1/Meet Lord Quatra
I remember the day when Ysandre found me. That was the day when my life changed and my heritage caught up with me. I was a princess again on that day, I had to be. The title was once again floating over my head, along with the loads of responsibility and danger. I didn't like it at all.
"…Twenty-one, twenty-two…there that should be enough!"
The ball of fur squirmed in my grip until I finally set the brush down. No sooner did I set it on the floor then it made a beeline for the door.
"Ungrateful mutt," I muttered, brushing white hairs from my lap.
The mutt was a genuine wolf cub, but what Quatra didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Even in our exile, he guarded me. Behind those kind eyes was a mind quick to spot any potential physical danger. He'd feel guilty when he looked into the cub's crystal blue eyes, but he would get rid of it all the same. Quatra was an Immortali and he had sworn a blood oath to protect and serve. It was more like do whatever it took to protect a life and if you wanted, listen to the person whose life it was. The fact that I was a princess didn't matter. If it was a question of my life, then he didn't have to listen to me. It's not that I don't like having a bodyguard around, but some threats I could have taken care of myself.
"Lady Makoto!"
I turned as the door to the attic opened. An old motherly woman walked in. She was Merle, our only maid and resident mother hen.
"What happened, Merle?"
"There is a high nobleman out front, demanding to see you. He brought his entire entourage and they are practically camped out there and won't move until you answer his call. Lord Quatra is having trouble keeping them from entering the manor and looking for you themselves."
"A high nobleman? I don't know any nobles around here, much less any important ones...did you get his name?" I asked, still confused.
"No, Lady. His steward informed me that one wasn't necessary, just to tell you that his lord said..." Merle paused and pursed her lips, straining to remember. "I'm sorry, my memory is going with my age, but I believe it was something about lilies and...and wrestling. It doesn't make much sense to me...I'm truly sorry, Makoto. It's just that I'm getting old and-"
"It's ok, Merle. Well, I guess I have to go down there now. You couldn't have just told him that I'd died or something?" At Merle's shocked reaction I added, "kidding, kidding."
"Tell the steward that I will be down soon. Make an excuse, any excuse, but give me a little time," I said, rubbing my temples.
"Of course, Makoto. You are finishing the embroidery on a pillow," said Merle, sketching a quick bow, her only compromise with formality. I had forbidden all honorifics. But really, embroidering? That's the last thing that somebody would expect me to be doing, somebody who knew me at least....ah. I saw Merle's plan. She'd see the reaction of the noble just to see how well he knew me. Merle really was more then a maid.
Merle winked at me before exiting. Great, now that that was taken care of, just who the hell was trying to see me? Lilies? Wrestling? Those words were vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it. There was no way it could be Ysandre...right? After all, our escape from Jupiter was known only to a few trustworthy people, and I am not the most trusting person in the galaxy.
"Well, I just have to give my visitor a show."
I picked a dress from the back of my wardrobe. It was in the back for a reason. While the dress didn't proclaim me as a princess, it did scream spoiled rich daughter. It was made of rich purple velvet and embroidered heavily with gold. The chest was square and low, very low. Relena would love the dress. I hated it, but I had to pretend to be somebody else, and that was as far from Makoto as you could get.
There was a pair of purple slippers sitting at the very back of my wardrobe that I dreaded to put on. Ysandre had given them to me for my birthday and amusement. She had ordered me to wear it and rather then pay a visit to the torture rooms, I obeyed and wore those...torture devices to a ball. I didn't have much of a choice. My aunt didn't like to be crossed.
As much as I hated those slippers, I would have to put them on. My feet would be blistered and swollen by the time this was over. They were designed for beauty, not comfort. The many gold rings, bracelets, and necklaces that I added weren't exactly comfortable either.
I got my revenge on the horrible dress as I slashed a hole in the thigh with my dagger. The sword strapped to my thigh could be accessed easier. You always have to be prepared for the worst. With luck, nobody would notice the uneven fall of the dress.
By the time the dagger was put in the makeshift sheathe underneath my sleeve, Merle entered again.
"The steward said that the noble only laughed at the excuse, Lady Makoto."
I didn't bother to correct her since I really was a Lady in that costume (for that was what it felt like).
"Well, I guess he knows me then..." With that last thought, not a particularly comfortable one, I went to go see just who my visitor was.
There were several carriages in our front lawn. I focused my attention on the larger, more decorative one. The rest belonged to the minor nobility, met-at-arms, and luggage. Quatra was talking with a man who seemed to be the steward, because he wasn't dressed flashy enough to be one of the nobles. It was insulting, because Quatra was a Lord in his own right and should have been able to talk to which ever noble was the cause of the mess.
