"So Malik, my son, we must make preparations for your sixteenth birthday. I hadn't realized that the joyous occasion was coming so soon. I have waited so many years for this day to come. You can't imagine how proud a father I am, son." their father said.

Malik frowned. "My being forced to marry my own sister is nothing worth celebrating, father." he told him.

His father glared at him. "Insolent child! How dare you talk back to me! You and your sister need to remember who makes the rules around here. Until that day that you do take the throne, you two will obey me or suffer the consquences!" their father said.

Isis looked over at her brother, giving him a look like she wanted him to be quiet. The two siblings had been called before their father to discuss their future, after nearly being caught venturing outside their caverns.

Isis had followed Malik in secret when he and Bakura had done so earlier in the day and was surprised to see her nrother with a foreign slave. I have not seen this young man before, she thought. How has he managed to keep his presense from our father, she wondered.

I guess a lot of what Malik does is a secret to our father, she decided. She had to admit it seemed like he had pretty good control of the white haired teen, his new servant walking behind him and not speaking unless he was spoken to. It seemed as though Malik was as cold and distant to this one as he was to his brother Rashid, she thought. It was kind of sad to see how Malik treated people, he will never make a suitable king, she thought.

She noticed them stop at a gold merchant's table and saw Bakura's surprised face when Malik bought a set of gold jewerly for his new slave.

"What is this for, master?" he asked.

"Well Bakura, since you are my property, I thought I would buy you some jewerly to brand you as mine, a golden necklace for your neck and gold bracelets for your ankles." Malik said.

"I didn't ask for any of these things! Why are you treating me as though I were your pet?" Bakura asked.

"I did not give you permission to speak, slave. I will nto allow you to embarrass me in public like this." Malik said.

Bakura turned on him then. "I am no one's pet! I don't care who you are!" he shouted.

The crowd gasped as Bakura began to run away, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Sprinting after his escaping slave to save face, he quickly caught up with the boy, tackling him to the ground. The two teens wrestled each other for a moment before Malik won the upper hand and pinned Bakura to the ground. He could see that his lover's eyes were damp from tears, sand blinding his vision.

"You bastard! I should have known you were no better than the rest. I should have killed you when I had the chance. You used me!" Bakura shouted.

"Like you haven't plenty others? I could never care about a heathen like you. You're not worthy of being loved. The only worth you have to me is as a servant, just like my brother Rashid." Malik said.

Bakura glared up at his captor with hate in his eyes and with a sudden burst of strength, forced himself up and pushed Malik down on his back with Bakura sitting on top of him.

"Well then, if all of this is true, then there's no reason why I shouldn't kill you then, is there?" Bakura told him with smile.

He saw Malik actually look up at him with fear and trepidation in his eyes and he certainly didn't want to disapoint. He leaned over Malik's closely and showed him his teeth before he bit down viciously on the boy's neck.

Screaming out in pain, Malik gasped as he felt Bakura lick the blood clean of the wound, feeling the pale haired teen's heart begin to race. He looked up into hsi lover's eyes and realized that what he was feeling was not anger, but desire towards his slave. The two boys came together to share a fevered, passionate kiss that left them both breathless.

"I hate that you make me feel this way. Goddamn it, it hurts like hell when you do that!!" Malik shouted, touching his injured neck.

Bakura shoved his hand away, slowly licking the still seeping wound. "Such sweet blood...I would never deprive myself of the taste, of it or of you, my master." he said.

Isis had been shocked when she had seen her brother and his slave return to the caverns together and return to Malil's chambers. She had a pretty good idea of what was happening between them that afternoon, and now Isis had something had something to use against him if she had to. She was not happy with the arrangement either, but there was no way she was going to lose out on her destiny because her brother was in love with one of his laves. That was not what Shadi would want...
"I was right in picking these gifts for you, Bakura. They suit you perfectly." Malik said.

Malik found that he enjoyed looking at his gorgeous slave in the new robes he had gotten him, along with the gold jewerly he had purchased. The slender teen's body was built to wear such things, to be shown off in his glory like the prize he was.

