Hey eveyone! :3 Sorry for the late update D: I am having sort of a writers block for this story but thanks to RL I got enough insperation to finish this chapter! :D I hope you guys enjoy! Again Thank you Running Lynx for giving me insperation for this story!
Natsu sat outside the throne room. Shortly after giving the king the letter, the pinkette was kicked out of the room and instructed to "do something useful."
The young slave couldn't help but wonder what was in the letter. It was from King Jude, who was the king of a city not far from Fairy Tail. Being the Dragon Tribe's leader, Natsu never really left his home to explore the rest of the desert. He had heard of the city but the pink haired teen didn't want to get involved with them.
Natsu leaned his head against the wall with a heavy sigh, thinking over ways to get his "master" to let him go free. The pinkette came up with many different tactics (some crazier than others) but none of them seemed like they would even work. One of the crazier plans involved Natsu flirting with Lucy and hopefully making Gray so mad that he would just kick the pink haired slave out of the castle. Another plan was just the pinkette trying to jump out of the window again. Natsu heard a few muffled shouts from the throne room and decided maybe it would better to go back to the parlor.
Gray sat in the same place Natsu had left him earlier. Lucy was absent from her chair and Erza was no were to be seen. Natsu stood there, unsure of what to say or even to say anything at all. Whenever the pinkette was around the prince he had a mixture of feelings. Some of them involved flaming hot anger and some shaky nervousness. The pinkette couldn't help but stare at the prince, admitting he was pretty handsome. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue that complimented the color of his wild hair. Gray was well built but not too bulky and he had nice sculpted features.
"Hey? Earth to Pinky!" A voice shouted, derailing Natsu's train of thought.
"Pinky!?" Natsu repeated, shaking a fist in the air.
Gray only smirked," Well the name suits you I guess."
"Don't go giving me weird nicknames!" The pink haired teen yelled, getting in the prince's face.
"Why not?"
"Cause! What if I started calling you 'The Biggest Bastard on Earth'?"
"That's not really a good nickname." Gray retorted, now out of his chair, nose to nose with Natsu.
With that last retort the prince was tackled to the ground. The teens were rolling on the floor, trying to pin one another down while screaming lame insults. Gray landed a good hit to Natsu's nose, making the pinkette wince. The slave quickly recovered and kicked the raven in the gut, switching their positons. This went on for what seemed like a couple of hours untill Gray flipped Natsu on his back. Natsu glared at the prince, grabbed Gray's arm and twisted. The raven gasped, lost his balance and crashed into the pinkette . The two teen's lips smashed togeather. Their eyes widened, breath and heart rate speeding up, and their faces glowed red. They stayed in the position, as if frozen in shock untill they heard the distant sound of footsteps. Gray scrambled off of Natsu and off the floor. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, face still rosy.
What the hell just happened? Gray thought to himself repeatedly.
Erza stepped into the parlor, looking at Gray and Natsu with a raised eye brow.
"Something wrong you two?" Theknight asked casually.
"N-no..I just um..." Gray stuttered, trying to form a good lie.
"I got tired and decided to take a nap!" Natsu added quickly.
"On the hard marble floor?" Erza muttered in disbelief.
"What can I say? It is just too comfy..." Natsu said through gritted teeth.
"Whatever you say...anyway, King Alastair wants to see Gray in the Throne room and Natsu, go help the cooks in the kitchen." The knight scoffed, crossing her arms.
Gray nodded slowly, not wanting to see his father at the moment. His mind was still reeling after the little wresting accident. Knowing that he didn't have much of a choice, the prince left the parlor and to the throne room. There were two knights stationed at the doors making the raven raise an eyebrow in question. His father must have summoned him for something important to have two knights guarding the door. Gray stepped in front of the knights, who bowed and opened the double doors. The throne room was empty except for the king and his three personal assigned knights: Freed, Laxus, and Mirajane.
"Oh, son, please come here," his father said smoothly and flicked his wrist.
The prince glared at the floor as he stepped up to the group. Freed handed Gray a sealed envelope with a nod. The raven took the envelope gingerly and looked up at his father.
"What is this?"
"A letter that I need you to give to Princess Lucy." The king answered solemnly.
"Why do I have to do it?" Gray grumbled, eyes gazing over the letter.
"Because if I send a knight, he will only send him away. Princess Lucy must give it to King Jude personally."
"What's in the letter?"
