Genre: AU/Fantasy/Drama
Pairings: 1x2, other
Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words
Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, violence, slavery, cruelty, possible OOCness
Special Note: This story is now dedicated to you, Snow.
A/N: At the rate I'm going, I should have said this is a 3x4 with some 1x2 on the side. Ah well. I swears I will write a 1x2 lemon eventually. For all of you who adore 3x4, enjoy.
If you've forgotten my gods and goddess of Light and Dark, check out my profile. I've listed them all because I'm awesome like that.
Healing
Quatre woke with Trowa wrapped around him. Though it was now two full nights since Relena's . . . subdual, the sheer elation of waking in the arms of his lover was still enough to make him feel like a giddy teenager again. Today I really must go see Duo and Heero, make sure Heero is all right, see if Duo needs my help with anything, meet with the chamberlain, work up a declaration to let the royal court know what happened with the rest of the Council -
Is that all? Trowa's amused voice filled his head. Your thinking woke me up. Fine way to wish me good morning, angel.
Unrepentant, Quatre wriggled to face his lover properly and gave him a searing kiss. "Is that better, my poor, poor sweetheart?"
Trowa raised an eyebrow and used his superior strength and position to entrap Quatre beneath him. His free hand disappeared below the sheets, and Quatre's eyes fluttered shut when warm, long fingers found and stroked his hidden entrance. They slid inside the clenching ring with little resistance. His lover made a satisfied sound.
"You're still relaxed and slick from last night," he noted. "Good; less time for me to wait." He hitched one of Quatre's legs over his elbow and spread him wide.
In the next eyeblink, Quatre moaned as Trowa glided up inside him. If he counted the times they'd done this in the last two days he wouldn't have enough fingers - it was far easier to count the hours. His body was torn between exhaustion and soreness, and pleasure and want.
"You're still so tight it feels like I'm choking," Trowa murmured in Quatre's ear with a little chuckle.
Quatre blushed. A full grown man and Trowa could still make him blush like a boy. As Trowa's hips drew back and then snapped forward, the exhaustion and soreness were forgotten as his body went from interested to aroused in a heartbeat. The way it felt when Trowa's generous length stroked him so deep inside and provided direct stimulation to that little bundle of nerves was almost better than having Trowa touch him directly on his own arousal.
In an impressively rapid display of agility, Trowa threw off the covers and flipped Quatre over onto his stomach without disconnecting them. Quatre cried out faintly to feel Trowa twisting around against his inner walls. That was a new sensation. His lover positioned him on hands and knees, arms hugging Quatre's waist and beginning to thrust in and out with long, slow, deep movements. Soon perspiration made his chest glide along Quatre's back, so much skin touching so much skin. This was how Quatre loved it best, when they were so close there was no room between them. Trowa's knees pushed against the insides of Quatre's knees, forcing his legs to spread wide, increasing the pleasure.
Quatre didn't stay upright very long. His arms buckled, and he buried his face in the cool sheets. Trowa followed him down, his hands smoothing up Quatre's chest to his shoulders and under his arms, using this new leverage to thrust harder and faster. Quatre panted through each movement, heat blossoming where Trowa drove into him and spreading up his spine and throughout his whole body. Trowa was deliberately torturing him, he knew. The man was like a machine. At this pace he would last forever, and this wasn't quite enough to allow Quatre's release.
Not that he minded. If Trowa decided Quatre should stay like this for the rest of his life and if they didn't need food and water, he would die happily conjoined with the man he loved more than life.
"I'm sorry," Trowa abruptly breathed in his ear. "I shouldn't have done that to you, angel. I know you would never let Relena touch you, and I did agree with your plan."
The apology caught Quatre off guard, and it took his pleasure-soaked brain several moments to form a coherent reply. "You weren't wrong," he gasped, eyes squeezing shut. "I was. I'm the one who should apologize." Though he already had. Many times.
"I'm ready to put all that behind us," Trowa whispered. "Let's not mention it any more and forget she ever had any sort of hold on us."
