Summary: In a medieval-like fantasy world, Son Gohan meets a young woman, Videl, who comes to West City in search of medicinal herbs to develop a cure for a mysterious illness which is killing people in Orange Star, her home. Will she achieve her goal before it's too late? Who will help (or delay) her? Gohan/Videl

Disclaimer: Do I own DBZ? HA! I wish… (sigh) A story partly-inspired by Game of Thrones, which I do not own either.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Previously…

"It's taking you quite a while to soothe her, brother. Need any help?" Trunks said trying to sound formal and not especially jealous, but it was too obvious to everyone in the room.

"No, I was just about to leave already. Coming with me?" Gohan replied dryly as he got nearer his brother.

"Of course." Trunks answered with fake sympathy as they crossed the threshold.

'Yeah, I'd love to 'cum' with you too, Gohan…' She thought with sarcasm, pun intended.

"I just wanted to give Videl my condolences and make sure she was fine." Trunks added as he stared at her.

"I'm fine, Trunks. Thank you for caring for me, but I just need some alone time." She said sadly.

Therefore, they left her on her own. At least Trunks was satisfied to know that Gohan wouldn't be spending one more minute alone with her, but one little detail kept nagging him: Gohan's shirt was a bit unbuttoned at the top, and Trunks had partly seen Videl's sea shell necklace next to a silver ring dangling from Gohan's neck.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 14: A brother's betrayal

Not long after that, Trunks and Gohan were walking along the corridors. The palace was a lush place, even its corridors were amazingly decorated. Ivies and different varieties of flowers grew happily in every corner.

Gohan started talking about his departure. It was obvious he was still clingy and wasn't fully on board with the destiny that the king had planned for him, but Gohan knew what he had to do. In spite of that, Trunks was having a hard time not to succumb to jealousy. It was only after a few minutes that Gohan realised how serious and stern his brother's countenance was. He had hardly ever seen him with that expression on his face.

"Are you leaving so soon?" Trunks eventually asked Gohan trying to sound as neutral as possible, but he failed horribly at it. "I assumed you'd stay until the king would arrive, that is, tomorrow if his plan to arrive as soon as possible is fulfilled. There's going to be bountiful celebration: dancers, music and a lunch party."

"I'm afraid I can't." Gohan replied sadly. "I'm not sure whether the king will want to see me around here."

"Even though you've done a great job so far." Trunks replied with badly-repressed sarcasm. He assumed that Gohan might have taken this blessed chance to get closer to Videl. "Have you told Videl?"

"That I'm leaving soon?" Gohan asked a bit worried. "No, of course not. She's already got too much in her head to worry about."

"It's a pity her adoptive father died, but the truth is that it's quite handy – forgive my cruelty, but I'm sure you might understand why I say so." Trunks replied serious as hell.

"Of course." Gohan lied. He hated Trunks' pragmatism.

"From now on, her only father is the king; and her only concern should be her prospects as a princess. Nothing else." Trunks seemed to stress that last bit, as if he was chiding his brother.

"OK." Gohan replied dryly at his brother's stern comment. He felt something was the matter with him. Had Trunks heard them making out? Gohan started to fear that Trunks was suspecting something.

'Does Trunks suspect anything?' Gohan thought with worry. 'I told him that I was to marry her only two days ago. He must suspect that I still want her. And I do. But ever since Videl was acknowledged as the true heir to the throne, I've never said a word about my feelings for her anymore. I thought the topic would've died naturally due to our radically different states of affairs. The king even reprimanded me for what I did in the stables of West City in front of him. But Trunks must think that I'm not OK with this, that I might want to do something about it. But… Anyway, he knows I can't have her, and that I'm leaving to the Demon Realm Doors. So there's no point in being jealous of me. What should I do? Should I speak with him about it?'

Their conversation seemed to have died, and both young men were deep in their thoughts, hesitating on what to do or say next.

'No matter how hard I try to take it out of my head, I hate that Gohan's got her sea shell necklace.' Trunks admitted to himself, thinking about how to tackle the issue. 'I am shamelessly jealous of him for the first time in my life. And yet, I know I shouldn't worry, because I'm the one who'll marry her. I will have her all to myself and no one can ever stand in my way. Gohan will leave and never come back. She's mine.'

Trunks bit his lower lip in a sudden admission of the huge tension he was feeling. He ended up sinking his fingers in his lush light purple hair, sighing deeply only once.

"What's wrong, brother?" Gohan dared to ask eventually even though he feared to know the answer.

"Let me show you the throne room." Trunks replied coldly.

They went to the throne room, which was obviously empty at that moment. They could be alone there, standing on a perfectly polished cream-coloured marble floor. Trunks wanted some privacy if he was going to do what he thought it was necessary to do – and the corridors were not the proper place to have an argument in. Trunks had let Gohan in and then he closed the wooden double doors once more.

In the meantime, Gohan was staring at the whole throne room. He was busy being tortured by those cream-coloured marble pillars, and that good old cream-coloured marble floor, and suspecting whether the cold, mysterious chair he had been seated on in his horrible vision could actually be the one and only chair-shaped thing in the room: the throne itself. The current revelation had left him frozen. He had seen that very same room, and every single detail in it, even though he had never seen it in his entire life! He swallowed hard and got paler and paler, but he snapped out of it when Trunks started talking once more.

"This is the throne room, brother." Trunks said darkly. "Nice, isn't it?"

"So?" Gohan asked naively, trying to hide his fear of the future.

"Have I told you that our father sent me a dove?" Trunks tried to ease the tension in his heart by not speaking of what he wanted to speak of.

"What does he say?"

"He's decided to follow the king here. He'll ride hard on his horse and hopes to meet him on his way here. The weather is nice, so I think they'll both be here next morning."

"OK, that's good news." Gohan replied quite mechanically.

Then, Trunks believed he had waited long enough.

"Gohan, may I ask you to do me a favour before you leave?" Trunks asked seriously.

"Sure. What is it?" Gohan replied feeling that Trunks was just serious because he was trying hard to repress the sadness to see his brother leave.

"Can you please unbutton your shirt?" Trunks tried to ask neutrally, but he clumsily failed at it.

At that, Gohan raised an eyebrow and believed his sibling to be half-way mad. His favour wasn't going in the direction Gohan had thought it would. He had hoped that Trunks would just tell him to take care and maybe he'd request a manly hug from him before they would say farewell to each other, or something like that.

But no. Trunks wanted Gohan to unbutton his shirt. Now.

"Did I hear you well? Did you just ask me to unbutton my shirt?" Gohan asked Trunks with hesitation.

"Yes, I just did." He said sternly.

"W-why?" Gohan asked dumbfounded, swallowing hard because right beneath his shirt there was Videl's necklace. If he unbuttoned his shirt, Trunks would see it. It was a treasure he hoped to keep secret for the rest of his days.

