LSE // 10-20-02
(Enslaving the Heart - Chapter Fourteen: Shadowed Secrets)
rated: R - language, content, violence
shounen-ai/extreme AU
Shadowed Secrets
Night was softly falling when the carriage returned to the manor.
Relena stepped out, assisted by her brother, and realized with half-
hearten disappointment that it would be far too late for a hanging.
She peered up at Milliard and smiled shyly, "Brother, did I tell you
a slave tried to run off?"
An odd look came over Milliard's face, but he cleared it immediately
and politely encouraged his sister to continue with her little story.
They advanced up the walkway towards the house, followed closely by
Noin. Relena beamed as she said, "He was caught, of course. We were
going to have the punishment today, but I said to Trieze, I said,
'Trieze, wouldn't it be far better if we waited and let my beloved
brother watch, as well?' So, tomorrow, would you like to see the
slave hung?"
"Hung? Is death the punishment for a runaway?" Milliard said a slight
trace of scorn.
Relena looked hurt as she glanced up at him from the veil of her hair,
long since freed from it's secured spot and left to float about her
face. She had hardly noticed when it happened, but now she was
acutely aware of how childish it made her look. Girls wore their hair
down, ladies wore it up. Simple as that.
"Of course, Milliard. That's how things are. I would rather keep the
boy, it would be greatly cheaper, but we have to set examples for the
others. If there was no grave punishment for trying to run, we would
have slaves taking off as soon as we looked away."
"There is so much I must learn about managing estates. You've done
well since Father died. I'm very proud."
Relena basked in the warmth of her brother's praise, "I'm a great
lady, aren't I, Milliard?"
"Yes, you are. Wouldn't you like to be a kind, merciful lady as well?
I know you don't like war, so why taint your hands with the blood of
slaves?" Milliard coaxed, guiding Relena away from the wary slaves
and into one of the casual living rooms. Noin followed them still,
unnoticed by either lord or lady.
"Are you suggesting I just let him go without punishment?" Relena
said, warmth leaving her eyes as she coldly looked up at her brother.
"Of course not," he soothed, "I'm sure you can think of some
alternative to death." Millard stepped away from her, gesturing to a
portrait along one wall as he deftly and abruptly changed the
subject, "You look simply grand in this painting, Relena. Pink
becomes you."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone else was in the room.
Heero lay perfectly still, even going as far to keep his breathing
the same level measure as if he were sleeping. That someone wasn't
moving, wasn't posing threat.
He allowed himself to relax in just the slightest before opening his
eyes and letting them adjust to the dark. The person sat between him
and the window, the pale moonlight outlining the shadowed form and
preventing him from seeing facial features.
"You're awake," the darkness whispered, and he recognized the voice
immediately. "Wanna go on a little trip?"
Heero sat up carefully, looking not to Duo, but to the door, "What
kind of trip?"
"We'll be back before morning. You won't have to worry about her,"Duo
stressed the pronoun, indicating both Relena and Mistress Po in one
word, "and he's been taken care of, too," meaning Trieze.
"Where to?"
"That's a secret," Duo whispered, offering out his hand, "but trust
me, you want to come. What have you to lose?"
Being condemned to die certainly put things into perspective, and Duo
had a point. Plus you trust him, whispered a little part of his mind.
Heero ignored the offered hand, though, and stood by himself. To his
slight surprise, the movement didn't send waves of harsh pain across
his back.
Duo noticed and smiled into the darkness, "Mistress Po's a real
wonder, isn't she? Can you crawl through the window? It's a little
bit of a fall, so be careful," Duo warned as he sat on the window
sill and looked back to Heero.
"Hn," Heero gave as an answer. Duo took it for a yes and dropped out
from sight, landing with a soft noise to the ground. Heero followed,
but he landed slightly off and was about to fall when a strong hand
caught his arm. Heero murmured a slight thanks and chided himself
mentally, but didn't pull free of Duo's touch.
