Hiyas! I hope you liked the first chapter. I did! I liked it so much I'm
writing a second chapter when I should really be writing Dangerous
Protections. Don't worry, I'll write that too sometime.
Well anyway, I bet you've noticed that Trowa wasn't in the last chapter. That's because I don't know where to put him in the story. Somehow he ends up working for Heero like everybody else. At first, I thought to make him be part of the Callow Fox (ya know, that whole mercenary thing that happened to him) but then I decided that wasn't for him. I can't just kick him out of the story because then who will Quatre love? This is where I really need your help, guys. Give me ideas about what to do with Trowa (where he came from, what he does for Heero, et cetera) and I will reward you greatly by mentioning your name on that chapter and begging my readers to check you out (if I use your idea or part of it). Ta ta!
~`~
Duo recovered from his fear rather quickly when none of the men moved. He relaxed a bit and leaned back against the side of the carriage to think. Glancing out the window, the carriage proved to be moving at great speed and the castle, though still far away in the center of the large city, was looming larger and larger. Duo considered his predicament with a practical eye.
*So the king owns me now. Huh, from what I heard he sounds pretty nice. Maybe he'll be gentle.* He silently prepared himself for whatever was coming.
When they arrived at the castle, the carriage didn't stop at the main door. It continued around until they found a small side door that opened into a garden. The three men in black and gold livery hustled him inside. They passed multitudes of corridors and rose up several flights of stairs. Finally, they stopped in front of a door guarded by a large burly man and two slightly smaller ones.
Jostling him slightly, Duo's three captors handed him over to the new men, who hustled him through the door, and quickly left. Duo stood in front of the larger man, nervous under his severe gaze. One of the other men handed their superior a clipboard, a pen, and a piece of parchment with writing all over it.
"You are Duo Maxwell?"
"Yes," Duo said, and with an afterthought added, "sir. But I also go as Bitch, Little Brown Mare, Violet, Slim Jim-"
"That's enough," the burly man said in agitation, "Your age?"
Duo scratched his head, a habit of his when thinking. "Well, now, I've always assumed I was somewhere around fifteen or sixteen, but I could really be anywhere between fourteen and eighteen. I can't remember much beyond ten years ago. It all gets kinda fuzzy. But ya know, there was that lady with the smile-"
"Parentage?" the large man grumbled.
"What are ya doing, writing up a pedigree for me?" Duo peered questioningly at the men.
A nod from the large man made the moment awkward, during which Duo was prodded to answer his question.
"Parentage? You mean like who are my parents? Well how am I supposed to know? It's not like I ever met them." Duo crossed his arms over his chest. The man looked at the piece of parchment. Then he showed it to Duo.
"It says here that you were born to this lady and this lord. . ." he droned on, pointing to names and reading them aloud. Duo scratched his head some more and studied the names as they were read (apparently they detailed his entire heritage), peering at the page curiously. He had never heard of all these people. ". . . and that you date back to this ancient king-" When Duo heard the king's name he leaned back and crossed his arms again.
"Now I happen to know for a fact that that guy never existed. I made him up myself. And he isn't a king either; he's a baron who was born into slavery and has no idea of the wealth he's inherited. . ." It was a fantasy of Duo's, one in which he, represented by the baron, found out that he was worth much more then somebody's slave, than somebody's whore. It was a fantasy that was never to happen.
The large man looked outraged. "Damn that Jandan! He told us you were worth something! Him and his damn no refunds policy!"
Duo shrunk back, feeling small and helpless. "Hey," he said in a small voice, "I'm worth something. . ."
The man glared at him furiously. "What, pray tell, are you worth then?"
"Well," Duo said weakly, "My standard is ten jules a night. . ."
"Ten jules? We could get any whore for ten jules! Oh, god, what is the king going to say?"
Duo didn't say anything.
The big man calmed down a bit. "We'll deal with this later. Men, get him measured up."
The two other men took measuring tapes out from somewhere and advanced on Duo. Before he could think he had been stripped down to the black linen shorts he used as underclothes. They measured the lengths of his legs, arms, fingers, head, braid, and et cetera. They recorded everything down on the parchment. Meanwhile, the large man began to speak.
