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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 " One . . . by . . . One "They say there are two different types of rage. One is like a beast, rampaging through the forest and trampling all that crosses its path. Uncontrollable and mindless. The other is like a snake lurking in the shadow. Cold, calculating, waiting for the right moment to strike." -Lukia Tavorsc, first Queen of Corai Storm clouds concealed the moon and stars as night blanketed the land in chill dark. Bitterly cold rain bled down from the skies in a frigid trickle, and a mournful wind howled through the buildings and walls of Cera. The dark felt particularly oppressive tonight, as if the whole world lamented the fate of Corai. It ends here. Tonight. Silent and cold as a ghost, Trowa Barton drifted through the halls of the castle, listening to the wind wail against the stone. He could hear the tap, tap, tap of rain like bone fingers on a grave. Perhaps the dying spirits of the land wished to witness what would happen here, tonight in this castle. The end. A beginning. What did it matter? It was all the same to him. There was really only one thing on his mind. The rage that had lurked deep inside him, waiting to be released, would finally rear its ugly head tonight and be satisfied. Relena, bane of Corai, would die tonight. o8o o8o Quatre shivered as he listened to the wind moan through the turrets of the castle. The feeling of sickness roiling inside him had abated somewhat, but it went in phases of stronger then a little weaker. He was glad of the brief respite, not sure how much more his body could take. Since Beria had poisoned him and since now he could feel Heero's pain, it often felt like he was on the brink of collapse. At least something good had come of it. Relena's worry over him had kept her from Heero and Duo, allowing the boy to tend the king's injuries from Relena's vicious whipping. He couldn't heal him with magic, but he could at least treat the wounds. Right now the would-be usurper was drafting new laws with the chamberlain. Clever man that he was, he knew better than to defy her at this stage, so he played along with her whims though Quatre could sense he thought she was a pitiful substitute for Heero and didn't accept her as heir. It would good that so many people felt that way. Drawing a hand across his eyes, he looked up to find Trowa standing right in front of him. He started. Trowa was the only person on Harboura, he was sure, who could sneak up on him like this, totally undetected. Immediately his body cried out for his lover's touch, begging for the pleasure and relief it would bring. But Quatre knew Trowa's resolve wouldn't waver, in this as in all things. Trowa's eyes raked over his body. "Do you know where Relena is?" There was no accusation in his tone. Nothing but a cold, steely intent. The intent to kill. Quatre's heart began to race. "She's with the chamberlain, though I know she'd almost concluded her business with him for the day." For a moment, Trowa neither moved nor spoke. Then he took a single step forward, a little jerky as if he couldn't help it. "I'm going to kill her, angel," he whispered. "Tonight." Bowing his head, Quatre closed his eyes in acceptance. Then aqua met emerald again. "I have an idea," he said. "She doesn't always keep the mindbreaker with her, and I don't know where she hides it. Give me a little time to get it from her, then I don't care what you do to her." Trowa raised an eyebrow, the question clear. It stung that Trowa didn't trust him like he used to. "I won't have to let her touch me," he said softly, resigned. "Since I've been ill, she hasn't tried anything." Trowa looked at him a bit longer, the silence a little awkward. Then he took another of those lurching steps forward, his hand coming up as though to cup Quatre's face. Then he dropped it again. "It's almost over, angel," he murmured, the normal quiet of his eyes being swallowed by hatred and desire. Hatred for her, desire for him. "It's almost done, then I can hold you. For as long as we need. All night and all day and all night again, if you want." I'll take you so hard you'll be crying, begging, so desperate for me until neither of us can move anymore. That last wasn't spoken aloud, but Quatre heard it clearly. The promise went down his throat like tonic, and he shivered again, this time for entirely different reasons. It was all he could do not to throw himself into Trowa's arms. And I'll make you beg, as well, he thought, heat coiling low in his stomach. Trowa's eyes flared at the unspoken promise. "Go," he said softly. "You'll have your time to get her to reveal the location of the