"Hurry, Maxwell, we haven't got the time to stand around," came
Wufei's voice from the shadows. The boy stepped out from his place
against the wall and fixed them both with a scornful look.
"Maxwell?" Heero whispered once they were moving stealthily away from
the small building and across the swath of land.
"Duo Maxwell, at your service," Duo whispered back, taking Heero's
hand with a sly look, smiling slightly in the dark.
"Mistress Po said slaves weren't allowed last names."
"We field hands are, it's a sign of our lower ranking. Isn't that
perfectly messed up?"
"Quiet," Wufei whispered harshly to them both, cutting off further
conversation.
Heero became aware that they weren't the only darken forms stealing
away from the manor at night. He resisted asking where they were
going and instead focused on making as little noise as possible. Soon
the grass beneath their feet gave way to the cluttered under growth
of the forest. Wufei led the way, expertly picking path through the
scattered debris and avoiding twigs or leaves. The three of them were
shadows.
Gradually, moonlight and darkness gave way to a warm glow as, through
the trees, Heero could make out firelight. A small bonfire, enough
for light and heat, but enough to be seen from the manor or the edge
of the forest, stood in the middle of a clearing.
Several slaves were gathered around, shaking out the chill of the
night and talking in low, whispered voices. More slaves poured in
from the forest, bundled together in groups of twos and threes. Most
of them wore a copper ring through the one ear, but there were a few
silver. He didn't see any gold, which made him suddenly aware of his
own earring.
They passed through the trees and approached the fire, a ripple going
through the gathered mass. Heads turned and eyes widened slightly,
and for a moment Heero thought it was because of his gold earring,
but he spotted Quatre and Trowa not too far off and scratched that
theory.
"Well, if it isn't Master Trieze's hand puppet," a slave sneered,
looking down at Wufei contemptuously.
"More like hand job..."
"Or fuck puppet."
Wufei's ears tinged red, but otherwise he didn't show any signs of
being bothered by the whispered comments. Duo, on the other hand,
flushed crimson with anger and stepped forward, fists raised and
ready for a fight, "Take that back, Huern," he snarled.
The other slave's eyes narrowed darkly, but before a fight could
break out, Wufei placed a hand on Duo's shoulder and said quietly,
"Let it go, Maxwell."
Duo held the other boy's glare, but he stepped back and nodded once,
"Your right."
"What is this?" Heero asked when the trouble had passed. More of the
house slaves, with their silver and gold, filed in and took up places
around the fire. Among them, he recognized Relena's attendants,
Mariemaia and Hilde.
"A secret meeting of the slave resistance," Duo replied with a wild
grin. Heero blinked in surprise and started to accuse Duo of lying,
but the grin faded and he nodded seriously, "I guess I'm taking a
risk, bringing you here. Wufei didn't think we could trust you." Duo
watched his face carefully, looking for hesitation.
"You can trust me," Heero said softly, looking at the gathered slaves
in a different light than before. He saw it now, the subtle
nervousness that enveloped them all. Quatre stood close to Trowa,
ever so lightly stroking his fingers across the other boy's hand as
they both watched the fire.
He also saw the fear pass from Duo's eyes, fear that Heero would try
to betray them, fear he wouldn't accept the chance Duo was offering.
Of course, there was a shadow looming over Heero's life, that
impending doom of his punishment. As if having read his mind, Duo
said, "I don't think she'll hang you."
"Hn? Why not?"
"Lady Relena's a softy under it all."
Heero let out a snort of disbelief, "You've never met her, have you?"
"She called us all to her parlor when they were trying to find you.
She seemed very concern when it turned out you were hurt. She's not
much older than us, you know. Maybe even younger. No family left
except for her brother, and he's... Well, he's not around to oversee
the manor, so it's all up to her. Trust me, she won't hang you."
