most poetic form of justice.

He was going to make the man who started it all watch him take everything he cared about away before slowly and torturously putting him out of his misery. The queen and second prince would die quickly since their only crime was being tied to someone so vicious. But not the king. He would suffer!

'It's the best option' Rukelion told him. 

Conrad didn't seem convinced. "It's too dangerous! At least take a wind mage with you'

He shook his head. 'This is my fight. I originally started this all alone and I need to end it that way as well. I know the rest of you will have my back handling everything else. I trust you'

After an intense internal struggle Conrad sighed and conceded. 'Alright. You know I have your back no matter what. But I have to ask…when this is all over what are you going to do? How are you going to explain this to Veronica?'

Rukelion grimaced. Honestly? He had no idea. 

He had thought long and hard about all of this but had yet to come to a satisfactory conclusion. All he knew what that Daisy could never know the full extent of his treachery. Seizing the throne was one thing but if she knew exactly what he had done to get there…

'I don't know' he confessed.

'May! That's pretty important!' Conrad wrote before looking at him in disbelief. 

'I'm very aware of that. I'm going to have to tell her everything that happened so she knows why I did what I did first and foremost. I'm not looking forward to that conversation' 

'I bet. It must be hard for you to talk about'

Rukelion sighed heavily. He had never talked about what happened in detail to anyone Even Conrad—the only person in Mirea aside from those who participated in it that even knew there had been a slaughter in Katalya—wasn't aware of the horror he had experienced. 

Monstrous plants shooting through the ground. The air thick with the smell of blood. Screams followed almost immediately by silence. People impaled on spikes. Knowing that if he fought to the end like the rest of his family that he would surely join them and having to choose the coward's way out so the entire royal family wasn't wiped out in one go.