Bel's comfortable beside Nico, his hand warm on his leg. Part of Bel is still self-conscious. Every single one of Nico's citizens could secretly hate him and be planning his demise behind their king's back. Bel knows that's a ridiculous thought, but his paranoia and anxiety sure don't think so. Nico's sweet, chaste kiss is enough to bring him out of his mind. Miran makes a nauseated noise beside him.
The Queen ignores the affection, breaching it to get straight to her introduction. "I am. Queen Sella the Second," Sella responds, dipping her head in Nico's direction. She looks to Bel and Miran, Treya and Val coming up behind them. The professional demeanor fades into an easy expression. "Cousins, it's been too long." A mock pout forms on her face. "You missed my wedding and coronation."
Miran rolls his eyes at that, ushering an undaunted Flip closer to Sella's puma. "Forgive us for being preoccupied. We had a few more pressing matters on our minds." Once at Sella's side, he turns Flip to look over the crowd. "They all need asylum." His voice grows quiet. "Will Blakkast be able to provide enough shelter?"
Sella looks carefully over the area. She snaps twice, the sound echoing through the towering cliffsides. Three pumas, just slightly smaller than Sella's, appear at her sides. Her sentries. "With this crowd, we'll go through the bypass. It's longer but safer. I don't want to risk this many trying to climb the peaks." She says it to both Nico and Miran. A chilly air weaves through, Bel turning from Nico before coughing into his sleeve. He's sure to discreetly wipe any sort of blood away before he turns back to face them. Sella notes the allergy but doesn't say anything of it. "Does that sound alright to you Nicandros?"
Nicandros smiled at the queen. Friendly, mind. He hoped they could be friends. She was Bel's family and a potential ally. It would be good to make friends. So far, Nico had tried to keep this Araniel, avoiding outside contact. But it was clear that he wasn't going to be able to do it by himself. But as long as he had Bel by his side he would be happy.
Nico watched the exchange between the cousins silently. He looked to the side to look at Bel, smiling softly at him. He mouthed, I love you, to him. Then he looked forward at Queen Sella.
"That is alright with me. Anything for the safety of my people." He would never risk their lives. Not for anything. And if it took longer to get through the mountains to ensure their safety, he would do that.
"Fantastic," Sella says with a sharp smile. "Follow me then." Her puma grumbles and turns, the sentries moving with her and beginning to slowly surround the crowd. "There are plenty of monsters here," Sella informs quietly, slowing her cougar to walk side by side with Nico's horse. "Banshees, wyverns. Loven swore she saw a Yeti once. Regardless of what's out here, it's dangerous. There's a reason Blakkast has stood this long without foreign interference." Sella snaps again and as if materializing from the walls, more pumas and armored guards appear.
Now in much more familiar territory, Bel rides up front, sandwiched between Miran and Nico. Despite winter being half a year away, the mountains are still chilly. Bel brings his cloak (the one that had been Nico's all those weeks ago) closer around his body and leans further into Katya. Her white hair at least provides some warmth.
"There are a few shelters on the way up," Sella explains. "They're usually for soldiers, but they'll provide us with the necessary resources for the two days it will take us to arrive. It only takes half of a day to climb through the cliffs, but you all are painfully unprepared for our mountain climate." Her nose wrinkles as she smiles.
Nicandros nodded his head. They had been warned about the monsters that prowled the mountains. They had stocked their weapons and made arrows for their bows in preparation. But he knew they would never be truly prepared before they had seen what they were up against. Nico had strapped every weapon he had been able to this morning. Knives and his sword. And there was a bow strapped to his horse. While he wasn't the strongest with one he could still hit his target.
"Araniel doesn't have a mountain range. Winter is a few months away. We haven't had time to prepare just yet." Nico sat stiffly on his horse. He wasn't comfortable. Not yet, at least. He didn't know Queen Sella he would likely be tense around her until he did. Just as he was still cautious around Miran.
Nico looked over at Bel, reaching over and dragging him off his horse and onto his own, settling him in front of him. A blind man could see Bel was cold. He grabbed the reigns of Bel's horse and tied it to his horse. He wrapped his arms around Bel, trying to provide some heat.
"Araniel is… a boring country. All meadow and no waterfalls." Again with Sella's fake pout. Miran once again rolls his eyes but there's a hint of a smile. "It makes it very easy to stampede upon. Very easy to attack from all angles." Her voice gets serious, sharp. "If you prepare well here, then you'll be prepared anywhere you battle."
