"Xander, you have to learn the magic.  You must be well-versed in all forms
of it."
        "I understand.  It's just difficult."
        "Perhaps I should have the wizard come and teach you.  Your father would do
anything to have you understand the spells.  To be the best king possible, you
have to understand both politics and magic.  And, I can't teach you more.
It's time to call the wizard."
        Xander sighed, and then grinned to make his childhood friend feel better.
When it had come time for Xander to learn of magic, his father had chosen
Willow as his teacher.  While Xander had grown up learning everything he could
about the role he was destined to fill, Willow had gone to live with the
king's wizard, training as a witch, knowing that she was the one meant to be
the kingdom's wizard in the future.  The two trained, and learned more from
each other as their friendship got stronger.  Xander learned of his kingdom
with his advisors, and of magic with Willow.  He was growing into being the
crown prince.
        But, suddenly they had come to a wall; Xander could not learn anything.
Willow suspected that the block came from Xander's impending marriage.  The
girl he was promised to was sweet, and bubbly, and not much else.  Her name
was too ludicrous to say without a burst of laughter, and once she had shown
up in Willow's chamber asking for a glamour to last her until her maid re-dyed
her hair.  But, this Buffy was strong, a worthy warrior, and the marriage was
needed to protect the kingdom.  Kings married their protectors, it was the way
of things.
        But, Xander did not love Buffy.  He never would.  That was plain for all to
see.  But he understood duty; he was born into it.  Of course, that did not
dull the pain of being bonded to a woman he didn't love for the rest of his
life.  He dropped into a depression, finally realizing exactly what his future
entailed.  And so Willow, confused and grasping at straws, finally thought of
something that could bring her friend back.  He would train in the dark arts
with the wizard.  The one man he both feared and admired.  If nothing else
would pull Xander's thoughts away from the woman he was tied to, this surely
would.
***********************
        Xander sat in his library, staring at the books he'd accumulated over his
young life.  It had been a hard road, but with the help of Willow and the
subtle encouragement of many in the palace, he'd started to overcome his
feelings of inadequacy at mental sports, and found that he quite liked
immersing himself in the old texts.  Now he was searching desperately for
something that would make him seem more intelligent.  The wizard was coming to
work with him in a matter of minutes.  He'd thought he was ready, but under
quick self-observation, he knew that he was scared.  The wizard was easily the
most revered man in the kingdom, far above the king.  To train with him, to
bring an alliance between the world of the kingdom and the mystical realm,
would make Xander a stronger king when the time came, but for now he was
terrified.  So, he waited on the most powerful and enigmatic man he'd ever
met.  Hoping that he could please him and not seem the regal whelp he knew
himself to be.
        When he heard the knock at his door two minutes later, he knew he wasn't
ready.  He also knew he'd never be ready.  He would just have to take this as
it came, and try to remember years of training and lessons in showing his good
breeding.  He just had to relax and act like the Crown Prince that he was.
Easier said then done.
        He choked out a response to the knock.  "Come," he said, trying to use the
voice his father used when underlings dared knock on his door.  The door
opened slowly, as if it wasn't moved by a human hand, and behind it he saw the
wizard, cloaked in robes and surrounded by a blue light that had always scared
Xander and yet made him feel comfortable.  The wizard smiled slightly beneath
his hood, and Xander felt most of his nervousness melt away.  The older man
stepped into the room, making no sound as his feet hit the rug.
        "Willow's decided you need a different teacher.  My protegee is rarely wrong
when it comes to her work."  The wizard's voice held a tone of well-concealed
amusement beneath a rich accent, denoting a place of origin that Xander had no
knowledge of, but was obviously far away from the kingdom.
        "Well, yes.  We hit a block in the training, and she thought I could benefit
from a change of pace, I guess."  Xander tried to cover his slight
restlessness.  It was strange: he was nervous about the teaching, but as soon
as the teacher came into the room, all anxiety about him as a person faded.
        "Well then, my prince, let's see if our Willow was right."