Now that the two of them had accepted each other as lovers, Malik enjoyed the games they would play with each other sexually, he could never get enough of Bakura. In order to keep his lover's bloodlust satisfied, the pale haired boy had to take care of him in other ways beforehand. Bakura was more than happy to do so, making his master feel things he had never felt before in his life. The pleasure that Bakura gave him was earthshattering, and that effect was doubled whenever he returned the favor to his slave.

They took turns being the aggressor, Bakura being the passive one most of the time. The two boys woke up and fell asleep in each other's arms every night. After so many nights together, Malik fet as though he needed to express his feelings to Bakura as they laid in each other's arms one night.

"Bakura?" he asked.

"Yes, master?" Bakura asked.

"I want you to know that from the moment I saw you cry the night we were together for the first time, that I never wanted to be without you ever again. I care very deeply for you, Bakura." he said.

"I knew the same from the moment I feel at your knees, master. I knew you were the one I was supposed to be with." Bakura said.

Malik sighed and smiled. "Thank you." he said.
"Why have you summoned me before you today, master Shadi?" Malik's father asked.

Shadi smiled. "Good. You have learned your place under my command. This is very good indeed. I have asked you before me today to inform me that all of your efforts to change your son's destiny for the better have been in vain He has already made choices in his life that will start a chain of events to his final destruction." Shadi said.

"How can this be true?! I have done everything I could!" his father shouted.

Shadi laughed. "Feeble mortal...it does not matter now. Everything is in place. All we have to do now is wait." he said.

"I'm not going to stand by and and watch my son destroy everything I've worked for all my life. I lost my beloved wife because that child could be born! There is no way I am going to let this happen." his father said.

"And so it begins..." Shadi said, before walking back into the shadows.

Returning from Shadi's chambers, Malik and Isis' father bellowed out for Rashid to come ot him immediately. The frightened teen complied, trembling before the furious king.

"Yes, my lord?" he asked.

"Bring my children to see me this instant!" he shouted.

Rashid bowed politely, rushing away in his haste to do as he was told. He got Isis first, and left her in her doorway while he walked into his brother's room to retrieve him. What he found was his master and Bakura sharing a private moment beneath Malik's blankets on the bed. Blushing from what he could tell was going on, he called out to his adopted brother.

"Excuse me, master Malik?" he asked.

Malik and Bakura appeared quickly from beneath the covers, flushed from being caught.

"You dare disturb me, Rashid? This better be important." Malik said.

"Your father has requested your presense before him, master." Rashid said.

Malik grinned. "He has, has he? Well, I guess he has decided to put his foot down on my taking over the throne. Give me a moment, slave." he told Rashid.

Rashid bowed. "Yes master." he said.

Malik turned to Bakura once Rashid left, giving his slave a long, slow mindnumbing kiss. Bakura gasped into his master's mouth, unsure of how else to respond. Pulling away from the taller boy, Malik stroked his long white hair.

"I'll be right back, Bakura. Stay here unless I command you otherwise." Malik said.

Joining his sister and Rashid, the trio walked into the chambers where their father stood, admiring the two items that Shadi had given him.

"Good evening, father." both Malik and Isis said.

"My children...you have arrived. My flesh and blood, born of the woman that loved more than any other...why have you sought to disobey me?" he asked them.

"We have not disobeyed you, father." Isis said.

Isis shrieked as she recieved a vicious slap across her face for her lie. "You are lying! I know better! Shadi has told me you had gone against my wishes and had put things in motion that would go against the duties of our clan." he said.

"It was not me, father, it was Malik. He does not want to accept rulership. He wants to leave the caverns and start a new life with his newest slave." Isis said.

Malik turned in her then. "You little bitch! How dare you betray me!" he shouted.

"You are the one that has done so, Malik. Who is this slave that your sister speaks of?" his father asked.

"His name is Bakura. I found him one day while I was venturing the outside world. He is very obiedent and loyal, father, and I believe with all of my heart that he and I are meant for bigger things than ruling over this small clan." Malik said.

