Dripping Wings

Yuugi's eyes fluttered open, hearing a bird chirp outside the balcony door. He realized the sun was barely up, the young rays just barely spilling past his shoulders. He turned his head to his side, a face slipping across his vision as Atemu's sleeping visage greeted him.

He had fallen asleep on his back, Atemu having landed on top of him in exhaustion and wrapping his arms around the smaller form beneath him tightly. He had also left a knee wedged between pale legs.

Yuugi realized in regret that he was sleeping on his wings, and Atemu's weight was shifted to one side, meaning that the teen was going to have a particularly sore wing once he got up.

Not to mention what his lower back was going to do to him once he got up as well.

Oh well. It was more than worth it. Yuugi tried to suppress the yawn that escaped past his lips, but he failed, his rising chest pushing against the Prince's handsomely tanned body. It was then that the eyes next to him blinked open too, pushing haziness and sleep from their glowing depths. Atemu smiled at him, running his hand up Yuugi's arm and to his face affectionately.

"Good morning, love."

Yuugi smiled back, his face becoming warm as he held the hand on his cheek in place, "Good morning."

His mouth still smiled, but his eyes looked a little pained, "You know... it's the first time I can ever remember saying that."

Atemu's eyes looked a little pained as well, not sure about what to say. He gave a weak smile in reply. "You were beautiful last night," he whispered, placing a delicate kiss to Yuugi's temple.

"I feel like I've been whisked into a dream," he continued. He held the Prince's hand tighter, turning just a little to look his lover in the eyes. "Atemu... I don't want to wake up."

The Prince realized something was wrong as he heard that cracked whisper.

"I don't want to wake up," he repeated a little louder. His shoulders started to shake, the Prince pulled him closer, "I don't want to wake up shivering and cold and wet because the roof leaks and hear Jou gasping on the bathroom floor with a hangover! I don't want to feel the old dagger under my pillow and hear the neighbors yelling profanities at each other!"

Atemu wrapped himself around Yuugi as much as he could, bringing his lips over to his ear. "Then don't," he whispered. "You're not going anywhere, so long as you're here."

Yuugi cried. "I don't want to go!"

"My love, listen to me." The choked sobs continued. "Listen to me! The only place you belong now is at my side. Nothing, nor anyone, can change that. Already there are spells in place ensuring your safety. The priestesses at shrines all over the city have been praying for us, and for you, and casting spells for your safety for weeks now. Not only me, and not only this palace, but this entire country is protecting you, Yuugi. Word has already reached the outer cities of your existence."

As shocking as this news was, Yuugi held the Prince as tightly as he could. "Don't let me wake up," he pleaded. "I love you. I've fallen so hard... I didn't even realize..."

Atemu kissed away those many tears. "Love... come with me." He sat up, pulling the trembling form with him. Yuugi did not pull his head away from that comforting shoulder he was pressed against until he felt a soft breeze on his skin. He looked up, realizing he had been guided out onto the balcony. It was the first time he'd ever actually been on it.

The Prince picked one of the wild roses growing on one of the vines wrapped around the marble railing, holding it up for Yuugi to see. "Smell this, love."

He sniffled a bit, his sinuses plugging with his tears, but complied, feeling the intoxicating fragrance wrap around his senses. Absolutely beautiful.

"How could that not possibly be real? How could your pain be a part of just a mere dream?"

Yuugi shook his head. "This is no mere dream. This is a fantastical dream. So far out there, so real, I'm going to think it actually happened when I wake up. I'm so afraid all of this... and you... won't be here tomorrow."

Atemu suddenly realized something, and for some reason it shocked him a little. Everything here... and me... it's all so precious to him. He treasures my love so much, it frightens him and he's afraid what will happen to him if he loses it... he's lost everything else before. To him, what's stopping it from leaving now? Funny... he'd become so accustomed to thinking he was the one with the stronger emotions, simply because he had fallen in love long before Yuugi did. He lifted up Yuugi's chin with his thumb and forefinger, delivering a firm, warm kiss. He pulled away, looking into that pleading face that begged for the reassurance he needed.