***********************
        They worked for weeks, learning each others' personalities, finding out how
their relationship worked best.  The prince lost all fears in the presence of
his wizard, and the wizard, in kind, opened up to the young man more than he
had ever done with a student.  In between talks of crystals and recitations of
protection spells, the man spoke of his home, across the sea from the kingdom;
a place where there were violent changes of season, instead of the perpetual
light and warmth of his new home.  He talked of moors and rain, he mentioned
billowing fog so thick you could lose your soul in it.  He was so enraptured
in the memories the prince evoked that he promised to take him there one day,
away from being Prince Alexander and his Wizard, where they could be Xander
and Rupert, no titles or duties to tie them.  They spoke of the pressure of
always being something for someone, never being able to find themselves.  And
they never noticed that they found themselves in each other.
        Their friendship grew, the trust between them blossoming, until the day the
king came to Xander's library during one of their sessions.  He walked in
alone; for once no courtiers or advisors followed at his heels.  Blushing
slightly under the quiet intensity of the wizard's gaze, he turned to his son.
        "Alexander, it's time.  Lady Buffy's father has died.  She is our kingdom's
protector now, and you will marry her on the morrow.  Understood?"  The king
ventured a look at his young son who was nodding mutely, and losing his regal
bearing, the king flinched.  He remembered that look on the faces of his
friends who were tied to their protectors.  But, it was Alexander's duty.  He
would accept it and it would make him a stronger ruler.  He clapped his son on
the arm and left the room, not chancing a look at the wizard who had yet to
utter a word.
        The sound of the door closing softly behind his father sent Xander back to
earth.  He had been floating for a while, trying to reach the place where his
life concerns didn't exist, the place Rupert had taught him to escape to when
the pain got too intense.  But, he was back now and he realized that nothing
would save him from his fate.  Everything became clear then, as if the sudden
emotional pain removed a veil from his eyes.  He was to be tied to a woman he
felt nothing for; the one person he could love was sitting in the room with
him, not saying anything, waiting for a signal from his prince.
        "I have to marry her.  My people will die if she is not there to fight."  He
didn't look at Rupert, couldn't bare to risk a glance.
        "You're more mature than those same people think you are."  Rupert's voice
was calm, betraying nothing.  He told himself that they had been playing at
evading duty, and the reason that it hurt now was the distinct feeling of
someone coming in and stomping on their game.  There would be no trips to his
home, no long nights spent in his prince's arms.  He would be the feared and
revered wizard, and his love would be king, and this would end before it could
begin.  He had always known, and now the prince knew also.
        Xander was confused, and scared, and he felt the last hold he had on reality
leave him.  But he was strong in the face of it, and determined to be what he
was raised to be, what this man had taught him to be.
        "I still have lessons to learn.  I think perhaps Willow would be best suited
to the rest of my education."
        "As you wish, sir."
***********************
        The wedding was a lavish event, Buffy becoming a princess, with her sword in
one hand and her husband's hand in the other.  Rupert watched from the back of
the church, and let Willow perform the fertility spell that ended all the
realm's weddings.  He had taken to letting her perform more of his duties;
there seemed to be no reason for him to play the court games anymore.
        Within a year there was a baby with his mother's hair and his father's eyes.
The next year, a girl, as beautiful as the boy.  The kingdom rejoiced.  There
was an heir and a spare, and all seemed well.
        Assured that all was perfect in the land, and that Willow could handle his
duties, Rupert decided to leave the kingdom and return to his home across the
ocean.  There was nothing left to tie him to this place.  Willow protested,
and as they discussed it over a great deal of wine one night, she told him
something that only hardened his resolve.
        "He loves you, Rupert.  He knows his duty, but he also knows that he loves
you.  Don't leave him when he finally has a chance to prove it."
        The wizard packed furiously the next day, wanting to get out of the castle
before he could reconsider his choice.  The man he loved would be king one
day, and there was no room in a king's life for lovers who were twice his age.
The best thing for them both would be to leave.
        So intent was he on leaving as soon as he possibly could that he didn't
notice the prince until he was sitting on Rupert's bed.
        "Take me with you."  This said with downcast eyes, ones that had known pain
and rejection, and were waiting for yet another event to lock him into the
life he felt so desperately unsuited for.
        Rupert turned away, unsure of how to react.  His options were to turn the man
he loved away again, so that he could do his duty, or throw caution to the
wind and take hold of the only emotion that felt remotely right.  It was no
choice.  He gently grasped the prince's chin, lost himself in the eyes that so
timidly looked back at him, and whispered only one word.
        "Yes."
        And for years after, the kingdom told the tale of King Alexander the Wise,
who disappeared for months, only to come back a stronger man, and to rule with
his Wizard at his side.

End.