"All right," Quatre whimpered, perfectly ready to do just that.
When Trowa brought them both to release, they collapsed onto the bed and for some time Quatre drifted in and out of a peaceful doze. Eventually the need to check on things drove him to wakefulness and he rose. Wincing, he padded to the bathing room. Feeling sticky and messy, he rinsed his whole body in cold water. It left him cold but refreshed, and he dressed in long black breeches, an aqua shirt of silk and a soft gray linen tunic. Sliding his feet into his soft black leather boots, he watched Trowa get up as well. Quatre drank in the sight of his glorious naked body, and Trowa leaned down to give him a lingering kiss before disappearing into the bathing room.
"I'll be with Heero and Duo," he called as he left.
The feel in the castle today was one of subued elation. It had spread like wildfire that Duo's collar was gone and he no longer wore slave cuffs. Not a single person seemed horrified by that, which pleased Quatre. He grabbed a quick bite to eat in the kitchens, listening to the serving girls whisper and giggle, then went back to Heero's bedchambers. He knocked, but the door was slightly ajar.
"Duo?" he called as he pushed it open.
Duo looked up with a smile, beckoning. "Come in."
The young sorcerer sat on a high-backed chair by the sofa, where Heero sat. His back was supported by a couple fluffy pillows, and a dark red blanket covered his legs. He was fully dressed and despite the naturally unkempt state of his hair, he looked far healthier than the last time Quatre had seen him two days ago. Still too pale and a bit too thin, but getting stronger. His chamberlain sat on a chair at the other end of the sofa so Heero didn't have to twist to see him, and the king's big black hound laid on her master's legs.
The chamberlain nodded at Quatre. "Councilor," he said, voice respectful.
The mellow look on Heero's face was the first expression like it Quatre had seen. Though it was a far cry from his usual frozen mask, it still suited him far better than that vacant adoration for Relena. The thought of it still made him a little queasy. Perhaps he should exact a little revenge of his own against the little bitch.
Quatre nodded in return, then gave Heero a slight bow. "On that subject, Your Majesty, I would like to formally request I now be known as Advisor Quatre Winner, not Councilor."
Heero quirked an eyebrow. "I had something similar in mind. I've included it in this proclomation."
While he spoke, Quatre realized something else was different about Heero. He couldn't sense what it was. Nirande, do you know what it is?
Yes, his goddess answered at once. Obviously she'd been waiting for the question. Somehow his power has been greatly increased since the last time you saw him.
Quatre blinked. Increased? How? And what is he now?
Magic is a peculiar thing, Nirande said. I will speak with Vyrea and try to find out how this is possible. As to how much he increased it? He was a moderately strong Blue before. Now he is stronger than even a Black. But there is more, Quatre. Without that collar restricting Duo's magic, I can sense it now. He is stronger than any Black I have ever encountered before. It's almost as if the power of Vyrea herself flows in their veins.
The thought made him shiver. Vyrea was an enigmatic goddess, feared by the other gods. They avoided her. Apparently only Nirande and her sister Nahanque knew her at all. He realized Duo was frowning at him, eyes a little concerned. Quatre forced himself to concentrate back on the present. He could ask about these things when the chamberlain was gone.
"Have you set a date for Relena's trial?" he asked.
Something dark and cold and hateful shadowed Heero's eyes, and Quatre shivered again. Though he knew this young man had a kinder soul than he originally believed, he would never - ever - make the mistake of believing Heero was a gentle person. First and foremost he was the Black King. There was a difference between pretending to be something and just playing up what one already had within him.
"The day after tomorrow," he said, voice brittle.
"Trowa had a request concerning her execution," Quatre said, dragging a chair to sit beside the chamberlain. "He wished to propose you stay the normal beheading and allow him to flay her to death."
He could tell at once the suggestion appealed to the young king. Satisfaction tempered the ugly anger. "Request granted. The others will be hung like common thieves."
Quatre snorted. That would upset Dorothy. The poor chit believed she was some sort of royalty thanks to her position on the Council. "Thank you, Majesty."
