Rim: All right, we've got chapter 7 out of the way and established, thanks for liking what I did. Okay, to be honest with everyone, last week I had writer's block for all my stories, this week is no different so it might suck along with anything that I happen to write. Just warning you in case this chapter is pointless.

-oooooo-

The figure stood by his bedroom window, staring out over the wide terrain of land covered in a blanket of white snow as it stood proudly in front of him, the golden sun within the snow cloud littered sky was just now rising over the land in hopes of giving off heat. The snow was not going to melt anytime soon, the weather remained too cold, for the sun to break the thin layer of ice shielding the snow beneath. Spring was still more than three months away.

Vibrant blue eyes flickered over the scenery, trying to ease his mind for the morning. Looking down, he found his hands fumbling with the dyed silver belt which served to hold up his pants, seen from the splits at the waist of his traditional Japanese attire. The ends of his robe were dyed the same silver as his belt. The silver also lined his sleeves and collar of the robe. Regardless of the fact that he was in servitude to the older of the Russian princes, he nor his brother were directed to dress like the servants within the palace, which was almost the only distinction between them.

Turning away from the scene, the young prince clasped his hands together. Bowing his head and closing his eyes, Kenny said a slight prayer to the god Sohryu to watch over him and his brother. This was a routine for him, waking up each morning in the past six months since learning his fate here in Russia. Each morning upon getting up and preparing for the day, he said a prayer in hopes that the day would be better than the previous day, that hopefully they would get word from Japan to come home and leave behind the struggles they faced while in Russia.

He dreaded going to Prince Tala's room to wake up the Russian prince, like he was often ordered to do if Tala wished to be awaken in the mornings. The young prince even now felt anxiety well up into the pit of his stomach as he turned away from the calming scene of the snowy morning and walked over to the door. Since he began his Prince Tala, his life was turned into a constant roulette of emotional days.

-flashback-

Kenny found himself pushed out of the comfort of his bed, landing soundly on the floor. Confusingly, the brunette raised his head to the side of the bed, finding the red headed Russian prince scowling down at him. Tala's eyes scorched him with a look the younger prince didn't recognize, nor had ever seen before. Slowly getting up from where he laid sprawled on the ground, Kenny brushed himself off.

"Prince Tala, have I done something wrong?" Kenny inquired as the red head dropped the sheet in his hand and stalked over to where the brunette was backing away from him, the fear in his eyes shining through.

"I want to know why you haven't come to wake me up yet," Tala demanded.

"But you're already up," Kenny protested lightly before the remark received him a light slap across the cheek. Stumbling back from the older prince, the brunette raised his hand to his stinging cheek, shocked about being hit. Never in his life had his father or brother ever raised their hands to strike him.

"Did I ask you to respond with anything other than the response I'm looking for?" Tala stated, watching the brunette keep his eyes on him. Tears shimmered in his blue eyes, quite upset about the slap. "I want to know why you haven't come to wake me up yet. What's the excuse, Prince Kenny?"

"I was sleep," Kenny said, trying his best not to let the tears fall, but they still broke through anyway, falling down his cheeks. Why had the prince slapped him for answering the question? Had it really been such a bad answer, that he should have said he was sleep?

"Why were you sleeping when you were supposed to be coming to wake me up?" Tala demanded, walking up to the brunette with a look of discontentment. Kenny backed up, afraid the other was going to hit him once more.

"Please don't hit me," Kenny whimpered. "Please tell me what I have done wrong to be hit. What have I done that's so disapproving?"

"You want to know what you've done wrong. Well, do you remember that little promise you made me two nights ago, when I told you that you were going to be my slave. You promised that you would do everything I asked of you. Wasn't that correct Prince Kenny?"

"Yes, but…" Kenny started, but received another light slap across the cheek. A yelp came from the brunette, backing up farther away from the red head.

"What did I just say, Prince Kenny? Don't answer me any other way than what I told you to. Now answer me, you said that you would be my slave, did you not?" Tala stated.

"Yes sire," Kenny whispered, lowering his head. "I did promise to do whatever you asked of me."

"Look at me when you speak," Tala ordered.

Lifting his head up, Kenny tried to wipe away the tears streaking his face. "Yes sire. I did promise you that I would obey whatever you asked of me."

