Title: In My King's Harem
By: Ari
Disclaimer: They're not mine…
Warnings: S+M, swearing, sexual themes, OOCness, Albel meanness, Fayt gets hit a lot cause Albel had anger problems,
Note's: Wow, this update was quick. You love me right?
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Chapter 4:
Mounting Blades
Aquaria was a beautiful city. Her buildings were all soft, white marble, or a warm cream color. There were fountains of gushing blue water, and creeping vines of green, flowering plants. Stone statues of Aquarian priestesses towered elegantly in front of the castle and church, and all the people were friendly, with happy smiles on their faces
Fayt hated it.
It'd been years since he'd seen Hydra, his hometown, and though he was eternally grateful that he was out of the slave markets, he wasn't happy about whom he'd ended up with. Truthfully, Fayt had spent the last few days moping around the Aquarian castle mulling over whether or not his Mother and Father were still alive, and if they were, did they even care?
He flopped down onto one of the large pillows spread around his and Maria's room and preceded to sulk. His ribs still hurt and he was sure that little healer girl had missed some bruises.
"You there!" Fayt glanced around and spotted Maria gesturing at a servant. "I would like a light lunch. I think some sliced mangos and some chilled pineapple juice would be wonderful." He watched her twirl a strand of hair in thought before decided that was all. "Well go on!" she yelled, and the servant scampered away. Fayt found it amusing how Maria ordered around Albel's servants like they were hers. Oh well, there wasn't anything he could do about it, so he went back to sulking at picking at the hem of his shirt.
"Oh Fayt…" Maria's soft voice drifted over to him. He turned again to watch her drop down next to him in another pillow. "Fayt, I know we haven't been getting along too well…"
He snorted, 'No shit.' But chose to keep that silent.
"And I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I was acting…it was completely un-lady like…" she gently rested her fingers on his arm, trying to draw his attention to him. "We should be working together, we are in the same boat, so to speak."
"It's dreadful for you, I'm sure…" Fayt snapped.
Maria jerked her hand back and her eyes narrowed for a split second before she covered it up with disguised, fake, hurt. "I'm trying to form a bond, Fayt! We need to work together! Now," She sat up straighter and turned towards him fully. "I've devised a plan to draw the Lord Albel's attention away from you long enough for you to escape."
"Tried it already, I don't need another beating, thanks though, Maria. I'm sure you mean well." His voice was harsh and sarcastic. "Why would you help me anyway?"
"Oh I'm not helping you! I'm helping me, silly! If you're gone, Lord Albel will favor me again. Surely you realized that…"
Fayt eyed her carefully, trying to tell if she was lying. If she wasn't, he might actually get out of Aquaria and onward to Hydra sooner than he'd hoped. But if she was setting him up, well, he didn't need to imagine the beating… Fayt shivered, that memory was enough to turn him off the idea completely.
"No thanks, I've had my share of beatings for the month. Find another way to get dear Lord Albel's attention." And he stood up and walked out, leaving Maria seething behind him.
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Fayt had been wandering the halls for a good hour, and he sighed as he passed some statue for the third time. He was definitely lost…or at least a little turned around. 'Stupid nobles…' he thought. 'Why the hell do they need such big homes?' He pushed open a large ornate door and took a peak inside.
The room seemed to be a small, private, church for the people of the palace. Lucky for him, there wasn't a service going on at the moment. He debated going it for a moment, before a hand on his shoulder yanked him around.
"I wouldn't go in there…" Albel drawled, a smirk gracing his face.
Fayt bristled like an irritated cat. "Why not?" he demanded. "You said I could look around, did you?"
"Women only, dearest…You'll be executed for contaminating the holy grounds of the Queen…" By Albel's tone, Fayt could tell he thought the entire thing was a load of rubbish, but seeing as they were guests here, Albel had to follow Aquarian rules. "Bah! Religion is for bored people with too much time on their hands…" The Lord gestured at the door. "I doubt Nel's been in there more then twice in her rule."
"Then why even have a church?" Fayt wondered, mostly to himself.
"Appearances." Came the simple reply. "The Lady Nel isn't the most religious Queen they've ever had, but she still upholds her laws." Fayt supposed that was a good reason. "Now, come with me, I'd like to take a closer look at you." And Fayt was unwillingly dragged back to Albel's rooms.
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"Come here, Fayt, I'm sure you're hungry…"
Albel was lounging on his bed, a large plate of several sliced fruits next to him and a pitcher of iced water on the side table. Fayt hesitated for a moment, but the fruit did look really good, and he was a little thirsty…
He crawled up on the bed next to Albel and hesitantly reached for a slice of apple, but his hand was swatted away. The cocky Lord grinned and wrapped a large hand around his wrist, tugging Fayt to sit between his legs. The blue haired youth squirmed uncomfortably, and practically growled at the noble when Albel tried to feed him.
"Let me go." He hissed. Failing to be scary at all, it just made Albel smirk more.