"I'm Rashid, the head of the Maganacs. These two are part of the Maganacs. . ."
Duo found his attention wavering. A hand between his shoulder blades, however, quickly brought him back. Rashid pushed him towards a door in the back of the posh room.
"Go to bed, through there." Rashid and the Maganacs turned to leave through the door they came in by.
"Hey," Duo turned around, "Are these the king's rooms?"
Rashid scowled. "Of course not. Do you think he would waste his time with you, especially now that you've been proved to be worthless?" They went out the door, leaving Duo alone with his grumbling stomach.
The room was nice, a little too nice, in fact, much too nice. *Much too nice to waste on a worthless whore like me. This is suspicious, but,* he yawned, suddenly realizing his fatigue, *I'm too tired to do anything about it.* He trudged through the door that had been indicated as a bedroom. He completely forgot about his old clothes, which the Maganacs had taken with them, and forgot for a moment that he was worthless, and he fell into the extra large bed he found in the middle of the room. Curling the blankets around him, Duo fell fast asleep in a cocoon of warmth and softness for the first time in his relatively short life.
~`~
Heero gladly rushed back to his room when the ball ended at midnight. Quatre and Wufei followed him, allowing him a few feet of distance for him to calm down in. Heero hadn't danced all night, not that there weren't an adequate amount of partners throwing themselves at him, and he wanted to sleep during the few hours when no one was allowed to bother him, lest Relena, the blond girl he had recently avoided marrying, come knocking with her multitudes of trivialities.
Rashid saluted Heero as he stalked through the door. Without bothering to say goodnight to Wufei and Quatre-who exchanged worried glances-he went directly to his bedroom and shut the door tightly behind him. He didn't bother to light the room while he stripped and changed into dark forestry green pajamas.
Heero stretched a bit, working muscles that had sat idle during the ball loose. He sat down on the edge of the bed and let his toes sink into the thick rug.
What he didn't expect, when he stretched out an arm to gather the blankets, was to find a ball of human warmth. What he didn't expect, when he accidentally touched the ball of human warmth, was for it to scream.
~`~
Well anyway, I bet you've noticed that Trowa wasn't in the last chapter. That's because I don't know where to put him in the story. Somehow he ends up working for Heero like everybody else. At first, I thought to make him be part of the Callow Fox (ya know, that whole mercenary thing that happened to him) but then I decided that wasn't for him. I can't just kick him out of the story because then who will Quatre love? This is where I really need your help, guys. Give me ideas about what to do with Trowa (where he came from, what he does for Heero, et cetera) and I will reward you greatly by mentioning your name on that chapter and begging my readers to check you out (if I use your idea or part of it). Ta ta!
~`~
Duo recovered from his fear rather quickly when none of the men moved. He relaxed a bit and leaned back against the side of the carriage to think. Glancing out the window, the carriage proved to be moving at great speed and the castle, though still far away in the center of the large city, was looming larger and larger. Duo considered his predicament with a practical eye.
*So the king owns me now. Huh, from what I heard he sounds pretty nice. Maybe he'll be gentle.* He silently prepared himself for whatever was coming.
When they arrived at the castle, the carriage didn't stop at the main door. It continued around until they found a small side door that opened into a garden. The three men in black and gold livery hustled him inside. They passed multitudes of corridors and rose up several flights of stairs. Finally, they stopped in front of a door guarded by a large burly man and two slightly smaller ones.
Jostling him slightly, Duo's three captors handed him over to the new men, who hustled him through the door, and quickly left. Duo stood in front of the larger man, nervous under his severe gaze. One of the other men handed their superior a clipboard, a pen, and a piece of parchment with writing all over it.
"You are Duo Maxwell?"
"Yes," Duo said, and with an afterthought added, "sir. But I also go as Bitch, Little Brown Mare, Violet, Slim Jim-"
"That's enough," the burly man said in agitation, "Your age?"
