I'd Give Up The World For You

"Harland!" Rukelion cried in a hushed voice. "I didn't know you would be on duty here. I nearly ran you through!"

Harland's defensive stance dropped. "Is that really you, Lieutenant Colonel May? I hardly recognized you! I didn't know you were doing it tonight. You got really lucky you ran into me of all people. What do you need me to do?"

Relief flooded through him. This would be so much easier with an inside man! He might be able to get this done without causing too much of a scene after all. That would really help his situation since they had to overthrow the castle and the royal army headquarters. 

"Could you move the prince and queen to a secondary location? The bunker should do nicely." 

"I can move them for you but what about the king? He'll be upset about not going with them."

A wicked grin crossed Rukelion's face. "That's the point."

"I don't understand," Harland admitted. 

"Listen. After losing the crown prince he'll be very protective of his only remaining son. He could easily handle all of our forces himself with his magic but if he finds out the prince is unprotected he'll come to investigate personally. I'm going to lure him to the bunker where you'll be standing guard. Once you see us coming you need to leave and let me handle it. Understand?"

Harland looked like he wanted to protest but ultimately decided to defer to his leader's wisdom. "If that's what you think is best, sir." 

"Thank you." 

He went off to do as Rukelion asked and from his hiding place behind a suit of armor he could see Harland lead them away as they sleepily rubbed their eyes several minutes later. They trusted him implicitly because of his status as a royal guard without realizing it would lead to their deaths. 

Rukelion almost felt sorry for them. They hadn't done anything wrong but would be dying for the king's crimes. 

Once they were safely away he enacted the next part of his plan. The royal family's quarters were quite large and Harland wasn't the only guard on duty. 

Honestly, it was a miracle Harland was able to lead them away without any problems. He passed a few people and told them there was an intruder so he was taking the prince and queen to safety. They believed him instantly and most rushed off to search. 

Two stayed behind and went to wake the king. This was going to be fun! 

"WHAT?!" a loud roar came from the king's chamber and a moment later he appeared in the doorway, his face purple with rage. "How did they get in? My son! They're coming for my son!"

"Sire, the crown prince is being taken to the bunker with the queen—"

"Who is taking him? Why wasn't I informed? He's the last of the royal line with Devan gone. How many guards are with him?"

"...one, Your Majesty."

The king roared again at their incompetence and raced off toward the bunker in his nightclothes. Rukelion barely managed to hold back his laughter at the ridiculous sight. 

This was precisely why he stayed behind to watch the show. But he needed to get moving. He was faster and younger than the king so by using an alternate route he managed to get there first. 

"Go, Harland! Quickly!" Rukelion urged. "Go to the servants' quarters and get everyone out."

Harland gave him a sharp nod before sprinting up the hall Rukelion had just come down. Now all he had to do was wait.

He entered the bunker and saw the queen and prince huddled together fearfully. He was forcefully reminded of his own family, particularly Kessia. She had been about Prince Darius's age. 

Neither of them deserved to die but had been caught up in the affairs of others. It was a terrible shame but he couldn't let this boy live on to get revenge later. He would never be able to sleep at night. Unfortunate as it was, the boy had to go. 

"I am terribly sorry about this," Rukelion said softly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"W-who are you?" the queen got out through trembling lips. 

He stepped into the light and she gasped. She recognized him. "You're the sp-spitting image of Baratheon Blaze! That m-means you're here to kill us, doesn't it?"

"I'm afraid so."

"B-but you all died! There weren't any K-k-katalyans left!

"That's exactly what I wanted your husband to think. Do tell me...did you know what he did the whole time?" Rukelion asked in a hard voice. He hadn't realized the queen was complicit in the slaughter. That would make killing her easier. 

"I knew he wanted access to the sea and planned to wage war but—"

She quailed under his scorching gaze and stopped talking. He had never been so furious. The sea? The destruction of his entire country was because a landlocked king wanted access to the sea?!

Something could have been arranged! Trade, an alliance, anything but slaughtering all the people and destroying the countryside!

"Your husband," Rukelion spat. "Is a monster. So I had to become one too."

In that moment the door to the bunker swung open and there stood his greatest enemy. The one who oh so selfishly started all of this. 

The king's purple face turned white in an instant. "A ghost! Baratheon Blaze has come back to haunt me!"

Rukelion let out a cackle. "Not quite. I'm very much alive, I assure you."

"You...then...you're!"

"Rukelion Blaze. You really need to be better about checking that people are dead when you kill them."

He moved so he had a hand on both the queen's and prince's shoulders using them as a sort of shield. The king didn't dare attack or even try to free them without a guarantee they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. He knew he was dealing with a fire mage and didn't have any water mages to help him this time. 

"That's impossible," the king whispered. "You were dead. I saw your body and—"

"Laughed," Rukelion said with a cold fury. "You laughed as I lay there pretending to play dead surrounded by the bodies of my family and countless servants. I've never forgotten. So I returned the favor when I killed your son. There's nothing left of him but ash."

Now the king's face was turning purple again. He howled with a mad, raging gleam in his eyes. 

"You killed Devan? How?!"

"It was quite simple, really. All I had to do was wait for the right opportunity. As much as I loathed being in your military it had its uses. Information was one of them," Rukelion said, covering his blue eye and grinning as the implications set in and the king looked even more horrified. 

"You called me a war hero but all I did was get rid of half of my enemies in one swoop! That was incredibly convenient, I must say. Turning on your allies was one of the dumbest things you ever did because it gave your worst enemy an in.

"I never killed anyone in Zel. All of their wind mages are here helping me tonight. I did feel bad they were blamed for what I did so helping them to gain their loyalty was a double win.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me. I'm the most powerful person in this world and I'm going to make you watch your family die before taking your throne and remaking this rotten country in the image of Katalya!"

The king was finally pushed over the edge then. The stalemate ended as the monstrous plants exploded out of him headed toward their target. 

Rukelion could burn them away easily but he had a better idea. Why not let that monster get a taste of his own medicine?

His reflexes were quick enough to avoid being impaled, particularly since he raised the temperature around his own body high enough that if anything did get close it would disintegrate. The queen and prince weren't so lucky. 

They were impaled on the thorns exactly like his family members had been. The sight made him shudder but a hysterical laugh made its way out of his throat anyway. 

The king fell to his knees with an anguished howl and babbled nonsense after crying semi clearly, "No! What have I done?"

Justice. Sweet, beautiful, poetic justice!

Rukelion didn't even have to kill them. The king did it for him. He never would have anticipated such a delicious outcome!

He was still laughing but furious tears coursed down his face at the same time. "Do you see how it feels now? Do you?!"

The king couldn't respond. He had lost his mind completely. 

Unable to bear looking at the evil plant a moment longer, Rukelion disintegrated it. The bodies fell into a bloody heap on the floor. That honestly wasn't much better. 

He was flashing back to that horrible day because of this and that wouldn't do. He had to finish this mess and go help his men make a smooth transition of power. He knew this but still found himself rooted in place watching the mad king sob while feeling like sobbing himself. 

"You don't deserve to cry," he whispered in a rage. "You did this. It was your fault. All of it! None of this would have happened if you hadn't been a greedy piece of filth!"

Rukelion gained momentum as tears streamed down his face ever faster. "It was your fault! I never wanted to kill anyone but you took EVERYTHING from me! My home, my family, my peace of mind! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING SO YOU DON'T GET TO CRY!"