Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shibisu leaned out the window and shouted down to the courtyard, uncaring that his suit was now marked by lines of dirt from the window sill.

“I’m going out, my children! Don’t kill each other while I’m gone!”

His children ignored him. Well. His ‘children.’ Shibisu was unmarried and childless. The two teens sparring in the courtyard below were his elder brother’s kids. But big bro was dead, and these two were left to him. They were his to protect, and he had work to do to keep his promise. So he left Hatz and Anaak to their practice weapons and bruised knees.

He walked out the front door and stepped into the carriage he’d rented for the occasion. He brushed dirt off his suit as it trundled along, reflective. He was running out of money to spend on those two. His parents had been merchants, good ones. Smart enough to get a nice house and a noble education for their two sons, with money to save for the future. Shibisu himself had learned from them how to run the business well. But no amount of skill could get the business unscathed through this war. This damned war that cost him his brother.

The carriage rolled to a stop at the end of a clean, neat, hedge-lined avenue. The noble district was well maintained- although looking closely, Shibisu could see that the cobblestones were not quite as polished as they had been a few years ago. Not even the nobles were completely untouched by this war.

He walked cautiously up to the gate. The guards standing there stopped him.

“State your name and business.”

“My name is Ship Leesoo, and I have an appointment with Lord Phonsekal”

One of the guards checked a list, then nodded.

“I will escort you to his office, then. Follow me.”

Shibisu followed the guard through the gates and the gardens and the grand front doors, up golden staircases and down marble hallways. The estate was massive. Finally, the guard ushered him into Lord Phonsekal’s study. It was huge, like everything else, but much warmer, and the Lord was dozing at his desk. The guard cleared his throat.

“Ship Leesoo, here to see you, my lord.”

The older gentleman woke up with a start. “Hmm? Ah, yes. You’re here for the final contract.” He smiled craftily at Shibisu, who offered a confident grin in return. “You may go.”

The guard left, and Lord Phonsekal waved Shibisu over to his desk.

“You’re here right on time!” He made no mention of his dozing- everyone knew the Phonsekal family was like that. “How are those kids? Training? Going to join the military and win us this war?”

Shibisu felt his smile turn forced, and just barely managed to keep it looking normal. “They could, easily. I’m hoping the war ends before they need to, sir.”

“Ah, but they could follow in their parents’ footsteps, ey? Your brother and his wife died valiantly for our country and the honor of Jahad.”

Shisbisu nodded in acknowledgement and changed the subject before he started crying. “Do you have the contract, sir?”

“Ah yes, yes, right here.” He handed Shibisu a document written in perfect calligraphy on yellow legal parchment. “Sign here, and you can marry my son in two weeks. He needs someone to wake him up in the morning.”

Shibisu signed his name carefully. “I can do that, sir.”

“You’ll make an excellent son-in law! Now go home and tell those kids of yours, I’ll tell my son.”

And Shibisu did just that.

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On the day of the wedding, it would have been sunny, if the ships leaving for the war hadn’t filled the sky with smog. Shibisu fidgeted as Lady Endorsi did his hair.

“Stop that! Idiot. Do you want to disrespect the Phonsekal family and look ugly like you usually do at your wedding?”

Shibisu did his best to stop squirming. “How soon will you be done?”

“...now. Go look in the mirror. And don’t mess any of it up!!”

He stood from his chair and stepped in front of the mirror, then gasped when he saw himself. He wore what could have been a white version of his usual purple suits, were it not for the tiny diamonds woven into it. From his shoulders hung a massive white cape, decorated with silver embroidery that swirled like stars, down into the three-eyed symbol of King Jahad at the bottom. Endorsi had managed to convince his short hair to look neat, tidy, and obedient, and had pinned a veil into it. He looked like a real noble, somehow.

Endorsi stopped behind him and dropped the veil over his face. “Hurry up, you’re going to be late.”

Shibisu grinned at her in the mirror. “I could outshine the sun itself, don’t you think?”

Endorsi rolled her eyes, but she didn’t have a chance to say something snarky.

“Definitely, my dude!” Crown Prince Wangnan, King Jahad’s only legitimate son and Shibisu’s best friend, poked his head in the room. Shibisu’s parents had sent him to the same tutor who tutored the royal family in the hope he’d learn the right things, and he’d ended up friends with the Crown Prince as a result. Nya Nia, Wangnan’s lover, (and soon to be fiance, as only Shibisu and Wangnan knew) poked his head in after. The two were Shibisu's best man and flower boy, and they were dressed up nearly as gaudily as Shibisu himself.

