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The news that the Prince of Seigaku was marrying the first son of Lord Tezuka spread around the kingdom like wildfire. It was a very eligible match; the Tezukas were one of the more powerful and respected families in the land- kind to their people and extremely loyal to the King. Not only that. Rumour had it that this was a love match.
Fuji Shusuke, first son of the Fuji clan, was interested in that. The last time he'd seen Prince Ryoma, the young boy had proclaimed loudly that he would never marry. The young prince had been ten at the time, but the memory always made Shusuke laugh.
He wasn't really close to the royal family, nor to any members of the various high born families of Seigaku. The Fuji family never was. Always respected but kept at arms length.
Still, a royal wedding was cause for the gathering of the clans and an excuse for a big party. Shusuke was looking forward to it. There would be kings and queens, princes and princesses, lords and ladies, all of them looking at him with a tinge of fear.
Shusuke might even get to see his own betrothed.
The rise of the Kawamura family had been quick, like a firework exploding. The family had originally been fishermen who had gained some wealth through trade. They had been well respected in their town but unknown outside of it. Then The War in the North had happened and the great-grandfather of the current Lord Kawamura had saved the life of the then King of Seigaku on the battlefield and had been promoted. The fall had only taken a generation. Any money had been squandered on grand castles and frivolities until all that was left was a family with a title and no money. Nuevo Riche without the Riche.
On the Kawamura's side, the marriage of their son to Shusuke was a great one. The Fuji’s however had always felt hard done by as they saw no benefit to them.
"We can get free fish at least," Shusuke's younger brother had sneered on more than one occasion.
Shusuke himself couldn't bring himself to mind. The marriage wasn't likely to go ahead for many years-if ever- leaving him free to do as he pleased. He didn't even know what his future husband looked like, they'd only met once ten years ago and 18 year old Shusuke hadn't been interested in his 8 year old fiancé who had talked endlessly about something, Shusuke couldn't remember what.
People stared as Shusuke walked into the ballroom of Seigaku Castle and whispered amongst themselves. He'd had to come in place of his uncle, the current Lord Fuji, who had named Shūsuke as his heir after disowning half the family. Nothing would happen at a Royal wedding and it gave Shusuke a chance to meet the heirs to the families he would have to work with in the future.
There was no sign of either of the grooms and Shusuke was slightly disappointed, he'd wanted to see whether there was truth to the love match claim. After all, the only family better than the Tezukas at manipulating public perception were the Echizens. Consolidating the power of the two biggest families sent shivers down many backs, but if it were a love match then it was Romantic.
But before the two lovebirds could tie the knot, they all had to get through the week-long festivities; balls every night, tournaments and entertainments all day.
Shusuke had had a long journey to Seigaku so wasn't wild at the idea of staying up all night being polite. But this was his future so he put on his best smile and buried his feelings of hurt and annoyance at the looks he kept getting. He prided himself on his smile, it was virtually opaque.
He sidled up to the fireplace, grabbing a drink along the way, and warmed his back. As long as no one was looking at him with barely concealed fear, he enjoyed crowd watching. A group of girls next to him were keeping up a loud and giggly running commentary and he listened in to pick up the latest gossip.
“Look over there,” one whispered, clearly tipsy and unsubtly tilting her head towards Shūsuke, “isn’t that the Fuji family heir?”
They all followed her gaze and it took all of Fuji’s will not to wave.
“Be careful girls,” another girl giggled,“we all know what the Fuji family is famous for.”
“What?” A younger girl asked curiously.
“You’re so sheltered.”
“They poison people,” the girl who’d first pointed Fuji out said in a stage whisper. “That Fuji’s great uncle poisoned loads of Lords and even tried to kill the king!”
“He can hear you,” the most sober girl of the group hissed.
“So what? It’s all true! The knowledge of poisons is passed down through their family, so keep your drinks covered.”
"Lady Sakuno tripped and fell in the lake," the sober girl said loudly and pointedly, "and immediately Lady An jumped in after her!"
"Lady Sakuno has no luck. If I were her I would have not come!"
"They were never attached," Shusuke could hear the eye roll in this girl's voice. "At least this wedding has been arranged out of love."
"So they say..." The first girl said darkly.
There wasn’t much that could pull Shusuke’s attention away from gossip. His siblings had been known to have to physically pull him away from eavesdropping on many occasions. But one thing that could distract him was hot guys.
This particular guy wasn't really much to look at in the face department, not ugly nor handsome, just average with brown eyes and brown hair. But he was tall and- most importantly- solid and muscular. Shusuke detached himself from the wall and sauntered over.
