Chapter Text
“I hate you all.”
He really needs to find a way to convince Victor how much he actually means that. The idiot just grins at him from above, eyes glittering. Yuri slumps further down in his throne with a ‘hmph’ of frustration. The prince is taller than Yuri anyway, it’s not like he needed his throne elevated. Asshole. Could he be more obnoxious? As if the purple robes and gold gilt weren’t enough. He was such a bloody elitist.
“I hope your stupid pedestal collapses and drops you in the middle of the fight.”
Victor laughs and claps his hands together, delighted.
“Oh, that sounds like fun! It seems unfair for me to compete for your hand when I’m already engaged, however. Especially when I’d easily beat everyone else into the ground.” Yuri rolls his eyes and wonders idly whether anyone would notice if he used some of the royal drapes to strangle his half-brother.
Instead, he turns to watch the fuss. In the arena in front of them, the squires are lining up with their banners. Yuri has inspected the list of challengers multiple times already, and doesn’t bother to look at what’s going on. The opening ceremonies always take forever, and it’s just crowd-pleasing. At least the music and dancing is already over.
“Neither you nor Katsudon have raised a sword since your own tournament.” He points out. “I’d beat you just as easily as I beat him.”
“So, with incredible difficulty then?” The voice behind him makes him jump, soft and amused though the statement was. Yuri turns to glare at him. Katsuki... glitters back. Having him in full armour is more for show than protection (Victor is more than capable of looking after himself, after all), but he ruins the menacing look by grinning so widely through his visor anyway. Still, he stands out. His armour is so different from theirs.
“Shut it, pig, I beat you fair and square and you know it.”
Katsuki shrugs, his armour shifting and clunking. He removes his helm and shakes his hair out. Yuri glares, trying not to wonder too openly how on earth the knight managed to sneak up on them in all of that getup.
“I am hardly ashamed of the result. We both fought well, and I still get to marry Victor.” He takes his place on the other side of Victor. It’s a shame it’s just the three of them this morning. If Yuri wants to strangle him, he’ll have to throw himself across Victor to get there.
“Yuuuuuri.” Nevermind, Victor’s doing the heart-shaped mouth thing again. Yuri’s going to kill them both. Crushing Victor whilst strangling his fiancé is as good a way to do it as any.
“Shut it, pig. And keep your filthy marriage out of my face.”
Victor gives him a thoughtful look.
“Are you worried about the outcome of this tournament, Yuri?”
That doesn’t even deserve a response. He gives up on both of them. He pulls his hood down over his ears and shoves his tiny little crown on top, blocking them out as much as possible. They’re even talking quietly, as if they know he’s trying not to think about it. Even so, it’s impossible to completely ignore them as they seize up his chances.
“It’s an impressive turnout, especially considering his reputation.”
“Actually, I think that made him more interesting. It’s not often we hold a tournament where you actually have to beat the man whose hand you’re competing for.”
“Trust Yurio to be the one to break the rules.”
“I think it’s a good idea. It never hurts to make an effort to move with the times. Especially as Yurio could never respect somebody who wasn’t his equal, and a marriage is nothing without respect.”
They’re both dense. Of course, when he’d agreed to this whole thing, the only person he’d ever been beaten by was Victor himself, and that was hardly going to be an issue. It was a cross-kingdom tournament. The whole thing was meant to establish trade links and allies, and if that meant sacrificing a few sons to arranged marriages, then so be it.
“I would say that a marriage is nothing without love.”
Katsuki, ever the romantic, is infuriating. Yuri would snap at him if he wasn’t so busy trying to pretend he wasn’t listening.
“You know that that doesn’t usually get a look in when you’re royalty.” It’s a nasty reminder. Yuri would be disgruntled enough about agreeing with his half-brother anyway, but then Victor goes and sticks a nail in the coffin by continuing, “We were just lucky.”
“Incredibly lucky.”
The crowd suddenly roars. Dammit, they must be kissing again.
Yuri hated being a prince, sometimes.
He would have much rather been a knight. He’d been brought up as one; weaned on combat training, learnt to ride before he could talk. Archery and falconry came more easily to him than scholarship or socialising had ever done. He’d proved his skill time and time again, and yet Yakov would not relent. Yuri was a prince, not a knight. He would protect his kingdom as a defender and a politician, not fighting on the front lines, like Victor, or doing anything really useful, like Georgi with his magic. Stuck in the middle, with all the politics, and none of the fun.
If only he was still as confident about the outcome of this as he had been at the start of the year.
