Behind Palace Walls

So this is a story I've been toying around with for a couple of months and I'm excited to write it. It's a bit AU, some things don't follow the typical DBZ timeline and I've added and altered few characters but I promise it'll be worth it! Enjoy and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Caution: There's some language, violence and not-so-pleasant scenes throughout. Rated 'M'.

XXXXX

A seemingly good day turned sour one particular afternoon, and on this planet, good days were hard to come by. Strength, power, violence, terror, conquest and animalistic behaviors ruled every hour of every day in the calendar year, and although mighty, the Royal court and Royal family weren't far from the destructive behaviors.

This was the latest installment of palace dysfunction and there wasn't a soul intent on missing it.

It was a minor infraction; nothing compared to the secrecy, stints and recklessness that have been seen before, but nonetheless, palace help and members of council and parliament wondering around worked diligently, all the while keeping their ears open for potential gossip.

The Prince was on a tirade again; this time about his female companion of six months. Though she had lasted longer than the others, as any relationship is concerned with the Prince, ultimately it's doomed for failure.

It was rumored that his own father hated him.

"Get the fuck out Trish" he paced hastily through the halls and barred passed the guards at his bedroom door, nearly running inside.

A seemingly bored woman followed lazily behind, used to his attitude by now.

"Simmer down, your royal majesty" she said with a yawn, inspecting her perfect fingernails. "You're getting worked up over nothing."

"Don't order me around you tramp, I'm you Prince, and you will do as I say. Now get the fuck out."

Furiously, he ripped open priceless dresser drawers and began tossing garments to the marble floors.

"Hey!" snapping out of her boredom, the leggy raven suddenly appeared at his side. "Those are expensive Vegeta! You'll ruin them!"

"I don't care! Pack you're shit and get out, now!"

She seethed. Angry features now donned on her flawless face and her trimmed eyebrows raised in fury. It was no doubt that this woman was gorgeous. Tall and trim with thick, cascaded black hair, stone fired eyes and generous curves, she was the pinnacle of a Sai-jin man's fantasies. That and her strength put her at a highly desirable stature, which set the Prince and Princess together initially. She was strong enough to handle what would come her way—that being a Prince who would toss her around a few times in the boxing ring (laced with satin sheets)—but weak enough to be controlled should she get out of hand with fiery Prince, which wasn't so estranged to him.

As desirable as she was, it was her attitude he couldn't stand.

"What the hell is your problem?" She snatched one of her priceless clothes from off the floor and glared in his direction. "I didn't do anything wrong"

"Didn't do anything wrong?!" he broke the drawer right off it's hinges, shattering the antique wood everywhere. "You made me look like a fool you fucking pathetic piece of wash! Now get out! Don't make me have to tell you again!"

His words stung but she's heard it all before. The Prince definitely had a mouth on him and hardly anyone had escaped his wrath.

"Why the hell are you listening to that idiot over me? I'm your mate Vegeta; I wouldn't lie to you."

Taking his trademark stance, Vegeta snorted loudly and folded his arms across his chest. "If you should ever be so lucky" he grunted and her fists balled up into tight clenches. "I have never even thought twice about mating you woman. You're a disgusting whore, and I want nothing more to do with you."

Rolling her eyes, Trish chose to ignore him. When he got snooty, it typically meant his stubborn arse was finished arguing and would stick to his guns as long as he could. She was finished with this argument.

"Whatever." She said with a wave of her hand and turned around to exit the room. "Look I'm due for lunch with the duchess so if there isn't anything further you need—"

"By the time you come back, your shit will be packed, and you'll be through. I hope you plan to pick up change of address forms on your way out."

This made her stop in her tracks and seethe. Vegeta really just knew how to press her buttons.

"Stop being a prick Vegeta!—"

"Don't talk to me like—"

"We go through this a million times, and you known damn well I'm the best thing you've got!" she fired. "Keep pushing my buttons and I'll leave your spoiled ass for good!"

"You are nothing compared to me woman. I am a Prince—"

"And I'm a fucking Princess!"

"By chance you pathetic bitch! I am in the Royal blood line! I make the rules! I have power! You bow to me! And don't think for one second you can get away with speaking ill mannered to me and walking around here like you belong in this God forsaken palace. You're easily replaceable and disposable at my command! You're pathetic, weak and a whore Trish! And I should have you enslaved for sleeping around with my council! You fucking moron! You didn't think I'd find out! Huh?!"

Trish rolled her eyes and inspected her fingernails again. "Oh give it a rest. You act like you're not fucking those damn concubines walking around. It's only fair that I—"

"I have no concubines you idiot. They're disgusting weak slaves from other planets, and I have never, laid a Royal hand on not one. You on the other hand—"

"What?!" she fired. "What was I supposed to do? Sit around here and wait until you decide to come off your throne and mate me? Wake up Vegeta! Time is running out and you're no spring chicken. You'll be living in your father's shadow until your fucking eighty and Freeza conquers this planet with the back on his ha—"

A death grip found itself clasped around her throat before she could finish and Trish gasped for air.

