Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not a wing of the Forest of Silence or a cave in the Shadow Lands. Nothing at all. =(
Title: Blue, Blue Eyes.
Summary: See first chapter.
Paring: Lief/Dain
Rating: PG-13
Note: Technically this is slash. Even though Dain doesn't have a gender, blah, blah, blah, etc. By the way, I apologize for spelling Lief wrong. The i before e except after c is my worst grammar rule. =) Anyway, humor the new guy. Now on with the show…
-Golmere Verns ^_^ =) =P
Chapter Three: Bracelet
What we've lost is
Always safe in our hearts,
But what we want is always there too. Yeah,
Baby it's a whole universe…
Lief was walked through the streets of Del, feeling freer than he had in a long time. His feet left gentle imprints in the soft dirt as he walked. Strangely there was hardly anyone there. Stands were open, as costumers wearily buzzed between them, but it seemed as if many were gone. Lief frowned, and walked over to a food stand, where an elderly woman was talking with the clerk.
"I heard that people are sleeping on the ground not to loose their spots in line. Sharn and her helpers are only so many people and Lady Jasmine is never available. They say that she spends all of her time cooped up in the library, talking with her father, and sometimes Sharn. Some say that she chooses to grieve over Lief of Del, rather than do her duties. It must be hard to loose someone who you survived a quest like that to a kidnapping. They say that he and she were lovers." said the woman.
The clerk looked around suspiciously; to see if anyone was watching or eavesdropping, and said, "If she really cared about him—and the rest of our people—than she would send a rescue mission, an army. But what does she do? She sits in the library all day, burying herself in books. Just as useless as the kings and queens of our past!"
Lief's heart constricted and he looked at the palace. The rumor of Jasmine and himself being lovers was false, of course, but Lief guessed that the one about the library wasn't. If the people's fate in Jasmine died, than the Belt would be powerless, and history would repeat itself.
Suddenly, Lief's vision went hazy, as if a fog was slowly creeping the vision into a fuzzy oblivion, What in the world—the thought barely registered itself before the vision collapsed completely in a flash of light…
And he was standing in what appeared to be a library.
To his right and left were two shelves, but he heard voices in front of him. Lief walked between the shelves until he came out of the bookish hall and stood in the heart of the library, where the people that he had been thinking of were all seated around a table.
"We do have enough people! I just know it!" Jasmine was exclaiming angrily glaring at Doom.
"I'll lead the army, as I keep on telling you and telling you! I will bring our people back!" Glock bellowed.
Doom raised an eyebrow, "and what makes you so sure of that Glock? Will your talisman do so?"
The Jalis snorted, "Of course!"
Doom turned to Barda, "What is you opinion?"
Barda sighed and looked at Jasmine sadly, "I want Lief and everyone else free as much as you do, but it would be suicide to send troops there. The Shadow Lord's sorcery is too strong. And the Belt cannot be taken outside of Deltora's borders."
Jasmine's green eyes blazed emerald fire, and she stood the gems on the Belt softly glow like embers, as if they were pulsating with their own faint light, "Than we shall find another way!"
Everyone looked at each other and Doom said grimly, "For now we have more important things to tend to." With that he left, slamming the door behind him.
Lief's mother turned to Jasmine, "I know that you miss him, but we are doing all we can. You must understand."
Jasmine glared at the woman coldly, "Oh, I understand!" she sneered, "I understand completely."
Everyone slowly flocked out of the room, giving Jasmine pitied, gentle, and sad glares, all of which she replied with one that could have vanquished an army. When everyone was gone, Lief stepped over to Jasmine.
"Jasmine!" he cried, "Jasmine!"
She turned, but her eyes passed over him as if he wasn't there. Just like Fallow's had when Lief had been in the dungeons with his father in a magical dream from the water of the dreaming spring from the Kin. And just like his father, she had appeared to hear him.
Jasmine shook her head, and turned heading towards the window, and sadly looking out, "We will come for you, Lief." She said, clutching the window sill, "You're our—"
Suddenly there was another flash of light, this one a vivid scarlet, and suddenly he was standing in a pure white room, all of the walls the same porcelain color, perfectly smooth, and all symmetrical. Lief turned and saw that one of the walls, the one facing him, was different. His friends and family stood there.
He ran forward, arms open, calling their names with tears streaming down his face. They all had their arms open, smiles so warm. Lief lurched himself towards them, preparing to get caught by his parents…
Only to hit a hard wall, and be flung to the ground.
