Miscellaneous Heirs - Part Six
by Orerinia Shaydrin
*****
The soft up and down movements underneath his head drew Quatre farther away from the soft comfort of sleep. Somewhere in his foggy mind, he came to the conclusion that he was resting on somebody's chest. Every breath that person took brought him closer to wakefulness. He yawned and moved closer to the body, for one second not realizing who he lay next to, just enjoying the comfort of a warm body next to his own.
He opened his eyes lazily, blinking until the figure beside him came into focus. A lean muscled torso, covered by a dark brown undershirt, and a head covered by brown hair with eyes closed, but had they been open they would have been a startling green.
Trowa.
He jerked away out of shock. Unfortunately, he was a little too close to the edge of the bed and ended up rolling right off of it onto the hard floor . . . bringing Trowa, who was entangled in the blankets they had shared that night, right with him. Quatre grunted when the larger boy's weight landed on top of him.
A sweep of hair brushed across Quatre's face and he looked into the bewildered green eyes behind it. He stared right back, very aware of Trowa's body on top of his own, their legs entwined and chests pressed together. He drew in a sharp breath, while Trowa managed to open his mouth to ask a question. "W-w-what happened?"
"Nothing," Quatre shoved futilely at Trowa. "Get off of me!"
"All right," Trowa--not completely understanding what was going on--tried his best to leverage himself off Quatre. It didn't work, the blankets were wrapped too tightly around them, he only succeeded in pushing himself up against the unyielding barrier of the blankets. Down he fell on top of Quatre again. "Oomph!"
Quatre stilled in shock, before bursting into action and pummeling his fists on Trowa's arms, "I told you to get off of me!"
"I'm trying!" Struggling, Trowa tried to get away from the hands that sought to do him damage, "What has gotten into you? You weren't like this last night!"
"That was last night!" He wiggled back and forth as if that would somehow help him get away from Trowa. "Now get off of me!"
"I'm trying! Ouch! Would you just hold still?"
"NO!"
Quatre struggled to free his arms, complicating Trowa's own struggles to get off of him, "DAMN IT, QUATRE! STOP MOVING!"
"I WANT TO GET OUT OF THIS!"
"SO DO I!"
The door to the room was thrown open, Duo and Wufei stepping inside, confused looks on their faces when they saw Quatre and Trowa's predicament. Duo stared crossly at them, his violet eyes slightly glazed from sleep, "What the hell is going on in here?"
"He won't get of off me!"
"I'm trying!"
"Could you two 'try' a little quieter then. You're attracting unwanted attention from the inn's other guests." Wufei shut the door behind him, glaring down at them unhappily.
Duo leaned over them, a crooked smile growing on his face, and one of his hands tugging on one of the black feathers in his braid that had somehow managed to stay immaculate through the night. "Soooo, what are you two doing together in the same room? Tangled up in blankets . . . veeeeeery close too each other?"
"Duo, don't even go there."
"Aww, come on, Trowa. You aren't going to tell me that what I think happened, didn't happen?"
"Yes, I am, because it didn't happen."
"You're no fun."
"Would someone please get him off of me!" Quatre--not very amused at the topic of conversation--started moving about again in impatience.
Wufei grunted, kneeling down to untangle the blankets. Several seconds later Trowa was standing up while Quatre crouched, eyeing him warily. Growling, Wufei reached down and pulled Quatre up. "Come on. We don't have any time to waste, especially with you two idiots attracting attention like this." He glared at Trowa, "Get dressed, we'll met you downstairs in ten minutes."
Quatre stumbled after him, looking back, almost apologetically at Trowa as Wufei shut the door behind them. Duo turned to Trowa his eyebrows raised in question, "Is it just me or does Wufei seem unusually uptight this morning?"
Trowa shrugged, "Perhaps." He gathered up the pile of blankets and piled them on top of the bed.
"You're back to one word answers now . . ."
" . . . "
"Or not answering at all. You've regressed back to your normal state." Duo plopped down on the unmade bed, a mischievous grin on his face, "Maybe we should get Quatre back in here. He seems to be able to get you out of your uncommunicative little hole. Speaking of which, what was Quatre doing in here, Trowa?"
"Nothing you are insinuating, Duo." Trowa scrounged through the room, making sure he had everything collected.
Pursing his lips, Duo tugged on a feather hanging from his braid, "I'm not so sure of that . . . maybe I'll go ask Quatre!" He lifted himself off the bed and made as if to leave the room.
Trowa's hand on his arm stopped him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Why not?"
"Because I would bet that Wufei is giving Quatre a dressing down and he's not going to be too happy afterwards."
"So what?" Duo shuffled closer to the door, "That's what makes it so much fun."
Trowa hid his smirk, "Not when he asks you what you were doing with Wufei last night."
Violet eyes widening, Duo thrust out his chest defensively, "I wasn't doing anything with dragon boy last night!"
"Whatever . . ."
"I wasn't!" He paused, narrowing his eyes, "You bastard!"
"Not my fault you fell into that one."
*****
The red headed queen thoughtfully drummed her fingers along her cheek. She stared at one of her advisors, a slow smirk growing on her face. "Two of those . . . boys . . . that my men came across are actually royalty?"
