Sehun's heart had almost jumped out of his ribcage when the King talked about Joo-hyun taking his place. He could never allow it, even if he would become a slave for all the men in Enchancia– he rather have that than his sister taking his place, his precious little sister wouldn't have to suffer a fate he was about to face. Not just one dwarf, Sehun would marry a thousand of them if it meant keeping the people he loved safe. Speaking of dwarf, Sehun's intended was a very distinctive and charismatic man even for someone as little– short as he was. By the Angel! He was handsome. He had handsome features and for a fleeting moment Sehun wondered what he looked like as a real man. Brown hair, strong jawlines with piercing light brown eyes that held so much mystery in them. The look in his eyes was different from the look king Heechul gazed him with– there was something akin to sympathy in his eyes when he looked at Sehun and Sehun really never expected such from him considering the man's reputation proceeded him, he was merciless on the battlefield earning himself the title of the 'impaler' and he never thought such man was capable of empathy. It scared him and thrilled him at same time. Scared, because the dwarf prince was sympathizing with Sehun probably because he knew the kind of hardship Sehun would face during his stay in Enchancia.  Thrilled, because the man he was about to marry might see him as something more than just a prisoner of war, perhaps he wouldn't treat Sehun as horrible as he had thought the man would. As he waited for the wedding to proceed, Sehun watched the room with a domed stained glass ceiling and more sparkly things strewn about than his mind could handle. Everything shimmered and glimmered and twinkled and he couldn’t focus on a damn thing because of it. Suddenly regretting his inquisitiveness. In front of him, standing on a raised platform, was the king in heavy gold robes. There was a very large pendant hanging from his neck that easily reflected the light pouring in from above. Sehun was distracted by that, too. Since the wedding was supposed to start soon, Sehun assumed the odd room devoid of any useful furniture had something to do with the customs. Sehun hadn’t paid that much attention to Enchancia culture, to be fair. Learn to fight against their magic and win the war. That had been the basic plan. And now he was about to become one of them.  His fingers twitched were his tiny Adamas wand (a device used to drawing and activating the runes) trying hard to keep it concealed from the Enchancians. The king had ordered their weapons taken and he hoped, his little wand wouldn't be taken as well, it would be the only weapon he would have against the magic wielders. If it's taken, Sehun would be left defenceless. Nothing to protect him but his dragon– but it had not even hatched yet– even if it did, Sehun wouldn't allow anyone to see it, he would have to keep it safe and away from any Enchancians. Because he knew it would be very big mistake to let them get their hands on a dragon. They could use it to wipe his people– nephilim once and for all, no one should know about the dragon egg hidden in his trunk. But the real question was; how was he going to hide a dragon from anyone when it hatched– Sehun was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the king spoke."Come forward prince of Ilda"   **** Wedding ceremonies in Enchancia were usually simple, with more emphasis on the feasting and celebrations that came after. A goblet and golden knife was brought in, and the prince ascended the dais to stand in front of Heechul. Kai remained in his seat, desperately wishing his carrier father were here to help him think of a way out, until everything was ready and there was no other choice but to stand up and join his betrothed on the dais with as much dignity as he could muster.  "Congratulations, little brother," Junmyeon sneered as he walked past, and with the flick of his fingers, Kai made his brother's goblet of wine flow over and spill on his foppish new brocade coat out of spite. Kai took his place at his father's right hand as a stool was provided for him to stand on to be at least a few more inches taller. This was not how Kai had wanted things to be, this was not how he imagined things to be. Nothing about this was how he had imagined marrying someone would be like - as the second prince, he had hoped that he would be able to marry someone of his own choosing–like his late beloved–or at least someone who didn't look like he was awaiting his turn at the gallows. Heechul said a few empty words about how happy he was that their two kingdoms would no longer be at odds with each other, then handed Kai the knife.  Kai gritted his teeth, rolled up his left sleeve and ran the blade across the inside of his arm, as he had seen it done before, and let some of the blood welling up from the cut drip into the goblet– the main essence of sharing blood was to make the other able to carry the one's child, and that was something that would never happen between him and the Ilda prince– then handed the knife back to his father and healed the cut in a flash of sudden blue magic that made prince Sehun flinch. The prince accepted the knife and mimicked Kai's motions, letting his blood mingle with Kai's in the goblet, then relinquished the blade and gripped his own arm tightly in an effort to stem the bleeding.  "Both of you shall now drink from the cup - and henceforth you shall be of the same blood," the King announced, handing the goblet to Kai first.  Kai wrinkled his nose and took the tiniest sip possible, trying not to gag. Then it was the prince's turn, and he made a similar grimace of revulsion as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand, his stoic mask failing him for once. The crowd cheered and clapped, and even as his heart sank that he had now gained a husband that he hadn't bargained for, Kai had to admit that he was relieved that the brief ceremony was over.  But his relief was short-lived; Heechul raised a hand for silence. "This is after all, a union between two different kingdoms - and so we should respect the customs of Ilda as well as our own," Heechul announced. "In the custom of your people, there is a special rune that the happy couple mark each other with, is there not?" He asked the prince pleasantly.  From the reactions from the prince's entourage, Kai guessed that they had not expected Heechul to know this. There was anger on their faces, and sorrow for their prince; for whatever reason, this rune was sacred to their people, now twisted by Heechul as another way to humiliate the prince. Kai pointedly refused to look at his father, so that he wouldn't see how the thought of being subjected to some strange foreign tradition and having to burn a mark into his skin affected him.  "We do," the prince agreed, already steeling himself for the blow.  "Then we must honour your traditions as well!" Heechul declared with false heartiness. "I know there is a wand of adamas on your person. It is not our way to mark our skin in any way, but it is yours. So teach Kai the mark that must be drawn for you, so that this union is recognised in the eyes of your people." Kai thought he understood then - perhaps the party from Ilda had been hoping that without the marking ceremony, the marriage would not be binding by their own customs. But Heechul had not led Enchancia to victory by luck, and much as Kai hated to admit it, his father was a master strategist. There was a slight tremor in the prince's hand when he extracted the wand from his belt, a hidden weapon he must have hoped to smuggle into the court for some nefarious purpose. It glowed pale blue when he held it more firmly, and with an unsteady hand he drew a symbol in the air, where it remained suspended. Without meeting Kai's eyes, he offered Kai his left arm, palm up, and the wand.  Kai took the wand gingerly; it was warm, and turned red at his touch, drawing sharp gasps of surprise from the prince's entourage. Kai's fingertips grazed the back of the prince's hand to steady it - the first actual physical contact between the two of them, Kai observed sadly - and he brought the glowing red wand down onto the tender skin of the prince's wrist. It was exactly as horrific as Kai had expected. The stench of burning hair and skin filled his nose, and the prince clenched his hand into a tight fist, fingernails biting into his palm as Kai tried to replicate the symbol as quickly and accurately as he could. When it was over, they took a few steps away from each other on instinct that made Kai almost fall off the stool, prince Sehun keeping his head low to hide his face. Heechul held out a hand to Kai for the wand, and Kai was only too glad to have it taken out of his hands. The prince looked up, eyes red but dry, just in time to see the King snapping the wand in two. The sharp crack of it seemed to echo throughout the grand hall, and one of the prince's guards couldn't hold in a cry of shock. But the only sign the prince gave that the breaking of his Adamas wand had hurt him at all was how carefully expressionless his face remained. "And now it is done," Heechul said in satisfaction, then raising his voice so all gathered could hear him, said, "Please, join me in a toast - for Prince Kai and his new consort!" After the toast, Heechul glanced at the four guards that had chosen to stay with their prince and said. "I need your wands as well, I am aware ever royal, noble and warriors have one. You might have dressed as common guards but I know you're warriors, the Prince's knights. "  "You cannot take that away from them." Princess Joo-hyun spoke with a look that could send the strongest man to his knees. "Now now, I am only trying to look out for my people, I cannot have them roaming around with those things that could hurt warlocks, now can I?" Heechul said, eyes fixed on the princess with one eyebrow raised in a simple challenge. "If they're so kin to keeping them, then I am afraid I cannot have them in my kingdom."  The guards– knights shared a look between themselves, then they all turned to look at their prince.  Prince Sehun held up a hand and the knights wordlessly pulled out their wands and passed it over to him. He then turned around to where his sworn brother stood and gave him the wands. "Take these to where they belong."  Heechul looked dissatisfied, angry even but he kept it together with a fake smile."Now which one of you four will stay with the prince as his personal guard?" "I will" the dark haired man said, head held high, and there was a look in his eyes that Kai recognized– the way he looked at the prince was different from the way the others looked at prince Sehun. A subtle twitch from prince Sehun had the knight adding. "If your majesty allows it." That seemed to please the king, he waved a hand dismissively but Kai could tell it had appeased his pride. "Of course". Heechul then turned to the other three. "The rest of you will be escorted to Ironhide, if you wish to remain in my Kingdom then you would have to be useful in one way or the other-" the princess opened obviously to protest but Heechul waved another dismissive hand and this time he meant it. "One guard is enough for the prince. They'd do a better job in Ironhide, besides it's just for a while and they will be back as soon as the job is done." The prince made a slight gesture with his hand and the three knights nodded and once again Kai was amazed by how easily they follow him without protest. From there, it was mostly goodbyes with the Ildians and their prince, while the people of Enchancia continued the feast. ****   In what felt like the space of a breath, it was over. They were wed. And he watched his sister, Yifan and the others go with a heavy heart and a crushed soul. After that no one asked much of him, other than that he nodded, and smiled, and shook hands with an endless procession of people whose names he was certain he couldn't remember in the future. He spent some time obsessing over his handshake, afraid at first that his grip was crushingly, awkwardly tight, and then that he had overcompensated and started flopping his hand around like a dead fish. For some reason, Sehun felt like he’d spent the day being rattled around in a carriage on a bad road. His muscle control at present didn't bode well for the night ahead. He smiled at another noble and hoped it didn't look like a grimace, and then saw to his surprise that they'd reached the end of the receiving line. The very last to congratulate them was Kai's uncle, Minseok. "Make sure you thoroughly tonight," he said, which seemed inappropriate. Then he was gone, and everyone was back to the food and entertainment going on, and there was nothing more for Sehun to do but sit– all by himself because his husband had decided to leave the party early– and  smiled at jokes he barely heard, until the king ordered for him to be escorted to Kai's Chambers. “This way, your highness,” the king's steward, whose name Sehun didn't remember gestured for him to follow with eleven more guards behind the man. Clasping his hands demurely behind his back, Sehun stepped between the other courtiers and tried not to look less nervous when he heard some of them making lewd jokes about his wedding night with the prince. He could see Jungkook clenching his fist and knew his knight had heard them. The inner hall, however, was enoug