I summoned up my haughtiest, most Relena like look that I could. As I stalked down towards the carriage, I began to regret dressing in velvet. Dark clouds began to fill the skies. It looked like a thunderstorm was coming. The garden would have to be covered with canvas later.
Quatra raised an eyebrow at my appearance, followed by a stern look as he guessed my plans. He would handle this. I disagreed and shook my head slightly. I would handle this.
Ignoring his not so subtle coughs, I trained my angry emerald eyes on the man dressed in the sapphire, white, and silver livery of a major noble house, and by the lack of a crest, it was a new one. The steward was as shaken as I expected him to be. Bad things like people falling down the stairs or having headaches, tended to happen when I looked at them when my emotions were high. Quatra said it was the Royal blood in my veins. I wish it worked on other royalty. Relena would have had several accidents by now.
"Excuse me, sir. What happens to be the problem?" I asked and lowered the intensity of my gaze. Scaring him to death wouldn't help the situation.
Quatra sighed after waiting for the man to speak. "Lady Alexa, this man here is from the house of Lombard…" he stopped and tried to see if I was getting his strategy.
Well I guess I'm lady Alexa now. I can't let these people know who I really am. They might take me back home. Now Lombard must be a new house. And it's a major house too? Somebody must have done Ysandre a big favor or kissed Ysandre's ass to be promoted to a major house.
"Lombard is a Duchy on Callisto, remember Lady Alexa?" he asked, his usual pleasant smile still on his face. Quatra was rarely ever angry, yet the hard look in his eyes did not match his happy-go-lucky smile or his soothing voice.
"Yes I remember, Lord Gareth," I said gravely. Well, at least I knew where this noble house was.
"Good, now then, Lord Lombard is here and wants his servant, to relay us a message." He stressed the word servant to remind the man of his place.
"Well this just won't do, sir. I demand to be taken to speak to this Lord of yours at once. Never mind, you don't have to escort me. I know where he is," I said and began to walk to the fancier carriage.
The steward blocked my way with his bulky body. "Sorry Lady Alexa," he gave a knowing smirk, "the Lord left instructions not to be bothered for another hour."
I heard the scrape of metal. Quatra had drawn his sword partly out the sheath. The steward was apparently a threat to my security. He was an unknown and he seemed to know my identity. Quatra wouldn't kill the man if he didn't have to, but despite his mild manner, he took his oath seriously.
"You dare to summon me as if I was some...commoner, then force me to wait until your master is ready to see me! I think not!" I walked down to the ornate carriage angrily, Quatra at my back. My attitude was feigned, but my anger was not. The man was trying to insult me and I would give him a piece of my mind, and hopefully my fist.
Thunder crackled in the distance. I had to hurry, my plants were waiting.
I opened the carriage door and sat myself on one of the plush velvet seats. Quatra wasn't happy about me going in first, and I would hear it from him later (he wouldn't yell but ignore, which was probably worse).
"Good morning to you too, princess," drawled a masculine voice.
At that moment, I wished that the person across from me was somebody other then who I knew it was, even Ysandre herself.
I forced myself to lookup at the man's face. It was a beautiful smooth face with a beautiful nose, beautiful lips, and beautiful teeth, framed by long beautiful black hair. I half-expected my heart to flutter like it once did when I saw his face. Then I looked into those beautiful hazel eyes of his and remembered what kind of a person he was, and he was far from beautiful then, ugly if you will. He had caused me terrible pain, and I know it was wrong, but I wanted to kill him on the spot.
"Bastard. I thought I told you that I never wanted to see you again, Eamon" I said in my coldest voice.
Eamon was my ex-fiancé. The jumbled message that Merle gave me now made sense. At the end of our relationship, he had said that he preferred one of the "court lilies, rather then the large Amazon warrior who could probably wrestle him and win, since she already had beaten some of the Ravens." It's funny to think that at one time, I was madly in love with him. Apparently he didn't feel the same about me, as I found that he "endured me for the chance to be king someday, not some landless lord" and that Ysandre had approved of him, because she knew that I hated having my life ordered.
That I overheard him saying that in my bed with my maid the day before our wedding while drunk off his ass was why I wasn't Mrs. Eamon right now. I was angrier at myself for every having been in love with him, then at him, but only by a small margin.
"Why Lady Alexa, or should I say Princess Makoto, you should know why I'm here," he said with that annoying arrogant tone. His beautiful face smirked at me. I wanted nothing more then to get that smile off my face with my fists.
"I want to hear it from you, Eamon," I said and purposely omitted his title.
His hazel eyes flashed in anger briefly, but otherwise he remained composed. "Why of course, Mako." He used the pet name he had given to me when I was his loving fiancé and that only angered more, which was what he wanted.
