Marked for Death Part 1
*Eight Years Later*
Deep black eyes roamed the room as the boy emitted a light sigh. He only listened half-heartedly as the person kneeling before him recounted the problems they were having with their crops and why they couldn't pay the taxes.
Couldn't pay taxes, it was all the same problem, always the same complaints.
Sighing softly he let his eyes roam and focused on the room, he'd visited this room so rarely in his eighteen years of life. How strange it was now to be sitting on the throne of the king. High pillars reached for the ceiling, their intricate patterns swirling up, around and out of view. Embroidered cloths were draped over the walls, depicting the great kings of the past. The great men in his family that had caused all these problems in the first place. His eyes paused on the newest tapestry, and narrowed as he looked at the face there.
His father's cold blue eyes stared back at him, the man's long black hair cascading down just past his shoulders to disappear behind his back. He wore a tunic made of the light lavender shade worn by all the kings, with matching clothes of black and ornaments of matching darker colors. A gold circlet crossed his forehead, the same circlet, which now actually rested across the forehead of his son.
Frowning the prince rubbed his temples and redirected his attention to the man kneeling before him and still explaining his dire situation. Raising his hand he indicated for the man to stop, and the peasant before him closed his mouth.
Wufei sighed softly. "I understand the yields this year are not as we all had wished. However the taxes are used to feed the palace and the others who are not so fortunate enough to own fields of their own. As ruler I can not allow my people to starve."
The peasant opened his mouth to protest but Wufei fixed him with a narrow glare and he shut his mouth.
"The taxes have already been lowered as much as I dare. I cannot, and will not, lower them anymore, especially not before the planting season is over. You may return with your plea once the crops have been harvested and we shall deal with this problem then. Dismissed."
The man was led out, his problem dealt with. Meanwhile Wufei shifted in his hard seat, promising himself that there was only a little while longer to go. Then he could retire for the day back to his room. Maybe take a long horse ride with his Shadow and forget the day's troubles... or how much work he had to do in his father's absence.
The next set of petitioners was quite interesting. There were two of them, one walking behind the other with his head hung low and his eyes on the floor. A member of royalty with their Shadow in tow? No, that couldn't be right, the boy wasn't dressed in the normal dark shades reserved only for those of Shadow status. Not to mention that the method of raising a prince or princess with a Shadow wasn't as common as it used to be.
Speaking of which, Wufei noted his own Shadow stepping through the door at the other side of the room and making his way toward the throne. No one else in the room acknowledged his existence, as they all knew that he didn't exist. That strange boy dressed in shades of dark purple and black, his long braid swinging like a tail, was merely an extension of the prince, and not a real person.
Wufei turned his attention back to the petitioners as the woman in lead stepped forward.
She wore clothing befitting royalty certainly, yet not of the highest grade. He instead came to the conclusion that she was simply a high paid messenger. Her long blond hair was pulled back into an intricate plat that had been redone many times during her travels, or else it couldn't have stayed nearly so neat. Likewise her dress showed little sign of dust or road wear. They most likely arrived by carriage.
"Speak." Wufei murmured. He knew they weren't allowed to present their case until he gave them permission.
The woman bowed quite low, while the boy behind her remained still, his eyes trained on the floor and nearly hidden by his unruly brown hair. Wufei noticed with a small amount of suspicion that the boy was dressed in very little clothing, the dark green cloths arranged to show off his body. Perfectly tanned skin glistened in the sunlight that streamed in from the windows. Wufei frowned as he noticed the small black collar fastened around the boy's neck. He didn't need a seerer to tell him what this boy's status was.
"Your Highness, I was sent by Her Lordship from the eastern kingdom with this gift. She wishes me to present your father, and you, with this young man, as a token of her good will."
Wufei did his best to hide his disgusted scowl, and instead resorted to clutching the edges of his throne tightly, until his hands hurt and turned white with the pressure.
"Another slave?" The voice of his Shadow, who was now standing next to his throne, showed definite scorn for the woman before them. A scorn that Wufei shared, yet could not acknowledge in front of his court.
He gritted his teeth and looked at the boy once more, willing him silently to show some sign, some response to what the Shadow had called him. But no, that was forbidden. It was forbidden to hear the words of a Shadow unless the prince acknowledged them as his own, thus no response was given.
Wufei stood up in his seat and regarded the woman with a narrowed glare, and watched her cringe before him. She even took an involuntary step backward.
"Tell your Lady that we accept her gift, but only because I will not submit the boy to her punishment if he were refused." He paused for a moment in consideration. "And let her know that such gifts are not looked well upon. Perhaps next time she will come up with something more... appropriate."
