This is the chapter many will hate the most. CHAPTER FOUR: RETRIBUTION.
(Steam) I have mentioned this several times before. I do not own these characters, etc.
I hate to tell this to all Relena haters out there, but I'm afraid you will hate the end of one of my scenes. I'm am warning you in advance so that you will not yell at me, yes? I need to give her some part, because otherwise, she will refuse to help in the others that she is in.
SHOUT OUTS!!! I HAVE MADE COOKIES FOR ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!
Kat R. Fair: Bad . . . kitty? I'm afraid I do not understand. And what constant apologies? I'm afraid I usually forget everything I type on a story until I reread it, so I need some specific stuff to remind me of what's going on. (Confuzzled. . .) ;;;; But thanks for reviewing again!!!!!
Sarcastic Pessimist: Yes, I do live in the big USA, but no, I was not taking the SATs. There were, um, AP students taking tests, but no SATs. I don't like the SAT. I much prefer the ACT. Much easier and I score higher in that. And regarding your question, Duo has that exact same question in this chapter, so I'll let Helen explain it all to you. Okay?
I AM GOING TO GO MAD!!!!!! I HAVE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!!!!! Good thing this story is finished.
[Ni es barato, ni es tan caro]
[Le sobra precio, le falta calidad]
[Intenta convencerme, inclina la balanza]
[Y haremos algo personal]
/Neither cheap nor dear/
/It's over priced, it lacks quality/
/Try to convince me, incline the balance/
/And we'll make it something personal/ Ella Baila Sola (She Dances Alone)
Last time: (Just to refresh your memory)
Quatre screamed. The knife pressed to his throat and entered, ripping apart his skin. His eyes widened in fear before his scream faded to a voiceless gurgle.
Wufei felt the wave of fear and pain crash over him with a link he did not know he shared with his boy, and he doubled his speed. There was a strangled cry of anguish just ahead of him, and Wufei felt his throat clench.
Before him, in a bloody mess, was Quatre. His teacher was crouched over his unmoving body, and a shadow was darting down the hall in the way he must have come from. Without a question asked or answered, Wufei was on his knees in the blood. His hand covered the hole caused by the blade and he quickly set his power to work. Under his hand, the blood vessels that were cut sewed together, and the air tube healed. The skin re-grew, and he pushed his power in to cleanse his lungs of blood.
Quatre sat up, coughing and crying.
Instantly, he was in Wufei's arms, clinging to his tunic. Tears soaked his shirt and Wufei clung to the boy. Wufei had not known his fondness for this boy, his brotherly love for him, until he had nearly lost him. Just as he had lost another he had loved. Wufei glowered at the ground and clutched Quatre to him tighter. Murmuring soft words of encouragement to him, he rocked the boy as his sobs quieted.
He heard a sharp grunt from Rasid and Wufei grudgingly handed Quatre over to him. Quatre sniffled and clung to the new person holding him. Rasid rubbed his back and murmured slowly to Quatre. Suddenly, Rasid clutched tighter and cast a sharp glare at Wufei. Quickly, he threw his mind into the link he had with Quatre and found another mind waiting for him. Rasid. They moved toward the threat and found a mind waiting, trying to pull itself into Quatre's mind. Wufei nearly ran the mind out in a moment, but the mind backed off. After a short stand off, the mind left through a link in a dark corner of Quatre's mind and disappeared.
Wufei pulled back and gently lay a hand on Quatre's still-shaking shoulder.
"I will not let this wrong not be avenged."
Wufei glanced over his shoulder at his king, who had come at some point in protecting Quatre. Rage filled Treize's face as he glared at Quatre. Wufei turned and saw what he saw. A scar. A scar he would always have. Right across his throat, hidden by his chin if he kept his head in the right position, but at the moment, it was horribly visible, red and burning.
"Will you let it be?" Treize snapped. Wufei shook his head viciously. "Obviously it was Perdition. Only that plot of land would be cowardly enough to attack a boy, a child."
"He's fifteen and considers himself a man," Rasid snapped before carrying the shaking boy into the room, leaving the two to stand in the blood-soaked hall.