"That letter is for King Jude's eyes only, you hear me? If I find out that you had read it there will be hell to pay. Dismissed!" King Alastair sneered.
"Yes sir," the raven hissed.
Gray walked out of the room, hearing hushed whispers behind him. His father never made him pass on letters. The raven wanted to know what the two kings where conversing about so he decided to go somewhere were his father's knights wouldn't see him and read the document.
Gray sighed in annoyance as he walked back to the front room and flash backs of "the accident" crossed his mind. Gray grimaced with a blush, noticing how adorable Natsu had looked at that moment.
The raven opened the large, doors that led outside. The hot wind blew the sand in all directions, making it hard to see. Gray squinted, trying to make out the dirt path that lead to the gateway. A fence blocked all the citizens from entering the castle without permission. Two armed guards, who could have been mistaken as statues, were planted outside the entrance.
"Ahem." Gray muttered as he stepped up to the iron gate.
The two knights spun around with no emotion in their stone cold faces. They both gave a small bow and led the raven through. The wind died down just enough to let the sand settle down to the ground. Gray shielded his face from the sun that beamed right in front of him. It was one of the hotter days in Fiore. Grayheard the sound of cicadas as he made his way to the rich part of the city. No one was out walking around or selling things at the market as the raven trudged on toward the beginning of the poor part of Fairy Tail.
Gray stopped in his tracks and looked at the letter. It was clearly addressed to King Jude and the prince knew that he would probably get into big trouble if his father found out but he shrugged. Gray walked over to an allay that was between two large buildings and leaned against the brick wall that was at the end of it. He opened the letter swiftly and pulled out the stiff, official paper. The raven's eyes scanned over the parchment as he began to read,
Dear King Jude,
I am holding all of the slaves hostage. If you try to wage war, I will hold a public execution. I will personally make sure all of their deaths will be nice and slow. I am sure all of the citizens would love that. As for the arranged marriage, maybe we should just hold off on it till this matter is sorted out.
King Alastair of Fairy Tail
Gray dropped the paper in panic.
Kill all of the slaves? The prince thought with horror. Would dad really kill them?
One other thing made the raven's eyes widen. Natsu's in danger!
With that Gray ran all the way back to the castle. Sand blew in his eyes but it didn't stop him. He finally made it to the entrance of the castle, panting and sweating. The guards gave the prince a curious look but let him through. Gray ran to the double doors without acknowledging the knights and pushed doors open.
Cool air blasted the raven in the face as he stepped into the parlor. He tried to catch his breath as he looked around at the open area. It was silent and empty, no sign of the pink haired slave.
Gray's heart raced as he ran into the kitchen, praying that Natsu was still helping the cooks. The raven hoped that his father hadn't hurt the pinkette. Images of the kiss ran into the prince's mind, making him blush. Though the prince would never admit it, Natsu had grown on him. Gray looked around for the familiar wild pink hair but sighed with defeat. Levy, the castle's head cook, glanced at the prince.
"Are you okay, Your Majesty?" She asked sweetly as she began to cut up some carrots.
"Is Natsu here?" The raven asked quickly, still panting.
"Oh the pink haired one?"
"Y-yeah! Did he leave?"
"Hmm… Yeah he left awhile ago." Levy frowned as she picked up the carrots and dumped them into a boiling pot.
Gray said nothing as he ran out of the kitchen and back into the front room. He had no idea where Natsu was and it freaked the prince out. The teen ran up the stairs, a sheet of sweat forming on his pale face.
"Natsu!" Gray cried out hoping the slave would answer.
Without noticing the knight, Gray crashed into Erza.
"My Prince!" The scarlet haired woman yelled angrily.
"Sorry... Hey have you seen Natsu?"
Erza shook her head and with a nod, walked down the stairs.
Gray frowned and continued to sprint down the hallway. The pinkette had to be somewhere in the castle! The teen's mind was a blur as the panic and adrenaline in him started to slow down. The raven was reminding himself to breathe and think rationally.
Father wouldn't be that cruel... Gray thought, then snorted.
King Alastair was that cruel. He would kill anyone or anything that got in his way. The prince passed one of the bathrooms and the door was cracked open. He heard some shuffling as if something was being moved around.
"Hello?" The raven called out.
He pushed open the door and saw a young boy with dark purple hair cleaning the floor with a small brush. The raven believed the slave's name was Romeo. King Alastair's knights had found Romeo outside the city barriers, starving and filthy. They brought the boy back to the castle and King Alastair would only let him stay if he became a slave. Gray never really saw the kid around due to Romeo being one of Gray's father's personal slaves. The purple haired boy looked up at the prince startled and hurried to get off the semi-clean tiles.
