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"In My Master's Arms "Written By: Jewel of Hell Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' but these words Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Yaoi, lemon, violence, slavery, cruelty, possible OOCness, AU/Fantasy/Drama Pairings: 1x2 Summary: In a society where sorcerers are feared
and hated, Duo is given as a slave to a powerful warrior in order
to keep his tremendous power under control. All he wants is freedom
from his cruel master, but nothing is as it seems . . . "In My Master's Arms "
Double-Edged Sword Heero ensconced his father back in his chambers and left, Duo promising to come visit again soon. As soon as they were safe, Duo collapsed on the couch in the sitting room and started laughing. It lit up his face, and for a moment Heero just stood and watched him. "You're a very cruel person, Master!" Duo cackled. "You startled me so much I fell over, and then I had to remember not to laugh in Relena's face!" Heero snorted. He hadn't actually told Duo to wait for him, but it was too fine an opportunity to impress upon Relena his cruelty toward Duo. "That would have been counterproductive," he mused. "Sit up, silly fool, and tell me what you've learned today." Duo's mirth calmed. "You're half nymph." Heero froze in the action of petting Frost. The hound looked up at him with a little whine. "So, my father told you about that?" "Yeah," Duo said, rolling upright. A hint of timidity crossed his face. "Are you mad about it?" A good question. Heero tried to decide if he was or not. "You understand, I would be slapped into a collar faster than you can blink if anyone found out?" Duo glared at him. "Like I was?" he retorted. "What do you think I'll do, tell everyone I meet?" Heero looked away, pacing toward the bedroom. Thinking about that was too painful. Everything Duo had suffered, and would suffer still, was thanks to that collar. "I truly wish you'd had someone to shield you from birth," he said softly, "as my mother did for me." He closed his eyes against the memories. In the time it took him to blink, Duo was right in front of him. "Tell me about her. Was she a kind mother?" Heero gazed down into indigo pools. "The kindest. Her hands were always warm, and her eyes were almost always smiling. I loved her more than life, and I wanted more than anything to visit the Krisandi Nation." A sad smile crossed his lips. "Because my father is human, in her home we would have been taken into her House. My Krisandi name is Heero Raiakyn Crystalwater." He moved past Duo. "I lied before. I am sending my father through the Gate to spend the rest of his days with them. My mother's mother, Queen Nahairan, has already agreed." Duo perched on the edge of the bed. "Why don't you go through the Gate, as well?" he asked. "You could leave all this behind." "Yes, I could," Heero said. "But my father loves Corai, and for his sake I will try to heal this country." He pressed a hand to his forehead. "I doubt I will live through it to see the fruits of my labors." Duo jumped to his feet, grabbing Heero's wrist and pulling his hand away. His other hand gripped Heero's chin. "Don't say that!" he hissed. Heero was shocked to see moisture gather in his limpid eyes. "If you die . . . what would happen to me?" Heero brushed his hair back. "You would be free." Duo glared at him. "To be captured by the Tower and sold again. Do you think I'd have a master as kind to me as you are?" The thought of Duo belonging to another, a man who would probably torture and rape Duo on a daily basis, was unbearable. He grimaced "I can't guarantee my own safety, and neither can you." Duo's glare darkened. "Then I'll die with you." That, at least, was something Heero could promise. "Are you sure? I can place within your collar a simple command to die when I die." Duo nodded vigorously. "I know how sorcerers are normally treated." He took a shuddering breath. "I couldn't stand that." "I don't see how anyone could," Heero agreed, placing his hand on Duo's throat over the collar. Most people probably wouldn't know how to do this . . . but he wasn't most people. The collar accepted the command easily. "It's done." He stepped away. "All the things you asked me for, they're waiting for you by the door. Why don't you go sort through them? I'm making another trip into the city." "Can't I go with you?" Duo asked. Then immediately, "Oh, but you asked me what I learned. Let me show you!" He bounded to the wall adjacent to the enormous fireplace. "I hate this room. It's like a cell. No light except from fire. Even though I could make lights on the ceiling-it'd be easy, and I could make them different colors, even, to add interest, but still the walls are this dark stone, so it wouldn't break up their ugliness at all. But there's no view, so this room looks like a dungeon . . ." Heero listened to Duo babble with a tiny smile, changing clothes as he waited for the point. ". . . too much like my cell back at the Tower. I never had any light there, either, nor any kind of view. I know you're my master, but I don't like to feel like a prisoner as well as a possession. So I focused on the stone, and it is a lot like the mud was. I sort of figured out how to do the exact opposite. I solidified the mud, but here I un-solidified it. Oh, I can't really explain. But look!" As Heero watched, a huge section of the wall simply disappeared. Less than a dozen heartbeats passed and a window now overlooked the edges of his mother's garden and farther south to the Southern Forest. He blinked, somewhat taken aback. It was strange to see light spill into the room, showing him how stark and barren it looked. He'd never really noticed before. Then he frowned. "Others can see in," he said. Duo beamed. "No they can't. See, even though I made a window, others would see the outside stone wall. I put up an illusion. I think another sorcerer might be able