Fairy Tales Book 1 - The Outiche Kingdom
Part 3
There were two days to go until the funeral and the King was a tension as a spring. Servants had learnt to avoid the King when he was in this foul mood and the only one brave enough, or stupid enough to go near him was Odin. Even Duo kept out of his father's way when he went into manic rage mood. He was panicking about things not being ready for the guests who were arriving the next day.
Duo escaped to see his Grandma that day and stayed in her tower until dinner was called for and he helped her down the stairs. Grandma Maxwell was a strange lady, just like her grandson. She rarely made sense and she rarely talked about anything important. It wasn't often that she joined them for dinner but Duo had begged her until she had given in. It had taken over half the day to get her to come down. She was a very stubborn woman and her grandson was a very stubborn Prince.
Her presence at the dining table calmed Solo down and by the end of it, the King was rather mellow and in need of a good night sleep. He went to bed immediately, ignoring the comment Odin made about him needed his beauty sleep.
Odin then turned to Duo and stuck up the conversation of marriage. Heero quickly made his escape and headed towards the training room. He called for a young officer in the army to spar with him and in walked one of the Specials.
The Special, named Otto, chose his weapon of choice, a long thin sword and quite a large heavy shield. Heero choose his normal weapon. It looked like a normal sword but the blade was made from Elvin Steel and was so light, its weight didn't hinder his movements. The sword had been a present from the Prince of the Woodlands for his coming of age birthday. The shield he chose from the wall belonged to Duo. The Prince's shield was small and light but was shot through with blue sparks of magic. The Special didn't look happy to see the Lowe Prince using his Prince's shield but Heero's strength was well known throughout the land and Otto wondering briefly if sparing with the Prince was a good idea.
An hour later, Otto was hot, sweating, smelly, aching and severely bruised, while Heero had barely broken out in a sweat and was already to begin another fight.
"Enough!" the call rang across the room and both Otto and Heero looked round to see Duo enter the room. "You've abused my solider enough, Prince Heero. You are dismissed, Otto."
Otto bowed as low as his injuries would allow him to before he hurried away, scared that Heero would stop him.
Duo picked up the fallen weapons and with a word they disappeared from his hands and went back to their place on the wall, in their original condition before Heero had beaten the crap out of them.
Heero remained in a fighting stance as Duo reached for the two long daggers that hung off the wall where his shield used to hang before Heero had taken it. He took up the defence position, the daggers held in his hands glowing blue as magic flowed through them. He took up no shield, trusting his own ability to maintain a shield with his magic.
Heero made the first move, prowling to the right before quick stepping forward to hit at Duo's side. The other Prince spun to the left, using one dagger to block the sword from hitting him. The Elvin Magic sparked against the Maxwell Magic and both boys jumped away from the contact. Duo grinned widely.
"You're cheating," he observed.
"I'm not," Heero replied as Duo leapt into an attack. His shield came up to block one dagger while his sword held the other dagger off. Duo grinned as he pressed against the shield, forcing more magic into the shield. Heero's teeth grounded together so hard it could be heard as the magic overload in the shield cause the metal to burn his skin but he refused to let go.
They broke apart, Heero's breathing heavy as his hand seared in pain.
"You are using both my magic and Elvin magic, how can you say you aren't cheating. You wouldn't stand a chance if it wasn't for the fact the magic in your weapons gave you more strength."
"You know full well that even without these weapons, I could crush your skull with my bare hands."
It was a frightening thought but no less true. It scared Duo whenever he saw Heero do hand-to-hand combat. The strength in him came from a childhood spent of training five hours a day, although it had lessen a lot from when his father used to force him to train. Now, it was lucky if Heero managed to get in one hour of training, but as Duo once said, there were far more pleasurable things to be doing than training.
Heero attacked this time, swing his shield at Duo's head who ducked and counter attacked, aiming a swipe at Heero's exposed stomach.
