Chapter 20
Balancing Words
Vegeta's father walked into his son's office, ready to settle matters on what was to be done with Son Pan. His cape billowing out behind him, he strode towards his son, his face grave and determined.
"Vegeta…" he began, but was interrupted by a solider who wore a different symbol on his armor- Frieza's symbol.
Taking a second look, Vegeta noticed that the soldier had green hair. On Planet Vegeta, green hair was unheard of, considered freakish by some, and it gave away that this soldier was not from Planet Vegeta. He realized the solider as Zarbon, one of Frieza's right-hand men. "Greetings, King Vegeta," he said with a bow. "I have come on behalf of Lord Frieza."
No shit, Sherlock, Vegeta thought, annoyed. "What about him?" he asked, keeping the irritation out of his voice.
"He has returned from Planet Kenosha, my lord," Zarbon said.
Shit, Vegeta thought. I had forgotten about that, with all this ruckus with Son Pan and all… "Ah, that's right. What about it?"
"He is satisfied sir, with the job your elite teams have done," Zarbon replied coolly, and it was obvious of the tensions between the two. "And he would like to know of your report."
"Well…" Vegeta muttered. Where to begin? He decided to make it short and simple. "An assassin was loose in the palace and has Prince Trunks practically dead, and me as well- That's about it," he finished nonchalantly. He looked back down at the papers on his desk, as if the whole thing meant little to him.
Zarbon almost toppled over in surprise, the shock clearly written all over his face. "T-that's… it?!" he asked, his voice several octaves higher in his nervousness.
Vegeta smirked. "Yes."
His father smirked behind him as well, pleased with his son's abilities to unsettle unwanted guests. This may not have been suitable in other courts of royalty, but it was very much so in his. There was now no doubt in his mind that his son was all right. "Anything else, Zarbon?"
"N-no s-sir," Zarbon stuttered, and forced his bow, leaving.
As soon as Zarbon was gone, Vegeta's cool, confident look fled his face as he sighed. Government was rarely about what was said, and was more about what was done, or what had happened. Letting an assassin run through his palace made him look exceptionally weak, not to mention the fact that it was a female who had been the assassin. Once Zarbon found that little treat of information, his weakness in the eyes of Frieze would grow. At times like now, he did not need that happening.
His father knew what Vegeta was feeling at the moment-he himself had felt it often enough when he was King. He placed a hand on his son shoulder in understanding. "You have a hard path to walk, my son. Choose wisely." And with that, he left.
*******
Gohan still sat against the wall, but his face had regained some of its color. "How in the world is she still alive? Dear Kami…"
"I'm not sure, sir. But you do have one hell of a strong daughter, let me assure you."
Gohan smiled weakly. "Thanks." He looked back at his daughter, then back to the guard. "Is Prince Trunks in any better condition then he is?"
"Very much so. I'd take you to him, but I'm not all that sure that they'd let you in…"
"Oh, right…" Gohan mumbled. Of course they wouldn't let him in-the palace was on guard more then ever these past few weeks, and not to mention the fact that he was the father of the suspected assassin. "Just send him my regards, please."
The soldier grinned lightly. "Will do, sir." The guard then stood up. He began to walk out of the room, and though he did not need to provide an explanation, he did so anyways. "It's my time to go, Sir. I'll send your regards to Prince Trunks on the way out."
"Would you? Thanks," Gohan said weakly. The guard nodded and was gone.
Gohan's head sank into his hands, now free to think his thoughts alone. He was torn between his feelings-relieved that Pan would now be taken care of, and worry of why his King had decided to do this. Did he have something more gruesome in mind? If he did, he didn't know how it could get any more gruesome then this.
He didn't know what was happening anymore-first his daughter slipped out of his care, and then tried to assassinate both the King and Prince of her planet. Why she would do that, he hadn't had the slightest clue-but when she woke- if she woke- he would have a talk with her.
*******
Vegeta watched the crimson and golden hues of the sunrise the next morning-at least some things are still peaceful, he thought with a sigh. The sun rose slowly, giving light to the small forest he could see out of the window. He turned his head slightly, fixing his attention back on the meeting he was supposed to be listening to. People were screaming and demanding things-it wasn't your typical meeting. Vegeta leaned back into his chair, letting the others scream to their heart's content-anything he said now would either not be acknowledged or not be heard, so what was the use?