Yuri was not accustomed to losing to anyone, let alone someone whose incompetence had been infamous after he almost died at a championship the year before. Losing to Katsuki, even in training, and then having to watch him go on to win Victor’s hand (and heart, the bastard) in the tournament, was humiliating.
Yes, he’d beaten Katsuki since, and in public, but it had hardly been a crowing moment. He’d cried afterward, for heaven’s sake.
It was behind him now, long enough ago that most people remembered little about the fight but that he was the victor, but it still stung.
He was supposed to be proving himself here; proving that he needed to be married about as much as he needed a wet hen in a dairy. But the weight of the loss was heavy on his confidence.
The unusual terms of this tournament had drawn bigger prospects than he’d been expecting, too. People apparently liked a challenge. Yakov had been delighted, the bastard.
Well, Yuri would just have to beat them.
A fanfare sounds, and Yuri reluctantly drags his face out of his armpit to set one eye on the field. This is supposed to be in his honour, after all. He wants to see what they’re going to do for him.
“Oh, I didn’t realise JJ was King now?” Yuri sighs to himself. Katsuki is just fine with a sword, but he’s even less competent than Yuri when it comes to society, and that’s saying something. He probably doesn’t know who half of these challengers even are.
“His father abdicated.” Victor is probably eyeing up his potential sibling-in-laws. He’s been subtly doing so for weeks anyway, if his careful probing of Yuri is anything to go by.
“Is that a good idea?” Katsuki sounds wary. Yuri is inclined to agree with him. JJ wouldn’t know diplomatic tact if it hit him in the face.
“Well he obviously doesn’t have too many duties to attend to yet, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. I think it may have been an in-name-only arrangement.”
JJ is doing dressage, for heaven’s sake. He’s gone to all the bother of breeding a damn war horse, and he’s wasting all that good blood by making it prance up and down the arena. He’ll tire it out before they even get to the joust, the idiot.
Yuri hisses under his breath, and finally joins the conversation.
“You don’t think he’d actually have duties that he thought more important than an allegiance with the Rusiki Kingdom?”
Victor hums, thoughtfully.
“They already have a fairly strong influence here.”
They’re silent for a moment, watching as JJ takes his place and the next challenger finally enters the arena.
“Yurio, wasn’t it JJ who you told could eat your dirt after you threw a training dummy at him?” Katsuki suddenly remembers. Yuri really, really hates him in that moment. Victor bursts out laughing.
“Ah, so he’s not here to marry you after all. He just wants to beat you.” He surmises, though his giggles.
“The two go hand in hand.” Katsuki reminds them both. Yuri finally turns to them with a sneer. They’re holding hands, again. Disgusting.
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen. He’s never going to beat me, and if he did, I’d break his spirit before we even made it to the altar.”
Victor whistles, loud and low.
“Fighting talk, Yurio! You don’t have to fight anyone for two more days, you know.”
Katsuki taps his arm, tactfully.
“We should probably pay attention. We just missed the whole of Chris’ presentation.”
The blonde knight doesn’t seem to mind, waving cheerfully directly at the box where the little family sit. Victor waves back.
“Favouritism.” Yuri snaps.
Victor nods.
“Oh, definitely. Having Chris closer to Rusiki would be lovely. You’d be terribly suited though, and I’d rather you didn’t make his life miserable.”
Yuri doesn’t bother to deny it.
They just watch for a while. The rest of the ceremony goes a lot faster now that JJ’s done showing off. The rest of them just enter, salute to the royal box, and take their places by their squires and flags.
“Do you know any of the others already, Yurio?”
He knows all the kingdoms, obviously, but Yakov had not allowed him to look into much beyond their names in case he judged them before even meeting them.
“Let them speak for themselves, Yuratchka,” his grandpa had agreed.
Yuri doesn’t bother to respond to Katsuki. He looks like he’s going to push, but then the fanfare announces that it’s time for the pledge.
“Oh come on, who let JJ go first?” Yuri sighs, slumping again. Victor shushes him, though he seems amused. Good to know he’s not the only one who thinks JJ shouldn’t be here. The ‘King’ of Candis approaches the royal box, wielding his flag like a weapon. Yuri wonders if he’d conveniently impale himself with it if his horse fell over.
Yuri glares at him, projecting as much hatred as he can across the fence. JJ is oblivious.
He launches into a long, rambling speech about how he’d make a perfect husband. Yuri’s already bored. Every third sentence starts with ‘I’.
