They woke in a tangle of limbs. Viktor's breathe ghosted over the top of Yuuri's head. Yuuri smiled against his lover's chest and gently strokes his hand through the light silvery hair there that he hadn't noticed before. His mate was still asleep.

Soulmate, Yuuri corrected himself mentally.

It was a word he was unfamiliar with. Never had he heard it before. Viktor was shifted against him, half stretching, half trying to rub up against Yuuri's body. He chuckled and sat up to look into the deep blue-green eyes. They regarded him with utter happiness and a sense of calm and Yuuri could relate to. He felt delirious with it. Never in his life had he ever felt this way. It was all Viktor's doing. He was so safe here in his mate's room. Safer than he'd ever been before.

"What are you thinking about?" Viktor popped up to brush his lips against the underside of Yuri's jaw.

"Soulmates," Yuuri responded. "What did you mean last night when you said that?"

The older man's mouth halted its journey towards Yuuri's mouth and he pulled back. The languid look of happiness was now tinted with concern. "A soulmate is your once in a lifetime, Yuuri. It's the person who is made for you. Just you."

Yuuri frowned, reaching out to tuck a strand of silvery hair out of the prince's eyes so he could look into them fully. "Then what's the difference between a bondmate and a soulmate?"

"A bond mate is someone you choose," An unfamiliar voice piped in. "A soulmate is someone fate has chosen for you."

"Yurio, when did you get here?" Viktor smiled wide at his younger brother.

Yuuri pulled the covers up over his exposed chest and shoulders, blushing.

"The fuck is with that name? I just got here." The thunderous frown startled Yuuri, but only seemed to amuse Viktor. "It's almost supper time and you two are still in bed. Father is worried because you haven't allowed anyone to come in and give you medical attention and that means I have to hear about it!"

"Sorry, sorry," Viktor placated, but the satisfied smile did not make him seem apologetic in the least. "I needed time with my mate."

"Great. You've had it. Not get the fuck up and do your job! Father's going insane and as usual, I'm drowning in your paperwork." The surly teen stalked out of the room leaving the door agape.

Viktor had no qualms of getting up and closing it himself in the nude. Yuuri thought it risky, but perhaps this was normal for the two of them. One the door had clicked close, Yuuri was up and scrambling for his clothes. Once he found them he realized how filthy they were.

And torn, he regretted.

"Missing something?"

The sultry hum next to his ear caused him to jump three feet in the air. Putting a hand to where the breath had tickled his shoulder, he turned to acknowledge the prince. "I-I don't have any clothes, Viktor."

The sound he made was anything but displeased. "Oh no," he murmured, backing them both up towards the bed with a lascivious grin on his face. "Whatever will we do?"

The knocking at their door had Viktor sighing and drawing away. Yuuri hauled the sheet up from the bed and wrapped himself in it, preparing to make a beeline into the bathing room. A soak in the beautiful claw foot tub he and Viktor had… made use of the previous night sounded heavenly. Yuuri didn't know what he'd expected when the door opened, but the reveal almost made him drop his sheet.

"Nicholas?"

The booming laughter must have shaken the room. "Don't sound so astonished boy. Didn't you see me at the ball last night?"

The ball had seemed so long ago and he'd been quite distracted, so no, he hadn't. "Did the guests spend the night?" He sounded worried. He was. He was not… good with people. He liked quiet and privacy. He worried now that any chance of that might be gone.

"No, my boy, I live here!"

Live here, but why-

"Good morning, father," Viktor kissed the man's cheeks.

Yuuri may have managed to keep hold of the sheets, but his legs dropped from beneath his body and he stumbled to the floor. "You're the king?" He wheezed. "I complained to the king in my step father's dirty kitchen?"

Oh gods.

"You took care of me in Georgi Popovich's kitchen, yes. I'm not sure I would call what you did complaining, though. You were quite complacent."

If only the man had known his last act of rebellion was to have killed himself before Georgi had had the chance to kill him for his own purposes.

"I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you!"

The scraggly face went soft as Viktor stepped in to wrap his arms around Yuuri. "I gather you were quite restricted."

Yuuri gulped. "I… yes."

Instead of asking the slew of questions he knew must be coming, the old man invited him to eat. "You look hungry. Come and eat. You'll need to put on more weight so you can make little Viktor-Yuuris."

Yuuri coughed. "Excuse me?"

Viktor was unfazed, completely nude, and declared. "You're right, he does need to eat, but I can't get pregnant, so I don't know how soon we'll be having any Viktor-Yuuris as you call them!"

Yuuri looked at his lover in horror. They had discovered last night that they had quite enjoyed switching the roles. Viktor enjoyed being surprised and for whatever reason, Yuuri's dominance just did it for him. Nicholai - as Yuuri now knew him - stared at them with a blank face. When he understood, it dawned across his face.

"What?"

"I don't even know if we want children," Viktor went on, not pausing long enough to care what his father was saying. "We'll have to think about it."

