Part 10

"Let me go-!" Asch snarled, scrambling to get up and all but howling in frustration as his hands and feet slid against the smooth tub. He went to grab Luke's hair for an easy handhold, only to have his hand snatched in midair by Peony. "Dammit!"

"Wait, please," Peony said, catching his look. "Please...don't run off. You're finally looking at me and this may be the only time you'll actually hear me if I talk to you."

Asch glared, giving one more token yank on his arm, but he hadn't trained well in ages and Peony was strong enough to hold onto him. The water sloshed outside the tub, splashing the carpet, slowly settling as Asch considered it, shooting a look at Luke and realizing that his replica had no intention of getting out of the warm water when the night air was cooling.

With a huff, Asch nodded once and looked away. "Whatever."

Peony slowly let go, expecting Asch to bolt and relieved when he didn't, and he gave the boy a hand to leverage himself upright. Asch shivered in the faint breeze and sank down a few inches, pulling his soaked robe around himself.

"I know you're angry at me," Peony said. "With very good reason. I never wanted to hurt you, and I used you to help save my country. I wish it hadn't been necessary, but I do think it was."

Asch stared at a smudge on the room divider, silent. It was nothing he hadn't heard before. Peony took a breath and pushed forward, somehow managing to look dignified and imperial despite being naked and dripping.

"And I know that you wish it had been you under the whip-"

Luke's eyes widened almost comically as he looked at Asch. "Really?"

Whipping around so fast that his hair sent drops in all directions, Asch rose like a small serpent, coming up on one knee to loom over Peony. "Shut up!"

"-and that you care about Luke more than you let on."

"I said shut up!" Asch hauled back his hand to hit him.

Peony reached out and embraced Asch, pulling him against his chest and holding him as he flailed. As Asch jerked and twisted like an animal in a trap, Peony held on and felt Luke cover Asch, effectively sandwiching him between them both.

"Asch, quit it," Luke said, struggling to hold him tight. "Dammit, you're gonna-"

"Dammit, replica!" Asch yelled over his shoulder. "Stupid damn-can't you quit going along with what he says long enough to see what he's doing? Everyone's gonna use us!"

"I'm protecting you," Peony growled in his ear. "You can't protect Luke and you can't protect yourself, not from this. It has to be this way if you're going to stay free."

"Liar," Asch hissed. "You only want us locked up with you!"

Peony hesitated, and his hands shifted, tensed in a new, different way. "...would that be so bad?"

Asch froze as if bitten, and Peony's arms completely moved around him, locking him up tight. Held just above the waterline, Asch felt the water lapping at his neck, splashing against his cheek. The night air was cold on his back, but Peony was burning hot, and the water warmed him as it rose and fell over his skin.

"I don't want you to be prisoners," Peony whispered in his ear. "I don't. But you can't be free as long as Daath wants you. I will go to war to keep you safe, and if that means going to war with you, then so be it."

Asch's temper flared, but he couldn't bring himself to move. Not with Peony's hand splayed across the back of his thigh, holding tight, other hand sliding up and securely wrapping around the back of Asch's neck. He felt Luke shifting on top of him like a living blanket, and he instinctively flinched from wherever his damp skin was exposed to the air.

Peony's hand cupped his ass, and the soaked robe felt like it wasn't there as the emperor pulled him closer, trailing kisses from his hair to his ear, nuzzling his earlobe so that Asch squirmed.

"No," Asch growled, clenching his teeth tight as Peony tilted his face. "No..."

"Why does it have to be a fight?" Peony murmured.

"Because you hurt Luke!" Asch yelled, seizing on the opening. Anything, give him anything so he could ignore the pleasing, discomfiting, warmth from them both. "You made him-"

"He didn't make me do anything," Luke cut him off. "I agreed to it."

"You didn't even know what it would be like!" Asch raged. "You'd never seen it-"

"Do you wish it had been you?" Peony asked, then ruthlessly added "Why didn't you take his place then?"

Asch went brutally tense, as if every muscle in his body would break out of sheer tension. He pushed with all his might against Peony, strained against Luke on top of him, and when he couldn't break their grip, shrieked and howled.

Peony tightened his grip as much as he could, thankful that Luke was there. Asch was far stronger, threatening to break his ribs, and the only reason Asch hadn't run off was his equally powerful replica. He was amazed that Asch wasn't tearing him apart, and took some heart from the fact that Asch was holding himself even this much.