Despite Duo's words, Heero could see in his mind the chill of Relena's
eyes, those icy hues void of all sympathy. He started to tell Duo a
little about the kind of lady Relena Peacecraft was, but a stir of
movement at the edge of the clearing stopped him. The slaves fell
back as a black robed figure walked out from the forest flanked on
either side by a man and woman, who also wore robes, but upon
entering the clearing pushed the dark hoods off their faces.
The other person remained hooded, a deep cowl concealing age, gender
and appearance. The woman cast her eyes about the slaves, who had
gathered around her and the other two instead of the fire. "There are
less here than last time," she noted with obvious disappointment.
"Who are they?" Heero whispered to Duo, even though he'd already
assumed the three were the leaders of the resistance.
"The woman's known as Lin. I don't know the man, he must be from a
different estate or something..." Duo frowned slightly.
"And the other?"
"Zechs Marquise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Wai! I managed to get one more chapter written! Of
course, it's so late I probably will have to add it tomorrow...
*sigh* Oh well, at least it's written, right?
I tried to explain it within the story, but some of you were a bit
confused as to the whole "Wilds" kinda thing. You know how all the
Gundam boys are from the colonies? The Wilds (note the capital) is
the area outside of the civilized world in the story, notably the
kingdom in which the Peacecraft manor belongs and the neighboring
kingdoms. Slaves are often taken from the Wilds, but slaves can also
be children sold into it by their parents, or captured in battle. So,
to clarify once more, the Wilds are a place that Heero, Duo and Wufei
are confirmed to be from.
I just have to acknowledge that one of the ideas that I used in this
story (the earrings worn by the slaves, except in the books its a lip
ring, but that's not as sexy, is it? ^^) comes from the Sword of
Truth books by Terry Goodkind.
Someday, I am *so* going to write a Sword of Truth fusion...
Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated! More chapters soon.
copyright 2002 - Gundam Wing and characters copyright other people.
LSE - "Violet" ([email protected])
Email me to join my Update ML (be alerted when I add new stories)
www.geocities.com/manzokubiscuit/index.html
(Enslaving the Heart - Chapter Fourteen: Shadowed Secrets)
rated: R - language, content, violence
shounen-ai/extreme AU
Shadowed Secrets
Night was softly falling when the carriage returned to the manor.
Relena stepped out, assisted by her brother, and realized with half-
hearten disappointment that it would be far too late for a hanging.
She peered up at Milliard and smiled shyly, "Brother, did I tell you
a slave tried to run off?"
An odd look came over Milliard's face, but he cleared it immediately
and politely encouraged his sister to continue with her little story.
They advanced up the walkway towards the house, followed closely by
Noin. Relena beamed as she said, "He was caught, of course. We were
going to have the punishment today, but I said to Trieze, I said,
'Trieze, wouldn't it be far better if we waited and let my beloved
brother watch, as well?' So, tomorrow, would you like to see the
slave hung?"
"Hung? Is death the punishment for a runaway?" Milliard said a slight
trace of scorn.
Relena looked hurt as she glanced up at him from the veil of her hair,
long since freed from it's secured spot and left to float about her
face. She had hardly noticed when it happened, but now she was
acutely aware of how childish it made her look. Girls wore their hair
down, ladies wore it up. Simple as that.
"Of course, Milliard. That's how things are. I would rather keep the
boy, it would be greatly cheaper, but we have to set examples for the
others. If there was no grave punishment for trying to run, we would
have slaves taking off as soon as we looked away."
"There is so much I must learn about managing estates. You've done
well since Father died. I'm very proud."
Relena basked in the warmth of her brother's praise, "I'm a great
lady, aren't I, Milliard?"
"Yes, you are. Wouldn't you like to be a kind, merciful lady as well?
I know you don't like war, so why taint your hands with the blood of
slaves?" Milliard coaxed, guiding Relena away from the wary slaves
and into one of the casual living rooms. Noin followed them still,
unnoticed by either lord or lady.