“See, Lady Endorsi, I’m right! Are you two ready? I’m ready. Ready to have a beautiful, rich husband.”

Wangnan laughed. Endorsi sighed. Nia looked rather anxiously at the clock. The bell chimed, and they could hear the music begin. Endorsi aggressively took Shibisu’s arm, and their procession headed out.

The crowd was quite large. The Phonsekal family was large and influential, and all three of the King’s children were in attendance: Sir Karaka, the illegitimate eldest, stood guard at the entrance with the other knights and Wangnan’s younger sister, Rachel, sat in the front row, paying more attention to her hands than the ceremony. Anaak and Hatz sat together in the middle of the crowd. Hatz was too busy whispering to his sparring partner, Serena, to react to Shibisu’s entrance, but Anaak rolled her eyes at him and whispered something sarcastic to Hatz. The white haired boy sitting on her other side- perhaps an Arie- suppressed a giggle at her joke.

Endorsi pinched him, and Shibisu stopped smiling at his kids to look forward. He couldn’t see the face of the man he was marrying, but he could see the thick, blanket-like black robe that wrapped entirely around him. Normal formal wear for the Phonsekal family, but it looked like he’d just gotten out of bed- and brought bed with him.

Next to him, smirking, stood his best man, Khun Aguero Agnes. The man was famous for going off to war as a spoiled, stupid brat, and coming back in a coma having fought on both sides of the war for the bastard son of the King’s childhood enemy. (A complicated and annoying situation I’d need a whole other fanfic to address) Then the inseparable pair got married, and became the envy of every romantic heart in the country. Shibisu may have hoped for that much love in his childhood, but he certainly wasn’t asking for it now. All he wanted was enough money and influence to protect Hatz and Anaak from the horrors of war.

And this was the way to achieve it.

He made it all the way up to the front of the room. Endorsi abandoned him with a glare and a whispered, “Don’t make any mistakes, idiot!” Wangnan took his place across from Khun, already wiping tears from his eyes. And then, the ceremony began.

It was long, and mostly boring. The most interesting part was the end. Khun’s husband came up with the rings for them, and then, finally, Shibisu saw Phonsekal Lauroe’s face. It was soft and tired, eyes half closed and mouth pulled tight in a frown. His face was tilted somewhat sideways, as if he could fall asleep any moment, and his hair was definitely exactly how he’d woken up that morning. He blinked twice as if to clear sleep from his mind, leaving Shibisu staring at the deepest green eyes he’d ever seen.

“And now, Phonsekal Lauroe and Phonsekal Leesoo, you may kiss.”

And they did.

Chapter Text

Endorsi was relieved that Shibisu had made no mistakes. On the other hand, Endorsi was surprised that Shibisu had made no mistakes. Either way, the wedding was going surprisingly well. Of course, the Crown Prince and Aguero had yet to give their speeches, and there was no way of predicting how that would go. Endorsi had been dealing with those two most of her life, and they never got less annoying.

She was ripped from her thoughts by Princess Rachel tapping her shoulder. “Lady Endorsi? Are you alright?”

“Yes, why?” Although she’d been dating Princess Rachel for a few months now, her girlfriend did not usually show her any affection or concern in public. That wasn’t how she worked.

“You’re scowling.”

Endorsi very nearly sighed when she realized Rachel was right. “Ah, I was just thinking. No need to worry about me, your highness.” She wiped the scowl off her face with a copy of her usual arrogant grin. The stress of planning this wedding for the lazy Phonsekals was getting to her. After this was over, she’d be back to her normal self. Hopefully.

Rachel nodded, and went back to sitting in the corner watching the proceedings. Endorsi wished she hadn’t left. It was good for both her stress and her image to stand near the princess. She glanced over to check on the newlywed couple. Shibisu was talking to Anaak and Arie Vicente. Vicente, she knew, came to all noble weddings so no one else in his family had to. At least Shibisu was already making connections among the nobles. Hopefully he didn’t offend anyone.

Beside him, Lauroe was asleep, head resting on a pillow that hadn’t been there before. While she hadn’t expected any more from him, she wished someone would appreciate all the time she put into making this wedding perfect. It was annoying. Perhaps she could sabotage their next party, to make them appreciate her? It would certainly leave her with less stress than planning this had.