"Are you guys coming to eat or-" Prince Yuri was cut off by the sputtering from his father.

"Are you saying that after all this preparation and scheming I won't even get grandchildren out of it?" The poor man looked so upset.

Yuuri felt inclined to comfort him. "It's possible that in the future we may-"

"Oh," Viktor held up a finger as though he'd just remembered something. "I'm renouncing my claim to the throne and giving it to Yurio!"

"WHAT?" Both Yu(u)ris voices joined Nikolai.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yuri snarled. "You're the first born, you're-"

"Tired of playing first prince," Viktor sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling Yuuri to sit between his thighs, thus hiding his manhood. "It's not like you haven't been doing the work, Yurio. My interest is more vested in dismantling the omega auctions and dancing. It's the obvious choice."

King Nikolai looked astonished, but surprisingly, not upset. "Viktor you realize you are saying you don't want to be king, right?"

"Yes, I know." That sweet smile was altogether too guileless.

"And that you're giving it to me. A necromancer." Prince Yuri clarified. "An omega."

"I don't know what any of that has to do with you being king, but yes, I understand exactly what I'm saying. I'm taking Yuuri away from here. He doesn't belong in this kingdom. I want to show him how beautiful the world is outside of that house." Viktor pressed a kiss to Yuuri's head.

Yuuri felt dazed. The man was so perfect. So beautiful. Yuuri wanted to find the right words to thank him, but-

"Great, can you stop swooning over your mate long enough to sign the papers?" Yuri shoved a folded paper at Viktor with a scowl suppressing the hope.

"You just happened to have these?" Viktor laughed delightedly.

Yuri waved a hand at his silent attendant. "No, Beka did."

"Oooooo, Beka," Viktor taunted as he skimmed over the paper. It was simple. It was simply asking Viktor to relinquish his claim to the throne and his status as first prince to his younger brother in favour of a title of 'brother of the king'. Viktor raised his pen.

Yuuri tried to cut in. "Wait, Viktor-"

Viktor signed without thinking about it too much. Yuuri nearly fainted.

"Shut up, Viktor." The boy snapped, snatching the paper back. "You can hold this again," he said in a much gentler, slightly seductive tone to his bodyguard.

"My pleasure, Yura."

"You didn't say anything about this," Yuuri murmured through numb lips.

"What? Only wanted to be my mate for my throne?" Viktor teased.

"Don't be an idiot. What if you regret this and blame me?" Yuuri choked out.

Yurio snorted. "Too fucking late, the title's mine. I earned this shit."

"It's true. The paper's already been signed and stamped by the king." Otabek gesture towards Nikolai who was just stamping the bottom of the paper.

"Your majesty, so quickly?" Yuuri was surprised. He didn't mean to question the king or be disrespectful but this was just too much.

"I think it's for the best," the man admitted. "I know the boy has postponed taking a mate because that would mean he'd take the throne too."

"Hasn't he been brought up to be King?"

"Both my sons have," Nikolai smiled. "Because of tradition, Viktor was in line for the throne by rights. But he often passed his duties as first prince off on Yurio so he could pursue his priorities."

"Are you sure about this?" He just had to check one more time.

Viktor was smiling so big it might have split his face. "I couldn't be more happy with my decision, Yuuri."

"Me either," Yurio snorted. "Finally, I'll have recognition for all the shit I do."

"You'll also have a class on diplomacy," Nikolai gave his son the side eye.

"Start with the beginner level," Viktor suggested helpfully.

The prince opened his mouth to go off at his family, but Otabek stepped in and squeezed his hand. It was like a light switch. He went from a hissing cat to a young man waiting for his lovers next words with baited breath. His big green eyes watched Beka was the older man smiled.

"Congratulations, Prince Yuri." He murmured, dropping to one knee and still holding on to that hand. "I'll stay by your side for the rest of my life."

"Yura," the boy said back.

Otabek tipped back his head to look up at him. "What?"

"You get to call me Yura."

"Yura," the attendant smiled, the word slipping of his tongue in an unintentionally sultry way. "I swear my loyalty to you."

"What happened to your loyalty to me?" Viktor asked dryly.

"I swore my loyalty to your family, and it encompasses you as well." Otabek shrugged as he stood. "But Yura is my priority."

"Awww I want to come up for pet names for us, Yuuri!" Viktor squealed.

"Don't even think about it."

Nikolai sighed as he watched his oldest son banter with his peculiar mate. They were a match made in heaven. No one else would have been able to handle Viktor as Yuuri could. As for his second son who was now heir to his throne, the boy was rough around the edges. He was tempered only by the strong, stoic man who stood by his side, and likely would until the day he died. He released all the stress he'd been holding inside. Everything was set now. Everything was in its place. The only thing he was still missing were grandchildren. Though, looking at his heir again, it might not be too long until there were little Yuri-Otabeks running around. He smiled. He'd have to get to work on that straight away. In the meantime, everything was as it should be. For now…