The glow inside the King’s bedchambers was more intense than it has ever been before. It radiated throughout the room, through the cracks in the door and throughout the upper levels of the palace. Every passageway of the royal levels was filled with light, signaling to the people of Seutaui that their King was very happy this morning.

     Heechul opened his eyes and stared at the two tiny basinets next to the bed. His children were sleeping soundly in the soft white light, their tiny forms a peaceful sight to the King. Heechul insisted that his sons be moved into his bedroom for sleeping. He was tired of spending his nights asleep on the floor and refused to be too far away from his children, especially at night.

    Turning over and facing his sleeping mate, Heechul snuggled against HanGeng’s side and breathed in his addictive scent. Today was the day he planned on asking his mate to marry him. It had been a month since the laws had been enacted and the kingdom was handling them well. Most of the servants stayed at their station, but were now being paid a wage of silver by their royal masters instead of being treated as slaves. There were some Royals that grumbled about the changes, but when their way of life stayed very much the same except for the occasional dark haired elf in the gardens, they didn’t see any point to complain further.

     Yesung’s faction was in the minority. Heechul knew they were planning something, so he was hesitant to present HeeGeng to the people. His son had been locked away in his chambers for a month and it was breaking Heechul’s heart. HeeGeng’s coronation would be planned soon, but for now, Heechul waited. He was waiting for the right time to present his son to his people and announce his wedding to HanGeng, that is, if HanGeng said yes to his proposal.

    Not able to contain his feelings, and being a rather inpatient person, Heechul shook his mate awake and blurted out the words he’d longed to say to him for weeks.

     “Hannie, Marry me!” Heechul practically shouted, his voice raising an octave as he did so.

     “What?” HanGeng groaned, jerking awake and looking about the room with panicked eyes. “What’s going on? Why is it so bright in here?”

     “Wake up and answer me before I take it back,” Heechul pouted, “I said, I want you to marry me.”

    “Is that a question or an order?” HanGeng asked with a gentle smile, “Because, either way, you know the answer is yes.”

     The light in the room flared brightly as King Heenim was flooded with happiness. He kissed his mated deeply, HanGeng’s arms encircling them as he did so. Heechul rolled over atop his new fiancé and deepened the kiss. The king craved his lover’s touch like he were water. They hadn’t touched one another intimately since the birth of the twins and Heechul could feel the burn of neglect inside him. He needed to feel HanGeng’s hands on him.

    Sitting up, so that he was seated astraddle of HanGeng’s hips, Heechul pulled the sash on his blue silk sleep robes and let them fall off his shoulders, so that he was left bare from the waist up. HanGeng stared up at him with a gentle gaze full of love and a hint of lust. There was no denying it any longer; they belonged together. Bending down and reconnected their lips, Heechul groaned in pain when HanGeng bucked his hips up against him. He was still sore from giving birth and going all the way was impossible for him this soon. All Heechul really wanted was some deep kisses and intense petting.

    “What about the children?” HanGeng whispered between kisses, his hands running up Heechul’s spine underneath his long silky hair.

     “They’re sleeping..,” Heechul reassured, his words dying in his throat as he heard HeeLee start crying.

     Giving HanGeng as apologetic peck on the lips, Heechul rolled off his mate and climbed out of bed to attend to his son. HanGeng sat up and watched as Heechul lifted HeeLee from his white woven bassinette and rocked him in his arms. The child snuggled close to him and nuzzled his face against Heechul’s bare chest; he was hungry. Taking a seat in the rocking chair Heechul had commissioned for Wonhee, Heechul held HeeLee close and allowed his child to have his breakfast. HanGeng crossed his legs underneath himself and watched his mate with a loving gaze. Heechul really was a good mother.

     “Hannie, I need to ask you something else.” Heechul began, flinching a bit when HeeLee latched on and started .

     “What it that?”

     “It’s about the ritual I found in the library,” Heechul began, looking at his mate seriously, “The one that bonds a mated pair…,”

     “The one that would bond us together until you die?” HanGeng offered, “That one?”

     “Yeah,” Heechul replied with a nod, “Would you be willing to try it? I mean, you’re human and will age. I don’t know if I can bare to live the next five hundred years alone. Hannie, I just can’t…,”

    “It’s a big decision for me, you know that right?”

    “I know, but…,”

    “I need you to answer a few questions first.”