"Yet is not old enough to do it alone," Treize murmured. "Come back to bed, Chang. We will see this avenged in the morning."
The only reason he did not scream was that he breathed. Duo sat up quickly in his bed, his hand touching smooth skin where there should have been torn muscle. He swallowed hard and breathed again, amazed that he could breathe. He had felt that blue-eyed person push him into the ground. He had felt that blade slip into his neck and slice it open. He had felt his own blood pool in his lungs. He shuddered and rubbed his head where he should have throbbed horribly.
"You do not understand."
Duo started and turned to the corner, where he saw Helen seated. Her pale hair tumbled down over her shoulders, glistening in the single candle's light. Her eyes, darkened by a thought he did not wish to share, bore into his own eyes. He shook his head. "I thought it was a dream."
"I am surprised myself. It happened to someone, someone you were linked with. I wondered that it did not fade. I only saw the link a few weeks ago, and it strengthened as time passed, not fading as I was certain it would."
"I still do not understand. I have not linked to anyone lately."
Helen smiled, the grin grim and forced. "You do not, do you? You are linked to the Loquacity enchanter."
Duo stared at her in shock before he shook his head. "Were," he corrected. Helen's smile remained.
"So it would seem," she murmured before pushing her mind into his. He gently opened it to her and waited as he felt her pressing and prodding. Suddenly, a picture of the dark powered man appeared in his mind, the one that came with the new powers. He gave Helen a questioning glance and she smiled. "This man has a power of healing that I have never seen before in one of dark power. I doubt the enchanter will have more than a scar."
Duo stared at her in total shock. So much power in one country. Helen saw his look and nodded sagely. "The threat to the east grows stronger," she muttered, and Duo remembered the words Darlian had said to Heero. Duo gasped and saw once again, those blue eyes just before the knife slit his throat.
"Stop that." Duo jumped out of the memory and gave her a grateful look.
"What linked me to him?"
"The wave, of course."
Duo thought and found it was the only interaction they had had. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind so abruptly he was almost certain Helen had placed it in there, yet it still excited him.
"I can find out who he is!" Duo cried, surprise and happiness mingling in his tone.
"Shush!" Helen admonished, adding: "yes, you can, but don't wake the castle in doing so!" Duo threw her his big roguish grin that Helen could not help but smile at and settled into the depths of his own mind. He settled his thoughts and found only himself. Nothing else in the room attracted his attention. Gently, he reached out and found in the section that still glowed with the blue power a small hole. The blue power that glowed beyond the hole confirmed his suspicions. He gently labeled it in his mind and waited as Helen's mind came into his. With her presence as a grounder, he threw his mind down the link. Miles passed beneath him in a moment and he was over water and rich farmland, flying, racing to a mind that suffered enough power to kill half the world in one blast.
Only to run into a wall so strong he lost himself in the wildness of the bodiless world. Moments passed until Helen reached down the link and grabbed him, gave him his grounder again, and reminded him of who he was. If he had been in his body, he would have given a sigh of relief, but he gave her only a grateful feeling before he reached out to the wall. He brushed it lightly. Fear threw him back and he steadied himself before he touched it again. Fear and pain. But mostly fear. Totally blocked. He pushed his presence over the entire wall, searching for a way in, a crack, a hole, an opening. There was nothing.
The total terror of nearly dying blocked the enchanter's mind so completely Duo doubted that he knew even of the walls.
He could suddenly feel a feeling of alarm from a near mind, as if someone sensed him near the mind. Instantly, he backed off as two other minds, both dark, came to protect that which he could not harm.
If he had a body, he would have shrugged. He backed off and let the minds decide if he were dangerous or not. They did not leave, and one gave a feeling of hatred and resentment while the other attempted to send a calming wave to the first. Duo let out a feeling of surrender and returned to his own body and let out a sad sigh. He did not need to speak to Helen of what had happened, for he could sense her own disappointment.
Wufei took a deep breath and stood, walking before the court as Treize nodded at him. Slowly, he opened his mind and Treize's presence, almost suffocating, entered and greeted him. 'Remember to say it exactly as I tell you.'