"Just do it, brother." Trunks insisted dryly.

"But why?"

"Gohan… Do it." Trunks insisted with burning eyes.

Gohan eyed him suspiciously, but he did as told. Right when he was unbuttoning the second button, he hesitated a little bit. He knew Videl's necklace would soon be visible. But he had not a single second to even think about what he could do or say to stop it: Trunks suddenly came closer to him, grabbed Gohan's shirt and tore it open rashly in a split second. The anger was filtering through every pore of Trunk's skin and his eyes were aflame with the most primal of instincts.

"What's the meaning of this?!?!" Trunks asked with clenched teeth and protruding, anger-flooded veins while getting hold of Videl's sea shell necklace and violently pulling it off Gohan's neck, breaking the lock in the process.

"Trunks, wait… I can explain." Gohan tried to calm his brother.

"I'm dying to know, brother." Trunks couldn't help but spitting out the last word out of his mouth with too much anger. His protruding veins gave a very clear message in that precise direction.

"She gave it to me in West City, before I knew she was a princess." Gohan said with a calm voice. "It was just a gift."

"And this?" Trunks asked holding the silver ring dangling from her necklace right in front of Gohan's face as if he was accusing him.

"This is the ring I gave to her," Gohan replied blushing a bit, but still calm. "which she refused and put in her necklace right before she tied it round my neck and… then I got knocked out and she left."

"And why do you still have them, pray?" Trunks asked enraged beyond any sane measure.

"Because…"

"Choose your words carefully, brother." Trunks spat those words out if his mouth before Gohan could give him a full answer.

"They were a gift. Why should I give them back?" Gohan asked meekly. "Especially the ring. She refused me. She doesn't want it. Or me." He half lied for their sake. It wasn't exactly the truth, but it was all for the best – or so Gohan thought.

"Why should you give them back, you dare to ask?! Because I may understand that you still love her, that these are a token of her love!" Trunks admitted with ire.

"Trunks, I'm just about leave for the Demon Realm Doors. Does it really matter now?" Gohan asked hopelessly, hoping that his brother would calm down if he realised once more of the crushing, ultimate truth about Gohan's fate.

"Yes, it does matter, Gohan!" Trunks replied in anger. "A lot, actually! We're going to get married and I want to know why you still own this, hiding it beneath your clothing, and what you were doing in her chambers for so long a few minutes ago! What am I supposed to think of that, huh?!"

"You can't possibly mean that I…" Gohan replied a bit offended, blushing.

"That's precisely what I mean!" Trunks shamelessly interrupted him. "Bearing in mind that we'll become king and queen of this country, your actions may be considered as treason! So you'd better start talking… And don't beat about the bushes!"

"She's pure." Gohan didn't think twice about it. Spitting out the truth as it was, and calmly, would make it easier for him, but that didn't mean that his words would be trusted, of course. "I haven't reaped her innocence, Trunks. I swear."

"Would you swear it upon all the Gods in the universe and your honour?!" Trunks pushed him still enraged.

"Yes, I would." Gohan replied firmly.

"Good, now we'll see if you're telling the truth." Trunks immediately replied dryly. "GUARDS!"

At that, two well-built guards, Cell and Piccolo, entered the throne room and waited on Trunks for further instructions.

"Apprehend him and lock him in a cell." Trunks commanded coldly.

"WHAT?!" Gohan exclaimed thunderstruck. "No! Wait! Trunks! What's the meaning of this?!" He yelled while the guards roughly grabbed him by both his arms.

"I'm taking some precautions just in case I find out that you're not telling me the truth." Trunks answered darkly.

"You can't honestly think that I'm lying to you and that I have…!" Gohan didn't know what to say to save his ass.

Gohan didn't dare to finish the sentence, mainly because he was the worst liar alive and the fact that he had almost had sex with Videl. He would've done it if he had had enough time, and he knew it. But he hadn't. That was the whole point. Frustrating as it had been, he felt some sort of relief then, because it meant that Videl was still pure and Trunks could not blame him of a crime he had not committed. But…

"How will you know that I'm telling you the truth?" Gohan asked him forcing himself to be calm again.

"I'm going to talk to her about this. Once I know her version of the story, we'll see." Trunks replied darkly. "Go." He added sternly as if those guards knew exactly what to do – and they did.

While they locked Gohan up in a dark corner of the jail, Trunks decided to pace in the gardens for some minutes to chill out a bit. The lovely garden was a peaceful area, ideal to chill out. The view of the sea was magnificent. The soft breeze combed his hair.

He had to admit that his jealousy was pushing him to act like a monster. Gohan was his brother after all, and he had never meant to harm him. Ever. He was even more loyal than any other member of the family.

Trunks bit his lower lip as the sun shone brightly above his head, thinking whether Gohan had told him the truth. He hoped so, but if he had, then how would it make him feel? Gohan was used to being misunderstood and distrusted. It was a bastard's life. But Trunks was unsure whether he would ever forgive him for this – or whether he would forgive himself for doubting his brother.

It was a first. One of those first times you wished you'd never have to face.

However, the clock was ticking… and he needed to know the truth from Videl as soon as possible.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Lord Bardock lived not far from Capital City, he lived in a smaller village in a lovely area rich in cattle and wheat fields. He was one of the major providers of meat and flour in the country. Everyone depended on his products, on him. Therefore, everybody kissed his ass. He was a god whose hands handled gold like a fish could handle water. And that sunny morning he had never been so leisurely entertained: he was planning revenge with all his heart.

Ever since his offspring, Raditz and the former queen Miguel, had publicly ashamed the family name and honour, he could not focus on anything else but vengeance against King Hercule. In spite of that, their beheading had felt like a relief, although he would've preferred to have done it himself, not the king. On top of that, King Hercule had made the whole affair so public and downgrading that he felt he needed some sort of compensation from him to cleanse the family name. But the only two things that kept nagging him were: first, that he had no 'worthy' offspring left other than Oolong, whom he despised so much because of what he was, that is, a pig. He had always suspected he was a bastard kid, but he could never prove it. Her wife died during childbirth and couldn't ask her either. Would she have told him the truth? Anyway, on top of being a pig, Oolong had fled the country for good. Or that was what rumours told, at least.

And the second thing that kept nagging Lord Bardock was that vengeance onto the king's bloodline would be a long-term, rather difficult enterprise – and he didn't like it one bit. He wanted something done as soon as possible.

However, he had found a way to entertain those dull hours and days before the final accomplishment of his goals. He had commanded his most skilful spies to do some secret dirty job for him. One of them had recently brought a bag with some mysterious contents. Lord Bardock decided to inspect them. Not long after examining them, his frown lifted like the fog before the mighty presence of the sun, although the sun wasn't what was before him at that moment: only a book and an old battered document which, apparently, were amusing for some reason. He smiled. He smiled more. And more. And more.

