Kings [A Medieval AU]

Chapter Thirty-One - Clashing Kingdoms

Phil opens his eyes and stares up at the high ceilings of Dan's bedroom, confused and a little bit too tired to be dealing with this right now. A barrage of thoughts and questions rush at him all at once, and his mind decides to pick out the two most important questions.

Is Dan okay? Is my kingdom okay?

He tries to sit up, but his head spins and he falls back to the mattress. Beside him, Dan groans and opens his eyes.

"Phil, you're awake," he mumbles. He blinks a few times and his eyes widen. "You're awake! Phil!"

Before the king of Divum can say a word, Dan presses a kiss to his lips. It's the first proper kiss Phil has gotten since Dan got sick and he happily indulges in it, kissing back with fervour. He traces Dan's jaw with his thumbs, feeling light-headed and giddy.

"I'm so glad to see you," Phil mumbles, pressing kiss after kiss to Dan's lips.

"I'm glad to see you too," Dan replies, his eyes twinkling. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Dan buries his face in Phil's neck and exhales when Phil wraps his arms around him. They're in bed, they're both weak, but they don't care. They're together, and that's all that matters.

"You scared the hell out of me," Dan whispers. "When I saw you on the floor, I thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry. You scared me too, though. You were actually dying and I couldn't let that happen," Phil replies.

Dan observes the faded mark on his wrist for a moment before returning his arm to Phil's waist. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Dan. We're both alive, and we're going to get better together."

The two kings spend the next few days sleeping on and off. Phil makes up for all the affection he missed from Dan by kissing him every chance he gets, and Dan doesn't seem to mind at all. They recover together, and because Phil only needs to recover from exhaustion he heals faster. By the fourth day, the king of Divum feels perfectly normal again.

Just as Phil is nodding off again, a banging on the door startles him and Dan awake. The banging continues and Phil rubs his eyes, grimacing.

"Your majesties, there are attackers outside our gates!" a guard yells from the other side of the door. "From Tenebris. You must come quickly!"

Dan immediately looks at Phil, panic in his eyes as he cups his face in his hands. "Phil, I didn't call them. I don't know why they're here. Phil we have to go we have to stop them—"

The king of Divum shuts him up with a kiss to the lips. Dan relaxes a bit as Phil presses kiss after kiss to his lips, fingers tightening around the king's hips.

"You still need to recover," Phil insists. "Stay here and I'll deal with it."

"I can go—"

"No, Dan. Getting up and running and fighting will only make it take longer for you to recover fully." Phil gets up from the bed and changes quickly, replacing his pyjamas with clothing and tying his cloak around his neck. He shoves a sword into the sheathe on his belt and looks back to Dan, who watches him with nervous eyes. "I'll be back soon."

Phil rushes out of the room, blue magic already starting to swirl around his arms. One of the guards hands over a horse and Phil leaps on, riding down to the city gates. Screams rise to his ears and he goes faster, his horse's hooves pounding against the cobblestone streets.

He reaches the small Tenebrisian army and leaps off his horse, hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. The boy leading the charge, who can't be much older than seventeen, storms towards him and points the tip of his blade at Phil's throat. His chest heaves and his eyes blaze, and Phil slowly lowers his hands away from the hilt of his weapon. Around him, frightened villagers scurry back into their homes or into the shadows, silently watching and waiting. Divian guards arrive and stand behind Phil, their blades drawn.