The woman stared in shock for a moment, then quickly regained her composure and remembered her manners. Directing her eyes to the floor she nodded and bowed. "I will inform her Lordship of your answer."
The woman trembled slightly and quickly fled from the room, barely managing to not trip on her skirts on her way out. Another group started to step into the room but Wufei angrily waved his hand, signaling he was not accepting any more petitions for the day. One slave was enough to ruin his already dropping mood. It only served to remind him of how much he hated his father.
"But Highness, there are still more waiting outside." The advisor, Darrin, of Wufei's father protested.
Wufei turned and silenced him with an angry glare. "No, I am done for the day. Tell the others to return later. Provide them with rooms if need be, but today I am through."
With those words he turned away from the attendant and stepped down from the throne, heading for the doors which led to his chambers. He needed peace and quiet, he needed a place to unwind and calm himself or he knew he would snap at the next person who talked to him. He hated to lose his temper, but it was becoming far too easy these days.
"Fei."
Wufei turned at the words of his Shadow and gave a weak smile to the boy standing beside him.
"What about him?" His Shadow indicated the slave boy who was still standing in the middle of the room, his eyes fixed on the floor and his hands clasped together in a manner of submission. Wufei sighed lightly.
Turning he walked up to the boy and addressed him. "Do you have a name?"
"Heero," the boy said softly, without looking up. Slaves did not look up at royalty unless given permission. And they did not speak unless spoken to.
"You will follow us and we will decide what to do with you."
With those words Wufei turned away and headed for the hallway, not at all surprised that the slave boy fell into silent step behind him, his eyes still fixed on the floor as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Walking past the door, Wufei's Shadow fell into step beside him and the three boys exited the main visiting room.
No one spoke as they made their way through the hallways. Servants around them stopped in their duties to bow to the prince and pointedly ignore his Shadow, then jumped back into their own work, whispering softly about the strange slave boy who now followed the king.
Who was he? What was his purpose?
Wufei reached his private receiving room and let the others in, then shut the door securely and dropped into a large chair with a loud sigh. The slave boy stayed near the door, nearly becoming a living statue, while the Shadow chuckled lightly.
"Don't laugh Duo, you wouldn't be in nearly as good of a mood if you had to deal with those annoying complaints for a good half of your day."
The Shadow chuckled and leaned back against the wall. "And they say there are no good points to being a Shadow to the prince."
Wufei shot him a glare but it wasn't really meant. He didn't have the energy to be angry, but then he never had the energy to be angry with his friend.
"So... Duo pushed off the wall and walked over to Wufei, resting to sit on the edge of the same chair with him. Both boys regarded the slave before them with serious expressions. "Why did you accept the gift?"
"You know as well as I do what he was intended for, Duo." Wufei frowned. His father, the king, unfortunately was well known in the country for his taste in young boys. King Chang was not the kindest king this country had ever seen and his perverse taste in young man was allowed simply because he was king. He truly hated that side of his father. But then, he hated most sides of his father. Luckily, the king was currently on some long trip, so Wufei now had the chance to fix a few of the problems his father had left him. The only problem was that his father was expected back soon, so any thing he tried to fix could be destroyed in a matter of seconds.
"So do we set him free?"
"We can't, you know that." Wufei frowned. "Heero, were you... trained?" He hated asking such questions; it made him sound like he was planning on taking the boy to his own bed.
Heero nodded, but said nothing more.
"Trained from birth to be a bed toy," Duo spat the words out with disgust.
Wufei nodded sadly.
Duo stood back up and walked around the room, pausing by the window to peer out the thinly cut slit into the courtyard. "So what? How are we supposed to keep him safe if your father returns?"
"Simple, we give him to someone. Someone who will treat him like a decent human being."
"Good luck," Duo murmured.
But Wufei only responded with a small smirk. After a moment Duo turned and regarded him with a suspicious look.
"You aren't possibly thinking..."
"Duo, you know very well that you are the only boy in this palace he won't dare touch."
Duo's eyes widened. "But he... I... can't... No!"
Wufei's lips turned into a soft smile. "The king has decreed it shall be."
~*~
Duo shut the door to his room hard and threw his arms up in the air. Ridiculous! Impossible! Unbelievable! Inconceivable! But yet he couldn't deny that the proof stood in front of him, silent with his eyes attached to the floor.
"What in the world am I going to do with a slave?!" He asked the room loudly.
The boy didn't answer him and Duo sighed. Unbuckling the belt which held his sword at his chest he tossed it onto the bed and laid down next to it, staring at the ceiling. What in the world was he supposed to do?
Turning in the bed he faced the boy before him.
"You're name is Heero, right?"
The boy answered with a small nod.
