Children of the Cosmos

Chapter Four

The atmosphere of Reymer felt very hostile to Duo when he and his caravan had arrived. He had been treated with the upmost curtsey but he had heard rumors of the tension between the two brothers and their ailing father. Lord Dormin had greeted Duo shortly after his arrival in the Great Hall even despite his afflictions. The man was rather tall and the arthritis was setting into his old frame. He was still an imposing figure though, despite his long white hair. The man sat upon his throne, his sons standing on either side of him as he addressed the little lord formally.

Duo had met Odin a few years ago and noticed that the dark haired man hadn't changed much. He still kept his beard short and stood in a very proud manner. However, it was his first time meeting the heir of Reymer. Jay was at least twenty years Odin's senior, his hair already graying. Jay was at least a foot shorter than his younger brother, something that he despised. Duo had heard that the man dabbled in sorcery but he didn't know if that was a rumor or not. The rumors were true though that the future lord had lost his left hand in some past battle and wore a prosthetic hand made by some engineer in a distant land.

"I would stand to embrace you, Duo," Dormin began, "But as you can see the gout in my legs creates a terrible pain when I walk. Excuse me if you will, but could you come closer so that my eyes can see you better?"

Duo stepped upon the dais and allowed the old man to clasp his hand. "You look very much like your mother, son. How is dear Lucrezia? It seems like forever ago she was fostered here."

"She fares well, and thinks of you often, sire,"

"You must be tired from your travels I guess. I'll have my grandson, Treize, show you and your cousin to your rooms. I look forward to you meeting Heero though. I have heard that you have a keen interest in astronomy."

"You heard correctly," Duo replied.

"Our Heero is the same way too, always with his head in the clouds. I hope you find this a common interest between the too."

Duo felt a little relieved that his betrothed had at least one common interest with him, "I have brought a few of my telescopes and would be glad to share them with him."

"Ah, I very well then," Dorman coughed. "I will let you take your leave to rest. Tonight I will send dinner to your room, we shall feast tomorrow and then you can meet our young Heero. Treize?"

An auburn haired man with ice blue eyes stepped forward out of Jay's shadow and bowed to the elderly man, "Yes, Grandfather?"

"Please show Duo and his cousin to his room."

Treize bowed again before stepping off the dais. "Follow me, please," he addressed Duo and Quatre, beckoning them to a wing off the hall.

Later that night Quatre and Duo sat in their chambers eating a tray of fresh fruits, dates, bread, and a bowl of jelly that a servant had brought in. Their room overlooked one of the gardens, an area that was heavily forested with willow trees that bloomed yellow and red flowers. It was a rather beautiful sight and the fragrance from them freshened up their room.

"I think I might run off to find a bath," Quatre announced as he sat the knife down on the table.

"You just had one the other day."

Quatre wrinkled his nose, "I don't think you pushing me into a river constitutes as me being properly bathed."

Duo laughed and waved his cousin off. It was approaching the hour of the owl and most of the members of the castle were already fast asleep. But he noticed that two people were down in the gardens in a heated argument. Curiosity was starting to get the better of him. "Hmm," Duo began to remember, "There was an abundance of cats running around in the court yard; I don't think anyone else will notice another cat frolicking around." Duo began to undress and tossed his clothes to the ground, not bothering to put them away as it would clue Quatre into his disappearance when he returned from his bath. Within an instant Duo had transformed himself into a black cat and jumped upon the balcony. Perching on the railings he hopped down along the scaffolding till he could reach a branch that was large enough to support him. He scuttled along from tree to tree till he found the two men that had gained his curiosity.

"….I will not stand by idly as you commit genocide," upon closer inspection, Duo could see that it was Odin. Odin held his older brother by the forearm, his knuckles turning white from the sheer grip he held. "What you want to do is treason."

Jay laughed as he swatted his younger brother away, "The Order does not believe so, brother. This is the last time I'm asking you: join us, or be destroyed. You crave power just as much as I do, it runs in our blood. If we use your boy we will be unstoppable. Aelius has asked for us to bring him to him…"

Odin jerked his brother back to face him, "You will leave Heero out of this," his voice was sharp and seethed with anger. "I'm going to inform our father about what you're about to do."

"It will all be in vain though, little brother," Jay taunted, "It has already been set into motion. The sorcerers are already on the move towards Qia."

Duo felt his heart began to race, not wanting to stick around he raced back to the balcony of his room. Quatre sat on the one of the chairs running a towel through his hair. He jumped in surprise as a black cat landed on the table that transformed back into his cousin. "What the hell are you doing, Duo," Quatre asked, ignoring his cousin's nudity.

Duo quickly began to fret around the room, shoving articles into his traveling trunks, "Something bad is about to happen, Quat."

Quatre dodged a pair of pants being thrown, "What do you mean? And Duo, please get some clothes back on."

Duo shrugged at his cousin as he stuck his foot into the leg hole of his trousers, "I don't know. I just overheard Jay and Odin talking about something. Jay said that there were sorcerers on their way to Qia."