"You're not leaving, love. You're not going anywhere, and you're not going to wake up away from here."

"But what if, Atemu? Some things aren't supposed to happen. What if?"

The Prince sighed. The fear was legitimate. But how would he quell it? He pulled away from Yuugi, resigned as only one option came to mind.

"Atemu?"

The Prince extended his left hand, shadows beginning to dance up from his upturned palm. Yuugi's eyes grew wide when a dagger carved of shadows emerged, Atemu now clutching it tightly in his hand. The Prince didn't hesitate, nor did he blink, as in a flash of seconds he raised his right forearm and swiped the dark blade across his tanned gold skin.

Yuugi gasped. "Atemu, what are you doing?"

The Prince held up his bleeding arm. Forcing the blade to disappear again, with his free hand he took a hold of Yuugi's hand and pressed it against his bleeding wound. "Neshestenal ayana ayu. Eyahas ahy elentu est! Mehe nelamyenu nyanteh! Eyahasenu bestuheneh!"

Yuugi's hand started to tingle, then tickle, and suddenly he felt strange energy reverberate through his flesh. It was strange, and his first instinct was to pull away from the foreign feeling. The Prince's other hand held his firmly in place, the blood trickling down both sets of fingers. What is he doing?

Yuugi gasped when suddenly that strange energy shot through his entire system, shaking his bones and rattling him to the core. White flashed before his eyes, touched with blood-shot rubies and golden sun, and he found himself falling against Atemu's muscular form. "What...what did you..." his breath seemed to be leaving him.

"A type of binding," the Prince replied, pulling him closer. Yuugi suddenly realized they were both still completely naked. Atemu's form shook next to his own. "It is something that is not normally done. We are not bonded telepathically yet. That is conducted at the Bonding Ceremony. It's the entire premise behind the occasion." He ran his hand through the teen's hair, and it was then the smaller noticed all of the blood was now gone. "Blood magick is dangerous and powerful, and no matter what it cannot be broken. Our bodies are now linked, Yuugi. If any force were to take you somewhere, by default I would go with you, and vice versa."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what... I'm sorry if I frightened you."

Yuugi sucked in a ragged breath, trying to calm his nerves. "That was bizarre."

The Prince gave a weak chuckle. "I imagine so. Feeling magick the first few times usually is." His body was still shaking. "I need to go sit down for a moment."

Concerned, Yuugi helped him walk back to the bed. The Prince dropped unceremoniously down, releasing a large breath.

"Are you all right?" the teen asked, concerned.

"I-I'm fine... just a little drained."

Yuugi kissed Atemu's cheek, then climbed behind him on the bed and began to rub his shoulders. "I'm sorry for acting childish," he said softly. "I just... I was just so afraid..."

"Don't apologize, Yuugi. There's no reason to. It was a legitimate fear. All I did was put it to rest."

He wrapped his arms around that trembling chest. "I love you. Thank you, so much."

The Prince chuckled, this time with a little more life behind it, and turned around to wrap his arms around the one behind him. "You're no longer falling?"

"I fell so fast I didn't even realize I had it the bottom." The Prince kissed him deeply, breaking off with two or three more chaste kisses. "We should get ready for the day."

"I agree. Have breakfast with me?"

Yuugi's eyes shined with warmth. "I'd love to."

xxx

Yuugi sat in the royal lounge, bored yet again. Mahaado was standing guard outside the door, like usual. Breakfast had been good, but the Prince had to get to work quickly. It seemed everything waited for his spoken word before taking action.

He flapped his left wing, which was the sore one, noticing the muscles were starting to feel a bit better. He'd make sure he slept on his side that night, rather than on his back. Atemu could function without any problems, but he knew how to hide his wings. It seemed once the appendages were out of view, they were no longer a hazard. But like he had been told, it takes a good deal of know-how in order to hide them, and he would need training before he could do so.