He raised his face to the ceiling and let out a wholehearted evil laugh like no other. It seemed as though his plans of vengeance might come true sooner than expected.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

While Trunks had taken Gohan to the throne room, Videl decided to have a walk around the premises. She hoped that strolling in the gardens would bring her some peace, especially after the dreadful news that her adoptive father was dead and the fact that Gohan still wanted her but he would not stay.

The sun was shining brightly on the leaves of the tall tress of the garden while Videl leisurely paced down below. Suddenly, she saw a group which seemed to be the ladies of the court. She decided to come forward and introduce herself, since there was no one to do it for her. She thought it would be nice to get to know other women in the court, and maybe they'd become friends soon enough. The group of ladies spotted her and seemed to recognise her immediately.

There were enchanting stone archways on one side of the gardens, and there were also rose bushes and orange and lemon trees all around. Ivies grew from the base of the old stone pillars of the palace and they rose up to meet the sky. There was also a nice-sized passionflower bush on one side, its huge purple flowers shot their bright colouring into the eyes of the onlooker.

As the ladies came walking towards her, Videl sensed some sort of danger, but she couldn't put her finger on it. There was something amiss with them, but she didn't know what exactly.

Right after the formal introductions, the ladies started to talk to Videl in a forced amiability, as if Videl's presence had been imposed upon them. She wondered what was really going on.

"So, your name is Videl, right?" Lady Colonel Violet asked first in a know-it-all attitude. Her eyes were blue and her hair was, like her name, violet.

"It is." Videl replied naively as the other ladies surrounded her.

The other girls giggled and then Videl tried to smile gently as if she fitted in the group.

"So," Lady Colonel Violet said with a large exhale, as if she was mildly tired. "this is it. We finally get to know the princess. Tell me, Princess Videl, doesn't the sky look lovely from the greatest city in the whole world?" She seemed to use a fake intonation pattern, as if she was mocking her.

"It really does, Lady Colonel Violet." Videl replied politely.

The rest of the ladies giggled again. It was becoming a nasty habit of theirs, and Videl was getting tired of it already.

"What are you giggling about?" Videl asked straightforwardly.

"We've prepared a scavenger hunt, my princess." Lady Colonel Violet replied.

"Yes, a scavenger hunt." Another lady added right afterwards.

"Oh, a scavenger hunt?" Videl tried to stay positive about it even though she smelled something fishy.

"In this garden, there's a bunch of clues which will lead you to a final goal." That younger lady who had spoken before said.

"That's right, Lady Blond Launch." Lady Colonel Violet added right after her friend's comment. "It's only for you, Princess Videl."

"Me? Only me, you say?" Videl asked intrigued. "Why?"

"Yes. We've done this for you." Lady Blond Launch replied with a strange smile on her lips.

"Well, thank you. It's awfully nice of you…" Videl commented trying to sound nice. She meant it, though.

They giggled naughtily once more, but Videl tried hard to ignore it.

"What's the final goal?" Videl asked.

"Knowledge… my princess." Lady Colonel Violet answered with too much pride. "Very crucial, vital knowledge. You'll love it, I'm sure."

"Oh, good. And where do I start?" Videl asked a bit too naively.

They giggled with more vehemence.

"What? Did I say something funny?" Videl asked at a loss about what was really going on.

"Actually, yes, my princess." Lady Colonel Violet replied daringly. "You speak as if you didn't know what's up. That makes it funny."

"What?" Videl asked blindly. "What are you talking about?"

"The hunt has already started, Princess Videl." Lady Blond Launch said with cheek. "Go on. Try to figure out what's this all about if you're so clever as they say you are."

"Don't play the naïve girl with us, my princess." Lady Colonel Violet went on with badly repressed anger and pride. "You might be the king's daughter, but that doesn't mean that we're gonna treat you as such, especially bearing in mind that fact that you're a bastard girl with no proper formal upbringing."

Silence reigned in the garden.

"You boast of being so clever and yet you're so fucking naïve!" Lady Colonel Violet continued boasting of knowing Videl's personality beforehand.

All the ladies present except Videl giggled freely at Lady Colonel Violet' comment.

"You'd better take that back, Lady Colonel Violet!" Videl replied seriously, half offended.

"Or what?!" Lady Colonel Violet dared to yell back at Videl. "It's not as though anyone cares about what you can say or do… You're just the cunt which will deliver the next male heir, and as such you've got no power beyond birth giving."

"And should you not give birth to a male child, then you'll see…" Lady Blond Launch added darkly then.

"What are you even talking about? Are you nuts?!" Videl asked not knowing how to handle the situation.

"Hey, this is Capital City, in case you didn't notice." Lady Blond Launch replied with sarcasm.

"We're not alive because we care for justice or for people who is weaker than us like you do." Lady Colonel Violet pointed out with severity. "Staying alive here comes at a great cost, meeting the right people at the right moment, making alliances, marrying above your station regardless of your future husband's brutality or moral deviousness, and making great sacrifices to ensure the family honour. That's what it takes to stay alive here. You don't have what it takes to live here."

"That's why we don't like newcomers like you." Another young lady in their company, Lady Mai, added. She wore really prominent red lipstick and red eyeshadow.

"That's right, Lady Mai." Lady Blond Launch added. They were definitely a group of mean girls teaming up against Videl, her bullies.

"What?" Videl asked, not knowing what to make of this.

She had had high hopes that they would take her side and become friends, but those bitches were far more bitchy than the real bitches Videl had ever met in her entire life. Erasa and West City's sluts were far more polite, sympathetic, understanding, trustworthy and gentle than those well-bred, noble women from Capital City. It was pretty clear that they would never become friends.

"We don't like newcomers like you." Lady Colonel Violet repeated.

"Bastard children who think they have a rightful claim on the throne." Lady Blond Launch added sternly.

"People whose blood isn't fully noble but who claim they have been educated." Lady Mai interfered.

"You can't be serious!" Videl exclaimed.

"With higher morals and principals." Lady Blond Launch added sarcastically again.

"Who love to pretend they're better than us, fitter to rule than us." Lady Colonel Violet spat out all her venom in those ill-meant words.

"What are you talking about? You're mad!" Videl replied unable to believe her ears.

"If it wasn't for you, the king wouldn't ever have doubted Queen Miguel's truthfulness and Prince Yamcha might've married me!" Lady Colonel Violet added setting her ire fully free. "And then, I would've become queen someday. But no: you came along and caused all their deaths!"

"Bearing in mind that you're allegedly a doctor, it sounds awful, doesn't it? To have their blood on your hands…" Lady Blond Launch seemed to love irony and sarcasm far too much by the way she spoke to Videl.

"You must be kidding me! I didn't cause anyone's death!" Videl tried to defend her honour and her former job as a doctor.

