Pressure - A Wish Sequel

His Offer

"Magnifico? Why aren't you in the dungeons? How—"

"That's 'Your Majesty' to you, Asha. I'm still the king..." Magnifico interrupted her

"You're not— wait? Where's Amaya?"

"Amaya, is it? Well, you've certainly gotten overly familiar with my wife." Magnifico glanced at the Queen in the mirror, arching a brow at her, a soft smirk on his lips. Despite how annoyed he was at the way Amaya had tricked him, he had to admire her. After all, she was his clever, sneaky little Queen who had worked behind everyone's backs, including his own, to free him from his hell.

Before he could say more, Asha snatched the glass from his hold.

"Your majesty! What is going on?" The teen asked Amaya, but clearly the numerous questions were causing her brain to malfunction as she didn't even give the Queen time to respond before she was once again glaring at Magnifico.

"What did you do to her?"

"What did I do??" The King practically roared in Asha's face, her disrespect really beginning to irk him. He snatched the glass back from her, glaring down at her.
"I DIDN'T DO A THING! DO YOU THINK I WANT—" he paused.

Asha was staring at him, terrified, eyes wide, her hand pressed lightly against her chest as she panted heavily, clearly filled with fear. Magnifico scoffed. Asha had been the reason for his downfall, she had poked and prodded the bear until the bear had taken the only path he had left, into corruption and control.

But that wasn't who he was. He wasn't a villain, and he wouldn't give her ammunition to further call him one. He was a good man. He knew he was. Amaya knew he was, that was why she'd risked everything to free him. He'd only ever wanted the best for everyone, and even now with his hatred of his citizens, of what they had done to him, he didn't want to hurt them.

He shook his head. If he could get Asha on side, perhaps she might come in useful to him. He took a deep breath.

"Do you think I want the love of my life stuck in a hell she can't escape from?" He asked, more calmly this time. "No... no. The Queen is responsible for this. She tricked me and trapped herself in my place because Rosas—" he stopped speaking, turning instantly to look at Asha, suddenly focused.

"What is it?"
"Huh?" Asha looked at him, confused, blinking. Her mind was all over the place as she tried to understand what the King was telling her.
"You said there was an emergency. What is it? What's the emergency?"

"Oh, I.. there are ships, just beyond the horizon... One of our fishing boats was attacked, I managed to channel enough magic to bring the men to safety but.."

"But the ships are still coming?" Magnifico could barely keep the smirk off his face, but he managed. The tone of his voice, however, was practically taunting Asha. "But.. Rosas is in danger, and there's no army, no navy, no soldiers to save the people? Now a Kingdom famed for its peace is about to be at war. Suffering destruction because people forgot how precious the protection I offered could be."

Magnifico shook his head. It spoke volumes that it had simply taken one man and his power to provide enough of a deterrent to prevent other Kingdoms from attacking. His people had forgotten, or they'd never known in the first place, how cruel the world outside Rosas was. People like Asha, those born under Magnifico's protection, had no idea about how the real world crushed hopes and dreams.

"You're all lucky that I love my wife, and that my wife loves you. If Amaya hadn't sacrificed her own freedom for Rosas, I'd be leaving you all to your doom." He looked into the mirror, brushing a finger against the glass as he looked at Amaya, declarations of love passing between them wordlessly before he eventually looked back to Asha.