Heir
Chapter 15
I hope you all enjoyed Nuri-chan’s guest spot on my fic. Like I’ve told her before, she has a very firm grasp on Duo’s character, and since I admit to having a lot of trouble channeling his character, I was relieved when Nuri asked if she could write a chapter for this fic. >^.^<
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I felt my heart fall to my stomach and bile rise up my throat when Trowa told me what had happened according to the fauna surrounding my home. How could this have happened? I promised that he’d be protected while he was here and now he had been abducted again. It was no wonder people questioned my authority in my kingdom; if I couldn’t even keep my consort safe, what good was I to a kingdom?
When Trowa and Wufei came back, I already had people scurrying about getting things ready for me to leave. I had already sent someone to saddle Wing, and I changed into some treated leather pants and a hard leather body armor that went over my shirt and ended just below my waist.
“Trowa,” I barked as he came in, “you will be my translator and will guide me to Duo, go Heavy Arms, we leave within the hour,” I was furious that my Duo had been taken, but I needed to be rational and have a guide. I couldn’t very well run after Duo blindly. He nodded and went to do what he was told.
“My lord,” Quatre spoke up, “If he goes, I go too.”
I glared at him for a second, but he didn’t back down. After a moment, I remembered Trowa’s geis, and nodded. “Hurry up and get Sandrock ready then,” I growled.
“You will not leave without me, my king,” Wufei said after handing little Lin to her mother. “I am your personal guard; I cannot have you running after a boy without protection. You know-”
“I will go find Duo but I will NOT leave my throne unattended,” I told him, cutting him off. “You are my second-in-command and will be responsible for looking after things while I return. I will not tolerate arguments from you,” I said, cutting him off again as he prepared to refuse.
“I will do as you say, my lord.” He didn’t look too happy about it, but he wasn’t questioning my authority, which was a good thing.
A short time later, I found myself riding at break-neck speed, following a pair of falcons and Trowa’s translations. I had this sick twisting feeling in my stomach that something bad was about to happen and I had no power to stop it. I knew I was going to be too late, but that didn’t stop me from running Wing as fast as she could go.
“Only about two miles left,” Trowa shouted, trying to get my attention.
I nodded and pressed further. I felt a wave of something dark rush over my body and I heard Quatre yelp, but didn’t stop to check on him. I knew something had just happened, and I wasn’t going to like it.
In a clearing, just where Trowa said it would be, I found the most gruesome sight I’d ever seen. Even with being trained for battle and even participating in my youth to know the value of human life, I had never seen anything like what was right before me. Blood was everywhere around me. There were pieces of flesh caught in branches of trees, on rocks, and covering the grass. Blood stained the forest floor and just oozed everywhere. I swallowed, bile rising in my throat. Behind me, I could head Trowa and Quatre dismount and Quatre gasp.
I took a step closer into the clearing and found Duo, huddled into a little ball at the base of a large tree, which was surprisingly free of blood. I carefully made my way around the gore, trying to block out the sounds of Quatre being violently sick, until reaching Duo.
“Duo?” I called, gently touching his shoulder, trying to wake him up. “Duo, what happened to you?”
Haunted violet eyes blinked open and stared right at me, “Master, is that you?” he asked.
“Yes, Duo, It’s me.” He clung to me then, his whole body shaking, but there was something really wrong. I asked what had happened, and after giving me a shaky reply, I helped him onto Wing’s back and had him fall asleep in my arms.
I cradled his body gently and pushed aside a few strands of chestnut silk from his face as we made our way more slowly back to the palace. Beside me, I could hear Trowa make odd noises with his throat and watched as the two falcons flew off. I looked over at Quatre then, who was looking a little green in the gills.
“My lord?” Trowa asked, “I hope you didn’t have any plans for the… remains we found…”
I arched an eyebrow at the tall boy, no, I didn’t have plans for them, but I wanted to know what he was getting at.
“Well,” he looked a little sheepish, “I was told that that is going to be a feast for the scavengers tonight, so I doubt there’ll be anything left of them tomorrow.”
“TROWA!” Quatre yelled, “That’s GROSS!” He then reached for his canteen and drank some cool water, “I did not need to hear that.”
I didn’t say anything and after a while, silence settled between us until Quatre spoke up again, “What happened to Duo? He looks older.”
I nodded a little, “He does. I’m not exactly sure what happened to him, he was in shock when I found him, but I’ll ask him again when we get home.”
With that, there was absolute silence all the way home.
I settled Duo in my room, having him bathe and sleep on my bed while I called a seamstress to measure Duo and wend back to my duties as a sovereign. I wouldn’t be able to see my Duo until that evening, but at least I was assured that he’d rest. It had been a long day today. I was afraid that we would have to stop for the night before finding Duo, and I really didn’t want to think of that.
Had it not been for Trowa and his ability, I really don’t know what I would have done.
Evening rolled around and I really didn’t feel like taking my meal in the dining hall with my friends, so I requested my meal be sent to my room as well as a portion for Duo. Apparently, the servants had gotten wind of what had happened today and were whispering things about Duo non-stop. I knew people felt ill at ease when he was around, but somehow, they’d heard about what we found in the forest. They thought I couldn’t hear them talking behind my back, but I could hear them just fine.
All in all, today was a trying day, and I needed to get some rest.
Tiredly, I walked into my room and found Duo brushing out his hair again. It was longer than it was before, and much more radiant too. He was dressed in a pair of my silk sleeping pants and turned to look at me when I came in.
“Master!” he chirped, leaving his brush on the vanity and jumping up to tackle me in a bear hug. “I missed you today,” he said, sounding sheepish.
I hugged him back, taking the time to smell how his skin and hair smelled like fresh lavender. “I missed you too,” I told him. I then sat back in the chair I had used the day we met and let him sit on my lap. “What happened to you, my little Shinigami?”
Duo looked away, one hand playing with some strands of his loose chestnut mane, “I... I was told that my powers were too much for a thirteen-year-old body to handle, so I grew.”
“You were told?” I asked.
He nodded, “I can hear my ancestors in my head. They released the power that was in me to protect me today...”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, hugging him tightly, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there sooner.”
He shivered in my arms and huddled closer to me, “Thank you for keeping me, Master... I... I was really afraid you’d get rid of me when you found me.”
I kissed his forehead and held him comfortingly, “I would never get rid of you, my Shinigami. You belong to me just as much as I do you.”
He jumped when someone knocked on our door, blushing out of embarrassment for being startled by the maid bringing us dinner.
We ate lightly, since neither of us was really hungry and set the tray aside. I tiredly crawled into my bed, waiting for Duo to come to bed too. When I didn’t feel the dip of the bed to indicate Duo had gotten on with me, I opened my tired eyes and looked for him. He was standing at the foot of my bed, looking a little nervous.
“Duo, what’s wrong?” I asked, sitting up a little.
He bit his lower lip a little and fiddled with the drawstring of his pants.
I sighed, “I won’t do anything more than I’ve done for the last year,” I told him. Not that I wasn’t tempted to, but I was just too tired today to even think about such a thing.
“What about when you’re not tired?” he asked, momentarily surprising me since I hadn’t said that out loud.
“Like I’ve said before,” I told him, resting my forearm over my eyes, “I won’t take anything you aren’t willing to give.”
I didn’t look at him, but I felt the bed dip and the sheets rustle. A moment later, I felt his body press to mine. I rolled over and hugged him close to me. Yes, the body felt different than before, but it was still my Duo. We automatically knew how to position ourselves so that we fit together quite comfortably.
“Goodnight, my beautiful Shinigami,” I whispered as sleep began to take me.
“Goodnight, Master,” he whispered back.