A/N: Another chapter for you all!! Something to break up the angst...one hopes.
juicy: I agree with you totally. It annoys me how some slaves just give in merely days after being captured. I hope I can live up to your expectations though.

OK, please enjoy and review! Reviews are my caramel flavoured Snack-a-Jacks big grin!

Wild, wet and windy. That could best describe the moors as a general rule. However, Axel and his company had the fortune of choosing one of the moors of Radiant Garden's dryer spells. The sun was high in the cloudless blue sky, a sure sign that summer would approach them. Axel grinned. This could only mean good things for the lands he owned and the people and livestock that lived and worked on them.

"Your 'treat' is quite a glum person," Kairi complained, trotting up to him on Paradise. She had changed to a red tunic and brown trousers in preference over a woman's travelling robe. Axel looked behind him. Roxas had been given his horse back since the young boy didn't want to sit in a wagon. Axel could understand that. But as Kairi had said, he was looking rather miserable, just looking around listlessly. Axel sighed and shook his head, mock-despairing to the heavens.

"What am I going to do with him?" He made Flame walk backwards to the boy. "Kairi, lead the way."

"Alright Axel!" Kairi took the lead, herding the men to travel forwards to their home. Axel rode next to Roxas, looking at him for a moment.

"Why the solemn face?"

Roxas jumped a little, as if waking from a trance. He quickly turned his head. Seeing it was only Axel, he turned back his head.

"Ah, I'm getting the silent treatment now, am I?" Roxas was mute. "So it seems." Axel shook his head, grinning a little. Maybe to have such an icy wall between them would be entertaining to break down. "To what do I deserve such harsh treatment, Roxas?"

"You could've let me say goodbye to Riku…or to my brother."

Ah, that was it. Now Axel had his reason for having a hasty exit. For one, he didn't want to leave his lands unattended to for much longer than he already had. For another, he thought it would be best if Roxas did not speak to Riku. You never know, it could slip out that Riku was the one who spoke of Hollow Bastion's weakness; an angry young boy was not what Axel wanted to deal with. For a third reason, the king had undoubtedly 'punished' Roxas' older brother by now. He didn't want to deal with a heartbroken boy either.

"It's not like you won't ever see them again," Axel reasoned, knowing that it was true to an extent. The silver-haired youth being a personal servant to the prince would mean that he would practically have to follow the energetic brunet wherever he went. The former prince, Cloud, would probably be more difficult. As a concubine, they tended to only be called for when needed, and kept away from the rest of the world when they were not needed. Axel decided it was best to keep this information to himself. "I'm often called for at the castle, and, since you will be my squire, you will have to come with me."

"Why give such a high status to an enemy?"

Axel grinned toothily at him. "That is a secret that you will have to find out, Roxas."

Roxas turned to face him, his sapphire eyes looking at him with great bemusement. The flame-haired warrior laughed, keeping the answers to himself and away from the young boy.

After all, what Roxas didn't know could never harm him.

Roxas' eyes had widened in amazement when he witnessed the longhouses Axel had spoke of last night, never having seen anything like it.. The longhouses were made of wood, built on a large mound that had a ditch surrounding it. Behind it were fields of solid land that were used for grazing cattle and sheep, dotted around by a few farm houses, one village standing outside of the longhouses while a few more hamlets where dotted around the surrounding lands.

"This…"

"Aurelias," Axel inserted. "My land."

He looked to him, as if acknowledging some sort of understanding though the uncertainty of what laid ahead was evident in the youth's eyes. Axel gave him a sly wink. "You'll be safe here."

"But I-"

"An enemy prince. I realise that. Trust me; you're far safer here than you are at the castle."

"Why?"

"I can keep an eye on you better."

Roxas puffed his cheeks out childishly, a little enraged that the implication seemed to be that he was far too troublesome. Axel laughed, finding it to be rather…charming to say the least. "Come along now. I'd rather like to get home before the sunsets."