Lief massaged his aching head and looked up in shock. Everyone behind the glass—as he now thought of it—were still happy. Jasmine was talking with Barda, and his parents were dancing and laughing as Barda fed Filli a small piece of fruit…except for Lief.
"Guys!" he cried in a hoarse, tear-choked voice, "Barda? Jasmine? Mother? Father?"
They didn't turn and Lief kept crying thinking, How could they?!
He looked up and suddenly the scene wavered. Behind his friends and family was Del, the townspeople celebrating and dancing. Birds flew in the perfect blue sky, as their happiness radiated in thousands of smiles.
Lief stood up and started hitting the glass, his hands throbbing in pain. He cried out their names, but they kept celebrating. Tears blurring his vision Lief yelled, "I want to go home! I want to go home….I want—"
He chocked and kept hitting the glass, his hands bleeding, white sticks of shattered bone showing through ripped muscle. At last, tremors and shakes convulsing through him, the world shaking through a cascade of tears, Lief sank down to the floor. Sobbing, he placed his head in his hands.
"How could they abandon me? I just want to go home! I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home…"
**********************Bullet Thingies!!!!!********************************
"I want to go home!!!" Lief screamed, and his eyes snapped open.
He was trembling, and someone was holding his hands….Dain. Dain was straddling him, holding Lief's hands, which would have probably hit his face. Lief, glanced away from Dain's face hovering close to his and wiped a few tears off of his face. Near him was a candle, a large flame dancing in the dark, shining light on both young men.
Slowly memory leaked back into Lief, and he turned to look at Dain, who brushed some of his hair out of his face. Silence stretched between them.
"Can you get off me?" Lief asked, just realizing that Dain was straddling him, and he was finding this rather uncomfortable being so close to another boy.
Dain slipped off him and sat next to him, ignoring how Lief scooted over, "You were yelling and screaming and hitting yourself. I couldn't wake you up, so I—"
"Completely took advantage of me." Lief snapped, glaring, "And how, by chance, did you get in here?"
Dain smiled, and leaned over, his fingers running down Lief's cheek, and resting on his chest, "Well, this is my room. And yours. So I guess that that makes it ours."
Lief shifted and smacked Dain's hand away, and saw that he was lying on the right side of the bed, and next to him was an empty pillow, and a rumpled, turned-up cover, "I refuse to sleep with you."
"You don't have a choice." Dain said one hand suggestively perched on Lief's knee, creeping up his thigh.
As he knocked off Dain's hand Lief looked at him, "How long have I been asleep?" he asked, hoping to change the subject to something more neutral than between his legs.
"A week and a half." Dain said, coming closer still, gazing at Lief.
Lief shifted, trying to hide his body and face from Dain's view. As he did, he thought about all that Dain could have done to him in a week and a half. He was still very clean, and he was wearing pajamas again. Lief shivered, imagining every inch of his helpless body open to Dain. He imagined those smooth, willowy hands exploring, caressing, grasping at his body.
Then again, those hands were cool and soft. It couldn't feel that bad, could it?
No! Lief thought, I have no desire for him. I'm not supposed to think like that. He is the enemy, and all he wants me for is physical, lustful pleasure.
Lief turned back to Dain, who had stood up and stood at the dresser, where he was pouring some tea. Turning, Dain smiled and brought over two cups full of it, some sugar shoved under his fingers.
"What time is it?" Lief asked, taking the tea, finding that he was cold and his throat was dry.
"Late. Everyone is sleeping, but I doubt that both of us will be able to sleep, will we Lief?"
Lief shook his head and sipped his tea. Even without the sugar it was very sweet.
"Sugar?" Dain asked, putting some in his own cup.
Lief shook his head, "I want to go home." he said, wiping his mouth with a proffered napkin.
"So I heard." Dain replied, "But you do know that there is no home to go to."
Lief stiffened, and remembered the other day, "That's a lie."
Dain sighed, "I thought that you would say that, which is why I brought this."
He drew a small, narrow velvet box from his pocket. Lief leaned over and frowned as Dain opened the box. Inside was a golden snake, straight as an arrow. It's head, exquisitely carved, bared sharp, open fangs and had ruby eyes. The whole body was made of gold, each small scale etched in ornately.
Dain picked up the snake and held it out to Lief, who looked at him in shock, "Is it for me?" he asked.