Duo scratched his head, a habit of his when thinking. "Well, now, I've always assumed I was somewhere around fifteen or sixteen, but I could really be anywhere between fourteen and eighteen. I can't remember much beyond ten years ago. It all gets kinda fuzzy. But ya know, there was that lady with the smile-"
"Parentage?" the large man grumbled.
"What are ya doing, writing up a pedigree for me?" Duo peered questioningly at the men.
A nod from the large man made the moment awkward, during which Duo was prodded to answer his question.
"Parentage? You mean like who are my parents? Well how am I supposed to know? It's not like I ever met them." Duo crossed his arms over his chest. The man looked at the piece of parchment. Then he showed it to Duo.
"It says here that you were born to this lady and this lord. . ." he droned on, pointing to names and reading them aloud. Duo scratched his head some more and studied the names as they were read (apparently they detailed his entire heritage), peering at the page curiously. He had never heard of all these people. ". . . and that you date back to this ancient king-" When Duo heard the king's name he leaned back and crossed his arms again.
"Now I happen to know for a fact that that guy never existed. I made him up myself. And he isn't a king either; he's a baron who was born into slavery and has no idea of the wealth he's inherited. . ." It was a fantasy of Duo's, one in which he, represented by the baron, found out that he was worth much more then somebody's slave, than somebody's whore. It was a fantasy that was never to happen.
The large man looked outraged. "Damn that Jandan! He told us you were worth something! Him and his damn no refunds policy!"
Duo shrunk back, feeling small and helpless. "Hey," he said in a small voice, "I'm worth something. . ."
The man glared at him furiously. "What, pray tell, are you worth then?"
"Well," Duo said weakly, "My standard is ten jules a night. . ."
"Ten jules? We could get any whore for ten jules! Oh, god, what is the king going to say?"
Duo didn't say anything.
The big man calmed down a bit. "We'll deal with this later. Men, get him measured up."
The two other men took measuring tapes out from somewhere and advanced on Duo. Before he could think he had been stripped down to the black linen shorts he used as underclothes. They measured the lengths of his legs, arms, fingers, head, braid, and et cetera. They recorded everything down on the parchment. Meanwhile, the large man began to speak.
"I'm Rashid, the head of the Maganacs. These two are part of the Maganacs. . ."
Duo found his attention wavering. A hand between his shoulder blades, however, quickly brought him back. Rashid pushed him towards a door in the back of the posh room.
"Go to bed, through there." Rashid and the Maganacs turned to leave through the door they came in by.
"Hey," Duo turned around, "Are these the king's rooms?"
Rashid scowled. "Of course not. Do you think he would waste his time with you, especially now that you've been proved to be worthless?" They went out the door, leaving Duo alone with his grumbling stomach.
The room was nice, a little too nice, in fact, much too nice. *Much too nice to waste on a worthless whore like me. This is suspicious, but,* he yawned, suddenly realizing his fatigue, *I'm too tired to do anything about it.* He trudged through the door that had been indicated as a bedroom. He completely forgot about his old clothes, which the Maganacs had taken with them, and forgot for a moment that he was worthless, and he fell into the extra large bed he found in the middle of the room. Curling the blankets around him, Duo fell fast asleep in a cocoon of warmth and softness for the first time in his relatively short life.
~`~
Heero gladly rushed back to his room when the ball ended at midnight. Quatre and Wufei followed him, allowing him a few feet of distance for him to calm down in. Heero hadn't danced all night, not that there weren't an adequate amount of partners throwing themselves at him, and he wanted to sleep during the few hours when no one was allowed to bother him, lest Relena, the blond girl he had recently avoided marrying, come knocking with her multitudes of trivialities.
Rashid saluted Heero as he stalked through the door. Without bothering to say goodnight to Wufei and Quatre-who exchanged worried glances-he went directly to his bedroom and shut the door tightly behind him. He didn't bother to light the room while he stripped and changed into dark forestry green pajamas.
Heero stretched a bit, working muscles that had sat idle during the ball loose. He sat down on the edge of the bed and let his toes sink into the thick rug.
What he didn't expect, when he stretched out an arm to gather the blankets, was to find a ball of human warmth. What he didn't expect, when he accidentally touched the ball of human warmth, was for it to scream.
~`~