A/N: I'm sorry to keep you waiting! In my time zone it's still before midnight so I'm going to count my promise kept. Don't worry, I'll be better about posting an actual chapter on Fridays. I know I disappointed some of you with yesterdays update but I sincerely hope this makes up for it. So, enjoy!
"Wake up." Even though he only barely registered the words the collar activated immediately jolting him awake. He let out a cry more of surprise than pain. "You are expected in court in an hour. I've brought your breakfast. Eat and dress and be ready when I come to get you." He recognized the voice as that of Sailor Saturn. "Her majesty will not tolerate tardiness and I even less so." With that she left the room. He lay there for a bit longer, trying his best to muscle passed . As soon as he felt that he could move without vomiting he sat up. The room looked different this morning. The desk had been removed and a small round dining table took its place. He went to the table and sat down. He was in agony this morning. He glanced at the clock. It, too, had been replaced with a clock that not only told time but the date. "Guess I won't have any recovery time…". It was October 2nd. He looked at his breakfast. Scrambled eggs, toast, plain oatmeal, and a glass of water. He felt far more like a prisoner now than he ever had before. "... I had better get going then…"
The room that served as his prison was an inner room so it had no windows. Next to the bed was a door to a bathroom. A wardrobe, which he assumed contained his clothing, stood across from the bathroom door. Once he'd finished his food to the best of his ability he went to the bathroom to shower and try to tend to his back on his own. He showered quickly, fearing he might be running late already. In the bathroom he found several of the large medicated patches stored on a shelf. With some difficulty he managed to apply one. He returned to the bedroom and opened the wardrobe. Inside he found black tank tops and black capri pants. They were obviously designed to show off his new bling. "What a ridiculous 20th century word… bling…". As he looked through the clothes he began to realize that there were no other options, all of the clothing was exactly the same. As he had no choice, he pulled out a pair of capris and a tank top. While comfortable they were a little on the tight side.
Endymion went and stood in front of the full length mirror in the room. Saturn entered just a few minutes later. "I see you are ready on time. Come." Not able to resist even if he wanted to, he followed Saturn through the wall. He'd surmised that the door would remain out of sync with normal space-time until the end of his prison term. As he followed Saturn through the halls they passed several of the courtiers who all stopped for a moment and whispered to themselves. When Saturn said that he would wear his new jewels in shame she was absolutely correct. His heart sank deeper and his face grew redder as they passed more people on the way to the throne room.
The throne room was surprisingly empty when they arrived. Only Serenity, Mars, Jupiter, and now Saturn and himself were there. "Saturn, thank you for bringing Endymion. I can take him from here, please return to your normal duties."
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Saturn bowed and left the room.
"Endymion, come please." He approached his wife where she stood next to her throne. He really couldn't get a read on her. She didn't look upset or happy or even anything in between. Once he'd come close enough he bowed low to her. "You may rise, Endymion."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." He answered her. He looked up just in time to see the flash of sadness cross her face.
"Court will begin in a few minutes. I wanted some time to explain more of the functions of your… jewelry." Serenity seemed hesitant to say the word. She cleared her throat and continued. "As you already know they interfere with your nervous system. While you are in court the only voice you'll actually be able to understand is mine. Any other individuals will be incomprehensible for you. The choker also blocks your ability to speak. There are more functions of these pieces that will be covered at a later time. For now, you know all that you need to. You will sit here." she motioned to a cushion on the floor next to her throne. "Do you understand everything I have gone over with you?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Very well, then take your place. Mars, will you please open the doors, court is now in session."
As people came in and were granted their audience with the queen he started to understand what she meant. When someone spoke it sounded like he was under water and a long ways away from them. It made being there difficult for him. His body was cranky from sitting on the cushion on the floor and he was becoming mentally fatigued. He wasn't able to understand what people were saying but his brain was still trying to make sense of it. All of this made for a very long four hours.
Court was finally over and he was following Sailor Jupiter back to his room. After sitting like that for so long he figured that he'd do some yoga to relax his tired muscles. His lunch was already waiting for him when he was dropped off. He wasn't really hungry so he hardly ate any of it. It didn't help that he was given plain chicken with rice and broccoli to eat which wasn't very appetizing. When he was done picking at his food he decided to lay down. The day so far had managed to give him a decent headache and his body was extremely cranky from sitting on the floor. "Maybe I'll feel better after a nap…"
The rest of his week was just a repeat of the first day. Breakfast, court, and back to his room. It was Friday evening. He'd had dinner and now sat at the little dining table reading one of the books from the bookshelf. He was considering just going to bed for night when Serenity appeared in his room. Endymion was a little speechless. She hadn't been to see him since that night…
"Good evening, Endymion." Her voice felt like the soft caress of velvet. He was a little surprised when he felt tears spring to his eyes. He had missed her terribly. Getting up from the table he rushed to her and took her up in his arms. He held her as though it had been a century since he had seen her.
