AN: Kings does not belong to me!! This takes place right after 'The Sabbath Queen' and is AU from there on out. I thought up the idea a while ago but have been kind of remiss in typing it up...it'll go epic places, though! Hold tight. :)
Title/Lyrics from 'All I Need' by Matt Kearney

Water Rising

Here it comes it's all blowing in tonight
I woke up this morning to a blood red sky
They're burning on the bridge turning off the lights
We're on the run I can see it in your eyes
If nothing is safe then I don't understand
You call me your boy but I'm trying to be the man
One more day and it's all slipping with the sand
You touch my lips and grab the back of my hand
The back of my hand

Guess we both know we're in over our heads
We got nowhere to go and no home that's left
The water is rising on a river turning red
It all might be okay or we might be dead
If everything we've got is slipping away
I meant what I said when I said until my dying day
I'm holding on to you, holding on to me
Maybe it's all gone black but you're all I see
You're all I see

The walls are shaking, I hear them sound the alarm
Glass is breaking so don't let go of my arm
Grab your bags and a picture of where we met
All that we'll leave behind and all that's left
If everything we've got is blowing away
We've got a rock and a rock till our dying day
I'm holding on to you, holding on to me
Maybe it's all we got but it's all I need
You're all I need

And if all we've got, is what no one can break,
I know I love you, if that's all we can take,
the tears are coming down, they're mixing with the rain,
I know I love you, if that's all we can take.
A pool is running for miles on the concrete ground
We're eight feet deep and the rain is still coming down
The TV's playing it all out of town
We're grabbing at the fray for something that won't drown

--

Chapter One

It was painful, really. Michelle stood in between her mother and her brother and tried desperately not to look in David's direction. He was standing a little off to the side in his military uniform with his hands clasped behind his back, and she wanted to grin at the secret knowledge that they were together now. Really together, in a way she never thought she would be with anyone. And, in all honesty, she hadn't thought she'd ever find someone who would even make her consider breaking her vow.

But she wasn't really breaking it, was she? How does God not want love? Just thinking about it made her shiver with all the ramifications of those words. It wasn't just that she wanted to be with David enough to make her vow fit her wishes, but he had spoken the truth. God is Love, she thought. How can God not want love?'

Love. David loved her. She shifted impatiently on her feet as her father kept speaking, his voice booming out through the large conference room. All she had to do was stand here and look respectable, and she was finding that much more difficult than usual. Mostly because she had to concentrate very hard so her eyes didn't inadvertently drift towards David.

Once she looked over and caught him glancing at her but she didn't dare smile.

After the press conference, she innocently asked him if he would walk with her. He agreed.

Looping her arm through his, they strolled through the halls. When the noise of the conference had faded somewhat, David stopped and turned towards her, a smile creeping across his face.

"No, not here," she said quietly. "The walls have eyes." Disappointment crossed his face but he nodded. As they kept walking, she slid her hand so that her fingers were tangled with his and squeezed. She felt him smile.

"Can I see you tonight?" he asked a little while later.

"I'm not sure," she replied slowly.

"I haven't seen you in three days," was his slightly disappointed response. She laughed and looked up at him playfully.

"You see me almost every day."

"Not really. I don't get to see you." His voice dipped and she almost blushed at the implication. Or, she would have blushed if she weren’t too busy being distracted by the butterflies that had just erupted in her stomach. She bit her lip.

"Tomorrow night. Tonight we're having friends of the family over for a big dinner, but tomorrow...Tomorrow I can slip out unnoticed." She couldn't help but grin in response to the happiness that crossed his face. For a moment he leaned in, like he was about to kiss her, but then he stopped. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Tomorrow," he said.

"Tomorrow," she repeated. As he walked away, she realized she was glad he hadn't leaned in all the way to kiss her, because she wasn't sure she would have had the strength to pull away.

--

Michelle had a moment, just after she knocked on his door, to be nervous. She had left her guard and slipped through the streets, hopping in a cab and almost running up the stairs at David's. Breathing a little hard - from running up the stairs in addition to intense anticipation - she had smoothed her hair once before realizing she didn't care, and then had knocked on the door.

Incredibly quickly, David opened the door. He inhaled sharply at the sight of her and in an instant they were reaching for each other.