Wufei sent a mental frown to his king and stood before the court and looked to face them all. He could see the powerful lords and ladies. One, Lady Une, looked at them with a feral grin. A lord, Septem, glared at those around him. Wufei took a sharp breath and waited for Treize to put words in his mouth.
"As many of you know," Wufei felt his mouth say. "The king was nearly assassinated in his bed last night. Yet he was saved." Though no one was supposed to know, everyone in the court covered their surprise with a knowing look that was filled with expectation. Wufei felt distaste fill his mind, but Treize rebuked it gently.
"This was only by the actions of his courageous enchanter-in-training." At this, Wufei turned to look at the surprised look on Quatre's face. He had broke from his retreated fear to look at Wufei, hope in his eyes. "He saved your king's life by throwing himself in the way of the assassin. His throat was cut, and it was by my efforts that he survived. And the king asked him, if he would like to avenge himself and his king by retaliating." Quatre looked shocked, as Wufei would expect. Treize had done no such thing.
He was silent for a moment. It was the moment of choice, and Wufei knew the consequences of each choice. Would he prove himself a coward before the entire court and dishonor himself or possibly run to suicide to avenge a wrong that would probably not happen again? Quatre looked to Wufei for answers, but he knew he could not give them. Gleaning nothing from Wufei's gaze, he looked to Treize.
"It is a great honor I am giving you," Treize answered. "If it would please you, I could send you with a friend to protect you." Quatre's face lit up a bit and he bit his lip.
"I will, if he would be pleased to accompany me."
There was an excited murmur in the court as they wondered over this brave, courageous, and loyal enchanter the king had found. Some even murmured of knowing his mother, though few recognized him.
Treize smiled and turned to Wufei, who still stood in the middle of the court. "Well, Wufei, would you be pleased to accompany Quatre on his quest?"
There was no way he would abandon Quatre, his little brother, even in the midst of danger. With a quick nod, he effectively shut down Treize's link to him and confirmed his choice to leave the king to follow his friend.
Treize's smile was obviously forced as he glared frostily at his bodyguard. "Take care of my enchanter," the king said, his words a sugar-coated form of saying, 'if he dies, you will die in a heartbeat.'
Wufei nodded, bowing as he did before he left to let the court get on to its daily business. He could handle his king's threats.
Those eyes. They haunted him. He had forgotten things could haunt his mind. These did. He knew who they were supposed to belong to. And he had killed him. Or nearly did. The guard that had come not long after he had retreated had the aura of a healer. There was no doubt in his mind that the enchanter would be back up on his feet.
"Take your mind off of it. It will do you no good."
Heero turned his deep blue eyes to the aging man before him who was grinding a root in a mortar bowl. Sweat showed on his brow as he crushed it. Juice not quite dried from the plant made it harder, making his root a mush, not a powder he wished. A packet the size of his hand was mostly filled and Heero wordlessly took the bowl from his hands and ground it.
"You messed up. That is a first time."
"There was a healer that could heal him."
"You hesitated."
Heero fell back into reminiscing of the blue eyes that had stared at him in horror. The face was so familiar. It looked so much like . . . No. He would not think of it. His teacher told him not too.
"Yes," Heero murmured. "He looked familiar. But it was the lack of light."
There was a derisive snort from his teacher. "I doubt it. Never have I heard of a shadow having trouble of seeing in the dark. What did you see?"
"You would know."
His teacher gave him a glare. "Just because I can tell what you do does not mean I can see what you see," the man snarled. Heero ground on, not looking up or away. Odin was not one to push to his limits.
"The Lady Catherine."
"She has been dead for several years."
"It was her face I saw on the boy enchanter."
Odin tilted his head questioningly. "It might have been a trick of the light. The boy is dead." Heero ground on, not saying that the death was a rumor, that the boy had never been found. The power in that boy would have been enough to keep him alive by will alone, and when he aged enough, enough to keep him alive with theft before he had been found. He had heard the rumors, that the Loquacity king had finally found the one thing that had eluded him for years, an enchanter. Only a boy with that much power could be the new enchanter.