Bel's a little lost in his own world when there's suddenly an arm around him, and then another before he's pulled from Katya and onto Abraxas. He doesn't comment on how easily Nico had pulled him from one horse to another, but it does cause his heart to do a flip. "Warm," he notes softly, leaning back against Nico. It's almost like when they had to share the steed all those weeks ago.
Nicandros pursed his lips. He didn't take kindly to his country being spoken about like that. Araniel was vastly different from Blakkast, yes, ut it was still beautiful. Meadows and farms and forests. It was his home. It would always be his home. He wanted nothing else for him. And if Miran thought as much, who was he to try to rule a kingdom he didn't love? Because Nicandros loved his kingdom, every bit of it. But he didn't say anything. He wasn't trying ti start an argument with the Queen before they had even made it passed the mountain pass.
Nico kissed the top of Bel's head. "Ride with me, please?" He asked. He missed riding with Bel. He missed feeling the weight of him against his chest. And while there was the buffer of his leather armor between them, he could still feel Bel through it. Maybe not as much as before but he coukd still feel him. "You're cold. I can keep you warm."
"At least Araniel is prettier than Pthalo," Miran inputs, his voice practically musical with a hint of laughter. "Gods, wouldn't it be dreadful to be the Sire of Sagebrush?" His voice gets accented, posh and mocking.
"Ah, to be a hoighty-toighty oil baron," Sella muses in the same idiotic accent. Bel has to restrain his own laughter at that. Suddenly they're all twelve years younger, sitting around a game of cards and mocking every stupid kingdom they could think of. They would all call Cobrass the Land of Vipers for the sheer amount of pirates and thieves that hail from their foresty waters. Lumiere was Maidsville for the abundance of seamstresses and weavers that sent out thousands of fine garments every week.
Pulling himself from his reminiscing, Bel sighs and pulls Nico's cloak around them both like a second blanket. "My knight in shining armor," he muses softly, tipping his head up to look at the man behind him.
Nico was quiet as the cousins spoke. They were jesting and fooling around and he was happy for them. Happy that they could be reunited. As horrible as it sounded, Nico hoped that Miran would love it so much that he would decide to stay in Blakkast and let Nico take the throne. It was his, after all. He would take it. And he wouldn't let anything stand in his way.
Nico hand his hand placed on Bel's soft belly. His thumb was caressing it through the fabric of his shirt. He smiled as Bel wrapped his own cloak around him. His prince must have been very cold. He would do anything he could to keep him warm. Hopefully the shelter they were heading for had warmer clothes he coukd dress Bel in. Bel's comfort came before his own. He would see that he would be warm and cozy.
He looked down at the prince as he looked up at Nico. He smiled down at Bel before bending down to kiss him gently. They had gone this entire week without showing much affection. Other than their nightly cuddles and perhaps a chaste kiss, they had done nothing else of the sort. Nico was feeling deprived and he was ready to make up for it. The moment they had some privacy he was taking advantage of it.
Bel accepts the kiss with a smile. They'll be at the palace soon and they'll be able to spend all their moments together. Despite being pushed up right against Nico, Bel's still cold. He can feel his hands begin to shake. His smile fades as he feels the blood rise in his throat. Oh no– He coughs violently into the crook of his elbow. As he stops, he feels his head swim. Sella swears, halting her cougar to appear at Bel's side. "Is this what your mother had?" She asks, pressing a hand to Bel's chest. Treya looks at her cousin gravely from over Nico's shoulder. She nods. Sella swears again.
"We need to get Bel to the palace, very quickly before the cough progresses into something worse." She looks to Nico, instantly seeing the panic in the man's eyes. She whistles and snaps and another puma appears at her side. "We're taking the pumas. They're faster and can get to the palace much easier than any horse could." Sella's slowly grabbing at Bel. She keeps her voice steady calm. "No healers will be able to cure a genetic lung condition, but the doctors at the palace are trained for these." Two of Sella's younger siblings both suffer from the same condition, but it's been quite a while since she's seen a cough as bad as Bel's. How long has it been since he's sought help? How long has he been choking on his own blood. "Nicandros, will you come with us?"