    “Alright,”

    “Can the ritual hurt me if it doesn’t go right?”

     “No,” Heechul reassured, “If I fail to complete it properly, you’ll just remain the same.”

     “You said it takes a lot of power to complete. Could it hurt you?”

     “If I do not have enough power to do it, then it just won’t take effect. Other than draining me physically, it won’t hurt me. I’ll have to rest for a few days afterwards and you may have to help me replenish my power, but I’ll be fine. It won’t kill me, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

     “What about Kangin and Donghae? If they wanted to be bonded to Leeteuk and Eunhyuk, could you perform the ritual for them?”

    “If it works with us, then it’s likely.” Heechul answered.

    “Will I be an elf like you?”

    “No, you’ll be human, but your life will be prolonged and you’ll stop aging.” Heechul explained as he lifted HeeLee onto his knee and gently patted him on the back until he burped. “We’ll be bonded until I die, or you do. The only problem is that if I die, so will you.”

    “If you die, I would die with or without the bond. That doesn’t bother me, Heechul-ah.” HanGeng reassured, “If you think you’re strong enough, then I’m willing to try it.”

     “Are you sure?”

    “Yes,” HanGeng answered as HeeGeng woke and began to cry.

    Climbing out of bed, HanGeng lifted his son from his bed and rocked him slowly in his arms. HeeGeng stopped crying, but continued to fuss. He was hungry too.

      “Give me HeeGeng to feed and you go change HeeLee. He needs a fresh diaper.” Heechul instructed, “You think you can handle that, Daddy?”

    “Yes, Mommy..,” HanGeng teased back as he handed HeeGeng to his mate and took HeeLee from him. “You’re really beautiful when you glow, Heechul-ah. You always glow around the children.”

    “They make me happy, just like you make me happy.” Heechul explained, “I want to try the ritual tonight. I’m tired of waiting to know that you’re mine, Hannie. I’m tired of hiding you.”

     “Are you sure you’re ready?”

     “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

     That evening after the children had been put to sleep and were left in the care of their uncle Zhoumi, Heechul met HanGeng and Kibum in the library. Kibum had pushed the tables out of the way and left the center of the grand space empty. A circle of candles had been lain out in the center of the empty space and Kibum was on his hands and knees drawing symbols on the grey stone floor with a piece of chalk. When Kibum noticed his king approaching, he stood and bowed to him.

    “Is everything ready?” Heechul asked and then frowned when he didn’t hear Kibum respond. “I can’t hear him.”

     Kibum smiled at his king and picked up a slate from one of the tables. He quickly wrote a message on it with his chalk and showed it to Heechul.

    Your children have the power of telepathy, not you. Now that they are born, you cannot hear my thoughts.

   “Right,” Heechul agreed, “Sorry, I forgot. Where’s the ritual?”

    Kibum gestured over to a table near the circle of candles before moving over to where HanGeng stood nervously at the side wearing only a long silk elven robe. The temperature in the room was chilly and the then material wasn’t enough to keep his mortal flesh warm. Heechul lifted the ritual from the table a scanned the words on the parchment. Luckily, it was fairly easy to understand and didn’t take too many steps. What it did take, was power. There was a reason the ritual had never been successful in the past. The only documented elves to try it were not powerful enough to complete it. The only elf who could possibly channel that much magic was the King, and at the time the ritual had been written, the king had despised humans.

     “Are you sure you can do this, Chul-ah?” HanGeng asked as Kibum led him into the center of the circle and began taking off HanGeng’s robe. “Why do I have to be for this?”

    “It says the more skin to skin contact we have the better chance our magic has to be bonded.” Heechul explained, “I’m sorry it’s so cold in here. We’re underground and the weather still hasn’t completely thawed the snow.”

    “How will we know it worked?” HanGeng questioned, holding his arms around himself as Kibum took his robe and left him standing alone in the center of the circle.

      “I’m going to draw a symbol on you,” Heechul began, picking up a pot of black paint and a thin brush before making his way towards his mate. “If the ritual takes, the symbol will glow and began permanent. If I’m unable to rub it off with a damp cloth, then we’ll know the bond has been sealed.”

     “How long will this take?”