"That's enough. Maybe you've been in the shadows too long, boy. The child may not have died, but it is highly unlikely that he had such a power. No one in his line ever had a power of such magnitude as is reported."
"All the more reason to believe that it is him. Imagine, Odin, years and generations of power building in the reproduction until it all bursts out to be found in one, last, desperate descendent of the Winner line. It could bring the power that has been found in him."
Odin gave him a wry grin. "And that is why there are so few of such power? All the power transfers without showing itself until it builds too much and boom, we have an extremely powerful enchanter on our hands. Is that what happened to your night-friend, Duo? His line built up until he was suddenly the recipient of such a power."
"It is a worthy hypothesis."
"Not all would see it that way."
"Not all need see it that way."
There was silence for a while, and then Odin sealed the packet and took another one, and opened it. Roots poured out of it and Heero wrinkled his nose at the stench. He knew it too well. He gave it a disgusted look before he pulled a second bowl from Odin's supply cupboard and started to grind the bitter root to a powder. This stuff was drier and powdered easily. Mother's Brow was bitter, and poisonous when breathed in, but only if it was a large amount inhaled.
But drunken, it was the most powerful stimulant known to the desert traders and others who knew herbal lore. Heero had tasted its bitterness too much. Too much, he knew, would kill him.
"I do not believe that His Kingship Treize would like his enchanter attacked. He would probably ask for someone to avenge their king."
Heero shot him a look. "How would you know?"
"You don't trust me."
"You were my teacher," Heero muttered and Odin laughed.
"And I taught you well. That is the way he thinks. Besides, I have my connections that will contact you when you take my place. They tell me things that you would not believe."
"And what would you have me do of it?"
"Double guard. Less sleep."
"I have trouble staying awake as it is."
"No you won't," Odin murmured and took the bowl he was working on and poured the powder into a packet. He measured the contents with a stare and prepared a cup of water.
"It will kill me."
"Not for a long time yet." Heero glared at Odin as he mixed the bitter powder into the water and stirred it carefully. The water-soluble root disappeared as Odin handed the cup to Heero. "Drink."
Heero took the cup and raised it in a mocking toast to his teacher. "If my heart stops, don't keep me here."
With that, he took a sip of the bitter water and swallowed without a grimace. The rest of the liquid followed the first sip to his stomach and the powder flowed from stomach to blood almost instantly. He took in a deep breath to steady his unexpectedly irregular heartbeat.
When it became obvious to him that he was not going to die this time, he stood up and stalked out of the room, anger in his every bone. His teacher was giving him a deadly substance. It was going to kill him.
Yet he was only the king's pawn.
Growling, he tasted his mouth for the bitterness. It was gone. Just as swiftly as the bitterness appeared in his mouth, it was gone. He growled again and stiff legged it up the stairs to the sleeping quarters of the royal family.
Heero nearly stormed past her room. Yet her grunts caught his attention and he slipped into her room without a sound. Her long blond hair fell down her back, yet a good amount of it was over her shoulder as she struggled with the corset around her bodice. Why women wore that choking device he would never know. Yet she was trying to get it off and he was available.
Smirking in a feral way, he stepped behind her and gently loosened the strings. The princess cried out in surprise and turned, clutching the corset to her chest. She scowled at him, yet did not call for the guards as she would have with any other man.
"Heero! Why do you scare me like that? Turn around while I get into my nightclothes." Heero obliged her, listening to her sighs of pleasure as she took off her restricting clothes. Finally, she tapped his shoulder and he turned around. He smiled slightly at her, a rare occurrence for him, and something he only gave her.
She motioned to her bed and he sat on it as she did. "My friend," she murmured quietly. "How are you? How was your day?"
Gomen, gomen! I know I'm going to hear it with putting Relena in there in that part. But she needs to be in there. . . But her part is not a huge change in the story. She's not a huge part.
Not much to say here.
ASK ANY AND ALL QUESTIONS!!!! I love to explain things.
Teaser:
Duo tensed as he felt a knife blade caress his chin and he backed up. "Um, hello Trowa. Sorry about that."
Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW!