He exchanged a look with Luke, who was wide-eyed, stunned that Asch's anger came from that, and the gaze he turned on Peony was concerned, but without any idea of how to make things better. Peony set his mouth in a firm line. He heard his guards coming in again, but a stern word made them turn back once more.

Long minutes went by that seemed to grow worse. Raging like a storm turned inwards, Asch played dirty, digging his fingers into Peony's skin, biting out of sheer frustration. Peony winced and hoped it would end soon. Asch jerked to one side, trying to dislodge him, and Luke automatically shifted, countering. Asch tried again, and Luke seemed to anticipate his move.

Thank goodness we did this in the tub, Peony thought. Asch can't get proper leverage here.

And then Asch slumped, as if all the fight had gone out of him. Peony didn't dare relax, sure that the moment he let go, Asch would lunge out of his grip. Luke didn't move for a long time either, grimacing as he saw that he'd left bruises on Asch's side, then wincing worse as he saw the rising bruises under Asch's hands. Peony would be blue and black for a long while.

"Asch?"

"Because," Asch mumbled, his voice barely audible, "I didn't want Luke to know."

Peony risked lifting his hand to lightly touch Asch's hair. "And leaping across his back wasn't enough of a clue?"

"Shut up," Asch muttered.

"Now now," Peony smirked, "no one tells the emperor to shut up, not even a saint."

Asch gave another jerk, but a mere token effort to see if Luke was still paying attention. To his dismay, his replica seemed to be hanging on every word.

"I thought you hated me," Luke said, leaning over him and trying to see his face. "I thought you couldn't stand me."

"I do!" Asch snapped, but hiding behind his wet hair. "I can't! You're me, and you go letting everyone treat you like trash! How the hell am I supposed to respect that?"

Stunned into silence, trying to process that, Luke reeled back against the side of the tub, staring into space. Peony shot a glance at him, hoping that Asch didn't try to escape again while Luke was effectively out of the fight.

"But you're the only one yelling at him now," Peony said.

"You don't get it!" Asch tore out of his arms, but only to sit up on top of him, straddling his waist and leaning on his shoulders as he spoke, in deadly earnest. "You didn't see what they were like all the time! Everyone practically turned him into the team scapegoat! They blamed the whole damn—everything was always his fault—and then he just goes and takes it like an idiot and cries and cuts his hair and—fuck it! He's an idiot and no one was there to tell him to man up!"

Peony's face was impassive. "Not even you?"

Asch's breath caught in his throat. Stuck for an answer, he stared at Peony for several seconds before his gaze flickered once at Luke and then focusing back on the water, looking at neither of them. His shoulders hunched as his head lowered.

Luke leaned close, wishing Asch wouldn't close his eyes. "So...you don't think all that? Why didn't you ever say so?"

Long seconds passed and turned into a minute. When it became obvious that Asch wasn't going to answer, Peony sighed and glanced at Luke.

"Because after awhile, he stopped being Luke Fon Fabre and became Asch the Bloody," he said. "And Asch, one of the five mighty god generals, could not afford to be soft hearted. So when he finally met you, he was too much of a terror to accurately explain himself."

"Oh..." Luke considered that. "So you...like me?"

Asch had a clear and obvious physical reaction to Luke's question and the hesitant hand his replica placed on his thigh. Peony half-smiled, and as Asch saw his smile and grimaced, Peony's half-smile turned into a devious grin. He felt every single bruise turning dark blue under the skin, and dammit, he was going to enjoy paying Asch back for them.

"I think it's safe to say," Peony said, ignoring Asch's indignant, helpless look. "That he likes you. Very much, in fact."

Luke beamed and threw his arms around Asch, making the other boy growl impotently, frozen on Peony like a statue. Peony watched them intently, taking in every movement like pieces to their puzzle, reading subtle clues as they moved, or in Asch's case, burned furious as Luke hung against him, all but rubbing his cheek against Asch's shoulder. Yes, things were much clearer now.

"I think it's time we get Asch washed up and out of the water," Peony said, gently nudging Asch. "It's already pretty chilly."

Without a word, Asch eased off of Peony and didn't move as Luke came behind him and poured soap on his hair, lathering it and rinsing it off with cupped hands. More water ended up on Luke than Asch before the bath was done. Tending to the front, Peony undid the knot on Asch's robe and peeled the wet cloth from his shoulders, lightly smacking Asch when he tried to pull his arms in. As the boy did his best imitation of a statue, Peony let the soaked robe puddle on the floor and found that he merely needed to rinse Asch off. The fight in the soapy water had already cleaned the grime off of him.

