Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this story, with the exception of Cian. Anyone wishing to use this character must ask permission first. This story is rated M for violence, graphic boy on boy action, and bad language.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: DREAMS COME AT A PRICE
"You taste good love," Kurama smiled. He wiped his mouth and stood up as the man he was beginning to hate waltzed in to the room.
"You're back in time for the ceremony." Cian moved close and attempted to give the fox a kiss.
Kurama raised his hand and hit the ice demon across the face, hard enough to knock the larger man off his feet. "The ceremony holds no importance to me." He glanced towards Hiei, who looked just as shocked as Cian. "Love, go down and participate. I'll join you as soon as I have this situation all sorted out."
Hiei kissed the base of the fox's throat. "Be careful." Without a backwards glance, he left the room and shut the door behind him.
Cian moved from the floor to the bed with eyes shining from amusement. "You're thinking of ending our cozy situation, aren't you? Kurama, I'm not entirely selfish. Can't you see the benefits it holds for you as well?"
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "I do see the possible advantages, probably more than you realize. However, that does not outweigh the negative, not for me."
"And for Hiei?"
"Hiei's voice does not count in this matter," Kurama answered. "I've made sure of that."
"Because you are afraid that he would choose to keep me around," Cian sneered.
Kurama took slow sure steps towards the bed. "No, I have made sure that his voice does not count in this matter because he would slit your throat himself and doom me with you. I'm afraid that my lovely Dragonfly could not live through such a horror. It would undo all that I've done to improve his life."
"What are you going to do to me that is so much better than me being killed?" Cian questioned, his attention now captured.
"You see, I'm marked by you against my will. According to the laws of this region, anyone marked without their consent are at the status of slaves. Slaves are freed in one way, by either paying a negotiated price or by challenging their master and winning."
"You didn't win in the first fight and there's no price that I'd accept for you." Cian sat up in the bed with a flash of anger in his ice blue eyes.
Kurama just kept coming closer. "Shut that mouth of yours and listen to me Cian." He stopped and gazed down at the ice demon. "You're lovely and, if my heart did not already belong to another, I would love you without a second thought in my mind. But Hiei has had that part of me since I was still a child, and no one, not even a god, can compete with that." He sat down on the bed next to Cian, then placed a hand to his cheek, tracing the strong bone structure. "Do you love me?"
"I thought I did," the ice demon muttered.
"Then accept my deal. I don't expect you to give up your claim on me willingly. That would be going against all that you believed in. However, I'm more than happy to challenge you to a fight after the ceremony is complete. If I win, you revoke your claim on me. If I lose, then you're past the first step. I can not tell you that I'd accept you as my mate if I lost, because that decision is not just mine to make. You'd still have to go through Hiei."
"Another bet?" Cian's eyes brightened. "I love to play games with such high stakes."
Kurama smiled gently. "So do I."
The fox stood up from the bed and moved to Hiei's rather expansive closet, most of which Kurama had either supplied or forced Hiei in to buying. Half of the space had been reserved for Kurama during his visits, for the fox would never sleep in such a strange environment without Hiei in the bed beside him. Kurama changed in to soft suede pants and a creamy white blouse. With a sigh, his hair flamed red once again and large green orbs gazed at the world.
Cian gave him a confused look. "Why change?"
Kurama looked over his shoulder with a small smile. "Whom I choose to mate with is my own business. Hiei and I have reached an understanding about formal affairs such as this. I'll be at his side when needed, but I refuse to be known only for his mate. I won't be defined by his success."
"If you win the fight against me and no longer have to deal with me as a mate, what will the two of you do? I mean, you don't even live in the same world as him and with his new position, he'll have to be here most of the time."
Kurama's smile turned sad, remorseful. "I don't know. Before we mated, Hiei and I had never even considered a serious relationship, much less this, for that reason. We'd been dating when he was staying with me, and we'd spend time together when I was visiting him here." Kurama's cheeks turned crimson. "But outside of the bedroom, everything was the way it always was."
"Fox…"
"Yes?" Kurama placed his usual concealing small smile on his face.
"You're always so sad."
"I wish Hiei would see what he didn't want to look at sometimes." He shrugged his frail shoulders. "I have to get down there before he loses his patience. Please, stay up here. I'll take no more than ten minutes, and then you and I can go somewhere private to fight." Kurama walked out with a sigh and wandered downstairs.
The leaders from the different territories were there, congratulating the new leader. Kurama sighed with disappointment when he realized he had missed the entire ceremony. A gasp came from his lips as Inaya grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"Your plan is going to work," Inaya whispered to him. "As long as you embrace that you have two mates during the fight. Remember that Hiei's are not the only powers you can use."
Kurama turned questioning eyes on to her. "Are you referring to the dragon? If I unleashed that, Inaya, I could never have the strength to pull it back. Only Hiei can control that."
"Not that," Inaya hissed and snapped her fingers in front of the fox's face. "Focus Kurama! If you can't figure it out by the time you get to the clearing by the river, then you're just thick." She shook her head and walked away.
Hiei wandered over as soon as he could break free from his group of admirers. "Fox, you missed the whole ceremony. For once, I'm glad that the bitch has no sense of decency and arranged a reception to sully all these fools in to cooperating with me."
