So, what does a person do when they have a four hour break between classes and no homework to do? If you're this person, you update. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you are all amazing!

Warnings: Some OOCness on Seto's part, be obvious why when you read.

Completion

Chapter 8: Behind Blue Eyes (1)

There was a part of Ryou's mind that told her she was overreacting, but she pushed it away. She wondered though the gardens, Mai following at a distance. 'Why am I so angry?' she thought as she stormed past flowers of every color, completely ignoring the lush beauty around her. 'They were just trying to protect me.' She stopped abruptly, shaking her head. 'The fact is they still lied to me. I need them to see me as a ruler, not as a child. It's obvious that won't happen if they keep things from me.'

"It was such a horrible thing to say to our dear king." Ryou looked up as the voice floated through the trees. She took a few steps forward, peeking through the foliage to see Natasha and Clarissa sitting with their circle of friends sitting at an outdoor table drinking tea. It was Clarissa whom had spoken, her voice filled with melodrama.

The other women nodded, half looking outraged while the other half looked sympathetic. "It does have some truth to it though," Natasha said, surprising everyone at their table.

"What do you mean?"

"How else could Seto treat her when she looks so much like Kisara? Honestly, when I saw her for the first time I thought Bakura had found out about their relationship and decided to mock poor Seto. If she had blue eyes and straighter hair she'd be the spitting image of her."

"I hadn't noticed," Clarissa said slowly, "but, you're correct: Ryou does look almost exactly like Kisara."

"That gives even more credit to the rumors then," one of their companions piped up, "that our king has yet to consummate his marriage."

"Oh, it's just horrible," Natasha practically wailed. "I can only image how torturous it must be for Seto to lay in the same bed with her every night. Ma'at is a cruel goddess to design that Kul Elna woman in Kisara's image."

"Come away, Ryou. I think you've heard enough." Ryou gave no resistance as Mai led her away, a comforting arm around her shoulder.

/

Mokuba was running through the halls, horribly late for his lessons with Hawkins. He knew Hawkins would understand, but that didn't mean he liked to keep his teacher waiting. It was because of this that he ended up running into someone when he rounded a corner. He stumbled but managed to keep his balance. The girl he'd run into, on the other hand, fell on her backside, books and paperwork scattering across the hallway.

"Oh, sorry," Mokuba said quickly, continuing to run. Usually he'd stop to help, but he was so close to his goal.

"Hey!" the girl shouted. When Mokuba didn't stop she let out a growl and threw a book at the prince's legs, tripping him. She stalked over to the boy, glaring down at him. "A real gentleman would have helped me up at least."

Mokuba felt like a fish out of water, and knew he probably looked like one with how wide his eyes were. "Do…do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, Prince Mokuba. Being a prince doesn't mean you get to forget about manners. Besides, do you know who these papers are for?"

"Ah..?" he said.

"The queen! She and the chief advisor are waiting for me to bring these to them so they can finish their proposition!"

"Um…" 'Just who is this girl?' Mokuba thought, still not moving from his position on the floor.

"Prince Mokuba, is everything all right?" Hawkins had come out of the classroom to see what the commotion was about.

"I'm fine," he managed.

"He was just helping me pick up this mess," the girl said, dipping into a curtsey.

"No need for that, miss," Hawkins said, laughing. "May I ask, who are you, miss?"

"Rebecca, sir. I'm the queen's new maid."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Rebecca. Mokuba," he said, offering a hand to the prince to help him up, "finish helping the kind young lady quickly. We have a lot to cover today."

Mokuba nodded as Hawkins went back inside the room. He helped Rebecca pick up the papers without another word, watching her as she walked around the corner. 'Rebecca, huh?'

/

"Well, well, it seems our little princess has finally decided to wake up."

Ishizu glared at the blond man who stood in front of her, which just caused the man to laugh. "I bet you didn't see this coming, did you, little lady? No matter," he said, grabbing her chin, "you'll fetch Bandit Keith a pretty price."

Ishizu spit in the man's eye. He growled, slapping her across the face with one hand, wiping the spit from his face with the other at the same time. "Little bitch," he muttered as he left the tent, giving orders for his men to break camp.

