Chapter 33: The Frostthrone II

When the sun began setting, Alexander returned to his kingdom, but he didn't return to his throne.

The Monastery of Magic is the young king's destination. No one questioned him about the blood covering his hands when he showed up in the middle of the lobby, and no one questioned him about the open seat at the Abbot's office. The last time someone stepped up to claim the title of Abbot, Xan made gutted the moron as an example of why no one should step up. After all, HE put years worth of effort into shaping the Monastery into its golden age, so only HE deserves the title of Abbot.

His heavy footsteps echoed along the once glittering stairways of crystal, and the king opened the door into the Abbot's office. Everything in there is exactly how HE left it, nothing is out of place. Paperwork neatly stacked on his desk, illuminated by the moonlight coming from the stain glass windows on each side of the desk. The office looked like it's waiting for HIM to come back the next day to continue his duties as if nothing happened. Next to the paperwork laid a small picture framed with gold.

The king clenched his jaw when he saw his own youthful face smiling back at him. The young king, who was only a teenage prince in the picture, was sandwiched between two people, HIM to the right and the painter herself to the left. How can HE keep a picture painted by a person who lied to both of them and hurt them was beyond the king, but HE always had his reasons. After all, the painter's untimely death was the beginning of the end, and the king couldn't help but blame her and the demon who tempted her for the tragedies that followed.

Xan carefully made his way across the dimly lit room to the bookshelf that's behind the desk. With a press on the second top shelf, the wall slowly sank into the floor, revealing a staircase into the dark.

The king didn't need a torch or a candle, he knew these staircases by heart. His feet took him down step by step until he could see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hundreds of glow in the dark pearls are embedded into the ceiling, and in the middle of the cave laid a small lake.

Alexander took in a deep breath before he started stripping off his armor. He was hesitant to take off his crown, but once his green eyes landed on the surface of the water reflecting his own jaded face back at him, the king lifted the steel off his head and dropped it alongside his armor.

Many memories flooded his mind, all of them fond. All of them are memories of HIM.

The young king gritted his teeth, and he jumped into the water. The last time he was here, he didn't check in the water, and he didn't come in via the staircase either.

His eyes took a while to adjust in the dark, and he kept going deeper and deeper. Diving in this lake isn't something new, Xan has lost count of how many times he's done it, but he never reached the bottom.

This time, he's no longer a boy. He has the power of light and shadow by his side, and he will reach the bottom, hoping to find HIM.

Be careful what you wish for. Xan should've paid attention to that quote, because when his fingers touched the bottom of the lake, he touched flesh.

His screams went unheard as water filled his lungs. It wouldn't kill him, but the person at the bottom of the lake will, even though it's not alive.

Xan hugged the body to himself as if his life depends on it, and he swam back to shore.

The body is perfectly preserved, from his hair to his fingers tips, and Xan ripped off all the man's clothes to see everything.

HE looks exactly the same as the day HE left Xan. His dark brown hair is the same length, his fingernails didn't grow. His skin is as pale as the moonlight, and the king wanted nothing more than to kiss every inch of HIM.

However, when Xan laid his head on the man's chest, he couldn't hear a heartbeat.

"No, no..." The king mumbled as he began shaking the man. "Xith, buddy, you're alive right?"

Tanned fingers sank into soft peachy skin, and tears ran down Xan's face. He doesn't know whether it's joy or sorrow, probably both as he hugged the unmoving body of his beloved to his chest.

"You're alive, right...?" The king choked on his own words. "Raxithak?"

He has the power to destroy nations, thousands of warriors can't bring him down, he can have anybody in bed with him if he ever said anything related to it. And yet he couldn't have the person who stole his heart. Again, Xan only realized what he had when he lost it.

"When I shared my dreams all those years ago, I convinced a deity to worship a mortal." He said to the corpse. "You were a god walking among men, and I was just some overambitious bastard child of a king."

He slowly put the corpse down on the stone floor, and he reached for his sword which was strapped to his discarded armor. "You raised me up from the ground, and I treated you like shit."

The king raised the sword to his heart. "If I could restart, I would make everything right. I'll worship you."

His vision became blurry as dark red blood dripped on the dead man's bare chest. The king fell on top of his beloved and closed his eyes. He doesn't care about his kingdom, he doesn't care about the crown. He doesn't care if the people need King Alexander.

All he wants is to listen to the heartbeat of a man he spent his childhood with, and he's willing to spend an eternity more with him.

Hell, Alexander will do anything to get the life he had back. There are a million things he would change, just to keep Raxithak by his side again.