Chapter 4: Balances
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Apologies for the slightly shorter chapter, but I will make up with a longer one next time. Have to run to work, but wishing you all a great day! Love, Spunky
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Haschwalth led Byakuya and Uryuu down several hallways, past a number of guarded doors, to the also guarded entrance to the palace's grand suite. Inside, wood paneled walls had been inlaid with gold patterns, the dark wood floors were dressed with rich, red and gold rugs and all of the furnishings were handmade and looked to be antique. Uryuu ignored the environs completely, laying a hand on his swollen belly and frowning meaningfully at Haschwalth.
"Where have you taken my father and brother?" he demanded, "You said that…"
"You are obviously out of sorts," Haschwalth said calmly, "Your father's ordeal has placed you under great stress. Ryuuken is in competent hands, and believe me when I tell you, no one here wishes you, your father or your brother any harm."
He exchanged shadowed glances with Byakuya.
It's a warning to remain at Uryuu's side, for my own safety.
"I don't care about their intentions," Uryuu insisted angrily, "I want to see my father!"
"And you will," Byakuya promised, slipping a hand into his, "I think Lord Haschwalth is suggesting that it would be best for me to give you an infusion and for you to have something to eat before we go to see Ryuuken and your brother."
"Actually, after Uryuu's infusion, I will need to meet with you privately, Kuchiki taichou," Haschwalth added.
"No way," Uryuu said in a low, warning growl, "Byakuya is not going to leave my sight while we are here. I know what's probably going on behind my back. I'm not stupid just because I'm pregnant!"
"No one is trying to trick you, your highness," Haschwalth assured him, "But you have to understand that while you are a ward of the shinigamis, I am regent and I am balanced in power with the restored noble lords. They have insisted that because Central 46 placed the charm to recover Byakuya, we must and will examine him thoroughly."
"What do you mean, examine him? What are you going to do to him? I won't let you hurt him!"
"Uryuu," Byakuya said soothingly, curling his arms around his agitated husband from behind and beginning the infusion, "you must try to remain as calm as you can. Your riled emotions will upset the balances in your body. Remember, these people cannot risk harming me while you are dependent on me for the infusions. They may attempt to delay us here until you go into labor, but they cannot make their move until then."
"Byakuya is right," Haschwalth agreed, "We are unable to take any meaningful action against you."
"But taking Byakuya and examining him could shift the balance," Uryuu challenged him, "I'll say it again, Byakuya is not leaving me for a moment while we are here, and any examinations will be conducted in front of me!"
Haschwalth looked taken aback for a moment, but swiftly recovered and nodded.
"Of course, your highness. I will relay to the noble's council what you have said."
Byakuya and Uryuu watched as Haschwalth left them and closed the door behind him. Byakuya moved in the direction of the bed, continuing the infusion as the two sat down with Byakuya behind his piqued husband.
"That was masterfully played," Byakuya said appreciatively in his ear, "I will assume they will find a way to remove me from your side and conduct their examination, but even if they do, you have shown them that you are not without determination."
"If those bastards think for a second that I'm going to just let them have at you, they're wrong!" Uryuu declared, "Prisoner of the shinigamis or not, I am their king. And I won't let them mistreat the one person who has stood up for me and protected me thorugh everything!"
Byakuya leaned over Uryuu's shoulder, capturing his lips for a long, bracing kiss. His warm hands slipped beneath his husband's clothing and slid along the soft skin of his rounded abdomen, feeding the area with his reiatsu and surrounding Uryuu in bracing calm.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," Uryuu whispered, placing his hands on Byakuya's and inciting another flurry of kisses, "It's insulting that they think I'll be so easy to walk all over. They're going to figure out pretty quick I won't let it be like that. But I need you to make me a promise, Byakuya."
"Anata, whatever you need," Byakuya assured him, brushing his cheek against Uryuu's, "only ask me."
"All right," Uryuu said, turning towards Byakuya and taking the noble's face gently in his hands, "Here's what I need. I need you not to help them take you away from me."
Byakuya blinked in surprise, then a measure of genuine admiration touched his grey eyes.