(Bel better be okay or ima throw hands)
That bit of happiness Nico felt faded at the cough. At first, he had thought it had only been a tickle. But as Bel's cough became more violent he became more and more concerned. And then the panic rose at Sells's words. Even his sister Treya had known. Had everyone known but Nico? Why hadn't Bel said anything to him? Nico hugged him tighter to his chest, trying to stabilize Bel. And keep Sella from taking him.
"I will come with you but no one takes him but me." There was murder in his eyes. He didn't care who it was he would kill anyone that tried to take Bel away from him. Even family. Nico swung off of his horse, Bel in his arms. He looked in the crowd and made eye contact with Ambrose. "You're in charge until you catch up with us. No one gets hurt." He knew Ambrose would take good care of his people while he was gone.
While Nocandros was not a fan of the puma and certianly did not want to ride it, he didn't hesitate for Bel. He needed help and Nico wasn't going to do anything to prevent him from getting it. "I've got you, my love," he murmured to Bel. "I'm gonna get you some help."
(he'll be fine :) )
There are strong arms around him and Bel knows that they're Nico's. He wants to open his mouth, to say that he's okay–but there's another cough and he's too light-headed to wipe the blood dribbling down his chin. His hands weakly grip at Nico's arm. No, he was supposed to have a little more time. Sella's words are concerning, but at least he knows that it is a genetic ailment. His mother was sick. Whenever there had been a particularly stressful event, she had to spend the next day in bed.
Sella carefully removes her hands from Bel's chest, looking up at Nico. Stepping away to allow the man to dismount with Bel in arm, Sella strokes both of the puma's down the tops of their heads. "Miran–" Sella addresses the oldest. He's ramrod straight, eyes wide and fists shaking from where they're clutched around Flip's reins. "Miran, you should know the way back to the palace. Bel will be fine, our doctors will make sure of that."
With that, Sella mounts her puma and gestures for the men to take the second one. "The faster we get there, the better." Without a second's hesitation, Sella leans forward and her cougar takes off sprinting. The cats leap, taking to the mountains with their huge paws, clawing their way up the cliffside to the first peak. From the tall vantage, the kingdom of Blakkast spreads out beneath them. The castle stands at the center, a breathtaking structure made of glass, iron, and sapphires. All around them are tumbling waterfalls, their water crystal-clear and reflecting the shining gems embedded into the natural pools. Caves and minecarts decorate the mountains, a few workers covered in soot chat and share sandwiches. Sella only spares a single look over her shoulder to ensure Nico is following before beginning the perilous descent.
Nico was shaking with fear. What was happening? No one was explaining anything other than that Bel was sick and it was soemthung he got from his mother. He was told nothing else. Would this kill him? Would he be just fine? Did he need bedrest? Medicine? What did he need? But no one was saying anything. And getting Bel back to the palace and getting him medical attention was moes important than anything else.
"Hang on, my love. Stay with me," he kissed the top of Bel's head before the puma started off at a run. He leaned forward to clutch the reigns and held on tight ti Bel. There was no way he was letting him out of his grip. He held on as the climbed the mountains. Had this been any other time, he would have stopped to watch the world around him. He would have admired the beauty of it with Bel. He would have laughed and yelled they were on the top of the world. But this was a different situation and there was an urgency. Bel's life depended on them.
"Scarlet Lung," Sella supplies when the second cougar catches up to her own. She can sense Nico's confusion, his rising anger and fear. The least she can do is peovide some context. "A genetic ailment. Bel's mother had it, two of my siblings have it. I thought at least Dionn's family would be safe." She looks over her shoulder to Bel. He's getting paler. "Aparantly not. Blood vessels leak inside their lungs under high stress. Sometimes it goes away, but sometimes it builds. And it builds and it builds." She sighs and turns back to the precarious cliffside beneath them.
Her eyes wander to the bypass, curling around the jagged peaks that act like a natural wall. There's a heavily guarded opening, one where Sella had planned a ridiculous amount of fanfare to welcome her family and the small city they keep in tow.
"Im with you," Bel says quietly, his voice a rasp. He stares at Sella, then shivers as he leans back into Nico's body heat. "M not leaving–" He trails off sleepily. His mouth tastes of metal.
Nico looked up at Sella. Her words didn't soothe him at all. If anything, they made him more anxious. How long had this been going on? How long had it been building up? Cause it must have been building if he was having a reaction like this. "And you can fix him right? You have medicines to make him better?" Because all Nico wanted was for Bel to feel better. He would do whatever he needed too.
