Genre: AU/Fantasy/Drama

Pairings: 1x2, other

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words

Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, violence, slavery, cruelty, possible OOCness

A/N: I've decided that the Gundam Wing A/C archive is seriously underappreciated. I'm glad if I'm starting to revive it. I've read through a lot of stories here and I'm a little disappointed, I must say. I do have my favorites, but they're somewhat few and far between. Anyway . . . enough rambling. Be warned, there's a lot of . . . explaining in this chapter. As always, I try to keep it interesting and not boring. But this is a bit of backstory that shows . . . why things are how they are. And an excuse for me to name people. I love inventing names. LOL

Your wish is my command. You know who you are. :)


The Council of Nine

Duo could not sleep. Night had waned into the blackest hours of morning when the door finally opened and closed, and soft footfalls padded across the room. Sitting up, Duo watched Heero remove his boots and clothes, sliding into his nightclothes. He couldn't read the prince's face as the man walked to the bed and climbed onto it.

Duo couldn't put it off. "What did you mean, earlier?" he asked quietly. He hoped the question wouldn't earn him more of that unbearably cold treatment.

But no. Heero merely sighed faintly. He grabbed onto Duo's shoulder and pushed him down onto the bed, forcing him to roll onto his side. He laid down right behind him, not putting an arm around Duo's waist. But it hardly mattered. They were pressed together, aligned from shoulder to calf.

"Tomorrow," Heero whispered in his ear. "I'm tired, Duo."

He sounded tired, too. Duo felt completely disarmed, not sure whether to press what seemed an obvious advantage or to back down and let the prince sleep. He wasn't even sure whether he could summon any anger or hatred. It was disconcerting, and Duo felt so off balance he could barely sleep. He dozed in and out of wakefulness, and finally just before dawn dropped into a troubled sleep.

When he woke again, Heero was up and dressed. He looked unusually handsome, and it took Duo a moment to realize why. The man's face wasn't a frozen mask. He sat at the small table by the fire, a tray of half-eaten breakfast in front of him. Duo's stomach grumbled anxiously at the sight of ham and eggs. Real food for a change.

Heero glanced at him and nodded to the tray. "Why don't you get dressed and eat?"

"Will you explain while I do?" Duo hedged.

A nod, a resigned expression. Relieved, Duo quickly dressed and sat opposite him. As he dug in, Heero rose and paced to the window, staring out.

"Do you know what the Council of Nine is?" he asked abruptly.

Duo swallowed a mouthful of warm meat. "Not really," he admitted. "Most only know it's a . . . an advisory council."

"One thousand years ago there was a terrible war," Heero said, voice distant. "The king of Corai managed to suppress the invasion, but it was later discovered it had begun due to ignorance on the king's part. Some of the noble houses came together and suggested to the king that he put together a council so as to avoid situations like these in the future. They suggested that he choose one person from each religious order, to act as a sort of voice for their corresponding god or goddess. Are you familiar with the nine Gods and Goddess of Light and Dark?"

Duo shook his head. So Heero explained.

Cestera of the Light, the Goddess of Life. Benevolent and kind, Duo could remember his mother invoking her name.

Gridanja of the Dark, the Goddess of Despair. Cruel and vicious, she was known as the Soulless One.

Relwan of the Light, the God of Hope. He was the antithesis of Gridanja, her opposite in every way.

Nahanquae of the Dark, the Goddess of Water. She was known for her vanity and favoring of beauty. She was in love with Shinigami.

Nirande of the Light, Goddess of the Woodlands. She was Nahanquae's twin, but she was a teaser and a prankster who delighted in laughter and music.

Jhatahj of the Light, God of Fire. He relentlessly pursued Nirande, a vivacious god who attempted always to catch his love's eye. He believed in the cleansing power of fire.

Drammon of the Light, God of Wind. He controlled the weather, and was known as a forceful god with a strong sense of justice.

Shinigami of the Dark, the God of Death. Quiet and mysterious, he was most feared by men.

And Vyrea of the Dark, Goddess of Dreams. Of all the gods, least about her was known except that she had created magic.

Duo listened as Heero explained, fascinated in spite of himself. History was hardly taught back at the Tower. Current events were highlighted, but Duo could not recall ever learning a single one of those names in a lesson.

"Cestera and Gridanja have the most influence on this plane," Heero said, sounding almost as if he weren't listening to himself at all. Here he stopped, and after a long time Duo decided he didn't plan to speak again.

"The Council of Nine?" he prompted a little timidly. He didn't want Heero to go back to his cold self. This self, while distant, was far more endurable.

Heero blinked. "The Council of Nine was an advisory council," he said. "They were just that, and kings and queens came to rely on their wisdom. They had no power, no authority, though they were afforded great respect. They were not even minor nobles. Merely religious priests and priestesses." Another pause, and this time Duo got the feeling Heero was reliving something painful.

"That changed?" he guessed.

Cobalt locked with indigo, and Duo was drowning in Heero's pain. "That changed," the man agreed. "Gradually. Over the course of hundreds of years they became greedy for the power of the throne. They realized they could manipulate their monarch with what they whispered in his ear. They could influence his decisions. Change events to their liking. The desire for change grew into the lust for power."

Swept up as he was in Heero's narrative, Duo felt anxiety when Heero again paused. "What happened?"

