Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.
As she walked home, she thought about all the times she would be in the Pharaoh's presence among a hundred or more supporters, but his deep, violet eyes always made their way over to her. She would always immediately look down out of embarrassment, but would stare at him as soon as he looked away. Had he always known who she was?
She walked through the door back home to find her mother and father both sitting at the table. It was still covered in the dishes of food from the night before. She was a little apprehensive about continuing into the house, but she knew what she had to do.
"Where have you been?!," her mother yelled when she saw her come through the door, "Everyone has been looking for you. How could you do such a thing? Kaiba was grateful enough to ask you to marry him, and this is how you thank him?"
"I will not marry him," she simply stated, "I've found someone else. We may have something Kaiba and I could never have. I am leaving to stay with him." She simply stared at her mother. She was not going to let her force her into marrying him. She felt something collide with the side of her face. Her father had hit her. She was shocked. He had never raised a hand to her.
"Do you really think we are going to let you throw away Kaiba for some street rat?," he seethed, "This is an honor too great for us to pass up. Whether you like it or not you are going to marry Kaiba."
"No, I won't," she said as she clutched her cheek. It was growing hot from where he hit her. "He is not a street rat. He is greater than all of you and Kaiba together."
"And just who is this wonderful man?," her father mocked her.
"Pharaoh Yami," she spat.
They started to laugh. "Do you really think we would believe that the Pharaoh would be interested in someone with your name? He knows we are among his greatest enemies. Stop your lies, and get ready to be fitted for the ceremony," he said shrugging off the comment. She frowned at him. He had a point. Why would the Pharaoh treat her so well, if she came from these traitors?
"Yes, listen to your father," another man's voice said. She leapt back to see Kaiba behind her, "You should stop this charade. We are going to be married tomorrow night, and that will be the end of this," he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her toward him, "Do you hear?"
"Are you so determined to marry me just because I deny you?," she asked him not backing down, "It must hurt your pride then, that I prefer someone over you." She knew saying that was risky, but she could not help herself.
There was a flash of anger his eyes. He slapped her hard across the face. She looked back at her parents. They had their backs turned to them. She was hurt and angry. That was the final blow her family was to make toward her. She was finished. Kaiba dragged her into the living room, and forced her up onto a pedestal where seamstresses surrounded her.
"I'll be back for you," he said as he left the room.
She felt hands grab at her as the women changed her into a thin, white gown. It went around her shoulders, and had faint filigrees of gold on the fabric. They all immediately went to work on fitting it perfectly on her. She looked into a mirror. To another's eye she may have looked stunning, but she could only see Kaiba standing in her way, and making her life hell. Her mother came in after they had finished, and laid a cloth over half her face to where only her eyes were exposed. She was dressed as she would be at the ceremony.
"You will stay with Kaiba tonight," her mother said as she straightened the dress. She gave her mother a look of horror, "You will do it, and I will hear nothing more about this. You are Kaiba's now, and you will listen to him and obey him."
"I thought you of all people would understand," she replied, "but I see you are just as blinded as my father."
"Don't you dare talk about your father that way," her mother snapped at her, "He is a good friend of Kaiba's, and he is giving you away to the best possible person."
"The best possible person?!," she was outraged at this, "He tried to choke me last night! He hit me today! How can he be the best person?!"
"Don't blame Kaiba for your mistakes," she replied. Her mother had scarred her with that comment. She kept her mouth shut after that, not letting her mother have a conversation with her any longer. She told her to take off the dress, and wait for Kaiba. The seamstresses took the dress and hung it with great care. Kaiba came into the room.
"Are you ready?," he asked not really caring if she was or not, "Let's go."
He pulled her outside to see his overdone chariot outside the door. She hated the thing. He would ride through town in it in his superior air. It made him look even more arrogant than he did by himself. He pushed her inside, then sat down and motioned for the driver to move on. She looked back at her house. Even though her family had betrayed her, she felt sick to see it shrink in the distance. He pulled her in closer to him, and kept his arm around her so she had no way of retracting from him. He stroked her cheek and her lips. She was shaking and felt sick to her stomach. She could not let him touch her, but how could she escape? Not only did she fear his power, but also the power he wielded from his millennium rod.
