My King

She was in a strange dream. The kind that was imprecise, not yet real enough to seem like the real world. With strange shapes, colors she didn't have a name for, and imprecise surroundings. It was as if she was taken to some alien world, without any rule for it. Milena didn't like that. It felt as if she was trapped in there for too long, while trying to reach the surface. Like one of those times when she knew she was dreaming, but she couldn't find her way back to a dreamless sleep, or the awakening she needed. 

Finally, she opened her eyes. Slowly, she woke up to a dark room again. However, this time, she felt herself gently wrapped in a tight embrace. The part of her that should have been wary of a foreign presence barely reacted and, soon enough, she recognized his smell. Milena let out a faint sigh of relief, and leaned even deeper against his cool skin.

"...Are you awake, my Queen?"

"When did you come back?" She muttered against his shoulder.

The blurry, fuzzy details of the previous hours were slowly coming back to her. They felt as unreal as that dream just seconds ago but, now that she was awake indeed, Milena just felt relieved that her husband's presence was real and confirmed. There were details, new scars on his torso and neck that she wouldn't have imagined. His body figure had changed a bit too, thinner but more muscular, and his beard was so impossibly messy.

"Not even a day ago yet... As soon as I heard about your situation, getting you out of there was the first thing on my mind. Not like you needed my help much, of course. Then I just brought you here, and I stayed with you all along. I was waiting for you to wake up. You need to eat something," he added with a kiss on her head.

The concept of eating something felt almost foreign to Milena. She was way past hunger, and just felt weak. If anything, she almost felt disgusted at the idea of swallowing anything. She couldn't even remember the last real meal she'd had...

"I don't think I can eat," she groaned.

"You have to. You're much too thin, and I hate it."

Milena grimaced, but nevertheless, she was gently held to sit up on the bed. She realized the darkness was artificial, as the heavy curtains blocked some sunlight. She grimaced, her eyes getting used to the ambient darkness. She still couldn't recognize the room, and she was pretty sure she had never been there before. 

Next to her, Rayan lined up some large pillows to support her, and slowly moved to get some water from the bedside table. Milena frowned.

"Why are you half-naked?" She muttered.

"Because my dear wife suffered quite the fever during the night... and it just so happens that I'm the next best thing to keep her at a decent temperature."

He handed her the glass of water, and kissed her head again. All of this still felt unreal to Milena. She couldn't help but glance over the room once more, a bit nervous about the foreign environment.

"Where are we?" She asked before taking a sip.

"In the De Boreal Residence, courtesy of the Duke. I heard you were quite busy making new friends..."

"Oh, right."

"Including my sister-in-law, a long-lost ancestor and, last but not least, the Duke De Nova himself. Which all three of these I would perhaps put as the three most surprising names on the list."

Milena sighed, and turned to him.

"...Isn't it your fault for missing out on so much?"

"Sounds like I missed a lot of the fun indeed," he smiled.

Milena put down the cup. He was truly here. Her husband... He looked older than when she had parted ways with him, a bit more raggedy and she hated that unruly beard, but it was definitely Rayan, her dear, long-missed Rayan. She took a deep breath in, and raised her hands to cup his cheeks between them, feeling a bit torn inside. His red eyes looked more tired than ever, and his dark hair was a mess too... Despite the happiness of being reunited with him, she also felt strangely sorry. All this time, she had only been able to focus on her own hardships. She couldn't have imagined everything Rayan had gone through during this war. Yet he was here, by her side, not unscathed, but well and alive. The way he looked at her, with eyes burning of passion and pride, was perhaps the one thing she had missed the most. She caressed his scar with her fingertips, and suddenly remembered that she had added an extra, fresh cut there herself.

"Sorry," she grimaced.

"That's alright. As the owner of this unmatched piece of art, only you get to damage it."

She chuckled. She had missed his bright mind and quick-spitted answers too. His mischievous look, and that snarky smile, half-torn by his hideous scar. Milena smiled back, and leaned forward to kiss him. 

That kiss felt long, long overdue. He answered her, gently caressing her raven locks, his hands touching her as if she was a fragile piece of glass. She could tell he was keeping a safe distance between them, mindful of her health. She didn't try to push it. Milena slowly ended their kiss, pulling her face just inches away from his.

"...Thank you for being here," she muttered.

"Well, I know my Queen never really needs my help, so I'm just really dropping by," he chuckled. "I may have an army waiting for their Commander-in-Chief to stop playing hubby."

"Except for Rachael?" Milena chuckled.

"Oh, she did mention something about taking my time. I bet Lady De Nova is having a blast making grown men cry."

Milena laughed, imagining her friend whipping the army into shape... But she couldn't even say how glad she was to have her husband here, by her side, to support her. The truth was, despite his words, Milena felt at the end of her rope, mentally and physically. What had happened to her in that dungeon may not have been like an actual trauma to inflict visible wounds, but her body and mind had been tortured far beyond that. 