Kay Kylo
(Steam) I have mentioned this several times before. I do not own these characters, etc.
I hate to tell this to all Relena haters out there, but I'm afraid you will hate the end of one of my scenes. I'm am warning you in advance so that you will not yell at me, yes? I need to give her some part, because otherwise, she will refuse to help in the others that she is in.
SHOUT OUTS!!! I HAVE MADE COOKIES FOR ALL MY REVIEWERS!!!
Kat R. Fair: Bad . . . kitty? I'm afraid I do not understand. And what constant apologies? I'm afraid I usually forget everything I type on a story until I reread it, so I need some specific stuff to remind me of what's going on. (Confuzzled. . .) ;;;; But thanks for reviewing again!!!!!
Sarcastic Pessimist: Yes, I do live in the big USA, but no, I was not taking the SATs. There were, um, AP students taking tests, but no SATs. I don't like the SAT. I much prefer the ACT. Much easier and I score higher in that. And regarding your question, Duo has that exact same question in this chapter, so I'll let Helen explain it all to you. Okay?
I AM GOING TO GO MAD!!!!!! I HAVE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL WRITER'S BLOCK!!!!!!!! Good thing this story is finished.
[Ni es barato, ni es tan caro]
[Le sobra precio, le falta calidad]
[Intenta convencerme, inclina la balanza]
[Y haremos algo personal]
/Neither cheap nor dear/
/It's over priced, it lacks quality/
/Try to convince me, incline the balance/
/And we'll make it something personal/ Ella Baila Sola (She Dances Alone)
Last time: (Just to refresh your memory)
Quatre screamed. The knife pressed to his throat and entered, ripping apart his skin. His eyes widened in fear before his scream faded to a voiceless gurgle.
Wufei felt the wave of fear and pain crash over him with a link he did not know he shared with his boy, and he doubled his speed. There was a strangled cry of anguish just ahead of him, and Wufei felt his throat clench.
Before him, in a bloody mess, was Quatre. His teacher was crouched over his unmoving body, and a shadow was darting down the hall in the way he must have come from. Without a question asked or answered, Wufei was on his knees in the blood. His hand covered the hole caused by the blade and he quickly set his power to work. Under his hand, the blood vessels that were cut sewed together, and the air tube healed. The skin re-grew, and he pushed his power in to cleanse his lungs of blood.
Quatre sat up, coughing and crying.
Instantly, he was in Wufei's arms, clinging to his tunic. Tears soaked his shirt and Wufei clung to the boy. Wufei had not known his fondness for this boy, his brotherly love for him, until he had nearly lost him. Just as he had lost another he had loved. Wufei glowered at the ground and clutched Quatre to him tighter. Murmuring soft words of encouragement to him, he rocked the boy as his sobs quieted.
He heard a sharp grunt from Rasid and Wufei grudgingly handed Quatre over to him. Quatre sniffled and clung to the new person holding him. Rasid rubbed his back and murmured slowly to Quatre. Suddenly, Rasid clutched tighter and cast a sharp glare at Wufei. Quickly, he threw his mind into the link he had with Quatre and found another mind waiting for him. Rasid. They moved toward the threat and found a mind waiting, trying to pull itself into Quatre's mind. Wufei nearly ran the mind out in a moment, but the mind backed off. After a short stand off, the mind left through a link in a dark corner of Quatre's mind and disappeared.
Wufei pulled back and gently lay a hand on Quatre's still-shaking shoulder.
"I will not let this wrong not be avenged."
Wufei glanced over his shoulder at his king, who had come at some point in protecting Quatre. Rage filled Treize's face as he glared at Quatre. Wufei turned and saw what he saw. A scar. A scar he would always have. Right across his throat, hidden by his chin if he kept his head in the right position, but at the moment, it was horribly visible, red and burning.
"Will you let it be?" Treize snapped. Wufei shook his head viciously. "Obviously it was Perdition. Only that plot of land would be cowardly enough to attack a boy, a child."
"He's fifteen and considers himself a man," Rasid snapped before carrying the shaking boy into the room, leaving the two to stand in the blood-soaked hall.
