I'd Give Up The World For You

Tears filled Daisy's eyes. "I don't want you to go."

Rukelion sighed and pulled her close. "I know. Everything will be fine though. Promise. Don't you believe in me?"

"You know I do but I'm afraid you're going to get hurt."

"…you do realize I'm the strongest fighter in entire Mirean Royal Army, right? I don't like bragging but it's the truth. I don't think there is anyone out there capable of doing that."

"I meant emotionally! You hate war and they're making you participate in it AGAIN. I don't want you to have to bear that weight on your shoulders. You're a good person, Leo. You aren't meant to kill."

Rukelion nearly snorted at that statement but managed to hold it back. If only she knew. But he was never going to tell her what he was really like. It was bad enough she knew he was supposedly a war hero. He had done his best not to give any details in his letters but she had obviously put two and two together to some extent.

He wasn't a good person at all. He had sold his soul for revenge.

Right now innocent people in Zel were suffering because of what he did. And now he was being sent to wipe the rest of them out. He couldn't disobey orders without getting kicked out of the military and possibly getting himself arrested.

As much as Rukelion didn't want to do this, he had no choice if he was going to continue in his plan to destroy the king of Mirea. This was collateral damage. The world at large would be better off with him dead.

Since he had no response for what Daisy said he ended up burying his face in her hair. He didn't care if he lost his soul as long as he had her.

He could live with himself as long as she still loved him. No other sense of conscience was necessary. In fact, it would only get in the way. There was no room for that sort of thing in a heart full of revenge. He only had room for his wife because she had been the one to save him from total despair.

Someone with his inner darkness desperately needed her light. And she would never know.

"I'm sorry, Daisy," he mumbled into her hair.

She pulled back in shock, panic flashing across her face. "No! I'm the one who is sorry. I shouldn't have said anything! You're fine. It's not your fault. You were only doing your job!"

He wasn't though. Back in Aveleen he happened to conveniently go up against some of his enemies so that was all him. He took down people who were supposedly on the same side as him too without anyone being the wiser.

He doubted a single soldier in the Mirean army who was working with him on the coup would forgive him if they knew that. They were only on his side because he was their hero who ended the war the king had started. They thought he would do a better job being in charge because he supposedly cared about them.

Ha. Being a decent king was nothing more than an afterthought. His true purpose was revenge. He knew the Mireans didn't deserve to suffer under this sort of leadership but that was far from his primary objective.

Rukelion only cared about reclaiming what had been taken from him to the best of his ability since Katalya had been razed. Mirea would have to do.

"Don't worry about it. And don't worry about my conscience either," he told his wife.

"But—"

"Daisy, as long as I have you I'll be fine no matter what happens. So try to relax, alright? I'll be back before you know it."

Daisy bit her lip and didn't look at all convinced but she nodded anyway. "Okay. So what do you want to do tonight? I need to make dinner but after that I'm all yours."

Rukelion knew she didn't mean it in the way his mind automatically jumped to but she was his wife and he was about to leave for an indefinite amount of time. He wanted to spend every second of his last night in town with her. He would need her light to sustain him as he went off to be a monster.

"I could use a distraction," he admitted. "Why don't you tell me more about your world?"

She seemed surprised by his request since he hadn't shown much interest in it before. He had suggested the first thing he could think of that would keep her talking. He could listen to her talk forever.

"Okay. Where to start…" she mused as she began dinner preparations. "I told you before that the architecture is a lot different. I'm from a big city where there isn't very much green at all, which is why I wanted to move to the country.

"I was an accountant—someone who works with numbers. I love plants but thought that working with them wasn't practical so when it was time to choose a career I picked something more stable and decided to make plants a hobby.

"I had as many as I could considering I had to keep them inside. My apartment was kind of like a jungle but I didn't mind. I lived alone aside from my plants so they were sort of like my friends. I talked to them and sang to them, which shows how desperate I was for company…"

Rukelion listened intently as Daisy continued telling him about her life. She had to stop frequently to explain what things meant because he was completely lost but she didn't seem to mind.

Some of the things she told him seemed too fantastical to believe. Her world didn't have magic but it seemed to have everything else.

Was she truly happier here than she had been there? Some of the things she talked about were in a wistful tone. She did seem happy here though overall and she had said she wasn't before. He knew she didn't have anyone back where she came from so that meant most of her happiness came from him, didn't it?

The rest probably came from flowers. She was always in an excellent mood whenever they were involved. It sounded like she didn't get to be around flowers very much back in Ohio so that probably contributed to her general misery there on top of being lonely.

Daisy was curled up next to him on the couch with his arm around his shoulders as she continued talking about her world after dinner and he asked questions about everything from desserts to kitchen appliances. He really, really didn't want to have to leave her tomorrow though he knew he had to.

Rukelion would be perfectly content to stay here in this moment forever but all good things come to an end. He had to wake up early and so did she (though not as early).

He didn't want to say goodbye to her like this. After he was dressed and ready for bed he hesitantly knocked on her door. "Daisy? Are you still awake?"

She answered drying her hair with a towel wearing a thick white nightgown. The sight gave him goosebumps since he normally didn't see her like this. She tended to stay in her room once she was in her nightclothes.

"What's up?"

"I…" Rukelion faltered, losing confidence. He hadn't wanted to ask too much of her too soon but he desperately didn't want to be alone tonight. "Would you be terribly offended if I asked you to stay in my room?"

Surprise lit her green eyes for a moment before they were filled with compassion. "Not at all. Let me finish drying my hair."

Daisy did and grabbed a warm pair of socks to put on before following him into his room with her pillow. Her damp hair was already rather curly and the sight of it did something strange to his insides. She was so, so beautiful. He was sure she could hear his heart hammering as they lay down next to each other on the bed.

She lay flat on her back several inches away from him at first. Then she rolled over to face him and spoke into the darkness in a hesitant voice.

"Leo? Are you really going to be okay?"

Rukelion sighed. "I'm going to be fine. But I won't say no to a kiss for luck."

Daisy sat up and looked at him expectantly. He could barely make her out but he knew she was actually going to comply with his semi-joking request. He definitely wasn't complaining!

She crawled forward and put her hands on either side of his face, whispering "good luck" before kissing him. It was slow and hesitant but he wasn't having that. Not on a night like tonight when he wasn't sure when he would see her again.

He wrapped his arms around her back and tangled a hand in her hair as he kissed her back desperately. He needed her. He needed her so much but eventually his sense of rationality came back to him and he simmered down.. Breathing heavily, he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.