Roxas looked at him, and back to the lands, before nodding his head and following the warrior quietly. If he even is a warrior, Roxas had thought. With all these lands…he could be lord or a duke or a marquise or even just a knight…

Just what was Axel in this society?

The youth couldn't stand the silent stares directed at him, feeling awkward and uncomfortable in this strange place. The village they had gone through had been a hive of activity, the women busily dealing with the domestic running of the place while children either helped their mothers or played on the ground. The men that had stayed behind were in the fields, tending to the livestock and the few crops that could grow in what little dry ground they had. But now the bustling had ended to greet their lord and master…and to gawp at what he had brought with him.

Roxas was beginning to feel very unwelcome here. Could he blame the people for behaving like so? Probably not. He was a stranger and a prize of war.

The silence was broken when the men had come back from the fields, laughing and greeting their fellows and breaking the trance like state the women and children were in. Roxas blinked, surprised that it had only taken the return of the remaining men to change the atmosphere completely. Kairi rode next to him.

"You have to forgive them. They are more used to Axel bringing home a man who's a lot stronger, bigger and older than you," she smiled. "He prefers to choose his prizes from war on account of how well they will serve in the fields. You are the exception."

Roxas blinked again, not sure of what to make of this, but her explanation was backed up by loud hoots and shouts between reunited friends, families, and lovers.

"Sir Axel brings a pretty doll instead of a big bruiser this time mate?"

"Aye. Gave us a fair auld surprise, that 'e did."

"Mama, why isn't he as big as one of the other Trabians Sir Axel brought back?"

"He's not from Trabia, child, though how he will help in the fields is beyond me..."

"Ach, we're bein' replaced by pretty little laddies now!"

"That ain't fair! Years of loyal service and breaking mah back for 'im an' this is how 'e repays us?!"

Kairi shook her head, giving Roxas a sympathetic smile. Roxas looked around, spotting what he assumed were the Trabians. They were a group of very tall, very muscular men that had dirty weather-beaten faces and plaid material wrapped around their shoulder and chest, one bronze brooch to each man, all of them decorated differently so that no two could be mistaken for the other with their wild red to chestnut hair, sparkling blue eyes and heavily bearded faces.

Axel rode up in front, silencing all those who had gathered to greet the conquering heroes, the look on his face serious and grim. The crowd went quiet, some women, men and children looking very distress, and with good reason Roxas finally realised.

These people were the relatives of the dead, who gave their lives for the benefit of Radiant Garden and for the protection of their family and friends they had left behind. Kairi too had fallen mute, bowing her head down as Axel listed the names of those who did not, and would not ever, come back.

Roxas watched him, mesmerized how strong Axel's voice was as he listed those names, though a note of pain might have been detected if Roxas was listening carefully. One woman came up to him, her face tear-stained, asking Axel if it was really true that her lover had been killed in action. Axel could only nod his head, reassuring the poor woman that her man had not died in vain, and that he was brave in the face of the enemy to very last, his voice soothingly calm. The woman tore away, crying. Axel only watched, shaking his head sadly.

Roxas looked over to Kairi, seeing that tears had formed in her eyes. Very tentatively, he whispered, "My lady?"

She looked up, her lavender eyes glowing sadly through the tears. "I hate this bit. Having to tell all those poor people that their men will never come back. I..." She paused. "…I dread the day…that Axel might…not come back…that his name will be on that list instead…" Roxas said nothing. "Don't say anything of it though. Axel will only scold me for worrying. The thing is…he seems to forget he's not immortal." She laughed weakly, as if to try and convince herself not to get so upset. "He's just as bad as the king. His majesty tends to forget that not even he can live forever."

He nodded, understanding what Kairi meant. It also reminded him of the day he had sneaked out to go to battle with Cloud that fateful day. If he had…thought of what would have happened to his people, to his family, even to what he could call 'friends', would the outcome be different? Would he still be at home, under siege from attackers, fearing for Cloud's life if he had not returned like his older two brothers? Would…he never have met Axel?