Before she got the chance to struggle, onyx eyes met her now glazed ones with rage and deathly fire fighting to keep contained.

"Watch your fucking mouth" Vegeta all but growled. He watched as she clawed at his hand, glaring and fighting to remain composure all at the same time before he released her and let her crumple to the floor.

She coughed haggardly, before glaring at his now turned back as he continued to dump her belongings on the floor. With one swipe of his arm, expensive perfumes, powders and vanities dropped off the top of the dresser and onto the marble with a string of clashes.

"I want you out within the next hour. Anything you leave behind you can find in the trash. I'm done with you Trish"

Tossing a few more things to the floor, it was now Vegeta's turn to make his exit and as he opened the door, his now ex-girlfriends pathetic voice stopped him.

"So that's it?" she asked, coughing out the last of her throat ache and getting up off the floor. "You're letting go of the best damn thing you ever had?"

Smirking to himself, Vegeta turned around cruelly to face her. "Don't give credit where credit isn't due Trish. You couldn't even satisfy me in bed. I hope Zarmit was worth it."

And with that he slammed the door.

"Women" he grumbled to himself, ignoring the help and his council as they whispered while he paced through the halls.

XXXX

"Sorry about you and Trish Vegeta"

"Shut up Kakkarot" Tossing his cape to the floor, Vegeta dropped to the ground and began his stretches much more furiously than necessary. A training room worker quickly scurried into the room to pick up the Prince's cape, bowing and muttering gratitude's as he went in and out.

"No really, I mean it" he said, sitting on the floor and beginning his own stretches. "She was uhh….nice"

"Trish is a bitch, the whole kingdom knows that. It's nothing but a relief to get rid of her. Might save me some damn money while I'm at it." Moving on to push ups, Vegeta's trusty right hand man, Kakkarot (informally known as Goku) seemed to huff out a sigh of relief. He seemed glad that Vegeta had said everything he was thinking, clearing out any awkward tension in his apologetic concern. He liked Trish….sometimes….when she wasn't calling him names or pushing him over to get what she wanted, but ultimately he was glad to see her go; he felt that his best friend deserved better.

"That's great Vegeta, you're already thinking positive. You'll get through this break up in no time!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. There were times he had no idea why he put up with idiot. Clearly there was something mentally wrong with him; he was far from any trace of average saijin thinking. But he and his family were somewhat useful to the Royal Empire; if not very useful.

Not that he'd ever admit it out loud but Vegeta knew Kakkarot was a great fighter. He and his two brothers Radditz and Turles had proved to be far beyond exceptional on the battlefields and in the training grounds and have proudly ascended in the rankings from third-class to elite warriors.

Their father Bardock served in the military when Vegeta's father was a prince himself and he taught his boys well, and retired to medicine which he now serves for warriors, veterans and the Royal family.

The Prince's pride wouldn't allow him to call Kakkarot and his family "friends" even though anyone with eyes could see that they were. They were loyal and trust-worthy and had proven themselves admirable saijins but there were times Vegeta just wished Kakkarot wasn't such a blubbering idiot.

Like right now.

Vegeta growled as he watched Goku blow and pop spit bubbles, as he waited for his prince to finish stretching.

It was hard to believe sometimes that Goku was not only a warrior, but a husband and father as well. The Prince would never understand how his mate and now teenaged son put up with him.

Goku blew another spit bubble and Vegeta socked him square in the face.

Flying off his behind and onto his back, Goku slid a couple feet before sitting up grumpily, rubbing his now red face.

"Heyyyy, Vegeta" he whined. "I wasn't ready"

"Quit blowing snot bubbles you moron and be serious for once! We're training here not playing with that brat son of yours!"

Sighing and standing up off the floor, Goku rubbed his face once more for good measure. He's known Vegeta since diaper days and his attitude stopped bothering him long ago. He knew by now when the Prince was in the mood for lightheartedness and when he wasn't.

"Alright, alright, sheesh." He said, dropping into fighting stance. "All you had to do was say you were ready"

"I'll just pound your skull in when I'm ready fool. There's no time for games."

Displaying his rare saijin features for once, Goku smirked, preparing for a good fight. "Why not, I've got a pretty good game to play." He said. "Best two out of three?"

Finally, the first brilliant thing he's said all afternoon.

"Don't blink"

And they went at it.