mindbreaker." Nodding, Quatre turned and hurried back the way he'd come. He planned to wait for Relena in her chambers, but she was already there. Breathless from the short run, Quatre rushed to her side. "Quatre!" she exclaimed, immediately rising to help him. "What's wrong, my darling? You shouldn't be running around in your condition. I thought I told you to come back here and lie down?" "I know," Quatre gasped, gripping her upper arms. "I saw Trowa in the hall, and he tried to embrace me." He shuddered as though he found the idea repulsive. "I told him it was over. Relena, you've been so good to me while I've been ill. I don't ever want anyone but you touching me. He was so angry when I told him that . . . I-I think he . . . I think he means to harm you, Relena. Maybe even wants to kill you." "Che," Relena spat. She kissed Quatre's cheek. "You've made me so happy, love. Come, we'll just go to Heero's chambers, and the king can order him arrested." She turned to head to the door. Quatre grabbed her wrist. "He's coming with guards," he said, voice urgent, mind racing. "He's guessed you're controlling Heero with magic, and they're coming to search your chambers." Relena's eyes widened, flicking to a small crystal box sitting atop her armoire. It was new, Quatre thought hazily. "The mindbreaker!" she whispered. In a display of perfect timing, someone-Trowa, he knew-pounded on the door. Quatre gave her an imploring gaze. "If they find it, you'll be imprisoned and executed!" he hissed. "Give it to me, Relena. Trowa has no reason to keep me from leaving. When he finds nothing, he'll be completely discredited in front of the guard." Nodding, Relena dashed to the armoire and opened the crystal box. She pulled out the tiny box on its chain and tossed it to Quatre. He caught it and slid it into his tunic pocket, but before he could leave Relena grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. "I love you," she breathed, her lips crashing down onto his in a fierce kiss. Quatre pulled away when Trowa pounded again, hastening to the door. When Relena pulled it open he moved out just as Trowa stalked in. For the first time the blonde man noticed what his lover wore. Long, full-leg breeches of muted black, and a matching tunic with no shirt beneath it. The swirling tattoos on his upper arm caught the light and writhed like moving flame, the mark of Jhatahj. His eyes were shadowed as Death itself, and around his waist was strapped a black leather belt and sheath. The blade itself was too long for a shortsword but too short for a bastard sword, and the sheath was curved. Relena's eyes widened. "You . . ." she gasped, staring at the markings on Trowa's arms. "Those-those are markings of the gods! You were actually marked by Jhatahj? You can actually commune with your god!" A frigid smile curled Trowa's lips into a cruel parody of a smile. "Got it in one," he murmured. The markings began swirling down his upper arms to his elbows. "Are you prepared, Relena?" Now to his wrists, making his arms appear wreathed in flame. "You will die tonight." A step toward her. "For what you've done to Heero." Another. "And for daring to touch what's mine." Another. Relena drew herself up, snorting. "You are a self-deluded fool, Barton. I know very well communing with your god gives you no special powers except heightened senses and the ability to detect thoughts and emotions. And daring to touch what's yours? Ha! Quatre is mine, and tonight he proved it. I know you're only marching in here in a fit of jealousy because Quatre threw you away for me. But you aren't good enough for him, and what could you offer him? When he marries me, he will be king!" Trowa's smile only widened, a frigid grin of death. "Certainly, one of us is deluded," he agreed. "But it isn't me. Is it, angel?" Quatre stepped back into Relena's room, idly swinging the mindbreaker on its gold chain. "No," he confirmed, "it certainly is not. Relena, how could you possibly believe I actually love you?" He began unlacing his shirt. "You, who are nothing?" He slipped his arms out of the sleeves and pushed it down around his waist. "You, who are no one?" Around his arms, swirling like living vines, ivy and tendrils of countless other plants tattooed his skin. Just like Trowa's, the mark of Nirande spread down to his wrists until his arms looked wreathed in living green. He clenched the mindbreaker in his hand. "And now I'm going to destroy this." o8o o8o Duo could hardly tell which was stonger, the horror and grief of seeing Relena beat Heero, or the fury that she'd actually hurt him. The Black King lay silent and unmoving on the bed, stripped to the waist, uttering not even a grunt of pain as