"Let's make this clear once and for all:" Lady Colonel Violet said taking a threatening step towards Videl. "you're not making friends among us, ever. And every single one of us is going to make sure you can't make any alliances with anyone in this court. The servants and the guards will serve you because they have to, but as far as the nobles are concerned you're not going to win anyone's sympathy. We have more power than you think. And we have our ways to make the men do what we want. You're a worthless little piece of bastard shit – and you know it. So now that you know your place, you'd better stay quiet and shut up… Or just don't." She finally said with a funny undertone. "I personally won't mind hearing you scream as Trunks tears your hymen apart on your wedding night! I bet you're scared by now."

"If she's still a virgin." Lady Mai added with sarcasm.

"Yeah, right." Lady Blond Launch.

They went away giggling and laughing at Videl, and soon enough she was left on her own in the garden, much to her relief.

"Now that was the… craziest… bullshit talk I've ever gone through." She whispered to herself feeling a huge relief now that they were gone.

"I'm sorry that they ganged up on you like that, Princess Videl. Although I expected as much to happen." A manly voice said coming from a corridor with mild but fake exhaustion, but as soon as he spoke again he took a couple of steps forward into the garden so that Videl could see him. "Lady Colonel Violet and her friends aren't usually or genuinely friendly, I can testify that myself. It's not your fault."

The sunlight shone on him as if he was a friend, not just a stranger, especially thanks to his welcoming smile. His lean frame and expensive clothing told a tale of a life of books and business, not of battle, and yet he seemed very agile. He had blond hair and blue eyes. His fine nose and nicely shaped hands revealed a fine taste for manly elegance, and even though it was obvious that he considered himself to be drop-dead gorgeous, he didn't seem conscious that he was bragging of it. He was older than her, he was probably in his late thirties, but he seemed fit. And he moved around the bushes towards her as if he was a fox, cautious and silent, with his eyes fixed on Videl as he came closer and closer to her.

"I do hope Lady Colonel Violet and her girls haven't bullied you much." He went on with half a smile on his face and a warm voice. "She loves to scare away new female servants… or to shame those who decide to stay. She's easily vexed. But you don't need to be scared of her. You're the princess after all."

"One: she hasn't scared the hell out of me. She's angered me." Videl replied trying to regain her usual spunk and rational control. "Two: if she's easily vexed and scares people away, she's got a problem. Not I."

"Very brave on your behalf." His smile broadened and it felt heart-warming to her. "I encourage you to speak your mind out to her the next time. Don't just stand there watching."

"I know." Although she knew he was right, Videl didn't like that last comment very much because it felt somehow controlling on his behalf. It was as if he was hiding something. Bearing in mind what had just happened, Videl decided she'd never trust anyone who lived in Capital City. But she went on: "But I also know that being a princess or outspoken here won't impress her much. I bet she's quite used to this power game."

"Power game…" He repeated whispering and then he chuckled, displaying his white canines for a second. "By the way, my name's Lord General Blue, dear princess. I'm the Master of Coin."

"Nice to meet you, Lord General Blue." She said extending her right hand to him, not thinking twice about it.

"Nice to meet you too, dear princess." He whispered with a husky voice as he took her hand and softly kissed it. His blue eyes were heavily fixed on hers. They had an impressive magnetic quality that Videl found hard to resist.

Only a brief moment of silence passed by under that lovely moonlight and then Lord General Blue went on speaking.

"I've waited long enough to finally meet you." He said trying hard to veil his excitement. He was obviously staring at her with too much interest. "I didn't trust the former queen. And her offspring turned out to be a spoiled little brat like her. I do feel lucky that such a sensible and daring young lady is the heir to the throne."

Seeing that Videl refrained from talking about the matter as if mentioning it had bothered her, he smiled and tried to change the subject.

"I'm sorry that I mentioned the dead." He apologized, but it felt as though he didn't mean it. "But since I am Master of Coin, I really like to know how people are in order to foresee how much they will spend. It has become a habit of mine."

"Analyzing people to see how much they'll spend? Good thinking, actually. Especially if it's your responsibility." Come to think of it, he had a point. She had to admit it. His strategy might've saved his ass when making ends meet.

"Let me guide you back to your chambers, my dear princess." Lord General Blue said then. His gentleness wasn't second to any of his other psychological traits. He was a tall and well-built man. "We may talk on our way about the ladies, if you feel like it."

"Sure. Why not?" Videl complied gently.

"I was delighted with the idea of meeting you partly because I was told your striking birth story." He started the ball rolling as they walked to her chambers. "I've always loved exotic people, especially women."

"I'm not as exotic as you may think, Lord General Blue." Videl replied not feeling genuinely exotic, as he had just put it. "I don't have strange customs or Gods. I just happened to live on the other side of the sea."

"OK." He added politely. "But Orange Star is a very rich environment, rich in terms of coin and people. I understand that commerce has made your fellow countrymen quite open-minded and glad to integrate very diverse people in its society. Your tolerance and flexibility towards differences should be quite high. I was looking forward to know your perspective on any matter that might affect the well-being of our country, since you might prove a very useful ally."

"The power game again, huh?" Videl concluded with a bit of cheek.

"I won't fool you, right?" Lord General Blue seemed to mean quite the opposite, though.

"Probably not." She didn't want to play with fire. That man seemed to play his cards too well, with too much discretion. Lady Colonel Violet had been far too straightforward, but Videl suspected that Capital City would have smarter players than her – Lord General Blue, for example. But she went on speaking: "But you were saying that you wanted to meet me and that it was partly because of that. You have quite pointed it out, actually."

"I have."

"What about the other part, if I may ask?" She asked feeling curious.

"I was also hoping to meet you to ask you a favour." He replied, much to her amazement. Having said that, his eyes seemed to be aflame on her.

"A favour? We've just met and you're already asking me a favour! Lord General Blue, this is rather forward, isn't it?"

"It is, but the majority of the people who live in Capital City don't live long enough… for different reasons." He answered quite darkly. "We've been living in peace for so long that we dare to call that casualties of… peace." His somber attitude made her freeze for a moment.

"What are you talking about?"

"The power game that you were talking about before is about having the right friendships, my dear princess. Lady Colonel Violet was absolutely right there – and I'm a master at the game. I wouldn't have lived this long if it hadn't been for my connections and my wit."

"I don't need an introduction, Lord General Blue." Videl dared to move forward in the conversation, as if she wanted to be treated like a fully-aware adult. "I'm old enough to know where danger is and how to act accordingly. You've mentioned a favour. I guess that you'll offer me your guidance, protection and connections if I volunteer to help you."