"Good, you're learning," Tala smirked, walking around his servant. "Now, I'm only going to give you a warning this one time. When I ask to be awake in the mornings, you will rise and do so. You will sleep in when I tell you to, and if I want breakfast to be served upon my awakening, then you will do so. Do you understand that, Prince Kenny?" Tala stopped pacing around the brunette, looking at him directly now.

"Yes sire," Kenny said softly. "I won't make such a mistake as this again, I can assure you."

"Good, now get dressed," Tala said, turning from the brunette and walking out the room. When the red head was gone, Kenny slumped to the floor, sobbing quietly. He didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't think that when he promised Tala that he would be his servant, things would be like this.

-flashback end-

To this day, Kenny had a hard time figuring out when the red haired male was in one mood or another. Each day was different from the next, sometimes Kenny dreaded waking up, like he had today. The red head had been in such a bad mood when he left Tala's company that evening, he was hoping that the mood had not carried over. The sound of his slippers against the floor was the only thing that filled the silence that his thoughts occupied of him.

"Prince Kenny." The sound of Prince Kai's voice reached the brunette, causing the younger to look up from his thoughts. The dual haired prince was walking towards him, a smug grin tucked away in the corners of his mouth.

"Prince Kai, good morning," Kenny bowed low to the other prince, though in the back of his mind, he was questioning the reason for the grin on his face.

"Good morning, are you going to wake up my brother?" Kai inquired of the shorter teen.

"Yes," Kenny nodded. "If you don't mind I asked Prince Kai, the smile upon your face this morning, does it have any reasons behind it, or are you just in an excellent mood this morning."

"A little bit of both," Kai chuckled. "Your brother has given me much reason to smile." Kenny frowned slightly, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the dual haired Russian prince before him. Exactly what had his brother done to get him in such an excellent mood? "You know you shouldn't idle around, my brother will likely be in a horrible mood if you are late."

"Yes, I know, good day Prince Kai." Bowing once more, the brunette took his leave of the dual haired prince, but his mind still dwelt upon whatever it was his brother had done for the Russian prince. Had Tyson finally stop fighting against the prince and become his servant? Since those many months ago, Tyson had refused to yield to any demands of the dual haired prince, giving Kai much reason to discipline the younger boy. Despite the whippings he sometimes received, Tyson was reluctant to abide by do anything the prince asked of him. On occasions, Kenny was able to talk his brother into do small services to save himself from getting beat.

'But I don't know how much longer Prince Kai will tolerate his actions. I hope that brother realizes that he can not keep disobeying Prince Kai.' Kenny silently walked down the long hall to the next wing of the palace where Prince Kai and Tala's bedrooms were. What was he going to do if they decided to get rid of Tyson like they had Lieutenant Petrovich?

The very thought made Kenny shudder with fear. The lieutenant had finally given in weeks after continuous torture by both princes. Kenny had been in the midst of cleaning Prince Tala's room when he heard the gunshot which echoed from outside. Rushing to the window, Kenny stared outside seeing the solider fall to the ground, crumbling into a limp heap as the blood drained onto the grass. The sight of Officer Petrovich's body caused Kenny to tremble in fear for a full hour.

When Prince Tala found him, Kenny had cried himself to sleep in the corner of the room. Of course, the older teen immediately woke the boy up, giving him a hard slap across the cheek for falling asleep on the job. Kenny had quickly apologized, leaving the prince's sight before the other could do to him what he had the other officers do to Officer Petrovich. Kenny never told his brother what he saw, but the memory still haunted him sometimes at night.

"Prince Kenny." The voice of one of the maids broke Kenny out of his thoughts. The brunette looked up from his thoughts seeing the young girl of ten with short turquoise hair holding up a tray. Her bright blue eyes rested on him with a look of concern. Her name was Irena; she was one of few maids that still had heart to smile each day regardless of the truth within the palace walls. "Prince Tala is already awake he wanted his breakfast to be brought up."

"He's already up?" Kenny repeated, the back of his throat drying with fear. Would the red head be angry with him for not arriving sooner to wake him up before he awoke on his own?

"Yes sire, he said that as soon as you were spotted to give you the tray to carry to his room," the little girl said, lifting the tray up to Kenny.

