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For all of his life up until he’d met the Divine Dragon, Diamant had been certain that he couldn’t be devoted to anything more than he was devoted to the land of Brodia. He wanted to see his people flourish, and knew that when his time came to ascend to the throne he would do his best to make sure they were able to attain the peace and wealth they all deserved to have. Of course, he hadn’t anticipated that ascension coming in his mid-twenties, when he still had a long life ahead of him, but it did allow for him to make good on that devotion to his people and provide them with what he felt they were entitled to.
In the years that followed his coronation, many things changed in Diamant’s life that went beyond his role as king and his place in the world as a monarch—specifically where his biggest focus fell. With his loyal retainers more than happy to step in and replace him in meetings, and his brother willing to do some duties of king if needed, Diamant was able to find a new focus in his life, something that he found himself falling deeply in love with every chance he had to interact with them. He’d been happy to fight alongside the Divine Dragon and his forces during the war, but now that life had settled down into more of what it was going to be for the rest of his time on the throne, he was able to reconnect with Alear and restore bonds that he’d let fall to the wayside in those first years of rebuilding Brodia.
Their first meeting, the initial reconnection, had come in the form of Alear showing up at Brodia Castle looking to speak with the king, and had quickly become more than just a friendly conversation. Diamant was pretty sure he was supposed to have been in diplomatic meetings that evening, but he’d completely forgotten about them with how into the conversation with Alear he’d gotten; in fact, he only knew about the meetings and their outcomes when he spoke with his retainers the next day, them having had to go in his place (which led to them offering to do that any time he needed them to). “Did you and the Divine Dragon have a good talk?” Amber asked him, eyes shining as he prepared to listen to whatever story Diamant had to share. “You really forgot all about everything you were supposed to be doing because of it.”
“I suppose you could call it a good talk, yes,” Diamant answered, before waving a hand in Jade’s direction, her having been in the process of pulling out a notepad to jot down whatever he was about to say. “No, do not use my experience to fuel your writing this time. I’m usually all for that, but this was more…personal, so to speak.”
Bowing her head as she put the notepad away, Jade said, “I understand entirely. There are some things that aren’t meant to be used for inspiration.”
“And a conversation between two ruling bodies that haven’t talked in years is one such thing. The Divine Dragon is well, enjoying his time in Lythos and reaching out to the other rulers to maintain peace. He...did say something peculiar, though, and it drove us to keep talking long into the night.” The details about that specific thing were not anything Diamant wanted to share, not with the ears that were listening to him, and no matter how much Amber begged and Jade promised she wouldn’t rework the words somehow, he continued to dance around that one single aspect of his conversation.
That was, simply, because what Alear had said to him was that he’d saved visiting Brodia for last simply because he didn’t want to see Diamant again and know that they’d have to part ways again soon after. It had been said in such an earnest way that when he’d first heard it, Diamant had asked for it to be repeated, as if he’d heard it wrong. “I…chose to save this visit for last because I can’t bear to stay separate from you forever, given our roles in this world,” Alear had repeated, his eyes shifted up toward the high ceiling of the castle room they’d holed themselves up in. “Do you remember why that is?”
He, naturally, had remembered, and the two of them talking about that had been what directed the rest of their conversation. When they had parted that night, it had been done after a long embrace, a hug shared not between friends, not between fellow rulers, but between two souls that longed to be intertwined, and after Alear took his leave, Diamant had found something slipped onto one of his fingers that had brought back memories of the war. It was the ring he’d given Alear in the late stages of the war, in a flash of worry that they would be separated in battle and it would be something that would tie them back together again. “Something tells me that last night is only the start of a strong relationship between myself and the Divine Dragon,” Diamant murmured as he fiddled with the ring, still on his finger exactly where he’d found it, his retainers leaning in to take a look at it.
“That’s not the Pact Ring, is it?” Jade asked, the first to fall back away from the ring after getting a couple of solid glimpses of its shining metal. “I’d expected it to look more…impressive, given how highly it was spoken of.”
At the mention of that specific ring, Diamant stopped playing with the one on his finger and looked at Jade with narrowed eyes, not out of anger but out of contemplation. “No, it’s not the Pact Ring, although I’m surprised that’s the case. I wonder if the Divine Dragon ever gave that to someone, or if he kept it for himself.”
“Well, if this isn’t that ring, then what is it?” Amber’s voice was loud, his curiosity getting the best of him. “Does it have cool powers? Is it going to turn you into a hero and a king?”
