I'd Give Up The World For You

To Rukelion's astonishment, when Juliet handed him the little plastic card with information about his fake identity he saw that his image was stamped on it. Daisy had told him about something like this but he hadn't realized it would be so realistic. How did it work?

A closer look told him that she had used her own address on it and put his hair color as brown. Daisy had mentioned before that she had never seen hair like his before. That probably meant it didn't exist as a natural color here. People would think he had dyed it. Hair dye obviously existed here since she had known he would need to dye his when he first came to her. 

His stomach clenched. Nothing about him here was real, was it? This was how he was going to have to live from now on. 

He told himself it would be worth it if it meant he could be with his wife again. The past didn't matter anymore. All that did was the future. He needed to focus on that and nothing else!

"Don't lose these. Ever. They're the only proof of your existence and you're going to need them for all sorts of things," Juliet instructed wearily once they were back in the car leaving the third crime scene as a firetruck screeched around the corner. 

When they were back at her apartment she pulled out a yellow envelope of some sort and handed it to him. "Keep the social security card and birth certificate in here. You should carry your driver's license around with you…but you're also going to need to learn how to drive. You can learn the basics online but you're going to have to practice with me."

Fantastic! Spending more time with her was the last thing Rukelion wanted but he had realized the importance of cars over the past week. 

People here used them to get everywhere. There were cars everywhere you looked. They were used for transporting people and objects far more than wagons or carriages had been back in his world. It seemed like anyone, rich or poor, could have a car here. 

Rukelion wasn't quite sure where Juliet fell on that scale. She had a refrigerator and cupboards full of food, electricity, running water, and a bunch of other things that would have been impossible to fathom if Daisy hadn't told him about them before. Even so, it was still difficult sometimes. 

Her dwelling was rather small though. Much smaller than the farmhouse had been. Excluding the bathroom and a closet, it was only one room. 

Daisy said her apartment only had one room as well. Did that mean the two of them were roughly the same in terms of status in this world? He was curious but it didn't matter. He had fallen in love with her when he thought she was a farmgirl so why would it matter to him now? 

Primarily he was wondering about how comfortable she was with her situation. She had told him she wanted to buy a house with a big yard so she could garden to her heart's content but had no idea how long it would take to accomplish such a goal. 

Rukelion wanted to help her with that. He didn't know what sort of job he could get here but he had been a farmhand, a soldier, an officer, and a king. He had a fairly wide variety of skills and he was a fast learner. 

There had to be something he could do. Goodness knows he was familiar with paperwork. He might be able to get a job like Juliet's. She mentioned she worked in an office the first day she left him alone, telling him specifically what not to get into. That had been rather insulting but he held himself back with great difficulty.

He was getting the hang of things in this world to the best of his ability but there was a lot to take in and a lot of the time he didn't know where to start in terms of the most helpful information. He spent most of his waking hours on her computer studying for the GED but he looked up other things too whenever he had questions. Which was often. He would see or hear things he didn't understand on a daily basis. 

There was too much to learn for Rukelion to want to sleep much. He preferred staying up late into the night researching. 

He was getting far less sleep than he probably needed but he was afraid to sleep. He had hated sleeping alone ever since he started sharing a bed with Daisy but his nightmares were also worse than ever now. He kept reliving how she died and how useless he had been, unable to save her. 

It was better to stay awake. He stayed awake working until he couldn't take it anymore then slept until his nightmares woke him up. It was a vicious cycle and nothing he could do would break it until his wife was back in his arms.

Daisy. What was she thinking or feeling right now? Was she upset that he hadn't been able to save her when she had trusted him? 

She had told him multiple times that she hadn't been happy in her world. She was alone again and that was his fault. He had to find her and make things right. To let her know how much he loved her and that he would never prioritize anything above her ever again. 

Rukelion missed her. He missed her desperately but all he could do was keep working toward finding her. He had to pass his GED, learn to drive, get a job, hire that private investigator, then get himself to wherever she was. 

Because he could sense the heat signature of her soul he knew he would recognize her on sight. All he needed was a smaller radius to start looking in. 

Would Daisy be surprised to see him? She probably would. Even he wasn't entirely sure how he got here. He hadn't thought fire magic had the ability to transport people to other places even if he had been desperately searching for a specific heat signature. Yet here he was. 

She was so close but so far away! Ohio truly wasn't far from here. He had looked up the distance between both of the cities Juliet thought she might be in and if he knew where she was he would be able to get to her in less than a day. 

Rukelion wanted to see her so badly it hurt. He needed her. He needed her so much but he hadn't properly shown that by pushing her feelings about things aside in order to accomplish his goals. 

He wanted people to remember Katalya—how could he not?—but he wanted to be with her more. He had taken having both for granted. 

When it came down to making a real choice he had chosen her without a second of hesitation. That had to count for something, didn't it? She would forgive him since he followed after her, wouldn't she?

That last terrible time they talked before he lost her she had told him she loved him but that she needed him to try and let the past go so he could focus more on the future and be happy. To not let the rage consume him. She had wanted him to put in effort. What could show more effort than a willingness to give up his entire world for her? 

Rukelion had left everything behind. His throne, his customs, even his name. He wouldn't be able to make people remember his homeland. He would never see it again and had no power or influence here. 

Who would care about a destroyed country inside a book? There was nothing he could do to change the fact that no one was going to remember the people, land, or culture he had loved except for him, Daisy, and any children they might have in the future. 

He had been so distraught about losing her when she died that he hadn't given much thought to the child at first. Even when he got her back there was no getting back the baby he hadn't been able to save. 

Would she be angry with him about that as well? He had been devastated when he came to his senses about losing it but also had the horrible thought that they could have any number of children. There was only one Daisy. Maybe he truly was the monster Juliet believed him to be. 

He was more concerned with finding his wife again than the child they had lost. He had been so excited throughout the pregnancy too. 

Rukelion had wanted a real family again so badly but when it boiled down to it he hadn't been able to save his first family or his second. Everyone he ever loved died and there was nothing he could do about it. The second time it had even been partially his fault. 

Would he ever forgive himself for that? Was there anything he could do to make things up to Daisy after being an instrumental part of their deaths? He had been trying to save them but inadvertently helped kill them instead. 

No. He couldn't think like that. If he did he would lose focus and he had to focus! He could sort through his grief, rage, and guilt later.. Right now he had studying to do.