She didn’t think she would ever tire of the way it felt to kiss David. It was half painful, desperate, as if the world were about to end at any moment. It was also half joyful, because they were finding happiness in each other than only love could bring.

Somewhat forcefully, he tore her coat back from her shoulders. She let him, trying to find his lips as he did so and attempting to kick the door shut with her foot. Her aim was off, however, and she stumbled, letting out a little shriek and nearly toppling them both over. He laughed against her mouth and Michelle’s heart soared. As they shed their clothes on the floor, she thought to herself, how can God not want this? This. This perfect union between two people. How did I think God would disapprove of this? How could he?

She arched her back as he lay on top of her, eager to feel all of her bare skin against all of his, her hair spreading like a dark river across his pale sheets. His kissed his way down her neck and she felt her stomach quiver in breathless anticipation. Her fingers tangled with his hair until he raised his head to look down at her.

The look in his eyes made gooseflesh ripple over her skin. This is love, she thought as she placed her hand gently on the side of his face. How can God not want this? He lowered his head until his lips just barely touched and they breathed the same air for a moment. Then she raised her chin just a centimeter and pressed her lips to his, opening at the gentle prompting of his tongue. It was a strange feeling to let herself have something she wanted.

“Michelle,” he breathed, his slick skin sliding across hers as they moved together. “God, Michelle.” One of her hands gripped the pillow under her head as the other clenched in his hair, and she opened her mouth in a silent exclamation. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how much this meant to her, but her mind was white – pure, unadulterated pleasure and pain and joy all wrapped into one moment.

“David,” she managed, before she fell.

Later, Michelle found herself staring up at the ceiling, an arm bent back underneath her head, absentmindedly tracing patterns on David’s warm skin. He was awake, but just barely. They had been lying in silence for a good twenty minutes, just pressed against each other and thinking.

“I’m assuming you can’t stay the night,” he said quietly. She didn’t answer, and he propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her with quiet sadness in his eyes. After a beat, she shook her head just the tiniest bit.

“No, I can’t. I’ve been missed already.”

He frowned. “Then why hasn’t the royal guard burst through my door and aimed their guns at my head?”

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She raised a hand to cup his cheek and he leaned into it. “Because they are thoroughly convinced that you are just a friend. And because I have an agreement with my bodyguard.”

“What kind of agreement?” he asked in mock suspicion. The grin she’d been holding back spread across her face.

“If I go somewhere safe, he agrees to be somewhere within a reasonable distance but he doesn’t tell the king. Or the queen. Or Jack, for that matter.” Her thumb ran back and forth across his cheekbone. “So I get time to myself, if I want it.”

“Or time with me,” he amended softly.

“Or time with you,” she agreed. He placed and arm over her waist and leaned down to kiss her. She breathed him in eagerly, still so thrilled at every touch of his that she could sing. When her breathing began to get ragged in and he was rolling on top of her, she somehow managed to pull back. “I have to go, David.”

His sigh blew across her face. “I know. I know. I’m sorry.” He brushed the tip of his nose against hers. “It’s so hard to let you go. I just want to spend the night with you in my arms.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Oh, love. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she whispered.

“Later today,” he corrected in amusement.

“Even better,” she replied, a smile on her lips. Neither of them moved, however, and she ran her hand over his forehead and back across his hair. “David?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

It was the first time she had said it aloud, though she had been thinking it for some time now. For a long time now, actually. Maybe since she’d read the paper in the morning and the front page story had been of a boy hero standing up to the Goliath. Maybe since she had caught him playing piano. Maybe since he had traced her cheekbone on the day of the treaty signing. Still, she had never said those words to anyone outside of her family – and to her family she said them rarely – and they tasted different on her tongue.

The air around them got heavy, and Michelle was suddenly aware that something had shifted. He ran a hand across her temple and she knew, somehow, that he was it for her. The thought was more than a little unsettling, as if…he were the end of something for her, as well as the beginning. Her heart gave one strong thump and a sense of foreboding made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“Michelle,” he breathed, and the feeling disappeared. His lips crashed onto hers, and she welcomed him. They scrambled in the sheets, trying to get as close to each other as possible. She reveled in the feel of his strong, solid form, the soft golden hairs on his chest, the curls at the base of his neck, the fullness of his lips.