Duo liberally applied a healing salve to the deep, hideous wounds. In some places the whip had slashed to the bone. Tears blurred Duo's vision. These gashes would leave jagged, ugly scars if he was never allowed to heal the king. Never. The word suddenly seemed impossibly huge. What if Heero was never freed? Then again, never might come much sooner than he would like if Relena got all she wanted from Heero any time soon. When the messenger pigeon sent to the Tower got here, she would have no more reason to keep Heero alive. The sorcerers would easily unbind Duo and tie her to Relena instead. Then she would see to it Heero died. The thought was so unbearable it choked the air from his lungs. The anger burned away the horror and grief. Abandoning his task, he flung himself at that barrier protecting Heero's mind. It had become even thicker and more opaque since the last time he'd been able to speak to the real Heero. The attempts from the inside seemed weaker and more seldom than ever. It made Duo want to throw his head back and howl right along with the wind mourning outside. I won't give up on you, Heero. Never. o8o o8o Relena laughed. Quatre stared at the mindbreaker in dismay as realization slowly settled in. Duo had insisted that he destroy the mindbreaker. It was a magical item. Could it only be destroyed using magic? "Now you see, my love?" she cooed. "Only magic can destroy it. I see no magic-users present. Do you?" Quatre met her gaze. "I can think of one." Relena shook her head. "Thinking of Duo? I had Heero place a total restriction on him. He can't use any magic at all, and Heero will never lift that until I tell him to. I'll die first! Then what will you do, angel? Heero will never be freed then!" Trowa stirred. "Go get Heero and Duo," he said quietly, glancing down at Quatre. "Bring them here." Wondering what his lover planned, Quatre just nodded and got up. o8o o8o Never taking his eyes off Relena, Trowa waited until Quatre was gone and the door shut before moving again. Then he advanced on her. Her expression was wary but not afraid, but Trowa didn't care. He didn't care to see her fear. He only wanted to see her pain. To hear it. To taste it. To satisfy this boiling anger inside him, to soothe the seething hate. To erase her from existence so she could feed her toxin into his and Quatre's lives no more. And to free Heero so that he could save this country before it collapsed under Relena's poisonous influence. There was a struggle. Relena wasn't as strong as him, but she was quick. She had little combat training, but her instincts were sharp. She almost made it to the door. Trowa went a little easy on her just to enjoy the thrill of trapping her all the more. His hand slammed down on the door just as she began pulling it open, and his other hand formed a fist and struck her between the shoulder blades, slamming her against the door. She let out a sort of yelp, he'd no doubt it must have hurt at least a little. He shoved her into it a little harder. "Nothing you do," he whispered, leaning down so the words ghosted over her ear, "will stop this, Relena. Nothing you say will dissuade me. Can you hear that storm outside? Once the clouds gathered, it became inevitable. You were the clouds, and I am the storm. Inevitable." He threw her down onto the stone floor so hard her head cracked against it. Reaching into his pocket, he drew out the gleaming cuffs. "I am going to enjoy every minute of this." o8o o8o Duo looked up, startled, when someone burst into the room. Quatre. He relaxed minutely. The Voice of Nirande looked pale and despairing. "Come quickly," he said. "Trowa plans to kill Relena tonight. I was going to destroy the mindbreaker myself, but apparently only magic can destroy it." Duo blinked. He'd already known that. "Where is it?" he asked. "If you can't destroy it, why didn't you just mindbreak Relena with it? Then her hold on Heero would have been broken. You said it will only work on one person at a time." Quatre shook his head. "The mindbreaker isn't that easy to thwart. Once a person uses its magic, that person can switch the mindbreaker's power to anyone. However, that person must then release their hold of their own will, or the mindbreaker must be destroyed." "I can't use any magic right now!" Duo snapped. "I know," Quatre said, beckoning them to follow. "Relena told us what she did. But Trowa wanted you to come. Maybe he has a plan." Not relishing the thought of moving Heero, Duo managed to coax the king off the bed. Between the two of them, they supported his weight and began heading down the hall. o8o o8o Trowa closed his eyes as Relena's scream reverberated around her chambers. It was sweet as