Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Author: Higuchimon
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal
Story Title: By The Queen's Command
Characters: Kotori, Rio||Romance: Kotori x Rio/Rio x Kotori
Word Count: 2,378||Chapters: 1/1
Genre: Romance, Drama|Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Diversity Writing Challenge, E27, fic that is T-rated; Catch the Barian Emperors (Merag); Easter Egg Basket Advent, day #8, write a fic that includes at least 5 colors; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #48, 2,378 words; Pairing Diversity Challenge, #19, consent; New Year's Mini Advent 2015-2016, write from a female character's POV; ZexalMonth on Tumblr, OTP Week, day #2, prompt ice cream
Challenge Location: Diversity Writing, Catch the Barian Emperors, Easter Egg Basket Advent, Pairing Diversity Challenge, & Word Count Set Boot Camp are all located at Digimon Challenge Forum on . ZexalMonth is held on Tumblr.
Notes: This takes place in an AU and involves slavery and questions of consent, but no non-con at all.
Summary: Queen Merag can order whatever she pleases. Kotori is her slave and will obey any command. But over a late night bowl of ice cream, Kotori's world suddenly changes when the nature of what the Queen will ask of her changes.
Kotori pushed the door to Queen Merag's private study open with her foot, her hands occupied with holding the white porcelain bowl. She took every step with care, not wanting to spill anything. The Queen seldom punished her for mistakes, but Kotori preferred not to take chances.
Her Majesty sat in her customary chair by the window, arrayed in her usual robes of blue and white, edged with brilliant silver that picked up the moonlight and reflected it back. She looked up as Kotori approached and gestured for her to leave the bowl on the ebony table beside her.
"Is there anything else you need, Majesty?" Kotori kept her eyes downcast. She wanted to see more of her Queen than the glints of ice-blue hair or her shimmering robes, but she'd been trained well. Slaves such as her were not to gaze upon the glory of their mistress without permission, and that was seldom given.
"Stay where you are." Queen Merag made a small gesture, and Kotori at once sank down to her knees. She'd done this before, indicating for Kotori to remain at hand while she accomplished some task or other. Kotori let herself enjoy those moments. Not only were they a rare rest, but she liked spending time around the Queen, even if she wasn't allowed to speak.
Merag examined the bowl of water, as cold as it could be, then reached out to touch one finger to it. Kotori could see a little of what happened at that touch, and as always, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Merag's power.
Power used not to bring harm to anyone or for anything magnificent or imposing, but to create something sweet for a simple snack.
It was still power that Kotori didn't have, would never have, and could only appreciate wasn't turned against her. But Queen Merag reigned over all forms of ice and snow and cold, and that included this treat.
Merag picked up the spoon Kotori brought along with the bowl and sampled her creation, a pleased light appearing in her eyes. Seeing her happy pleased Kotori in turn. Merag had a few more bites, before she turned her attention back to the waiting slave.
"Here." She scooped another spoonful up and held it out toward Kotori. "Have some. I think you'll like it."
Kotori's eyes widened; while Merag had given her many treats and honors over the years, disguising them where she could as moments to rest, she'd never made this kind of an offer.
For a few heartbeats she wavered, not certain of what to do, before she leaned forward and licked tentatively at the cold treat. Sweetness far greater than sugar burst over her lips, followed by a rich smoothness unlike anything she remembered having before.
"It's called chocolate," Merag told her, feeding her another bite. "When Nasch and I visited Spartan City last winter, their king offered us a few samples. It's taken me a while to learn how to recreate it."
Kotori remembered that visit; she hadn't been brought along for it. But from chance comments fallen, she knew that the royal twins thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
After four bites, Merag leaned back and watched Kotori carefully. "What do you think of it?"
She could answer a direct question, though she wasn't allowed to ask one herself, that didn't pertain to the Queen's welfare or desires. "It's wonderful, Your Majesty. Thank you."
Merag did not take her eyes off of Kotori, who quickly returned her own gaze to the floor, where it remained on the gold-worked rugs until the Queen reached to lift her chin up with one finger.