With a ringing sound, all the noise in the hall quieted. Even Lauroe woke up. Khun had successfully gotten everyone’s attention. He smirked. Endorsi sighed. This was going to be an absolute nightmare.

“As you all know, it is customary at weddings for each of the newlyweds’ best friends to make a speech. But the Crown Prince and I have very similar things to say about these two, so in an effort to avoid boring you, we’ve decided to combine our speeches.”

Wangnan stood up, and Endorsi did her best not to look as panicked as she felt. She was successful, of course, but that didn’t fix the situation.

“Exactly! The two men getting married today have many traits in common. For example, they both are fans of lobster-” he gestured at the lobsters prominent along the dinner table “-and they’re both pretty intelligent.”

Khun cut in again with a grin. “They’re both stubborn, but also good at reading people.”

“They both know their way around the local library, and they both have loving families-” Wangnan grinned as Lauroe’s father interrupted him with a loud snore. Anaak looked skeptical and annoyed.

As this continued, Endorsi looked around to check people’s reactions. Most of them were laughing, although Lauroe had buried his face in his pillow. Shibisu seemed to be enjoying this. Then Endorsi noticed someone she hadn’t realized was here. Arie Hoaqin, five time winner of the Summer Mountain Tournament, sat at one of the tables with a bored look. The Summer Mountain Tournament was the conclusion of an annual retreat for noble swordsmen. They spent a week and a half up in the mountains, avoiding summer heat and training together, then took the entire last day to fight each other in a grand tournament. Arie Hoaqin had gone six times, and won five. He had only lost his first time because he had been twelve at the time. Now he was 18, and no one could defeat him. He rarely came to social functions and didn’t seem to like talking to people, so it didn’t make sense to Endorsi why he was here.

The applause as the speech ended shocked Endorsi out of her thoughts. Looking around, no one seemed scandalized or offended. Traitors. As everyone began to eat, however, she found herself zoning out again. What would it be like to get married? She had, of course, a good deal of people who would gladly marry her. But none of them were good enough. She came from one of the oldest noble families! Mostly. But her suitors didn’t know about the mostly. No one did, except her adoptive parents, and herself. And no one was going to find out. Unless…

Endorsi supposed she wouldn’t mind if Princess Rachel found out.

Chapter Text

By the time Shibisu and Lauroe made it to their newly shared bedroom, Shibisu was exhausted. For some unknown reason, the room was on the third floor. Since Lauroe was asleep and refused to wake up, Shibisu had to carry him through the house and up the stairs. He dropped Lauroe on the bed unceremoniously. He didn’t wake, of course. Shibisu sighed and sat down at the vanity in the corner to survey the room. It was large, mostly decorated in dark green with bronze and red details. The bed took up more than its fair share of space, made of dark wood with a forest green canopy. The wooden floor was mostly covered by a thick, soft rug. Shibisu took off his shoes to bury his toes in it, and found it just as wonderful as it looked.

“Makes sense, for a family so prone to sleeping,” Shibisu reflected out loud. Lauroe shifted in his sleep, curling into the bed and muttering something Shibisu couldn’t make out. Shibisu froze, staring at him, waiting to see if he’d wake up. When he didn’t, Shibisu leaned back in the chair and yawned. He probably should go to sleep, given that he had to help Hatz and Anaak move all their stuff tomorrow. Although Wangnan had promised to help, he probably wouldn’t. He had a tendency to forget he was supposed to be useful and stand around talking instead.

Finally, Shibisu gathered himself to stand and change into sleeping clothes. He left his wedding suit draped over the chair. He tried to be quiet as he walked over to the bed, which wasn’t hard thanks to the carpet. Waking Lauroe up would probably just make things awkward. As he climbed into the bed, he noticed the tapestry that hung above the door. It was beautiful, depicting a great green dragon curled around the tip of a great black mountain. Above, stars glittered- Shibisu realized they were done in fine silver thread. Barely visible was a new moon, colored a grey barely lighter than the sky.

Shibisu was so busy staring at the gorgeous tapestry, he didn’t notice when Lauroe’s eyes opened to survey him. When he finally noticed, Lauroe had been staring at him for several minutes. He made a small eep sound, and Lauroe rolled his eyes.

