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Prince William had not been expected to be found. He had been alone for a decade now, so why would someone stumble upon him now? Perhaps he had gotten too lax, too assured in his own secrecy. Whatever the reason, it had happened. Holly had wandered too close to his home, his hideout, and he took his old charge in. He should have known that they would worry, that they would come searching for her if she was gone too long, but he didn’t expect it so soon.
He could hear voices, arguing, as the intruders advanced in his direction. The faint voice of Holly yelling at someone, telling him to slow down while the two older men bickered. The sound of their voices after so long, even faint, made William smile despite the stir of fear in his belly.
Then, a knight- a paladin- stepped into the cave, his armor decorated with a heart crest that was etched in William’s very soul. When his husband’s gaze landed on him he froze, the argument with the people behind him dying. In his hand was a readied sword that William never expected would be braced at him. A soft gasp fell from his lips. William struggled to take a proper breath, and the ring on his left finger felt like it was burning.
The sword clattered loudly as it slipped from his husband’s hand like he had forgotten to hold it any longer. He felt himself flinch at the ringing of the iron against stone, echoing around the dead silence of the cave. Then, those ever familiar hands reached up and pulled his helmet off. It joined the sword on the ground, but William did not flinch this time, he was far too focused on the face that was revealed to him.
Oh so familiar, just aged. Sharp angled features, a proud nose that he had drawn more times than he could count, full lips and big brown eyes. Curly helmet-mussed dark hair fell around his face, reaching a little past his shoulders now. He had hated having it long when they were kids. Not much had changed, he thought he could spy a new scar cutting across his cheek from here, but he was too far, barely able to make out the splatter of freckles he was so familiar with. Did they look the same now? Would he ever be able to examine them again?
Those dark eyes searched him in response, as if he could not believe what he was seeing. He shared the sentiment. After all this time- Michael had likely assumed he was dead, hadn’t he? It must be as if seeing a ghost. They had mourned each other for a decade now. But he knew the man would never have forgiven him anyway, not for his secret. He clenched his staff a little tighter and it glowed with magic. Michael spared it no glance.
William felt the panic building in him, the fear of what the boy would say despite not being in physical danger. He would never be in physical danger from Michael, he knew that, but the man had always had a tongue that could cut sharper than a sword.
“I- I know what you’re going to say, Michael,” he began weakly. His heart was beating out of his chest, unable to do anything but hold his gaze as he spoke. He could see Holly in the cave behind them with who he assumed was Lucas at his side. A spectacle, that’s what William had become. He had always been one in their kingdom, too.
“How could I have done this?” He continued, swallowing the razors in his throat. He had asked himself that question so many times over the years, how could he have- “stayed away all these years and why didn’t I come back to you? To my kingdom?” His voice wobbled, tears stinging behind his eyes. It was too quiet other than his own voice, and even that felt so small in the cave around them.
Michael finally reacted. He began to take slow steps towards him, crossing the distance of the wide cave. William could hear his blood roaring in his ears, the soul-bound oath between the two of them screaming as the distance began to close between them after so long. He was petrified to let him grow closer.
“Well- what sign did I have that you could change, Michael? That anyone in Hawkstone could?” he snapped despite not having a response yet. There was a certain desperation in his voice that he wanted to banish, but it stuck there anyways. He swallowed around a lump in his throat and felt tears leak down his cheeks. “I held my secret for so long until it was destroying me to keep inside. I pleaded for us to not hate just because of what had happened to me-“
Michael was stepping up towards him now, looming over him like he always had. William felt himself deflate as the man drew closer, giving him a better view of those freckle-covered cheeks and the faint scars on his skin. His lips parted, mouth dry, and he forced more words out.
“I know that I left you to take care of things alone, but I thought you’d all be better off without me,” he nearly whimpered. Michael grew close enough that he could smell him, the familiarity of iron and cedar that he knew he would never forget. A gasp broke his words and he took a step back, his staff falling to the side.
Michael continued to get into his space. “And I was wrong, I see that now!” He felt like he was begging, but he knew not exactly what for. He was just pleading for something, anything from this man. His back hit the cave wall and his breath caught on an inhale as Michael refused to let up, crowding him until he was pinned. “But- oh stop being so stoic, Michael! Shout, scream, say something-“
A large, callused hand reached up and cupped his face. His breath came out in a strangled gasp, stuck behind the lump in his throat. A gentle thumb brushed under his eye where tears were staining his cheeks, but they just continued to fall. He gazed at his husband, at those familiar brown eyes, and felt like his legs wouldn’t quite support him any longer.
“You’re as beautiful as the day I lost you.” He had dreamed of hearing his voice just one more time, and here he was, professing that he still loved him endlessly even after the things he had done. He exhaled shakily, bottom lip trembling as his head fell. He felt like he was trying to hide, maybe, to avoid the truth of this. The truth that he would have been loved if he had stayed, that he should have never thought otherwise.