"Are you suggesting I just let him go without punishment?" Relena
said, warmth leaving her eyes as she coldly looked up at her brother.
"Of course not," he soothed, "I'm sure you can think of some
alternative to death." Millard stepped away from her, gesturing to a
portrait along one wall as he deftly and abruptly changed the
subject, "You look simply grand in this painting, Relena. Pink
becomes you."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone else was in the room.
Heero lay perfectly still, even going as far to keep his breathing
the same level measure as if he were sleeping. That someone wasn't
moving, wasn't posing threat.
He allowed himself to relax in just the slightest before opening his
eyes and letting them adjust to the dark. The person sat between him
and the window, the pale moonlight outlining the shadowed form and
preventing him from seeing facial features.
"You're awake," the darkness whispered, and he recognized the voice
immediately. "Wanna go on a little trip?"
Heero sat up carefully, looking not to Duo, but to the door, "What
kind of trip?"
"We'll be back before morning. You won't have to worry about her,"Duo
stressed the pronoun, indicating both Relena and Mistress Po in one
word, "and he's been taken care of, too," meaning Trieze.
"Where to?"
"That's a secret," Duo whispered, offering out his hand, "but trust
me, you want to come. What have you to lose?"
Being condemned to die certainly put things into perspective, and Duo
had a point. Plus you trust him, whispered a little part of his mind.
Heero ignored the offered hand, though, and stood by himself. To his
slight surprise, the movement didn't send waves of harsh pain across
his back.
Duo noticed and smiled into the darkness, "Mistress Po's a real
wonder, isn't she? Can you crawl through the window? It's a little
bit of a fall, so be careful," Duo warned as he sat on the window
sill and looked back to Heero.
"Hn," Heero gave as an answer. Duo took it for a yes and dropped out
from sight, landing with a soft noise to the ground. Heero followed,
but he landed slightly off and was about to fall when a strong hand
caught his arm. Heero murmured a slight thanks and chided himself
mentally, but didn't pull free of Duo's touch.
"Hurry, Maxwell, we haven't got the time to stand around," came
Wufei's voice from the shadows. The boy stepped out from his place
against the wall and fixed them both with a scornful look.
"Maxwell?" Heero whispered once they were moving stealthily away from
the small building and across the swath of land.
"Duo Maxwell, at your service," Duo whispered back, taking Heero's
hand with a sly look, smiling slightly in the dark.
"Mistress Po said slaves weren't allowed last names."
"We field hands are, it's a sign of our lower ranking. Isn't that
perfectly messed up?"
"Quiet," Wufei whispered harshly to them both, cutting off further
conversation.
Heero became aware that they weren't the only darken forms stealing
away from the manor at night. He resisted asking where they were
going and instead focused on making as little noise as possible. Soon
the grass beneath their feet gave way to the cluttered under growth
of the forest. Wufei led the way, expertly picking path through the
scattered debris and avoiding twigs or leaves. The three of them were
shadows.
Gradually, moonlight and darkness gave way to a warm glow as, through
the trees, Heero could make out firelight. A small bonfire, enough
for light and heat, but enough to be seen from the manor or the edge
of the forest, stood in the middle of a clearing.
Several slaves were gathered around, shaking out the chill of the
night and talking in low, whispered voices. More slaves poured in
from the forest, bundled together in groups of twos and threes. Most
of them wore a copper ring through the one ear, but there were a few
silver. He didn't see any gold, which made him suddenly aware of his
own earring.
They passed through the trees and approached the fire, a ripple going
through the gathered mass. Heads turned and eyes widened slightly,
and for a moment Heero thought it was because of his gold earring,
but he spotted Quatre and Trowa not too far off and scratched that
theory.
"Well, if it isn't Master Trieze's hand puppet," a slave sneered,
looking down at Wufei contemptuously.
"More like hand job..."
"Or fuck puppet."