"All right," he said at last, motioning toward the towels at the head of the bathtub. "Let's get out of here before we all catch cold."

Both Luke and Asch hesitated—well, more like Luke hesitated and Asch seized up like a cat puffing out its fur—so Peony grabbed a towel and stood up, unabashed, drying off and dropping his towel on Asch's head. As he crossed the few feet to the pile of blankets and large pillows, he shivered slightly in the cool air. Night had fallen completely, and only the torches outside the tent gave them any light.

"Oh, be brave," he said, theatrically flopping into the pile and watching them. From this side of the room divider, they were more like silhouettes against the slats in the wooden screen. "It's almost impossible to make out any details. And you'd better hurry before Jade gets here."

That made Asch move. He grabbed the towel off his head and wrapped it around his waist as he stood, then dried as quickly as he could with his own towel. When Luke finished first, about to drop his on the ground, Asch snatched Luke's towel and wrapped it around his hair, wringing out the end of the red mass.

"Peony!"

At Jade's demanding call, Asch reflexively crouched down and moved side by side with Luke, who crawled to the bed pile. Both of them disappeared under the blanket that Peony held up for them, and neither saw the thoroughly pleased smile he wore as he felt their chain stretching across his abdomen and felt their fingertips fluttering across his skin, trying to find a place to settle without touching him, failing miserably.

"Yes?" Peony called, putting his hands behind his head. "Is something the matter?"

Jade came around the screen and took in Peony's smug face and the two lumps beside him. His worried look immediately slid from his face, leaving him cold. Standing straight, he adjusted his glasses and put his hands behind his back at formal attention.

"I see," Jade said, in a tone more flat than usual. "Turning your attention toward religious studies?"

Peony chuckled. "These saints are fascinating. I'm sure I'd be far more devout if these two were reading the Score."

"Just be careful," Jade said. "Those two can do a hell of a lot more than excommunication if you piss them off."

"I know," Peony said. "But...I think we're coming to an understanding. Mostly."

"Excellent." Jade slightly inclined his head, which if Peony was feeling charitable might have been taken for a bow. "I'll be off then."

"Wait," Peony said, sitting up more. "Didn't you need something? You came running in here like we were being attacked."

Jade shrugged. "Not now. I raced here hoping to catch you before your bath, but since you've already slipped into bed, I'll just have to tell our guests that you're not available until morning."

"'Guests'?" Peony frowned. "What kind of guests?"

"Viscount Audric of the Kimlascan army and his retinue," Jade said. "Oh, please don't get up. I told him I didn't think you'd be able to talk to him until morning, and he didn't listen. It serves him right."

Peony's frown faded to a faint smile. So many people didn't treat Jade with the respect he deserved, and the occasional military type in love with rank would learn quickly that while Jade was a colonel, he was decidedly outside the chain of command and acted with carte blanche from the emperor. Jade could have ordered the army to attack and the men likely would have listened.

"I don't see why not let him cool his heels in a guest tent," Peony said. "Under heavy guard. You're right. I'll deal with him tomorrow."

"As you wish," Jade said as if it had been Peony's idea all along. "Since you seem to have your hands full tonight, should I go bed down in another tent?"

"Like hell," Peony said. "I've got enemy sleeping in my camp while we're not five miles outside the Kimlascan border. I want my two best bodyguards inside with me."

"You already do," Jade said.

"...dammit, Jade..." Peony heaved a sigh, motioning at the two lumps beginning to argue with each other under the covers. "Powerful or not, they aren't exactly crack troops right now. Finish up in camp, get Guy and get back here."

"Yes, sir," Jade said, and as he turned on his heel, passing out of the tent, Peony had the distinct feeling that he'd been skillfully toyed with. Not to any real end—Jade won nothing by besting him, but the colonel did gain some amusement from talking circles around him.

"Oh Jade," Peony grumbled. But then again, perhaps Jade was just jealous over not having the emperor's bed to himself tonight. He resolved to find out what his reason was, and soon. A jealous Jade was irritable at best, murderous at worst.

That thought called for some wine. He reached out as far as he could without disturbing the pair at his waist, managing to touch, then get his fingers around the bottle and cups by the bed. As usual, the wine already had a corkscrew in it, and he easily popped it out and poured a glass.

"Great," Asch muttered. "Now everyone's going to think we're doing it with you."