"Hi there, we haven't met, have we?" He purred.
Five minutes later, Shusuke was exactly where he wanted to be- pressed up against a wall, his hands up Hot Guy's tunic and kissing him wildly. Whoever he was, he was a fantastic keep kisser. Shusuke moaned as his bottom lip was nibbled and he had to cling tighter to the muscular back under his hands.
He was in heaven.
He surged forwards, smashing their mouths back together, digging in his fingernails. The man growled-which was probably the hottest thing Shusuke had ever heard- and pushed Shusuke harder against the wall. The kiss was becoming more and more feral. Someone was bound to come down their corridor, the thought just turned Shusuke on more.
Music floated up the corridor- the ceremonies were beginning. And Shusuke, as a tournament competitor, had to present himself to the couple. He took a couple more long, deep kisses and pushed away.
"See you around," he said, giving the man a pat on his lovely cheek and trying to ignore just how hot he looked with kiss swollen lips. He left him looking shell shocked, which was exactly how Shusuke liked to leave his men.
Shusuke wasn't particularly interested in the tournaments, but as the representative of one of the country's major families, he was expected to take part. Even though everyone knew the whole thing was just an excuse for Prince Ryoma to show off.
The first event was sword, not Shusuke's best event. He took one of the sabre from the wall of swords and swung it experimentally. It would do.
"Fujiko!!" A cry came from the other end of the room and, before Shusuke could even look around, he was caught in a rib crushing hug. "I thought I saw you yesterday but I couldn't get away,"
"Eiji!" Shusuke laughed, squirming as Eiji bounced happily.
Kikumaru Eiji- no, Shusuke corrected himself- Oishi Eiji, had been his best friend. Eiji's family hadn't been aristocrats, just well off landowners who had owned the land next to the Fujis' extensive estate and he and Eiji had grown up together.
"How have you been? I've missed you!"
"I'm fine," Shusuke replied as Eiji finally let him go, "how is being married into the prestigious Oishi family?"
Eiji blushed happily, grinning from ear to ear. It gave Shusuke a lovely warm feeling in his chest knowing how in love his best friend was with his husband. Having seen the young Lord Oishi, Shusuke had no doubt the feeling was mutual.
"Oishi is so nice," Eiji sighed blissfully, "but he's really busy with this wedding. And stressed."
"You should do something to relieve that stress," Shusuke said innocently.
Eiji looked slightly shocked but his face quickly slid into what could only be described as 'troublemaking'. "What about your betrothed? Have you seen him yet."
"No, why?" Shusuke turned his attention back to the sword in his hand, admiring how the light glinted along the blade.
"He's over there."
Shusuke's eyes shot up and along Eiji's gesturing arm to... The man he'd seduced the previous night. Eiji cackled at the l
ook on Shusuke's face.
Of all the men in the world Shusuke could have stuck his tongue down the throat of it had to be him. His betrothed.
At least he's a good kisser, a little voice at the back of his head said.
"Not the hottest guy in the world," Eiji mused, "but not unfortunate." Shusu
ke bit back on the comment creeping to his tongue about how the exact same description could be applied to Eiji's husband. "Oh! He's coming over."
"My round is being called," Shusuke said, escaping towards the door.
"No, it's not. Fujiko!"
But Shusuke was out of the building. He didn't really know why he'd fled, just the thought of facing the man he was going to marry when his only memories of him were as a child and a nameless almost-conquest made him want to shrivel.
Luckily, he didn't have to stew long as his name was called and he made his way to the ring.
Shusuke was well and truly defeated. Not that he'd expected anything else. He left the arena and headed straight for the gardens- one place he knew he would be truly at peace. No one else was around, not with the exciting tournament to watch. Shusuke found a nice tree and sunk against the trunk, his body aching from the blows it had suffered. He had salts and herbs back in his room, sprinkled into his bath tonight and he would be fighting fit. Tomorrow was archery, one of Shusuke's specialities. He had to make sure his arms and shoulders were back to normal.
A soft breeze washed the fragrance of the flowers over him and he smiled. This was where he was most at peace; surrounded by plants. He took a deep breath and hauled himself onto his feet. Seigaku Castle was famous for its collection of rare and exotic plants and Shusuke planned to look at all of them and take samples if he could get away with it.
As expected, Prince Ryoma won that day’s tournament.
The toasts made by various nobles from various countries took almost the first hour of the banquet that night. The mood in the hall was jubilant and even the whispers about Shusuke had died down. He sat on a table with sons of nobles from the kingdom of Hyotei and joined in the toasts to the health and happiness of the upcoming marriage. Every now and then, he glanced towards Kawamura on the next table over and caught him staring. Shusuke smiled at him and Kawamura blushed.