Vegeta looked to the crowd assembled there. The 12 council members from Planet Vegeta were seated to the left and right of him, and Frieza and Zarbon sat at the other side of the large, round table. There was only one empty seat in the room-the one beside him. Prince Trunks's chair.
Planet Vegeta was divided into 4 different regions- Toshihiro, Jun, Kiyoshi, and Rithisak-and each region had 2 minor lands within it. The minor lands had a ruler, who obeyed the leader of the region, but they were all ruled by one leader-himself. His word was law. They lent their council in important times-during treaties, wars, and in times like this-attempted assassinations. He would have rather had a meeting with the council alone, and leave out Lord Frieza… but in that, he had no choice in the manner. If Lord Frieza decided to come, he came.
Komoku, the leader of Rithisak, had just finished shouting out an idea, trying to be heard over the others, and he was practically successful- his voice was the kind of voice you had to listen to, and the others had quieted. Vegeta put a hand on the man's chest and as he himself stood, the movement pushed Komoku back into the chair behind him.
"Now," Vegeta said in a louder then usual voice, and the entire room quieted completely. He smirked slightly at the response-it was exactly what he had wanted. "Times are hazardous at this point in time. The deeds have been done, but I doubt the assassins will leave this alone unless the royal family is dead, or unless they are. They must be found."
"They?" Raiden, the ruler of the minor land Rona in Rithisak, gasped. "What do you mean, they? I thought there was only one!"
"Now Raiden, be sensible," Vegeta said. "Do you think that a single female would have the intellect to carry out a scheme like that? There must be more of them."
Raiden was silent as he studied the papers in front of him, but Vegeta did not ridicule him for the questioning. "They must be weeded out of the innocent. How is the question we must come up with an answer today."
The leaders of his planet nodded solemnly, and Lord Frieza just watched with calm, cool eyes. Vegeta's eyes scanned every one of the faces around him, making his point clear.
His eyes stopped on Cagn, the leader of Vailea in Kiyoshi. The man was a shy saiyan, and was relatively young. Most of the other didn't listen to what he said, if he said anything, but his ideas were clever and to the point. Cagn was fidgeting, which meant he had something to say, but was too timid to say it.
Vegeta did not loose his temper with the young saiyan, for he knew this was how he was and couldn't change it. "Cagn, what do you think?"
Cagn looked around at the multitudes of people, then spoke up. "Well, my lord, if you had a celebration of some sort when Prince Trunks- Kami bless his soul-got better and you both were there, it might tempt the rebels to present themselves."
Vegeta thought about it for a moment. "You know, Cagn, that just might work. The details could be worked out later, but the idea is simple enough to work.
"What do you think, Kazuo?" Vegeta asked the leader of Nhean in Toshihiro.
"Well, your highness, it's a brilliant plan. It has some faults, but they could be worked upon," Kazuo answered truthfully.
"Any ideas, Jiro?" Vegeta asked. Jiro was the leader of Akio, the other minor land in Toshihiro.
"Heavily guard the entire palace, but keep them hidden," Jiro said. "Use the best stealth guards you have."
Vegeta nodded, the scanned the room. "Any other ideas?"
"Why don't you just kill the little monkeys until one of them squeals."
Vegeta turned an icy glare on Frieza, but kept his anger in check. If he did anything against him, there was no telling what Frieza would do to his people. But, still, he could not let something like that go unsaid-it would be a sign of weakness on his part. Balancing out the two was the most difficult thing of being a ruler that he knew of. He pushed Komoku down into his seat before he had the chance to fully stand-he knew that Komoku, who was known for his temper, had been about to tell Frieza what was on his mind, and Vegeta couldn't have that, not in his court.
"Because," he said slowly, fighting to keep his voice level, "It doesn't have to be the 'monkeys'-it could be the green-haired freaks as well," he finished, and strode out of the room, leaving Zarbon to watch him leave in both hatred and shock.
Author's Note: Yeah, I know, this is a little late-sorry. The dance was longer then I thought it would be. I'll give you one chapter today, and another tomorrow, all right? After that, it's back to the every other day schedule. Kay?
Anyways… like the chappie? Oh, that's right-someone asked if this is a Pan/Trunks story-You betcha! ^-^ you'll see what happens.
Once again-
THANKIES!!!!