"Yet is not old enough to do it alone," Treize murmured. "Come back to bed, Chang. We will see this avenged in the morning."
The only reason he did not scream was that he breathed. Duo sat up quickly in his bed, his hand touching smooth skin where there should have been torn muscle. He swallowed hard and breathed again, amazed that he could breathe. He had felt that blue-eyed person push him into the ground. He had felt that blade slip into his neck and slice it open. He had felt his own blood pool in his lungs. He shuddered and rubbed his head where he should have throbbed horribly.
"You do not understand."
Duo started and turned to the corner, where he saw Helen seated. Her pale hair tumbled down over her shoulders, glistening in the single candle's light. Her eyes, darkened by a thought he did not wish to share, bore into his own eyes. He shook his head. "I thought it was a dream."
"I am surprised myself. It happened to someone, someone you were linked with. I wondered that it did not fade. I only saw the link a few weeks ago, and it strengthened as time passed, not fading as I was certain it would."
"I still do not understand. I have not linked to anyone lately."
Helen smiled, the grin grim and forced. "You do not, do you? You are linked to the Loquacity enchanter."
Duo stared at her in shock before he shook his head. "Were," he corrected. Helen's smile remained.
"So it would seem," she murmured before pushing her mind into his. He gently opened it to her and waited as he felt her pressing and prodding. Suddenly, a picture of the dark powered man appeared in his mind, the one that came with the new powers. He gave Helen a questioning glance and she smiled. "This man has a power of healing that I have never seen before in one of dark power. I doubt the enchanter will have more than a scar."
Duo stared at her in total shock. So much power in one country. Helen saw his look and nodded sagely. "The threat to the east grows stronger," she muttered, and Duo remembered the words Darlian had said to Heero. Duo gasped and saw once again, those blue eyes just before the knife slit his throat.
"Stop that." Duo jumped out of the memory and gave her a grateful look.
"What linked me to him?"
"The wave, of course."
Duo thought and found it was the only interaction they had had. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind so abruptly he was almost certain Helen had placed it in there, yet it still excited him.
"I can find out who he is!" Duo cried, surprise and happiness mingling in his tone.
"Shush!" Helen admonished, adding: "yes, you can, but don't wake the castle in doing so!" Duo threw her his big roguish grin that Helen could not help but smile at and settled into the depths of his own mind. He settled his thoughts and found only himself. Nothing else in the room attracted his attention. Gently, he reached out and found in the section that still glowed with the blue power a small hole. The blue power that glowed beyond the hole confirmed his suspicions. He gently labeled it in his mind and waited as Helen's mind came into his. With her presence as a grounder, he threw his mind down the link. Miles passed beneath him in a moment and he was over water and rich farmland, flying, racing to a mind that suffered enough power to kill half the world in one blast.
Only to run into a wall so strong he lost himself in the wildness of the bodiless world. Moments passed until Helen reached down the link and grabbed him, gave him his grounder again, and reminded him of who he was. If he had been in his body, he would have given a sigh of relief, but he gave her only a grateful feeling before he reached out to the wall. He brushed it lightly. Fear threw him back and he steadied himself before he touched it again. Fear and pain. But mostly fear. Totally blocked. He pushed his presence over the entire wall, searching for a way in, a crack, a hole, an opening. There was nothing.
The total terror of nearly dying blocked the enchanter's mind so completely Duo doubted that he knew even of the walls.
He could suddenly feel a feeling of alarm from a near mind, as if someone sensed him near the mind. Instantly, he backed off as two other minds, both dark, came to protect that which he could not harm.
If he had a body, he would have shrugged. He backed off and let the minds decide if he were dangerous or not. They did not leave, and one gave a feeling of hatred and resentment while the other attempted to send a calming wave to the first. Duo let out a feeling of surrender and returned to his own body and let out a sad sigh. He did not need to speak to Helen of what had happened, for he could sense her own disappointment.
Wufei took a deep breath and stood, walking before the court as Treize nodded at him. Slowly, he opened his mind and Treize's presence, almost suffocating, entered and greeted him. 'Remember to say it exactly as I tell you.'