About two minutes in, Yuri glances at Victor. He looks bored too, thank god. Yuri gazes out over the stands. It’s too cloudy to see the mountains today, but it’s nice to know that they’re there. He yawns, then comes back to himself as it causes a little ripple of laughter in the audience. Refusing to be embarrassed, he checks to see if JJ has noticed his apathy.
He hasn’t. He’s still talking, his arm thrown out, the other placed on his chest in the most insincere gesture of sincerity Yuri has ever seen. He’s not holding on to his horse. An idea steals quietly into the corner of Yuri’s brain.
Yuri spares another glance at Victor. He’s not paying attention. He’ll know immediately, of course, as will Yakov (but he won’t hear about it until afterwards). It will definitely shut JJ up though, and it’ll give them all a good laugh.
This is ridiculously tense, and he can’t be bothered to deal with stress dignitaries for the rest of the day. It’s boring.
He closes his eyes, yawns again, just a little, and opens his eyes just in time to see JJ’s horse make a sharp step sideways, smartly depositing his rider on the floor in a heap of armour that was, until it landed in the dust, pristinely polished.
It is, as he predicted, completely hilarious.
The laughter around the arena is loud enough to hide Victor’s sharp retribute from everyone outside the box.
“Yuri. Behave. If anyone gets an inkling that there has been meddling, then there will be international consequences.”
“If international consequences means I don’t have to marry that asshole and commit an elaborate murder-suicide before my twenty-first birthday, I’ll take it.” Yuri growls. Victor casts a quick, worried glance at Katsuki.
At least JJ has finished talking. He really doesn’t seem that perturbed by the fall, more that he wasn’t allowed to finish. Chris, thank god, has already taken his place, and JJ is foiled.
Chris is much more refreshing – his speech is short, sweet and dirty. They do know each other fairly well, after all. Chris is here more because it’s expected of his kingdom than because he actually wants to marry Yuri, but he’s also a man of honour. He will do his best, and if he wins, will gladly accept the outcome. He’s already making an effort – that armour looks new, if Yuri’s not mistaken, and the dye on his flag and cloths are bright, expensive. Probably imported especially for the occasion. Victor and Yuri both appreciate the gesture of respect, undermined as it is by Chris’ terribly inappropriate sense of humour.
Yuri rolls his eyes as he waves his hand to dismiss him back to the line, grinning.
“Dirty old man.”
Victor laughs a little beside him, content.
The next challenger is a woman called... Sara? Sala? He didn’t quite catch it, but she’s from Italita. He only remembers that because her appearing at the tournament apparently caused some scandal with her twin brother. Yuri admires her for her tenacity – she may be even unluckier than him, second born by only minutes, but she’s fighting for her place in the world. He’s heard good things about her fighting, but her speech is sharp and to the point. She’s here for political reasons, mainly. She is actually very striking, her black hair exceptionally long, as is the style, but fluttering lose behind her. Purple, the first time he’s seen it on anyone but Victor, is the colour she has chosen to decorate her snow-white horse with. It’s most likely a symbol of her status within her family, but the black hair, white horse and purple colours make a beautiful ensemble. As she talks, she holds her head high and looks directly at him, the sincerity in her address somewhat placating the bluntness of it. He appreciates her honestly, at least.
Her voice softens at the end, however, and she drops her head, respectful or bashful, he’s not sure.
“I hope too, Prince Yuri, that should this tournament work out in my favour, we could become good friends. I have heard conflicting accounts of you, and wish to discover for myself the kind of person you really are.”
Yuri blinks at her, surprised.
Okay, this one might be a bit of a dark horse. He nods, silently, and she smiles at him, meeting him eye to eye again. As she turns away and walks back to her place in line, Victor is eyeing her with interest.
“Interesting. The Crispino twins caused quite a scandal about this tournament. It looks like she’s taking it seriously, too – this is not a ploy to enrage her brother as I suspected it might be.”
The first three are the most serious contenders. They tend to line up in order of rank. JJ is a King, obviously. Chris is a second son, but his older brother has been critically ill for many years, and it is assumed he will be bypassed for the throne in preference for a healthy king. He is also of high note as a swordsman and knight in his own right. Princess Crispino, too, is known for her jousting, as well as being closely tied to the running of her country.
The rest of them are second-borns or lower still, princesses mostly, and mostly ones that Yuri doesn’t recognise. None of them have anything particularly interesting to say, although a few strike him as worth watching when they finally get to the tournament itself. There’s a lot more talent here than any of them had hoped for, and not a single one is new to competition in Rusiki-style Championships.
That is, apart from the final challenger.