Yuugi was just grateful no one in the palace starred. It seemed to be like an unwritten rule about the wings, and he supposed that many of them had gone through a similar experience with the Prince when his had developed. After all, the royalty had been hiding their wings for thousands of years here. Atemu had told him that he'd be confined to a certain are of the palace that was sealed off from the rest, where only royalty and the trustworthy who had been sworn to secrecy could enter. Each young royalty went through this, so Yuugi figured the palace code had wing secrecy pretty well down by now.

The door made a click noise as it was opened up, and Yuugi looked up from the couch he was on to see Mahaado looking in on him. "The Prince sends word, Sire, to meet with him in the main hall."

Atemu had time to see him? Yuugi felt his heart flutter inside his chest. He found it doing that a hell of a lot more lately. "I'm coming." He got up and followed his guard out the door.

Yuugi wondered how on earth they ever managed to find a name for each room. The palace was a like a little city unto its self, with hundreds of inhabitants. Women who mended and wove and crafted clothes for royalty, nobility, and the army, leather craftsman who fashioned anything from protective gear to saddles to boots, cooks and maids and court officials and councilors and representatives from the cities all over the country.The kitchen itself was more like four large rooms, two of them prep kitchens whilst the other two held the actual cooks with dozens of ovens and fires and cookware. That didn't include the pantry itself, which was a large storage room with dried and preservable foods, and then another room that was a cold storage.

And then there was the wine cellar. And goddesses above, did the people in Sekesha love their wine.

And every person in the palace had to be fed.

So indeed it was amazing that someone could never find themselves lost in the vast expanse of this palace. The 'main hall,' actually stretched all around the entire palace that had been built in a circular format, the largest area at the main entrance.

With how big the palace was, it seemed surprising there was an area that could be considered a main entrance at all, even though there were still many other entryways that were heavily used.

The two of them rounded a corner, and the Prince's smiling face came into view. Yuugi smiled back, walking up and wrapping his arms around him. "Hi there."

Atemu gave him a kiss on his temple and a firm hug. "Hello, love. I wanted to introduce you to a couple of people."

Yuugi pulled away and, looking around, noticed two other figures standing next to one another. One was a female, this was without a doubt, but her skin was a pale blue, her hair golden, and she was tall with a quiet face. She also had... pointed ears? Her clothing was exotic even by the palace standards.

The other figure, a male, was extremely tall, with pitch black hair, dark skin, and fiery red eyes. He appeared to have an affinity for black, as it was all he had on.

"Yuugi, these are your new tutors. Please meet Ayana, a Myste Elf, and Daemon, who is in fact a dragon."

The teen's jaw dropped open, but he quickly covered his mouth. Manners were very important here, and he certainly didn't want to offend. "A dragon? You... don't look like one."

The handsome face on the dark man smiled silkily. "You think so?"

Yuugi watched as suddenly a huge shadow extended over his frame, the swirling mass of darkness in front of him growing ever larger.

It was a good thing the hall was indeed quite so large. Yuugi could hardly believe how big the creature in front of him was. The dragon, pure black with gleaming iron scales, towered above him. A head was lowered to his level the size of a bus, and one bright red eye looked at him critically.

"Isss thisss more to your liking?" the voice half hissed.

He swallowed. Atemu saved him from having to comment. "Daemon is a red eyed black dragon. He will be your shadow tutor."

The monstrous creature sunk back down to normal size, a man once again. "It's nice to meet you," Yuugi stated, a bit of relief flooding his system. He was going to make damned sure he didn't get that tutor pissed off. He looked over. "And... Ayana?"

The elf smiled at him sweetly.

He smiled back. "Then I guess you'll be my light teacher. It's good to meet you, too."

"Pleasant greetings to you, too, young Sire."

The Prince held up a silver key in front of Yuugi's purple eyes, "The key to the royal library. Guard it well. You'll need unlimited access from now on."

He gave Yuugi a kiss as the smaller took hold of the key, "I have to get back to work. You'll be training with Daemon today. Ayana, Melu can show you to your room, if you don't already know where it is."

"I do, my Lord."