XXXXXXX

They had been fighting for hours in the gravity-stimulated room. Two out the three battles had been completed and so far, they were evenly matched. Working on the third, the two saijins were going at it, meeting each other blow for blow, kick for kick, pound for pound and were drawing quite the audience as they continued.

There was a viewing window by the control panel from outside the room and Radditz, Turles and Goku's son Gohan were gathered around watching the spar along with some of the training room workers.

Just as they were really getting into it, a young woman sauntered into the room and rolled her eyes at the pack of men dazed into the fight like it was rotisserie meat.

"Men" she grumbled as she pushed her way through the crowd and toward the front, stopping at the control panel and flipping open a cover hiding a red button that read, "STOP".

The others watched with knowing eyes as she slammed down on the button and the gravity in the room suddenly shut off, startling the fighters and sending them crashing to the floor.

The Prince was not going to be happy about this.

Vegeta caught himself before he came full on with the tile however Goku wasn't so lucky and with a startled "whoa!" he feel face first into a corner of the room.

Shaking his head and descending gently to the floor, the Prince whipped towards the window to lash at whoever decided to end his spar with Kakkarot and glared when he found the perpetrator.

Standing in all her 5"5 glory, the pouty raven shifted her weight to one hip and folded her arms over her chest, a stance he was far to familiar with.

Rapping on the window, she banged three times to make sure she had his attention. "Hey jug-head!" she yelled. "Mom wants you in the dining room for dinner!"

The Prince rolled his eyes at his kid-sister.

"We'll finish this tomorrow Kakkarot, my useless family apparently doesn't understand the value of hard work."

"All right Vegeta" Goku murmured on the floor. "See ya later"

Rolling his eyes at his alleged "elite" as well, Vegeta stomped towards the door while the help scurried for water and towels.

"This whole empire is running into the ground by idiots" he grumbled, and nearly ripped off the door from its hinges.

"Sire your towel"

"Sir, your water"

Snatching the items from the slaves he sent them away with a wave and glared at his sister who only glared back.

"What?" she said and he drank furiously at the water.

"What are you trying to do kill me?"

She shrugged. "It'd be my throne before yours if I did."

He glared. "You're a woman and a bastard child, don't count on ever sitting on a throne."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being grumpy and go and shower you pig."

"Watch your mout—"

"Mom said she wants you in the dinning room in and hour"

Deciding to pick his battles, Vegeta simply grunted and walked out, swigging his water and praying his room was finally free of his ex-girlfriend's crap.

XXXX

He showered and changed in no time, in a slightly better mood due to Trish's things actually being gone. He was glad to get rid of her and it gave him a chance to re-think a new game plan while he cleaned up.

Trish had screwed up by sleeping around and the infamous Prince was no single again. He had gone through a fleet of women since his teenaged years and being single was nothing new to him but parliament and his family hated it. They had stressed to him from the very beginning that he'd need a mate to settle down with, someone to make him King and produce and heir with. After all it was the law but Vegeta was far from interested.

He had other plans; plans to reclaim his planet and be the strongest he could be and a mate didn't fit that plan. As far as Vegeta was concerned, he'd do damn fine by himself; he didn't need anyone.

Making it to the royal dining room just on time, he found his mother and sister waiting for him to arrive and his father at the head of the table, glaring at his son as he walked through the door.

Like father like son.

"What the hell took you so long?" he asked. The question Vegeta knew was coming before he even walked in. His father asked the same thing no matter where he was.

"I was making sure I'm of an acceptable appearance to see you" he shot sarcastically, making his way to his designated seat. "Good enough?"

Vegeta senior only rolled his eyes and fanned out his napkin over his lap. "A glass of wine before I die of parchment!" he ordered one of the slaves who scurried to the serving table.

On his way to his seat Vegeta found his mother and embraced her over the shoulders and kissed her on the cheek as she caressed him tenderly before moving onto his sister and shoving her once for good measure. He then finally sat down.

"Hey! Stop pushing you animal!" came his sister's court reply, before she fanned out her own napkin.

Typically Vegeta hated when he was called for family dinners, he felt it was over-rated and not worth the effort. It was a saijin tradition for the royal family to sit down and eat together but his family was so far beyond screwed up, he tried avoiding direct contact with them unless necessary.

To the kingdom and its people, the Royal family was perfect if taken in at face value. But underneath, there were so many cans opened and so many scars running deep, Vegeta hated to think about what really went on sometimes.

Typically he came to dinner for his mother and his sister's sake. His mother was desperately trying to pick up the shattered remains of her broken family, but when the belly of the beast was seated at the head of the table, it was hard for her to fight the battle alone.

"Son" his father began, after being poured a fair helping of wine. "Word around is that you and Trish are no longer"

Vegeta glanced at his father quickly before looking at the food in front of him, picking up his fork and knife. "Good news travels fast." He murmured, sipping his own drink.