Wufei's ears tinged red, but otherwise he didn't show any signs of
being bothered by the whispered comments. Duo, on the other hand,
flushed crimson with anger and stepped forward, fists raised and
ready for a fight, "Take that back, Huern," he snarled.
The other slave's eyes narrowed darkly, but before a fight could
break out, Wufei placed a hand on Duo's shoulder and said quietly,
"Let it go, Maxwell."
Duo held the other boy's glare, but he stepped back and nodded once,
"Your right."
"What is this?" Heero asked when the trouble had passed. More of the
house slaves, with their silver and gold, filed in and took up places
around the fire. Among them, he recognized Relena's attendants,
Mariemaia and Hilde.
"A secret meeting of the slave resistance," Duo replied with a wild
grin. Heero blinked in surprise and started to accuse Duo of lying,
but the grin faded and he nodded seriously, "I guess I'm taking a
risk, bringing you here. Wufei didn't think we could trust you." Duo
watched his face carefully, looking for hesitation.
"You can trust me," Heero said softly, looking at the gathered slaves
in a different light than before. He saw it now, the subtle
nervousness that enveloped them all. Quatre stood close to Trowa,
ever so lightly stroking his fingers across the other boy's hand as
they both watched the fire.
He also saw the fear pass from Duo's eyes, fear that Heero would try
to betray them, fear he wouldn't accept the chance Duo was offering.
Of course, there was a shadow looming over Heero's life, that
impending doom of his punishment. As if having read his mind, Duo
said, "I don't think she'll hang you."
"Hn? Why not?"
"Lady Relena's a softy under it all."
Heero let out a snort of disbelief, "You've never met her, have you?"
"She called us all to her parlor when they were trying to find you.
She seemed very concern when it turned out you were hurt. She's not
much older than us, you know. Maybe even younger. No family left
except for her brother, and he's... Well, he's not around to oversee
the manor, so it's all up to her. Trust me, she won't hang you."
Despite Duo's words, Heero could see in his mind the chill of Relena's
eyes, those icy hues void of all sympathy. He started to tell Duo a
little about the kind of lady Relena Peacecraft was, but a stir of
movement at the edge of the clearing stopped him. The slaves fell
back as a black robed figure walked out from the forest flanked on
either side by a man and woman, who also wore robes, but upon
entering the clearing pushed the dark hoods off their faces.
The other person remained hooded, a deep cowl concealing age, gender
and appearance. The woman cast her eyes about the slaves, who had
gathered around her and the other two instead of the fire. "There are
less here than last time," she noted with obvious disappointment.
"Who are they?" Heero whispered to Duo, even though he'd already
assumed the three were the leaders of the resistance.
"The woman's known as Lin. I don't know the man, he must be from a
different estate or something..." Duo frowned slightly.
"And the other?"
"Zechs Marquise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Wai! I managed to get one more chapter written! Of
course, it's so late I probably will have to add it tomorrow...
*sigh* Oh well, at least it's written, right?
I tried to explain it within the story, but some of you were a bit
confused as to the whole "Wilds" kinda thing. You know how all the
Gundam boys are from the colonies? The Wilds (note the capital) is
the area outside of the civilized world in the story, notably the
kingdom in which the Peacecraft manor belongs and the neighboring
kingdoms. Slaves are often taken from the Wilds, but slaves can also
be children sold into it by their parents, or captured in battle. So,
to clarify once more, the Wilds are a place that Heero, Duo and Wufei
are confirmed to be from.
I just have to acknowledge that one of the ideas that I used in this
story (the earrings worn by the slaves, except in the books its a lip
ring, but that's not as sexy, is it? ^^) comes from the Sword of
Truth books by Terry Goodkind.
Someday, I am *so* going to write a Sword of Truth fusion...
Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated! More chapters soon.
copyright 2002 - Gundam Wing and characters copyright other people.
LSE - "Violet" ([email protected])
Email me to join my Update ML (be alerted when I add new stories)
www.geocities.com/manzokubiscuit/index.html