By the Red Moon Part 34
Stepping out of bed as his guest room was filling with his friends and family, Duo brushed down his brown sleep shorts and sat on the edge of the mattress. Even though he had been warned of what Orsloiv was going to do and he was a part of the plan to have him get close to him, it was still unnerving to have had the sharp end of a cold blade held against him.
He could still feel it as he rubbed his neck subconsciously.
Much to the prince's relief, Heero was sitting at his side before he knew that he had secured his weapon and rounded the bed. As the knight leaned against him in wordless support, he took comfort in the contact and leaned back.
Eyes still narrowed, Mueller kept his eyes on the emptied doorway and sheathed his sword at his waist. "Though I had my suspicions, if I had not seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it," he muttered under his breath. And very uncharacteristically, he shuddered.
In that moment, Duo instantly felt bad for his rival. Mueller was the one who had gone to him and his friends to warn them of what he had seen with Master O slipping something into the bottles that the guards had been sneaking swigs from. Those bottles were quickly destroyed and replaced under the knight's watchful eye.
Fortunately, the room had been so crowded that the spy was completely unaware that he was being spied upon.
But Orsloiv was a friend... a confident to the Commander for many years as they had served on Lady Une's royal advisory board together. To now know that he had been working with Dekim Barton had to be a great blow.
Chewing on the inside of his cheek as he considered his words, the braided teenager began quietly, "Mueller..." When the advisor turned to face him, he said, "I know that we haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye on things, but it know that it took a lot for you to come forward with your information on Orsloiv."
Mueller blinked in surprise while Duo got to his feet and took a deep breath. "You saved my life, and I am in your debt," the prince smiled sincerely and extended his hand. Whatever their differences in the past, he wanted it made it clear that he wished to move past all of that and have them actually working together.
That message was not lost to the Commander as his wide eyes softened and warmed a bit at the extended offer. Clearing his throat, he accepted the hand in a firm shake and replied softly, "No repayment needed, your high-" He cut himself off, shaking his head before he smirked in correction, "Duo. It was my duty and honor to see that the dark sorcerer and his spy were not successful in their ploy."
On the other side of the room, Wufei, Anna and Relena shared amused glances. The words may have been the proper response for a knight, but it was evident that Mueller was responding to the olive branch with his own. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least.
At the end of their handshake, the Commander rolled his shoulders back and put on his confidant air and stated, "Just remember that you need me around if you wish to keep your head. Sometimes I wonder how you manage to do that on your own around here."
Knowing the saving face move for what it was, Duo snickered, "Got it." Mueller's mouth curled in a small smile and he bowed his head to the prince, turning sharply on his heels before he stepped from the room.
"Well, I admit it," Anna murmured to her fiancé, "I am pleasantly surprised that maybe I had the bastard wrong." Wufei chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.
Lady Une smirked as she shook her head when Mueller moved past her. Her smile faded into a deep frown of concern when she turned back to her braided friend. As soon as she moved to say something, he held his hand up and grinned, "I know that you are going to apologize for Master O when what he did was not your fault. So, there is no need for you to be sorry."
Taken aback for a moment, the queen gaped. Recovering, she gave him a brilliant smile before she closed the distance between them and embraced him tightly. Sighing, she pulled back and told him, "I now understand why there were those private gatherings. I only hope that Orsloiv was the only spy amongst us."
Zechs stepped up to comment, "Quatre went along to see if he can break through whatever spell has been used to shield his thoughts and emotions. If he is successful, he will be able to tell if there are others working for Dekim. Trowa and King Septum are also in the holding cells along with him to oversee that everything goes smoothly."
"And I certainly hope that they do not handle that traitor gently," Lady Une hissed, eyes narrowed as she stared at the empty doorway.
Smiling, Queen Noin lightly patted her friend's arm and suggested to everyone, "The hour is late, so I think it best that we all try and get some sleep now that the threat has been handled." No one raised an argument to that and the room was emptied with the lot making their way out.
The last two to leave, Wufei and Anna rounded the bed to stand before their prince and Captain. "We will take up our shifts watching the room for the rest of the evening," the swordsman announced.
Heero shook his head, "No need. I will finish out the night." Everyone looked at him in surprise and he grinned to his friends, "It is your first night as an engaged couple. You should enjoy it alone." Sharing another look, the pair smiled at the proposal.
Equally surprised, Duo smiled widely at his partner. Just knowing that he would be around to keep an eye on him settled what reservations he had about going back to sleep after everything that had just happened.
Quickly, unable to hide his happiness, he added to the couple, "Besides, you have a wedding in one week. You both should get as much rest as you can so that you're not too tired for all the planning for the big day."