The chamberlain boldly interjected. "Majesty, if we may continue? The proclomation should be announced and posted before noon."
Heero looked both amused and annoyed. "Last line: The trial of Relena Darlian shall be held in open court on the twenty-third day of Fall in the first hour after full noon."
"Excellent," the chamberlain said, his feather quill scratching over the parchment. "By my hand, the Great Seal of Corai, signed, His Majesty Heero Yuy, Black King of Corai." He rose from his chair and placed his small writing table on Heero's lap, handing him the quill.
Heero took it and signed the proclomation. The chamberlain took it back and sprinkled fine-grain sand over the ink to dry it, then carefully poured it back into the velvet bag. Then he rolled it up and tucked it into the scrip on his belt. He gave the king a low bow.
"I'm pleased you're feeling like yourself again, Majesty," he said, then he turned sharply on his heel and hustled out.
Heero snorted. "I've never seen someone so happy to rescind one of my edicts," he said. "Quatre, part of that proclomation I just had the chamberlain draft directly affects you. With the dissolution of the Council of Nine, I'm appointing six men - or women - as Royal Advisors. I want you to choose them. Make sure you trust them implicitly and, more importantly, that I can as well."
"Trowa Barton and Wufei Chang go without saying, I assume?" Quatre inquired.
Heero shook his head. "No. The three of you will fill an altogether different role. I'm dividing the political power of Corai into three branches. Military, which I want Chang to oversee. Internal affairs, which you will oversee. And foreign affairs, which I want Barton to oversee. Lord General Zechs Marquise will maintain his position, of course, Chang will serve as something of an advisor. Since he communes with his god, Duo assures me we will be able to communicate instantly with each other. You will serve as an advisor to Duo, and your first task will be to form a restoration plan for the kingdom. Barton will serve as an advisor to my advisors, and the three of you will answer only to me and Duo." Here he paused, and those cobalt eyes of his went hard and cold as gems. "I trust the three of you because Duo trusts you. If I find out you've misled me, your punishments will be every bit as harsh as Relena's. Am I clear?"
It took quite a physical effort not to recoil. Quatre nodded. "But if I may, I have one question."
Heero nodded.
"These six advisors, what purpose do they serve?"
Now Heero glanced at Duo, and Quatre could sense amusement and something else pass between them. It was Duo who answered.
"Public relations," the boy said with a little grin. "They need to be nobles of some standing in the royal court, of course. They will serve as arbiters and mediators for most public disputes, things that need not waste Heero's time. And it will make the rest of the nobles happy, give them something to gossip about and feel they may have some sway with their king."
That made sense. Quatre allowed himself to feel honored. "I won't betray your trust, Majesty."
Those eyes remained cold and unyielding a moment longer, then they calmed and Heero nodded. "Good. I want my new advisors ready to serve by Relena's trial. Of course your decisions will be approved by either me or Duo."
Unable to help it any longer, Quatre had to ask. "Are the two of you - ?"
The cold edge in Heero's eyes and voice melted into golden warmth. "When all this has settled down, I will officially make him my consort." He raised Duo's hand to his lips and lightly kissed it.
The last lingering doubt in Quatre's heart snuffed out. The young man still had the capacity to love - and a great capacity for it, it seemed. "I'm glad," he murmured.
Seeming mellowed by his own words, Heero looked back to Quatre. "I would like to know why you joined the Council when you seem to harbor such loathing for it."
Quatre smiled. "I wanted to destroy it. Under the guidance of Nirande, I came to see what evil it had wrought as I grew up. I wanted to help you if I could, or help Corai somehow if I couldn't."
The Black King nodded absently, looking oddly contented. Then Duo rose, motioning Quatre to follow him to the door. "You don't have much time to make your decisions," he said, "so you should get started."
He was also still worried about Heero, Quatre could tell. So he went without resistance. "I'll be ready in the allotted time." He inclined his head toward Heero as he left.