"I won't be attending the reception for you Hiei, but I'm sure you'll do fine." He leaned down and straightened Hiei's cloak. "Just remember to think before you speak. These people might someday be useful allies and you must treat them with as much respect as you would ask to be given."
Hiei fixed his fox with a glare. "Why won't you come?" He fingered the red hair. "And why are you in this form?"
"I'm going home after I solve our little problem Hiei." Kurama closed his eyes and refused to allow the tears to stream down his face. "Don't forget the reason you marked me Hiei. It was so that someone else wouldn't claim me, and I agreed to it without thinking of the consequences. I can't live here with you and you can't be elsewhere with me. When you get the time, then you can come visit me and we'll find a solution to this problem too."
"What problem would that be?"
"Hiei, we have so many issues I don't know where to begin on the list." Kurama gazed in to the crimson eyes. "Don't let me spoil this moment for you. I'm very proud of you. You've gotten everything you wanted, but remember that dreams come at a price." He turned and walked away, back upstairs to Hiei's room.
Cian lifted himself off the bed.
"Let's go," Kurama muttered.
Cian stopped him with a hand to his cheek. "Fox, you're crying." He traced the tear lines down Kurama's cheeks with a frown.
Kurama hit the hand away. "I don't have time for this Cian. I haven't forgotten about my poisoned and ill friends and family." He led the way out of the castle and in to the nearby forest, scaling the familiar hills without much effort. In his frustration and pain, he didn't care whether or not the ice demon could keep up with him.
He reached the clearing by the river in record time. A few minutes later, Cian came stumbling out of the forest walls and gazed at the silver haired fox with a look of frustration. "I see you changed back."
No emotion was in the golden orbs as they switched from the river to the figure standing in the clearing. "This forest is mine," Kurama said, his voice as dead as his eyes. "The trees, the flowers, the plants, they all belong to me, and they all obey my will."
Cian paled. "That's… interesting."
"Yes," Kurama agreed. "I think so too." He gazed at the grass below Cian's feet and willed it to grow. It did, wrapping itself in to thick ropes around his legs.
"I don't think this is fair," Cian growled.
Kurama managed to look amused. "Oh, really? I practice tit for tat, I suppose. Blinding me in the last fight was hardly considered honorable." The fox gazed at him with eyes that looked like tarnished gold.
He gazed at the ice daggers launched at him with a twisted smile. He raised a hand and stopped them an inch from his face. At the touch of his fingertips, they shattered and the pieces fell to the ground.
Vines twisted out of the forest with a life of their own, twisting around the trapped ice demon like a boa contrictor. The more he struggled, the tighter they bound until he stood motionless.
"Claiming me when I belonged to another was not fair." Kurama took a step towards the trapped ice demon. "Forcing Hiei to mark me in the first place was not fair." He reached out and brushed a strand of hair from Cian's face. "So, I don't really have the mind to care what you, of all people, think is fair."
He turned away and gazed out at the forest. "That is one part of me that no one, not even Hiei, has seen. They don't realize that this place, this forest, is a reflection of me." He glanced over his shoulder. "I am dangerous Cian." He turned around again. "Oh… My poor mate… Are you uncomfortable?" He snapped his fingers and the vines released him.
Cian began to claw at the grass binding him in place, only to discover that the more he destroyed, the higher the grass climbed. He stared up at Kurama with wide eyes. "You aren't acting like yourself."
"Oh, but I am. I am acting like the self that existed before the human part of me changed everything. I'm acting without any thought to reason. I'm acting like a demon." He sighed, almost wistfully. "It's really too bad Hiei isn't here to see this. He'd be so proud."
"I don't think he would. He seems to like the human part of you."
"So did you," Kurama laughed in a cold manner unfitting his perfection. "I'm going to revoke your claim on me Cian, because I've already won." He took a dagger from its hidden place inside his clothing. He cut a thin line in to Cian's cheek and then raised the dagger to his own throat. "Wish me luck." He sliced in to his own flesh, slicing the skin away at the mark that Cian had made. As soon as he was satisfied, he swiped at the blood on Cian's cheek and rubbed it on his neck. With a sizzle, the wound sealed itself again.
The grass restraining Cian sank back to normal length as Kurama turned away from the ice demon and began to walk away.
"Kurama!" Cian called. "Where are you going?"
Kurama gazed over his shoulder. "To end the suffering of those who cared about me enough to be poisoned by you. After that, I'll make sure that no one ever has an excuse to hurt them on my account again." He walked away, and disappeared in to the forest. The trees shifted, blocking all who would try to find their master.
AUTHOR'S CORNER:
I feel unloved! I logged in today to update and no new reviews! tear tear Okay, now that I'm done pouting, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Granted, I don't think it was what you all expected to happen, in a way. So, I'm glad for that. Cian didn't die (sorry to all those who wished for his death). Anyways, please tell me what you liked, or didn't like about this story or chapter. I love hearing what you guys have to say, even if its not positive. Oh, and I apologize for no update yesterday. I got a tattoo and was out of commission for awhile. It hurt! Anyways, thanks for reading!