I'd Give Up The World For You

"Leo?" Daisy asked breathlessly.

"I'm sorry," Rukelion replied in an instant, worried that he had crossed a line. "I went overboard. I just—"

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. "I know. Don't apologize. Come on, you need your sleep. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."

She let go of him and crawled back under the quilt, patting the spot next to her. He laid down and she draped an arm over him from behind, her face pressed against his back as she snuggled closer.

"I love you, Leo. Hurry home, okay?"

Rukelion sighed contentedly. Hurry home? He didn't want to leave in the first place if he got this sort of treatment! Unfortunately, he had to. And Daisy most likely wouldn't allow this sort of thing once she was back. She only was right now because she was worried she was never going to see him again and wanted to indulge him.

He laced his fingers through hers under the quilt. "I love you too. I'll do my best. No matter how long it takes, I promise I'll come back to you. Have I ever broken a promise?"

"No," she mumbled into his back.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. I'll be home before you know it. Focus on your flowers in the meantime, alright?"

"I'll try."

Eventually Daisy's fingers went slack and Rukelion knew she was asleep. He was far too wired for that. His heart was still pounding, if not quite as much as before. It was impossible to control since she was clinging to him in her sleep.

But he was able to drift off to her comforting touch once he got his heartrate under control. When it was time for him to get up she was still knocked out. He wouldn't get to properly say goodbye since he knew she needed to rest too. He had expected this though.

He gently caressed her face and brushed the hair off of it, leaning down to kiss her once before putting on his uniform and heading out. He vowed under his breath that he would come back to his wife before very reluctantly leaving her alone in his bed.

The messenger who had been going back and forth between headquarters and the compound near Zel was waiting for him already and wisely didn't say a word about how he was slightly late. He was a young fifth-rank soldier Rukelion wasn't familiar with from one of the lower-level squads named Archer.

He was quite obviously in awe of the fabled Lone Wolf but seemed too afraid to ask any questions and get scolded. He knew it wasn't his place because of their vast difference in rank.

This gave Rukelion time he needed to think on the three-day journey to Zel. He didn't want to see another nation get destroyed like Katalya, especially knowing this was at least partially his fault. There may have already been a border skirmish but all-out war didn't break out until the crown prince went missing on his way there. That was entirely his doing so…

The king had ordered all the wind mages be eliminated, likely assuming that they were behind what happened. Not just anyone would be able to kill a plant mage. He hadn't realized who his true enemy was but knew they were powerful.

The war wouldn't be over until all of the wind mages were killed but they were proving to be every bit as difficult as the water mages. A ton of regular Zelish soldiers had died but the wind mages were holding strong.

Rukelion was worried that if the war didn't end soon the entire country would be wiped out. Mireans were known for indiscriminate slaughter.

There had to be something he could do to try and salvage this situation. Could the wind mages be reasoned with? If nothing else he wanted to try. That way he wouldn't be as burdened by what happened.

He thought long and hard while they were on the road since Archer hardly dared speak to him, only doing so when absolutely necessary. The conclusion he came to was that he needed to try and get the wind mages on his side.

They likely wanted to strike back against Mirea for this unfair treatment and he would give them the perfect opportunity to do so. He would have to play his cards very carefully—this wouldn't work if they knew he had brought this calamity upon them—but he might be able to pull it off.

The bigger concern was how he was going to convince the wind mages he genuinely wanted to destroy the king without giving away his identity. He couldn't put that sort of trust in people he didn't know.

The water mages had been different. He enjoyed taunting them with his identity so they would know why they were dying. Letting people he wanted to keep alive know his secret possibly to go blabbing about it wasn't an option.

Rukelion was still trying to work out exactly how to make this happen when they arrived. He was relieved that Conrad's face was one of the first he saw and it seemed the feeling was mutual.

"May!" Conrad cried. "Thank goodness you're here. Those wind mages are brutal. Three of my men have been seriously wounded though they're expected to make full recoveries."

"Which ones?"

"Ermes, Harland, and Dudley."

Hmm. That put them at a disadvantage and not only because of dwindling numbers. Harland was one of their best fighters. How had he gotten hurt to that extent? He supposed he would find out later when he visited the medical tent.

"I see. Good job keeping everyone alive until I got here," Rukelion told him seriously.

Conrad puffed up his chest. "I'm a man of my word! I'm sorry it came to this though. I doubt you wanted to leave Veronica."

"I didn't. I'd like to wrap this up as quickly as possible so I can get home. She gets rather anxious about things like this. I don't want her to worry more than necessary. What's the status report?"

"They have more wind mages than expected. Reinforcements seem to be coming in from further south because each time we manage to take one down two more take their place the next day. I didn't realize there were so many wind mages in Zel."

"Wind mages are fairly common. Magic is inherited through bloodlines and the original ones for wind and water have been highly diluted with water primarily in the north and wind primarily in the south."

"…what's the least common type of mage?" Conrad asked curiously.

"Fire, plants, or stone since those have all remained in royal bloodlines. I'd say light, darkness, and ice all fall somewhere in the middle," Rukelion replied casually despite how serious the subject matter was.

Magic couldn't be intermingled. If two magical parents with different attributes had a child it wouldn't have magic at all. It was why there were so few mages with attributes from royal families. Intermarriage happened frequently for the sake of alliances and the magic would end up cancelling itself out. If only one parent was magical, any children guaranteed that the bloodline would continue.

Some kingdoms purposely didn't allow the first several people in line for the throne to marry mages from other countries so their children would be strong. Katalya had been like that and he was willing to bet Mirea was too.

People further down the line of succession were the ones making those political alliances since it didn't truly matter if their children had magic. His mother had been from a strong ducal house within Katalya that had no magic to speak of, which was standard.

On the other hand, his father's younger sisters had both been married off to different countries since it hadn't mattered if their children had magic or not. That was why he might very well be the only fire mage left.

"Can you take down wind mages?" Conrad asked worriedly. "You've never fought them before, have you?"

"No but I can't imagine it being much different than fighting water mages," Rukelion said with a shrug. He truly wasn't worried. All he had to do was overheat the wind mages. There was a good chance they wouldn't be any the wiser.

He hoped it didn't come to that though. He wanted to talk things through with them rationally and potentially gain some more allies. He certainly needed them to go against the mad king of Mirea!

Conrad frowned at him. "…do you have a specific plan to take them down?"

"You'll see," Rukelion said cryptically since he wasn't sure who all might be listening in right now.

He wished he could talk to Conrad alone but there was hardly any privacy in a war camp. He had barely been able to dye his hair on his own the first time he was in one.. With any luck, he would have this war over and done with before he needed to do that again but he had brought plenty of those herbs just in case.