Heero let the dagger glide across his skin as he brought his own sword down on Duo's back.
Duo hissed in pain as the Elvin steel touch the back of his neck; it forced his body to stand still. Heero had command of the Elvin magic that ran through his blade and he used it to lock Duo into place.
"Give up?" he asked.
"You wish," Duo muttered as he thought of fire and flames appeared in his hand and travelled up the blade of his daggers. Heero had to move away to stop getting burnt but as he did, the spell released Duo and the boy spun round, his foot knocking Heero's leg causing the boy to land on his back. Duo stood over Heero, the fire dying in his hands. "Give up?"
Duo reached down a hand, the daggers resting in one hand. Heero grabbed hold and threw his weight into tripping Duo over so the boy ended up on his back, his head beside Heero's but body facing the other direction.
"I give up," Heero whispered, knowing full well that it was a draw; it always was when it was between them.
"Hai," Duo whispered back, speaking in Heero's home tongue.
They remained there for sometime, just simply enjoying each other's company.
* * *
That night, Duo was woken by a knock on his door. He glared at the door and then he glanced out the window; the moon was high in the sky, indicating the time to be either just before or after midnight. He climbed out of bed at the next knock and opened the door.
"What?" he asked.
"Can I sleep with you?"
* * *
Duo woke the following morning to discover his bed was cold and empty. He was laying on his front, a hand stretched out towards the other side of his bed. He could vaguely recall that last night he had shared his bed with Heero but the other boy was nowhere in sight. He rolled over in to the middle of the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He knew there was something he should remember, something very important happened last night but he didn't know what. He growled in annoyance.
The bedroom door opened and in walked Heero carrying what appeared to be a rather large tray of food.
Duo sat up and smiled. "Smells like breakfast."
"I saw the state of the entrance hall. The guests have all arrived. Your father said to say that King James will be put in the Royal Chapel at midday and will remain there until tomorrow morning if you want to say goodbye."
Duo took a deep breath as Heero sat down on the bed with the tray.
"Thank you."
They eat in silence for a few minutes before Duo asked.
"Heero?"
"Yes?"
"Will you come with me this afternoon?"
Heero looked up and nodded. Duo gave him a soft smile that reached his eyes.
"And, um... what happened last night?"
Heero gave a mysterious smirk. "Oh, that was nothing."
"That?"
Heero shrugged, pretending to ignore Duo and continue eating.
"What was that?!"
"I have to go, I need to discuss something with my father."
"Heero?!"
The dark haired youth left without another word, leaving Duo fuming on the bed trying hard to remember what exactly it was that he had done the night before.
* * *
Solo stepped into the chapel that morning to see Treize standing over his father's open coffin.
"Prince Treize," he greeted and the man turned around.
"King Solo, I must thank you for your effects. It looks like it promises to be quite a festival."
"It's what your father would have wanted. I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you," Treize looked back at the coffin. "I only hope I can make him proud."
"He was always proud," Solo praised, "he loved your mother more than anything. He loved you too."
"Not like he loved her" there was a slight bitter tone in his voice but he masked it quickly. "How is Duo? I hear he is coming up to his sixteenth birthday."
"Only a few more weeks to go."
"Has he chosen an engagement ring yet?"
"I'm not forcing Duo into marriage. I love his mother but marriage at such a young age is not a good idea. But I have a feeling there is someone who interests him greatly."
"Hopefully I'll be able to attain his birthday party, unless you see there is any reason why I would not be invited?"
Solo smiled, although it was forced. "No reason to my knowledge, at the moment. Perhaps I could have a moment alone with James?"
Treize gave a bow. "Certainly," he purred before leaving. He shut the door as he went and gave it a glare. "Good riddance for bad rubbish," he hissed before strolling away.
Solo walked up to the coffin and stared down at the pale still handsome man.
"Forgive me," he whispered at his brother-in-law. "Forgive me for what I am going to do to your son."
TBC...
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