By the Red Moon Part 16
"He is here, Lord Dekim."
In a dark room, they huddled closely before the small, glowing sphere hovering before their face. Peering through that mirror was none other than the dark-cloaked sorcerer. "The prophecy has come full circle on his return to this realm."
Comfortably seated on a throne, the gray-haired man leaned close to his own sphere to watch the face in the shadows. A smirk on his face, he chuckled, "I am not concerned with the prince. There has yet to be a clear vision of what the future holds for him with the gifted that I have control over blocking that ability. There is no mere man or woman alive that I fear as a threat that can stop me."
Bowing their head, the messenger replied, "Of course, my lord. I will continue to relay any further information that I may have on him as well as this forming army's whereabouts the moment I have it."
Dekim Baton nodded firmly, "Very good. Until then, I bid you thanks for the news." The globe caught on fire and disappeared without a hint of smoke when it all vanished.
With a deep breath, the spy removed the hood covering their head and left the room to easily slip back into the background that was the business of the palace.
* * * * * *
Moments later, Lady Une hurried down the front steps leading into her castle alongside Duo with his friends close behind. For their parts, Heero, Wufei, Anna and the others all had amused smiles on their faces.
The sight of the queen all but running into sight had drawn the attention of both staff and civilians that had been around. Stopping whatever it was they had been doing, they watched their leader in surprise.
Stepping into the courtyard, she raised her head to the darkening skies and scanned around, her brown eyes wide. "You say that she is somewhere close by?" she asked urgently. Against the red light of the setting sun, she shielded her eyes.
"Yep," the braided prince grinned. "Probably within earshot, seeing how unhappy she was to have to leave me before we arrived." Frowning, he turned to the queen and told her, "I hope that you don't feel uncomfortable with a dragon like her in your care."
Her hand lowering, Lady Une faced him and smiled reassuringly, "She is your steed. There is no reason for her to have to hunt for her food or sleep out in the woods as long as you are here. No matter how... unique the situation may be, I will see to it that she will be cared for as if she was my own."
Running up behind the gathered guests, Mueller and the other advisors rushed to their leader's side. "My lady," the Commander panted with his eyes filled with concern. "What is going on that you would rush out here and make such a scene?"
Instead of answering when she turned to him, she ordered, "Signal to the guards at the walls to stand down. This should only last for a few minutes, then they may resume their watches as usual."
Mueller stiffened as he blinked in shock, sputtered, "W-what? My queen, I do not understand why I should-"
"There is something that simply must be seen to be believed," Lady Une cut him off with a grin. "And the news that I have just learned is simply too amazing to believe simply in hearing it." Her tone taking on authority, she charged, "Now if you please, Commander, send the signal to call off the guards on the walls."
His mouth opening and closing, the soldier stood stunned for a moment before he hurried for the flag post a few feet ahead at the center of the yard. Stomping as he went, there was no hiding the fact that he was fuming.
Under his breath to his wife, Quatre muttered, "I do not think that you need to hear from me how unhappy he is at this moment." Biting her lip, Relena fought another laugh as she buried her head into his shoulder.
Trowa snorted quietly, "I cannot wait to see his face in about five minutes." Scanning around the filling courtyard, he added, "Or, really, anyone's face for that matter." Heero, Wufei and Anna nodded their heads in agreement.
Quietly speaking with the men there, he watched as they raised a silver flag to the top of the pole and it waved in the breeze. In the far distance of several miles out, the line along the inside of the walls was lit by candles.
Retuning to Lady Une's side, Mueller nodded, "The guards have seen the signal, my lady. They will only return to their posts when the flag is lowered." Dark eyes focusing on the braided prince, he questioned, "Now, what is all of this about?"
A wide grin tugged his lips, Duo looked away from the Commander to stare up to the skies. Bringing his hand to his mouth, he whistled loud enough that the sound echoed off of the marble surroundings.
Only all the more confused, the advisors looked up along with the teenager and his friends. Soon, the dozens of others standing by were doing the same.
The breeze picked up the slightest bit as everyone stood around in silence for a minute. Then, a massive black dragon swooped just over Virgo's walls to the cries of the guards and civilians in the city below. Flapping her massive wings, the creature spread them out to drift on the wind in a clear course for the castle.
"Dear spirits!" a woman shrieked in the courtyard as she and the crowd around began to scatter, screaming while they made a clearing in the space.
Arms falling limply at her sides, a wide-eyed and slack-jawed Lady Une watched the dragon approach. Mueller and his fellow advisors looked on in shock and terror as they slowly stepped back for the steps to the castle.
Coming to a stop above the cleared ring in the yard, the black beast drifted down to make a graceful landing. Talons extended, they clicked against the cobblestone ground when she lowered her wings. Large green eyes blinking, she tilted her head at her rider and lowered her neck to nuzzle his chest with her snout.