"What has happened now," Heero replied, eyes falling to the crackling fire. "My father is a gentle, kind man. His only wish was to bring Corai out of the depths. Because of the Council of Nine, Corai has been ravaged for decades by murder and crime and skirmishes and general unrest. We are renowned for our warlike, aggressive behavior.

"But my father's idealism was crushed under the Council of Nine. They painted him as 'weak and self-indulgent, ignoring the current problems for favor of imposing his idea of a perfect world on his people'. I watched this happening as I grew from boy to man, and I realized I could never be the same, no matter how I wished for my father's dream to become Corai's reality. Under my father's reign the Council of Nine has accumulated even more power.

"I'm sure you've heard rumors that I've been poisoning my father to death to take his throne," Heero went on, now looking back to Duo again. "These rumors are true. I have been feeding my father poison. For many months now. His illness will lead to his death, and soon. And after he is dead, he will no longer be a threat to the Council of Nine. They will dismiss him. I will be made king, and they will have on their hands a cold-hearted, unmovable prince who seems to care naught for the strife of others."

Duo stared at him.

"My father," Heero all but whispered, "cannot die from the poison I give to him. It makes him ill, but not deathly ill. I have arranged for him to 'die' and after that he will disappear. I will, of course, arrange a royal burial for him. But the tomb will be empty. He will live out the rest of his days in peace and quiet on my estate in Tempria."

Tempria, Duo thought hazily, was a beautiful place to spend one's life to completion. The island kingdom was small, but the tropical lands were rich in natural resources, making it quite wealthy for itself. And it was thousands of leagues from Corai. His mind scrambled to catch up with all he'd just learned.

"Then . . ." He didn't even know what to say.

"I decided to destroy the Council of Nine five years ago," Heero said. "I knew it would not be easy, for they have a deeply-rooted influence now. It is why I have tried so hard to appear intractable and . . . emotionless. I cannot be influenced if I cannot even be reached. They will mostly ignore me, continuing their plots silently. That is why I traveled to the capital to buy a sorcerer. In order for me to do what I plan, I must . . ." his voice trailed off and he did not go on.

Duo swallowed thickly. "When you said you would use me to break your kingdom?"

Heero's eyes were so, so tormented. "I must. I cannot simply remove the Council from power. Corai would be outraged. My reign would be as powerless as my father's. No, I cannot simply kill them. I must completely destroy them. But they are the foundation of my country."

Duo closed his eyes, head bowing in understanding. Like a wildfire must burn away all the old life to make room for the new, Heero would have to destroy the old foundation to build a new one.

"You love Corai, don't you?" he whispered. He looked back up at Heero.

The look on the prince's face was answer enough. It made Duo's heart bleed. He had never expected after meeting this man that within days he would feel for him to this degree. He had never imagined such a wounded soul sheltered beneath the frozen exterior.

"I'm sorry, Duo," Heero went on, "but I can't treat you with any kindness during our journey home. The slightest sign of weakness would be all the Council needs to pounce on me and curtail my freedom. I must remain unimportant. Too dangerous to attempt to mold, but seemingly beyond all thought of personal gain and glory. I act like a warmonger, a heartless person with no regard for the lives I destroy."

"Penniar," Duo murmured. "What happened to Penniar? I heard you burned every village you came across."

"I did," Heero agreed. "They were poor people, eking a miserable living out of the land. Some of them joined my retinue. The others vanished, and I let the rumor circulate that I had killed them all. I sent them to Jangra, for the most part. Far from here, and safe."

It was impossible, Duo realized, to try sorting this all out right now. His mind was racing, all a chaotic jumble. I have at least a month during the journey to Corai to sort this all out. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly. It was all he had left to ask.

Heero's blue, blue eyes met his. How had he ever thought they were cold, icy pools? They were tumultuous and dark, churning with hidden emotion. "Perhaps because I wish not for your life to be hell from this moment on," he said just as quietly. "I more than most understand what it is to be misunderstood, trapped in a world not of my making and with little or no choice ahead of me. Please accept my word that I will never hurt you, Duo. I will never be kind, either, but never will I have you beaten or whipped or punished in any way."

Duo allowed his own gaze to frost over. "What's to stop me from going to the Council of Nine and betraying this whole conversation?" he challenged. "Maybe I could bargain with them for my freedom."

Heero's expression didn't change. "No, you won't. They would not free you, no matter what they promised. You, a sorcerer, and a Black on top? You're too valuable a weapon. And from this moment on, you will be unable to breathe a word of this to any save me. Even were that your intention, you would find yourself inexplicably unable."

Thanks to the collar? Duo wondered. No sorcerer in the Tower had warned him that the collar would give the Normal power over their slave to this extent. Yet, even as Heero said those words, Duo knew deep down that he would not betray Heero. Could not. He closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands for a moment. It would be difficult, he thought sourly, to accept Heero's cold treatment when he knew such a person underlay the icy veneer. Perhaps more difficult than before, without knowing who Heero really was.

Then again, understanding Heero took no joy in his treatment of his slave would soften the sharpness of his tongue, ease the venom in his tone. Yes, Duo thought, he could do this.

He could be this man's weapon to break the foundation of his kingdom and build it anew.