Vaguely, Shusuke wondered if he had known who he’d been kissing the previous night. Had Shusuke been the only one in the dark?
Yes, by the look on Kawamura’s face the tenth time Shusuke caught him staring. That made Shusuke feel guilty.
He got to his feet to do...something. But a cry from the high table grabbed his attention along with the rest of the room.
“Ryoma!” The Queen shrieked, shaking her son who had collapsed forward into his plate. Tezuka was on his feet and by his fiance's side immediately, taking him by the shoulders and pulling him upright. Even from Shusuke’s far position, he could see the prince was deathly pale.
Chaos erupted as doctors were called and Tezuka carried Prince Ryoma out of the hall. It hit Shusuke like an ice cold shower that all around people were looking at him. And their looks were just as biting.
Once the royal family had left a deathly silence fell across the hall, all eyes now firmly fixed on Shusuke.
Oh, Shusuke thought, thank you so much great-uncle.
He smiled pleasantly as his eyes darted around for an escape route but found none, not without fighting his way through. He was determined not to speak first, let them accuse him.
Finally, the son of Lord Horio spoke up. “So, you thought you could just murder our prince?”
“He’s my prince as well,” Shusuke replied coolly, Lord Horio owned less land than Shusuke’s herb garden. “Why would I kill him? He has done nothing to myself nor my family.”
“Your family has form.”
Shusuke kept himself looking passive. How dare he! The upstart!
The problem was whatever Shusuke said it would not convince anyone. The gentry surrounding him had already made up their mind and expected Shusuke to deny it. Out of the Corner of his eye, he saw Eiji starting towards him. He caught his eye and shook his head minutely. He couldn’t let his friend get mixed up in this.
“When would I have a chance to do it? I haven’t been near Prince Ryoma nor the kitchens.”
“Slow poison,” someone shouted and Shusuke rolled his eyes
“Slow poison requires multiple doses over a long period of time,” he snapped in exasperation.
“See!” Horio shouted, “he’s thought about poisoning the Prince!”
I can think of someone I’d like to poison, Shusuke had to stop himself saying. He was trapped and the hounds were closing in.
“Take me to the dungeons then. Lock me up. Nothing I can say will change your minds.”
An uneasy atmosphere pervaded around the hall. No one had the authority to order the guards to arrest Shusuke. And so, Shusuke went up to one of them and held out his hands.
“Please lock me in the dungeons.”
The dungeons weren’t so bad, Shusuke reasoned. They clearly hadn’t been used for many years, perhaps even decades and Shusuke had found at least seven different escape routes. There was also a distinct lack of nobles and noise. The guards had been bemused that he’d wanted to go to the dungeons but had locked him up but left him unguarded.He sat on the ancient bed and kicked his heels.
What now?
He could save the Prince. But there was no way anyone would let him near him.
A few hours later, he heard footsteps coming down. He got up and walked to the bars of his cell. He was starting to feel cold now, hopefully it was a nice guard come to let him free so he could slip off to his room and sleep in a proper bed.
It was Kawamura and Shusuke was surprised when his heart fluttered at the sight of him.
“Have they decided to sentence me to death?” Shusuke asked jokingly to cover it.
“No,” Kawamura replied. “They still think you… did you do it?”
Shusuke sighed. He needed Kawamura to believe him. “I didn’t. I could be next in line and I would still never poison him.”
“They’re saying…” Kawamura trailed off, a hand gripping the iron bars between them.
“What?”
“That you did it because you’re in love with Tezuka.”
“Huh.”
“You don’t?”
“Kawamura,” Shusuke said softly, placing a hand over the other man’s. “I don’t love anyone. Not romantically- I love my friends and family. But,” he said, seeing Kawamura’s face, “You are my betrothed and I am fond of you. Give me time.”
Kawamura nodded. “I came down because Ryoma’s condition is getting worse. I know you do medicine and stuff, can you help?”
“Of course. I’ll just-”
Kawamura grabbed the bars and pulled, his muscles bulged and the rusty ironwork fell apart.
“Very nice,” Shusuke purred. “Come on, I need to visit my room first.”
In Shusuke’s room was Shusuke’s box. A chest made of oak so old it was almost black and bound with iron.
“It looks heavy,” Kawamura said, eyeing it up.
“It is,” Shusuke assured him, taking one handle. “What’s the quickest way to Prince Ryoma?”
