Title: Princes and Prices

Author: Lil Riter.

Summary: Princess Awane's "perfect" life (including a little princebrother and handsome prince fiance) is turned upside down by a curse that could bring together the two said boys in her life.Actually, she doesn't mind that. BakuraRyou, slight MalikRyou.And later, slight YamiRyou. And throw a little bit of SetoRyou in there too. Heck,Ryou kisses a ton of guys. I can't even name them all right now. -.-; (Ryou's such a slut! hahah... J/K!)AU

HEYO! I like this AU. It came so easily. Annnyway, just asking that if you read, please leave a review regardless of whether or not you liked it. It'd be nice to know what you think.


Ryou watched in fascination as the tears slid down his face to break against the alabaster floor. How could he have been so naive? How could he have not known that heartbreak would follow by the lead of his feelings!

How could he have fallen in love like this?

It was only a glimpse of the prince that had captured him so. His sister was the one to marry. His sister was the crown princess. His sister would be Bakura's future queen.

Tears fell and fell and fell. Things never went the way he wanted.

A hand made itself known to Ryou's shoulder. "Don't cry, young prince," an elegant voice said, using a soft handkerchief to wipe away the boy's tears.

"I can't stop, Ryouchi! I can't!" Ryou buried his white-haired head into his slave's shoulder. "Ryouchi! Oh, Ryouchi! I think I've fallen in love!"

A sooth, comforting hand caressed the boy's back. "Shh, my prince. It'll be alright."

"No it won't!" the prince wailed. "It will never be alright! He's all Amane's! All… Amane's."

Ryouchi's lavender eyes widened. "Ryou, prince, you're…"

"Gay?" Ryou muttered bitterly. "Homosexual? Of course I am, Ryouchi. Haven't you noticed the signs?" He looked up, eyes frightened. "But you won't tell anyone, would you? It's against my father's laws for homosexuality. Amane knows, though. She promises that when she becomes Queen, she will change theLaw for me." Bitter tears continued falling. "That's why I don't want to ruin anything for her."

Ryouchi didn't know what to say. Forever he had been hiding his feelings for his young master, knowing they'd never be returned. But now, after this awkward revelation, his whole world was made upside down.

"Ryouchi?" a soft voice asked, doe-like eyes peering up into lavender ones. "I don't know how you feel about all this. But… Ryouchi, before I fell in love with Bakura, I was in love with you. Would you mind if I kissed you?"

Ryouchi trembled as they closed their eyes and their lips met in a tentative kiss. Ryou shifted in Ryouchi's lap, wrapping his arms hesitantly around his slave's neck as he peered up into the older boy's eyes. "I'm sorry for the trouble," Ryou whispered softly.

"What trouble?" the ash blond replied, capturing Ryou's lips once more.


"Amane, I have to tell you something," Bakura told his fiancée.

The two royalties sat out in the pavilion, at the most romantic and secluded spot there was so they could talk in peace. They were getting married, so they had to put up an act to please their parents. It was at least nice that they were best friends at least. Bakura sat by the pond throwing rocks and the fish and Amane was stretched out on a bench looking up at the sky.

"Hm?" Amane replied.

"I've fallen in love with someone." Bakura sighed, shaking his white hair out of his face.

"Well, don't tell me. I want to guess, Ba-chan."

Bakura made a face. "Ba? You make me sound like an old woman!" He threw a pebble at his friend.

Amane didn't laugh though. "You know, Ba-ba," she said, ignoring Bakura's protests of being called a grandmother, "I've been thinking. All the adults have been disillusioned to think that we've fallen in love."

"Well at least it's not like the joining of Sacrabode. Those two absolutely hate each other."

Amane snorted in agreement. "It's so obvious that Seto doesn't have any interest in girls, and he and Mai are fighting over that blonde at Seto's court anyway—Jou, wasn't it?"

Bakura quirked an eyebrow. "I haven't heard that yet. Who told you?"

"Ladies at court." Amane sat up and shook her head, focusing on what she was going to say. Her lavender hair was long, reaching her waist even in a braid, while her ample bangs barely brushed her eyebrows above doe-brown eyes. "Anyway, there were a few things I wanted to talk about." She straightened her full skirts for a bit.