"All right, then," Anna smirked as she took Wufei's hand. Meeting the cobalt eyes, she said, "Thank you, Heero. You two have a good night." That last comment was punctuated with a sly wink before she and her partner headed out, closing the door behind them.
Rubbing his neck without being aware of it, the braided youth turned to the Captain as he rose to his own feet. "You don't really have to stand guard out there all night, Heero. I'm fine," he insisted. He could tolerate having a less than restful sleep, but he would feel terrible if that was imposed on anyone else.
His violet eyes widened when Heero walked up until their noses were almost touching. The close proximity had the prince's breath hitching in his throat. "I'm not," the knight replied quietly. Slowly raising a hand, he brushed his fingertips over a soft cheek in such a reverence that it had the other teenager's heart racing.
The rage that the knight had felt earlier returned as he lowered his hand away when it began to ball into a fist. "That son of a bitch was lucky that he moved to Mueller's half of the room. I would not have been as kind if I had been the one holding my sword to him."
Between the intensity in Heero's eyes and his tone, Duo did not doubt those words for a second. Smiling, he quickly leaned in and pressed their lips together, pouring all of his appreciation into the kiss.
Normally, the prince would never have been the one to initiate such a gesture, but he needed to make it known where his heart was in that moment. After spending much of his young life without anyone who cared about him so much, what they had was the most important thing in the world to him.
It only took the Captain a moment to compose himself and he pulled Maxwell close as he returned the favor tenfold. When they pulled back, panting to catch their breaths, Yuy smirked and urged, "Back in bed."
Biting his lip, Duo did as he was asked and slipped back under the covers as his partner moved about the room to extinguish the burning candles.
Once the last one was blown out to send the space back into darkness, he fully expected Heero to step back out into the hallway to stand watch by the door. However, to his pleasant surprise, he watched as the knight moved to the other side of the bed and stripped down to his underwear in the moonlight.
Pulling the blankets back, Heero lay on his side and smiled to his wide-eyed friend. "Well, there is no better way for me to get some needed rest and keep an eye on you than if we are sharing the same bed," he shrugged.
Not about to complain, the prince made quick to remove his own shirt. Ever since he had slept near-naked with the other teenager once, he had looked forward to the opportunity again.
Chuckling quietly as Duo curled up beside him, Heero cupped he side of his face and slowly moved in for a long, tender kiss. As the knight shifted onto his back, his braided counterpart rested his head on his shoulder and their arms curled around one another.
And amazingly, Maxwell didn't feel the blade against his neck anymore. Warm and more secure than he had ever felt, his violet eyes drifted closed with a sigh. And a soft 'sleep well' by his ear was the last thing he knew of the world of the living for the rest of the night.
* * * * * *
Those eyes were still haunting Orsloiv as he was taken to his cell in the lower levels of the castle. Not even the complete void of light save for the flickering candles in the hallway that peered through the bars of his room affected him.
It was those violet eyes that shown something... terrifying before disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Whatever that dark essence was, it had the spy shivering at the thought of it as he sat in his prison.
Just beyond the door, Quatre frowned deeply as he watched Master O. Eyes narrowing in concentration, the empath worked his gift to try and find an opening in the veil that blocked him from the prisoner's emotions.
Even lost in his task, he could hear the sound of footsteps echoing through the heavy-bricked corridors and he could feel his wife's worry before he looked back to see that it was her approaching.
Trowa pushed himself from the wall beside the cell door that he had been leaning against and nodded firmly to the seer in greeting. Smiling back, Relena focused back on her husband while ignoring the bitter sulfuric smell and damp air that floated in the prison chamber to only add to the chilling atmosphere.
"How long has he been at this?" she asked in a hushed whisper as she gestured to her focused husband.
Looking back to his empathic friend, the First Scout answered quietly, "For as long as we have been down here. The guards finished their questioning and now Quatre is piecing together what he was able to read from the answers given."
A concerned expression etching his own face, Trowa turned back to the girl and questioned, "How is Duo holding up?"
Relena met his green eyes and replied, "Just fine. Everyone has retired for the evening." Peering over her shoulder, she watched King Septum speaking with the guards further back down the hallway.
Sure to keep her voice down, she stated, "I did not expect to see him still awake and down here. There really is no need for his presence."
Taking a deep breath, Trowa followed her gaze and murmured, "I also found it odd, but as Quatre was able to read, the king wants to personally make it clear to the soldiers down here that Orsloiv is to be treated as the highest criminal for his attempt to assassinate a prince. He was quite upset that the plan could have been successful had it not been for Mueller's keeping an eye on Master O."
Well, that was more than understandable, the seer thought to herself. No doubt Septum took the attempted strike personally as it had happened within his own walls. Suddenly, his still being up and about made perfect sense.