She took a deep breath, suddenly finding herself strangely calm. She was tired, but not the kind of tiredness that requested more sleep. She just felt like she didn't have any strength.

"...I may take up that offer for something to eat, actually," she sighed.

"That's my wife," he chuckled.

Rayan put a quick kiss on her temple, refilled her glass with water and stepped out of the bed to go and open the curtain. As a vampire, exposing himself to the bright light of day made him grimace and squint his eyes, but for Milena who watched him from the bed, that scene was quite a delight. Her half-naked husband seemed more handsome than ever. He had definitely grown some more muscles, and defined everything else like a sculptor's chisel would have perfectioned his masterpiece. His pale white skin above silk pants under the morning light was quite eerie. She smiled, bringing the cup to her lips while he walked to the door. She heard him order someone around with a cold voice. Most likely one of Henry's staff... To her surprise, he waited there for a couple of minutes, until the tray of food arrived in his hands, surprisingly quickly. He closed the door, and Milena frowned while he brought it back to the bed to her.

"...That was quick," she muttered.

She only realized just then how dry her lips were, and cracked too. She hated that, and handed him her glass to have him refill again, which he did.

"They had soup ready anytime you'd wake up," he nodded.

Never had Milena found a dish as simple as soup looking so appetizing. She guessed they had prepared the only food she'd be able to swallow easily... And when she tasted it, it was at a perfect heat too, just warm enough that she could start eating right away. She gulped down three whole spoonfuls without shame, and Rayan didn't comment on it. He simply sat next to her on the bed, gently pulling her messy black locks back so it wouldn't bother her.

"...I've never seen you so skinny," he suddenly muttered, bitter.

Milena glanced up at him. If he had done his best to keep a smile on until now, it wasn't the case anymore. Instead, his gaze was incredibly dark, the anger boiling behind his red irises.

"Who told you?"

"Lord Raelius... Don't you remember? We had that conversation just last night."

"Probably, but it's fuzzy..." She grimaced. "You might have to repeat it a few times, I'm still feeling like I have a hangover after not sleeping for a full week."

"Fair enough," he chuckled. "Anyway... Yeah, we have the antidote with the army, so we have to progress by small groups to come back, but Rachael is waiting for my orders, I came back first with a small militia, and Lucian and our adorable babies..."

Milena's face brightened up immediately.

"How are they?" She smiled.

"The cutest children in the world, of course," he smiled, kissing the back of her hand. "I couldn't have asked for anything else... I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you when they were born."

"I hope you caught yourself up while taking care of them," she said.

"I hope so too. It wasn't easy. Rachael called me a number of names for being more a father than a Commander sometimes, and I'm not sorry to report it didn't bother me at all. It was hard to leave our two little wonders for even just a second."

"It must have been hard."

"At times, yes. I'm just glad we had two female soldiers who helped me raise them with your new policy... Without that, we would have been in serious trouble. Baby vampires are easy to feed, but Elizio gave us quite the challenge."

"He's a bit difficult..."

"Well, he's our son. We can't blame him for being picky and vocal about his preferences... Keep eating, please. I'm ready to spoon-feed you four more of these if needed."

Milena chuckled. Indeed, if their children took after the two of them while growing up, they would probably be quite a handful... She f****d herself to eat some more, but her stomach was unsettled by the sudden intake of food after being almost empty for so long.

"...What about Ellias?" She muttered.

Rayan's expression fell again, and he looked elsewhere, sullen and visibly displeased with the subject.

"He's not dead, apparently. I hope he survives, because I'm going to kill him myself."

"Rayan..."

"Don't," he suddenly groaned. "Don't you even try to talk me out of it, Milena. After what he did to you, that bastard isn't my brother anymore, and he doesn't deserve any of our mercy. He fell lower than an animal, and I'm going to make him pay for this. He will pay for the hell he put you through. Do you have any idea what I endured when Raelius told me what he was doing to you? You didn't see yourself when I got you out of there, Milena. I thought you were going to die in my arms!"

She froze at his angry voice. She wasn't scared of him, she was only shocked about how angry he truly was. It was as if he had contained himself until now. Milena slowly finished swallowing her soup, and put the tray aside, turning to him. Right now, she didn't want to think about Ellias. This man was now associated with a nightmare she might never recover from. What she knew, however, was that having Rayan by her side was the best thing she could have hoped for. The one person with whom she felt like she could overcome and recover from anything. She put her hand on his cheek again. She knew the one thing he hated the most was to be powerless.

"I'm just thankful you're back for now," she whispered. "And with our babies, and all three of you are fine. I wouldn't have been able to go through all that if I didn't believe you'd be back..."

Rayan didn't reply. His eyes were still dark with anger, but it didn't bother her. Instead, Milena smiled and tilted her head a bit, looking at him. In fact, no matter how tired and broken her body was, Rayan's return was the best relief she could find. It made everything a bit better, a bit less painful.