Bakura could tell she was nervous. Amane never worried about her clothing; she'd chosen to wear an amethyst dress—not the best dress for one with lavender hair and pale skin, mind you. She was only stalling.

"First of all, our marriage is approaching. When we turn seventeen, we'll be marrying, right?" Bakura nodded in response. "But I don't want you, and I know you sure as hell don't want me, and I want to know if joining Vì and Na is more important to you than chasing after the one you love."

Bakura looked sad for a second. "It's not, but I won't be able to have him anyways. He lives in a country where gay couples are not allowed."

Amane stared at her fiancée for a second. "Gay? I'm having De ja vu here." Bakura seemed about to reply to this, but Amane hurriedly continued, "Anyway, I was going to ask if homosexual relationships were allowed in Vì, then I realized that it would be a foolish question. My parents wouldn't want to join our countries if yours were pro-gay marriage. And onto something else…" Amane took a deep breath. "Isis told me that I'm cursed."

Bakura gave her a questioning look. "Who's Isis?"

"Awane."

"Oh. You know your slave's birth name?"

"She's my friend," Amane snapped. She was always touchy when it came to slaves; Bakura didn't feel like they deserved feelings. That she hated him for it.

"Your curse?" Bakura prompted.

Amane was silent for a moment. "I was the first born in this family. My father had… My father had angered a fairy. Not just any fairy. He angered Yami."

Bakura's eyes widened. "Yami? Fairy Atemu? Destroyer of Nations?"

Amane nodded gravely. "It seems he had angered the fairy so much that he placed a curse on the first born of my father's line. Something fatal will happen to me the day I turn seventeen. That is… unless someone sacrifices themselves for me." Amane swallowed. "She also told me something else…" Amane's eyes held a distant look as she continued her narration. "Isis, that is to say, Awane, isn't human." Amane gave Bakura a sidelong look. "She's a fairy."

"Oh." Suddenly, Awane felt Bakura's feelings for Awane change from contempt to slight respect/fear. "That changes things."

Amane snorted. "You just fear what the white fairy will do to you, don't you?" she accused. "Never mind that. Well, Isis was seven when I was born. She was stigmatized with my name, and then christened Awane after me. At my first birthday, there was a royal affair, not to mention the Queen was pregnant with a second child…"

(TO BE CONTINUED!)

Notes: I love this story. I've wanted to do a sleeping beauty thing for forever. Now I've finally gone and done it! I happen to think I'm very original, though. Anyone ever read Robin McKinley's Spindle's End? Some of this story is based off of that. Read: some. I was originally going to work on some other story of mine the day I started writing this (Saturday May 14, 2005) but my internet crashed, and I couldn't see where I'd gotten to so far. Actually, I was spending my time reading other fanfictions. Somehow, Harem kind of influenced my story. It's kind of odd. I think the slaves come from that.

In any case, here are some notes on the story:

Ryouchi: Originally, Ryuuji Otogi was going to be Ryouchi. I read somewhere that his name can be translated to Ryouchi. It was a hard choice to change the character. I felt Ryuuji was perfect for the part, but… I had to change it. It seems more fitting this way. (And I'm not going to spoil the person for those of you who DON'T know who Ryouchi is.)

Ba: Ba means old woman in all the eastern languages I know, which amounts to two: Vietnamese and Japanese. (Naruto calls Tsunade-baba—Grandma Tsunade.)

Honorifics: Other than Ba, honorifics are the only other language words I'm planning to use. Unless, of course, I end up making up (or stealing) a separate language for the fairies.

Stigmatized: Yeah, I know, the first thing that comes to mind are those people who miraculously have Christ's marks. Actually, according to the dictionary, "stigmatized" means "branded." I think the word stigmatized is cool, so I'm using it, kay's?

Any questions? Comments? Concerns? Press the little button down there next to the "submit review!" or email me at lamtruclam at sbcglobal dot com. (PLEASE! IF YOU READ, REVIEW! It's only curteousy!

Next chapter: When the king of Na angered the darkest of fairies, he never really thought of the consequences. Awane's birth and birth day, and the renaming of Isis to Awane.