Humming, Relena faced her tall friend again and nodded, "I see." The corner of her mouth curling up in a sheepish grin, she shrugged, "After weeks of knowing that someone was working against us within our own ranks, I suppose that I have become a bit paranoid over anything that seems out of place."
"One should never let their guard down at times like these," Trowa smirked. "Do not feel bad looking over your shoulder every now and then. Orsloiv's capture will not prevent me from doing the same." Relieved to know that she was not the only one who felt as she did, the seer grinned widely.
At his end of the corridor, King Septum waved the soldiers that he had been briefing off so that they could return to their posts. Looking back to the three teenagers down the stretch, his attention homed in on the empath as he continued to stare into the prisoner's cell.
Running a hand over his mouth, he tried his best to not let onto the fact that he was absolutely panicked inside. If Winner was successful in breaking through the magic that shielded Master O's emotions, then he could do the same with him.
And everyone in the army would know that he had betrayed them.
It was the only way to protect himself and his people, Septum kept telling himself ever since he had agreed to accept Dekim's terms. What he'd done was a gamble. Of course there was a chance that the dark sorcerer would go back on his word to him that his homeland would be spared the eminent end.
But there was a chance. If he had refused to share the whereabouts of the army, the end would have come anyway. With this, there was some hope.
Any time now, he would have to receive word that Dekim's men were coming. Once that word came in, all that was needed was an excuse that resources for Pisces' own reserves were wearing thin after housing so many men and the army would move out... only to be intercepted by their enemy.
Once again, the king fought the bile that rose up in his throat at that thought. No matter how many times he told himself it was for the best of his kind, every moment that passed he was having a more difficult time believing it.
With a start, as if waking suddenly from a dream, Quatre gasped sharply with wide eyes and fell back a couple of paces from the closed cell door. Panting heavily, he felt the large beads of sweat that were rolling down his face.
Relena was instantly at his side, resting a hand on his arm to bring him back to reality. "Quatre?" she called to bring his focus to her. When he locked eyes with her, she gently ran a hand over the side of his face as she asked, "Are you all right?"
Hurrying into the scene, King Septum sidestepped Trowa to beat him to the empath and questioned in a rush, "Were you able to break though the spell?"
Quatre's head snapped up to stare at him as silence fell over the corridor. After a long moment, the gifted shook his head, "No. Unfortunately, the black magic shielding him is too strong for me to break through. I have no way of knowing what is really going through his mind."
Relieved beyond words, the king kept his composure even though he could feel his knees wanting to buckle. Frowning in forced disappointment, he sighed, "That truly is a pity."
Squeezing the empath's shoulder, he smiled, "However, I know that you did everything that you could to work your way around this. Let us just be happy in knowing that at least your spy has been captured and will not be able to cause any more harm." That said, he nodded to the trio and bid them a good night before turning to leave the dungeon.
Nearly shaking, Quatre's eyes widened when Septum was no longer in sight. As Relena and Trowa turned back to him, he raised a trembling finger and pressed it to his lips while using his gift to keep the guards standing around from noticing.
Sharing a concerned glance, the seer and the scout followed Winner down the hallway, back up the stairs and through the ground level floors. During the whole of their walk, the empath never looked back or said a word to the others and it put them even more ill at ease over what had him so stricken.
Quickly closing the door behind them when they stepped into the room that he and his bride shared, Quatre lit a couple of candles and faced them. His voice low and dripping in terror, he insisted, "We cannot trust the king."
Their backs straightening and eyes widening in shock, Trowa and Relena froze. "W-why not?" the First Scout asked in a whisper.
Biting his lip, the pale empath responded, "Because I may not have been able to break the veil of black magic around Orsloiv, but I now know the sensations related to recognizing when one exists." He had to pause to take a deep breath and announced gravely, "I sensed the same veil around Master O around the king just now."
* * * * * *
Back in his dark cell, Orsloiv smiled.
Knowing how Dekim's men worked, they would not be announcing when they were close enough to intercept the army. They would come to the city walls, moving silently and surely under the cover of the night.
When no one was suspecting, they would just suddenly be there.
If his life was over, there was peace for him in the certainty that he would not be the only one stricken from the world. That army was coming.
And when they did arrive, there was not a thing that would stop them.
* * * * * *
That following morning, in the early rays of light, one of the guards standing at the water wall facing the mainland stared out with wide eyes and his jaw hanging low. The spear that he had been holding to his side fell from his loosened grip to clatter against the floor.
Only a few miles from the beaches, slowly being lit by the rising sun, stood a dark force of thousands... hundreds of thousands strong. Every dark, slimy face was smiling sinisterly at the soldiers standing guard with their jagged teeth showing. Red eyes shone and gnarled hands gripped their weapons.
Slowly turning his head to meet the terrified gaze of one of his closest fellow soldiers, the knight breathed, "We need to get word to the king. Now."
TBC...
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