Just managing to stay on his feet, Duo laughed and hugged back as best he could. "Hey, Deathscythe," he greeted. "Thanks for waiting, girl." A low rumbling, much like a deep purring, resonated in her chest as a response.
Very slowly, cautiously, those that had run away screaming were making their way back to stare on in disbelief. When the dragon licked the side of the prince's face to make him laugh again, they gained more confidence that all was well and came as close as they felt comfortable.
Nearly about to fall over, Mueller let out the breath that had locked in his lungs. Unable to hold back their urges any longer, Heero and his friends all broke into snickering and laughing fits that shook their bodies.
The eldest advisor of Asian descent walked up beside his stricken queen, unable to take his gaze from the sight before them. "T-this simply cannot be," he breathed. "Never in the hundreds of years that I have been alive has a black dragon ever linked themselves to a human to become their steed."
Finally breaking from her state of surprise, she peered over at him and stated, "Only making this moment all the more remarkable." Lifting the skirt of her long, red dress, she moved for the prince and his steed.
When she neared, Duo smiled widely, "Lady Une, I'd like you to meet Deathscythe." Sniffing, his steed stretched her head out to the woman.
Hesitantly reaching out, the queen ran her hand along the smooth scales at the end of the long nose. Releasing the air she had been holding in a quiet laugh when the steed leaned into the touch, she whispered, "It is a great pleasure to meet you, Deathscythe."
At that, Mueller began to fume anew. Glaring heatedly across to the prince as he stormed up beside his leader, he implored, "My lady, I certainly hope that you will not take this strange circumstance into consideration when you are making your decision-"
Cutting him of again, Lady Une snapped her head at him with narrowed eyes. "Not now, Commander," she growled. "You should know me better that. So, I suggest not bringing up the topic again."
His back straightening, the soldier swallowed roughly. Nodding curtly, he turned on his heels and led the other advisors back up the steps to disappear into the castle.
The queen shook her head and met the violet eyes watching her. "I apologize for that," she frowned sincerely. "It was very inappropriate timing for that comment and for my temper to be shown in such a way before guests."
"You like to apologize for a lot of things that aren't your fault," Duo snickered. "You don't have to be sorry for anything."
Blinking her brown eyes, his host grinned and shook her head in wonder. "You truly are a rare person," she giggled, making him look away to hide his blush. Lightly patting Deathscythe's head, she melted at the way the sweet dragon was staring at her.
Lady Une announced to the steed, "Let's get you a good meal and a warm bed for the evening." Raising her head, she searched the crowd gathered around and stopped when she located the man she was looking for. "Howard," she called. "Would you and your squires please be kind enough to see this one to the stables?"
Duo followed her line of sight to see an old man with a thick mustache and balding head of hair step forward. Scrawny and progressed in years as he was, he also seemed to be in perfect health as he approached. Adjusting the round-framed glasses at the end of his nose, he gave as friendly a smile as he had ever seen.
Bowing at the waist, the old man replied, "Of course, my queen. It would be an honor." As he rounded the beast to really take in her size, he raised his head and laughed, "Dear spirits, she is huge. We'll have to double the portions for her dinner."
"Howard is our head squire and an expert on dragons," Lady Une informed the braided teenager. Grinning, she stated, "Any steed would be fortunate to be under his care if even for a day or two in their lives."
The squire waved a hand and huffed, "Aw, please do not stop with the flattery on my behalf, your highness." Meeting the prince's eyes, he shrugged, "I'm just an old geezer who took on looking after these big lizards when my own kids grew up and moved on."
Chuckling along with the queen, Duo came to the conclusion right then that he could tell that he was going to like the head squire. And Deathscythe seemed to also think kindly of Howard as she craned her head towards him for attention.
Without showing a bit of fear, Howard ran his hands over her snout and grinned, "Oh, you are a pretty one, lass." Leaning her face against him, the steed thumped her long tail and cleared more space when it made the masses around step back.
To the emerald eyes blinking on him, the squire asked, "What do you say to following me to the stables? You have not lived as a dragon until you've enjoyed the pleasantries of a straw bed, prepared food and a bath."
Her head perking up, Deathscythe peered back at her rider to pass on a hopeful expression in her large eyes. "Go on, now," Duo smirked. "I'll see you as soon as I can in the morning."
Grunting, his winged creature nodded shallowly, focused back on Howard and followed him into the stables. As the dragon walked off, the crowd around broke their silence of both complete fear and amazement to talk quietly amongst themselves while the silver flag was lowered from the flagpole.
A hand running through his bangs, the prince gazed back on the queen and sighed, "I appreciate your hospitality, your highness. I would have been worried about her all night if she had to stay out on her own."
