Sorry for the typos in Chapter 1

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Chapter 2 – The Situation


This was getting to be too much. Treize, sitting on his throne, was meeting with his small counsel. His slave at his feet, Zechs, could sense his discomfort and laid his head against Treize's knee. Trying not to sigh Treize rested his hand upon Zechs' golden mane.

"—and there is no doubt that they wish to attack. It is only a matter of when." Came Heero's warning. Treize understood the gravity of the situation through Heero's heated voice. Heero was usually cool and efficient and delivered all information in such a manner. A look from him could freeze the hearts of enemies. In a warring world, Heero trained and lead Treize's warriors. He was one of the bravest warriors of the Daemon plane and was Treize's godsend when some of the other Daemon lords would wrest this land from him.

"We understand Hee~ro. We really do, but we can't declare war first. None of the other Daemon lords would stand for us." Duo responded in his sarcastic tones. Most of the court wondered how Duo had made it onto Treize's counsel. There was no noble birth, no real right to the counsel. Duo had snuck into the castle once to free a slave. He was very nearly successful had it not been for Heero. Treize appreciated such expert skill and asked for Duo to join his team of guards. Duo, the rambunctious upstart, spat in Treize's face and shared a few unkindly words of Treize's ability to rule. It was only after Treize had jailed Duo that Treize found out about the corruption going on under his rule. After traveling through the land and seeing the truth in Duo's words, Treize restructured the entire counsel into two groups: The trusted counsel, and the public counsel.

Treize returned to reality when he caught Trowa looking at him. Trowa and Midii were the last two candidates in the trusted counsel. Midii served Treize faithfully and with a cunning that not many had. She was a marvel, beautiful inside and out. She managed with an iron fist in a silk glove and was an indispensable part of Treize's life. It was under her urging that Trowa was privy to the counsel. Even now, Trowa bothered Treize in a way that couldn't be defined. He trusted Trowa with his life, but Trowa always seemed to be far away somewhere as though he had a left a part of himself in his old life. Treize sometimes wondered if that was the problem. What if Trowa's other part found him. Trowa could be sadistic and merciless to somebody with little to no expression or feeling. Treize knew the neighbopuring kingdom, Barton's kingdom, was terribly corrupt. Dekim himself was a despot and slaves were used as no more than cattle. Midii had never disclosed why Trowa had defected, only that he had. Sometimes thought, just sometimes, Treize could see the cruelty of the Barton lands in Trowa. There were times when Trowa thought slaves were nothing but dirt on a road, but at other times, Trowa could not abide the purchases of slaves. He was confusing, yes, but he was also intelligent, loyal, and patient.

However, today it seemed that Trowa's patience was wearing thin. So, without futher ado, Treize crossed his hands delicately on the table and asked, "So Trowa, what is your take on the situation?"


WuFei strode silently across the room to put away the last of his lord's possessions. With a firm hand he placed the book back on its shelf, fingers caressing its spine and lingering over the title a fraction longer than necessary. Life as a slave wasn't a life for anyone, but, at least, being Lord Trowa's slave was better than some. Lord Trowa was something of a mystery, so full of violence and sadness, but so beautiful. WuFei still did not understand what it was that made his lord so dissatisfied, but lord Trowa had never before tried to fill the void by taking on more slaves. WuFei had been lord Trowa's only slave. Sometimes, Trowa was cruel and heartless and was more prone to killing those that offended or defied him. This was the first time he had enslaved one.

With grace, WuFei began towards the champagne curtains in the corner of the room. Now that his lord's chamber was cleaned, he gave in to the curiosity to look upon the new acquisition: The blonde youth. WuFei's hands shook in anticipation as he peeled back the velvet fabric to reveal the slender form.

The boy was an anomaly. He was blonde, his hair white gold and baby fine as though it was made from sugar and light. There was only one other blonde in all the Daemon plain. WuFei did not feel the familiar tightening in his groin and the pooling heat in his belly as when he looked at Zechs. Instead, WuFei's breath caught and his heart lurched. All at once he felt content and incomplete. The longer he stared, the more confused he felt. The boy was beautiful—there was no doubt of that—but, the beauty wasn't lusty like Zechs'. It was simply…unfathomable.

WuFei did not realize that his hand had moved to stroke the boy's cheek until they made contact. Startled, WuFei stared down and was even more surprised to see sharp eyes the colour of clear green waters.

"W\\7'# =\-ng **n?"

"What is your name?" The boy did not belong in this realm…WuFei knew all the languages any could possibly speak. He schooled his confusion and asked the question to buy some time.

"^7*() r#u? %we26*79'7 1 )(Ve/?" Came the garbled response as the boy tried to move. Tried being the operative part of the sentence. After Lord Trowa had brought the blonde carcass back for WuFei to revive, he also cast a spell that that the boy would not be able to move without Lord Trowa's command. A wise decision as WuFei contemplated the murder in the other's eyes.

"%^&jhjky&^(*(4as54d^%Yha868#$F****R!" The boy's attitude and tone did not match his outer beauty. With care, WuFei meditated to check on his lord. Once establishing that his lord would be occupied for the next hour WuFei smiled wryly, cast a spell of understanding and braced himself for the onslaught of pain.