“This is the ring I gave the Divine Dragon myself,” Diamant explained with a chuckle, not wanting to mentally dwell on where the Pact Ring might have gone in the years since it had been acquired. “It was made from a medal my father had given me, and I’d given this to Alear as a sign of my devotion to him and to his cause—a reminder that if we ever separated, we would come together again someday. How fitting that when we did come together again, it returned to my possession.”
While Amber clapped at the details he’d been given, Jade shook her head, patting down where her notepad was still tucked away. “That’s the stuff of a romance novel if I’ve ever heard it. Not exactly the genre I like to write, but it would’ve been nice to be able to jot that one down for later.”
“It’s a good thing that you’re respecting your king’s wishes and not writing it then, isn’t it?” Even though he sounded like he was asking a question, it was obvious that Diamant was more reminding Jade of what he didn’t want her to do than anything else. When she nodded, he did so as well. “Excellent, thank you. I don’t know when I’ll see the Divine Dragon next, nor do I know what kind of conversation it’ll bring, but I’m going to do my best to remember to bring up the Pact Ring when it happens.”
It was a noble thought, and one that Diamant tried his best to hold himself to, but the unpredictability of when Alear was going to show up in Brodia with the intention of talking with him made it hard to manage. Even with both of his retainers insisting they’d remember to tell him he needed to remember it, the next time there was a visit by the Divine Dragon it wasn’t brought up at all, and the same went for the meeting after that, as well as the one after that and the one following it as well. In fact, with every time that Alear came just to spend time catching up with Diamant, it seemed less and less likely that anyone would even think to address the ring situation.
The saving grace came in the form of the stewards, who came along on every visit and usually found something else to do while the Divine Dragon was speaking with the Brodian king. Vander was the one to address it, mentioning the ring in a last-second statement before he and the other stewards went off with Diamant’s retainers, their destination and intentions for the day completely unknown. “Oh, right, thank you Vander,” Alear said quietly at the reminder, bringing his hands in front of his face to mask a pesky blush that had crept over his cheeks. “I almost forgot about it again.”
“Forgot about what, exactly?” Diamant asked, not wanting to make it too obvious that he’d heard what Vander had said just as well as anyone else would have. “Based on how you’re acting, it must be something fairly embarrassing or personal.”
“I suppose you could say it falls into the latter category.” With his face still covered, Alear looked around the now-emptied throne room, before his eyes landed on Diamant’s curious face. “Would you mind if we stepped somewhere private? I don’t think I want to risk having one of the others pop in to check on us while we’re talking.”
A lump formed in Diamant’s throat, his mind immediately jumping to how this might have become the Divine Dragon’s way of telling him that the devotion he felt didn’t go both ways. Thoughts of how everything could have been falling apart in front of him began to flood his mind, doubts about his worth and his usefulness to a divine monarch as a simple king. “You look like you’re about to start crying. Is something the matter?” Alear’s voice was filled with concern and kindness, and it was enough to get Diamant to clear that lump away with a solid cough and shake his head.
“No, everything’s fine. Shall we go to my quarters? It’s the single most private place the castle has to offer us.” Alear didn’t take any issue with the suggestion, and so they went on their way, walking one behind the other with Diamant thankful that his eyes weren’t visible to Alear any longer. He wasn’t going to actually cry, but his eyes had misted over just enough that it made it seem like tears were on their way. He’d never felt like this about another person before, and the sensation came as a strange one; he could only hope that it was something he only experienced this once and then never again.
When they arrived at the bedroom, Diamant opened the door and allowed the Divine Dragon to enter into a room that no one outside of castle staff had access to—Diamant never let anyone else inside, not his brother, not his retainers, and certainly not guests. But Alear was different, Alear was someone that had opened his room up to Diamant (and others during the war efforts), and Alear deserved to have the same kindness shown to him. “This place seems suited to a king such as yourself,” Alear remarked as he looked around the dark-colored room, fabric tapestries on the walls marked with the insignia of Brodia as a reminder of what the king was meant to serve. “Your castle is much darker than Lythos Castle is, but it feels right for Brodia.”
“It’s always been rather dark in here, the kings before me preferred it that way, but I’d like to bring some light to this place somehow, much like I’m bringing light to Brodia with policy changes. But you’re not in here to talk politics with me.” Closing the door, Diamant looked at the Divine Dragon with a weary smile, his fears starting to build up again. “Vander mentioned you wanting to talk about a ring, but you’ve already given me back the one I’d given you.”