Quatra had to restrain me from physically tearing out his throat. "Makoto do you really want to make things worse?" Quatra whispered in my ear. I muttered curses under my breath and reluctantly sat back down in the carriage seat.
"You're a hard one to find Makoto. Queen Ysandre wants you back. She, and I quote this 'seeks to mend the rift your exile has created.' "
I froze. The world seemed to spin. I expected another marriage proposal, at sword point maybe, but this… She had found me. She knew where I was and she wanted me back in that pit of vipers.
"Why so scared, sugar plum? You get to return to court. Relena says she can't wait until you return, and then you can participate in her little games like old times. Maybe we can even get engaged...again," he said with a smirk on his face.
"Engaged? Engaged? You stupid son of a bitch, get out of my property right now before I decide to kill you! The Queen, be damned. She sends you, a man the whole world knows I hate, and you aren't even a true lord. Oh, you might have gotten that title recently, but you are just a kiss ass. You are and will always be a leach, trying to get into Aunt Ysandre's good graces so you can get power! What kind of deal did she strike with you? That you bring me back, I marry you and you get to be Prince and have all of the money and power that comes with it? Idiot! I am nothing like those air headed "lilies" at court! I will not go with you and you know I can defend myself." I drew the hilt of my sword from the improvised pocket I had created.
"You wretched little-" he stopped as lightning flashed outside the carriage window. Eamon looked a little pale. Apparently, he was one of the people that believed that I called lightning from the heavens and struck Nicaven down during my last duel. Well, the more scared he was of me, the better.
I leaned across my seat and yanked him by his oh so beautiful hair, bringing his face closer to mine. "When you get back to Jupiter tell my beloved Aunt Ysandre that I knew her reasons for sending you and if she really wants to mend the rift between us, she should get her lazy ass to tell me what the hell she wants herself, because I now know that she knew where I was the whole time. This was a mutual exile. She wants something...Oh and Eamon, If I ever see your face around here again, there will be a duel to the death between us and you always knew I was the better fighter." I released his hair and wiped my hands off on my velvet dress. It was done.
"You're digging your own grave talking to the Queen like that! She will get that word for word, Makoto!" Eamon called out as the carriage as I began exited the carriage. He lurched back into his seat as the carriage move. Quatra had prodded one of the horses, and startled, it began to gallop.
My bodyguard put a comforting hand on my shoulder and didn't speak for several minutes. We just watched the carriages leave, kicking up a dust storm. This meeting had been emotionally exhausting and even if it didn't show through my court mask, he knew it. At that moment, I wanted nothing more then to scream, or cry....probably both.
Quatra didn't say a word until the rain began to fall and we walked back to the house. "Mako, do you think it was smart to talk to Eamon like that? He'll tell the Queen what you said. You are not a stranger to her torture sessions, Mako, and when we get back…" he let the words hang. 'The Queen will probably have me killed herself," went unsaid.
I put on my most comforting smile. "Who says I'm going back? Even the Queen's Shadow couldn't take me back." We both laughed.
Nanashi, the Queen's Shadow, was the head of her guard and it was no secret that the quiet man occasionally carried out the Queen's own "justice". The Queen's Shadow was really a man named Trowa Barton, but Ysandre had it changed for affect. I still don't know how Trowa felt about his name being changed, but who could argue with the Queen? He was the head of her guard and had earned his position, being one of the few people to complete the rigorous training and trials needed to become an Immortali. Trowa was rarely seen out of the Queen's presence (and when he wasn't in her presence, it was most likely because he was out assassinating somebody), which was partly where the name Shadow came from. You never knew when he was behind you. His stealth was legendary.
The Queen's Slayer scared me of course. He scared every sane person and I'd like to think that I was included in that group. I just had to remember to knock on wood when I got inside. It wasn't that I was superstitious, not really, but right now he was the last person I wanted to see. All in all, Nanashi just didn't scare me as much as my own aunt did…
"You spoiled puppy. No, Aynia, you're not getting any more links. This is for our dinner." I gently kicked the whining cub away. It whimpered and sat in the corner to eat the many sausage links it had already managed to wheedle from me. Greedy little cub.
"Quatra can you help me carry these plates to the dining room table?"
My bodyguard set the book he had been reading for the last hour. He had only just stopped ignoring me for my recklessness earlier. It wasn't my fault that Eamon was such an ass.
Quatra picked up the plate with the sausage rolls, freeing up one of my hands.
"What book are you reading, Quatra?"
He blushed and didn't answer. "Have you been in my bookshelf again? Not that I mind Quatra, but those are romantic adventures...I have a couple epics you could borrow."
