I'd Give Up The World For You

Rukelion had rarely hated himself as much as he did right now. It seemed like all he ever did lately was cause problems for the one person he actually cared about. 

He kept telling himself that things would get better after this was done or that was done but would they? Would they really? Daisy seemed to think that these problems they kept having couldn't be fixed so easily and he was afraid she was right. 

That didn't mean he had any idea how to make it better though. He wanted to desperately but desperation wasn't always enough to accomplish something. What he truly needed was a plan and that would be difficult considering how confused and upset he was. He wouldn't be able to think straight enough to come up with anything solid any time soon.

He continued thinking about all of this on his way down to the dungeons but he needed to focus. It didn't sound like anyone else was in on this based on the testimonies of Ira and his friends but he had to make sure no further threats existed. 

The archer boy had actually tried to attack him and the white-haired girl was suspicious of what happened to Veese. She hadn't been wrong either. 

Letting her go would be a definite mistake but he would need to talk to the boy and see if he could be reasoned with. That would make Daisy a little happier, wouldn't it? Listening to her earlier had probably saved his hide when the time came for their more serious conversation later. Otherwise she would have been even madder. 

Rukelion didn't know what that man's involvement was in this but he was clearly working with Juliet. Who turned out to be a completely different person than he originally thought. 

What were the odds that two people from the same other world ended up here? Let alone that one of them would have a fortunetelling ability that seemed specific to him, Ira, and the others. He had the most rotten luck!

As he walked a little further he did a double take when he saw something he most definitely should not have. Chilton and Pole were completely encased in ice, frozen with their swords raised. He immediately realized what had happened and cursed under his breath as he melted it and raised their body temperatures. Even with his interference they were still both shivering. 

"They escaped, didn't they?" Rukelion asked flatly. 

They both nodded with chattering teeth, looking rather ashamed of themselves. "I'm sorry, Blaze. That white-haired girl is an ice mage and we didn't realize. I have no idea where they are now." 

He didn't wait to hear anything more. His heart was pounding. The danger was very real because Daisy wasn't with him right now. What if they got to her first and tried to use her as a hostage against him? Anyone with eyes could tell she was his fatal weakness. 

He knew firsthand how ineffective regular soldiers could be against mages. And none of his men had ever fought against an ice mage before. They wouldn't be able to do a thing against her!

"Gather everyone you can find and report to the library!" Rukelion ordered as he sprinted in that direction himself. 

Occasionally, he thawed additional frozen royal guards as he passed but he didn't stop to chat. He melted the ice as he ran and kept running as if his life depended on it. Because it pretty much did. Daisy WAS his life. 

How could he have been stupid enough not to check if there were any other mages in their group? Why did that crucial detail have to slip his mind? He was smarter than this!

Heart pounding and mouth dry, he forced himself to run faster. He had to get to his wife before they did. He just had to. The alternative was too horrible to even contemplate. Why wouldn't his worthless legs move faster?!

=== 

Juliet could not believe how horrendously they had failed. She watched the hero she had spent countless hours lovingly creating turn on her for Daisy's sake before her very eyes, joined by two more of her creations. 

That was a devastating blow, as was the knowledge that she would never be able to try and stop Rukelion Blaze again because she was now being arrested for high treason and would likely be executed. Dying inside her own novel was far too ironic. 

Being cursed out by Daisy hadn't been very pleasant either since they had been friends once. She never would have imagined that bright, cheerful woman swearing like a sailor. Where had she even learned to talk like that? 

Juliet didn't know what she was supposed to think or feel as they slapped cuffs on her and began marching her down to the dungeons along with Alec, Nico, and Demetria. Her brain had gone numb. 

A shattering noise and a blast of cold caught her attention and snapped her out of her reverie after an indeterminate amount of time. She looked around for the source and saw Demetria had frozen her shackles in order to easily snap them off before assuming a defensive stance and managing to freeze the royal guards where they stood. Literally. 

The others all blinked at her stupidly as she did the same to their cuffs and snapped them off. She took charge immediately, ignoring the fact that there were two adults here and she was only seventeen. 

"Well. Plan A failed so I think it's time we go with Plan B," Demetria said coolly. "We can freeze everyone in our path until we manage to make our escape. He doesn't know who any of us are aside from Professor Gallagher unless Ira has told him by now, the little traitor. Either way we need to escape unless we want to get ourselves killed. I would rather not die today."

No one was willing to argue. They didn't want to die today either. 

They crept along managing to avoid quite a few guards through a combination of sneaking around and having Lucien momentarily blind them so they couldn't see anyone going by. Then they blinked and rubbed their eyes but saw nothing so they went on momentarily confused but not too suspicious. 

Leaving too many frozen people around would raise the alarm sooner, especially in busier areas of the castle. The problem at this point was that Juliet had absolutely no idea where they were and she was the only one who had been here before. 

She was most familiar with the servants' quarters and laundry room. Having never been in this particular part of the castle before, she had no idea where she was going and they got progressively more lost. 

"There has to be a way out somewhere!" she said despairingly. 

"Shh! I think I hear someone coming," Demetria replied in a harsh voice before straining to listen and find where it was coming from. 

No one was coming. The muffled voices were coming from behind a closed door they were approaching. Juliet recognized them immediately. Daisy and Rukelion. It seemed they were talking about what had happened earlier. 

"Even if you were 'supposed to be' the villain you aren't because you chose not to be. You're kind and smart and you care too much about people to kill indiscriminately. I don't care what she says."

"Daisy…what if she was right?"

"Are you planning on burning the world to the ground?!"

"No! Of course not! But I…there are things I've done…things I never wanted you to know about. You wouldn't think I was as good as you do if you knew some of the things I did to get here."

By this point everyone else seemed to have realized who was inside and though they knew they should be running away they all pressed up against the door and strained to listen in. They might be able to use this to their advantage later somehow. 

"Oh. Like what?" Daisy asked.

"Well, there was what that girl said earlier. I DID kill Veese. Personally. Because he had been involved in the slaughter of Katalya and spoke so casually of it when we were on the way to Aveleen. 

"He said that Mirea's army was the most powerful in the world so during the fighting there weren't any casualties. He said they went in, did their job, and went out. Later he said that it wasn't personal but it was very, very personal to me. 

"He wasn't the only one either. I killed all of the captains and lieutenants I knew had been involved. I wanted to kill every single person that participated but I couldn't because it would make my military allies turn on me.

"What do you think of that, Daisy? I killed people who were supposedly on my side and no one ever figured it out because I used sneaky fire magic to do it, the same way I ensured Harland and Pole would come out on top in the tournament. 

"I AM a monster. I knew I would have to become one to fulfill my obligations to Katalya but I never intended for you to find out about it because I thought you wouldn't care about me anymore. 

"I knew you wouldn't like it and I did it anyway. All I cared about was getting my revenge and making them suffer as much as I've suffered. Even now I still want to burn them all to a crisp. Being king isn't enough. It doesn't bring them back!

"So what am I supposed to do, huh? How am I supposed to carry on like everything is fine knowing that I'll never be satisfied? Especially since you're going to hate me for this now. You're all I've got so I never wanted you to know my most shameful secret."