If high stress caused this, Noco would do everything in his power to keep Bel from getting tok stressed. He would do anything. He would go to any length to protect him. No matter what it took. But he would not allow him to suffer.
He looked down at he heard Bel speak. Tears welled on his eyes but they didn't drop. "Stay awake for me just a little bit longer. Can you do that for me?" They need to get to the palace fast. Bel was becoming paler by the minute. He looked awful. And Nico was terrified he might loose him.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a case like this. Usually we catch it when it's just a small cough, but I doubt Bel even knew he was sick," Sella huffs as her mount goes down an awkward few steps. "I wouldn't put it past his bastard father to keep the illness from him. Mierlenan is nothing but cruel." Sella had been the same age as Kein. They had spent nine years playing with each other in nurseries and dragging the maids to play with them. Kein would be thirty this year. The Queen doesn't doubt the possibility of Kein also being sick with the Scarlet Lung and whatever her father put her through accumulated and it resulted in her premature death. Sella doesn't say that part. She doesn't need Nicandros to panic.
"And yes, we should be able to help Bel as long as we get there soon enough. Our doctors have had years of experience with the Scarlet Lung, after all, it descends from our bloodline." That draws a shaky exhale from Bel. Slowly, he finds Nico's hand and loosely wraps his own around it. Sella watches the movement, then turns to the palace still hundreds of feet down. "C'mon, Arko." She rubs at her mount's neck.
"I'm awake," Bel breathes, but he can feel his eyes begin to drop. It's hard to breathe. The air is thick and his lungs are infested and his vision is blurred and darkened at the edges. "Just tired." The two words cause him to cough again, a terrible, sickening hack.
Nico was still panicking. He didn't think anything Sella could say would calm him down. Nothing would until Bel was taking care of and on the mend. Not until the color returned to his cheeks and he saw that pretty little smile. Not until Bel stopped coughing up blood. How coukd he not know? Nico had put Bel through more than enough stressful situations. Why was this just now happening? Had he not been paying enough attention?
Nico let out a small "oof" as his puma made a jolting step. He did his best to stabilize Bel in his arms. He didn't want to cause any unnecessary pain to him. He tried to keep the worry off of his face as he looked down at Bel he didn't want him to think there was any reason to panick. But Nico wasn't very good at hiding his feelings. Not when it came to Bel.
Nico tucked him further into his chest as Bel began to cough. He didn't care if blood got all over his armor or clothes. It would wash out or it wouldn't. It didn't matter. Not when it cane to Bel. His health came above all else. "I know you are, love, but you can't go to sleep yet. You gotta hold on until we get to the palace."
"I'm sorry–" Bel starts, his words long and slurred. "I'm sorry Nico, I should've told you." I thought everything was going to be fine. I thought I'd have more time before it worsened. I thought I could get a healer to take care of it– Bel coughs again. His vision swims, his stomach drops. It's harder to breathe. He prays that if he passes out that he'll be able to wake up again. "And yes–yes, I want to marry you and–" he trails off as rocks shift behind him.
"Shit–" Sella cries because of course nothing goes right. Her puma snarls and pivots, facing the threat behind them. A long spear expends from her hand. "Manticore approaching. Nicandros!" She barks. "Take Bel to the palace! Find Loven, she'll be in the throne room and she can help you!" The Queen bares her teeth, her massive puma slowly prowling closer and closer to the watching monster on the peak.
Nico whirled his head around, watching as the manitcore appeared. He nodded his head at Queen Sella. "Be safe," he said to her before urging the puma forward. He could see the palace. He only needed to keep on the right track to get there.
Nico looked downnat Bel as he urged the puma fast. "And you, stop saying those things." Those were dying words and Nico refused to let Bel die. "You're going to be just find. You can tell em those things after you've let a doctor look at you, alright? So nothing you say counts until after that." He was crying now, silently. Those tears starting to fall down his cheeks but the wind whipping by dried them before they could ever get too far.
"Just thought I'd let you know," Bel whispers. "Just in case." Because Bel doesn't know if he'll be able to wake up of he falls asleep. "I can't breathe–" His hands are shaking and his skin is pale and slowly Bels vision is beginning to fade. Weakly, Bel squeezes Nico's hand before it goes limp. The last thing Bel sees before his vision gives is the spinding palace. It's half an hour away.