As he hurried down the hall, he couldn't hide his smile. It felt like nothing could go wrong now.
o8o o8o
Knowing Duo had sent Quatre away out of concern for him, Heero was just glad Duo hadn't actually said that to Quatre. The man might have started fussing, and Heero would never welcome that from anyone. Well, anyone but Duo.
Duo barred the door and went back to Heero's side. "That's enough for today," he said, voice firm.
Heero didn't protest. He'd accomplished everything he wanted, and the only thing left to do was Relena's trial. He wanted to appear as his normal self, cold and hard and strong. He didn't want to look pale and wispy, like a stiff breeze could knock him over. Most of his strength had returned, thanks to the gift his mother had given him. In two days he would be his old self.
Smiling, Duo took his hand in both his own and squeezed lightly. "I still can't believe this," he said softly. "You're as strong as me now, but your power does feel different. Deep in the blood. It's not like any human sorcerer I've ever felt."
Heero allowed a small smirk. "They will have to send more than a Red and a few Greens or Blues to destroy that barrier now." Adding his power to Duo's to enhance the barrier hadn't doubled its strength. It felt closer to ten times stronger now.
"I've been thinking about that," Duo said. "I think we would be able to tell if a sorcerer hated the collar. Any who come into Cera, we can just destroy the collars and offer them a place here. The more sorcerers to defend you and Corai, the better."
"Hn, what an appealing thought. The first monarch in the history of Harboura to have a sorcerer army."
The little grin that crossed Duo's lips was . . . it made Heero want to devour him. "You'll be the first of many things, I'm sure," he murmured.
The comment sent Heero's thoughts spiraling in several directions, and none of them appropriate. Duo is still too young, he told himself harshly. Really, he was only sixteen. Though Heero's own first encounter with sex had been a year younger, he was a prince. He thought back to that time without fondness or remorse. It meant nothing to him, those several months he had spent carefully selecting young women - all several years older than him - to learn about pleasure and intimacy. There was nothing, Heero thought with an inward smirk, about which he wanted to be ignorant. Those ladies had all taught him a great deal, and while he'd never been with a male, he knew the same rules applied.
Perhaps there was something of the innappropriate nature of his thoughts visible in his eyes, because Duo blushed. The enchanting splash of color on his pale cheeks made Heero want to lick it, see if it tasted as sweet as it looked. Gods but this boy was beautiful. How had he ever not noticed?
"I will wait to marry you," he said after a moment, "until you're seventeen, if you would prefer." Anything to make his love more comfortable.
Duo gave him a smile, and was it the slightest bit coy? Heero shivered inside his skin with desire. "Girls come of age at fifteen," he said in a lightly teasing tone. "Why should it be so much later for boys?"
As if two years were some tremendous duration. If you want, I'll pin you down right now and ravage you, Heero thought, delicious images of just that springing up in his mind. He toyed with the idea of projecting them so Duo would see them, too. Heero raised one shoulder in a shrug. "I had my first sexual experience when I was fifteen," he told his lover, "but my background is very different from yours. I would never want to make you feel pressured or rushed."
Duo frowned, a hint of a pout. "You've been with someone else before?"
"Yes. I propositioned several women who were twenty or twenty-one, wanting to understand the act and its appeal."
Duo's cute pout brightened into a grin as he laughed softly. "You make it sound so cold and clinical."
Heero shrugged again. "That's what it was. I had no feelings for them. I only wanted to know how to do it. How it felt. What to expect. I found it pleasant enough, but I never had a great desire for more. Most likely because I didn't love them - or even like them. With you . . ." I can't imagine what it will be like. His blood heated just thinking of it.
Sucking in a quick, short breath, that color flared across Duo's face again. "I've never . . . with anyone," he whispered, eyes lowering to the floor. "What if you're . . ." disappointed?
Heero gripped his chin and made him look up. "Impossible," he said simply. How could he be disappointed by the only person he wanted so much he would forsake breathing just to embrace?