"Quick wit and to the point, my dear princess. I like it… This will surely keep you alive long enough around here." He made a crucial pause, but he didn't keep her waiting for long. His smile broadened before he went on. "I know about your dancing performance in West City's brothel. You see, I've got spies everywhere. I can learn any secret from any person I want. And I draw power from that…" He added seriously, but calmly, as if he could actually own people just by knowing their secrets. But then, his tone of voice revived and felt like a joyful, young water spring when he said thus: "And your blushing is just adorable. I'll have to make you feel embarrassed more often, my dear princess…"

"I'm not embarrassed." She explained, blushing even more, of course. "I just thought that this anecdote would never reach my father's ears." She wondered whether Lord General Blue thought he would ask her absolutely anything now that he knew that secret from her.

"It won't. You don't have to worry about that. Your secret is safe with me. I'm not blackmailing you, I'm offering you a partnership." He said seriously.

"A partnership?" She asked amazed.

"Yes, you and me. Allies."

"And where do my dancing abilities fit in the whole picture?" She asked frowning a bit, genuinely amused by the man's interests.

"Exactly. You see, I also own a brothel here, in Capital City. I wanted to expand the business and make it more… amusing, challenging." He said it feeling the thrill of the entrepreneur. "I wanted to add something new, daring, and impressive to the business. And that's you, my dear princess: you'll teach my whores how to dance in the fashion of your home town. It'll throw the other brothels out of the game. We'll own the whole city."

"It's not a big favour anyway." Videl said right away. She didn't really think it was such a big deal. "I'll think of it."

"I've only got a question for you, my dear princess." He seemed a bit bothered by what he had in mind to ask her, as if his business and honour depended on her next answer. "My spy was unable to tell me whether you're still pure or not. You see, I want to make sure that you'll be very well placed here in court, that no one doubts you, not even the less worthy of the servants. Otherwise, I won't consider you the perfect ally. And to do so, you have to fit it perfectly in the royal court in Capital City. A perfect princess is virgin. So…" And then he went on a bit sadly, but seriously. "I was told that you had a very close relationship with a man in West City. A man who had eventually followed you here."

"Yes, it's true." She admitted blushing a bit as she thought of Gohan.

Her dear Gohan. His unruly spiky hair, his soft eyes, his shy lips, his broad shoulders, his well-built body and arms, his lean general shape, his undying love for her.

"Did that close relationship gave way to intercourse?" Lord General Blue asked straightforwardly, without blinking.

"No!" Videl replied all of a sudden, with pride.

"Very well then, my dear princess." He replied with a warm smile when they had already reached the door to her chambers. They remained standing as they talked a bit further. "You have to be careful, you see. Your head would fall off very awkwardly if the king knew that you had given your virtue to a man who doesn't deserve you. But you haven't, right? I'm sure that Trunks will be such a happy husband by your side."

"Are you telling me that you don't trust my answer?" She dared to ask.

"Whether your virtue is intact or not doesn't really concern me at the end of the day." He answered seriously. "What does concern me is that my partner is telling me the truth. You can offer me more political power and a new dancing style to my girls. And in exchange for that, I can offer you a lot more than contacts and guidance, as you've said before. A lot more… Think about it: proud Lady Colonel Violet, imposing her ideas over yours, bossing around the palace as if she owned it… She's not a royal but she acts as if she was one. You should be the one under the spotlight, not she. All the other ladies of the court should follow you, not her. You're far more beautiful… and the princess, of course. What if I helped you to teach her a jolly good lesson, my dear princess?"

"What do you mean?" She asked whispering, feeling the words roll out of her tongue as if she didn't have control over them.

"Casualties of peace, my dear princess, casualties of peace." He said with a dark, sinful smile on his face.

Videl was unsure whether to trust Lord General Blue or not. He had a point, in everything he had said, but he looked like the devil himself. He had the qualities of both a savior and a menace, and she knew she couldn't separate those two halves. If she wanted (or needed) some help, she'd have to cope with both sides of him at the same time. And his burning blue eyes fixed on hers… So attractive and yet disturbing at the same time.

Nevertheless, she didn't have much time to think about those matters, since she saw as Trunks turned round the corner of the corridor in her direction. As soon as she made eye contact with him, he blushed as if he was ashamed.

She wondered why.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The sun did no longer cast its rays on the metal bars and thick walls of the cell Gohan had been incarcerated in. The jail was too far down below the ground that only the midday sun could reach it.

Gohan had never been in prison before, but somehow he had expected some company to keep him busy during those dull hours of painfully waiting to be released. Even a nosey, pushy cellmate would have sufficed. He would've carved his potential curiosity into Gohan's mind and make him confess his worries – and probably make fun of them. Nevertheless, Gohan was alone in prison. His only friend was a small cockroach which happened to pass by.

A lonely sigh escaped from his lips as he wished he hadn't been such a fool. He should've fled to the Demon Realm Doors immediately. Or he should've come up with an escape plan to convince Videl back in those good old days in which both of them were blissfully oblivious of the truth of her parentage. Had he convinced her to run away with him in that occasion, they wouldn't be facing such a painful fate at that moment probably. On top of that, during their last trip on the ship he had refused to spend more time with her thinking that it wouldn't be beneficial to either of them. He had thought that it would look suspicious.

Bollocks.

Trunks had probably been suspecting him already. Gohan should've seen it coming.

But Gohan admitted to himself that he could've never foretold his brother's steaming jealousy towards him and his anger-driven control on Videl. It was so unlike Trunks to act like that – but he guessed there had never been such an amazing 'prize' into the bargain.

"Anyway," He whispered to his newly acquired small friend, the cockroach, with a soft smile dawning on his lips. "I shan't be kept here for long: Videl is pure. I don't need to worry about that, right my friend?" But his gentle smile died as soon as he remembered the hard-core reason why he wouldn't stay eternally locked in. "What really worries me is what I… will do… in the throne room, according to the vision I had. Or was it just the devil playing tricks on me?"

He would kill someone with his sword, deflower her on the throne and kill her with one of her daggers.

The clock was ticking.

Gohan sighed hopelessly. He decided that he'd flee to the Demon Realm Doors the second Trunks would come to set him free. Then, his horrible vision might never come true.

Suddenly, he noticed something which seemed to glow in the cell. In a dark corner of the cell, tightly stuck in the rocky wall at the back, there was a perfectly round rock. It had the size of his palm, so unlike the rest of stones used in the construction of that wall, much bigger and quite rectangular. Gohan stared at the rock directly, but now it didn't seem to glow anymore. Had he imagined it? Was he going mad already?

He smiled to himself and blinked a couple of times. He started to think that his eyes had mocked him. And then, the round rock started to glow – and he saw it. The cockroach fled immediately, as far from the wall as possible. Gohan swallowed hard.

'What the fuck is that?' He dared to think, fearing that it was something supernatural coming to him once more, like that horrible vision he was unable to get out of his mind.

The round rock seemed to call him. He got closer, and closer, and closer. As soon as he had barely touched it, the rock was stuck in the wall no more. It fell on the ground right in front of him, rolling a bit towards him. He stared at it, and eventually decided to pick it up – and see what would happen.

