Genre: AU/Fantasy/Drama

Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, other

Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words

Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, violence, slavery, language, war, torture, fear of the unknown

Special Note: Dedicated to snowdragonct. You, my dear, have been this story's inspiration since almost the very beginning, and it's come this far thanks to you. Special thanks as well to Closet Goth and StandingOnTheRooftops for all your encouragement and lovely feedback.

A/N: I know I keep using the same excuse, but it's a good one, right? I can't promise I'll be better at updating, but I love this story so I keep coming back to it. I will try to be better.

Btw, someone (you know who you are ^_^) suggested I make this MPreg for the sake of heirs for Corai. Anyone else want to throw in their opinion? I had already thought it out, but then I will always give new ideas full consideration. Let me hear your thoughts on the matter.

The Unwarranted Execution

He hears it. He hears things that others don't hear. The nasty, icky thoughts that lurk deep in their minds that they don't speak, but they would like to. They think such ugly things. Things of hatred. Jealousy. Lust. Violence. The things his mama used to tell him were wrong. "Don't ever think things like that, Salyn," she would tell him. "Don't hate people, don't want things they have, and don't ever want to hurt them. It's wrong, and you're a good boy. You want to be a good boy, don't you Salyn?"

But she thinks them too.

She thinks how sometimes, he is a strange child. He makes her uneasy, with his big empty eyes. I can't tell what that child's thinking sometimes, she thinks. His eyes make me nervous. So for her he tries to not have scary eyes. He tries to smile all the time, and that makes her easier in her mind. She thinks ugly thoughts less and less, and he is happier.

Then they come. They come, with their big knives and their bigger hate. His daddy owes them something, but they never say what. He watches in horror as they take his mama and hurt her. They leave with all the silver, and she is bleeding on the floor. She is crying, and he stares in shock, crawling toward her and trying to comfort her by smiling. She's always liked his smile before, right?

"What are you grinning for, you freak!" she rages, lifting one hand and slapping him so hard he's dazed.

Don't hate me, mama. You thought ugly things, just like them. I don't. I don't want this. I smile because you don't think ugly thoughts then. Her thoughts are so ugly, so dark, so hateful he thinks he will just carve them out of her head. When They come the next morning, he is covered in her blood and smiling. They don't call him a freak. They call him special and carry him to a place far from there and teach him that he has a power no one else has. A power that makes him special, and They give him to an equally special master who praises him and lets him carve the ugly thoughts out of person after person.

He likes that.

o0o 0o0

Heero woke the instant Duo made a strange sound he'd never heard his love make before. Duo was already curled up in the curve of his body, so he tightened his embrace and gently shook. "Duo? Wake up, love. What's wrong?"

Duo's dark eyes snapped open in the wan lighting of the pre-dawn morning. His pupils looked huge, face paler than normal, and each panting breath made his thin chest heave. "He-Heero?"

"It's me," he murmured, stroking Duo's face, fully able to feel the near-terror that still held the boy in its grip. "I'm right here, love."

Gradually, the fear began to fade from his mind and his breathing slowed to normal. His clinging grip relaxed some. "Sorry," he whispered, stretching his body out along Heero's. "I've never had such a terrible dream before. It was so real."

"I'd kill it for you if I could," Heero offered.

Duo gave him a blank look for a moment before bursting into giggles. "My knight in shining armor," he mused.

Heero waited, but when it seemed like Duo wouldn't go on he kissed the bridge of Duo's nose. "What was your dream about?"

"I . . . I'm not exactly sure," Duo said after a slight hesitation. "I mean, it was about Salyn, but it was almost like I was Salyn, reliving a memory. It was . . ." He shuddered, and it racked his whole slender body. "It was terrible. I killed so many people, and I enjoyed it."

"Hey," Heero said, gripping Duo's chin, "you enjoyed no such thing. It was just a bad dream, that's all. And from what I can tell, that bastard's death can't come soon enough. It's all right precious. You're trembling like a leaf."

Duo closed his eyes and burrowed into Heero's chest, breathing deeply. "It was just so real. Just hold me like this and I'll get over it in a minute."

Chuckling faintly, Heero drew him even closer. Last night, at the prompting of Maritias and Carine, he'd had Salyn Durash imprisoned. What he'd heard about the kid was unnerving. Sorcerers, Carine had told him, usually had one talent at which they excelled more than any others, especially those less powerful than Reds or Blacks. Salyn's was extremely unusual.

"He can place himself in the body of another. It's like his mind is a leech. That body is not actually his first body. It was killed some years ago by another sorcerer, and he nested his parasitic consciousness in the body of the young man he now habituates."

Carine had sounded disgusted.