Kenny raised his shaking hands, trying to take the tray, but he couldn't. He knew Tala was going to be crossed with him for taking so long, he knew the older would tell him so in a harsh manner, he knew that Tala was going to hit him for it. He didn't want that to happen, he just wanted to turn back around and leave. Not just his journey to the older prince's room, he wanted to leave Russia all together and never look back. He wanted to go back home and be with his brother, father, Nanako, and everyone else he knew. Where he didn't have to wake up each morning fearing that his brother had been taken away from him, or what mood Prince Tala would be in.

"Prince Kenny?" The little girl again broke into his thoughts, continuing to hold the tray up to him with sympathetic blue eyes. "You should get going before he becomes agitated."

"Thank you Irena," Kenny smiled, taking a deep breath as he tried steadying his hands enough to hold the tray without it tumbling out of his hands. "You should get back to your chores for today."

"Are you going to be fine?" she questioned slightly.

"I should be. The worst that can happen is Prince Tala hitting me again," Kenny laughed a little, though he feared that. He just hoped it was enough to fool the girl. One thing he had learned about Irena over the course of months he and his brother remained in the Russian palace, she worried excessively over any and everyone she came in contact with. If there was stress within that person she could sense, she felt it her duty to make sure that they were all right. In a way, she reminded him very much of a younger version of Nanako.

"Are you sure?" Irena inquired, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm quite sure," Kenny nodded. "You don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine. I should be going, as you said, the prince will only get agitated the longer I make him wait."

"All right then." The little girl turned away and walking down the hall. Kenny watched her for a long minute before shaking himself free of his any thoughts and continued down the hallway. Even though he promised the girl he would be fine, his heart hammered against his chest each step he took towards the now approaching door. It took everything to keep his hands steady while holding the tray. It wouldn't do well for him to drop the prince's food after he's been awake for who knew how long waiting for Kenny to wake him up.

About time he was at the door and was poising his hand to knock, slight tremors of fear slithered up his body. His heart was doing a ten mile race a minute, expecting to burst from his ribcage at any moment. Closing his eyes, Kenny gathered what little courage he could gather from where it swam in the pit of his stomach to knock on the door and wait. The sound of the silver lid over the dish that sat on the tray clattered slightly due to the unsteadiness of his hands. Waiting outside the door was like an eternity for him, the sands of time weighing upon his shoulders with omniscient pressure.

"Come in." The reply finally came a full minute after the knock, and did not sound cheery at all, but were any of the mornings that the prince woke up cheerful? Never waking with a smile, instead a scowl rose with each morning Tala opened his eyes. Tyson once joked with Kenny that it would probably kill the red head to smile in the morning because it was against rules of a demon. The conversation continued with something about smiling and bursting into flames, it was enough to get Kenny to laugh that day after a bout of harsh words from Tala when Kenny accidentally spilt an entire bucket of soapy water on the prince while he was going to empty the water.

With a nervous hand, Kenny opened the door to the room the curtains were still drawn, shielding the room from the sun outside. Kenny's eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room gradually, which was when Kenny continued his descent into the room. Closing the door behind him, Kenny walked towards the bed, where Tala remained leveled into a sitting position by the cushion of the pillows behind his head. His arms were crossed over one another, the aforementioned scowl firmly in place.

"Good morning Pr—" Kenny started.

"You're late," Tala interrupted immediately, watching the boy place the breakfast tray on the nearby table before he turned to open the curtains. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sire?" Kenny blinked, turning to face the red head who glared at him.

"I asked you what do you think you're doing, answer me," Tala demanded.

"I was opening the curtains, I—" Kenny started once again before Tala rudely interrupted his sentence. It was going to be another one of those mornings the brunette saw it right away. Tala was going to make him answer, only he didn't want to hear the response, he just wanted to argue for the sake of pleasing himself when he awoke in one of these moods.

"Did I ask you to open the curtains? You have a brain, why not try to use it once in a while before doing what you think I might want," Tala snapped.

"Yes sire, I'm sorry," Kenny flinched at the biting tone, but refused to let the tears he felt in the back of his eyes well up. He wasn't going to give the red haired Russian another reason to snap at him. "Would you like your breakfast now, sire?"

"No, I don't want my breakfast now," Tala mocked.

"What is it you want then sire?" Kenny questioned, staring at the cold look within Tala's eyes before lowering his to the floor. Each time he saw the prince, it felt as if a small part of him each time was freezing over under that hellish stare, and eventually every part of him would be in ice before he shattered completely.

"What do I want? What do you think I want?" Tala stated coldly.

"I…I don't know," Kenny said.