Peony hesitated only a moment—Asch had all but admitted his love for Luke, and Luke the same, and that was more than enough progress for one night. But Peony was in bed with both of them and even an emperor's discipline had its limits. He drew the blanket down so he could see them and took a long sip.

"They already do," he said. "And again, would it be such a bad thing?"

Asch and Luke looked up in unison, so strikingly similar despite their differences. Peony motioned with his head for them to climb up, and Luke immediately crept up toward the pillows, yanking on the chain when Asch refused to budge. Peony sighed, affectionately running his hand through Luke's hair.

"It would be cruel to only enjoy one of you and leave the other one watching in the cold," he said. "Luke, since he isn't going to move, kindly crawl over beside him."

"Whoa, wait!" Asch said, rising up on his elbows and shying aside as Luke crossed over Peony and lay down beside him.

Sitting up straight, Peony brought one leg up, letting the blanket slide off. The candle light gave him small, warm glimpses of their skin, their limbs tangling as Asch squirmed around and Luke tried to find a space of his own. Finally they settled down, Asch still lying on his side, braced on one arm as if he'd fallen in that position and just started to push himself back up, and Luke leaned up on one arm behind him, his free hand around the chain.

Even with Luke's hair cut, they were a perfect matched set. Luke, wide eyed and eager, complimented Asch's resistance and abashedness, both of them innocent and interesting challenges. They rivaled any imperial concubines whose portraits still hung in the halls, beautiful silk men and women who stretched out on their master's beds like spoiled lapdogs. His saints, however, looked at him like feral cats, skittish, more used to fighting than lounging at their master's side.

"The question is who should I kiss first?" he wondered out loud. "I wouldn't want either of you growing jealous."

Asch's eyes narrowed. "Go to hell. I'm not gonna get jealous 'cause I'm not gonna-"

"I will," Luke said.

The smile that crept across Peony's face was one of smooth satisfaction.

"What?" Asch cried. His head snapped around and he glared at his replica.

"I'll do it," Luke repeated. "If you don't want to..."

"Don't do it just because I don't want to!" Asch said, pulling on the chain so that Luke landed on him. "You idiot!"

"Hey!"

"If you wanted to kiss him instead," Peony said, as his smile grew mischievous. "You should have just said so. I don't mind watching at first if it puts you both more at ease."

Luke's eyes grew wide as he stared at Asch. "What...?

As if his throat had slammed shut, Asch made a strangled noise that matched how perfectly still he went. His gaze flicked from Luke to Peony, Peony to Luke, as if he was paralyzed.

Similarly frozen, Luke waited for Asch to deny it. But as no sound came out of his original, as Asch held his look and didn't protest, Luke breathed in slowly. He'd never seen Asch without his scowl, and he found himself entranced by the face he suddenly found almost unrecognizable.

"Really?" he breathed, leaning closer.

Wordlessly Asch backed away several inches, but he didn't say anything. Heartened, Luke moved in and kissed him. His eyes closed, and as his lips parted, he turned his head ever so slightly. Long seconds passed, and he felt like he was kissing a statue. He sighed and drew back, eyes downcast.

"That's it?" Peony asked. "Really? He kisses you and you sit there like a lump? I guess you used up all your initiative on the battlefield, Asch the Bloody."

Still not moving, Asch glared at him from the corner of his eye. His lip curled like an animal, warning Peony off. It only made the emperor smirk.

"You've been wanting him for how long now?" Peony said. "He's naked and chained to you. He even kissed you first. What more invitation do you need?"

A flush of red colored Asch's cheeks as his eyes darkened, and he started to tremble, rattling the chain. Luke watched him in growing surprise, raising his hand as if afraid he might explode.

"There's being chaste," Peony murmured. "And then there's being a coward."

Peony breathed in sharply as Asch bowed his head, shaking and biting his lip in some terrible internal battle. A thin drop of blood welled up on his lip, his fists clenched, and his head snapped up with a ferocious growl.

Thinking he meant to attack, Luke grabbed the chain and put his arm around Asch...

(scene removed from )

TBC...

Author's Note:

1. Sorry for that jolt at the end, but I did have to remove the love scenes between Asch and Luke, and then Peony and Jade, even though I consider them important for characterization. If you wish to read these scenes, they are at my livejournal/dreamwidth accounts: k c- a n a t h e m a . l i v e j o u r n a l . c o m / 2 8 1 4 1 8 3 . h t m l

TBC...