"I...it's a book on the history of the mysterious Tylwyth Teg, the fair folk. The book says that they died out a century ago, with the rise of the human cities. I think that they might have found a portal to another plane, to escape the humans. There is evidence that the planetary portals, at one point, had access the other fabled seven planes. Of course, that had to be before the ascension of the gods. I think that-"
"Quatra, the food is getting cold," I interrupted. Quatra had many different faces. That one was Quatra the scientist, earlier was Quatra the protector. When he helped me cover the garden with canvas in the heavy downpour, that was Quatra the friend, the Quatra that I've come to know and care about.
He sighed and shifted the plate to his other hand. "Makoto, you shouldn't cook so much." I smiled and tried to keep the smile from my face. I only had to carry the salad.
We walked to the dining room, which was unfortunately situated at the other side of the manor, well, unfortunately for Quatra. He had the heavy plate.
Quatra stopped in front of me. He froze in the doorway of the dining room. Something wasn't right.
"Quatra? Are you alright? Hello? The food's not getting any warmer." I gently pushed him out of the way as he was too shocked to respond.
I glanced around me and my expression of shock mirrored Quatra's. The bowl of salad I carried crashed to the floor as my hands went numb. I thought that I had enough surprises for the day, but obviously the fates wanted me to have a heart attack.
A cold chill ran through my body and I was sure that my skin was as pale as any of the court lilies. Knocking on all of the wood in the world probably couldn't prevent this, because sitting at the head of our table (very casually I might add) was the Queen's Shadow, Nanashi…
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Author's Note
Ok, this chapter came out better, I think. I did some foreshadowing and revamped the characters. The title for this chapter was "Meet Lord Quatra", but I'm afraid that I minimized his role...a lot. Well, I'm going to try to get the characters to be more intimate in future chapters. This story isn't really about Makoto, but the GW boys as well.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry that it came out too late, but I had finals to study for. Now its summer and I'm taking some writing classes so I can, well, improve my writing. I know that I have a problem with characterization. Aside from Makoto, I tend to cast the other characters as too...2d. I'm going to try to work on that in future chapters, because I know this chapter didn't help much. ;
Expect future chapters soon, but I plan to post a revised Once in a Blue Moon and Prelude to a Dream soon. They're mostly done, yay. I'm having problems with my computer so we'll just have to see how soon.
Oh, and reviews and critiques are really helpful.
Acknowledgements
Liz: I'm working on the suspense and mystery. I think that that was what was lacking from the last version. Glad you like this one better.
Monou Hakkai: Sorry about those two words. I was splicing stuff from the original version and working it into the new one. ; I'm surprised that I didn't miss more. I think this chapter has Makoto more in character or at least not that...uppity. cheers I'm really happy that you like my description, coming from you that means a lot. I'll try not to get too abstract and poetic though.
Firenze: I read some Rei fics now and then myself. Thanks for the review. It really did make a great birthday present. I'm glad that you didn't find my dialogue too courtly or common. Makoto isn't really one of those dainty princesses, but she is educated and intelligent (though she's no Amy), we see it in the anime and the manga.
Airlady: I'm afraid that I didn't pay as much attention to detail in this chapter as I did in the last, though the last was the prologue and set the foundation for the rest of the story (glad you found that useful). ; Don't worry though; I shall continue this story until I finish it!
Black-Fire Eclipse: Aren't I evil? I had you wait so long in suspense. evil laugher
Athena Kyle: Reading all those medieval books about elegant courts, princesses, and whatnot, I pick up lots of that type of speaking. It rubs off on you. Reaching your majority (present day) would be turning 18 and being allowed to smoke and get a license. At 21, Makoto can claim her kingdom and get her inheritance.
Cris: Glad you liked the intro. It gets better, promise.
babymar-mar: I deleted the fic that was like this. This is the new version. I edited the plot and cut out lots of the mistakes that I noticed. Hopefully, this one turns out better.
Tenshi-Kaikou: Tell me what you think of Makoto in this chapter. I can't really tell if she's OOC or not because I'm the author and I'm sort of biased. ;
Jupluna: pokes Nice to hear from you again. I'm glad you liked it the first time and now it should be fifty times better. hehe.
JupiterLover: I don't know about this being Makoto/Trowa just yet. I was thinking of doing a multi-romance, but it will be really hard to write it and I'm lazy. xP About the Kurama/Makoto...well, I'm purrty busy right now, but I'll try. If I think of a decent plot, you'll be the first I let know. ;
To the people who read and didn't review: OO I know you're out there. I'm just happy that you read the story, but reviews inspire me to continue and add all sorts of twists to the story. not so subtle hint hint