"You don't know is that what you really want to say to me?" Tala inquired, his brow arched with the question. "Why don't you put your brain to use and think about what I want instead of acting like the rest of these morons in the palace?"

Kenny was silent, the tears in the back of his eyes gathering in the corners. He wasn't going to cry, he couldn't cry. He was going to be strong and make his brother proud. Closing his eyes, Kenny took in short shallow breaths, willing the tears to go back. "You…you want an explanation to why I'm late."

"So your brain still works after all," Tala said sarcastically. "So, do I get my explanation, or are you going to stand there crying?"

"I'm not crying," Kenny said softly, feeling the tears fall.

"Do you think I'm that much of an idiot? Even in the darkness of this room, I can see those silver pools rolling down your face from here," Tala said. "Come here, Kenny."

"Yes, sire," Kenny walked over to the male that sat in the bed. When Tala motioned for his to sit on the bed, Kenny did as he was told. Looking over at the red head, he was quite aware that the prince had no shirt on while he sat in bed. Turning his eyes down to the bed, he almost missed Tala leaned towards him.

Of course he didn't have to question what the prince was doing…he doubted he would have had words to do so anyway. Kenny's whole face lit up with color as Tala stuck out his tongue, gathering the salty wetness from Kenny's left cheek before his tongue traveled upwards to the source of the tears. When the left side was clean, Tala repeated with the right cheek before sliding his tongue back into his mouth.

A light shiver placed ghostly fingers up Kenny's spine feeling Tala's warm breath hit his ear. "What have I told you about crying?" Kenny opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Tala pulled back, studying the wide blue eyes of the brunette. Smirking with obvious satisfaction, Tala stared at the tray on the table. "You still haven't given me an explanation for your tardiness."

"I…" Kenny started, snapping out of his shock. "I was watching the morning sun…I didn't think you would already be up, forgive me sire."

"You were watching the sun rise? I should have known you would tell me such a stupid excuse as that," Tala said. "Unfortunately, I know that it's true. You will never change, will you Kenny? You will continue to cry and be timid, won't you?"

"I'm sorry," Kenny said, bowing his head.

"Don't ever decide to change, as long as you cry and be timid, I won't have much reason to do more than give you a light slap every now and then," Tala remarked. "I don't feel like breakfast."

"But sire, you wanted—" That was the only thing that Kenny was able to get out before a hand came across his cheek soundly. Before he could fall back, Tala had a grip on one of his shoulder, pulling him closer so their eyes met. Tears gathered in Kenny's eyes again and fell, but this time Tala did not lick them away. He continued to glare deep into Kenny's eyes, refusing to relinquish his gaze.

"That was your third strike," Tala replied. "How many times will I have to tell you to obey whatever I say before it resorts to this? If you would be a good little servant I would never have to touch you like that. You showed me promise so long ago, where did it go little prince? Now don't open your mouth. Take that tray to the kitchen and don't return to my room unless I send for you."

Once Tala was done speaking, he shoved the boy off the bed, Kenny falling to the floor with a light thud. Sitting sprawled on the floor in shock for a long minute, Kenny finally scrambled off the floor before going to the other side of the bed and grabbing the tray. He exited the room as quietly as he could, making sure not to slam the door behind him. Standing outside the door, Kenny tried to squeeze his eyes shut, stopping the tears that cascaded down his face. A few of those salty drops hit the lid on the food with a slight ping, sliding down the side to gather on the surface of the tray.

Why?

Why was his heart racing and threatening to wither all at once? Why did he have to feel as if...he didn't even know anything? He was tired of the random acts of kindness or something close to it before being kicked into the reality that this was how Tala amused himself with Kenny. Why couldn't Kenny realize it? Why did he keep hoping things would be different? In truth, Kenny was finding that confusion ruled his subconscious and dreams more than he would like. A slow growing Chinese puzzle over Tala was growing inside Kenny's soul, and nothing seemed to make it go away while Tala wasn't making it any easier to ease over the course of those months in Russia.

"Why are things like this? Why?" Kenny cried softly. "Gods above…please just give me an answer."

-oooooo-

Rim: Hey, I think I might have got something accomplished after all! Yeah, so what did you guys think about it? Personally I have my favorite part, hee hee. Well, let me get going, I've stayed up long enough to finish this, despite I have school. Oh well, I think it's well worth it, until next week or so gang.