The answers were not clear to Roxas. What was clear to him was what such an arrogant and selfish person he had been for thinking only of how he could prove himself to everyone. This was his punishment.

Luxord was a very precise and time-conscious man. Everything had to be carefully calculated before taking a step forward. However, he did often play things by time and chance. Timing things correctly, he got the results he wanted. In short, he was the perfect man for the job of running the household of Aurelias' ruling family.

And he was also the perfect card player, often beating many courtiers that had visited Sir Axel, with the exception of the young Prince Sora when he came to visit the lady Kairi. He often lost subtly to him, just to humour the usually energetic prince.

However, seeing the sourpuss of a blond youth that Axel had brought home was something the blond manservant would not, in his entire life, have expected. He rubbed his short beard thoughtfully, inspecting the youth, his pierced ears glittering a little in the little light that shone through the windows of the main longhouse.

"What do you make of him?" Axel asked, his feet proper up on the table, leaning back into an oak chair.

Luxord peered a little at the blond before him. "He doesn't really seem fit enough to work in the fields, my lord. What role would he play here?"

"You've always been pestering me to get a squire, haven't you?" Axel smirked lazily, watching with wry amusement. "Here's your answer."

The bearded blond raised his eyebrows in surprise. This whelp was going to be a squire to the king's most trusted knight? He didn't look much. If anything, Luxord would've expected to see him working as a shepherd or as a kitchen boy. A squire? Axel would be the laughing stock of the kingdom if the boy proved himself to be utterly useless. "Are you absolutely sure of this?"

"You doubt my choice?"

"No…well…slightly, if you want me to be honest."

"You don't need to," Axel grinned, getting up and striding over, brushing past the deflated looking soul that had said and done nothing since arriving at the main longhouse. "Though your honesty is appreciated."

"Just raising my concerns, 'tis all." The manservant bowed. "Where shall we place him for now?"

"Take him to the servants' longhouse for now. Make sure he's warmly welcomed by everyone."

"I shall see to it, my lord." Luxord then turned to the still mute boy. "Come along now."

He followed the manservant, despondent, sort of looking back to Axel, though he quickly looked away when Axel gave him lopsided grin. Luxord shook his head.

Truly, this was something he might never have predicted…and Sir Axel was taking a huge gamble with this one.

The servants' longhouse was nothing what he had expected. It was, however, a hive of activity. Pots were clanging against each other as women went back and forth, there were shouts and hoots of laughter coming from men dressed in Trabian garbs, a few of them doing a small jig accompanied by off-key ditties and tunes. Roxas found himself a little intimidated, especially of the women beating the dust of the animal-skins that usually covered the floor and the wild Trabian workers. Luxord patted his back.

"Have no fear. You're one of us now."

"That's easy for you to say," Roxas said sullenly, not used to seeing such a busy atmosphere since he had born into a world where there always seemed to be ample enough time to waste.

"Pish-posh," Luxord chuckled. "If we can accept and even somewhat tame Trabian barbarians-"

"Oi!" one Trabian hollered. "We ain't daft!"

"Right you are, chum," Luxord grinned. He then turned back to Roxas. "If we can welcome them into our home, you shall be no problem."

Roxas was not exactly comforted by this. It was at that moment a big motherly looking woman came up to them.

"So is this the bairn we've all been hearin' aboot, Luxord?" she asked, her Trabian accent strong. Roxas had the feeling that this was a woman to be reckoned with. You did something wrong, you had her wrath to deal with.

"Aye," Luxord confirmed. "Treat him well. The master commands it."

"Ah…so another spoil-o'-war, is 'e now?"

"That is correct."

"Well welcome to our humble abode, my lad!" The woman embraced Roxas warmly, shocking the youth, Luxord's amused chuckles ringing lightly in his ears. "Any spoil-o'-war is a friend of ours!"

"That they are!" a man drinking ale whooped.