“His room is on the other side of the castle.” Kawamura’s eyes drifted to the window, “You can see it through there.”
Shusuke dropped the box carefully and nipped over to the window. “We can get there across the roof?”
Kawamura, joined him. “I supposed. It’ll be quicker and we won’t have to go near the Great Hall.”
“Good.” Shusuke pulled the window open. His room was only a floor above the roofline, it would be easy to drop down onto it.
“I’ll go first,” Kawamura offered. “You can lower your box down to me?”
“Be careful with it,” Shusuke warned him as Kawamura slipped his legs out the window. “It’s fragile.”
As Kawamura lowered himself out, Shusuke grabbed his box and tugged it to the window. He heaved it up onto the sill and looked down at Kawamura, who was looking up at him.
“Ready?”
Kawamura nodded and Shusuke dropped the chest which Kawamura caught easily. Now it was time for Shusuke.
“Catch me!” He called and jumped. Seconds later, he was safely in Kawamura’s strong arms.
“What would you have done if I’d missed?” Kawamura asked, giving Shusuke a squeeze before setting him down on his feet.
Shusuke had spent his entire childhood running around the sprawling rooftops of his home that he didn’t have a single doubt he’d have landed perfectly on his feet. “I knew you wouldn’t miss.” he said, giving Kawamura a kiss on the cheek. “Come on.”
Kawamura picked up the chest and followed Shusuke across the rooftops. He was a lot less sure on his feet than Shusuke and kept slipping on the tiles.
Shortly, they arrived at the other wing of the castle and started looking for a way in. Back at Shusuke’s home, there was always a window that didn’t lock properly and could be jiggled open, but here Shusuke didn’t know which room every window led to. It wouldn’t be a good look to appear before one of the noble’s who had attacked him earlier.
“This one looks like it goes into a store room,” Kawamura called over. They spread out to find a way in. Shusuke jogged over and started to jiggle the top half of the sash window, trying to work the lock open. The window was not very well fitted and had a lot of give and, by the looks of it, the latch hadn’t been swung across fully.
“Come on,” Shusuke muttered to it, rattling the window back and forth.
Eventually the lock slipped open and Shusuke was able to pull the top half down and slid through the gap. He swapped it so the bottom half was open and helped Kawamura get the chest through.
“That door better not be locked,” Shusuke said. “I don’t have anything I can pick a lock with with me. Do you?”
“No, sorry.”
“Oh well, let’s hope the gods are with us.”
They were with them. The door opened as soon as Shusuke turned the handle.
“This way,” Kawamura said and led them to the Prince’s quarters.
The guards at the door recognised Kawamura and let him in without hesitation, even as they cast Shusuke curious looks. It looked like if he was with Kawamura he could be trusted.
Prince Ryoma was laying in bed, deathly pale, asleep but still breathing. Sleeping beside him was Tezuka, an arm thrown across his fiance’s chest, a sword in hand. If the situation wasn’t so dire, Shusuke would have recognised that this marriage truly was a love match. But he has more important things to think about.
The opening door roused Tezuka, who pushed himself up and frowned at the intruders.
“Kawamura?” He asked, “What are you doing here?”
“Fuji can help,” Kawamura said, placing the chest down next to the bed. “He knows about poisons.”
In a flash, Tezuka was up off the bed, his sword drawn, the tip millimetres from Shusuke’s throat. “If you make Ryoma worse, I will cut your throat.”
“And mine,” Kawamura butted in, pushing Tezuka’s sword away.
“Kawamura no-”
“Fine,” Tezuka said after eyeing Kawamura for a long moment.
Shusuke ignored Tezuka’s malevolent hovering as he opened his box and started to pull out herbs, plants and equipment and scatter them across the table. Tezuka started when Shusuke moved over to the sleeping prince.
“I need to look at him to see what I’m dealing with,” Shusuke explained. “There isn’t a magic cure all.”
Prince Ryoma looked worse close up. His skin was plaid and covered in a cold sweat. Shusuke pulled up his eyelids and saw the whites of his eyes were bloodshot. He waited for a response and, seconds too late, the prince moaned softly. His breath smelt… sweet?
“Do you know what it is?” Tezuka demanded.
Shusuke paused, wondering how much he should say. He knew what it was but… it would implicate himself if he said as much.
“I can fix this,” he said, pulling the covers back up to Prince Ryoma’s chin.
Quickly, he set about snatching up the ingredients needed. The blossomtree root he’d dug up that afternoon hadn’t been dried for a month and he should have at least a week to stew the plants in the alcohol. It wouldn’t be as effective as usual, but it would work. He’d just need to make more of it.