"I'm alright," she whispered. "I'm sorry I let myself go through all this, I had no idea he'd take it that far, but it was all to help us win this war."

"I don't care why you did it," he hissed. "Milena, never, ever put yourself through that kind of danger again. I can do anything for you, for your safety, but I cannot go through seeing you in so much pain ever again. I don't want to risk losing the mother of my children. I don't care about anything else I will have to sacrifice for it, but I'm going to protect my family, our family, at any cost. You're not allowed to ever put yourself in that much danger again. Milena De Crescent, I am not ready to sacrifice my wife, not for any war in this world. It's not worth it. I'd rather lose everything else."

"....You're a silly man," she smiled, touched.

"I'm the silliest of all."

Milena leaned to put a quick kiss on his cold lips, but it wasn't enough to appease his anger. He sighed, and held her hand.

"...I know what you intended to do," he whispered. "But that was too risky."

"I knew Ellias wouldn't kill me."

"You couldn't have known that. ...And there are worse things than that too."

Milena sighed, and nodded. Indeed, she had discovered that at a great risk.

"Good news is, you injured him pretty badly, and that piece of s**t Arseus is probably dead or close to it by now."

"That's one less problem," she grumbled.

Rayan nodded.

"Another one I would have liked to get rid of myself... Are you sure about his sister though?"

"Rayan, Phil saved half of my Ladies-in-waiting and protected the antidote's creation too. She might not be a hundred percent loyal to us, but she's never siding with her husband nor family again, that's for sure."

"...I understand. If you trust her, I will. Lord Raelius also told me about your father... I'm really sorry, Milena."

She nodded. The strangest part was that her Father wasn't exactly dead... He was alive, but he had been taken away so brutally, she didn't even have time to say goodbye. His absence didn't feel real. She felt like he was simply still in the darkness of the De Crescent Manor. She held his hand a bit tighter.

"At least you, Lucian and the babies are fine..."

"They are safe, I promise," he kissed her forehead. "Right now, they need their mommy to get a whole lot better. Eat!"

Milena chuckled, but gladly picked up her spoon again, while Rayan re-filled that glass of water once again.

"How long has passed? Since you took me out... No, since Ellias captured me."

"I hate his name in your mouth," he groaned. "...A bit over five days."

"Five days?!" Milena almost dropped her spoon.

"Yeah. I got you out of there around midnight last night. It's probably close to the late afternoon now. Either way, we're preparing for the last battle. My brother already knows I'm back, we were spotted coming out of the woods. The only reason he couldn't get me is because we used decoys, and I managed to infiltrate the Castle first. Sir Raelius had told me where to find you, but when I got there... Anyway, My imbecile brother knows we're bringing the battle to him, but because you managed to stab him, he will probably not lead the battle himself. From the looks of it and what we've gathered so far, he's been hiding in that b****y castle and putting up defenses... That was all my Dear Queen's brilliant plan, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Milena smiled. "Now the Church is out of public figures to lead the battle, they will have to bring someone forward with enough power to take over. We need to regain control by seeking out the traitor and minimizing the attacks towards the guards themselves, most of them are probably on our side anyway..."

"That's what your sister-in-law seemed to think too. Using the Queen's influence might turn out to be a critical point to win this war, after all."

"Philomenie's come a long way," Milena nodded.

Rayan let out a long sigh.

"It looks like my Queen's got it all planned out for me. So much for me coming back and saving you like your hero."

"You're my babies' father already, what more do you need to be?" She chuckled.

"Your everything would be a good start."

"Of course."

"...How about your King?"

Milena froze. He had called her his Queen for so long already, now it felt a bit strange to have him call himself a King... and think about everything that implied. If he killed his brother, Rayan would inherit the throne, and make her nickname a reality. It would mean a lot, from now on. Still, she felt strangely calm, thinking about that idea. She had married him thinking he'd be crowned King, and she had always thought her husband was better suited to lead their Kingdom. Now that this was all coming down to one battle, she hadn't even given two thoughts about what would come up next...

"Are you ready for that?" He asked, worried about her expression.

"Very ready," she nodded. "As long as my King's ready."

Rayan grimaced.

"...What?"

"You may have to wait a bit before calling me that," he groaned.

"You've been calling me your Queen forever, since when is that an issue?"

"I did not expect it to sound so incredibly sexy on my wife's lips. Milena, I'm a poor man who just had to spend months away from his one and only woman and sleep in a tent by himself. I also had to watch you sleep and cuddle against my half-naked self for hours. In terms of torture, if you start calling me that with those lips, I might just start begging for mercy soon."

She laughed, unable to hold it. She only just then noticed how he was sitting so straight, his legs crossed with a strange tension in his lower body. She bit her lower lips.

"Sorry, I won't say it until we can do it... ."

"Milena!"