"Ok, well you heard the prince... I guess you're kind of my personal servant now."
"It is my pleasure to serve you, my Lord."
Duo ran a hand through his bangs, pushing them away from his eyes. "You don't have to... jeez. Look, you don't need to stare at the floor. You can look at me; I won't punish you for it. And, well, stop looking like a scared puppy. I swear I'm not going to hurt you."
The movement was slow at first, very timid. The boy raised his head and peered cautiously through his bangs up at Duo. After a second he straightened up and looked right at Duo. Duo could see him swallow with nervousness and he watched the boy's hands twist together just slightly, showing just how scared he was.
Duo smiled softly. "See? I uhh give you permission to meet my eyes, at any time. And, I'm not a Lord. In fact, you're of higher rank then me."
The boy blinked, his eyes showing confusion at those words.
"You can speak freely when we are alone. I swear I won't hurt you for voicing your mind. And you can trust my word."
The boy swallowed and bit his lower lip for a second. "Rank?" He asked softly.
Duo blinked back at the boy, his own confusion showing. Was it possible that this boy didn't actually know? "Do you even know what I am?"
Heero shook his head.
"I'm the prince's Shadow. I share everything with him but don't actually exist to any one but him. Kind of a... a physical representation of the people he is responsible for. I get punished if he does something wrong, I share his food and room as he must share with the people of the country. Or at least I did... things have changed a little since the king went off on his trip."
Heero tilted his head just slightly, regarding Duo with an interested look. But the look was soon gone and he looked away as if he were afraid.
Duo sighed and stood up, crossing the room until the two boys were standing by each other. At the movement Heero dropped his head again, looking back to the floor. Was he afraid still? Duo sighed softly and lightly laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, amazed at the fact that someone the same age as him could have been raised to be so submissive.
"I don't exist to anyone outside of the Prince. So for me to have a sla- no a servant, is unheard of. I'm new at this, Heero." Duo took a deep breath. "I'm not going to hurt you, because frankly I know how you feel. Look... can we try to be, well, try to be friends? I mean you can talk to me and I won't hurt you for any thing you say, even if it's to tell me that I'm the most insensitive person in the country and that you would rather see me burned with hot oil then ever look at me again."
The boy in front of him remained silent for a moment, but Duo could see his eyes searching the floor, as if he were looking for an answer. Finally Heero's head moved in a timid nod, only a slight movement that would have been missed by anyone who wasn't watching for it. After a second more the boy nodded again, this time more noticeably.
"So you're not my slave. I can't change your rank and free you, I don't have the power to, but I'd at least like to be friends. Or, if nothing else, at least be able to talk." Duo stepped back and turned toward his bed, crossing his arms and glancing out the window with a sad look in his eyes. "It would be really nice to have someone to talk to besides Wufei. Someone who would actually acknowledge the fact that I exist."
"I would like that," came the soft but shaky reply.
Duo turned around to find a very soft and tiny smile had crossed the boy's lips. It disappeared as soon as Duo noticed it, but that didn't deter the braided boy any. He flashed Heero a bright smile of gratitude, which the timid servant boy could only help but return with a tiny smile of his own.
~*~
The next morning found Wufei in his father's study, glaring down at a pile of papers and scrolls with various writings and signatures. He didn't look through the papers, didn't move them around, instead he just glared at them willing his look of pure hatred to start the papers on fire. After a moment he chuckled darkly at that thought and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.
Everyone knew normal humans didn't have magic powers.
Raising his hand he undid the tie in his long black hair and ran his fingers through it to calm himself. It was early in the morning and already his stress level was reaching its limit. How in the world did his father deal with a life style like this day after day for most of his life? If nothing else he now understood why his father was so cranky all of the time.
But it wasn't the taxes or complaints that were slowly driving him mad. Nor was it the mess his father had left behind. He'd been trained nearly since birth to handle the problems of his country, molded until he could take the seat occupied until then by his father. To an extent he knew what to expect when he became king. And he was actually looking forward to the day when he was put in charge.
Currently, however he was not in charge. The shadow of his father's return still loomed over him. Any minute his father could come bursting through that door in a wonderful, but short lived, mood, nearly bubbling with news like any servant girl. But the return of his father meant he'd go back into training and Duo would be punished again. He was trying to fix the kingdom, all the while knowing that if he made any moves that were too bold Duo would be on the whipping pole almost instantly.
The door to his father's study rattled just slightly, indicating there was someone wishing entrance. Wufei quickly put the tie back in his hair and tried to appear calm.
"Enter."