"Is he the reason for that giant gash in your neck, like some animal ripped into your flesh? You speak as though he were your lover...if this is true, I will not allow that sort of relationship to exist between a child of mine and some heathen you picked up off the street." his father said.

Right up intil this moment, Malik had held his tongue in respect to his parent, but when he began to insult his pale haired lover, that was when Malik lost his patience.

"Shut up!" he shouted.

His father turned on him then. "What did you say to me?" he asked.

"I told you to shut up! I am tired of your lectures, of you telling me what to do. You have no idea of how I really feel inside or what I want from life, and you don't care. All you care about is your pretty ambitions and maintaining control over those that live alongside us in the caverns. I want more, I need more than this to satisfy me, father." Malik said.

"Then it is true what your sister says, that you have fallen in love with one of your slaves? How dare you shame our family!" his father shouted.

"Master Malik, please! Do not aggravate our father any furthur! Please hold your tongue, brother!" Rashid begged.

"Just because my father adopted you doesn't mean that you are my brother...I have told you that more than once, Rashid. I care more about Bakura right now than I ever have you in the time that I have known you, slave. You mean nothing to me, you, Isis or my father. Bakura is the only one that means anything to me." Malik said.

All heads turned as Bakura strode into the doorway. "I could not help but hear that my name was being spoken, master." he told Malik.

"For once, you have anticipated my needs, Bakura. I have no reason to hide you from my family any longer." Malik said.

"Flithy street trash! How dare you corrupt my young son's mind against his own family? I have never once harmed any creature under my rule, but I will do so willingly to rid him of your influence." their father said.

Bakura smiled wickedly at him. "You have no idea of what you have just gotten yourself into." he told him.

Seeing what was about to happen between his father and Bakura, Malik looked around quickly to find an object he could use to help defend his slave. His eyes fell upon the golden staff that Shadi had given their family and somehow he felt compelled to pick it up. He gasped as he did so, feeling the rob throb to life in his fingers.

All of the sudden any fear that Malik had, any doubts about himself and the strength he had inside, became meaningless as he could feel the power of the golden item engulf him. Raising his hands before him, his father, Rashid and Isis gasped as they were suddenly thrown against the hard rock walls of the cavern.

"Now I see why you have fought me so long and hard on this matter, father. You were afraid of the power I would recieve if I were to use Shadi's endowment in any other way than to rule our kingdom. Upon taking this item, I have decided for sure what will be my destiny..." Malik said.

"Master, your voice...it has changed somehow. What has happened to you?" Rashid asked.

"Silence!! With this rod, I will rule over more than just the drones of these caverns. Bakura and I will venture together to the outside world and find our future, just the two of us." Malik said.

Bakura smiled as he joined his master. "Yes. I knew this was the true you, the Malik that your father wanted to keep hidden. This is what I want too, master. Command me to do your bidding and I will do so." Bakura said.

Malik smiled as he walked over to his father. "I have waited many years to tell you exactly how I felt, father, to tell you how much I hated you and wished you were dead. The day has come; I shall wish no longer!" Malik shouted.

Isis screamed in horror as she watched her brother transform the staff into a small dagger, plunging the weapon into their father's heart. Before she could speak, however, Bakura was standing before her, looking her over like a hungry animal.

"So, you are his sister...the one he was supposed to marry. I'm sure since you are of the same flesh, that my master will allow me to drink of your blood as you watch yourself die?" he asked her.

Malik did not blink an eye as he watched Bakura attack his sister, ending her life within a matter of moments. Watching his father's body fall to the floor, Malik turned on his slave Rashid.

"Please do not kill me, master. I have been nothing but loyal to you my entire life. I care about you as if you were my brother, whether you want to see me as so or not. Please, master Malik!" Rashid begged.

Malik cringed as he looked over the carnage that he, Bakura and the staff had caused his family. As much as he wanted to spare his slave's life, he knew he could not do so and start a new life with Bakura in the outside world without dealing with his past first. He held the dagger between Rashid's eyes with unsteady hands, tears falling from his eyes.

"Goodbye...brother." he whispered.