“...are you going to sleep there.”

Shibisu was somewhat lost. “I don’t have anywhere else to sleep.”

Lauroe groaned and turned away from him, clutching one of the pillows to his chest. “I hate my dad.”

Shibisu did not know how to respond to that, but he wasn’t the kind of person to let confusion silence him. “You might want to change out of your wedding clothes. They look uncomfortable.”

Lauroe turned back to shoot him a glare. “No.”

“...why?” Shibisu was entirely unprepared for any sort of interaction with this man.

“Because. Shut up. I’m going back to sleep. Stay on your side of the bed.”

Shibisu didn’t have anything better to do or say, so he curled up into the blankets, turned his back to Lauroe, and slept. The bed was comfortable, and the sound of his new husband’s grumbling was soothing. Somehow.

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The next day, the market was busy. He walked through the crowds, Hatz and Anaak behind him. They were arguing about something, not that Shibisu could figure out what it was. Something about the difference between a sword and a needle.

The three had just finished moving all of their things to their new home, and now Shibisu was taking them to buy sweets to celebrate. He’d invited Wangnan, but the prince had said something about a date with Nia and run off. As Shibisu had predicted, he hadn’t helped- except maybe with moral support. Shibisu laughed to himself.

After buying sweets, they sat down in the shop to eat them. They didn’t talk much, focused on the delicacies in front of them- chocolate-cherry pie for Anaak, tiramisu for Hatz, and white chocolate caramel cheesecake for Shibisu. While Shibisu savored his ridiculously-sweet dessert, Anaak and Hatz raced to finish first. As always, Anaak finished a few seconds ahead, prompting Hatz to vow to challenge her again until he won-

Shibisu smiled. Things may have changed, but they weren’t that different. He still had his kids, after all.

A loud ‘ahem!’ startled him from his thoughts. He looked up to see a teenage boy in the white uniform of the Arie family’s messengers. But the messenger boy wasn’t looking at him. The messenger was looking at Hatz, almost like he was assessing him. Hatz, of course, was assessing him right back. Shibisu decided he didn’t want to wait for their staring contest to end.

“Ah- do you have a message? Not to interrupt.”

The messenger sighed and broke their matched stares. (Hatz smirked, as he won the contest.) “Yes, I have a message for Hatz from Champion Arie Hoaquin.” He tossed an envelope expertly onto the table such that it slid to a stop just before it hit Hatz’s plate. And with that, he walked away, tossing a flippant “Farewell!” over his shoulder.

As soon as he was out of sight, Hatz ripped the letter open and began to read aloud.

“Hatz- I’ve heard of your ‘talent’ with a sword. Hopefully it’s not inflated by rumor. This is your Official Invitation to the Summer Mountain Tournament. I can invite you now that you’re technically noble. No one has given me a challenge in years. I expect a challenging win from you. Regards, Arie Hoaquin, reigning Champion of the Summer Mountain Tournament, and your new rival. P.S. Don’t disappoint me.”

Anaak started laughing as Hatz scowled.

“Oooo, Hatsuuu, you have a new rival do you?”

He whacked her with the letter, which didn’t stop her laughing. “He’s not my rival- ugh I hate arrogant people. I’m not going.”

Shibisu interrupted. “Actually… It might be good for you to go. I’ve heard from Wangnan that it’s actually an important social event, as well as a tournament.”

Anaak, being unhelpful, chimed in with, “Hatsu has a rival, Hatsu has a rival!”

“...Fine. I’ll go. And I’ll win. Ugh.” He glared regretfully at the crumbs of his tiramisu, as if wishing it was back so he could rage-eat it.

Anaak didn’t stop laughing, but she and Hatz fell back into the patterns of their usual arguments, leaving Shibisu effectively alone with his thoughts and the remaining cheesecake.

He’d known before this that nobles spent much of their time competing for social standing. He’d even been prepared to participate in that, despite the reclusive nature of the Phonsekal family. But he had overlooked the fact that Hatz and Anaak might be expected to as well. Neither of them were very good at being conniving- they, like both of their parents, were people of action, accustomed to and comfortable in open conflict. In trying to protect them from the dangers of war, Shibisu realized he might have placed them in a kind of danger they were far less equipped to deal with.

But Shibisu could still protect them. Not needing to run the family business meant he could spend all his time ensuring they- and he- would be safe. Oh, and probably his new husband, too.