Steve watched as the farmer who had come seeking an audience with him bowed shakily and then looked at him.
"My guards told me that you sought me out on an urgent matter".
The farmer nodded. "I did Sire...it's a matter of life or death".
Steve glanced across to Amberley who didn't look as convinced, however she nodded to him that they should at least hear the man out. "Go on..." Steve replied.
"I was working in the fields in one of the outside villages a few miles from here..."
"Get to the point". Steve rolled his eyes.
"I am sire...we saw a dragon".
That immediately had Steve and everyone in hall now listen. The Brooklyn King sat there for a moment, the cogs in his mind working and then he frowned. "That's not possible, the last dragon was slain centuries ago".
The farmer shook his head. "We all saw it sire, clear as day...it made no attempt to attack the villages but caused a stir...it was heading this way..."
Amberley sported the same expression as her husband. Growing up her father had told her tales of dragons. Some of which their family had fought, but they had not been seen for centuries as Steve had just said. They'd died out with the last who had coincidently been slain by the old Knights of Brooklyn - back then known also as the Howling Commandos.
"What did it look like?" Amberley now asked the farmer.
He swallowed. "Purple...it was purple..."
Steve immediately looked at his wife who did the same. "It can't be..."
"It is sire...we all know the legend of how he may have been slain, but there was always a possibility of being alive". The farmer put in.
"The Commandos ensured he was dead..."
"My love..." Amberley's voice made him look to her once more. "He was cursed by the Gods of Infinity...the Commandos may have thought he was slain, however you forget he was created from powerful magic - it would take a lot more than a sword to kill him".
Steve sat back. He knew the stories, the legend.
The Legend of Thanos. A man cursed by the Gods of Infinity to forever walk the earth as half man, half dragon. He had been unmissable with purple skin when in human form, and even more so when taking form of a dragon.
"So why should he choose to return now? After centuries of us thinking..." Bucky, who had been stood with Sam listening now chose to speak.
"They only ever return for one thing. Revenge". Steve finally said and turned his attention back to the farmer, "and you said he was heading this way?"
The farmer nodded once more. "And for Manhattan...he could already be there burning it to the ground as we speak".
Instructing one of the servants to take the farmer to the kitchens to give him a meal and some coins, Steve brought Bucky and Sam before him. "We're patrolling outside the city, gather the Knights and have them ready. We find any trace of Thanos then the city is gonna come under attack".
"What about Manhattan? You wanna warn Stark?"
"Fuck Stark, he can fight for his own city, but we have a duty to ours - Whatever it takes".
Dismissing everyone, Steve stood up and headed for his chambers, Amberley hurrying behind him. "You can't go, it's dangerous!"
"Just as any other battle I fought was". He replied walking into the room and then turning to her. "Don't lecture me Amb - I have my kingdom and my people to think about. I have to keep them safe just like I do with you and Phillip".
"You know, my father said something similar before he went to fight your army..."
Steve braced himself against the back of a chair and shook his head slowly. "Don't...I need you here protecting Phillip".
"I can do more than that and you know I can, I can protect our city".
"Just like you did your own?" He looked up at her and now saw her face. "Sorry..."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I...I cannot lose you, and I will do whatever I must to ensure this city is kept safe from attack, but right now I must see to our son - who needs you as well as I do". Then she walked out without another word.
Steve readied himself putting on his armour before realising that his wife had returned some time later and was watching him quietly.
"Let me..." She now came over and began to put one of his gauntlets on for him. "I used to help my father all the time with this". Her voice was quiet.
He stopped her, tilting her chin up so he could see her face and then leant in and kissed her, "Don't be angry at me for wanting to protect you".
"I'm not angry... but for the first time in my life I am terrified".
"Why?"
"Because if anything happens to you, then life is not worth living".
"And if it does then you will need to rule until our son is old enough to do so - I need you here for him - but I'll come back to you".
Amberley walked to the table and picked up his shield, passing it to him. "Then you shall need this".
He placed it on the holder on the back of his armour and kissed her once more. "I love you sweetheart. You know what you need to do".
She nodded. "I know...and you also know what I need you to do".
"It's a patrol, chances are we won't even catch sight of him, but I cannot take any chances - there's too much at stake".
His Kingdom. His People. His family.
And it would be down to Steve to keep them all from perishing under Thanos.
YOU ARE READING
Wildflower (King!SteveRogers AU)
Fanfiction"It's a game...a dangerous one at that" When her father Phillip, Jarl of Wisconsin, dies in battle, his daughter Amberley is imprisoned, awaiting to suffer the same fate. Execution. However her captor, The High King of Brooklyn, Steven Rogers has ot...