The door opened to reveal the man who seemed to be the bane of Wufei's existence. Darrin was King Chang's chief advisor and the worst possible brown-noser that Wufei had ever met. Darrin had been around as long as Wufei could remember in his youth, and the over muscled man seemed to take particular pleasure in torturing Duo. In Wufei's youth the advisor always followed them like a hawk, always eager to catch them doing something wrong. Then he'd always be the one to drag Duo off to be punished.
Needless to say Wufei hated this man with all his heart.
"Your highness," Darrin said in greeting, giving Wufei a brief bow.
Wufei did his best to conceal his complete hatred of the tall man before him. Darrin looked nothing like an advisor should. He looked more like a well-trained warrior, who'd let his training slip just recently so that he was gaining a little more gut. The only thing that kept Wufei in a good mood was his thoughts of how much he would enjoy punishing this man once he gained the throne from his father.
He simply nodded for the man to continue.
"I wish to speak with you about the current whereabouts of your Shadow. You know very well that he isn't allowed a room of his own, much less a servant! The etiquette of the Shadow system-"
"Says that only I acknowledge his existence except in the case of him being punished." Wufei's eyes narrowed. "In my father's absence I am in charge of the people and my Shadow as well. Which means, quite clearly, that if I give him his own room, his own plate to eat off of, and his own servant to tend to him you have no say in the matter." Wufei had to restrain himself from hissing those words in disgust.
"It is my duty to see you make no mistakes in your father's absence."
"He will return to his former status when my father returns, as you know. Until then you will speak no more of this."
Darrin practically steamed at Wufei's words but kept himself in check.
"Now, I asked you here for a reason. My father was scheduled to return from his journey yesterday, was he not?"
Darrin swallowed his anger and nodded. "Yes, my Lord, however we have received no word from him or his messengers."
Wufei frowned. "I am expecting two messengers of my own soon. I sent two to check on my father. Please be sure to tell me the minute they return."
"Of course."
"Dismissed."
Darrin gave a bow then turned and opened the door stepping out. For a moment Wufei noticed Duo standing at the door, but Darrin closed it quickly before Duo could step through.
A moment later it opened once again and Duo stepped through, a frown on his face.
"You ever get the impression that he just doesn't like me?"
Wufei couldn't help but smile. They were both well aware of how much Darrin hated both of them.
"So how is..."
"Heero?" Duo pulled himself up so he perched on the edge of Wufei's desk. "Waiting outside the door, like any other servant would. Having a servant is strange enough but he's so timid... I swear he acts like he's made of glass and one wrong move and I'll shatter him."
"You know what he was trained for."
Duo sighed and nodded. "I know. And I hate it. At least I actually got him to look at me. He even spoke last night, but only a few words." Idly he played with the end of his braid, watching the strands glimmer a strange red in the sunlight from the window. "Fei, honestly. What am I going to do with a servant?"
Wufei smiled softly. "You're going to have someone to talk to aside from me. And when my father comes back I'm going to make sure he remains safe with you."
"Yeah, I guess." Shrugging to himself he tossed his braid back over his shoulder. "So, speaking of the old idiot, isn't he due back already? I mean I'm enjoying my separate bedroom and my actual chair at the dining table - beats the floor any day - but he's late isn't he?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I sent out two messengers for him the moment I woke up this morning but they won't return for a few days. I'm worried. My father may be one of the worst kings this country has known, but he's never late. He should have at least sent a messenger by now."
Duo jumped off the desk and landed on the floor, the sword on his belt clicking once against his boot. "Permission to leave your side, Highness," he said. His normal grin was gone, his face completely serious.
"Huh? What for?"
"Permission to take a horse and do some looking of my own. If there's one thing I learned from being your Shadow, it's how to hear things I'm not supposed to. I can ask people that royal messengers can't. I'll look around the city, ask around and see if anything comes up. Maybe a messenger was sent and he's sleeping in the local Inn with some woman or boy. You never know."
Wufei frowned and pondered this for a moment. Duo had a valid point that he could go places most others from the palace couldn't. But at the same time...
"What are you going to do with Heero?"
"I'll take him with me of course, so I won't be alone. I promise it'll only be for a day, I'll be back before sun down with whatever news I can find."
Wufei still frowned, but he nodded. "Granted. But be careful. Something about this whole set up is strange... I don't trust this." Wufei stood up and leaned over the desk toward Duo. "Don't you dare disappear on me."
Duo smirked. "Hey, I'm your Shadow. You couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to." His smirk dropped away. "But seriously, I'll be back tonight. I promise I'll be back just in time to rub it into Darrin's face that I'm not leaving for good."
"Good luck."
Duo nodded and gave a wave, then exited the room, leaving Wufei to once again glare at the papers before him and sigh. If only he could go looking for himself. It had been so long since he'd been on a decent horse ride...
TBC...
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