The puma, sensing the distress of his riders, begins to pick up his pace. Behind them, Sella grunts as the manticore lunges. She's quick to parry, quick to attack, quick to throw the beast from her. Their puma slides down a portion of the mountain, giving a confortavke distance between the men and the monster.
Nico inhaled sharply, looking down at Bel. "No, please, no. Stay with me." The tears fell harder now. He raised Bel's limp body uo, checking to see if he was breathing, if his heart was beating. He felt useless. He couldn't so anything. And even if he was a healer, nothing would work but a doctor. "Stay with me. I can't live without you." Nothing was worth living for without him.
"Come on, faster!" He yelled at the puma. He didn't care if the cat died from running so hard. As long as they made it to the palace. He didn't care who died as long as Bel got the help he needed. "Go!"
The cat snarls, continuing to slip and slide down the slope. His claws sink into the rubble, ensuring that they don't go tumbling down the cliffside. The manticore shrieks. The puma bounds, jumping a perilous section to a more secure bolder. Behind them, Sella whistles, a shrill and sickening sound. There's a cry; there are falcons. The falcons are larger than the puma, trilling and scrying as they dive at the manticore.
One of the falcons lands in front of the puma. As it lands, the earth tremors, the ground reshapes, the perilous mountain changes to a steady ramp. The falcon nods before taking to the sky again. There's three manticores. Sella uncovered a nest. She has a gash across her cheek but she's still standing. Arko the massive puma growls and circles the monsters. One bleeds heavily.
The second puma, the nameless one, sees the clear path and begins to sprint. The half hour decent has been reduced to a maximum of ten minutes. Bel needs every second he can have. His heart beats but it slows. His eyes droop. He's getting colder.
"Please, please, please. Gods, please let him live. Please," Nico begged to the heavens. He would do anything for him to lice. He would give up his crown, his soul, as long as it meant Bel would live. "He is better than I am. He needs to live. Please let him live."
This was the longest time kf his life. What was minutes felt like hours, like decades. But the palace came closer and closer and finally he was bursting through the gates and the puma came to a stop I the middle of the courtyard. People were swarming him and needed them all to back off. He needed to get Bel help. He was swinging off the saddle, Bel in his arms. "I need Loven! Take me to Loven! Now!"
The commotion spreads through the courtyard like wildfire. Mothers grab their children, merchants protect their stock, roaming guards grab their swords. One of the guards steps forward, looking at the unconscious man in Nico's arms. He knows those features. "Follow me," the guard says, turning his back and running to the palace gates.
The Blakian palace is beautiful, made of silver, stone and glass. Bel almost wished he could be conscious to see it, conscious to see the landscape with Nico, be conscious to spend at least a tender moment with his love.
The guard takes a right, a left, and goes straight though a massive set of steel doors. Lounging on a thone, her legs thrown over an arm, is a woman with pale skin and shoulder-length red hair. Her face is sharp and fox-like and confused as she looks up. "Who are you?"
Nico was almost running with Bel. The only reason he didn't was because he didn't know where he was going. He needed these guards to walk faster. To go faster. To do something! Because they were doing nothing. He was going to loose Bel and there qas nothing he could do to stop it. He coukd feel the rising panic in his chest.
He was brought to a woman sitting on the throne. He couldn't care less who it was. Not with Bel's life on the line. So he wasn't apologetic for his words, "I am Nicandros, king of the Lisais and the lover of Prince Belicoril. And if someone doesn't come help I will start putting my sword through chests until someone does."
"Relax, tiger," the woman says smoothly as she rises from the throne. She crosses the distance between them and takes a look at Bel. Instantly, she recognizes his features and condition. "Damn. Follow me." She turns and exits the grand hall, holding the door for the men before she begins to run down the hall. They have to descend a set of stairs and then they're in an open, airy room with cots lined against a wall. "Doctor!" She yells, pointing for Nico to set Bel down in one of the cots. "Doctor, it's bad Scarlet flare."
A person of medium height and heavier build looks up from their desk, glasses sliding low on their nose. "How severe?" They inquire, standing and rushing over to look at Bel's condition. "Near cardiac arrest–Yale, Eryn!" The doctor yells for their assistants. "I need the cures immediately."