The Prince grinned. "I had a feeling. Anyway, Yuugi you'll have the same tutor every other day. Good luck, and I'm sure I'll see you passed out on the bed tonight."

Yuugi gave a weak chuckle, "Probably. I'll see you later."

One more kiss, and the Prince headed on his way.

Ayana had only what Yuugi could consider a mystical look in her eyes. She bowed to him slightly, amusement apparent in her glimmering gold eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast, Sire. Sleep well tonight."

"All right."

She left. Yuugi turned his eyes over to Daemon, still a bit apprehensive. "Do you know where we go next?" he asked, scratching just behind his ear. Damn that habit!

"Of course I do. Follow me."

xxx

Yuugi walked out into a small hallway, slumping against a random doorframe and sliding to the floor.

Damn. Daemon had been trying to get him to learn how to actually tap into his powers. After about an hour of trying, the dragon had finally given him a small feel of the magick, like a little jump start. Once the teen knew what he was looking for, he easily found it.

Unfortunately, he didn't know how to exert in moderation, so the practice room now had burn marks all over the once pristine marble.

And by the goddesses, was it exhausting using too much magick. Daemon didn't seem upset about it. Rather, he seemed rather impressed that Yuugi had still been standing afterwards. After more attempts of trying to control the shadows jumping out of his hands, and more burns and abrasions added to the walls, he was finally allowed to take a break.

He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, suddenly hearing voices behind the door he was leaning next to. He could here a couple of voices, both of them male, conversing with one another.

His eyes widened when he realized it was Atemu talking with another person. How is it I always stumble across conversations I was never meant to here? It's not like I go lookingfor them!

"You did what?" the other male asked the Prince. "I don't know if I can believe this!"

"I didn't have any other choice in the matter."

"What do you mean you didn't have any other choice? Your highness, a blood bond? Are you insane?!"

Yuugi's ears really perked up now. That sounded a lot like what had happened that morning.

"Screw the side affects for energy that you're obviously going through now, but the problems that can occur with this? I can't believe you just signed yourself away like that!"

"You act like he'll take advantage of it."

"Damn it, Sire, I don't care how trustworthy he is. You bonded yourself to a novice. A novice! He can't control a glow stick, how do you expect him to not affect you?"

"I have plenty of shields in place. I'll be fine until he's a little more trained."

"You're shields will do little good, Sire! You signed your body over to him, being the only one to spill blood. Good goddess, Atemu, you're practically his slave!"

"I know that!" the Prince roared. "I told you! I didn't have any other choice!"

"What happened to at the very least asking for a mutual bond? Or doing this the other way around? Well?"

"I couldn't put a sharp edge to his skin if I tried. He was already frightened enough this morning. Seeing him cry like that... it crushed me. Not to mention his worry was correct. Strange things like that have happened before. How many Queens have suddenly gone missing from their bed at night?"

"Certainly not enough to warrant putting your own life at risk! I don't care how trustworthy he is, my Lord, he can make mistakes, and do something to you he will come to regret."

"I have more faith in Yuugi than that."

Yuugi was becoming highly confused by this conversation. Atemu? His slave? His body belonged to him? How? And how in the world could he injure the one thing he cared about most? He was getting a little worried.

"Not to mention you can't even reverse this. There's no going back."

"That's why it was this spell that I chose."

"Sire, you know blood bonds are classified under curses. Slave owners in other countries bind slaves to them all of the time, doing goddess-knows-what sick, horrible, twisted and sadistic things to them, and the slave can't even fight back."

"This is not Queschtal!" This Prince growled angrily. "This is Sekesha! I'll sign the death warrant myself for those sick bastards. And Yuugi is a lot brighter than you're giving him credit for. Believe it or not, he's still your superior. I suggest you have a little more faith in him, for your own good."

A sick feeling sunk into the pit of his stomach. Yuugi had a feeling that Atemu was doing a lot of bullying to keep everyone at the very least quiet about his decision of betrothal. First the Priestess, and now this person. Who would be next?

Oh, damn, and his break was going to be over soon...