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sorcererinthestars · 6 years

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jeremavinwood king au: king ryan, his spymaster slash fool gavin. noble jeremy who has received many laurels as a knight, rumoured to be named heir in case the king doesn't have one soon. enter michael AKA mogar, criminal delinquent who's been leading a band of bandits in the mountains (just townfolks trying survive, fuck your taxes your fucking highness (and yes that insult is on purpose) we're just barely within your borders anyway) [1/2]

But tthe lord of that area is raising taxes unreasonably & pocketing the change meanwhile blaming the king & trying to start an uprising within the commonfolk. Perhaps even several lords banding together who're angry by Jeremy being made heir just because he's sleeping with the king, power-hungry assholes trying for the crown themselves. Gavin fools his way into their gatherings to spy on them & they think hes just tired of being "punised" by the king (aka sexy times but no one knows that) [2/2]-..........................i love this.Spymaster+Fool Gavin tries his best to get the information. And it’s easy. People talk in front of a man they think is lesser. Especially in front of a man they don’t even think is a man. Gavin chortles and does acrobatics and tells jokes and speaks in riddles. The lords don’t have much time for him (unless they’re laughing at his performances). Later, when they’re deep in their cups, they spill secrets with their wine. No one thinks of the Fool snatching scraps from their table, drinking his own cup of wine with one ear cocked for information. A man known to be a half-wit, not fully there, really the most intelligent one in the room. Reading, remembering, scanning. It’s not long before he gets the information about the coup. It’s even shorter amount of time before he manages to send a letter by way of trained hawk to the shoulder of the King. The poor, restless King Ryan, known as Mad by some townsfolk. Beloved by others. His most trusted knight is also one of the most hated by part of the Kingdom because of his unwavering loyalty to his King. Rumors, vulgar things spread across the Kingdom. Is the King Mad? Is he fucking his knight? Is the best knight in the kingdom a toy? A bedwarmer?No one asks these things about the Fool because they all know the truth in the way the Fool perches on the knee of the King at parties or sits sprawled across his lap while Ryan strokes his hair. When he sits at the King’s feet like a trained little dog, nuzzling his legs. Ryan will sometimes pet him. It disgusts some and interests others. Gavin honestly likes the way it makes people think less of him. He can steal more secrets that way. And Ryan treats him like the smartest man in the world when they’re alone. They play chess and read books and discuss politics. He has the closest ear to the King except maybe the Knight. Which doesn’t matter, because normally his mouth is on the Knight’s ear as much as it’s on the Kings. (Both literally and metaphorically).When the uprising starts, its’ the Knight and the Spymaster the King sends to go confront the Bandit, Mogar. The bandit has some honor and will accept the challenge Jeremy throws his way. When Mogar has the most close battle of his life, he’s willing to hear what Jeremy has to say. Gavin dances and Michael finds him charming. He offers to buy him as a pet for his kingdom. Jeremy offers Michael a trip to the Kingdom to negotiate a treaty. Michael’s wary of this, but after wine, more fighting, and maybe a little sex, he agrees.Gavin surprises Michael on the trip back with how smart he is. He tells Michael how he’s being manipulated by the outer Lords into a coup against a King who hardly knows of his Lord’s mistreatment of their serfs. It’s not Ryan’s fault that Michael’s people were hurting. That Michael had to rise up and lead a rebellion in the first place. It’s the Lords, feeding toxic information about a King not feeding his people, despite the fact that Ryan does his best to send money and resources and allocate them properly. The Lords take those resources, sell them for profit with outrageous prices, and blame the King for negligence and cruelty.Michael, with the hotheaded rage only a bandit can possess, wants to go to war immediately, but is told to hesitate. He is introduced to Ryan and they immediately hate and love each other. Each tension is matched and replicated back at one another. They are too similar and one must hate a shadow of oneself. But one must love it too.The first time they sleep together is a mess but the most affection any of them had ever known. In bed, between rounds, they talk battle strategy. They form a unit, quietly, a hidden coalition, that manages to hold the peace in the Kingdom. The Lord is quietly disposed of through Gavin - poison slipped into his drink. No one expects the Fool, after all, and the Spymaster becomes an assassin. Michael is given the honor of the execution of all the other rogue Lords. He takes it in pleasure and his bandits - reluctantly - become militiamen. Ready to be called to action by the King. They gratefully return to their farms, taxes lowered.Michael himself is made a Knight. He soon rivals Jeremy for laurels, but their affection for one another and for their King (and the little Fool) is obvious. Through their hold on the Kingdom, their connection, their wary ways, and their love for one another, they manage to hold the peace for 20 years.Ryan never takes a wife. He never needs one, with the warm company of three of the most accomplished men in the Kingdom. An heir is named, Michael’s girl off of a female Knight, his other life when he’s off coordinating the outdoor villages and fiefdoms. They love Lindsay and their little daughter. She is Princess and will be Queen.Life is good. And if it’s not, it has a Knight, a Bandit, a King, and a little Assassin to take care of it and make it right again.

#YES #ah king au #variant #based loosely on the Realm of the Elderlings series #highly recommend #miss-ingno

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