Maritias had looked strangely . . . chagrined. When Heero pressed, she flashed Carine a quick look before meeting the Black King's eyes. "I was the one who killed him," she admitted. She sounded pained, "though at the time I didn't know what he was."

Thinking of Maritias as a killer was a little disconcerting, because she certainly didn't look or act like one.

"I've begun selecting our anti-sorcerer forces," Duo said abruptly. "I asked Quatre to help me. They're all volunteers, of course, and most of them are men or women from Cera who have nothing. The chamberlain is drafting some regulations."

"I see," Heero said, dragging his fingers through the wonderful silken fall of Duo's hair. "What are your plans for them?"

"They'll all need the same enchantment that you placed on Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa," Duo said, "though you'll have to do it. With this collar, I don't have the power anymore."

Ah yes, the collar. Heero didn't care for it one damn bit. He'd been ready to incinerate Carine on the spot for daring to put his love back in one. Only Duo's pleading had stopped him. His jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

"Also, I've ordered weapons to be made for them." He pushed back a little to smile up at Heero. "Do you remember several weeks ago, you were going to make a special bow for me? One so I could enchant the arrows?"

Heero blinked. "I'd forgotten about that."

"So had I, but our chamberlain didn't. He delivered the bow - it's beautiful, by the way. Range weapons will be best against sorcerers. The arrows can be enchanted to break through a magic shield."

"Mm hmm. Perfect idea."

"Of course it is," Duo said, nuzzling Heero's neck.

It wasn't long after that Duo slid back into sleep, untroubled this time. Heero stayed awake, considering the last number of days. A general sense of unease had followed him around for some time now, and he hoped it would be assuaged by having Salyn Durash executed.

o0o 0o0

Duo wasn't exactly sure what drove him down into the dungeon early that afternoon, before going to meet with Carine and Maritias. Something tugged at him, and he had a feeling it was linked to his terrible dream that morning. Salyn was curled up on the cot in the corner, eyes staring and vacant. When he heard Duo he looked up, and his eyes cleared quickly. He scrambled to the cell door, gripping the bars in the small opening.

"Duo," he said, looking surprised and desperate. "Please, don't let them do this to me. I haven't done anything. I don't know what anyone told you, but I haven't done anything."

That bizarre mix of truth and emptiness resounded in his words. The same strange mix that had prompted Duo to free him in the first place. Salyn's eyes weren't eyes of a killer. They were terrified and round, open and seeming to hide nothing. Drawing in a slow, deep breath, Duo reached down and inserted the key into the lock.

"Sit down, Salyn," he ordered gently. "I'm coming in with you for awhile."

The older youth obeyed, sinking down onto the cot. Duo closed the door behind him and locked it, throwing the key out the window. The guard would be down soon, and this way Salyn couldn't hurt him for the key. He stood opposite the other boy, searching those wide eyes of his. Eventually he sighed.

"Carine and Maritias accused you of atrocious acts," he said.

Salyn's big eyes filled with tears. "I . . . I know. They must have, right? It's why I've been locked up down here like this."

"That's right," Duo confirmed, voice soft and low. He hesitated, then plunged ahead. "If they're not true, why would they tell me such terrible things about you? Why would they lie?"

Salyn lurched up out of his seat and threw himself at Duo's feet, wrapping his arms around the younger boy's waist. "They think I'm something I'm not," he sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "I'm not a monster, Duo. All I want is to stay with you, to help you and protect you. I . . . I love you."

Duo blinked, caught off guard by the intensity of the emotion that suddenly poured off Salyn. Love. Want. Need. Desire. Love. Devotion. Love love lovelovelove . . .

"Stop," he gasped, staggering backward until his shoulders thumped against the cell wall.

"I can't," Salyn mumbled, pressing his cheek into Duo's belly. "I can't help how I feel. If you doubt me, put a collar on me. Just please, let me stay with you. I love you, Duo, so much."

Toward the end of the confession, Salyn's voice grew clearer and softer, and there was a mesmerizing quality to it. Duo almost didn't feel it when Salyn's warm hands closed around his wrists and tugged, gently asking him to sink to the floor. Duo obeyed without thinking, and when he did strong, wiry arms wrapped around him. A hand carded long fingers through his hair, guiding his head to rest against Salyn's shoulder. The love coming from the Blue grew even stronger with Duo in his arms.

"I wouldn't hurt you," he whispered into Duo's hair. "I'll love you much better than that stupid Black. Be mine, Duo. Let me be yours. I love you . . ."

Lips landed, soft and hot, on the back of his neck. Almost scalding. Duo's heart started racing a sickly staccato in his chest. Wrong. This was wrong. His limbs felt like warm jelly.