The hand shifted to cup his chin and tilt his head back up to meet him. Michael was crying too, eyes round and full of tears. They darted all over his face, searching, and then fell to his lips. His whimper was unbidden as he blinked at him, allowing himself to be drawn in with such a careful touch. Even now, his husband gave him so much time to pull away if he didn’t want it.
It felt like coming home when their lips pressed together. He found himself melting into it instantly, letting out a sigh that had Michael slotting into place instinctually. In a mirror of his earlier actions, his staff slid out of his hand and thudded to the stone. A second hand came to rest on his waist, drawing him in until the two of them were in each other's space. He had not felt something like this in so long, he had not felt truly alive. His arms looped around Michael’s neck and he deepened the kiss.
•••
Ten years prior
William rarely had his husband, his paladin, leave his side. The man was far too protective over him, after all, he had sworn an oath when they were only children, a promise to keep him safe for as long as he lived. They had renewed the oath three years ago when they wed in front of the kingdom, a prince and his knight. William had never been in line for the throne, so he could marry as he wished.
Of course, on the rare occasion that Michael had stepped away, assassins took their opportunity. William had been through much worse in his childhood, normal rogues could not scare him more than the monsters he had seen, but he couldn’t fight them. No, he had to hide his magic.
Instead, he shouted for his husband as the assassin cornered him.
“You’re alone, prince,” the masked man sneered, crawling closer to him. William could feel the magic building in his veins, the urge to protect himself bubbling. He had to buy his time, though. To his people, he was just a defenseless prince. To everyone he was. No one knew the truth of his power. They never could. In a kingdom that hated magic due to what it had done to the royal twins, they could never know that the twins themselves had been infected with it.
Michael could have been halfway across the kingdom when he called, but he always arrived exactly when he needed him. A sword crested between the two of them, severing the rogue’s access to him. He couldn’t help but grin as his strong paladin slotted himself between the two of them.
“He’s never alone,” he snarled in return, immediately flying into the fight. William allowed himself to lean back against the wall he had been corralled into, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he watched the beautiful display of his husband in a fight. Though, he could not help the twinge of worry deep in his gut. He would always fear for his safety, after all, no matter how capable he knew the man was.
It was obvious who had the upper hand, after all Michael was fighting to protect him, which always seemed to make him stronger than a thousand gods. Despite the dire situation there was a soft flush of heat in his cheeks and stomach, watching the swing of his sword and the fierce set of his jaw.
Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, though, as the sound of steel against steel fell into the background. A second assassin, creeping up right out of Michael’s blind spot. He hadn’t noticed him yet, he likely would not until it was too late. Fear washed over him and he pushed off the wall, tense.
“Mike! Behind you!” he called, eyes wide and fearful. His husband tried to disengage from the current attacker to be able to spin around, but it left him covered on both sides. He desperately needed backup that William could not provide.
Unless.
He had no choice. He could not just stand by and watch the love of his life be harmed or possibly even fall, not when he was right there and capable of helping.
This could ruin everything.
He raised his hand in a claw-like motion. Magic built up as he spread his energy through the room. He latched on to the attacker that currently had the advantage over his husband. The world went white as his eyes rolled back in his head.
He would never come back from this.
The close of his fist was accompanied with a loud snap of a neck. The masked attacker halted, eyes shooting wide for one last moment, and then dropped to the ground. William watched impassively as the dead body crumpled, head hanging at an unnatural angle. His gaze turned to Michael, who cut down the other man effortlessly.
The room was silent as they both panted. Michael turned in confusion, gazing down at the now dead body of the second rogue. It took the man a moment to process, but then his eyes lifted to him. William clenched his jaw and prepared for his world to end, ignoring the weariness that always came after using his magic.
“....Will?” Michael processed, his eyes going wide when he preached it together. There was only one option, after all. Only one reason a man would drop dead mid fight with a broken neck. William had no weapon, no defenses, just his heavy breathing and the lightheadedness pulling at his brain. Oh, and fear. He had fear.
“I am so sorry,” he breathed, voice catching in his throat. Was he crying already? Perhaps that was pathetic, but he was losing everything right now. “I could not watch him hurt you, not when I could stop it.” He wanted him to understand.
Michael’s gaze hardened, eyebrows creasing with something unknown. He stepped over the corpse of the man William had killed- not the first one, but the first he had willingly done so. The approaching, looming figure of his husband had him backing away. He would never hurt him- or would he? They had killed many monsters in their younger days, even ones with the faces of their villagers.