Wufei sent a mental frown to his king and stood before the court and looked to face them all. He could see the powerful lords and ladies. One, Lady Une, looked at them with a feral grin. A lord, Septem, glared at those around him. Wufei took a sharp breath and waited for Treize to put words in his mouth.
"As many of you know," Wufei felt his mouth say. "The king was nearly assassinated in his bed last night. Yet he was saved." Though no one was supposed to know, everyone in the court covered their surprise with a knowing look that was filled with expectation. Wufei felt distaste fill his mind, but Treize rebuked it gently.
"This was only by the actions of his courageous enchanter-in-training." At this, Wufei turned to look at the surprised look on Quatre's face. He had broke from his retreated fear to look at Wufei, hope in his eyes. "He saved your king's life by throwing himself in the way of the assassin. His throat was cut, and it was by my efforts that he survived. And the king asked him, if he would like to avenge himself and his king by retaliating." Quatre looked shocked, as Wufei would expect. Treize had done no such thing.
He was silent for a moment. It was the moment of choice, and Wufei knew the consequences of each choice. Would he prove himself a coward before the entire court and dishonor himself or possibly run to suicide to avenge a wrong that would probably not happen again? Quatre looked to Wufei for answers, but he knew he could not give them. Gleaning nothing from Wufei's gaze, he looked to Treize.
"It is a great honor I am giving you," Treize answered. "If it would please you, I could send you with a friend to protect you." Quatre's face lit up a bit and he bit his lip.
"I will, if he would be pleased to accompany me."
There was an excited murmur in the court as they wondered over this brave, courageous, and loyal enchanter the king had found. Some even murmured of knowing his mother, though few recognized him.
Treize smiled and turned to Wufei, who still stood in the middle of the court. "Well, Wufei, would you be pleased to accompany Quatre on his quest?"
There was no way he would abandon Quatre, his little brother, even in the midst of danger. With a quick nod, he effectively shut down Treize's link to him and confirmed his choice to leave the king to follow his friend.
Treize's smile was obviously forced as he glared frostily at his bodyguard. "Take care of my enchanter," the king said, his words a sugar-coated form of saying, 'if he dies, you will die in a heartbeat.'
Wufei nodded, bowing as he did before he left to let the court get on to its daily business. He could handle his king's threats.
Those eyes. They haunted him. He had forgotten things could haunt his mind. These did. He knew who they were supposed to belong to. And he had killed him. Or nearly did. The guard that had come not long after he had retreated had the aura of a healer. There was no doubt in his mind that the enchanter would be back up on his feet.
"Take your mind off of it. It will do you no good."
Heero turned his deep blue eyes to the aging man before him who was grinding a root in a mortar bowl. Sweat showed on his brow as he crushed it. Juice not quite dried from the plant made it harder, making his root a mush, not a powder he wished. A packet the size of his hand was mostly filled and Heero wordlessly took the bowl from his hands and ground it.
"You messed up. That is a first time."
"There was a healer that could heal him."
"You hesitated."
Heero fell back into reminiscing of the blue eyes that had stared at him in horror. The face was so familiar. It looked so much like . . . No. He would not think of it. His teacher told him not too.
"Yes," Heero murmured. "He looked familiar. But it was the lack of light."
There was a derisive snort from his teacher. "I doubt it. Never have I heard of a shadow having trouble of seeing in the dark. What did you see?"
"You would know."
His teacher gave him a glare. "Just because I can tell what you do does not mean I can see what you see," the man snarled. Heero ground on, not looking up or away. Odin was not one to push to his limits.
"The Lady Catherine."
"She has been dead for several years."
"It was her face I saw on the boy enchanter."
Odin tilted his head questioningly. "It might have been a trick of the light. The boy is dead." Heero ground on, not saying that the death was a rumor, that the boy had never been found. The power in that boy would have been enough to keep him alive by will alone, and when he aged enough, enough to keep him alive with theft before he had been found. He had heard the rumors, that the Loquacity king had finally found the one thing that had eluded him for years, an enchanter. Only a boy with that much power could be the new enchanter.