As he hunched over, grasping at his belly, he looked up at the blonde. No scream and no cry would flow past his lips no matter how much pain he was in. With slow shaky movements, he moved his hands away from his belly and mopped the sweat from his brow. One more exhalation and he stood slowly to full height, as proud and noble as he had ever been.

"I ask you now. What is your name?"

The blonde boy gawked in stunned silence. For a moment, there was awe on the blonde's beautiful features before it was chased away by familiar rage.

"I'm not answering anything until you tell me what's going on."

"You are in no position to ask me 'anything' especially as I currently have no inclination to answer you."

"Then you'd better become 'inclined' because I will not answer anything."

The boy was brave. WuFei would give him that. He could see that the boy anticipated torture by the stubborn set of his jaw. Once more WuFei studied the captive's delicate features. WuFei would control the pace of this interrogation, the pause would show control.

"Understand me, boy. You have very few options. You can answer the very simple question of your name of your own volition or under truth spell. I ask you your name from respect and–"

"I'll be damned you're asking out of respect you fu—"

"AND if you choose not to tell me I can spell you again." One blink. Two.

"What do you mean by 'spell' me?"

"I believe you took a care to realize that since you've awakened you have been unable to move or control your body. I also see intelligence behind your eyes. You've realized that we didn't speak the same language at the start of the…conversation. So, you've also most likely deduced that if I say that I can force you to tell me what I wish to know, you'll believe me."

"I believe you. How are you doing it?"

"By magic." WuFei pointed out what should have been obvious before moving to the boy's side. WuFei took a moment to rearrange the plush pillows to his liking under the blonde's watchful eye before seating himself. With his most austere expression he leaned against the pillows and propped the boy upright beside him. "Now, what is your name?"

"Quatre." The boy narrowed his eyes.

"Quatre. Very well then, Quatre, I will answer as many questions of yours that I can, and in return, I expect you to do the same. Truthfully."

With a searching look Quatre finally made a sound of acceptance.

"You may begin." WuFei offered graciously as he watched the boy's, Quatre's, face go slack. Quatre must have been a warrior. The fair-haired wonder was hiding the confusion behind a well-developed façade.

"First, specifically, what has been done to immobilize me?"

"I am not a genie. I will not pretend to misunderstand your meaning. You cannot move because you were put under a freeze spell. You were near death when Lord Trowa brought you to my feet. After healing you we immobilized you so that you wouldn't harm yourself…or us. Why were you in the Scarlet Woods?"

"I don't know. I wasn't supposed to be there. Who are you?"

"I may not have spoken your language, but I thought you called my name."

"Maybe I did, but I thought you said you wouldn't misunderstand my meaning."

WuFei acknowledged Quatre's rejoinder with a simple nod of the head and a wry smile before answering.

"I am WuFei exile of the Northern Draglord Warriors. Where do you come from?"

Quatre narrowed his eyes, "everyone knows where I'm from. What are you playing at?"

"You did not answer my question. I do not know where you come from, though I have guessed. Answer me." WuFei demanded haughtily. The boy—Quatre—was trying to stare him down. WuFei crossed his arms and looked down his nose and waited.

"L4. I'm from L4." Quatre bit out. He looked just about ready to spit, but WuFei wasn't done with his questions.

"I don't know where this L4 is. Be more specific."

"L4…it's a colony of the Earth." The boy continued to grit. WuFei was glad he was sitting down. Had he been standing, he would have most likely fainted.

Earth.

"You are really from Earth?" WuFei could no longer hide his wonder. He moved a tanned hand forward to run his knuckles over the boys cheek. If Quatre could move, he would have jerked his haed away. Instead, Quatre glared daggers as the back of WuFeis hand met his soft cheeks.

"Truly, from Earth?" WuFei could not keep the quivering out of his voice. The boy was lost on many levels, and suddenly the yearning WuFei felt from earlier grew tenfold.

"Tell me, truthfully, are you from Earth? If I find that you lie…"

"I am not from Earth, I'm from the colonies…but, I have been to Earth." WuFei's demeanour must have frightened the blonde. The blonde was confused and extremely wary, but was now responding to WuFei gently. After meeting the queer green eyes again WuFei's vision blurred. He moved his hand away from Quatre's face to find tears.

"I'm sorry. Earth is only a distant fantasy. You must be so young. How old are you?"

"Twenty-five years. What's going on? Where am I?"

"Twenty-fi—excuse me." WuFei got off the bed to collect himself. This boy was nothing but a babe. This boy was nothing but a human. WuFei measured his pace as he turned back around.

"I will answer any questions you ask if you tell me what you think is going on and what happened before you saw me in the woods." WuFei did not have a chance to regret his words before Quatre's face grew stormy.


End

Next time, more on the history of the Daemon plains and Trowa's cruelty.

Thank you to everyone who is reading. I hope you continue to enjoy my story and, perhaps, provide feedback in the future.

Special thanks to Bethja. I love getting reviews good & constructive! I did not write "The end". I only wrote 'end' to signify the end of the chapter . Nuanced, no?

Special Thanks and apologies to Windwraith. Thank you for the review and following. I know you were one of the subscribers and that is greatly appreciated. I hope that this chapter did not disappoint.