"Well, the Festival of Lights is upon us soon, I know your mother mentioned they were hiring a group of mages to perform," Quatre was beginning to get annoyed with his cousin's antics, "Duo would you please stop?"

"Quat, I heard them talking about genocide, something is wrong, I feel it in my bones."

"Well now you just sound like an old person."

"Quatre!" Duo was exasperated, "I know what I heard and it didn't sound good. We have to leave right now."

"Duo, think of what you are saying. We can't leave when we have just arrived. You haven't even met the child and if you run off now, our hosts will take it as an offense. Your kingdom's success hinders on this marriage. I'll send out a raven and ask one of the guards to travel back home. I'm sure one of the mages or priests in their service knows how to send a mirror message, I'll inquire about it in the morning," Quatre grabbed his cousin roughly by the shoulders, "Duo, you need to calm down, I'm sure everything will be okay."

Duo took a deep breath, his chest slowly falling, "Alright, Quat. We will stay for now, but after tomorrow we will leave. I'll explain to Lord Dormin that there was an urgent matter and we need to leave. Most of our men are camped outside of the castle, they won't know if we have received a raven or not, and we can use that excuse to leave."

Odin rapped his knuckles on his son's door before entering. Heero had been sitting at his desk, his quill scratching across a lesson that Mullock had been teaching him that day.

"Father!" Heero was startled by his father's sudden entrance. "Father?" Heero noticed the worried etched into his father's normally calm features. Mullock entered the room too, carrying a trunk which he sat down on the couch at the foot of the bed. He opened the latch as Odin grabbed a handful of clothes from his son's wardrobe and began to stuff them into the trunk.

"Father, what's going on?" Heero asked as he stood up from his desk.

Odin knelt down to his seven year old son's level and pulled him into a tight hug. He pulled him away, to see his mother's cobalt blue eyes reflecting back at him. "Son, I love you, I always will."

Heero gulped, he was starting to feel sick in his stomach, "I know that, Father."

"Mullock is going to take you to your grandfather's in Elarian. You will be safe there. I will send for you when I know it is alright for you to return."

"Safe? What's happening, Father, I don't understand."

Odin swept back his precious son's chocolate bangs, "I will tell you when you are older. But for now, go with Mullock: learn from him and the priests of your mother's homeland. The protection of the ancient ones should keep you safe." Odin kissed his son's forehead, "I love you, Heero, and no matter what, I'm proud of you." He gently pushed his son towards Mullock, "Protect him Priest, see that no harm comes to him."

Mullock nodded in understanding, "I will sire. Come Prince Heero, the boat is waiting for us." He picked up the boy's trunk and led him out the door. Heero stopped at the doorway and turned to give one last look at his father before he left.

"Something is wrong, Quatre," Duo stated as they approached the gates of Qia. The night upon their arrival they were woken during the hour of the wolf by Odin who urged them to leave Reymer at once, and Duo, having overheard the two brothers talking, quickly took his advice and left Reymer at once. They had ridden in haste for the last week back to Qia. It was midday when they saw the brown stone wall of Qia looming above them.

"There are no guards," Quatre noted. It was eerily quiet. Too quiet for a city. Duo halted the caravan behind them and gestured for a few guards to ride inside the city with them. It took six guards to pry back the iron bars of the gate to allow them to enter into the court yard. Duo steered his black stallion inside and felt his heart lodge in his throat by what he saw. Rotting corpses were strewn about the yard, maggots already infested them and some had been picked clean by the vultures. Duo dismounted and ran the distance into the castle; Quatre was not too far behind him.

Blood crusted the floor as his shoes clanked against the marble. He ran into the throne room and stopped, sucking in a shaky breath. He shook his head, "No!" he screamed as he ran to the two familiar bodies. Milliard had died fighting to protect his wife; his body lay limply across hers, his hands intertwined with her small delicate one.

Duo collapsed next to the two, his hands trembled as he reached out to them. He swept back a blooded blonde lock from his father's face to see vacant blue eyes gazing back at him.

"Duo," Quatre placed a hand on his cousin's shoulders, tears welling in his eyes. "We need to return to the caravan, the guards are coming. It's not safe here."

Duo wiped the tears from his eyes as he stood. His fists clenched, his knuckles turning a cold white, "Burn it all," he seethed.

The guards made quick work; they dumped anything flammable they could on the ground, hacked up furniture for kindling and shredded cloth. Duo approached the caravan and drew his sword. He quickly slashed at the leather bindings that held the horses to the carriage and led the steeds away.

"Crossbow," he called and a guard presented him with one. He released a few bolts as he walked around the carriage. "Break one of the axles and set it on fire. Make it look like we were attacked."

Duo's anger grew as he watched the men carry out his orders and destroy the carriage

"What do we do now, Duo?" Quatre asked as he watched the carriage go up in flames.

Within Duo, a small part of his heart began to darken. His once pure heart had been compromised and now the darkness would begin to grow. Duo turned around abruptly and mounted his horse to look down at his fair haired cousin, "We get revenge."