Seeing as every kingdom has the right to send a participant, tournaments always draw a few wild cards. Usually they’re young hopefuls from large families, forced far away from their home kingdoms to find tenuous chances at inclusion halfway across the world. They tend to tag on at the end, bum out during the first round, and are never heard of again. Chasing their tails back home to their kingdoms.
Yuri’s heard of Khazakistannas, of course. He’s had too many geography lessons with Lilia to forget. He doesn’t know exactly where it is, though, and they don’t have much of a connection with countries that far away because trade links are more difficult.
When the herald announces that this is none other than Otabek Altin, heir to the throne, Yuri flounders for a moment.
Katsuki, equally surprised, whispers to Victor.
“Was he on the list?”
“Last minute entry. He only arrived yesterday, and it turned out his messenger was lost somewhere crossing the mountains.”
“He came across the mountains?” Yuri hisses is disbelief, before Victor gives him a look and pointedly turns his attention back to Prince Altin.
The prince nods at them, although he makes no attempt to smile. When he opens his mouth to speak, however, it is with the utmost reverence and respect. His gaze is unwavering. He doesn’t once glance at Victor, like most of the other challengers had. It’s the first time Yuri’s got the feeling that somebody’s actually here for him, and not of the rest of the mess that goes with these events.
“Prince Yuri. As a young boy, I was lucky enough to witness you training first hand. I understand that you are not entering any Championships, and as a result, this may be my only chance to face you in combat. It would be the greatest honour for me to duel with you, the prince with the eyes of a knight.”
That’s it. That’s the entirety of his speech. It’s the shortest they’ve had all morning, and yet it’s the one that immediately had his interest.
Victor and Katsuki are muttering together, possibly trying to work out when on earth Altin has been in Rusiki before. Yuri’s not paying attention.
Altin wants to fight him. He doesn’t want to marry him. He doesn’t want political allegiance. He thinks Yuri has the eyes of a knight, he’s remembered him for years, probably, since he was just a kid - and he wants to fight him as an equal. Yuri doesn’t even know who he is.
“Holy shit.”
“Mmm.” Victor acquiesces, watching Prince Altin’s retreating back as all of the challengers leave the arena. “I take it he made quite the impression on you.”
Yuri reels himself in automatically, giving nothing away.
“He could be a dud.” Yuri shrugs. “You’ve never seen him fight.”
“He won the Continental Knight’s Championship of Assisia for three years running without a single injury.”
Yuri blinks.
“Holy shit.”
“Language, Yurio.” Victor sighs. Of course Katsuki knows these things. He’s useless socially, but he knows everything there is to know about the Championships, even the ones in kingdoms on the other side of the world. Technically, he did live there.
Otabek is out of sight now, but Yuri recalls every detail he can to make sure he recognises him later. The flag is blue, with yellow on it, and his black horse wore the bright blue colours and a gold bridle. He doubt it will be gold when they’re jousting, but none of the others will be wearing the same shade of blue, so even inside his armour, Yuri should be able to tell him apart from the others.
“I should have given him a favour,” he mutters, half to himself, and then realises that Victor and Katsuki are both within hearing distance. Yeah, both of them heard.
They’re looking at him with two very different expressions. Katsuki’s smile is slightly wonky, like he’s fighting from letting it turn into a smirk, but his eyes are sparkling. Yuri glares at him, because he knows immediately what the pig is thinking. He’s a natural born romantic.
He half expects the same reaction from Victor, but his half-brother is giving him the kind of look that threatens to pull his skin off to see what’s going on inside. Yuri glares back, angry as ever.
They both look away, and the silence continues for several minutes after the statement. Yuri’s glad they’re leaving him alone about it, so that he can wrestle with the embarrassment of it on his own first, but it’s a lot more awkward than comfortable. They have nothing to do but wait for the first round as it is.
“Of course, you get to choose who sits next to you at the banquet tonight, Yurio.”
Victor smiles at him, and there, that’s the expression he expecting the first time round. It means trouble.
“Idiot.” He bites back, “It’s who’s winning. I don’t get a say.”
Victor laughs.
“On the contrary. Do you not remember that I sat next to Yuri at the banquet at my tournament, even though Chris was winning at the time?”
Yuri blinks. Actually, he had noticed that. At the time he’d thought it was a sneaky move, and not a completely legal part of the tournament. Victor had already been sweet on Katsuki, after all. Something to do with the fact that they’d met at a Championship before.
Victor was a sap, but he was a sap with a very interesting point.
“Huh,” said Yuri.
Katsuki smiled.
“I think that’s the first time you haven’t snapped today, Yurio.”
“Shut up, pig. It’s too goddamn early for this.”