to see through it if they cast the right spell, but I would be able to tell if they did. No one else would even know. I went down there, and I couldn't even see in, and I knew it was there! If someone scaled the wall, the illusion also creates the sensation of stone beneath them. It's very complete." He sounded so proud of himself, so delighted, Heero couldn't help grabbing him and hugging him. "You're very clever," he murmured. He couldn't think of any other practical application for making windows at the moment, but mostly he didn't care. He would allow Duo every possible happiness. "Oh," Duo said, pushing away, "I also learned this. It's much easier than making doorways." He vanished and reappeared on the other side of the room, grinning widely. "Blinking!" There were a dozen different possible uses for that. A fantastic way to startle people, for one. Heero snorted. "Why don't you put on some boots and you can come with me to the city." "Okay!" Duo chirped, bounding to the wardrobe. "Can Frost come with us? She's really smart, sometimes I think she can understand every word I say." "She can." Duo turned to him with a startled look. "What?" "She can understand you. Most animals can't. But an animal mind touched by a nymph awakens to full understanding. I touched Frost's mind years ago. My stallion, Dark, as well. You could learn the same, and then you would hear her communicating with you. It's simple. Magic involving animals was the first I learned. Of course, it comes naturally to nymphs." Duo looked enchanted. "Really? I could talk to her?" He looked down at Frost. "You can understand me?" She huffed, looking for all the world indignant as she nodded once. Heero smirked. "She just said, 'it took you this long to figure it out?' She feels hurt." Duo's eyes widened and he threw his arms around her. "Sorry!" he gasped. Frost panted laughter. o8o o8o Thinking of Heero as able to teach him magic was a huge concept. As he followed the man down to the stables, Duo considered everything he'd learned today. While he watched Heero saddle his stallion, he reached out as carefully as he could. He'd never tried to sense magic in another, so he didn't really know what he was doing. He reached out in much the same way that he reached out to everything else. Life pulsed strongly within the man, and an eyeblink later Duo was plastered against the wall of the stall, panting and heart racing, not sure what had just happened. Heero's cobalt eyes fell on him, filled with a soft warning. "Don't do that, Duo. Others may wonder why you're doing it and attempt the same." Feeling like he was drowning and unable to breathe, Duo stared at him. As if he were a very small object held in the palm of Heero's hand, he could feel the man all around him. So close, past all his mental barriers, holding his raw mind. Then Heero released him, and he almost collapsed. He wondered if other sorcerers would be able to do the same thing to him, or if the collar allowed Heero in so easily. Remembering Heero had just given him an order, he nodded. Looking satisfied, Heero swung up into his saddle and pulled Duo up in front of him. He made it look effortless. For once Duo was grateful of the support, still feeling disoriented from . . . whatever Heero had just done. The stallion broke into a smooth canter, and as they neared the gates, Heero leaned down until his lips were brushing Duo's ear. "When you're with me," he breathed, "if the guardsmen ever try to stop me from leaving, do what you must to get them out of my way." A strange little shiver ran up Duo's spine and he nodded. The guardsmen, however, just hurried out of their prince's path and the stallion ran down the road. He didn't slow to a trot until the monstrosity of a castle all but disappeared behind the rest of the city. Duo took note of how quickly people ran to get out of Heero's way, and yet they gazed at him with an adoration bordering on zealotry. It was bizarre and not a little unsettling. Carefully casting out, he tried to get a feel for their general thoughts when they saw him. They loved him almost as much as they feared and loathed him. It was such a paradox that for a moment Duo thought he was reading them wrong. But no, it was how they felt. They believed he was invincible, powerful, like a wrathful god. Many of them actually believed he was some sort of immortal demon, summoned from the bowels of hell to lead them out of their own hell. Evil to fight evil, in a manner of speaking. It won't, Duo thought dimly, be all that difficult to take down the Council of Nine if this is how all the people view their prince. "I want you to have your own weapon," Heero said abruptly, "one that can become your signature, like my sword is for me. I plan to have the blacksmith make a bow for you." Still a little distracted, Duo smiled. "I can enchant the quiver to never run out of arrows." Heero nodded. "Good. And the arrows themselves. Poison, or fire, or ice, or anything else you feel like." "And so that no one else can touch it," Duo added, frowning slightly. Somewhere in the crowd was an opinion that differed. Love and fear bordering on hatred. Obsession. He blinked. Near-mindless fear. Then he was startled out of his thoughts by Heero swinging him out of the saddle and gliding down beside him. He recognized the hot smells of a smithy as Heero nodded him to follow. The blacksmith's mind burst into pleasure and fear at the sight of Heero. "Prince!" he exclaimed, wiping sooty hands on a sooty apron. "I dearly hope you aren't here for a poor-performing tool?" Heero's smile was a little bit cold for an actual expression of affection or respect. "No, I am not," he answered. "I am on my way elsewhere and decided I would bring my slave here. I want you to craft him a bow of silver ash." The blacksmith looked at Duo, and Duo almost snarled at him for the flare of scorn and repulsion. "Ah, a fine wood for a bow, my prince," he