Dain nodded, and Lied took it, rolling it over between his fingers, blue, blue eyes scanning the whole thing, "Whatever for?" he asked.
"It's eyes glow whenever someone tells the truth—"
"Ah!"
Suddenly, the snake became alive, and hissed at Lief, and lashed out. Lief had screamed, and fallen back on the bed, as the snake lay thrashing on his chest. It rightened itself and flew into the air, catching Lief's wrist in its body, and curling around it.
Lief sat up and raised a hand to peel the snake off of him, but its head came forward and…grabbed hold of its own tail, engulfing the golden point until it was a stern bangle around Lief's wrist.
Lief waited for a moment, as the snake adjusted itself, as if it was getting comfortable with swallowing the correct amount of its tail. Once it had a certain length adjusted, the snake became cold, lifeless, the radiant gold become metal, and the curves stiffening.
Glaring at Dain, who was staring at the snake in shook, Lief reached forward and grabbed where it was connected and tried to pry the tail from the mouth. The snake let go and hissed, biting his finger, than engulfing its tail again. This time it went farther and farther, constricting Lief's wrist. He cried out and fought again, and the metal—if it was metal, for it was moving—heated up and met his bare skin, sizzling.
"Ow!!!" he cried in anguish, as the snake kept squeezing.
After five minutes of agony, it stopped and loosened, once again returning to its bangle state.
Without touching the bracelet, Lief looked up at Dain, "Oh, well that's a good way to win someone's heart! Giving them a demonic bracelet that almost cuts off the circulation in their hands! That sure kicks roses', chocolates', and rings' asses!" (AN: They probably didn't have that curse back than, but I kind of like it there)
"I didn't know that it would do that. My Master said that the eyes would glow when someone was telling the truth. I just wanted to prove to you that I'm not lying." Dain replied, looking at Lief's burned wrist regretfully.
Lief, on the other hand, noticed that the large ruby eyes of the snake's head were glowing as Dain said the words. So that was the truth, but he wanted to do another test…"What color are my eyes?"
Dain looked at him, "Why?"
Lief showed him the bracelet, "I want to see if this thing works."
"Fine. You have very blue, blue eyes."
As soon as Dain ad started is sentence the bracelet's eyes had started glowing, and Lief gave up on experiments and said, "I want to go home."
"There is no home to go back to," Dain said, looking at the brightly glowing rubies, "All of your friends and family are dead. Deltora is nothing now. The survivors are enslaved here."
Lief was looking at the glowing rubies, shining as bright as stars. It was true.
"I hate you." he cried, "I know you helped them kill my friends! I should've died there with them!! But no! Here I am as a pleasure servant to a….to a monster!"
He turned away sharply and kept crying, tears running down his face and falling into the empty cup of tea.
Note: Dang, that's a sad way to end a chapter. I'll make the next one happier. I am deleting the Malien factor in this story. Sorry to disappoint any of her fans. I promise that the further chapters will be more slashy/ romantic. Right now Lief is just rebellious and angry. Now I have to go and hit my friend Mark on the head and stop him from breaking the ceiling of my apartment, which is technically his floor. What posses him to hit the ground with various objects? I have no clue. Anyway, I hope everyone liked the chapter!!! Here are the responses to my reviewers!
PlatinumGal: In Sister of the South there is a section when Lief relates the Shadow Lord to the Four Sisters story. It says that the Shadow Lord was once a young man with a small red and gray boat and sorcery. But it never really was rock-hard, so I guess that there's a small possibility that we could be correct in the Shadow Lord's gender. =) ^_^ No clue, but I'm glad that you thought that it was a good idea. Hope you liked this chapter!!! =)
homesweethomicide13: Thanks for both reviews! Good point about how the Shadow Lord is sort of a force. =D I'm glad that you liked the first two chapters, and thank you for pointing out my spelling error of Leif compared to Lief. Much appreciated! And yes, there can never be enough slash in DQ! I hope that this chapter didn't disappoint you. =S ;)
Mistress-of-Shadows: I'm glad that you like this pairing and yaoi! Not to mention my idea of making the Shadow Lord female. This site needs more, doesn't it? Hope this was a pleasing chapter!
By the way, if anyone wants more Dain/Lief LadyLapisLuzili (sorry if I spelled that wrong!) has written a one-shot about them called For Keeps. Also, the Deltora's King Sequence by dragon shadows is three one-shots with this couple!!! ^_^ =P =O =D
-Golmere Verns
Please read and review everyone!!!!