"Yes, Your Highness." The advisor shuffled the sheets of parchment he held, "From the information that I received from your . . . spies . . . that is who they seem to be." The queen's spies was an iffy subject. No one was sure of what they were--if they were even human. It was common belief that they were ghosts summoned from death to keep on the kingdom at the queen's bidding.
"Well, well, then. Perhaps we should invite them to join me here. It wouldn't do to have them wandering the countryside." She stood, her small form diminutive against the huge gold-adorned throne behind her, "I must give my spies--as you call them--a reward for telling me of this. And you as well, of course, for without you, I would have never have known who these strangers were. I am grateful that I have such a well-learned and well-traveled man within my court."
Her dainty feet walked down the stairs covered in plush red carpet, "First, however, something must be done about those guards . . ."
"My Queen, they did nothing wrong. They got more than enough money to pay for that man's due."
"You dare take a stance against me?" The petite queen glared upwards, her blue eyes filled with anger. "Those guards of mine took the money from those foreigners, not the man. That man should be punished as well, along with his family."
The advisor backed up, throat contracting as he swallowed in fear. "I am not taking a stance against you, I'm just suggesting that perhaps they should not be punished for something that was not their fault. They acquired the money that they came for, Your Majesty."
His life hung in the balance, one word from her and he was going to be the castle dogs next meal. It was dangerous to even suggest that the queen was mistaken. More than one person had died for as tiny a offense as preparing the wrong food for her dinner.
This time the advisor was lucky.
The queen swished by him, her hand waving at him in dismissal, never looking back. "As you wish, the guards, the man, and his family will not die. I shall let them off the hook." Now she looked back, a cruel smile twisted across her porcelain features, "That is your reward from me." A bitter laugh came forth from her lips, "Before you rejoice that you are still alive, bring those princes and their companions to me. They shall be guests."
She walked out, hips swishing back and forth, a hand fanning her face, "Until I decide what use I have for them, of course."
It was possible that the queen wouldn't keep her promise; it was likely that at least the guards would end up dead, but at least he still lived. For now.
He bowed as she left, "As you wish, Queen Mariemaia."
*****
The girl grimaced at the sop that was supposedly soup. "It never changes, does it?"
"The scenery or the food?" A woman's voice asked from the cell next to her own.
The girl eyed her surroundings, the cold damp stone, the dirty straw that made a bed, the tattered blanket that served as her only source of warmth, and the old bucket that was a toilet. "Both." She shoved the bowl away from her, knocking the contents out of it. "I want out! I can't take this anymore!" She pounded her fists on the floor, ignoring the pain that came from impacting flesh on stone.
"Be a little more patient. I need to have your help when I get out of here and throttle my step-daughter."
"Then you had better need my help soon, because I don't have much time left before I am no longer on this plane of existence."
"You shouldn't be so pessimistic. Your family might come through with the ransom."
"They won't. They sent me here to get me out of the way, so they can marry off my obedient little sister to the next asshole that comes along." Her rich voice rose an octave higher in fury, "They need a dependable /man/ to run our lands. An independent young woman who does not wish to marry someone of her parents' choosing is disposable to them."
"Then they are idiots, Meiran."
Meiran drew her legs up to her chest and glared through the bars of her cell, "You are the only one who believes so, Queen Une." She lowered her head between her knees, "You are right. I can't give up, yet. Still have to teach that bitch a lesson."
"Good," the woman answered, "and just call me Une. I'm not a queen anymore, and not even a lady like I once was."
*****
It seemed an irratable time of day or, perhaps, it was just the company he was in. Not that it was bad company, it was just . . . straining. Duo had been hopping about ahead of him, singing in a loud voice, changing from raven to human. At least that's what he had done until Wufei had gotten on his case about being an idiot and attracting attention. Now Duo walked sullenly by his side, muttering various insults about dragon boys with sticks up their asses. Trowa deemed it a good thing that Wufei was too far ahead of them to hear those words.
On the other hand, Wufei kept pushing everybody forward. No rests, no breaks, and no stops for lunch. Something was pulling him along and he was following that pull as fast as he could. Of course, anyone who complained about the pace was forced to face his wrath. He was on edge to day for no noticeable reason, unless it was catching Quatre with Trowa in the morning, nevermind that it had been completely harmless.
Quatre trailed behind everyone, not the wisest thing to do, but Trowa believed it had something to do with Wufei. After he had escaped from Wufei's ire, he had done everything in his best interests to keep his distance away from him, though it hadn't stopped him from glaring daggers at the dragon boy. Fortunately, he had never directed those gazes at Trowa, somehow a great relief to the other prince.
The sun might have added a touch to the tension. It was a beautiful day. The sun sat in the blue heavens showing the green earth with its golden rays. A perfect day to go and relax beneath a tree and imagine figures in the clouds; that was if they could have actually rested under a tree and do so, but as it was, they walked along a dusty path, the sun beat down upon them and their sweating bodies were starting to wear out.