“You-” Michael’s voice was hoarse, eyes growing round, something shining in them that William could not identify. “You are a-”
“-a Monster,” William finished for him, aware of what he was and what he had done. “Yes, yes I am.” His tone was resigned, knowing where this was going. He watched his husband flinch visibly from the word, from the realization of what the man he married had become. Perhaps it had been wrong of him to keep this secret for eight years, three of which they had been married. He simply had not wanted to lose him. Michael went to speak but he didn’t allow him to get a word in. “I am so sorry I kept it a secret-”
He felt his fear double as Michael stepped closer, sword still in hand like he was expecting William to turn on him next. He would never dare. In fact, he tucked his hands behind himself in surrender, unable to do any harm unless telegraphing it first.
“Will-” Michael’s tone made panic rise in him. He needed to go, to leave, before he was exposed to everyone and burned at the stake. He would be exiled anyway, so why not begin the process. When he moved to raise his hands again, the man he loved flinched.
He had to go.
“I am so sorry, Mike,” he sobbed, feeling tears streaking his cheeks, “I will always love you, Monster or not.”
He cast his spell and vanished from the world he had always known, listening to the shouts of protest as he dematerialized. He would never hear it, but the last thing said was a plea from Michael-
‘Do not go, I love you still.’
•••
Michael still could not quite believe what he was seeing, watching the love of his life walk around the cave he had lived in for the past decade. He had hardly changed at all, still stunning and graceful in an otherworldly manner. He simply could not keep his eyes off of him, scared that if he even blinked for too long the vision in front of him would vanish forever.
William was quiet, though he had always been a quiet man. Michael could feel it, though, the tension between them. He watched the twinge of his husband’s jaw, the set of his shoulders. Usually, when he looked like this, Michael would come up behind him and hold him, kiss his neck and shoulders and knead the tension away. His lips were still buzzing from their kiss only a little while ago, and he desperately wished that Lucas and Holly were not present so the two of them could return to their activities.
He sighed, softly, and watched as William carried a jug to a dripping stream of water within the cave. Barely-there sunlight streamed in and like the tides was drawn straight to the man, settling him in a glow that nearly took his breath away. Suddenly, William looked a decade younger, not so worn and sad.
An old urge bubbled up in his throat and he cleared it softly, standing up and beginning to hum. With the open empty cave, the sound vibrated around, tossed from wall to wall in a musical echo. The room seemed to still when the melody hit it.
“Oh, I love this one,” he heard the voice of Lucas mutter conspiratorially over to Holly.
He ignored them in favor of his husband, who had frozen in his movements until the stream of water was dripping down the side of the jug. He watched the line of his frame grow more tense, which was slightly worrying, but he continued to hum. William stayed facing away as he approached, the melody that was ingrained in their souls falling from his lips. This time, when he sang it, it carried no sorrow.
The prince did not shy away this time when he crowded up behind him, arms wrapping around his body to gently take the jug from his hands. William let it go, still rigid against him, and Michael carefully set it aside. His hands moved instead to the place where they most belonged, settling on the small of William’s waist.
“Remember our song, Will?” He prompted softly, low in his ear. William had a sort of shallow pattern to his breath, like he was afraid to have him this close. It made his heart shatter little by little to see him so hesitant. His William had never hesitated around him before.
The man did not respond, simply stared at the wall of the cave in front of them. But he stayed in his arms, so Michael continued. It took him no effort to draw up the lyrics of the song that he sang to himself nightly when the loneliness got too strong.
“I’ll swim and sail on savage seas, with n’er a fear of drowning-“ he crooned, soft enough that it barely carried. He knew there was an audience, but let them look. He had never been one to hide his love for his husband. “-and gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me.”
Nothing yet, though he watched William relax slightly, shoulders drooping as if the song was drawing the fight out of him. That was what he wanted, anyway, William did not need to fight anymore. Michael was back, William would never need to protect himself again.
The profile of his husband’s face was so beautiful as it always had been. He could spy the faint tremble of his lower lip, the beauty mark that was settled above it. His face was creased with age and worry, but he had never looked more stunning. It was as if getting older only made him impossibly more attractive, and every dream that Michael had had of William over the years were nothing in comparison to the real thing.
He lifted a hand from his waist and instead gently stroked his cheek, his rough skin passing over soft. “No scorching sun, nor freezing cold, will stop me on my journey-“ He shifted how he was holding his face, instead using his palm to turn his head. He just wanted to look at him, have his husband look back. It had been far too long since he had those green eyes fixed on him. “-If you will promise me your heart….”
It was William’s turn, the part of the song that Michael could never bring himself to sing on his own. He reached down and gently took the man’s hand in his own, intertwining their fingers and lifting them until they rested right over his chest. Michael had always been the heart, but William had always held his heart.
Silence.