music, grating though it was. The skin under the cuffs began discoloring immediately, and Trowa knew within an hour it would begin to burn and peel away from the bone. This would continue up her arms until it had eaten away every trace of skin, muscle, and sinew. It would, he thought with savage pleasure, take days and days for her to die that way. Days and days of unimaginable agony. Rising, he began pacing around her. "When Quatre gets here with Duo and Heero," he said, low and soft, "you will either release Heero from the mindbreaker, or order him to remove his restriction on Duo so he may destroy it." The screams tapered off into choking, gurgling sounds. Laughter, he realized. "Never!" she cackled. "I don't care if I die, but I will take that wretch with me!" I suppose it will give me more satisfaction to break her before I kill her, Trowa thought idly. "Did you think those shackles were the worst I could do?" he said with a little smile. "Far from it, Relena." The door opened and Quatre hurried in with Heero and Duo. The Black King looked terrible, thin and skin so white it was practically transparent. He'd obviously lost a great deal of blood . . . perhaps too much. He needed his sorcerer to heal him and several days of rest. Relena's head snapped up when she heard them. "Heero!" she barked. "Kill yourself! Right now, that is the only thing that will make me happy!" Heero reacted at once, wrenching free of the two on either side of him and throwing himself at Trowa. It startled the taller man, hardly expecting an attack. But no, Heero didn't try to hurt him or anything of the sort. His hands grappled for the blade on Trowa's waist. Quatre and Duo must have realized his intent then, too, for they both raced to his side to restrain the young king. "Heero!" Duo cried. "Stop! Please, fight her!" Weakened as he must be, it still took quite a struggle to subdue Heero, especially since the three didn't want to cause him further harm. He would not cease his attempts, so they finally resorted to binding his arms to his sides with long, thick ribbons of silk Quatre dug out of Relena's armoire. Then Quatre and Duo held onto him, Duo cradling Heero's head against his chest, all the while pleading with the king to fight. Trowa turned back to Relena, who was still writhing as she watched with a triumphant expression. "Are you ready for me to begin, Relena?" he said, dropping to his knees at her side. "There are a great many bones in the human body, and it causes excrutiating pain when a single one is broken. How many can you bear?" o8o o8o Duo closed his eyes against the sickening crack of bone as Trowa coldly, ruthlessly broke one of her fingers. It was the first of many. Does he really plan to break every bone in her body? he wondered, cradling Heero even closer. He could still feel the king straining, desperate to carry out Relena's last order. "Please, Heero," he whispered. "Fight it." "Heero!" Relena abruptly shrieked. "Punish your slave! For every second they torture me, punish Duo until he's screaming!" Duo had only time to widen his eyes before the first waves of white-hot agony crashed over him. His throat closed before he could even whimper. This was far worse than the time Heero had punished him for refusing to contact the Tower using magic. He hadn't known it could get worse than that! Worse than swords, worse than fire, worse than ice, it was all those at once and yet none of them, because he had nothing with which to compare it. It felt like his mind and body were being torn to pieces, like he was being incinerated where he lay, shaking wildly on the floor. Please, Heero. Fight her . . . I love you . . . o8o o8o This place where he is, it is strange and empty. It is dark, and yet it is so bright it hurts his eyes. It is everywhere and nowhere. Why is he here? Where is this place? How did he get here? He can sense nothing, hear and see and feel nothing. He cannot sense Duo, he cannot sense himself. It is as if he's been dropped into a void where nothing exists, not even himself. He can feel a great pressure, as if something is trying to get inside, and he knows if he does he will be lost. How does he know that? He does not know. But somehow, something warns him if he steps out of this place he will be crushed by that pressure and lost. And yet . . . this place is wrong, too. What is wrong with it? He cannot say for sure, only that it is wrong. Perhaps it is the lack of sound, sight, and sensation. Perhaps it is the lack of everything he used to know. The castle. The Council. His anger and hate. Corai. Duo. Duo . . . that is the singlemost important thing. If he could somehow bring just one thing into this place, wherever it is, it