"Fayt…We've been rather…intimate, if you'd like to call it that, surely I can feed you?" Albel waved the fruit in his face and Fayt glared again, squirming more but the tight grip on his wrist prevented him from leaving.
"Let go, Albel!" he snapped. "I'm not a girl!"
The hand tightened painfully and Albel yanked it to the side. "I dare you to speak to me like that again…" his voice was low and soft, but Fayt wasn't stupid, Albel was getting pissed. "I know exactly how 'manly' you are, Fayt. You're 'training' uncovered that right away." The hand loosed a little as Albel offered the apple slice again.
"No." Fayt turned his head away. "I can feed myself."
Albel's jaw clenched and he began to grind his teeth. "I'm…trying…to be nice, Fayt. I'm trying to be…" his eye twitched a little at his next words. "To be caring. Don't make me hit you again Fayt, that won't get either of us anywhere."
Fayt sighed, he had two choices. Allow the arrogant man to feed him and be nice, while loosing all manly pride he had, or keep his pride, probably get beat and man-handled, and then be feed by Albel anyway.
Fayt turned his head and accepted the lesser of the two evils, opening his mouth and accepting the fruit from the Lord. He didn't really want to get beat again so soon…
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"Fayt!" Peppita pushed open the large door leading to the harem Fayt was suppose to be in. "You here, Fayt!" She tugged on a pigtail and began poking around, looking behind some of the random curtains, unfortunately, the blue haired concubine wasn't to be found. "You big meanie, Fayt!" she huffed, her cheeks puffing out.
"What are you don't here? You're not a concubine."
Peppita spun around and shrieked. "Fayt! You turned into a girl!"
Maria scoffed. "Hardly. Fayt isn't here, little girl." She pointed to the door. "Get out."
"Are you Fayt's sister?" the tiny healer began circling Maria, trying to get a look at her from all sides.
"As if I'd be related to that…commoner. No, I am Maria Traydor; my family has been breed as royal concubines for generations." The woman narrowed her eyes and grabbed Peppita's collar, dragging her to the door.
Peppita landed hard on her knees when Maria shoved her out the door, and her eyes started watering, but she held back a sob. "Meanie…" she mumbled.
"Peppita?"
"Fayt!" she cried, jumping up excitedly.
"What are you doing here? Why are you on the floor?"
"Your mean sister threw me out!" she stamped her foot. "I was looking for you, I have some time off and wanted to know if you'd go into town with me."
"Sister?" but Fayt didn't have time to ask, as Peppita launched into a plan for the day, laying out all the shops they were going to visit.
"Wait a minute, Peppita. I don't know if I'm allowed to leave-" Fayt halted in his steps, a look of shock covering his face. Since when had he cared about what he was and wasn't allowed to do? 'Since Albel's beating became life threatening…'
"You're so silly Fayt! Of course you can leave. You just can't leave the city…" and the tiny girl resumed her chattering.
Fayt was, for once, gratefully for the thin silks on his body. The fountains and plant life did a good job keeping the temperature bearable, but it was still a great deal hotter than most people were used too. Seems Aquaria was having a summer drought of some sort.
He received quite a few stares and people whispered about him as they passed, but Fayt couldn't find it in him to care, Peppita's cheeriness was catchy. It seemed the royal city Aquios had a great many shops, all bustling with activity in the midday sun. Peppita squealed at a set of large dancer bracelets. "Ooh! I want those! I always wanted to be a dancer…" she twirled around a little and Fayt had to admit, she was rather graceful for being so young. "See anything you like, Fayt?"
He shook his head. "Even if I did, I don't have any money…"
"Just charge it to Lord Albel. Everyone knows your kind aren't allowed to carry money."
Fayt frowned at the term 'your kind' but didn't say anything to the happy-go-lucky girl. "Yeah, and if I actually bought anything, Albel would beat me silly."
Peppita shrugged. "Probably, but at least you'd have something nice and new." Fayt didn't agree with her logic, but he filed the fact that he could buy something if he REALLY wanted to.
The hours passed quickly, and Peppita bough them both a cup of some sweet juice that he couldn't name. "We should go back soon, Peppita. The sun is starting to go down."
"I know…" she pouted. "I was just having a good time. I don't get time off very often…"
Fayt stood and smiled. "Lets do it again, okay? Next time you have a day off."
Peppita smiled and hopped up. "Okay! It's a deal!"
They both started their way back towards the castle, chattering together happily. Peppita enjoyed talked about anything, and Fayt didn't mind listening. She was currently explaining the differences between two healing herbs, when a side shop caught his eye.
"Wait a minute Peppita, I wanna look there quick."
The girl eyed the shop with a frown. "But Fayt…" but he ignored her, moving over quickly to look at the different swords on display. The woman smiled at him, asking if she could show him anything in particular. Peppita watched quietly from the back as Fayt and the woman conversed over a sword. She was a little uneasy; didn't Fayt know he wasn't allowed to carry weapons?
"Peppita, is 1200 Fol a lot?" he turned around to face her. "I don't know Fol very well, we used Gil (1.) where I come from."