She had to break away. “David. I – God.” His hands were on her, skimming across her ribs and cupping her breasts. “David.” It was meant to be a sign for him to stop, but the words had somehow morphed into a plea for him to continue. He tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth and she dug her nails into his back. “David.”

It was somewhere past the middle of the night when she finally slipped out of his bed and into her clothing, feeling his eyes burning into her bare back the entire time. It made her smile.

“Good night,” she said, buttoning the last bit of her jacket and turning to him.

“Good morning,” he replied, sitting up in bed with the sheets pooled around his waist. She was suddenly struck with the memory of those photos he took on the night the lights died, when time had stopped for them. Heat pooled in her chest.

Instead of saying goodbye again, she just stepped over to the bed for one last, lingering kiss, tipping his chin up with her small hand. “I’ll dream of you tonight.” Then she turned and walked out of the room into the dark, cool hallway.

--

By the time she had met up with her guard again and had slipped back into the palace, it was nearly two in the morning. Michelle rubbed her temple absently, wondering if she had time to sleep in the next morning. No, she had a meeting at 8:30. Ah well.

“You’re home late.”

The voice nearly made her jump out of her skin. Jack sat at the kitchen table, a glass of amber liquid in one hand and a book in the other. To calm her pounding heart, she tucked her hands in her pockets and walked over to him.

“Reading? I’d forgotten you knew how.”

He smiled knowingly. “Charming. So much wit in such a tiny package.”

She ignored his response to her attempted quip and crossed her arms. “What are you doing up so late? Usually when I see you at this time of day you’re just heading out to a club.” Her tone was half disdainful, half teasing. He was her brother, after all.

Jack shrugged and dropped the book on the table, taking a long gulp from his crystal glass. Michelle frowned. “You’re going to hurt the binding if you put the book down like that.” He gazed at her steadily and made no move to fix it.

Michelle sighed and turned to go. “Good night, Jack.”

“How is David?”

She turned slowly. “Well, I assume.”

Again, Jack gave her a knowing look. “Come now, little sister. Don’t pretend like you didn’t just leave his bed.”

She met his gaze firmly. “It’s really none of your business.”

“I don’t know,” Jack replied slowly. “He is your first, right? Don’t I have to play the big brother and grill him?”

“You’ve never taken any interest before, so why start being a big brother now?” she shot back.

“There haven’t been any before him,” he said, anger creeping into his voice. He said something else under his breath but Michelle missed it. Then he calmed again. “I wonder what our dear old father would have to say about you and the boy hero.”

At that, Michelle snapped. “You can’t tell him,” she said sharply. When her brother just raised his eyebrows, she took a step closer and lay a hand on his shoulder. “Jack, please. Please.”

He was silent for a moment and she could see a muscle clench in his jaw. But then he nodded tersely and she let loose the breath she had been holding. “Thank you.” On a whim, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. “Good night, Jack.”

When he didn’t respond, she turned and walked upstairs to her room.

--

That night, she didn’t dream of David.

She was wandering through the darkened hallways of the palace. It was similar to the night the lights had gone out, but every room was empty and there were no candles to give off a warm glow. The stone floor was cold beneath her bare feet.

She was somehow at the door leading into the large banquet hall, pushing them open without feeling her muscles strain, and looking inside.

She was staring at the floor, trying to place its color in the darkness…red. It was red. Covered in blood. Revulsion pooled in her throat but somehow she was stepping into the room, her bare feet surrounded by warm blood.

She was looking up, then, as something dark and flickering lunged past her, deeper into the room. There was a figure on a platform in the center of the hall, illuminated by some pale, ghostly light that didn’t have an origin. It was a woman, a tall, willowy woman with striking features and nondescript coloring. Her dark eyes followed Michelle as she came closer and closer to the platform.

She was staring at the woman, seeing death in her eyes, and barely noticed what she was now standing in front of. It was a throne, made of wood and gold. No one sat in it, but against one of the arms rested a golden scepter, tarnished and battered. The woman slowly raised a hand and touched the back of the chair.

She was trying desperately to run as blood poured forth from the throne. It pooled around Michelle’s ankles but she couldn’t seem to move her feet. In sheer panic, she looked from the blood up at the woman.

She was going cold, so cold, and she smelled death in the room. Then the woman opened her mouth, opened it larger than any human being should be able to, and let loose a hellish, shrieking noise.

Michelle awoke with a strangled yell, tangled in her sheets.