"And don't tell me that it hadn't crossed your mind," Uryuu went on, "I know how you think. You are thinking that the agitation, the stress I'm under is not good for me, and that if you overcome me and cooperate with them, you will ease the tension between us. I understand it as a protective strategy, but I don't want you to do that. Instead, let me protect you while we're here. Stay close to me and trust me, only me. As long as we are agreed and we stick together, they won't be able to try anything with you, and I will feel less stress. Will you do that? Will you give me your promise, Byakuya?"
Byakuya considered for a moment, his eyes radiating deep concern.
"You realize that there is danger in challenging them now," Byakuya warned him, "They may not act on it right away, because of your condition, but it may cause them to take harsher action when our child is born and I am no longer needed."
"Yeah, I know," Uryuu agreed, "but hopefully by the time the baby is born, my powers will return and I will be able to stand up to them, myself. Byakuya, you know that's the only thing that will really make them back down. I have to recover my powers to win the respect it takes to lead them."
His brow furrowed in confusion at the little smile that touched his husband's usually slightly frowning lips.
"What?"
"I would say that the determination and intelligence that my lover is showing right now is making great strides in earning their respect, Uryuu," Byakuya answered, meeting him for a more passionate kiss.
The two stiffened and sat back, looking at the door as Haschwalth entered the room with two attendants, each carrying a tray. Uryuu watched as the attendants laid the trays down, one in front of Byakuya, and one in front of him, then bowed and exited the room. Looking up at Haschwalth, Uryuu pushed his tray off the bed, letting it crash to the floor, then moved Byakuya's tray into position in front of him, watching the regent's eyes carefully. Giving Haschwalth a look of reproach, he gathered a bite of the food into the chopsticks on Byakuya's tray and brought it towards his lips.
"Stop," Haschwalth warned him, "you have made your point."
"What did you put in the food?" Uryuu demanded, "What was in mine? And what was in his?"
"You know that we wouldn't risk harming Byakuya or you," Haschwalth explained, "however, it would have taken more sedative to render Byakuya unconscious, and that could have been dangerous to you. What you did was extremely reckless, your highness."
"What you did was extremely stupid!" Uryuu countered, "You know damned well that we have to have trust that our food won't be tainted if you want us to eat. And we have to eat to keep the baby healthy. How are Byakuya and I supposed to trust you after this?"
Haschalth considered for several long moments, then took a steadying breath.
"I suppose that it would be possible to allow one of Byakuya's staff a direct entrance to your room for the purpose of bringing your meals. Don't try to bring anyone else through. It won't work. One person only, unarmed and only to deliver food," Haschwalth said sternly, removing a small, gold token, which he focused his reiatsu into, then handed to Byakuya, "Just send a hell butterfly to the one who will be delivering your meals and have him or her leave a reiatsu imprint on the token. They can use it then to come through into your room and then leave."
Byakuya accepted the token, nodding wordlessly.
Haschwalth took a breath, looking as though there was more he would have said, but then he seemed to reconsider and bowed briefly.
"I will leave you to take care of that," he said shortly, "When you have rested sufficiently, I will come and take you to see your father."
Uryuu watched as Haschwalth left, then let out a long, relieved breath. Byakuya took the tray from in front of him and set it on the nightstand, then adjusted his clothing, laid down on his back and watched as Uryuu spread his thighs and straddled him, letting their hungry genitals warm each other's.
"You were brilliant, anata," Byakuya whispered, looking up at him affectionately, "For one so young, you are extremely wise."
"I know what those bastards can do," Uryuu said, a haunted look entering his eyes, "Remember that I was at Ywach's side for a while."
"Don't think about that," Byakuya breathed, wrapping his hands around Uryuu's bottom and encouraging him to move his hips.
The noble made a low sound of arousal and Uryuu smiled down at him and moved his hips to provide more friction.
"We should probably not do this," Byakuya managed, his breath catching as Uryuu rubbed against him more firmly, "If we both fall asleep…"
"I won't fall asleep," Uryuu promised.
"You are the one who needs to sleep!" Byakuya chided him.
"And you need me," Uryuu answered stubbornly, his fingertips moving to tease his husband's erect, pink nipples, earning a more fervent sound of arousal from between Byakuya's parted lips, "You haven't touched me in a couple of days."