Lady Une shook her head, grinning, "And I would have felt terrible if that had happened, so I thank you for trusting me." By then, the sun had completely faded away beneath the horizon to darken the sky save for the light of the full moon and millions of stars.
Gazing back up to the heavens, the grin on her face faded as the previous worries from the earlier discussions seemed to work their way back into her features. "I am tired," she said quietly enough that Duo had to strain his ears to catch it. "I will be retiring for the evening."
Before leaving, the queen faced all of her guests and put on another smile to say, "I hope that you all have a pleasant evening." Offering their own 'good night's' and waves, the group watched as she lifted the length of her dress to head back up the stairs and into the castle.
Duo chewed on the inside of his cheek, his heart sinking yet again for Lady Une and the difficult burden that she carried. Shuddering over the thought of him ever being in her position, he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously.
"We should probably consider turning in ourselves," Heero advised the lot. "I have a feeling that we will be in for another long day here tomorrow, given the company of Mueller and the other advisors." No one raised an objection as they filtered back to the palace.
The last to leave, the prince stared at the ground in deep thought. He was able to have a moment of forgetting about what was at stake for him... for everyone in this world. But now, it was all coming back like a tidal wave that was rising over head to pull him under.
Nearly on the verge of a panic attack, he was saved by a familiar voice asking softly, "Is everything alright?"
Blinking his violet eyes, Duo raised his head to find the Captain standing just before him. Surprised that he was so lost in his thoughts that the other teenager had snuck up on him, he took a moment to catch his breath.
"No," he admitted after a long silence between them. Shaking his head, he shrugged, "Everything's not alright."
Heero tilted his head, frowning, but he would not say anything to give his prince some time to collect himself.
The braided youth growled in frustration as he began to pace back and forth. "I didn't say a damned thing back in that meeting tonight," he hissed. "Except for sharing some of my past when asked, I may as well not have even been there."
With a bitter laugh escaping him, Duo threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, "The messed up thing is that I wanted to avoid saying anything!" Physically deflating, he shook his head, "And now I think that I let all of you down by keeping quiet. Maybe Quatre had the right idea to influence me into what to do."
Closing the distance between them, Heero rested his hands on either shoulder of the prince. And the piercing, stern look in his cobalt eyes had Duo's widening as he froze in place when they locked.
"You did not let us down," the Captain insisted, leaving no room for argument in his tone. "There is a lot of pressure on your shoulders. We all know that and are doing what we can to keep it from crushing you. But, if you start to second guess yourself as you are now, there will be no way of helping you or anyone."
Smirking, Heero shrugged, "Your agreeing to come here and prove to the Virgonians that the prophecy around you came true, helped more than you know. And you've stayed true to who you are just as you wanted." Lowering his arms, he added, "If there is suddenly something more that you think you can do, there is nothing holding you back except yourself. Right?"
It was such a simple but... poignant thing. And Duo realized that he had been so lost in his fears and self doubts that the answer had been in front of him all along.
The corner of his mouth lifting, he nodded, "You're right. Thanks." Why his heart had seemed to skip a couple of beats when the Captain was touching him was a question that he pushed into the back of his mind along with all of the strange things involving his reactions to the Captain.
Heero turned on his heels to lead the way back into the castle. Exchanging their farewells for the night when they reached Duo's room, the prince closed the door behind himself and leaned against it with a deep sigh.
What he needed to do was perfectly clear to him now. One way or another, he was going to have to find a way to speak with Lady Une alone.
* * * * * *
Finishing the meal that had been put into the trough that had been set out for her, Deathscythe had the eyes of the steeds peeking their heads above the closed doors to their 'rooms' on her. Snorting to himself, Wing grumbled and lowered his head back down, rolling his large blue eyes.
Howard walked up to the center of the space and announced smiling, "Well, girl, you're too large for one stall, so we had to remove the wall between two so that you can have wiggle room. Right this way, please."
Tilting her head, the black dragon walked behind the kind old man to the large, closed off bed at the back of the massive stable area. Cautiously entering the wide and long stall, Deathscythe pawed gently at the warm straw covering the floor. Once she was completely inside, she collapsed into her soft 'mattress' and rolled in it on her back while grunting in bliss.
"Bet this beats the hell out of the cold ground or a cave, huh, missy?" Howard snickered as he closed the door.
Folding his arms over the railing, he winked to the steed when she rolled back onto her stomach and blinked at him. "You have a good night, now." That said, he left the beasts in his care while the other squires doused the burning lanterns in the stables.
The tiniest of smiles on her face, Deathscythe lowered her head onto the straw and sighed in content.
A warm bed. Prepared food. Company.
Drifting off to sleep, the dragon silently came to the conclusion that she was going to like being a steed. Very much so.
TBC...
[1] Major thanks to ShenLong, my beta, for coming up with the term 'Virgonians!'
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