His father gave him the all-knowing stare, which Vegeta hated. He felt a lecture coming on.

"I don't appreciate you throwing away good matches like waste Vegeta." He said and the Prince rolled his eyes. "She could have helped you"

"How? By having bastard children with all of my council?"

"Apparently you aren't looking to become King" his father replied. "You know the law"

"The law is bullshit" Vegeta junior replied. "I don't need a damned woman to help me run this planet. I capable of doing it on my own."

His father snorted, mirroring the smirk Vegeta often displayed himself. Vegeta hated how much he resembled his father. Subtracting the goatee and an inch or two, they were exact carbon copies of each other.

He felt as though if he at least had his own distinguishable features aside from his father, a significant difference could be told between them. He wanted to be nothing like his father and when he was King, he vowed things would be different.

"Of course you can" The King shot cruelly. "Right after you've defeated Freeza and have become the "legendary""

The Prince sent death glares in the King's direction. That touched a sensitive nerve.

"Vegeta stop" His mother cautioned her husband. She too hated her mate's mouth sometimes, and the things that came out of it.

Although they still held their Royal positions, Freeza had conquered planet Vegeta a little over a decade ago and had declared himself supreme Emperor or whatever it was that he liked to go by. The Prince didn't particularly care.

Freeza and his father King Cold had proven to be quite the bad ass aliens. They were strong and powerful; powerful enough to conquer an already tough planet. They came in and attacked without warning, over taking an, at the time, weak government and not so strong fighters.

They killed thousands of saijins, destroying homes and villages and killed elite warriors and slaughtered some of the planets toughest women to eliminate any powerful offspring in the future. Freeza also grabbed a hold of the King's warriors that were left and used King Vegeta as a middleman to send his elites off to conquer less significant planets for his own ruling and mission to rule the universe he was under.

Freeza was smart but the saijins were smarter. Though suffering under Freeza's rule they knew in due time with the Icejin's lack to grow stronger, and the ability of the saijins to reach the legendary, they'd overcome.

And that was Vegeta's plan. Train hard, reach the legendary, kill Freeza and become King.

His father however, disbelieved he could do so.

Choosing to ignore King Vegeta's snide remarks, the Prince continued eating without a word and he could hear his mother sigh. This is how Royal dinners often went, and this is why he hated them.

An awkward silence fell on the Royal family before Vegeta's sister decided to pick up the conversation. "Well I'm glad you got rid Trish; she's a bitch."

"Vanessa" her mother scolded and she gave her mother a hopeless glance.

"What? She was." She defended. "She threatened to throw me in boarding school when she became queen or some crap. What the hell am I? Twelve"

"You could use some finishing school" The King directed at his daughter. "I've yet to see you act like a Princess since you've been alive."

Vanessa glared. Like her brother, she wasn't scared of the King, and she took her father's comments straight on.

"Yeah? And what will that take? Flaking myself to every elite that flaunts his package around here. I'm much more than a wedding gift dad."

The King snorted. "A Princess is useless if she isn't arranged to be wed. Don't shame the family Vanessa."

Vanessa waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe I'll become a concubine instead." She challenged. "We all know how much you love those."

Prince Vegeta watched as his mother's gaze fell from her daughter, to the depths of her plate. It was no secret that the King liked to keep concubines around, and as much as it pained his mate, it was frowned upon for the Queen to act out in jealousy.

"Shut your mouth you disrespectful wench! I am your father and your King, and you will—"

"Vanessa just stop" Vegeta interrupted his father and she simply huffed, continuing the meal in front of her.

Vegeta knew where this argument was going; the same place it went every dinner. The King and the Princess would go at it, she's wind up with a smack across the face and an order to her room without food, and his mother would excuse herself with pride holding her tears until she joined her daughter and cried herself to sleep. It was the same bullshit, yet a different day and Vegeta wondered how long it took for things to spiral this far out of hand.

"Such shame and disrespect; I have no idea where you picked it up from."

Forks and knives continued to clang on priceless china as another long silence fell into the room.

"Anyway, speaking of concubines Vegeta."

The Prince looked up. He couldn't believe his father was still speaking.

"Dedoria informed me there's to be an auction tomorrow night. A new bundle of slaves were brought in, I think it would be good for you. Starting from square one and clearing your mind about this mating nonsense."

Vegeta snorted. He was far from interested in useless pleasure slaves; he'd rather train to become the legendary.

"They're from Earth."

The Prince snorted again finishing his last bite and dropping his fork on the table. "Whatever" he said ignoring his father's words. He didn't want to look at his mother before he left knowing there'd be hurt in her eyes and not being able to handle that look again.

"You're disgusting father" was all he said before he exited.

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So what do ya think for the first chapie? Review!