"Whatever question I ask, you'll only tell me what you think I want to hear: what will make certain I don't get angry at you. Because I could have you executed or worse if I so desired."
Kotori said nothing. What could she say, even if she'd been allowed speech now?
Merag's lips thinned and Kotori's heart beat faster. Merag hadn't ever punished her without her having actually done something wrong – really wrong, not something Merag just said was wrong, she wasn't like King Vector - but there could always be the first time.
The queen's other hand moved to the side of her face. "Kotori, what I want to hear from you is the absolute truth, even if you're telling me no. What will make sure I don't get angry with you is knowing you want what I would like to give you."
Kotori said nothing still. She could only wait and worry and wonder.
"Would you like to kiss me, Kotori?"
In all of her life, Kotori hadn't ever imagined such a question to fall from the Queen's lips. She was too surprised to even think about lying, even if she could to her mistress.
"Yes, Majesty!" She couldn't imagine anything that would give her more pleasure. Not even tasting that delicious ice cream again would be better than the touch of Merag's lips on her own.
Merag's eyes met hers and Kotori wanted to look away, in answer to all of her training. But Merag wouldn't let her. For a few moments, Kotori hoped that they would kiss.
But then the Queen looked away. "When you can say that because you want it and I can believe you are saying it without being afraid, then that will also be my answer."
Kotori's heat skipped a beat or two. She didn't think. She didn't plan anything at all. But one thought crystallized in her mind: Queen Merag wanted to kiss her.
She lunged forward, pressing her hands to the floor to steady herself, and did what she would not have dared to do before hearing those words. She didn't know how she dared to do it now.
Merag's lips were cool, her surprise genuine, but the warmth that built up between them flared bright. The queen's arm slid around her, holding her close.
Kotori would never have dared to do that if she'd thought the Queen would rage at her for it. But with that one slim hope that Merag wouldn't, that she would accept what was given when Kotori knew what would happen if the Queen was displeased.
Frankly, it was something of a mess inside of her head and heart at the moment, but Kotori took a chance, remembering what Yuuma told her all those years ago.
If the Queen did rage at her anyway, then she would take whatever she had coming, even if it meant her own death.
She fell back, head dropping down once more, from a mix of training and habit as much as anything else. The Queen leaned back in her own chair, pale skin flushed a shade of red Kotori hadn't ever seen before. For several long minutes, neither of them said a single word.
It was, of course, Queen Merag who broke the silence.
"You didn't have to do that."
Kotori said nothing.
"Why did you?"
Now she spoke. "You asked if I wanted to. You said that it was what you wanted." She swallowed, tension hardening her. "If my Queen desires my head after this, then so be it."
Silence fell once more, deeper and richer, but not the kind of silence that preluded a call to the guards and Kotori being escorted to the dungeon.
Again Merag spoke it. Only she properly could, after all. "You were afraid of what I'd do. You still are. And yet you did it anyway."
That got a slight nod, and then Merag lifted Kotori's head once again.
"I can't free you. Our laws don't allow it and changing them will require years of work. I could banish you and call you back when it's done. I could sell you to the King of Spartan City: their laws allow the freeing of slaves under certain circumstances." The side of her mouth quirked. "In fact, he's soon to wed a former slave of his. Nasch and I will be attending the ceremony this spring."
Kotori swallowed, biting her lip. That's all very well and good for them, she thought, but that would mean I couldn't see you again. Who else would take care of you? What if King Vector sent someone to try to hurt you?
She knew that Queen Merag could take care of herself under most circumstances, but the king of ExSartoria had many a clever trick up the sleeves he didn't wear. She'd rather be here and know that the Queen hadn't fallen for them than two weeks' journey away and quite probably not aware of anything until it was too late.
"Or I could keep you here, with me," Merag continued, "But in that case, we do nothing at all. No kisses, Kotori. Nothing more than you, my slave, and I, your mistress. Only knowing that I will free you one day: if I can. Which may not even happen."