As soon as the round rock was in his hand, it glowed once more, but this time it was more vivid, its rays lasted longer. Next, the cold air around him seemed to sigh with relief, but there was no one there but him, and then the glow was no more. Strange as it had all been, Gohan felt as if the atmosphere surrounding him was… finally satisfied.

"What the hell is this?" He whispered to himself, staring inquisitively at the mysterious round rock.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When Trunks came closer to Videl and Lord General Blue in the corridor, he was nervous like never before. He was mildly shaking and had to carefully think he should control himself.

But he had valid reasons to be so nervous. He was about to enter into a girl's private chambers, alone with her, to discuss not precisely a trifling matter: her feelings for Gohan and whether or not he had reaped her innocence. Bearing in mind that she was outspoken and proud, Trunks imagined an anger-driven Videl demanding that he should trust her more than he did if she was going to be his wife. But that was not the only problem: those where the private chambers of the girl he had fallen for and the one he was to marry – on top of that, a princess. In the city they'd be living from then on – a much hotter city, which meant that she would see his well-built arms and general athletic complexion, and that he'd see her wearing a thinner dress. And they'd be left completely alone. Anything could happen. The dresses she had worn in West City suited her nicely, but how stunning she looked in a thin, tight, sexy silk summer dress like that one she was wearing at that moment!

"Good morning again, Trunks." In spite of her formal tone of voice, the use of his name was sweet.

"Good morning indeed." Lord General Blue greeted him too. "I'm glad to make your acquaintance."

"Trunks, haven't you met him yet? Lord General Blue, Master of Coin." Videl introduced him to Trunks.

"Nice to meet you, Lord General Blue." He replied formally. "I'd be more than glad to go on exchanging pleasantries, but I'm afraid we'll have to leave that for later. I have a couple of impending matters which require Princess Videl's immediate attention. In private."

"Very well, then." Lord General Blue replied with a smile. "We shall speak later. Nice to meet both of you."

And no sooner had he spoken thus, he disappeared round the corner.

"What are these issues you were talking about, Trunks?" Videl asked worried. "Is something the matter?"

"Shall we enter your private chambers? I don't think the corridor is the proper place to talk about them."

"Come in, please." She whispered kindly to him.

He stared at her as she entered first and held the door for him. He couldn't take his eyes off the lovely, light pink, silk dress with short sleeves that she was wearing. She was like an explosion of youth and freshness. The long skirt trapped his gaze as she walked and swayed her hips. And the neckline of her dress was too generous, but Trunks didn't mentally complain about it. At all.

'The easier to rip it off when she'll be mine.' Trunks thought with naught, although he immediately reprimanded himself for thinking such a thing.

"I suppose you're glad to see you're well taken care of." He began whispering with badly-contained joy and blushing as he came in.

"The servants have been very polite and kind to me. But I don't want to think much about it." She said seriously as she walked to a huge burgundy chaise longue and sat on it. She motioned him to do the same.

"Think much about it? What do you mean?" He asked naively as he sat down beside her.

"If I wasn't a princess, would they have done it?" She asked with hooded eyelids, her long eyelashes fanning briefly, just once, facing the direct, yellowish candlelight. "Just a couple of days ago I was a completely different person (only a doctor's apprentice), although I haven't changed one bit. I'm still a bastard daughter, remember? Like Gohan." That made Trunks frown. "Thus, I shouldn't have any claim on the throne. I don't count as a valid option to…"

"You don't have to worry about that. King Hercule will marry your biological mother, which will automatically make you the lawful heiress to the throne."

"That looks like a badly-arranged patched-up work to me." She wasn't satisfied.

"It isn't, believe me. The king's brothers won't be able to deny your birth right." He claimed sure of what he was saying.

"It still makes me feel like a tool, not a person." She concluded feeling wounded, still thinking of Lady Colonel Violet's stinging words.

"I suppose you've grown up with different values. I get it." He replied warmly. His smile was bewitching, but despite his kindness she would never fall in love with him the way she had fallen for Gohan. "You'll have to get used to this. But don't worry."

"In addition, I'm not satisfied with my new life as it is now," She went on after a brief pause. "unable to do anything but walk around the premises and talk. I still want to do something productive, useful."

"You feel…"

"I feel stupid and pointless."

"Don't say that."

They fell silent for some time until Trunks decided to break the ice with a romantic comment which he honestly thought it might allow him to get closer to her.

"You can only hope to end up sharing your life with someone who understands you fully."

At that, she stared straight at him. The light was delightfully shining on his manly features. His eyes were locked on hers and he had a tempting warm smile on his lips. His voice was merely a low whisper, but its sweetness triggered all her inner alarms.

"I highly doubt that the king can understand me fully." She commented all of a sudden.

With that, she dodged it. It made Trunks believe that she thought he was referring to the king and not himself. He chuckled briefly at her alleged blindness.

"Maybe if he…" Trunks insisted, but Videl cut his speech.

"Do you think he'll reconsider letting me continue my work if I ask him?" She asked genuinely worried about her passion for medicine all of a sudden. "That's key to understanding me, like you say. It's been my whole life until now."

At that, Trunks frowned.

"I don't think so, Princess Videl." He answered serious as hell.

"But… what am I supposed to do from now on then?" She asked feeling the panic flow in her veins.

"What the other women and girls do." He answered with a straight simple tone of voice.

"What?! You mean I should spend the rest of my life sewing, delivering and raising children, gossiping, strolling, watering pot plants and other stupid things?!" She said offended. "Is that what I'm worth now?!"

He realised that she considered her current state of affairs a prison for her mind, an intellectual dead-end, and he became unbearably sad. It really was a dead-end for her. Any other girl would hopelessly dream of becoming a princess or being born one, but Videl didn't. She didn't mean to offend him, but her last words implied that she was feeling betrayed – and Trunks didn't want to feel as though he was part of it, although he obviously was. Guilt started to eat him whole inside out once more.

"You're killing me!" She went on complaining using the saddest and most hurting tone of voice that she'd ever used on Trunks. That broke his heart. "I can't believe this…"

She stood up and stared through the window, giving him her back. She was on the verge of crying. She had always tried to be and act stronger, but fate was imposing itself of her, bending her, deforming her future in ways she could've never foretold. She clenched her fists in anger.

"Videl, …" He softly whispered to her.

He wished he could do or say something to soothe her, but he knew she had to come to terms with the harsh reality, and that might take some time.

"Anyway, I don't really want to talk about this." She added trying to bring more life to her voice and coming back towards him, still seated on the chaise longue. "It's useless anyway. What were those issues you were talking about?"

"First, how are you? I mean, your adoptive father died and you've recently been told about it. How are you coping with it?" He asked worried. "I feared to ask you before, but…"

"It's complicated." She whispered and sighed hopelessly. "I failed. I failed him. I should've been faster."

"You cannot mend what's already done."

