A Prince's Love

Priest Yao

Arthur sat in an empty field picking at grass blades. The trees swayed in the light breeze while sparrows and finches occasionally sang their songs. The quiet sound of someone walking up to him drew his attention away from the grass. He looked up to see Francis standing in front of him while holding the twins' hands. The Frenchman smiled happily at Arthur. He kneeled down and tangled his fingers in Arthur's hair musing it softly. The prince smiled, but suddenly felt tired. He looked at the three with half-lidded eyes and saw they were laying down with him. The four laid together and fell asleep in the calm forest without a care.

When Arthur awoke, the grass was brown and dead. The lively trees were reduced to nothing but blackened stumps littering the Earth. The sparrows and finches were replaced by ruthless ravens and crows screeching at each other. Their talons grabbed whatever piece of food they could scrape up, and their spear-like beaks stabbed whoever tried to take it. Arthur nervously gulped and looked down to see he was alone.
"F-Francis? Alfred? Matthew?" He timidly stood and heard incoherent chanting in the distance. A small part of him told him not to go, but curiosity silenced that part. His body was stiff as he hesitantly put on foot in front of the other.
"Th-they must be over there." He walked towards the chanting and could make out a few faint words.
"Kill! Witch! Suffer!" Arthur hadn't realized he began sprinting to the crowd of people until he was only a few feet from them. Although there was a sea of unknown people in front of him, Arthur could see who they were targeting.
"Kill the witch! Burn him! Make the evil suffer!" Arthur's eyes widened when he saw Francis tied to a stake. The broken bits of wood beneath him were being engulfed by flames. They rose higher and higher destroying anything in their way. Francis looked up to Arthur with pain in his eyes and began crying. He screamed as tears fell into the flames inches from his feet evaporated. He called out to Arthur sobbing uncontrollably.
"Help me! Please!" He struggled against the ropes that bound him to the stake, but it was no use. The flames crawled up the pile of wood barely grazing Francis' shoes. Arthur tried to push through the crowd, but each person he passed was replaced by five more. It was an endless wave of people blocking him from saving Francis. When he finally broke through the group, Francis' legs were on fire. He wailed and begged as the fire scorched his skin.
"Arthur!" He shouted one last time before the fire consumed him completely. The enormous bonfire glowed throughout the pitch black night brighter than any sun.
"No!" Arthur reached out for him but was dragged back into the hoard of people and thrown aside onto the dirt. Tears fell as he listened to the fire cackle as it killed his lover. The odor of burning flesh made Arthur retch violently. Blood dripped from his lip as he nearly choked on the liquid.
"You shouldn't have fallen asleep." One voice whispered.
"It's your fault he died." Another said.
"You did this." Arthur screamed and began thrashing around hoping to push away whomever was speaking.
"Shut up! Shut up!" He yelled as his hands covered his ears to block out their voices. His heels dug into the dirt kicking up the ground in a desperate attempt to crawl away.
"D-Dad?" Arthur's eyes shot open and slowly glanced over to his left. Alfred and Matthew were holding hands with knives to their throats. He looked up to see his father and Princess Agatha holding them.
"No..." He whimpered while crawling to the four. He reached his arm out trying to take the twins away and protect them. Arthur had a waterfall of tears going down his face as he made his way over.
"Don't hurt them, please. They don't deserve it." King James and Agatha exchanged looks before dragging the knives across the children's necks.
"No! No, no, no, no, no! Alfred! Matthew!" Arthur wailed and hollered helplessly into the realm of his nightmare. His body trembled as everything around him bled into darkness and loneliness.

