Chapter 12

As soon as the door closed behind Treize, Relena found herself staring down at the kneeling form of Lucrezia Noin. 'Queen Relena, I know it is my duty to protect Your Majesty at all times, but I must ask your leave to accompany Commander Treize.'

Shocked by the sudden request, the newly crowned queen had to think twice before she answered. 'Yes, of course. Please do.' She nodded when the black haired woman did the same, then with another bow Lucrezia was gone and Relena found herself once again surrounded by people who wanted to congratulate her on her coronation and kiss her royal hand. She got rid of them one-by-one, making her best to be as dignified and respectful as a queen ought to be. She thought of her mother, now former queen and in the hands of the Alliance, and hoped she was alright.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted though, as the musicians started playing, gentlemen of all possible ages surrounded her requesting a dance. They were all noble men, she was sure, lesser men would never have been allowed into the castle least of all within touching distance of the queen. She had met many a noble man when her father had still been alive, but she did not recognise any of those who surrounded her now and she certainly did not feel like dancing when a war threatened to destroy her home.

'Excuse me, gentlemen.' It was Dorothy, pushing through the wall of suitors. She made her way past them until she was standing beside Relena. 'Her Majesty has already been promised to my cousin and OZ's commander, Sir Treize Kushrenada.'

The nobles turned to one another murmuring. Treize Kushrenada was Dermail's relative? That was even more surprising than the fact that he was to marry the queen. Apparently forgotten, at least momentarily, Relena allowed Dorothy to drag her away from her suitors and towards one of the emptiest corners of the ballroom. 'Thank you, Dorothy.' She felt obligated to say.

'Oh, it is my pleasure, Your Majesty.' The blonde woman made one of her long lasting curtsies, the smirk back on her lips. 'The members of our court can be quite aggressive when it comes to conquering a lady's favours, especially such a highly stationed lady as yourself, Queen Relena.'

'Do you think it is right for us to be celebrating, Dorothy, when our men are at war?' she asked boldly, knowing the crown would protect her if she enraged the other woman, but Dorothy's smug smile merely widened. Nothing seemed to faze her.

'War is always a good reason to celebrate, Your Majesty. It is our men's chance of dying with honour.'

'Your women's as well.' Relena added having noticed that, differently than her own kingdom, Romefeller allowed their women to fight too, if they wanted. It was perhaps the only good surprise she had had in the last couple of days. She had always believed women could be as strong as men, not necessarily physically, but in an emotional, psychological level. Her father had shared her views or he would never have chosen Sally as their family's private physician.

Dorothy smiled at that, a more genuine smile, though it still looked a lot like a smirk. 'If it would please my queen, I could make up an excuse so Her Majesty could leave the party and return to her chambers.'

'You would…' Relena regarded her surprised. 'Why?'

'Well, Queen Relena… Let's just say I like you and I'm not in complete agreement with my grandfather's methods.' Dorothy answered mysteriously. She did not give the queen any time to ask more questions. 'So? Would you like that?'

Relena blinked. 'Yes, I would like to retire. Thank you, Dorothy.'

'Once again, it is a pleasure to serve Your Majesty.' And with that she floated back to her grandfather in her black dress – almost as fancy as the queen's – and explained the situation to the king. He nodded at her, raising his glass at Relena to salute her. She made a curtsy in return and soon Dorothy was leading her back to the living quarters where the luxurious chambers were located.

'I am leaving the kingdom, Queen Relena.' Dermail's granddaughter told her after some time. 'I thought you should know in case you might go looking for me.'

'Leaving?' Relena could not hide her curiosity. Would Dorothy consider taking her with her? This might be her only chance to escape Romefeller…

'I want to see the battle from up close.' came the honest answer as they halted in front of the queen's chambers. The fanciest after Dermail's. Relena met Dorothy's grey eyes, trying to see something, anything that would reveal to her whether she could trust the woman or not, but there was nothing. 'Enjoy the rest of your day, Queen Relena.'

'Thank you, Dorothy. Good luck.'

Dorothy made a final curtsy before disappearing down the corridor. Relena wondered at her guards' absence, but did not pay it much mind. She was not supposed to be back here until after the party, which would not be over for at least another couple of hours, therefore her chambers' guards must have been reassigned somewhere else.

The empty corridor, still dark despite it being morning, gave her an eerie feeling and she quickly stepped inside as a chill ran down her spine. Not that she felt any safer within… That was most definitely not her home and, though she was queen, she did not feel like more than a trespasser standing there between the fire place and the massive cushioned bed.