Trowa fell back, catching his breath slightly and falling into place beside Quatre. Quatre glanced at him with big blue-green eyes and then looked down at the ground bashfully, "I'm sorry about acting like a complete idiot this morning."
The apology took a moment to sink in. Trowa raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "It was understandable."
"No, it wasn't. I shouldn't have freaked out like that, especially after getting stuck in the blankets like that."
He studied Quatre for a moment, then shook his head. "What's so interesting down there?"
Quatre pulled his head up, bit his lip, and blushed slightly, "Not a thing."
"WUFEI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?" Duo had come to a stop at where the road parted into two different directions, one straight ahead and the other to the right. Wufei was currently stomping straight ahead, only whirling around when Duo yelled at him. "THAT'S THE WAY TO THE CASTLE! WE'RE NOT GOING THAT WAY! REMEMBER?"
"You don't have to shout, scavanger. And, yes, we are going this way. I have to go this way." Wufei placed his hands on his hips, tapping his foot.
Pulling his braid over his shoulder, Duo tugged on it. "You have to go this way . . ." he trailed off, realization dawning on him, "FUCK! You mean your mate is at the queen's castle!" Duo danced about, cursing and nearly yanking his braid out. Trowa unconsciously wrapped on arm around Quatre, bringing him closer to his chest as if to protect him from the braided boy, who looked like he was about to have a hernia.
Trowa noted the dragon boy didn't look very happy himself. "Are you sure about this, Wufei?"
"Yes!" he hunched his shoulders, "As much as I wish I don't want know where she is, I know she's this way."
Duo stopped his agitated prancing and pinned Wufei with his eyes, "What do you mean, 'you don't want to know where she is?' If you don't want to find her, then why are you looking!"
Quatre wiggled out from under Trowa's arm, "It's because it's his duty. The other dragons sent him to find a mate."
"I know that, Quatre! I'm just wondering why he is looking for her when he doesn't want to! Can't he just ignore them and leave? It's not that hard."
"Maybe for you, it isn't. But I gave my word to the others and I will not fail them." Wufei straightened, turned around, and walked away again.
Duo rolled his eyes, "Shit! You know you're going to get us killed, don't you?" No answer. "We're already too close to the castle for my own comfort." He kicked at an invisible rock and followed slowly after.
"Do you think he's right about Wufei getting us killed?" Trowa started forward, glancing at Quatre.
The blond prince shrugged, "He hasn't gotten me killed, but . . ." he trailed off, narrowing his eyes, and then latched a hand onto Trowa's arm. "Do you see what I see?"
Trowa squinted at the cloud of dust that had appeared in front of them. His lips curved downward as his eyes focused on the cause of that dust cloud. "Wufei! Duo! Look ahead!" The two shape-shifters had been withdrawn into themselves, but with Trowa's cry, they looked up.
"SHIT! Where did they come from?" Duo reached forward, grabbed one of Wufei's sleeves, and pulled him backwards.
"I don't know, but there's more behind us." Quatre had turned around and was now pressing his back against Trowa's.
"Well, that's not good! Wufei, do something!"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Transforming would be nice!"
Wufei frowned, staring at the two groups of horsemen coming from either side. "I can't do that. We have no idea of their intentions. I will not harm anyone if they do not mean me harm."
"I don't think we have to worry about their intentions. They're wearing this kingdom's colors and I'd say it's pretty damn obvious that the queen sent them. Trowa, help me out here . . ."
"We wait, Duo. If there is any trouble, I'm sure Wufei will get us out of it." Trowa watched as the horsemen came closer.
"Fine! We'll just wait here like sitting ducks." He crossed his arms across his chest, grumpily, but slowly edged towards Trowa and Quatre.
A tense silence followed as the horsemen galloped up to them. They formed a circle around them, cutting off all routes for escape. The only hopeful thing was that they did not draw their swords. One horsemen, nodded his head down at them, "Queen Mariemaia of Triel has asked for the presence of Prince Trowa of the Kingdom Barli and Prince Quatre of the Kingdom Reva in her court. She wishes to discuss diplomatic relations with your countries."
Duo hissed under his breath, audible only to his companions, "How does she know who you two are?"
Wufei shrugged, silent and still, waiting to see if he had to take care of these men. Quatre stepped away from Trowa, who immediately wished he hadn't done so. "We no longer have any connections with our kingdoms. We would be of no help to her."
The horseman leaned slightly lower, "Yes, you would be. You could help her understand the workings of your kingdoms, making it easier to gain an alliance with them. Besides, it is not wise to deny the Queen's request."
Quatre glanced at the other horsemen, most of whom looked back blankly, and at his comrades. He chewed on his bottom lip, deciding on something that Trowa could not fathom. He evidently came to a decision, for he looked up and met with the horseman who had been speaking to them. "We will go with you."
Trowa stared in shock as Quatre grabbed the horseman's hand and swung up behind him, barely hearing Duo's shout of startlement. The blond prince looked over the horseman's shoulder, mouthing the words, 'Trust me.'
Clenching his teeth, Trowa allowed himself to be pulled up behind another horseman. When he caught Quatre's eyes, he gave a silent answer in the same way.
'Fine, but you had better explain later.'