Did he forget their song? It had been a decade. Perhaps William simply never sung it over and over as he had. He hated the way the disappointment clawed at his throat, threatening to develop in tears. No, this was not his husband’s fault at all. It was his own home and people who had made him feel the need to flee. It was Michael’s fault for not stopping him in time.
“-And love…” he attempted, goading him slightly.
Silence.
Oh. He swallowed around a lump in his throat, tears burning behind his eyes. William may have kissed him earlier, but he supposed that never meant he forgave him. Perhaps the man had moved on, forgotten what they had been. Perhaps the image he had crafted of Michael was too awful to forget.
His shoulders drooped and he bit the inside of his cheek, turning to walk away and leave the prince be. He would walk with his tail between his legs and try not to notice the pitying looks from Holly and Lucas.
“And love me for eternity.”
His heart leapt up to his throat, breath stolen from his chest instantly. He turned to William, who still had his eyes away from him, but he was singing. The man stepped away from him, their hands slipping from each other fully now, and began to circle him instead. Began a dance.
The smile that stretched across his face could not have been stolen away by anything.
“My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me-“ William finally turned to him, a smile tugging at his lips. Oh what a beautiful thing, the smile of his entire world. The man held his arm up, clenched his fist, offering it to him, and instantly he mirrored it. They began to circle each other, brown eyes meeting green like they were always meant to hold contact.
“-But I’ve no need of mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me.” He knew he was beaming now as they fell into a rhythm they had not shared in a decade, though they would never forget it. His chest felt so warm, happiness banishing the previous tears instantly. It felt as though the oath between them was singing as well, cheering for the reunion.
“But I would bring you rings of gold! I’d even sing you poetry!” He continued, dropping to one knee and watching as William pranced around him.
The man caught his gaze and grinned, a giggle falling from his lips. “Oh, would you?” The artist teased his writer. Of course he would, Michael would do anything for him. It would not have been the first time he waxed his own poems to his husband, anyway.
“And I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me!” He pulled him in, clasping their hands together and falling into step with him. William was smiling just as big now, his eyes bright in a way that carried the youth of their childhood. Michael had known him through everything, but he loved this lively version of his husband the most.
“I have no use for rings of gold-“ The man flashed his wedding band, which neither of them had ever removed, and Michael paused for just a moment to kiss the metal. “-I care not for your poetry.” Untrue, of course. He wondered if William missed his writing as much as Michael missed his art. “I only want your hand to hold!”
“I only want you near me!” Linking arms again they continued their circle, spinning through the room, their audience completely forgotten. Though, he could hear Lucas clapping along to the rhythm in the background. Their best friend knew the dance nearly as well as they did.
“To love and kiss, to sweetly hold. For the dancing and the dreaming. Through all of life’s sorrows and delights I’ll keep your love inside me.” Together now, the two of them filled the room with their song, gaining speed until Michael began to grow dizzy with it all. “I’ll swim and sail on savage seas with n’er a fear of drowning, and gladly ride the waves of life if you will marry me!”
They held the note for a moment, but William cut off with a squeal as Michael took him by the hips and lifted him into the air. The man gigged, hands resting on his shoulders as he spun him above his head. He was so beautiful, so perfect, and he had not changed a single bit. The continued spinning finally got to him and he stumbled slightly, quickly setting William down. They clung on to each other, catching their breath and stability, as their spectators clapped behind them.
He dropped his forehead to rest against William’s, the contact humming between them. Like they belonged there, cool callused hands cradled his cheeks and he sunk into them on pure reflex. Once again, the world melted away.
“I thought I’d have to die before we could have that dance again,” he confessed weakly. Perhaps the happiness had not chased the tears away, only made them less painful, because now he realized that his cheeks were wet. Gentle thumbs wiped at them.
William laughed softly, also choked. “No need for drastic measures, my love.” Michael’s smile wobbled, but he was far too happy to let the despair of losing his husband bubble up again. He had barely managed to wait all that time. There was no world he wanted to live in without William. Now, he was so glad that he had stayed.
“For you, my dear, anything,” he said seriously. He stepped back, taking his hands in his own and dropping down on one knee. When he gazed at their combined hold, their matching rings glimmered back at him. His smile had returned when he lifted his eyes back to William’s face. “Will you come home, Will? Be my husband once again? We can take care of the kingdom- together. What do you say?”
There was barely a pause, but Michael took the moment to admire the glossy green eyes fixed on him, the smile that had shrunk into something nearly painfully soft. The man standing above him was so precious.
“Yes,” he agreed, as he had all those years ago when Michael had asked. Even though they had done this before, his heart still skipped a beat like it was the first time. He whooped boyishly, springing to his feet and sweeping William into his arms once again.
“He said yes!”
They were finally together. He would never let him go again.