"Serenity…". He took a deep breath, breathing in her scent. "I missed you so much." He felt her relax into him, her arms reaching around his waist.
"I'm sorry I did not come to you sooner." She pulled away from him much to his dismay. "We need to talk, Endymion." She motioned to the table and they both sat down. Once settled he reached across the table and took her hands in his.
"Serenity, I am so sorry." The tears pricked at his eyes again. "I was… I was completely… I mean…"
"You acted consistently." Serenity said plainly. He was confused by her statement. What did she mean 'consistently'? He must have looked puzzled because she continued. "Endymion, you have done this from the very beginning. You go to protect or help me and you get injured in the process. You did it in our first lives, shielding me from the angry mob out to kill me and dying yourself. You did it again when Kunzite attacked me, jumping in front of me and nearly dying again in the process. When Queen Nehelenia attacked you hid how serious your condition was from me. The list just goes on and on." Now that she mentioned it… realization hit and he got a little depressed over it.
"And I fail every time…"
"Damn your ideas of failure, Endymion!" He looked at his wife a little surprised. That certainly wasn't grammar befitting a queen. "At this point I don't really care how you feel about it. I'm tired of reassuring you." She let out a heavy sigh and looked away, seemingly gathering her thoughts. He squeezed her hands, drawing her attention back to him.
"You are right, Serenity. I will do my best to move on from my feelings."
"Thank you." Serenity relaxed a little into the chair. "Now, we need to go over the full extent of your new sentence. So far you've only been given information that you needed to know. I'm sorry I did not come to you sooner. I needed to make sure I wasn't angry with you any more before sitting down with you."
"You know I would have understood."
"True but what you don't understand fully yet are these…" she ran a finger across the cuff of one of his bracelets. Instead of asking he simply looked at her and waited for an explanation. "You already know that I crafted these myself using the the Silver Crystal. With your new sentencing terms there were some trade offs. Your original sentence forbade the use of technology to help in your healing. In exchange for the extended lashings and forceful awareness I was allowed to design these to accelerate healing. I'm sure you already noticed this."
"Yes, I guessed as much."
"It should not take any more than two days for you to heal completely. They also monitor your health; heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and so on. They have tracking capabilities. I can find you wherever you go using these. I hate to call them this but essentially they act as a sort of… leash. They will not allow you to go anywhere you aren't allowed to. With this in mind Pluto will be shifting your door back into sync with this space-time. Beginning tomorrow you will not need an escort to leave this room. For the time being the garden is off limits but you are allowed to go to the library and you will be responsible for getting yourself to court. I don't have to tell you to be punctual. With time you will be given back some privileges."
"But not all of them."
"No. You are not allowed back in our quarters for the duration of your term. We will be sleeping in separate rooms for the next year and you will not have access to most of your personal belongings." He wasn't surprised about his personal things but sleeping apart… for a whole year… He felt his heart shrink in his chest. He looked over at the bed across the room. Sleeping all alone. He hadn't gone that long without her since college about 900 years ago.
"I guess that means this is my room for the next 12 months, give or take."
"Yes. I will come and spend as much time as I possibly can with you but this will still be very hard on both of us." That was the understatement of the century. They both sat quietly for a moment while that thought sunk in. Endymion shifted his attention to her face. Reaching out he caressed her cheek with his knuckles. Serenity leaned into his touch. "I'm going to need your strength to endure this, Endymion." He took a deep breath and steeled his resolve.
"You have it. I will not fail you."
"Thank you." She took another second or two and went back to her explanation. "So back to the matter at hand. So while these do cause greater pain during your lashings they will also bolster any preparation you do during the month. They react directly with what you choose to do. The more you prepare through yoga, meditation, stretching, exercise, etcetera, will counteract the extra pain they cause." He was surprised at how much thought had been put into these things.
"That is quite a lot."
"There's more. They are activated with verbal commands from the 8 guardians. There are restrictions for what commands they can give. They are all very upset with you, you know."
"I guessed as much. Saturn has been very stern this week."
"I am aware. Anyway, I myself have no restrictions. If I had come to you angry I may have caused you great physical pain. My mood and state of mind affect their function. That is why I needed some space to clear my head before coming to you." Well, he was certainly grateful for that.
"You put an awful lot of thought into these. I find that I don't hate them quite as much now."
"Is that so? I haven't even arrived at the best part." He narrowed his eyes at her. Did that mean what he thought? With a devious look in her eye, Serenity reached out and ran a single finger along his left bracelet. The second she touched it a crashing tsunami of pure pleasure engulfed his whole body. Actually the word "tsunami" was way too tame. He wasn't sure there was a word in any language in all of the universe that could describe the degree of pure bliss accurately.