Ishizu sighed, sitting back on her heels. 'Ryou, stay safe, please. It doesn't look like I'll be able to reach you in time.'

/

"There," Akhenaden said as he lifted his pen. "It's finished." He smiled at the woman across from him but she was looking off in the distance, obviously distracted. "Queen Ryou?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Akhenaden, I was somewhere else for a moment. Is it finished?" she asked, a smile gracing her face. It didn't fool the advisor. Despite her attempts at normally, Ryou was wearing her emotions on her sleeve.

"Yes," Akhenaden said, turning the paper to the queen. "It just needs your signature." He watched she signed her name to the proposition before rolling up the paper. "I will present this to King Seto when he's finished talking with Rowland then." She flinched slightly at Seto's name, a glint of distress in her eyes. 'So, that's the problem.'

"Your majesty, has something happened between you and the king?" he asked bluntly. Years in politics had taught him when to be subtle and when to be blunt. This situation called for the latter.

Ryou met the advisor's gaze in shock. She opened her mouth to assure him everything was fine, but a raised eyebrow had her slumping slightly in her chair, sighing softly. "It's nothing he's done, Akhenaden."

"Oh? Are you still upset about the incident yesterday?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I overhead Natasha and Clarissa talking…"

Akhenaden held up a hand, cutting her off. "You shouldn't listen to anything they say, your majesty. Their goal in life is to ruin your relationship with the king."

"Then I don't look like Kisara?" Ryou asked slowly.

Akhenaden's eyes widened, turning to look at the queen as if he had never seen her before.

"Tell me who she is, Akhenaden," Ryou said evenly. If it had been anyone else, Akhenaden would have thought they were begging, but from Ryou it was calming.

The advisor leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath. "Kisara was a young woman that the king's mother took in after her family's deaths. She worked as the queen's maid, but when the queen died she was awarded a place as the crowned prince's cook. She quickly formed a close bond with his majesty, and it wasn't long before they became lovers. King Seto promised told her that he had would stand by his obligation to marry you, but his heart would belong to her, and he'd prove it by making her his royal mistress.

"Gozaburo found out and became furious. He'd warned King Seto not to do anything to endanger the treaty with Kul Elna, and he saw his majesty's relationship with Kisara as just that. He stormed into the prince's chambers one night when he knew Kisara would be there and caught them together. Gozaburo ripped Kisara from the bed and ordered the guards to restrain his majesty." Akhenaden fell silently, his fist clenched in his lap.

"What happened?" Ryou asked, her gentle hand covering Akhenaden's own trembling ones.

It took a moment before the advisor could speak again. "He cut Kisara's throat right in front of Seto." Ryou made a noise of disbelief, her hand slipping back to her side. "Seto had never liked his father, but after that he hated the man. He also hated you and Kul Elna for forcing him into a relationship he didn't want. But, instead of lashing out, he bottled up his anger. That's when everyone started to call him cold."

Ryou sat frozen in her seat, the perfect image of royal neutrality, clearly not knowing what to say. Akhenaden nodded once, as if to banish the story from his brain. "If you'll excuse me, your majesty."

The white haired woman nodded automatically, but otherwise didn't move.

/

Akhenaden had known Seto his whole life, and he knew the King's moods better than anyone. Right now, Seto was more than a little unhappy. The brunet held his pen tighter than he needed to, staring darkly at the papers in front of him as he scratched his signature onto them.

Something had to be done.

"Your majesty?"

"What?" the King snapped, not bothering to look up.

"I told Ryou about Kisara."

Seto froze for a second before slowly lifting his head to look at his advisor. "Why?" His voice was even, but Akhenaden knew he was standing on thin ice.

"Because," the advisor said, his tone guarded, although his words were not, "if you're going to take your anger out on her she deserves to know why."

Seto glared at the man. "I've put Kisara behind me. There's nothing to be angry about."