"Just be mine. We could rule the Tower together, you know. All those sorcerers, they could belong to us. So could all those pathetic normals. Think about it, Duo. With your power, I could rule this entire world as a god, and you could be my goddess. Just us. You don't need those two bitches to teach you a goddamn thing with this piece of shit collar." Hot hands smoothed over the collar. "Just get your worthless fiance to get rid of my restriction, I'll break this collar, and we can go."

Something dark began bleeding into the love, something like poison. Duo's whole body began to shudder in Salyn's hold. "No . . ." he whispered.

"Don't say that," Salyn breathed in his ear. "Don't fight, Duo. This is my special gift. I want you. I love you. We'll be one, you and me."

"No . . ." Duo said again. At least, he thought he did. In reality, he wasn't sure he even opened his mouth.

"Yes," Salyn purred. "You're a worthy host. More powerful than the whiny bitch I'm inhabiting now. And I'll get your stupid, violent Black King to see things my way. We'll rule the world. Won't that be a comical irony, as he fucks this pretty body into the bed that he's making love to the very beast he swore to kill? No one will ever know Salyn Durash's body is actually completely innocent. That when he begs not to be killed, he's telling the truth."

Something in Duo felt like it broke. The poison seeped into his veins, and he was lost.

o0o 0o0

Quatre started slightly when Duo strode into the study. He looked more serious than usual, the hint of a smile that normally lingered in his eyes not there. He looked a little haunted. Rising, Quatre moved to his side and lightly gripped his arm.

"Are you all right?"

Duo visibly drew himself together. "Yes. I just . . . had a disturbing encounter with Salyn, that's all. I can't say I like the thought of another execution, Quatre."

Ah. Of course. Quatre squeezed gently. "Heero won't do anything until he's satisfied it's justified."

"I know." He managed a slightly wan smile. "I just don't like it much. I wanted to trust him, you know."

Quatre embraced him and was a bit perplexed to feel a tiny bit of resistance before it melted. This must really be getting to the gentle Black. "Why don't we focus on work? You don't have to be there at all. Heero can take care of it. You've got enough on your plate with training and this anti-sorcerer force."

Duo broke into a grin, and it looked more like his usual self. "We need to give it a name. 'Anti-sorcerer force' is an unoriginal mouthful."

Quatre laughed softly. "It is. All right, why don't we ask the chamberlain. He's a clever man, then you don't have to come up with one."

Duo laughed too. "Delegation. Perks of being a monarch, ne?"

Still grinning, Quatre nodded. "Absolutely."

o0o 0o0

Heero absently patted Frost's head as he vaguely listened to the chamberlain talk about the wedding. Most of it he'd left to Duo, but Duo wanted to make sure everything was to both their tastes. He found it difficult to concentrate. The whole thing with Durash was still on his mind, still bothering him. He wondered if the kid had somehow managed to send Duo a dream to make him more sympathetic. I can't let him be there. He's suffered enough in these last months. I'll take care of it quietly so he'll never have to go through this, too. He blinked when he heard the chamberlain say his name.

"I'm sorry," he said, ruffling his hound's black ears, "I'm a little distracted right now. Let's resume tomorrow."

"Certainly, Your Majesty," the chamberlain said, rolling up his documents at once. "You do look a bit tired."

Heero gave him a wry smile. "Do I?"

"Yes, but most wouldn't notice," the chamberlain assured him brusquely. "I would like to speak with you both tomorrow. I have finished your queen's seal, and I believe it will meet with his approval."

"I'm sure it will. Thank you, chamberlain."

As he walked out, Duo glided in. Heero smiled and rose from his lazy sprawl to embrace his beautiful love. As he did, something tingled briefly across his consciousness that made him blink. That was different. He'd never felt something like that upon touching his beloved. Gripping Duo's shoulders he pushed him back a little, peering into his indigo eyes.

"You okay?"

Duo blinked, then he sighed. "Quatre just asked me the same thing. I . . . I'm just a little bothered over Salyn, I guess. I wanted to trust him."

Heero drew in a deep breath to release it in a soft sigh as he pulled Duo close again. "I know, precious." He hadn't ever really felt the same, but Duo was a gentle soul. Heero was not. "I don't want you to concern yourself with him any longer, all right? From now on, Carine and I will take care of it. You've been through enough."

To his surprise, Duo slumped into his hold and nodded. "All right."

It must really be getting to him if he doesn't offer even token resistance. Cupping Duo's chin, he tilted his face up and smiled at him. "You've turned into a kitten on me again," he mused with a little grin.

Duo gave him an impossibly sweet grin. "I'm too tired to bite you."

Snorting, Heero leaned down and kissed him. There it was again. That strange little tingle. He couldn't quite name it. It was different than the normal bolt of desire and electricity he felt whenever he touched Duo, the one that was all desire and lust. It was . . . different somehow.

Almost as if . . . something was wrong.