"And I know that. I just know I can't change it, and yet I still find myself thinking about what I should've done or not done in the past few months!"

"Don't torture yourself."

"Can't help it. I even took a long walk this morning and I've already met other ladies in the court. By the way, they're the meanest creatures in the universe! And later I've also met Lord General Blue, but all the time I couldn't beat the guilt and remorse building up inside my head. But you don't have to worry. I know it'll pass. It'll fade away sooner or later. I've treated patients suffering from depression and such."

"I hope you know you can count on me for anything. Just name it."

"Thank you. That's good to know. And," She went on. "what was the other matter you were talking about?"

"That's the most embarrassing thing I'll have to do in my entire life." He admitted, blushing, but he was speaking quite formally. "Videl, it's a delicate matter. Back in West City, the king forced Oolong to confess something involving you and Gohan. He saw you. In the stables. Oolong told us, the king, my father and me, that Gohan not only proposed to you in the stables in West City, but also that he kissed you and tried to convince you to elope with him."

"You almost make it sound unbelievably normal with that voice." She replied convinced that he was omitting the nastiest bits for her sake. His formal tone didn't match with the embarrassing content of his utterance indeed. She felt weird.

"Oolong's tale might be striking and true," He went on with a gentle smile, trying not to look offended towards her. "but that doesn't mean that Gohan has no honour at all. I've known him all my life, and I know he would've never done anything which might bother a young lady like you."

At that, Videl was convinced that Trunks wasn't speaking all the truth. It wasn't logical: Videl was his bride-to-be. Wasn't he jealous? Oolong might've skipped the hottest part, the one in which he actually tried to reap her innocence, sparing Gohan from the uncontrollable rage of the king and the other nobles present.

"He didn't do me any harm, I swear." She whispered blushing wildly. "He never has."

"You don't have to swear it. I trust you." He whispered back seriously but smiling.

She sighed with relief. Great relief.

"But then, why are you bringing the matter up now?" She asked curious. She knew there was something amiss.

"Because I need you to confirm to me that he didn't… do anything to you. I need to hear it from you. I need to know the truth. All of it."

"I repeat: he hasn't done anything to me."

"Is that all?"

"What do you want to hear from me exactly? Just be more specific. What is there still to know if Oolong confessed he had seen it all and told you all about it?"

"How do you feel towards Gohan? Do you still like him? … or love him?"

She gaped at him for some time, until she managed to give him an answer.

"I still care for him, but as you may know, I'm officially a princess and therefore I cannot marry him. In fact I'm supposed to get married to you, right?"

"That's not a proper answer."

"Don't you love your brother? Why can't I?" She asked back with her usual wit.

"Because it has some serious implications."

"He has never done me any harm. I'm still pure. And I'll marry you. We already get along quite well, so unlike other couples these days, who get married and can't even stand to look at each other. You have absolutely no reason to worry. What else can you possibly want from me?"

"I want to know about this." He replied sternly, showing her the sea shell necklace with Gohan's ring dangling in it.

'Oh-oh…' She immediately thought with worry and blushing wildly. 'What the fuck.?!'

"What's this doing here?!" She asked in a fury which knew no boundaries, her fingers taking her beloved sea shell necklace with a quite well-known, heart-wrecking silver ring in it from his hands and clutching it. "This is my necklace, which was meant to be on Gohan's neck right now. What's this doing here?! Why the hell do you have it?! What the hell have you done?!" But then she froze and said with unbearable sadness: "Has he left it behind before leaving?"

Trunks could just swallow once and feared to give her an answer. Discovering the necklace might worsen the current state of affairs between them. The conversation had been approaching a dead end in which he was too obviously jealous of his brother. And now he had to show her the necklace and the ring. He knew he couldn't tell her the whole truth. If she knew he'd had to imprison his brother, she'd be pissed off at him like never before. But Trunks' current silence wasn't helping: Videl's frown got deeper and deeper, her eyes were cutting also deeper in him. Besides, he couldn't think of anything that might appease her, so he might as well tell her the truth directly.

"Videl, I…" He began shyly. "I admit I've done something foolish. I've been struck by such an intense fit of jealousy that I feared I would actually lose you to Gohan, even though his destiny is to defend the Demon Realm Doors, but… I…"

"But you what?!" She insisted.

"I had honest doubts that Gohan had behaved properly towards you." He confessed. "I started doubting ever since we found you yesterday. And this morning you asked him to come to your room, alone. It has clouded my judgement and I…"

"What?"

"A servant called Valese told me about your father's death. At first I thought I should leave you two alone to share your grief, and to fix your state of affairs, because both of you already know you can't be together. But it was taking too damn long… And I feared that… that he… that you… Anyway, when I have come to fetch him a few minutes later, I have seen his shirt a bit undone by the collar… and your necklace hanging around his neck, and the ring in it, badly hidden. I was convinced he wasn't giving up on you – and I couldn't stand it." He sighed, setting free the pressure he was feeling in his chest. The truth could be such a heavy burden sometimes!

"But what's the necklace doing here? You have stolen it from him?!"

"No. Well, I… I have vowed to myself that I'd expose him before he could get rid of it or hide it, that I'd make him confess, that I'd make him feel ashamed, so that he'd leave us alone for good, because basically your honour depends on it. If the king knows about this thing you have and this necklace and this ring, he'll get mad. So this was what I've done a few minutes ago:" His voice became an octave lower and guilt-stricken, as if he was about to admit something awful: "I have taken him to the throne room so that we could have some privacy, and I've put my cards on the table. I took the necklace from him in a desperate attempt to catch him off guard. And I did. I was still suspicious. And when he's told me the truth, that you are pure, untouched, I just couldn't believe it. I was sure that he still wanted you, that he'd have you… So I…"

"What did you do?" She feared to ask.

"I commanded his temporary imprisonment."

"WHAT?!" She asked enraged.

"I've told him that I needed to know the truth from you, that I wanted to ask you directly to confirm his version of events. But when I've realized he's been honourable to you, that you're pure, I… I know I'll have to beg your forgiveness, from both of you, but it might already be too late. He must hate me for what I've done."

"How could you do such a thing?! To your own brother?! Are you mad?!" She yelled feeling torn. "And you didn't give the necklace back to him?!"

"I've acted foolishly." He admitted with too much guilt. "I know. I know…"

"Where's he now? Which cell?"

"I don't want you to be present when I release him. Please, Videl. I need some time alone with him to make amends, if he lets me. The minute I'll set him free he might be more that eager to lose sight of me and this city. I don't want him to leave hating me. And you've got enough stuff to worry about, like you've said before."

She truly pitied Trunks at that moment. It was true that he had behaved meanly to Gohan, but he was genuinely full of remorse and wanted to make amends as soon as possible. He was really goodhearted at the end of the day.