"Um…" she hesitated. "It's not too much…" she debated if she should tell him how much it was, he wasn't thinking about buying it was he? "It's about 120 Gil."
"Oh that's not bad at all! Thanks Peppita." He turned back to the woman. "I'll take this, you can charge it to Alb- I mean, Lord Albel."
"Charge it to the Lord?" she asked surprised. "Are you related?"
Fayt frowned, was this woman new around here? Everyone else seemed to recognize his skimpy clothes for what they were. "No, I'm a concubine."
"Oh!" she exclaimed, her face going cherry red. "Well…are you sure? I mean…I though you couldn't…" she glanced up at him and the rapidly spreading irritation he was showing. "Yes sir, I'll have a messenger run up to the castle later tonight with the bill." Fayt watched as she took out a bolt of soft cloth and wrapped the sword in it, tying it with a plain cord. "One Rune Blade. Here you go."
Fayt thanked her and he and Peppita made their way back to the castle. Fayt couldn't figure out why she was so quiet all of a sudden.
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As soon as he'd gotten back, Fayt rushed off to his and Maria's room, the sword clutched tightly in his arms. He sprawled out on a large pillow and unwrapped the blade, eagerly admiring it. That had been a few hours ago, and it was well after dark now. He wondered vaguely where Albel and Maria were, but decided not to think on it too hard.
"Speak of the devil," he mumbled as the large door opened and Maria strolled in, a happy grin gracing her face.
She stopped right in front of him, her smile only getting larger. "Oh, Fayt…" her voice held a gleeful sing-song tone. "Lord Albel would like to see you…something about a market charge?" she couldn't hide her glee any longer and broke out in a happy giggle. "I hope he goes easy on you…"
Fayt sighed, and rolled off the pillow. It's been a good two hours with his sword, he shouldn't have expected more…
Albel was sitting in his rooms, facing the door, goblet of something or other in his hand, waiting for Fayt. "Close the door." He ordered, and Fayt did. Albel twirled his cup a little, before glancing back at Fayt, his face suspiciously blank. "You went to the market today?" Fayt nodded silently. "You had a good time?" Fayt nodded again. Albel set his glass down and stood, stalking over towards Fayt. "You bought something?" Fayt nodded for a third time. "Answer me when I ask you a question. You've had a sharp tongue since I bought you, don't stop now."
Fayt glared at the floor, his face coloring in embarrassment and anger. "Yes, I bought something."
Albel smiled slightly. "You bought a blade. With my money, didn't you?" Fayt wondered why he was even asking. Albel knew exactly what he'd bought, and he was wondering why the Lord was so angry. According to Peppita, he hadn't spent too much. "I'm sure you didn't realize that concubines aren't allowed weapons, did you Fayt?"
The young male jerked his head up in surprise. He hadn't known! Why hadn't Peppita told him! The door opened again, cutting Fayt's reply off. Maria strolled in as elegantly as she could; carrying his new blade wrapped her arms.
"Lord…Albel…" she seemed to be struggling with its weight. "I…brought it…like you said…"
"Thank you set it down and leave." She bowed and left. Fayt waited as the Lord looked over the blade, turning it around and holding it out, giving it a small swing. Finally, after a moment, he set it back down and made his way back over to Fayt. He raised a hand, palm open, and delivered a sound smack right across Fayt's right cheek. "For spending my money without permission."
Fayt was flabbergasted. That couldn't be it! Albel was sure to beat him for buying a weapon. He stared up at the man in shock waiting for the next blow.
"You may keep the blade in here." Albel declared. "Should anyone find out, you will lose it and be punished accordingly for owning a weapon." Albel glanced at the concubine in front of him and froze in shock as the first real smile he'd ever seen Fayt have graced his face.
"Thank you!" Fayt smiled, a little hesitantly, and Albel, after snapping out of his daze scoffed.
"Keh, whatever fool. Go away before I change my mind." Fayt nodded and bowed, the smile still on his face, before leaving.
Albel stared at the closed door for a moment before turning to mount a hanging for the blade. "Idiot…" he grumbled through a tiny grin.
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Okay, kind of a pointless chapter….but it was fun to write…We have some Peppita in here, making friends with Fayt. You've learned a little about the city and the religion, a little of Maria's history, and we also found out that Maria is seriously starting to hate Fayt, which is important.
I may or may not put in some details involving…sexual things….but it kinda squicks me out, I have a hard time even reading them, so we'll have to see.
We also have a teeny tiny little bit of bonding between Albel and Fayt, what with Albel actually being kinda nice here.
Gil is the currency in Final Fantasy…my favorite RPG…A Rune Blade actually costs 5200 Fol, but I wanted Fayt to buy a nicer blade, with less money, so I changed the price a little…. Oh, and there isn't really a convert for Fol to Gil, I made that up.
So this chapter was a little longer, and the update was actually quite quick, don't get used to it though, I don't know how long that'll last. And for all you evil people out there, don't worry, Fayt isn't done getting beat…He's still stubborn about rules…
Review for me! Maybe it'll inspire me more…