Kotori could not take her eyes off of Merag's. For the first time in her life, her training broke, and she whispered, "Don't send me away, my Queen. As much as it would hurt to stay beside you and be nothing, it would be even worse to never see you again."
She could not help but tremble at the sound of her own voice. But she had to say something, and she didn't dare risk that Merag not ask her. In the back of her mind, the voices of those who'd trained her insisted she should be punished for this, and she tried hard to ignore them.
What punishment could ever be worse than never seeing Merag again? Or worse, to spend years apart and then discover the Queen's fancy moved to another, that all the waiting was in vain?
She would not sleep well tonight.
Merag considered Kotori's words, or so Kotori hoped. "You'd take being with me, nothing changing besides knowing what we both want, over being somewhere else? Anywhere else?"
"Why does nothing have to change?" Kotori countered, daring more than she ever had in her life. What would it cost her anyway? The Queen wouldn't execute her, and the Queen alone held power of life or death over her. "I belong to you. Everyone knows this." She reached up to touch the slim collar of silver around her neck, marked with Merag's personal symbol. "You know the law: you can do anything you please with those who are your slaves."
She swallowed; she'd feared being a slave used for her owner's private pleasure more than anything when she'd reached the slave market five years earlier. To be treated as she'd been was a dream come true itself.
Perhaps that was part of why she'd fallen so hard for her mistress, because Merag hadn't ever touched her in such a manner before.
"But I won't do that to you. Just because I can doesn't mean that I will. Or that I even want to." Again Merag's fingers touched her, the cool of the ice magic that ran in her veins against Kotori's warm skin.
A thousand thoughts warred within Kotori's mind. If the Queen so decreed, then she couldn't argue it, no matter how much she wanted to. She bent her head once more.
"As you command, mistress."
Again Merag lifted her head, and determination now shone in her eyes. "I have not yet commanded." For a handful of moments she remained quiet. When she spoke, it wasn't what Kotori expected at all.
"I cannot free you throughout the entire land. But I will search for ways to do that, and until then, this I can do: in these quarters and in anywhere we go that belongs solely to me, you are free, whether or not you wear your collar. But only when it is just you and I. No one else will know of this."
Again the side of her mouth quirked into a smile. "Except my brother. I'll need his help to revise the laws. But I don't think he'll care."
Kotori didn't think King Nasch would care either. Not after the looks she'd seen him giving one of the knights who would under most circumstances be considered of insufficient bloodlines as a viable option for a lover or consort. At least if Sir Durbe didn't want to share the king's bed, he could say no.
"As you command, my mistress," Kotori murmured the words she's said so many times over the years. She wasn't surprised to feel her head being lifted up once more and to see those eyes, warming bit by bit, meeting her own.
"These are my quarters and there's no one else with us. I want you to call me by my name." A mischievous gleam sparked in the queen's eye for a heartbeat. "I've heard enough 'mistress' and 'my queen' out of everyone I know. If it weren't for Nasch, I'd forget what my own name was."
Kotori's cheeks blushed bright red. "Y-yes… M… my… Merag..."
Again the Queen smiled. "Your Merag?"
Kotori collapsed to her knees, quivering, not sure if it were terror or humor that made her shake now. "I'm sorry… I didn't..." How could she have said that?
"No." Merag lifted her up again and pulled her closer. Kotori didn't resist for a moment. The Queen's gentle hands on her made her want to shiver with pleasure. "I know what you meant. I think we should… finish the ice cream. I think that will be everything for tonight."
This time Kotori just nodded. It was all so much, far more than she truly felt herself ready to take in right now. The idea of being with the Queen, of having dreams she'd never let herself dream come true in any fashion, wasn't one she could adjust to easily. Time to think it over would be necessary.
Queen Merag could even change her mind by morning, writing it off to a sudden impulse and nothing more. She couldn't get her hopes up too high.
But for now, sitting beside her Queen, and being fed little dips of ice cream from the Queen's own hands seemed like the sweetest dream in the world.
Nor was it one she wanted to ever wake up from.
The End
Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.