Dancing in the Rain
Chapter 9: Quatre Finds Out
"My dear, her eyebrows are terrifying!" Remington said, motioning to his forehead and making a fork shape with his fingers. Queen Lucille rolled her eyes.
"We cannot go back on our word, darling." She said, leaning back in her chair and continuing with her stitching. King Remington sighed.
"He does not love her."
"That doesn't matter."
"Doesn't it?" he asked. Remington made his way over to his wife and rested worn hands on her shoulders. He leaned down beside her ear. "Would we have lasted if we didn't love each other?" He asked. Lucille turned to look at her husband and king.
"No."
"Then we must help him. He's our son, Lucille." The queen gaze softened.
"If there was a way, I would change things. There is no way." Remington crossed the room to look out the window.
"I'm not going to give up so easily."
-- -- -- --
Dorothy sauntered up to Heero's door and gave a brisk knock. A grunt came from within his rooms, so she unlocked the door and entered. "Hello." She said. Heero looked up, saw it was Dorothy, and looked back down.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"I want an apology for what you said to me in the throne room." She said. Heero rolled his eyes.
"No." Dorothy sat down across from him.
"Listen to me, Heero. I have the power to have your little mistress executed at the snap of my fingers. If you don't comply, I will have her killed." She said. Heero looked up into her eyes. There was a wildness behind those blue irises that was not normal in any other human being. One might even say she was mad. Heero quirked an eyebrow.
"You wouldn't." He said. She grinned.
"Oh, I would. Those guards will do anything for me." She said, a twinkle in her eyes. Heero glared at her.
"Get out of my rooms."
"Fine. But don't be surprised if something happens to your precious doxy." She said. She crossed the room and slammed the door behind her and locked it. Heero stood and walked to the window. He pressed his forehead against the cool glass and stared down at the spot where he had been staring all day. I hope father hurries. I don't know how much longer I can stay in here, and I don't know how much longer Relena can survive under the wrath of Dorothy…
-- -- -- --
"Aye. There's a way down there from here. We have duties to feed the prisoners." The rather large cook said, waving a soup covered spoon around, nearly hitting Quatre several times during her questioning.
"Could you show me the way, good cook?" He asked. She shrugged.
"Why do ye wanna go down there?" She asked.
"The girl who was taken down there. I want to see her, but the guards would never let me go." The cook gave him a questioning look.
"There's another prisoner down there?" She asked. Quatre nodded slowly.
"No one… told you?" he asked. She shook her large head.
"Nay. I've heard nothin' about another person down there." She said. Quatre's heart began to pound.
"Please! I've got to see her!" The cook waved her spoon again.
"A'right! A'right! I'll take ye to the dungeon!" She said. She tossed her spoon on the table in the center of the room and led Quatre through a narrow door and down a flight of stairs.
And another flight. And another. And another.
Down and down they climbed. Quatre didn't know that the dungeon was this far down below the earth. Poor Relena… he mused. Finally, they reached the end of the stairs and came upon a door. The cook pushed it open.
"No use givin' us servants keys." She said, responding to his look of confusion.
"Thank you very much, good cook." Quatre said, clasping her hands in his own. "And please, could you bring food down for her?" The cook nodded.
"I'll see what I can do." She said, and turned to climb back up the stairs.
Quatre walked through the doorway and into the long corridor. "Relena! Relena, are you here! Say something so I know where you are!"
Relena stopped ripping at her underskirts when she heard a sound. She finished ripping the cloth and tied it around her head, covering her mess of hair. She stood and went to the door of her cell. "Quatre! Is that you?" She called. She heard the sound of footsteps on the flagstones.
"Relena! Keep talking!"
"I'm here Quatre!" The footsteps got closer, and Relena could see when Quatre rounded the corner. He ran down the corridor and arrived at her cell.
"Oh Relena! I'm so sorry this happened to you!" he cried, taking her hands in his. She lowered her head.
"It's not your fault. I should have been quicker." Relena said. Quatre shook his head.
"No. There's something wrong with Princess Dorothy. There's something strange going on in her head." It was then that Quatre noticed something different about her. "Relena… what happened to your hair." Relena's face flushed and she pulled away the cloth from her underskirt. Quatre gasped at the brutal cutting of her hair. "Who did this to you?" He asked.
"Princess Dorothy."
-- -- -- --
Quatre had just left Relena and was on his way back up to find someone to let him into Heero's rooms. As he moved about the servant passageways, he heard noises. Curious to know who the noises were coming from, he changed his direction and followed the moans that bounced over the walls of the corridor. When he rounded a corner, he saw the most disturbing site he'd ever seen.
Up against the wall was Princess Dorothy. Her skirts were lifted, and there was a red-haired guard up against her. She was grasping his shoulders and moaning in pleasure. Quatre was completely horrified by this scandal. Feeling the bile in his stomach churn, he quickly turned and made his way back to where he was. He needed to get away from that as soon as he could.
Before he could get very far, he heard voices. "Now, you know that I need something in return for that." He heard Dorothy's voice say.
"Of course, Princess…" the voice of the soldier was low and husky.
"I want you to kill that girl in the dungeon." Quatre brought a hand to his mouth and gasped. "But make it subtle. Slip her some poison." Quatre's eyes were wide as he heard the guard agree to do whatever Dorothy asked.
The situation just got dire.
-- -- -- --
Wow it's been forever. Sorry guys. Life gets in the way sometimes. But with my first semester of college winding down, I'll probably be able to write more, especially over Christmas break!
-Blue September Rain-