"Aaaaaah hng." He moaned and nearly fell out of his chair. Every fiber of his being was stimulated. A light sheen of sweat broke out over his entire body. He felt himself speeding straight to the edge when Serenity suddenly removed her finger from the bracelet and his euphoria shut down instantly. It was like running into a brick wall at 60 miles an hour. No amount of self control could hold back the desperate whimper that came from the very depths of his soul.
"Oh dear, you weren't ready for that were you?" He could never have been able to hold back the begging look that now graced his face. "Goodness me, look at those puppy dog eyes. What is it you want, Endymion?" All he could really do was pant in response. She managed to pull off a look of obliviousness that was extremely convincing. After a minute or so she shrugged and got up from the table. "I think I've covered pretty much everything. If I think of any other pertinent information I'll let you know." She wasn't serious! She couldn't be, not after that. As she moved towards the door he sprung from his chair and grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. When she looked back at him he dropped to his knees.
"Sweet Goddess, please don't leave me like this. Please! I beg, no, I plead. Please grant me your favor, please don't go." Serenity looked at him curiously.
"Why should I stay? I'm incredibly displeased with your recent actions."
"Punish me then. Make me pay you your due. My queen, my master, do with your slave as you please."
"As I please you say? Make sure of your words, Endymion. I intend to make you regret them."
"I won't! I won't regret them." Serenity turned to face him and he dropped her hand. "Please." He begged again.
"We shall see about that." She tilted her head and that devious smile was back. "You will stay put." His muscles tensed making it impossible to move. Serenity circled him like a tigress on the hunt. He wasn't even able to turn his head to see what she was doing. When she brushed her finger across the back of the collar he wore he felt like his soul might separate from his body. The feeling was even more intense this time. He was being held just shy of an orgasm, suspended in the torturous exhilaration that soon turned to agony. He began whimpering and attempted to squirm. He soon felt as though he needed to crawl out of his skin when Serenity removed her fingers from the collar, the sensation going with them.
"Aaahuuuh" his muscles relaxed at the same time and he fell forward onto his hands. "Your highness…" he panted. "Your highness, please again. Please do it again."
"No." She came back around to look at him. She leaned over and hooked his chin with her finger. "Come." So he followed. She led him to the bed and stopped. "Remove my gown." With shaking hand he reached around and unfastened the back of her dress. Without breaking eye contact with him she did a little shrug and her dress fell to the floor in a heap. He let out a shakey breath. She had come prepared with a black corset and crotchless panties. Serenity stepped out of the heap of fabric and sat herself on the bed. "Kneel before your queen. If you can satisfy me I might give you what you want." He obliged eagerly. He dropped to his knees and hooking her knees on his shoulders began devouring her. Serenity allowed her head to roll back as she relished the feel of him.
Endymion soon realized that her pleasure caused his jewelry to react. With ever nip, every lick, every dip of his tongue into her delicious center, gave him more and more stimulation. He kissed the insides of her thighs and ran his hands up her legs and to her backside, pulling her to the very edge of the bed and pressing her against his hungry mouth. When he bit at the inside of her thigh his thighs quivered. When he sucked on her clit he could feel himself tighten. He dipped his tongue as far into her core as he possibly could and he felt himself take a step closer to the release he so wanted. He brought one of his arms back around so he could massage that sensative bundle of nerves while he lapped at her center. He was so very close, his head was swimming. Serenity cried out his name and as she came he was taken to that place of pure euphoria she'd introduced him to at the start. That wonderful unadulterated bliss that drew him right to the edge… and left him there.
Serenity lay panting on the bed but looked across to him when he whimpered. Sitting up she took his face in her hands. He looked at her desperately. He was right there, all he needed was just a tiny push. One more step and he could finally have the relief he so craved.
"Oh, Endymion." She kissed his forehead. "Thank you, I really needed that." To his dismay she got up and put her dress back on. All the while he stared at her, still swimming in a torturous pleasure that was just short of finishing him.
"S-Serenity?" When he spoke her name she threw a fierce look at him.
"I did not give you permission to use my name."
"I'm sorry, your majesty."
"You asked that I punish you, that I do as I pleased. I told you that you would regret those words." Was she serious? "So I will punish you. You now know the extent of my hold on you. I may not be angry with you any more but I'm still hurt and betrayed. Maybe tomorrow I will pleasure you but for tonight you will not have what you want." With that she left the room. As soon as she disappeared through the wall his intense arousal subsided gradually. He was left kneeling on the floor, sexually frustrated and on edge. As aggravating as his state was something happened deep inside of him. It was a different kind of climax but… he'd been punished and it made a little bit of the guilt and self loathing he was holding onto evaporate.
Serenity had once again healed a shattered part of his soul.