would be Duo. Please, Heero . . . He blinks, surprised by the first thing he's felt. No, he does not blink. He has no eyes. Perhaps this whole place blinks, and he is aware. His name shivers through the emptiness, tingling over the skin he no longer has. He can feel it? He was not supposed to feel. Nothing. How can he feel words that he cannot even hear? He is only aware of them, and the awareness they spike in him makes him listen hard. Please, what? He wants to hear more, because he knows this place is wrong. He cannot say for sure what is wrong with it, only that it is wrong. . . . please . . . Please, what? I can see nothing from here. Who is it? Who is there? The voice, though it is not a voice, seems familiar. Feels familiar. It must be important to him, to reach him even in this place of wrongness. There is only one person right now who is important to him. Is it Duo, pleading with him? What is it? Is that you, Duo? Please, what? What is it you want, so I can try to do it? Something ripples through the dark light around him. This whole place is shrinking in on him, he can tell. He cannot see walls close in, cannot touch them or hear them, but somehow he knows it. The sense of wrongness is increasing. What is wrong? He is rapidly becoming desperate to find out. He cannot stand things being wrong. It must be something terrible, to have reached him here. Please, Heero . . . fight her. Fight her? The wrongness spikes. The words fill him with a sense of forboding. Fight? There is nothing to fight. There is nothing to see. Or hear. There is nothing here except that growing wrongness, and he begins to fear it will consume him. If there is an enemy he will defeat it. But there is nothing here. . . . I love you . . . That is Duo. Only Duo would whisper those words to him, only Duo could reach him here. But where is he? He cannot see his love, the one who is in all parts of him, even in this place where everything is wrong. Duo is the only thing that is right. But where is he? If he cannot see Duo, how will he find him? If he cannot sense him at all? Perhaps that is what is wrong. He can no longer sense Duo, where before, when he was not inside this place, he could sense Duo all the time. Safe, tucked deep inside his mind and heart. For the first time since being here he reaches out into the blinding darkness with purpose. Where is Duo? He wants to feel him. Even if he can't touch him, he wants to sense his presence again, safe and strong. Where? Where should he even begin? Around him, the wrongness is pressing in harder and closer and faster. He searches faster, desperate to find his love. Is Duo in danger? Is he perhaps hurt? Is that what is so wrong? Duo? Duo, where are you? What is it he can hear, screaming in his head? He could never hear anything before. Duo? The wrongness abruptly consumes him. As though awakening from a long, terrible nightmare, Heero opened his eyes. Only to find the nightmare was his reality. Relena writhed on the floor, seemingly lost in her own pain and manic glee. Duo writhed on the floor, body contorted beneath the pain. Pain that Heero was causing. Eyes widening in horror, Heero stopped torturing Duo through the collar. What am I doing? A dozen different things pulsed through him. A twisted kind of love/longing for Relena, a desire to please her. Love for Duo that wasn't twisted at all. Hatred for Relena. Horror over what he'd done to Duo. Fury over what Relena had done to him. Pain from the raw wounds on his back. He wanted to kill Relena almost as much as he wanted to sprint to her side and stop Trowa from hurting her. He even wanted to kill himself, because Relena had ordered him to do so. "He-Heero?" Duo panted, perspiration glittering on his skin. Heero stared down at him in dismay, feeling like he was being pulled in ten directions at once. He could see blood trickling steadily from Duo's ears. I did that. I hurt him. This isn't the first time, either. I would have killed him if she asked. I . . . I think I still would. "What are you doing, Heero!" Relena shrilled. "Punish him!" There was a sickening crack, and Relena screamed. He could hear her thrashing. Yet, he couldn't move. Couldn't tear his eyes away from Duo. The one he loved. The one he actually loved. Not the one who'd forced a sick parody of that emotion on him. The one he'd almost killed. For the second time. "He-Heero!" Relena shrilled. "Punish him! PUNISH HIM!" No. "No," he whispered, and for the first time in his life he reached out with the magic pulsing in his own blood. The collar around Duo's neck sprang open with a hollow
crack, and the world washed away in a wave of white.
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