They arrived at Kaiba's vast mansion. He led her upstairs, and showed her a room where she could change. She knew she must go along with him until the best moment to escape. She stood looking out the window. She thought of Yami, and wondered if he was already waiting for her. She pictured him holding out his hand, inviting her to fall into his deep violet eyes. As she was daydreaming, she felt a set of arms wrap around her. Kaiba had entered. He leaned in close to her. She felt his lips gliding up her neck. Was she going to be able to hold him off? She knew she needed him to fall asleep before she could get away. He turned her toward him, and kissed her. She felt sick letting him to this to her, but if she wanted to escape without him knowing, what else could she do? He held her close, and led her to the bedroom. He leaned her against him, and slowly let his fingertips glide up and down her inner thigh. She shuddered at his touch. He grabbed her face and turned it towards him.
"Shudder, do you?," he said with his eyes on fire, "What if I took you right now? What if I did it when you were not expecting it? What would you do then?" He licked the nape of her neck, then kissed her hard. She wondered if her lips would be bruised. "Do not worry," he said laughing. He let go of her and turned to lie on his side, "I will not desecrate our union. Now get some sleep, I want you looking your best tomorrow."
She heaved a sigh of relief. She could not believe how she got off that so easily. She started to shake as she laid her head in her hand. He was so close to ruining her. She was so close to being disgraced. She did not know if her knees would be able to support her, but then an image of Yami came to her. She felt strength go through her. She knew all she had to do was wait for Kaiba to fall asleep.
There was thunder and lightning outside. She could hear the surging rain pouring from the sky. She leaned over Kaiba. He was not flinching from the lightning flashing in his eyes. She slowly got up from the bed and made her way out the door. There were servants all over the mansion. She knew she would have to find an alternate route out. She went to the next door on her right. She found herself in another bedroom. There was a balcony outside. She ran out to see that it was not that far down. She tied together as much fabric as she could find in the room. After the bed, curtains, tablecloth, and other things had been stripped from the room, she tied one end to the banister of the balcony. She climbed over the edge and slowly made her way to the ground. The rain poured on her like an icy shower. The wind whipped through it making it sting her face. She made her way around the front of the mansion, but she spotted quite a few people hanging around the entrance. If she tried to get through the front gates, they would spot her instantly. She turned back, and examined the high walls surrounding his land. She spotted a tree that she just might be able to use.
She approached the tree looking at how high it grew. This was the perfect means of escape. She climbed up the trunk and balanced as best as she could on the branches. The wind was blowing hard, and threatened to throw her from her perch. She slowly inched her way down the branch trying to make it to the other side of the wall. There was a flash of lightning and she saw what was on the other side. There was a violent river rushing dangerously below. She would have to lower herself carefully on the small amount of sod between the river and the wall. As she prepared to lower herself down to the sod, a large gust of wind made her feet slide off of the slick bark of the tree. She managed to grab onto the branch as she fell. It was hard to maintain her grip on the slick, wet branch. She started to swing herself toward the small amount of earth below. She let go hoping she would land on it. She felt her feet hit the ground. Just as she was about to rejoice of her narrow escape of the raging river, the soil beneath her gave way and she was engulfed in the murderous waters.
She fought to stay above the surface. The currents threw her around violently. If for any reason, all her years of training to build her strength and stamina would be vital to her now. With every amount of energy she could muster, she fought against the crashing mounds of water, and slowly made her way to the bank. She pulled herself out of the water, and fell onto the earth. She struggled to catch her breath as she looked up to see where she was. The river had carried her half a mile away from Kaiba's mansion. Her heart leapt. She was that much closer to the Pharaoh. She slowly pulled herself from the ground. The rain still poured as hard as it had when she left Kaiba. She did not have much energy left after her struggle in the violent waters. She needed to find a way back to Yami. She just hoped that he was still there waiting for her.
"Please be there, Yami," she said as she made her way toward the city, "You are my only hope now."
The wind blew icy sheets of rain on her. She was shaking from the cold, but she would not let herself be weak when she needed her strength the most. She was finally coming up on the street that she had met Yami. She felt a burst of energy as she thought of him. She finally made it to the bench where he found her the first time they met. It was empty. She looked around trying to see through the rain. No one was there. She felt her heart sink. She should have known. She should have been able to see that someone as important as the Pharaoh would not wait forever for someone common as her.
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