Ondore's Lies: Chapter One
Disclaimer: Not my characters, they are owned by Square-Enix.
Rating M – strong language, romance, and violence.
Warning: AU + mpreg, don't like it, don't read it.
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Basch sighed as he placed a hand over the growing bump of his belly, a forlorn expression on his face as he sat upon the dingy mattress he had been sleeping within for the past few weeks now. The single person room, with its one slit for a window, was what he called home. Ever since the year had passed since being called a kingslayer, Basch had been both mentally and physically tortured. Whether it be by his brother's hands or by someone else, it had taken its toll on the ex-knight. It wasn't until two months again that his fate had turned for possibly the worst. Something, or rather someone, had prompted his removal from the bird cage he had been imprisoned in for the past year and dragged, starved and thirsty, to a bright room that could only been the Marquis's office. Who had been there with the Marquis had sent a cold dagger straight through his heart.
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"It is amazing how stubborn you are, Basch fon Ronsenburg. A year with little food and water and still you have the will to live." That sadistic lilting voice made every hair on Basch's neck stand up as he kept his eyes stubbornly averted from the intense gaze that would be Vayne Carudas Solidor. It took everything in him to bite his tongue as the cruel Consul continued, "But maybe it is for the best that you are too stubborn to die. It might be there is a better use for you…"
Basch didn't like the way Vayne's voice seemed to fade into thought and finally lifted his gaze to see the Consul rubbing his chin, standing next to a quiet Ondore who was watching him almost apologetically. There was something going on that the two knew and weren't inclined to tell him. It made the feeling in his gut shift uneasily as he rattled the chains around his raw wrists and scowled, "Nothing you can do to me is worse than what has already happened." He snapped bitterly. His name had been slandered, his honor broken, as betrayal weighed heavily on his shoulders. People thought he had betrayed his own country and killed the man he had fought so hard for. But if they had only known the truth….
Vayne chuckled, an eerie sound as he stepped closer to the kneeling blond. "I wouldn't be quite so sure of that. There are many way crueler punishments I can come up with…and to my pleasure, I have quite the plan for you." He smirked as he cupped Basch's chin and forced the ex-knight to look him in his eyes, "Don't worry, there'll be something in it for you."
Basch spat at Vayne, spat at his lies, knowing that whatever was in store for him wasn't something he particularly wanted. Unfazed, Vayne grabbed a cloth and wiped his face clean before he stood up and ordered Basch be taken to a separate room, guarded, before he turned back to Ondore, who had stayed sullenly quiet the whole time.
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I don't know which I prefer, being stuck in a cage without food or water or being stuck in a room with such commodities but only because I'm carrying a bastard child that they plan to take from me anyways. The bitter thoughts rolled through Basch's mind as he laid flat on his back and placed his hands protectively over his belly. Two months along he was and he was already starting to feel an attachment to the baby growing inside of him, even though a part of his brain was disgusted in himself that he was in this predicament. Plus men weren't biologically supposed to be able to bear children, but maybe that embarrassment was what Vayne wanted for him. Or was it the fact that being born from royal decent with strong blood of a warrior, the baby would be desirable? It could be a mixture of both and that fact made Basch even sicker.
Basch closed his eyes as he remembered being escorted to a laboratory and strapped to a cold, steel table with leather straps. Dr. Cid Bunansa had come up to him and run a few tests, talking leisurely to Vayne who was watching him with that cruel smirk of his. Basch wanted to scream and throw himself at Vayne but his restraints kept him still and the following injection slowed him into unconsciousness. What had gone on then he could only guess at, somehow Dr. Cid had inserted a womb into him, a magicite-enhanced organ that he could feel pulsate through his body if he concentrated hard enough. Of course the piece of magicite lodged in the middle of his chest*, fed the magicite-enhanced organ to make sure it continued to function. The only missing piece of the puzzle was a person to impregnate it and that was where Marquis Halim Ondore IV came into the picture.
Basch still had no real idea what had made Ondore go through with Vayne's twisted plans and no manner of questioning would get more results. All Ondore ever said was that it was for his best interest. It made him wonder if Vayne was a blank shooter, unable to impregnate, or just so Ondore could get the brunt of the criticism. Who knew when it came to Vayne and Basch felt mildly comforted that there was a sliver of hope that the baby would be taken care of when it was born.
"I'll protect you." Basch whispered as he peered down at his belly, his brows scrunched together in concentration, wanting to feel the life within him. All he felt was the pulse of magicite magic circulating through his body to the fetus. His bitter promise reminded him of the failures of protecting his king, prince, and fellow knight. It struck a chord in him as he feared that despite his promise, he would fail his child. "I can't fail you, I won't…"
Somehow he'd keep Vayne from corrupting his child.
A knock on his door caused Basch to go tense as he scrambled into a sitting position, sapphire hues watching the door closely as it opened and welcomed in the Marquis. A slow exhale escaped Basch as he turned his eyes away and glared at the opposite wall. "What do you want?" He asked gruffly, hands still cupped defensively over his bump.
"I only wished to check up on you, Basch. It is my child you are bearing…I do worry." Ondore said in a slow, trained voice as he closed the door behind him. Carrying a tray of tea and some medicine Dr. Cid had prescribed for Basch, he walked over the bedside table and set the tray down. "How are you feeling this morning? Nauseous at all?"
"Worry? What do you care? You are just going to give it to Vayne…" Basch argued as he stared at the pills next to the cup of tea. "I'm just fine." He had thrown up right when he woke up but he didn't care to share that and reveal what he felt was his weakness.
"You don't know what I'm going to do. I thought you would trust me more than that." Ondore said sadly as he stirred the tea with a straw before holding it out to Basch with the pills on the small plate under the cup.
"Trust you? I trust you least of all now." Basch glared at Ondore before picking up the pills and placing them in his mouth before chasing them down with the tea. The only reason he was taking the pills were for the baby's sake, not because Dr. Cid or Vayne or Ondore wanted him to take them.
"I'm doing what I feel is best for my country, for all our countries, for you and the baby." Ondore argued as he set aside the cup and sat on the edge of the bed, hand going towards Basch's stomach. He saw the blond flinch and try to pull away but he didn't retract his hand as he touched the growing lump. It amazed him still that this was possible in any way and even though he acted harshly when they weren't alone, he was still secretly glad that Basch was carrying his child. If only Basch would understand that Ondore had no plans of letting Vayne have his way once the baby was born. He just couldn't tell him that now.
"That is funny. You are doing what is best for the baby? I find that laughable." Basch said even though he wasn't laughing. This wasn't a laughing matter and he'd be damned if Ondore thought he would so easily hand over his child to let Vayne do Faram's knows what with.
Ondore sighed at Basch's defensive manner, understanding it but tiring of it all the same. "When the time comes, you will see." He said in a low voice before he stroked the lump and leaned down to brush his lips against Basch's cheek, "Just know this, Basch, I do care." With that said, he stood up and stalked out of the room with one glance back before the door separated him and Basch.
Basch just made a choked noise as he rolled onto his side and curled up, eyes squeezing shut as he willed away the nightmarish thoughts that threatened to plague him.
*Note: Think of Iron Man, the thing implanted in his chest to keep him alive.
Please review :) I plan to keep going with this one.