    “I don’t know,” Heechul answered as he dipped his paint brush into the pot of paint and drew a circle over HanGeng’s heart. Inside the circle, Heechul carefully drew a tree with a heart carved into its trunk. The tree was twisted and hat swirling branches that touched the edges of the circle. “This symbol is the King’s seal. The heart represents my bond to you. I hope you like it, because if this works you’ll be stuck with it until I die.”

     “It’s perfect,” HanGeng reassured, kissing Heechul softly and causing the elven king’s skin to glow. “Don’t worry about me, Heechul-ah. Just do what you can to keep me with you always.”

    Setting his pot of paint aside, Heechul slipped out of his robe and picked up the ritual scroll. Kibum handed him a small silver dagger and urged him to move towards his mate just as the moonlight began to filter through the skylight in the center of the great elven library. Once Heechul reached the center of the circle, he tuck the ritual scroll under his arm and sliced his palm with the dagger. HanGeng flinched and looked at his mate with worried eyes as blood began seeping out of the royal’s pale palm.

    “Hold out your hand, Hannie. This may hurt a bit.”

    HanGeng did as he was told, holding out his hand palm up for Heechul to take. Heechul took his dagger and sliced through HanGeng’s skin, causing the mortal male to recoil his hand and his in pain. Dropping the blood stained blade on the stone floor with a harsh clang, Heechul took HanGeng’s hand in his and pressed their wounds together, so that their blood mixed.

    “I, King Heenim of the elven realm, place my blessing upon this union and will this bond to be formed.” Heechul recited, the power inside him surging through his limbs and into HanGeng via his palm. “Let our blood be the sacrifice needed to unite our souls.”

    Bright white light filled the room as the King pulled his mate into his arms and pressed their flesh together. HanGeng could feel Heechul’s power inside him. It moved like something that was alive and full of intense heat. HanGeng shut his eyes as Heechul spoke in a foreign tongue, the words clearly of elf creation and not something HanGeng had ever heard before. Heechul spoke quickly, his intonation high pitched and paced rapid. The longer he spoke, the more power flowed from him and the more intense the heat became.

    HanGeng could feel his skin burning where it touched Heechul’s, but he dare not move away, no matter how much it hurt. Wind began to blow inside the chamber as Heechul shifted to look into HanGeng’s eyes. A gasp left HanGeng’s lips as he observed Heechul’s ice blue gaze. Heechul’s eyes were full of light, just like his pale skin, and there was blood seeping from them like tears. HanGeng opened his eyes to ask if he were in pain, but was silenced when Heechul crashed their lips together for a deep kiss.

   When their lips touched, the wind inside the chamber intensified. HanGeng could hear it blowing books off the shelves and knocking over furniture. Heechul’s lips were like fire upon his own and his mouth tasted like blood. The metallic taste caused HanGeng to pull away from his mate and look at him in concern. Heechul’s posture was rigid and there was pain behind his eyes. The elven king was clearing hurting himself and HanGeng couldn’t bear to watch.

    “Heechul-ah, stop..,” HanGeng whispered, but Heechul just tightened his arms around HanGeng and continued his incantations.

    The longer Heechul spoke the more uncomfortable his features looked. The pain was getting worse with each word. Doubling over, Heechul held onto HanGeng tightly and placed his head on his mate’s shoulder. He wasn’t going to stop the ritual, no matter how much it hurt. He’d given birth to two beautiful children, this pain was nothing in comparison.

    “I seal this bond..,” Heechul whispered, his voice weak and body shaking as the light in the room suddenly went out and everything fell still and silent.

    The candles that had been lighting the space were no longer burning and the room was pitch black. HanGeng stood still, not sure what to do. Was the ritual over? Had they succeeded? A cry left HanGeng’s lips as he felt Heechul’s arms slip away from him before he heard a heavy thud. A single candle flared to life outside the circle. Kibum tossed the match he’d used to light it aside and quickly moved towards the center of the room. HanGeng dropped to his knees and covered his mouth to stifle a scream as the tiny light of the silent elf’s candle lit the still form of the elven king lying on the ground. Heechul wasn’t moving, not even to take a breath. His skin was pale and felt like ice when HanGeng placed his hand on his mate’s arm, and blood was staining his face and hands.

    Kibum knelt down next to his king and placed his hand in front of his mouth to feel for breath. He then quickly stood and retreated from the room, leaving HanGeng alone in the darkness with his fallen love.

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