She walked up to the window, wishing the chambers here had balconies like the ones in Sanc, but wishing did not make it so. It was when she heard the door open and mentally scolded herself for forgetting to lock it behind her. Just when she had thought she would be finally enjoying a few moments of peace and quiet… 'What—' Relena started as she turned around, but stopped as she realised it had come for her. Death had come for her. 'Heero…'

He stood in front of her now locked door in the black coat and white breeches of Romefeller's royal guard, the dark cape barely able to conceal the bow on his back. The long sword was clearly visible, but for once his hands were nowhere near its hilt. Relena felt a rush of energy flow between them, it warmed her inside before vanishing completely. Heero seemed to have been expecting that for his expression was not nearly as surprised and confused as hers. He nodded more at himself than at her and, to the queen's utter shock, kneeled at her feet.

'What are your orders, mistress?'

Mistress? She could feel the breath leave her at that. He did not meet her eyes, but kept his gaze low. 'Stand up, Heero. Please.' She waited until he had done so. For some reason, she did not feel right seeing him on his knees, or giving him orders. She had been a princess before and now she was a queen, which meant she had been giving orders ever since she had been born, it came naturally to her, but she did not want to give him orders. Heero did not belong on his knees. 'I do not want to be your… Mistress. I want to be your friend.'

He raised his eyebrows at her. 'Is that an order?'

Relena almost growled. Almost, but not quite. How could he frustrate her so quickly and with so few words? She took a deep breath, sorting out her thoughts. 'Is there not a way we can reverse this? How do I stop being your mistress?'

'You could dismiss my services in which case Wing and I would turn back to stone.'

'So his name is Wing.' She smiled widely, remembering the grey dragon, but then it disappeared as she assimilated his last words. 'What do you mean by "turn back to stone"?'

'A dragon rider can only live so long as he has a master to sustain him with his magic. Once you dismiss me, I will no longer have a means of surviving.'

She bit her lip as she considered what he was saying. 'Then only people who wield magic can be the master of a dragon rider…' He did not react in any way, but she took it as an affirmative. 'But then that would mean… I have magical powers? How can I? I do not even know how to use them. How could I have become your mistress?'

'I'm not sure. This is unprecedented.'

'And what am I supposed to do? I mean… I don't want you to turn back into stone.' Her honesty caught him off guard and she could see his eyes widen a little, his lips parting slightly, but he could not immediately come up with an answer. He cleared his throat and frowned. At least this is new for the both of us.

'Give me orders.' He said finally, his tone a little less monotonous.

'I don't want to give you orders.' She insisted, watching as his eyes narrowed. Could he kill her now that she was his mistress? What would happen if he did? No, there had to be an invisible force that stopped him from killing his masters… That must be why he had not been able to kill her before. 'Fine.'

Her sudden change of heart seemed to surprise him even more than any of the things she had said and done before, but Relena just did not feel like arguing the matter. Not at the moment anyways. 'Here's an order… Take me back to Sanc.'

Heero frowned. That woman was going to drive him insane. She simply did not make any sense and it seemed to him that everything she said or did was meant to get under his skin. Was she doing it on purpose? Trying to make him lose his composure? She could have ordered him to kill anyone, but she wanted him to take her back to Sanc, to the middle of a war zone. At least I have a mission. He eyed her carefully. Relena blushed at his scrutiny, but refused to look away. Her bravery ingratiated her in his eyes and made his heart beat a little faster.

'Do you have a less…' he gestured towards her dress unsure what word to use.

'Flamboyant outfit?' she offered, smiling. 'I think I saw some sort of uniform here somewhere…'

He watched as she practically disappeared inside the massive wooden wardrobe in her search of the aforementioned outfit. The connection he had felt when he had walked into her chambers had confirmed his suspicions of her being his new 'master', but they still did not know how it had happened and Relena did not even seem to be aware of her own power. It was going to be a long contract… Perhaps Wing could shed some light on the matter, after all he had foreseen she would break the curse.

The only problem with the dragon's visions was that they were not carved in stone, which meant that, if Heero made any wrong decision in the near future, he might end up changing fate and altering that outcome. That was why he always chose to follow his feelings when it came to those visions, if he did that at the very least he would not regret his choice even if things did not end well. Their last battle had been a fine example, but if he had not gone through with it they would not have lost and he would not have met Relena and become her servant, seizing the chance to free them all. If he had taken measures to alter fate, they would have probably succeeded and his blade would have been stained with the young queen's blood. For some reason, that thought disturbed him greatly.

'Heero?' it was not the first time she had called him, she seemed slightly uncomfortable, but he could not see why. Her eyes went to the clothes in her hand then to the door before turning to him. 'Would you mind?'

He swallowed, turning around in case his embarrassment decided to show on his face. 'I will wait outside.' He said simply, his voice surprisingly even, and stepped out closing the door behind him.

Relena might be queen now, but that did not mean she was no longer Dermail's prisoner. They would have to be quick and discreet if they meant to make it out of the castle without creating a fuss. Her 'disguise', he realised when she walked out to meet him, could hardly be called that, though she did look different with her hair tied back in a low ponytail.