Not long after that, Trunks finally said farewell and went back to jail to set his brother free, hoping to earn his forgiveness.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"You're free."

Trunks' words echoed in the humid, both muddy and mossy, almost empty jail. Empty but for Gohan's lonely presence, of course. He had been sitting and staring at the round rock which now shone no more in his hand. He hid it in a pocket when he heard Trunks' voice.

But Gohan didn't say a word to his brother. His heart had been ruthlessly emptied too after his unjust imprisonment. He remained silent and stern as he rose from the cold ground and stood in front of the cell's open door. The heavy, cold smell of confinement and isolation reeked very much like the impossibility of forgiveness, should it have a smell. Even though Trunks was looking forward to setting Gohan free, he didn't know what to say to make him forgive him. He expected Gohan to be angry or cold to him, which was fine, because he knew he totally deserved it.

Trunks remembered the few times they had ever argued. They had hardly ever argued in their entire lives. And he was sure that forgiveness wouldn't be as sweet as it had sometimes been when he had done mischief when he was just a little kid. Sweet or easy to get. They weren't two kids fighting over who got the last bit of sweet lemon cake anymore.

"I know I did wrong, Gohan. I have no excuse for what I did." Trunks said full of regret. His voice was the warm wave that Gohan had once cherished.

"I guess you've found out I was telling the truth." Gohan whispered sadly but dryly.

A lonesome sequence of water drops could be heard slowly cascading in the background. The sewage system wasn't soundproof.

"You were indeed. I'm sorry." Trunks repeated his apology.

"You would've been sorry either way, regardless of Videl's answer." Gohan added extremely calmly, which left Trunks stunned. He had expected Gohan to charge against him from the very beginning, to yell at him, to blame him for his stupid jealousy, but not that amount of peace in his voice.

"What…?" Trunks could only whisper feebly.

"If she wasn't pure, you'd be sorry for me because then the king would be forced to behead me for treason." Gohan explained calmly. It made Trunks think that he didn't really care to listen to him or his apology. "And you'd be here pitying me. You'd have been sorry anyway."

"OK, I get it." Trunks concluded also calmly. "You're angry at me. I deserve it. You may yell at me if you feel like it."

At that Gohan, stared briefly at him, but he still felt unmoved by his brother's currently subdued attitude.

"I've always been out of your way, Trunks. It's not as if I could actually have what you were meant to have. I'm still a bastard, and that will never change." Gohan whispered at him sadly and hurt, looking away at the light coming from the open door of the main entrance of the jail. He secretly wished he was out there, riding hard to The Demon Realm Doors, feeling the wind on his face and leaving behind that crap of life. He was fed up with everybody's coldness and hatred towards him, but he eventually just said whispering: "I'm leaving. Now."

"Now, you don't need to be bitter." Trunks replied at his brother, also whispering.

"I'm bitter because I can't be anything else! So don't you dare patronize me!" Gohan suddenly yelled at Trunks for the first time in their lives, startling him.

"Gohan, I… I j-just…" Trunks managed to say, half stammering.

"I assume that she doesn't even know that I'm down here, right?" Gohan asked with anger.

When Trunks fell silent and forgot to deliver an answer, a cat outside the prison knocked down an empty bucket, which could be heard rolling on the ground, and an owl singing which suddenly also fell silent; and Gohan understood that he was right about what he had suspected, although he wasn't (Videl knew about it), and then he mildly shook his head.

"Gohan, I'm sorry. Listen, I…" Trunks began speaking, just too late to mend it.

"No. You, listen to me, for once in your life." Gohan regained his calm voice and temper, even though he was visibly angry like never before. His fiery eyes told as much, displaying the ruthlessness and fierceness of a killer wolf. "I'm tired of being told I can't do, have or be anything because of what I am. It's over. I'm a bitter bastard, and I'm just fine being like that right now. So don't you dare tell me not to be bitter over what you've just done to me! You might be the next in line to be king once you marry Videl, but that doesn't mean I cannot dare to be bitter at you and tell you about it. You cannot rule over how hurt I feel right now!"

The unexpected roughness of his voice and words left Trunks speechless. He felt tense and unbearably stupid. And silence reigned between them. Only the incessant water drops from the sewage system, endlessly echoing from wall to wall, kept their ears busy in such tense moments.

"You don't need to feel downcast, man." Gohan added calmly but quite sarcastically not long after that. He even dared to briefly smile, although it was just a fake display of affection. He had never imagined he'd dare to act like that, but he felt somehow relieved now that the cards were on the table and he was leaving for good. "I've just put you in your place. At the end of the day, you love your place in this world, right?" As he said that, he was walking backwards towards the exit, facing his brother with an I-don't-fucking-care-anymore attitude. "Your high-and-mighty, fully noble spot in this world…with all the benefits it entails."

"Gohan… Please, stop." Trunks couldn't take it anymore, but he didn't lose his temper. He was too ashamed for that. "I know your life is hard enough as it is… I really don't know what to say so that you can forgive me." He eventually said hoping it would be enough to satiate his anger and get his dear brother back.

"Then don't say anything at all, and let me be." Gohan whispered back to him as the afternoon sun outlined his frame from behind, standing in front of the open door to the street. The golden rays highlighted Gohan's well-built body and casted a large, mighty shadow on the floor before him. Trunks would rather die than see his dear brother leave to the Demon Realm Doors not having accepted his apology; however, Gohan was already tired of hearing him talk.

"Again, I'm sorry, brother." Trunks whispered his apology once more.

"We have a different mother." Gohan replied coldly, over the annoyingly persistent sound of those sewage water drops. "I don't know why you're calling me… that. You're not my brother."

As soon as he had uttered those cold words, Gohan disappeared from Trunks' sight for good. A couple of minutes later, Gohan had already got hold of a horse and was getting ready to leave for the Demon Realm Doors with his few personal belongings. In the meantime, Trunks stood frozen in front of the cell's open door, frozen due to Gohan's pure ice in his voice, in his poisonous truth. But, in those eyes which had once been warm and friendly, Trunks could only see the deadly glare of an angry wolf treading on extremely cold snow.

It broke Trunk's heart, so much so that the pain in his chest made him kneel down on the floor of the jail. That was the price he had to pay for breaking such a golden, sacred bond, forged like the strongest of metals day after day ever since childhood.

And the drumming water drops from the faulty sewage system kept on thundering on his eardrums, its invisible, guilty mad drumming sound escalating between those empty prison cells.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Dear readers,

How's it going so far? Did you enjoy it?

So, apparently Gohan is pretty pissed off. Who wouldn't? Will Trunks cope with resentment and guilt well? Will Gohan learn to forgive? Will he leave Capital City without saying goodbye to Videl? Will Videl fend off her bullies? Will she accept Lord General Blue's offer of partnership?

All this and more… in the next chapter!

XOXO

Denim Jean

P.S.: And don't forget to comment/review! ;)