It was amazing, Heero thought dimly, to watch the love flood up in Duo's eyes like that. Like a veil of emotion. Rising off his chair, he perched on the edge of the couch facing Heero, reaching out to join their hands. Heero tangled their fingers together, enjoying the feel of Duo's slight heat bleeding into his own skin. The boy slowly, shyly leaned forward, his intent clear, the request in his eyes. Their lips met with gentle persuasion, and Heero felt like he was drowning.
Soft. Soft as a cloud. Warm as the gentlest flame. Trembling like an anxious bird. Duo's kiss melted all thought from Heero's mind. So sweet, so hesitant, so shy. He didn't reach up and trap Duo against him, though he would've loved to do just that. He couldn't, however, resist the impulse to open his lips and probe at the crease of Duo's, begging entrance. Slowly, slowly Duo opened his mouth, and Heero plunged into ambrosia. At the soft little sound that rewarded his effort, he sat up and wrapped his arms around Duo properly. Duo unfurled like a lotus blossom opening to the sun, arms coiling around Heero's neck and twisting until he was fully on Heero's lap, one leg on either side of the Black King's waist.
Sweet and heated and everything he could have imagined and more, Heero plundered Duo's mouth. This was one thing he'd never done. He didn't want to kiss someone he didn't love. Seemed too intimate. Now it felt perfect, he couldn't get enough. He was relatively certain just kissing Duo forever would satisfy him, the taste was so . . . Duo. He bit and sucked and stroked Duo's tongue with his own, then rubbed it leisurely against the roof of Duo's mouth. He licked and nibbled at the plump lower lip until he was sure it would be swollen, and every little gasp, whimper, and moan went straight to Heero's groin.
Shit you're delectable. I could eat you all up. Hadn't he promised to wait until Duo was seventeen? That was only a few weeks away now. Where was all his vaunted self-control? He envisioned Duo's body as a map and his own tongue as a quill, charting routes all over the ivory skin, finding new places where a touch or a kiss would make Duo squirm and moan for more. Duo was a virgin, so he would be sensitive in those places he had never been touched before . . .
Duo tipped his head back, gasping for breath, and Heero dragged his mouth down his jaw to his slim neck. A new flavor. He nibbled right behind his ear, which made Duo curl toward him with a gasping moan. He sucked on his pulse, which made Duo whimper. He bit and licked along his collar bone, which made Duo utter a soft sort of whine. Duo's slender fingers carded through Heero's hair, as if Duo didn't know what to do with them, was lost in the sensations. Heero continued the assault, curious and eager to figure out what touches made Duo react in just what way, and he finally moved his hands.
Stroking them down Duo's back, when they glided up again it was under his shirt. Duo shivered, his closed eyelids fluttering. His mouth opened, panting, expression so unguarded and impassioned. Heero's fingers danced over his ribs, over his stomach just above his navel, then up his chest so he could swirl them around and over both nipples.
Duo let out a little yelp, body bowing outward to push his chest foward, dislodging Heero's mouth from his throat. "He-Heero," he gasped, sounding a little uncertain, the sensation either strange or just catching him off-guard.
Judging by the roil of his emotions, Duo was neither scared nor upset. He wanted Heero just as much as Heero wanted him. But . . . He let his hands drop to Duo's waist, now simply holding him. After a moment, Duo looked at him again, the question clear in his eyes.
"I love you," Heero whispered. He smiled softly. "Just wanted you to know that."
After a moment Duo returned it, eyes bright. "I love you too."
On his legs, Frost stirred and stretched, coming out of her snooze. Heero only just then remembered she was there, and he chuckled. "Sleep well?"
She yawned. Very. Are we going hunting?
Duo grinned. He moved from straddling Heero's lap, one knee brushing right over his semi-hard arousal. Heero hissed - he suspected that was intentional. "I'll let her out and bring us some lunch. Be right back."
Heero's eyes fastened themselves, of their own volition, to Duo's backside as the boy walked from the room. You have better control than this, Yuy. It's up to him to decide when he's ready, not you. He could certainly wait until then. Probably.