I'd Give Up The World For You

Rukelion was incredibly relieved that Daisy reacted well to all of this. She didn't hate him. She wasn't going to leave. 

She had cried for him and no one else had ever done that. Of course, knowing the sort of person she was, he had expected her to before he got all worried that she wasn't going to be able to accept what he did but still. 

As much as he hated seeing her be distressed, it was nice to know she cared so much. Anxiousness aside, her reaction was about what he had thought it would be. She had wanted to know more about his homeland too and that was gratifying. 

The most shocking part of seeing her again was finding out he was going to be a father. But that was the best shock of his life!

Rukelion knew he could never replace the family he had lost but that couldn't dampen his enthusiasm. He wasn't going to be the last fire mage or the last Katalyan anymore! That meant more to him than he could say. 

His heart was soaring in the clouds when Conrad arrived with the day's paperwork from headquarters. He noticed something was off immediately. 

"What's with you? You haven't been in this good a mood in weeks if not months!" 

"I got some good news earlier," Rukelion understated. 

"What kind of news would leave you like that? Did Veronica come back or something? I know you've been waiting for that."

He nodded. "She did but that isn't all. She's expecting!" 

Conrad's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Seriously?! She must have been alright with everything if she told you that and you're this happy. Right? Everything did end up working out, didn't it?"

"I told you it would."

"Yeah but you didn't seem all that confident about it," he muttered. 

Rukelion couldn't even be annoyed with him about the jab. He was too excited about having a family again. His only wish was that his parents and siblings could have lived long enough to see his child though he knew that was impossible.

There was no going back. At this point there was only going forward. He had satisfied the demands of his past by getting his revenge and now he could focus on the future for the first time. 

"Do you have the paperwork or not?" he asked. 

Conrad set a sheaf of papers down on the desk. "I have it right here. I need you to make sure everyone did it correctly since we're all still learning the art of paperwork."

That was exactly what Rukelion did until Daisy came in wanting to have dinner with him. That immediately distracted him. Once he told a servant to make sure dinner was prepared he wasn't sure what to do next. He did need to finish this but he also wanted to see his wife. 

"Did you get everything settled with the head maid?" 

"Sort of," she said. "I talked to Tom too. He's going to let me help in the gardens tomorrow."

On one hand, he knew how much she would enjoy that. On the other, he was concerned about her overexerting herself in her current condition. He didn't want to tell her not to do something he knew would make her happy but…

"Is that really the best idea right now?" 

Daisy sighed. "It's going to be fine, Rukelion. We can talk about this more later; I see you still have paperwork to finish. I'm going to go find someone to take me to our room so I can unpack."

"The unpacking has already been done." 

"Well, I still want to know where the room is."

Rukelion leaned over and barked, "Cecil! Escort my wife to our quarters." 

He had been standing guard outside but popped his head in the door as soon as he heard his name. "Yes, sir. I mean sire!" 

Daisy looked over her shoulder as she left the room as if she wanted to say something but didn't. Likely it was about gardening. He wouldn't have a problem with it normally—he wanted her to be happy—but he also wanted their baby to be safe. 

Conrad looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize this is going to be quite an adjustment for her, don't you? She's used to being able to do what she wants."

Rukelion rubbed his forehead in agitation. "I know." 

All she wanted out of life was the ability to do what she wanted. She had told him that once and he had no intention of stopping her. She could do whatever she wished as long as she remained by his side but the timing wasn't good right now. She needed to be careful!

He had no desire to restrict her freedom. He wanted to make things easier for her, that was all. Not having to do chores all the time would benefit her, wouldn't it? She had always worked so hard without the benefit of the amenities she was used to from her world and deserved better than that. 

"Just…be patient, alright? I know you're used to all this royal stuff since you grew up on it but she's not," Conrad said wisely. 

"I know that, Conrad! I have no intention of restricting her regularly but I don't want her overdoing it and potentially harming our child. Can you understand that much?" 

"You do realize commoners have to keep working while with child, don't you?"

"But she isn't a commoner anymore! She doesn't have to do something so dangerous because she's the queen. Why do something unnecessarily risky when she has the option not to? The flowers will still be waiting for her afterward!" 

Conrad sighed. "You're going to have to talk it out with her. Go easy on her though. You're very lucky she reacted as well as she did to all of this but that could change at any time if she grows resentful of her circumstances. Be careful, Blaze."

He had a point. Daisy was a very understanding person but even she had her limits. Losing the freedoms she was used to having might push her over the edge. 

"Noted," Rukelion said in a tone that declared the subject closed before getting back to the paperwork. 

Conrad left when it was done and not long after he was informed that dinner was served. He had been eating in his office for the most part since he didn't see the point of eating at a real table without anyone to eat with him so he hadn't been in the informal dining room before. 

It wasn't what the average person would consider informal at all considering the chandelier and the fact that the magnificent mahogany table could seat twelve people. When Daisy walked in she said something along the same lines. 

"This is the INFORMAL dining room?"

"Royalty doesn't do things halfway," Rukelion said lightly. "At least most of the time."

"…I've noticed."

The first course was brought in and she picked at her food. Was she not hungry? She had been traveling half the day; she really should eat something. He encouraged her to do so and she mumbled that it was hard with so many people watching her. 

He immediately told all the servants to bring the remaining courses together and then to clear out so they could dine alone. They exchanged incredulous glances but did as he said. 

Rukelion knew better than anyone that this wasn't the way things were done but he didn't care about that. He cared about his wife's comfort and she wasn't comfortable having people she didn't know around. 

As soon as they were gone he assumed Daisy would start eating but she didn't. She set her fork down and looked at him. 

"Rukelion, I need to be able to garden or I'm going to lose my mind. You told me once that you would never stop me from doing what I wanted to do and I want—no, I need—to be able to do normal things after getting my world turned upside down earlier today. 

"It's perfectly normal for people in my world to keep working right up until the day they give birth. I don't know if I'll be able to do that given how much bending is involved in gardening but at the very least I have to try for as long as possible. It won't hurt the baby and it won't hurt me. 

"I know you're worried about us but there's no reason to be. Gardening is totally safe! I get that I shouldn't leave the castle for security reasons so I can't work at the flower shop anymore but within the grounds with all of your guard friends around it will be fine," she finished with a pleading look in her emerald eyes. 

Rukelion sighed. She made a fairly convincing point but he really didn't want her to overdo it. He knew she had a tendency to do that. 

"Alright but at the first sign of overdoing things you stop. Got that? You have more than only yourself to worry about now." 

Daisy's eyes lit up. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll be careful, I promise."

She dug into her dinner with gusto after that. Easily pleased as usual. He did need to stay on her good side though. He would have to keep an eye out and make sure nothing was bothering her so she could be happy even being stuck inside the castle. 

As his greatest source of strength she was also his greatest weakness. Anyone who may want to get revenge for the fallen former king would try to target her if they knew who she was. 

Rukelion couldn't lose his family a second time.. There was nothing in this world he wouldn't do to prevent that from happening.