“That is correct, on both accounts.” Reaching into a small satchel he was wearing around his waist, Alear pulled out a glimmering piece of jewelry that Diamant recognized at first sight, the Pact Ring. “I’d wanted to give this to you long ago, but something stopped me from doing it, and now I think it’s time to right that wrong.”
“S-something stopped you from giving me it before?”
Alear nodded. “Self-doubting, mostly, but also the fear of what me giving this to you would do to those around us. Now that I’ve seen how devoted to Brodia you are, yet you’ve made it clear that you remain devoted to me as well, I think I can safely say that you can have this and my devotion while maintaining your post. I hope this doesn’t come off as too forward or unexpected, but…” He trailed off as he held the ring between two fingers. “I would like to exchange this for the one I previously gave you, that you’d previously given me.”
“A ring for a ring,” Diamant said under his breath, sliding the rather plain metal ring off of his finger and holding it out just like Alear was doing with the other ring. “Typically things like this are saved for more serious ceremonies, don’t you think? Is there any particular reason why you wanted to do this in private?”
“Oh, I thought this exchange was meant to be more of a private reminder of our devotion to one another, that’s all.” With a laugh, Alear pushed the Pact Ring closer to Diamant, so that they could switch who had which ring and wear them both with pride. “I suppose someday we could replicate this for those who care about us, but isn’t what matters here our devotion to each other?”
The new ring on his finger seemed every bit made for him that the one he’d actually made did, and Diamant found himself entranced by it for a few seconds, to the point that Alear had to repeat his question to get an answer. “Yes, I suppose that’s correct. By exchanging these rings, we’ve made our loyalties and devotion to each other known, and now we have a physical reminder that we have the other in our mind and…” There were more words he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure if they were appropriate to speak to someone as important as the Divine Dragon.
“Go on, you can finish your statement. I think I might have wanted to say the same thing myself.” Alear’s eyes closed as he tilted his head to the side, a peaceful expression on his face as his body faced Diamant, waiting for what was to follow.
Even with the go-ahead given, the Brodian king was hesitant to speak his actual thoughts. “I, uh, was going to say that it’s a reminder that we’re in each other’s hearts.”
“That was what I wanted to say, too.” Reaching up toward his own chest, Alear laced his fingers together and let them rest right over where his heart was beating inside, and if it was anything like what Diamant was experiencing, it would have been going at a rapid pace. “When we fought alongside each other to defeat Sombron, I wasn’t sure if the events we were experiencing were dictating how I felt about you, but now that enough time has passed I can say that I…I feel very strongly about you, Diamant. I think I should call it love, if you don’t mind me—”
“Divine Dragon, please!” At once, Diamant was kneeling down, looking up at Alear with an aghast expression upon his face. “Are you sure that what you’re saying to me is what you mean? Is it truly okay for you to be in love with me?”
“Hopelessly, unexpectedly, with full devotion to you and your desires. I would be doing my feelings a disservice if I tried masking them.” That was when Alear’s eyes reopened and he saw that a literal king was kneeling to him, almost begging for him to reconsider his feelings. “Er, why are you down like that? We should be equals in this, neither held higher than the other in our…relationship, so to speak.”
He felt breathless, like all of the air had been ripped out of his body and the emptiness was almost smothering. Diamant didn’t know how to react to having a confession of love from the Divine Dragon, but he supposed that he should have seen it coming all along, given the way their talks had gone. “Then I shall treat you like an equal,” he said, coming back to his feet and shuffling to stand in front of Alear, their faces barely apart. “An equal in every regard except one, that is.”
“Of course, that you’re a king, which is not a title I wish to hold. The people of Brodia are lucky to have a man as charming as their leader.” Pursing his lips together, Alear seemed poised to make another comment, but threw all further words aside in order to lean forward and catch Diamant in a kiss, which was reciprocated with no hesitation.
Their relationship would be tricky to juggle with their different roles, and finding consistent time to spend together would be a pain, but the pair knew that they would do whatever it took to make it work for them. Whether it be skipping out on diplomacy meetings or spending long nights at Lythos Castle, they would prove that their devotion and their feelings for each other were not dependent on times of hardship, and before long, they were easily the most cherished couple in all of Elyos. It wasn’t a title either of them wanted, but it wasn’t one that they were going to turn down, if it meant ensuring peace for the world they’d once fought so hard to keep safe.