"Even if 'e ain't a Trabian like us!" another chorused. Screeches of laughter replied to the jovial shouts. The woman shook her head.

"Oh give over ye bunch of drunkards!" she bellowed at them.

"Oh shut it, ye fishwife!"

"Fishwife! I'll give ye a fishwife, laddy!"

Roxas went mute, his eyes wide with fear as the woman stomped over and gave the one who insulted her an earful of shouted words and a whack across the head. Luxord was still laughing quietly, deeply amused by all this. "You will do fine here. Mary has taken a shine to you already. If you are in league with Mary, the rest will soon warm up to you."

"I…see…" Roxas was still unconvinced that he would be 'fine'.

"Oh, and a word of caution," Luxord added, leaning down a little into Roxas' ear. "I suggest keeping your royal heritage under wraps. Trabians can be quite cruel to fallen rulers."

Roxas looked at him. "What…?"

"They respect only strong leaders. Those who have fallen are seen as weak. Oh…and don't mope. They see it as a mark of disrespect to their dead."

"Oh….okay…."

Luxord left…and Roxas was at the mercy of the rowdy Trabians and the rest of Axel's household.

Axel sighed as he came back from the funeral gathering in the village, taking his tunic off as he entered his room in the main longhouse. All those dead men…the names and numbers of his own men always had been close to his heart as the list grew from that first campaign of Leon's, that conquest over the wild snowy lands of Trabia. He collapsed onto the bed, closing his eyes and thinking deeply of all that happened in the years that Leon had taken a liking to warfare. The widows and fatherless children…the spoils and riches, the good working men that Axel had gained from it. He shook his head. There was nothing wrong with fighting, and Axel would be the first to admit that the adrenaline one felt before battle was something that became very addictive after a few of them, the fear giving way to battle-lust…but it was how it affected everyone else in the aftermath that Axel secretly did not like. Having to deal with distressed widows, women and children was not something he enjoyed, as it sometimes put his own mortality up for his own questioning.

And the affect it had on his sister, his remaining close family member…it pained him. For what would happen if he should die and leave her to care for the lands? She was still only a child…and men would no doubt come running to her to take advantage of her vulnerable position. Greedy men. Axel hated that the possibility existed.

He sat up, brooding. Such issues always put him into a foul mood. And there was no way in hell that he would leave Kairi, if he should die, alone. Nor was he keen on having to discuss such an issue with her, not doubting that she would take it as an implication of an arranged marriage. Kairi was dead set against such a procedure, which did not help matters at all.

He gave out a frustrated growl, leaning back onto the bed, muttering to himself, "Why do all the women of my family have to be so headstrong?" He brought his mind to nicer things…he thought of Roxas.

He smiled a little. When he first met him, he was just a frightened mouse who had no idea of what to do, where to go or who to trust. Now he had become like a kitten trying to protect himself somehow, untrusting even of Axel who had taken it upon himself to keep safe from those who would've rather seen the young former prince dead. He especially remembered the times when Roxas was asleep. It was the only time Axel could actually touch Roxas without being reprimanded for it. He closed his eyes, remembering how silky those golden blond locks felt between his fingers, how peaceful Roxas' sleeping face looked, and then the eyes…those sapphire-blue eyes. They truly took Axel's breath away. He had never seen such wistful beauty before. But those eyes…they held all the needs and wants of someone who had been practically ignored by all for his entire life, or what he had lived of it.

And it was there, Axel had come to realise, lay his opening. He just had to show Roxas some kindness and affection and soon…Roxas would be able to trust Axel completely.

After all, the little bits of kindness he was offering now to the young boy would surely not to go unnoticed. The young boy had to find trust in people here, even though he was their enemy only a few days ago. If he did not, he would not be able to survive in the first year.

Trabians, Axel had learned, were the kind of people who left those who held onto their prides and refuse help to be alone and help those who asked for their assistance. It was a tough lesson that the whole household and the village had learned the first time they came to this land from their wild homeland.