"That's enough. Maybe you've been in the shadows too long, boy. The child may not have died, but it is highly unlikely that he had such a power. No one in his line ever had a power of such magnitude as is reported."
"All the more reason to believe that it is him. Imagine, Odin, years and generations of power building in the reproduction until it all bursts out to be found in one, last, desperate descendent of the Winner line. It could bring the power that has been found in him."
Odin gave him a wry grin. "And that is why there are so few of such power? All the power transfers without showing itself until it builds too much and boom, we have an extremely powerful enchanter on our hands. Is that what happened to your night-friend, Duo? His line built up until he was suddenly the recipient of such a power."
"It is a worthy hypothesis."
"Not all would see it that way."
"Not all need see it that way."
There was silence for a while, and then Odin sealed the packet and took another one, and opened it. Roots poured out of it and Heero wrinkled his nose at the stench. He knew it too well. He gave it a disgusted look before he pulled a second bowl from Odin's supply cupboard and started to grind the bitter root to a powder. This stuff was drier and powdered easily. Mother's Brow was bitter, and poisonous when breathed in, but only if it was a large amount inhaled.
But drunken, it was the most powerful stimulant known to the desert traders and others who knew herbal lore. Heero had tasted its bitterness too much. Too much, he knew, would kill him.
"I do not believe that His Kingship Treize would like his enchanter attacked. He would probably ask for someone to avenge their king."
Heero shot him a look. "How would you know?"
"You don't trust me."
"You were my teacher," Heero muttered and Odin laughed.
"And I taught you well. That is the way he thinks. Besides, I have my connections that will contact you when you take my place. They tell me things that you would not believe."
"And what would you have me do of it?"
"Double guard. Less sleep."
"I have trouble staying awake as it is."
"No you won't," Odin murmured and took the bowl he was working on and poured the powder into a packet. He measured the contents with a stare and prepared a cup of water.
"It will kill me."
"Not for a long time yet." Heero glared at Odin as he mixed the bitter powder into the water and stirred it carefully. The water-soluble root disappeared as Odin handed the cup to Heero. "Drink."
Heero took the cup and raised it in a mocking toast to his teacher. "If my heart stops, don't keep me here."
With that, he took a sip of the bitter water and swallowed without a grimace. The rest of the liquid followed the first sip to his stomach and the powder flowed from stomach to blood almost instantly. He took in a deep breath to steady his unexpectedly irregular heartbeat.
When it became obvious to him that he was not going to die this time, he stood up and stalked out of the room, anger in his every bone. His teacher was giving him a deadly substance. It was going to kill him.
Yet he was only the king's pawn.
Growling, he tasted his mouth for the bitterness. It was gone. Just as swiftly as the bitterness appeared in his mouth, it was gone. He growled again and stiff legged it up the stairs to the sleeping quarters of the royal family.
Heero nearly stormed past her room. Yet her grunts caught his attention and he slipped into her room without a sound. Her long blond hair fell down her back, yet a good amount of it was over her shoulder as she struggled with the corset around her bodice. Why women wore that choking device he would never know. Yet she was trying to get it off and he was available.
Smirking in a feral way, he stepped behind her and gently loosened the strings. The princess cried out in surprise and turned, clutching the corset to her chest. She scowled at him, yet did not call for the guards as she would have with any other man.
"Heero! Why do you scare me like that? Turn around while I get into my nightclothes." Heero obliged her, listening to her sighs of pleasure as she took off her restricting clothes. Finally, she tapped his shoulder and he turned around. He smiled slightly at her, a rare occurrence for him, and something he only gave her.
She motioned to her bed and he sat on it as she did. "My friend," she murmured quietly. "How are you? How was your day?"
Gomen, gomen! I know I'm going to hear it with putting Relena in there in that part. But she needs to be in there. . . But her part is not a huge change in the story. She's not a huge part.
Not much to say here.
ASK ANY AND ALL QUESTIONS!!!! I love to explain things.
Teaser:
Duo tensed as he felt a knife blade caress his chin and he backed up. "Um, hello Trowa. Sorry about that."
Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW!
Kay Kylo