Ground dried bitter grass leaves, mix with the chopped hot nettle pods. Heat gently in alcohol- well, he could only hold it close to the fire, but it would work. Next went in the roots of fanged colwort and leaves and berries from fire hedge, fever wintercress, dusk wormwood and dawn crownberry. They should be left to infuse, but there was no time.
“Here,” he handed Tezuka a bowl of the clear, slightly green liquid. “He’ll need to drink the entire bottle.” He held up a bottle containing 2 litres of the cure.
Tezuka frowned but took the bowl to his beloved. Shusuke hung back whilst Kawamura helped him sit the price upright.
“Ryoma, drink this,” Tezuka said softly, holding the bowl to his lips. As if stirred by the voice of his true love, Prince Ryoma summoned enough strength to drink.
Tezuka patiently helped Prince Ryoma drink at least half the bottle of antidote before the prince could drink no more. He was starting to look better. Antidotes were never a quick fix and maybe it was Shusuke’s eyes playing with him, but he seemed to have a bit more strength.
“Make sure he drinks the rest when he wakes up,” Shusuke said as Prince Ryoma was laid back down in bed and Tezuka kissed his forehead. “He needs rest as well, but he will get better.”
Tezuka nodded, “you should get some rest yourself.”
“I will,” Shusuke said, glancing at Kawamura, who -adorably- blushed.
“There’s a guest room two doors down,” Tezuka siad, “stay there in case Ryoma needs you again.”
Kawamura walked him to the room. He didn’t need to, but it was sweet.
“You’re going back to your own room?” Shusuke asked as they reached the door.
“I guess I should,” Kawamura replied but didn’t move.
“Thank you for siding with me. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.” Shusuke looked up at him through his eyelashes, something he knew was a killer move.
Sure enough, Kawamura turned bright red.
Slowly, Shusuke slid a hand down Kawamura’s chest. “You’re so good to me, Kawamura.”
“Call me Takashi,” Kawa- Takashi said, closing in on Shusuke.
“Takashi,” Shusuke repeated
Takashi sealed their lips together in a fiery kiss. They’d kissed before, but this was so much better. Shusuke sighed happily and searched blindly for the door handle. They slid into the room, hands all over each other.
Shusuke dearly hoped he wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Prince Ryoma was doing much better and able to sit up in bed.
“That stuff was foul,” He said bitterly, gesturing to the empty bottle.
“I’ll make it taste better next time you're poisoned,” Shusuke said, patting the prince’s head and enjoying the pout of annoyance. He was cute.
The entire room turned to stare at him as he came down to breakfast. He was fairly sure he saw food dropping from some of their mouths.
“Lord Tezuka” Horio began, “he-”
“Last night, Prince Ryoma was saved by Fuji,” Tezuka said in a tone that was not to be interrupted or defied. He turned to the King. “Your Highness, I would like to invite Fuji Shusuke to dine with us at the high table. He saved your son and my fiance.”
Shusuke smiled serenely at all the jealous nobles before him. He would never be forgiven for this by them, of course, but it looked like the prestige of the Fuji family had just skyrocket.
The next day, Prince Ryoma was well enough to get out of bed and to demand that he marry Tezuka that day. His request was, of course denied, but that didn’t stop him loudly complaining about it. Shusuke caught Tezuka smiling softly at his fiancee as he argued with his mother about whether or not a royal wedding was truly necessary.
With the tournament cancelled, Shusuke spent the next few days between making sure his patient was fully recovered and Takashi. He was growing more and more fond of the man by the day. He was so cute, especially when he blushed every time Shusuke smiled at him- something Shusuke made sure to do at every opportunity.
Prince Ryoma’s constant complaining did manage to get the wedding moved forward a day and it was as spectacular and long as the Queen had wanted. It had been very boring, but Shusuke had found comfort in the discomfort of all the great and good around him as they had to stand for hours on end.
And then, it was time to go home.
“I’ll visit you soon,” Shusuke promised as Takashi saw him to his carriage.
They said their goodbyes. It wouldn’t be long before they saw each other again and they had survived ten years without seeing each other, but it still hurt.
Once the carriage had started rumbling through the countryside, Shusuke turned to his box. He carefully took out the layers, setting them aside on the floor and then reached in and found the tiny button in one corner of the case. A hidden draw popped out the bottom of the box containing a single, scrappy book that contained the families’ knowledge of poisons.He flipped through it, page after page all written in the different hands of generations of family heads. Finally, he found what he was looking for. He knew he’d recognise the smell around the poisoned prince.
His uncle was going to have some explaining to do.