'There was not a single cloak in there…' she explained as if reading his mind. Heero could see she was no longer as disturbed by his assessment of her as she had been before.

'Come.' He told her and started making his way down the corridor. He had come prepared to kill Dermail and raise chaos so he had not really planned an escape, especially not an accompanied one. They would have to improvise.

The castle was like a labyrinth. Whenever they turned a corner they seemed to end up in a longer darker corridor then the one they had been before. Relena tried to remember the way back to Dermail's study where she had been the previous morning. She knew if they found the study they would find their way out, but she had only been there once and whenever she had needed to get anywhere there had always been a guard or a maid or Dorothy to escort her there.

Heero had planned on leaving the same way he had come in…through a window. She wondered if she should just tell him that she was willing to try jumping off a window even though she really was not. He might survive somehow, he had survived the fall back in Sanc, but she was made of weaker stuff.

After what felt like a lifetime of growing tension, they finally found the stairs. 'If we go down we will end up in the foyer and someone may see us…' she told him, remembering the party was taking place at the throne room as well as the ballroom and those were adjacent to the foyer. Guards and guests would be circulating all over the place. They could faintly hear the orchestra playing and the sounds of chatter and laughter.

'Then we must go up.' Heero said simply and started going up with Relena close on his heels. She did not know what he had in mind, but she had no choice but to trust him. For some reason, she felt like she would have trusted him even if there had been other choices.

They ended up standing in yet another dark corridor, but at least this one led to a single door. Heero frowned. Should they risk crossing it? Or turn back and try the foyer? Voices underneath them made up his mind for him. There was no going back now.

Without thinking, he took Relena's hand in his, dragging her with him down the corridor and through the lonely door, closing it behind them just as a guard reached the top of the stairs where they had been standing seconds earlier. His relief lasted but a moment for they were now on a walkway between two towers and a solitary guard stood watch less than five metres* away from them. He spotted the couple as soon as they walked out.

'What's going on?' the man asked, his tone preoccupied, but not antagonizing, after all they were disguised.

'Her Majesty was in need of fresh air.' Heero lied, making Relena regret not having worn her crown. Now, if the guard suspected them, she would have no proof as to her identity.

The guard paled visibly when he recognised her. 'My queen.' He kneeled. 'I did not mean to be disrespectful, I—'

'There is no need to apologise.' She raised her hand in a peace offering gesture and smiled, which actually made the guard blush. 'You were merely doing your job.'

'Yes, Your Majesty.' He could not seem to gather the courage to meet her eyes. 'Is there anything else I can help you with?'

'Actually…' Relena looked around for a moment trying to come up with an excuse to force him to leave them. 'The walls here are a lot higher than I thought they would be… I would really like to be able to admire the view without having to stand on my toes.'

'Yes, Your Majesty. Certainly. I will see what I can do.'

As he turned to leave through the door opposite to the one they had come from, Heero reached for his bow. No need for witnesses. He had the arrow aimed at the man's head when Relena's hand landed on his forearm. 'Don't.' she said simply. It was an order and Heero's arm relaxed. She was starting to enjoy giving him orders.

Finally, a development that made any sense in his head, even though her requests still did not. 'What now?' her voice re-emerged when the guard was safe behind the door, but just as she turned to Heero a strong gust forced her to close her eyes.

Wing landed elegantly in the middle of the walkway. He had to keep his wings closed for his body to fit in the relatively narrow space, but he looked as if he were smiling, genuinely content to see Relena again. She ran straight towards him, ignoring Heero's warning not to, and the dragon lowered his head so she could caress his forehead. 'Hello, my friend.' She said with a wide smile.

Heero could not believe what he was seeing. His uncontrollable and temperamental winged partner had his eyes closed as the young woman encircled the big grey head with her arms. As he approached, he could hear the dragon emitting that gurgling that sounded almost like a purr, and he replayed his fall in his mind trying to remember if he had hit his head. He had not. Well, at least he would not have to fight Wing to make him allow Relena to ride him.

Shaking away his shock, Heero mounted and extended his hand towards the young queen to help her up. Relena stared at him in awe. 'Come. We must go.' He urged her, though he would have rather admired the blissful expression he saw on her face a while longer. She took his hand, allowing him to pull her up and onto Wing's back. 'Hold on.'

Relena snaked her arms around his waist as they took off. She imagined it would have been natural for her to have reservations about touching him in such an intimate way, but whether she should or should not have reservations, she did not. Once they were up and gliding over Romefeller Kingdom she relaxed her hold a little, turning to one side then the other as she admired the world from above. 'It's beautiful…' she whispered dreamily with tearful eyes.

Heero glanced at her over his shoulder, remembering his first flight, and a small smile found its way onto his lips.

*Approximately 16.5 feet.