"Arthur!" The prince's eyes shot open to see he had been rapidly flailing in his sleep. His movements slowly stop, and he was reduced to nothing but shaking and whimpering.
"My boy, are you alright?" King James inquired. Arthur looked over to him and began screaming again. Flashbacks of his dream played in his head worsening his current state.
"Get away! I hate you! Go!" Arthur grabbed whatever he could to throw at his father who tried to duck. He nailed a few hits to his shoulders and legs in his attempts.
"What is the meaning of this?!" More tears fell from Arthur's eyes as his arms limply laid at his side. A small pillow slipped from his fingers landing on top of the pile of everything he threw.
"Ayiah. Can't you see he is traumatized? Whatever spirit possessed his dream last night really wanted him to suffer." The king turned to the door to see the priest had arrived. A relieved sigh escaped making Arthur glance at the man. Just what I need. Arthur thought. He knew what was to come from the older man. The traditional near drowning in holy water and repeated speeches of him being told he wasn't in love sounded right. After all, what better way to "help" someone than with near death experiences?
"Priest Yao! I'm so glad you came on such a short notice." Yao huffed and fixed the long sleeves of his robes. He wore red clothes with a gold trim with long, black hair tied into a ponytail.
"Please, you may call me Yao. No need to be so formal." He stepped aside revealing two teenagers. One was a boy, and the other was a girl. Arthur guessed they weren't far from his age, but not too young to be considered children.
"These two are my assistants and children. She is Lin Yi, and he is Leon." The two bowed in respect for the king. King James bowed as well and looked up to Yao with hopeful eyes.
"You can cure him, correct?" The three nodded with determined faces. Lin Yi held up a bag of supplies similar to a doctor's.
"We will do everything in our power to help your son." Leon said as he stood straight again. He looked over to Arthur and placed the back of his hand on the prince's head and found it to be burning.
"Yao shuo shi, he is very feverish." Yao went to Arthur's side and examined his face. He then looked around the room and raised a thin brow.
"What do you use to show faith to your God?" King James went over to Arthur's bookshelf and pulled out the Bible. He held the cover of the black book up to show its title.
"We read and recite lines from our book. Also, we hang a cross somewhere in the room." He pointed to the one over Arthur's bed. King James handed the book to Yao allowing him to skim a few pages.
"This is not enough. What he has here is plenty to protect against minor demons, but what he had last night must have been too strong." He gave the king the book back and looked over to Lin Yi.
"Lin Yi, please prepare a cup of green tea." She nodded and hurried out of the room to the kitchen. Leon opened their supply bag to get herbs and a few gemstones. Yao looked over to King James and said,
"This will take a while, and he will need no distractions during the cleansing. I will inform you of any changes we notice." The king nodded and looked down at Arthur. The prince somewhat expected a few words of encouragement. Maybe a "you'll be fine". Possibly even a hug, but he received nothing. The king left without a single word hurting Arthur even more. He winced as the door was slammed shut and tuned out the heavy footsteps. Yao took the chair from the desk and sat down facing Arthur.
"Tell me about your dreams. The more I know the easier it will be to cure you." Arthur glowered and turned away from Yao to face the wall. It sickened him to hear his feeling be referred to as a plague.
"I don't need to be cured. I have no disease." Yao huffed and gently took Arthur's shoulder to turn him over. He looked down at the pouting younger man and pursed his lips.
"If you are not sick, what does your father want me to do?" Arthur averted his gaze and chose to stare at the burning sage. It took a few minutes, but he eventually worked up the courage to speak.
"I have fallen in love with someone, but my father thinks it's wrong. He believes forcing me to marry someone I don't even remotely like is a better option. The person I love..." Arthur bit his tongue to hold back a small whine. He shut his eyes to rid himself of any tears. He exhaled softly to calm himself like Francis had said to do.
"That person is locked away and will be burned at the stake including their children." Yao was going to speak when Lin Yi entered with a tray of tea sitting on top of a wheeled cart. She poured the steaming tea into a cup watching the steam rise from it.
"Here is the tea." Yao thanked her and picked up the small cup. He held it for Arthur as he sat up so it wouldn't spill.
"Drink. It will calm you." Arthur carefully moved the cup closer not wanting the hot liquid to spill on him. He sipped the tea and let out a soft sigh. He placed the cup in his lap staring at the weak reflection in the tea.
"Who is this person your father disapproves of?" Arthur avoided the question by taking another long sip of his green tea. Yao crossed his arms and legs waiting for the answer.
"A... a man. His name is Francis." Arthur nearly whispered not wanting the other two in the room to hear him. Yao paused to brood on what Arthur said. His thin brows furrowed as he contemplated for a few moments.
"Leon, Lin Yi, could you please step out for a moment?" The two looked confused, but they listened to Yao and left the room. Yao went into the supply bag and pulled out a bottle. Inside of it was a type of oil and other plants floating around.
"The man you speak of, are you sure you have not confused this love for lust?" Arthur let out a long groan and laid back down. He put an arm over his eyes wanting to block out everything.
"That's what I've been thinking about for awhile. He is very handsome, but I don't feel a lusting urge." Yao hummed and picked up his own cup of tea. He sipped the lukewarm drink slowly then set the cup back on the saucer.
"I believe this is what real love is. Nearly no one accepts it, but Yue Lao has decided that you two are fated." Arthur weakly smiled glad to have someone who wasn't disgusted by him. He raise a thick brow at the foreign name not recognizing it.
"Who is Yue Lao?" He was only familiar with Christian beliefs and a bit of Greek mythology.
"Yue Lao is the God of marriage and love. He brings those who are destined together by tying their feet to one another with red silk." Arthur chuckled and smiled at Yao. Though it sounded a bit silly, Arthur found the belief to make some sort of sense.
"That's quite a fun way to meet your lover. Have you found yours?" Yao eagerly nodded feeling his heart flutter just by thinking of his wife.
"She is a beautiful and wise woman. She has given me three children, and another is on their way. Her name is Chun-Yan." Arthur's eyes lit like Christmas lights. His sudden jolt of excitement nearly spilled the tea in his lap.
"Really? That's wonderful! When are they due?" Yao counted on his fingers to be sure he had the dates correct. Having so many children left him with a bit of a memory issue.
"In three months. I left my eldest daughter with her to help around the house while I am away." Arthur smiled and placed the empty tea cup on the tray. He felt much more at ease seeing Yao more as a friend than a priest.
"Your family sounds wonderful. You must be a very lucky priest." Yao chuckled and poured himself another cup of tea.
"Do not see me as a priest. I practice more in healing than religious redemptions. Thank you though. I can already see a happy family life with you." Arthur couldn't help but giggle a little. He got cozy in his bed and laid back against the headboard.
"I think I'm ready to talk about my dream." Yao curtly nodded and sat back to listen.
"Go on then."