The two assistants rummage through a cabinet, handing different vials and syringes to each other. The doctor carefully unravels the cloak from Bel's body, finding a scalpel to slice through his outer layer and shirt. The woman takes a step back as the assistants bring up the cures. Some are tipped down Bel's throat, others injected straight between his ribs. In his unconsciousness, Bel begins to seize and hack. Loven puts a hand on Nico's shoulder. "This has to be done. They have to get the blood from his lungs somehow."
Nico was ready to snap at her again. He would be treated like this. Not when Bel's life was at stake. But then she was descending the dais and she saw how truly terrible Bel was doing. Finally, someone was doinging something.
He ran after to her, right on her heels. The halls felt too long. They felt like a labyrinth and Nico was worried he wasn't going to make it. But finally they entered and he set Bel down on the nearest cot to him. He set him down but didn't release him. He didn't want to let him go. Not yet. Not if this was going to be his last moments with Bel.
But he was being pushed away. If he had any fight left in him he would have pushed back. But he had none. He could only watch in misery as they tore his shirt open. As they injected him and cut him open. As he began to seize, his hand came over his mouth to cover it. He was shuddering and crying and there wasn't anything he coukd do. Bel was dying and he could do nothing but watch it happen.
The doctors tilt Bel's head so he doesn't choke on his own blood. The blood quickly stains the crisp white pillow a sickly shade of red. He's wheezing, trying to take shuddering breaths through all the blockage in his lungs. The doctor swears under their breath. "There's too much buildup. The medicines won't do enough to eject it." They look to the woman with sad eyes.
"Then we need a mage, damn it," she responds, quickly countering the doctor's pessimism with her own unrelenting proactiveness. "We already know healers are useless for genetic conditions, but we can get an elemental one to help us, right?" Her green eyes narrow. "Draw the blood from his lungs with a little magic?"
"Well–yes my queen, but where could we get an air mage? We need one–" Bel coughs. "Immediately."
Nico wasn't hearing anything they said until he heard the word mage. It echoed through his ears and he lifted his head. He was a mage. An air mage. He'd might be able to help. He hadn't done anything like that before. The most he had done with the lungs was tale all the air out of it. But perhaps he could guide the blood out if his system.
Nico rushed to Bel's side, hands outstretched and moving. He was searching for the little air that was left in his lungs. This would have to be quick, there wasn't much left. And he couldn't breathe with all the blood in his lungs. He coukd do this. He could do this for Bel. He had to. It was his only chance.
Quickly, he used the air to force the blood out of his lunges. The only offside was that it drew all the air put of his lungs. So they needed to do this fast to get him breathing again. Once the blood was out, he stopped back and prayed to the gods this worked.
The woman widens her eyes as Nicandros suddenly steps up, resting a hand on Bel's chest. She's about to tell him to step back, to let the doctors handle this, but then Bel's coughing harder than ever. The assistants scramble to ensure that his head is turned. There's an ugly, gruesome noise and a hardened clot of blood falls from Bel's lips with a violent exhale.
"I'll be damned–" the doctor marvels. Bel's breathing heavily, but he's no longer choking. His eyes flutter open as he takes in his surroundings. His skin is pale but at least he's breathing. The woman sends the doctor a pointed look and they scramble to find a proper IV to replenish his lost blood.
"Nico–" Bel whispers, weakly reaching out with one hand as the doctor and assistants work on his recovery. Different salves and ointments are applied.
The woman sighs, rubbing her hands over her temples and eyes. She has about a million questions, but she knows that there's no time to ask them. The Prince is in no place to answer them. Loven's sure Sella would kill her if she killed her baby cousin by demanding far too many answers. Loven doesn't know much of Aranial's politics, but she knows what Sella has told her. She knows that the king is a cruel one and he fathered four children.
Nico ignored the doctors and nurses and assistants. He didn't care about then as long as they helped Bel. Bel. His Bel. Who looked to be on his death bed. His heart was pounding, waiting for it to work. And then it did. He was breathing and nico himself felt like he could breathe again. His head hung low on his shoulders as he let out shuddering breaths. And then he heard his name.
Bel was calling to him and Nico was kneeling by his side in an instant. He took his hand and held it to his chest, over his heart. He placed a soft kiss on the knuckles. "I'm right here, love. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere." He wasn't going to leave Bel's side for a moment. Never again. He was going to be by Bel's side always. Even if it meant he had to miss somethings. War meetings were important but it would be too much for the prince to handle. So Nico would sit it out with him. As long as they were together.
