Chapter 7

It was evening. Yami was sitting in his room tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair, impatiently waiting for Honda.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Yami jumped and jerked his head towards the door. "Come in," he called, agitation apparent in his voice.

The door opened and Honda walked in, quickly bowing and awaiting his orders.

"Sit down," Yami said, more harshly than he had intended. He couldn't help it – he was too nervous.

Honda seemed unaffected and took the seat in front of the king. Yami took a deep, calming breath before asking, "What have you learned of my brother's activities?"

Honda cleared his throat before he began his report. "Sire, as you requested, I followed the prince and have found where he goes every night and why he goes there."

Yami made a motion for him to continue. He couldn't take the suspense. He was so close to finding out what his brother was up to. He hoped that what the soldier would say would appease his brotherly overprotectivness.

"It seems that the prince is going to an inn called 'The Black Adder' along with his servant. There they meet two men who they spend the rest of the night with."

The king's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean by that?" he raged. "Explain yourself!"

Honda unconsciously flinched backwards. "From what I observed both boys are in a relationship with these men. The prince spent the first half of the night merely talking. Later they retired to the man's room upstairs…"

Yami was motionless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This wasn't his brother, it couldn't be!

"Sire, I was unable to enter but I did listen at the door and what I heard confused me. At first it seemed that the prince was scared but then I heard laughing and the man calling for mercy in-between laughter. Then there was silence, then more laughter, then some sort of joke and a bump. I then think they fell asleep."

Yami was also confused. A million questions were running through his mind but one was the most dominant. "Did they seem to be in a sexual relationship?"

"No Sire, I did not see any evidence to suggest that they were."

Yami sighed in relief – at least that got rid of one of his worries. Honda coughed to regain the king's attention.

"Sire, last night I thought I recognized the men the prince met with. I looked through the wanted posters and found ones that matched their appearance. Not only that, I overheard their names and now I'm sure. They're famous bandits in a lower region of the country. I'm sure you've heard of the team 'Silver and Gold'."

Yami stood up so quickly that his chair fell over backwards. "Are you telling me that my brother has been spending the night alone with these criminals?" he asked icily.

"As far as I can tell," Honda replied, meek before the king's rage.

The king growled low in his throat. "Tell the captain of the guards to ready his men. Tonight 'Silver and Gold' will be in irons."

Honda stood, bowed, and left. Yami clenched his fist, thinking about the mess his brother had gotten himself into. Speaking of which…"I better go and have a word with him first."

Yami flung open the door and purposefully made his way towards the prince's room.


Ryou was sitting at his desk, gazing absently into the mirror in front of him as he brushed his hair and hummed quietly. He couldn't wait to see Bakura; couldn't wait to be held in strong arms; couldn't wait to taste his delicious lips…

Without warning the door was flung open and Yami strode in. Ryou turned to his brother, smiling, until he saw the look that was on his brother's face and the smile quickly disappeared. Yami looked so angry.

"Good evening Yami," Ryou said quietly, bowing his head.

"Ryou I need to talk to you. You too Malik," he said, watching out of the corner of his eye as Malik tried to slip away unnoticed.

The servant sighed and went to stand at Ryou's side. Yami looked from one to the other, wondering how he should begin. "Ryou I know that you and Malik have been leaving the castle every night to go to a bar."

Malik had his gaze turned to the floor and Ryou was not meeting his brother's eyes.

"That in itself is enough to make me angry. You both broke the rule of not leaving the palace after dark without permission. I expect going to a bar was your idea Malik."

Malik nodded, still looking down at the floor.

"I can't believe that you would be so irresponsible! Rules are made for a reason you know! If someone had recognized Ryou and decided to kidnap him how would you have stopped them? What if someone had tried to take advantage of either of you?" Yami shouted, his rage getting the better of him.

"You're supposed to protect Ryou, not put him in danger! And you put him in the worst kind of danger – you left him alone with a criminal!"

That made Ryou and Malik both look up. "Criminal?" they questioned.

Yami nodded sternly. "I know about the men you went to that inn to meet. They're thieves from the lower regions called 'Silver and Gold'."

This was new to both boys. "Bakura can't be a criminal – he's too nice!" cried Ryou.

The king looked at his brother sternly. "They have been identified as criminals and therefore will be arrested and punished."

"No!" Ryou cried, looking imploringly at his brother. "Please, I love Bakura! Please don't hurt him!"

Yami was taken aback by this outburst. "You're being silly Ryou-"

"No! Bakura loves me and I love him!"

"Ryou he doesn't love you – he probably only said that to get close to you so that he could kidnap you."

"You're wrong!" Ryou screamed, standing up. "Bakura wasn't trying to trick me! He loves me just like you love Yugi!"

Yami was speechless and defenceless. It seemed as if he had just been slapped. Someone knew his secret. It was a secret because he wasn't supposed to love a servant; he was already engaged to Lady Anzu. He began to panic and did the first thing that popped into his head. He slapped Ryou.

Ryou fell to the floor, dazed. Malik stared at the king in shock. He'd never lost his temper before, especially not like this. Ryou looked up at his brother, his eyes full of tears. "Please don't hurt them," he begged.

The king looked down emotionlessly. "They are criminals and must be punished. I will show them no mercy."

Ryou cried out again and grabbed onto Yami's leg, begging him not to kill them. Yami just shook him off and started to walk towards the door. "I've already sent out soldiers, I can't stop them. You'll have a guard left at your door so don't try to leave." With that the door closed and he was gone.

Malik looked down at the prince sobbing on the floor. Inside Malik felt cold. He knew (like Ryou) that if Marik and Bakura were arrested it would probably only be a few days before they were executed.

Even if Marik was a criminal he still didn't want to loose him. Just like Ryou didn't want to loose Bakura.

Malik knelt down and pulled Ryou into a hug. The white haired boy gladly accepted the comfort being offered and buried his face in Malik's shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time, both trying to ease the pain of their shattering hearts.


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