The older man raised an eyebrow, throwing all caution to the wind. He'd come this far, there was no turning back. "Then why have you been avoiding the Queen? And don't say you haven't been," Akhenaden said quickly, cutting off Seto's protest. "You slept in your sitting room last night. It's the first time since your marriage you slept alone."

Seto knew making excuses to Akhenaden of all people would just be a waste of breath. "So, you thought telling Ryou about Kisara would dissipate my resentment of her?"

"Not at all. I simply told you so I could make you realize just how much you care about her."

"Well, it didn't work. Ryou is my political partner, that's all."

"Then you wouldn't mind seeing her with someone else? If her father had promised her to Pegasus she'd be his queen now, in his bed. If Bakura and your father hadn't threatened war on Dartz she'd still be in Atlantis, if not as the queen, then at least as Dartz's mistress. To them she's a pawn to gain power over Kul Elna. I had thought you saw her as more than that, but apparently I was wrong…"

Seto's pen snapped in his hand, spilling ink over his flesh and onto the desk. The King glared down at the mess. Akhenaden, seeing his work was done, left unnoticed by the distracted monarch. The brunet didn't know how long he stared down at the black liquid, lost in thought, but by the time he moved the ink had begun to dry.

Making a soft noise of disgust he stood, yanking open the door with his clean hand. "Get someone to clean up that mess," Seto ordered the guard, before continuing onto his room. He didn't even notice Mai and Ryou both jump slightly as he slammed open the door to his room as he proceeded to the bathroom.

As he opened the door he was hit by a wave of warm air, causing him to slow his pace. The capital of Kaiba was famous for its natural hot springs, so it wasn't a surprise that the king's chambers had been built around one.

He grabbed a towel, wiping most of the ink off his hand, but leaving a dark stain of his skin.

"Here." He looked up to see Ryou holding out a wet towel to him. Seto nodded his thanks, taking the offered cloth silently.

Ryou turned to walk away but Seto grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to him. "Ryou, I…"

The white haired woman graced him with the sweetest smile Seto had ever seen. He couldn't help himself, he pulled Ryou close before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Don't ever let me forget that you're also my wife again."

/

Seto's eyes darkened as he read the letter he'd just been given. "Seto, what's wrong?" Ryou asked, looking up from the game of mahjong she, Mai, Malik, and Mokuba were playing. She was somewhat hesitant, but that didn't surprise the King. Their already fragile relationship had taken a hard hit over Seto's memories of Kisara and it was still recovering.

"Ishizu's missing," Seto answered as he scanned the letter again.

"What?" Malik demanded, jumping out of his seat and grabbing the letter from Seto's hand.

"She was coming to see you, Ryou," Seto said, ignoring the blond man standing in front of him. "Apparently, she crossed the river a week ago but no one has seen her since."

"What could have happened to her?" Ryou asked, standing up to glance over Malik's shoulder at the letter.

"Bandits," Akhenaden supplied. "We usually have problems with them in the summer."

"But, they've never done anything as stupid as kidnapping a princess," Mokuba protested.

Seto shook his head. "Keith, he's the only one with enough audacity to pull this off."

"You have to send someone after him!" Malik demanded.

"If you cannot contain your temper, leave," Seto ordered before turning to Akhenaden. "We can't send Rowland or Rafael; they're both on missions outside the capital."

Akhenaden opened his mouth but Mokuba cut him off. "Let me go!"

There was silence as everyone turned to look at the prince. "Absolutely not," Seto said slowly. "It's too dangerous."

"You started leading missions beside Rowland when you were fourteen! I'm already sixteen and I've had no combat experience! Valon can come to help me, he's had command experience."

"Mokuba, I already gave you my answer."

"Your majesty," Akhenaden interjected, "I think you should allow Prince Mokuba to go. He is now the crown prince, this is his duty."

When Seto continued to remain silent Mokuba turned to him with pleading eyes. "Please, big brother?"

/

I have discovered Seto doesn't like character development. Blah. I hope Seto didn't seem too OOC, but I really felt he was flat and underdeveloped for this story. As for what happened with Dartz, well, that you'll just have to wait for. Well, let me know if you liked it!

1. By The Who, chosen because of Kisara's involvement in the chapter.