"I have touched you plenty," Byakuya teased him, smiling up at him.
"But you haven't made love to me," Uryuu insisted.
"It can wait," Byakuya assured him.
"Not anymore," Uryuu answered, shifting and very slowly joining their bodies, "I need you too. I need your strength if I'm going to get through all of this."
"You have strength of your own," Byakuya whispered, his breaths quickening as Uryuu moved atop him, "but if you want mine, then it is yours."
Uryuu fell forward, placing his hands on the bed to brace himself as the two ground against each other. He fell into the smoky depths of Byakuya's dark, passionate eyes, his usual barriers falling away as their movements transported them swiftly to the edges of bliss. Uryuu could have melted in the heat that filled him inside, sending his own quaking body over and into release.
He dropped down at Byakuya's side, indulging in a sweet barrage of finishing kisses, then held his husband against him, watching the rest of the room as Byakuya drifted off and slept in his arms for a time. When Byakuya woke again, he shifted so that he could watch the room, then laid quietly, holding Uryuu against him.
This is the more dangerous path, but Uryuu is showing exceptional courage and intelligence in his dealings with the quincies of the shadows. All that stands in his way now is the recovery of his powers. The others will watch him carefully and will make their move after our child is born, but before those powers return. They will certainly kill me once there is no need for me. Uryuu's protectiveness of me is something they will see as a danger. Despite the fact that they know I've protected him, someone has to pay for the shinigamis having taken and raped the quincy king. That is how they see this. Uryuu knows it, but I do not know if he has thought of a way of his own to move around it.
Perhaps I can open a pathway…
Byakuya ran his hand over his sleeping husband's chest and abdomen, locating each of his damaged spirit centers and testing them, one by one. He finished with a test of Uryuu's spirit core, then laid quietly, considering the results.
His spirit core is stable and there are signs of recovery in several of his spirit centers. If the quincies learn of this, it will help them judge when to make their move so that I die and Uryuu takes his place as their king without me at his side. Uryuu was right earlier in warning me not to cooperate with them. I would have considered that as a strategy if doing so would have been useful, but I have no value beyond the birth of the heir. After that, I am a detriment…a weight to be dropped. This may give us a much needed advantage later if…
Byakuya let his hand move over Uryuu's torso again, this time creating a very small, reflective barrier around each spirit center.
Now, when the quincy healer examines him, he will see no progress in Uryuu's spirit centers. It will not keep them from trying to kill me eventually, but it will give Uryuu a chance to repel them. It is a risk, but it is a necessary one. They need a strong king. Uryuu…will be that king!
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Haschwalth stood before the quincy noble council, his face calm, but his reiatsu riled as he confronted them.
"Were you able to have his highness and the shinigami examined?" one of the noble lords inquired.
"No," Haschwalth answered, earning looks of surprise from the others, "Uryuu was able to anticipate us very well. Remember that he was chosen by Ywach for a reason. He has proven that he will not be easily manipulated. If we are going to separate him from Kuchiki Byakuya, then we will have to take the longer path."
"And that is?" Bazz-B asked, tilting his head and looking at Jugram curiously.
Haschwalth looked back at him meaningfully.
"When the child is born, we have to retrieve them both," Haschwalth proposed.
"You mean, we capture them and…" Bazz-B began.
"And we charge Byakuya with abduction and forcible rape of our king," Haschwalth finished, pausing as he registered the looks of approval on the gathered lords' faces.
"It would get around his highness's stubborn reliance on that shinigami," one of the lords said approvingly.
"We would have to keep Uryuu carefully under our control," Haschwalth added, "and we would also need to complete the trial and execution before he recovers his greater powers. I will need a guarantee that none of you will try to end Byakuya's life before his conviction and rightful execution. To do so would deny all of us the retribution we are owed for what the shinigamis have done to us by taking and violating our king!"
He met Bazz-B's eyes and the red haired quincy gave him a barely perceptible nod.
"It is decided then," Haschwalth said, placing his hands on the table, "We wait until the heir is born, then we take action."
The room filled with shouts and sounds of agreement.
"Then, we are adjourned," the regent said, his head bowing and his eyes thoughtful.
The hands of fate are set in motion…