"Prince Gray! I-I'm sorry...I'll g-get out now!" The boy squealed as he fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor.
"No it's alright, Romeo," Gray replied with a slight frown. "Have you seen Natsu?"
The slave's eyes brightened. "Yes sir. I saw Wendy and Nastu go out to the garden."
Gray nodded in thanks and ran out of the bathroom, back to the sitting room, then out to the garden. The enclosure was nice and quiet. All the raven could hear was the sound of the wind and some low bird chirps. The teen spotted Wendy looking up at the top of one of the garden walls. The wall was made of rusted metal with shriveled up vines snaking up around it. It was very unpleasant to look at but blue haired slave looked almost concerned.
"Why isn't he here yet?" She muttered, loud enough for Gray to hear.
Suddenly, a head of pink hair ran up to the former dragon slayer. Natsu had come from the other end of the garden which was the only other entrance to the lifeless sanctuary. Gray stepped forward quietly so he would be close enough to get a better look at the slaves but far enough to not be noticed.
"Sorry I took so long...those knights are pretty tough." The pinkette said modestly, rubbing the back of his head.
Gray frowned, noticing little cuts and bruises on Natsu's arms and face. Wendy also noticed and wiped off blood from the Dragon tribe leader's cheek.
"We are going to get out of here this time. Then we can go join that lady." Natsu smiled.
Wendy's blue eyes sparkled with a glimmer of hope.
Gray couldn't help but be mesmerized by the teen's smile. It lit up the whole place and he seemed so sincere. Natsu's green eyes traveled over to Gray.
Damn it! The prince mentally cursed himself as he walked over to the two slaves.
"What are you guys doing?" The raven asked like he hadn't been listening the whole time.
Natsu sneered at Gray and stood protectively in front of Wendy. "We are getting the out of here."
The teen prince shook his head with a sigh. He knew that Natsu would be better off leaving but the darker part of himself begged to differ.
"What about your powers?" Gray murmured, crossing his arms.
"I really don't give a damn at this point, my prince." Natsu snapped in a mocking tone.
The pinkette grabbed Wendy's wrist and walked up to the wall.
"How do you plan to get up and over?" Gray smirked.
Natsu growled, "Shut up!"
"Look Natsu you guys are in da—"
"I would recommend that you two stay for a while," a cold voice cooed.
Gray turned to face his father, Freed, Mirajane, and Romeo. Romeo was quivering behind King Alastair with tears forming in his eyes. The purple haired boy mouthed 'I'm sorry' and Gray gulped. Freed and Mirajane walked up to Wendy and Natsu, swords drawn.
"I believe this deserves a punishment." King Alastair snickered.
"F-father I—" Gray stuttered.
The king's cold eyes landed on Gray. "I don't want to hear a word from you. You tried to help them escape."
Freed grabbed Natsu's shoulder, only to be hit in the face. The green haired knight hissed and swung his sword. Natsu cried out in pain as he stumbled to the sandy ground, clutching his bloody leg. The pink haired teen struggled to get up but Freed stepped on his head keeping him trapped to the ground.
"Natsu!" Wendy yelled as Mirajane grabbed her.
Gray looked at Natsu with worry as King Alastair put his hand on the prince's shoulder.
"You three will be sleeping somewhere special tonight."
XXX
Cliffhanger!? What will happen to our trio? Stay tuned for next chapter to find out! :D
You guys need to check out Running Lynx's story that is the same concept as this story but hers is quite different and awesome!
www. fanfiction s/9885874/1/ In-The-Desert (Don't use the spaces when you type it in!)
Please review and Favorite :3 They are both appreciated!
Now on to the review from last chapter!
demonprincess13: Guess you found out! XD
NyAnCaTX3: Poor Poor Natsu D: I am glad you like this story though!
Sylvia-san: Maybe they will...maybe they won't O; Glad you find it interesting!
Crystalangel544: Good because I hate tomatoes! D: Cx
x0xalexis8: Yeppp
Running Lynx: :D Thanks you!
lydiareynolds117: The wedding may or may not be off XD I know right! Only Natsu is perfect with Gray!
Gratsu-dragon: Glad you love it :3
Bellatrix Trickster: Guess you found out!
Hope you guys enjoyed chapter four and again please review and favorite!