began, "but surely, such a weapon would be wasted on this little wretch?" The words boiled up like venom before Duo could stop them. "Indeed," he spat, "because I don't need a bow to slay you where you stand. In fact, it would be much quicker if I just-" he held up his hand. "Duo," Heero said mildly. No repercussion followed the word, but it sounded like a silky threat. The blacksmith, who'd gone the color of sour milk, swallowed. "A sh-short bow or a long bow, my prince?" Duo made a rude sound of disdain and stalked out of the smithy. He felt Heero's eyes on him, but the Black Prince made no move to stop him. After a short time, Heero joined him. He looked darkly amused. "Quite a display," he remarked. There were people milling about, no doubt drawn by their prince, so Duo swallowed an acerbic retort and bowed his head. "Punish me if you see fit," he all but snapped. A low chuckle rippled across the space between them. "I see no reason for that." Cruel mirth changed to black temper in the blink of an eye. "See something entertaining, do you? Perhaps I shall unleash my sorcerer's fine fury on you?" Duo looked up to see commonfolk scurrying away and barely resisted the urge to hiss. Heero's amusement resurfaced. With a firm hand on Duo's shoulder he steered him back toward his stallion. With no idea where they were going, Duo went. But when Heero swung into the saddle, Duo quickly pulled himself up behind Heero. He was tired of riding as though he were Heero's prize mistress. A soft snort greeted his efforts. "You're in a fine mood, aren't you?" But the prince didn't correct him. Instead he guided his stallion back toward the main road through town, and Duo frowned a little. Was Heero planning to leave Cera? That strange feeling was back, as though someone nearby was feeling a great deal of fear, bordering on debilitating, bordering on obsession. It was distracting, and he finally cast out for it. Two things happened at once. First, a sudden sharp pain stabbed his side, as though he'd been jabbed with a short dart. Then Heero grunted, a soft sound that immediately followed a sort of hollow thunk. Startled, he brought his eyes back to the prince just as Heero folded forward and toppled out of Dark's saddle. For several long seconds Duo just stared, unable to martial his thoughts into any coherency, not able to comprehend what he was seeing. Then a terrible darkness lapped at the edges of his vision, and he knew Heero was dying. A crossbow bolt protruded from his chest. Eyes widening, body beginning to shake wildly, Duo all but fell out of the saddle after him as he knelt by Heero's side. "Heero?" he whispered, feeling his strength ebbing. The collar was killing him right along with the Black Prince. And the first scream went up. "Prince Heero!" someone shrieked. "Someone's shot him!" Pandemonium ensued. People began running and milling like ants over a disturbed hill. They pressed closer, clustering around like mindless cattle finding something of interest. Some screamed. Some cried and wept. Others raged. Unable to make his body work, he closed his eyes and made it all go away. Rather, he made himself and Heero go away. When he opened his eyes, they were in a narrow alley with a very startled, fluffy orange-and-black cat staring at him. Its yellow eyes gleamed in the dark, and it let out a raspy miaow of inquiry. In desperation, Duo reached out. Help. The cat blinked and jumped off its perch, scampering immediately into a shop's back door. Duo slumped over Heero's body, both hands wrapped around the length of the bolt as though he could keep Heero's blood from flowing out of his body. It had gone all the way through him, the tip protruding from the back. That must have been what I felt. The thing that stabbed me. A soft curse alerted him to the presence of a man. His darkening vision scarcely illuminated the rumpled fellow, and everything faded to a single pinpoint of light. He could feel the impression of movement, could hear the impression of sound. Urgency filled him, and he tried to listen. ". . . go, Sorcerer. You're the only one who can save him. Up you go, that's right. Drink this, boy." Something bitter as poison poured down his throat. Coughing, he managed to pry open uncooperative eyelids. "Who . . . who are you?" he gasped. The man shook his head. "No time now, boy. You've got to save the prince. I can remove the bolt, but my entire stock of herbs cannot heal this injury. I fear the bolt has nicked his heart and lungs. I know he enchanted that collar so you'll die right along with him, but you must fight it right now." Feeling stronger after drinking liquid potency, Duo nodded and managed to get up and follow the strange man. He'd lain Heero out on a bed, stripped to the waist and lying on his side. Duo ached in sympathy at the sight of the wound. Blood liberally soaked the white sheet. It wouldn't be much longer. "I'm going to remove the bolt now," the man said, placing his hands on the shaft. "Be ready, boy." Nodding, trying to gather himself for what he was about to do, Duo winced when the man removed the bolt. Instantly he reached out, stopping the flow of blood by speeding the individual particles like he'd done out in the rain. The actual healing was much, much more difficult. It was like trying to hold onto a log in a maelstrom. He couldn't find anything to grip, at first. And his own strength continued to flow away, as much as the elixir had helped. It seemed to take hours. In reality very little time passed before Duo sloppily healed the wound. It was a patch job at best, but for now it would keep Heero here until he could rest, recover his strength, and try again. When he was rested and clear-headed again, he could regrow muscle and sinew and flesh do it right, and there wouldn't be so much as a scar . . . when he was rested . . . He was out before he hit the ground.
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