|
"Fealty of the Heart"Written By: t-shirt Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU/Monarchy Romantic/Adventure, Lemon,
Fluff, Sap, Mild Angst Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5xO.o Summary: While traveling abroad a regent of the realm of Yon discovers a tender heart that shakes his faithful loyalty to the crown. This fic was inspired by a pic I did. ^-^ Here is the link to the pic if you would like to see : http://usera.imagecave.com/t-shirt/fanart/fealtyoftheheart_cg_a.jpg
"Fealty of the Heart " Ch 1 It is a beautiful country. No matter how many times I ride this land it never fails to amaze me. From the high peaks of the Tucoan Mountains to the shores of the Residian Sea there is not one league of earth I would not be proud to call my home. And yet, it is not the land of my birth. I recalled the first time I set foot on the path I now traveled, nothing but a boy determined to find a way. My earliest memories are of the sea where I spent a good deal of my youth as a cabin boy. My heart, however, longed for somewhere to call my own. I walked away from everything I had known one bright fall morning and never looked back. A daring feat for a ten year old perhaps, but I felt no loyalty to my mates and harbored no respect for the sea, so my feet led me here. The smile that often appears under my nose whenever the fair image of my Prince reflects in my mind’s eye crept along my lips as I remembered the first time I had seen him. His nobility was as plain to see as the sun in the noon sky as he tended a yellow rose along the boarders of his castle walls. However, I felt neither fear for his station nor reverence for his lineage. Perhaps it was my own arrogance that had saved me that day and I found myself laughing out loud at the image of Rashid preparing to reprimand me for refusing to bow. The man had been a giant to me at the time and fell as all giants do, with a resounding thud that left our young Prince howling with laugher. Come to think of it he still towers over me, as was the case with most humans he met, but he never underestimated me again. I had been hired as a squire in the royal army on the spot, which progressed into a full commission as fast as my friendship with Quatre had been born. By the time I reached an age of accountability in my thirteenth year I had earned a position of leadership among my peers and a place at my Prince’s side forevermore. I had finally come home. However, as with all things, nothing good comes easy. As Quatre gathered the years he began to loose the carefree expression of youth. Not only did his duties seem to compound daily but he grew four inches one summer and suddenly found himself the target of every available young maiden that fancied a shot at the crown. Of course, it didn’t help that he had also thinned, his arms and legs seeming impossibly long though he retained the innocent expression in those big, ocean green eyes. It struck me one day as he tended that little yellow rose along the wall that he had grown far more lovely than the bloom he so lovingly preened. It made me wonder if there was truly anyone out there that would be suited to his side. Perhaps a wayward sun goddess would do? However, our problems ran deeper than the mere courting of a Prince. Over the past two years skirmishes along the boarders of our lands had picked up, leaving far too many of our people homeless or dead. This was the reason for my journey to the island country of Gobanme and why I felt the need to shift in the saddle and favor the puncture wound in my left thigh. The arrow hadn’t gone deep but it is terribly uncomfortable to be jostled around on horse back with a hole in your leg. I owed the injury to the second of a string of attacks that had come my way since my departure from Lord Chang’s realm. With the current lack of a treaty between Gobanme and Prince Quatre’s kingdom of Yon, the presence of Gobanmian citizens along the boarder near the sea brought discontent and mistrust from the land owners who were forced to share their territory, resulting in an uprising of petty disputes. The situation had escalated to the point that talk of war between our nations had run rampant, resulting in Prince Quatre’s entreaty to myself to visit the Chang dynasty and offer our hand in friendship. Happily, Wufei, the newest leader of the Gobanmian government, had been most pleased by the offer and seemed eager to settle into an agreement. Unfortunately, many of the radicals that had forced their way into the outer boarders of Yon were unsettled by the possibility of having to pay for what they had taken and made their discontent known by lashing out at the only target available at the time. Me. “Hoa, boy,” I soothed my agitated mount, patting the sleek, white muscles of his neck. It was good to be with him again. Three months in the fields of Corsica had done little to dampen his spirit and though I, too, would very much have enjoyed a vigorous ride over the gentle plains, my leg insisted we keep it to a moderate walk. He snorted, stepping sideways on the dusty road, his green/black eyes fixed on the horizon but I was forced to restrain him. “Sorry, my heart,” I chuckled, patting him again but he tossed his head and snorted disdainfully. He was angry with me but I couldn’t blame him. He was as wild as the wind and just as impossible to tame. His tolerance of me was due only to the fact that I once saved his life. Though it is not an uncommon practice to put down a steed as troublesome as Wing when they prove to be unbreakable, I could not stand by and watch such a creature die a worthless death. I haven’t been able to get rid of him since. “Settle down,” I groused, feeling the heat in my thigh as it tensed when he stepped high again and stamped the ground. It was in me to grow impatient with him at that point but something in the way he flicked his ear caught my attention and set my senses on fire. His manor had changed ringing every alarm in my head and I forgot the leg and sat up tall to scan the tree line. Another attack? I had not expected anything to happen this far into Yon’s territory and found myself caught completely off guard when an arrow hissed through the air not six inches from my head. “HA!” Wing lurched forward in perfect synchronization with my command, his hooves thundering beneath us as more shafts fell to earth in our wake. If we could only make the trees we stood a good chance of outrunning whoever held the bows, as there was no other in the equestrian race that could match Wing’s raw power. Once safe we could circle back around and find out just who would be fool enough to attack us on our own turf. However, it was not meant to be. Whoever they were, they knew enough about me and the surrounding area to have guessed what my plan would be and I cursed the ancestors of the jackals even as my back hit the ground. Taken by a simple trip line. I was going to kill whoever came up with the plan if I didn’t die of embarrassment first. “Stay down if you value your life.” The accent was southern, perhaps Sonarian but certainly not Gobanmian. Lord Chang’s people were remarkably easy to identify because of their exotic features. These men looked to be no more than hoodlums, perhaps bandits of the forest. Still, they had to be working for the Gobanmian forces that opposed the treaty. “Kill me if you will,” I told them, gaining my feet in spite of the several bow’s and swords pointed my way. “My life is insignificant. The treaty will come to pass either way.” “Now, who say’s we care a rat’s ass about your treaty?” one of them chortled, brandishing a sword in my face and I had a vision of myself taking it from the great buffoon before I ran him through. “But hear now,” he grinned, showing a good view of his decaying teeth I could have lived without, “Maybe if you was to sweeten the pot, make us a better offer than them slant eyed islanders, we might find it in our hearts to let you live.” Mercenaries. Great. “I would offer you your lives but they seem to be of little value to you,” I replied. “You just earned yourself a slow, painful death there laddie,” the man grinned but I had had enough of his mindless chatter and killed him along with three of his men before someone finally got inside my defenses and nearly cracked my skull bringing me to my knees. I was sorry I couldn’t say goodbye to Quatre, perhaps tell him not to be sad, that this wasn’t his fault, but the time had finally come for me to face my fate. No one was more surprised than me when the sound of clashing steel echoed amongst the trees and I remained alive. Well, save for the man that had attempted to kill me but he was pinned to a tree trunk staring into the emerald eyes of the youngest of his men. “W…why?” he hissed as the shock of both sudden death and betrayal glistened in his eyes. “I took you in… you were like… my own son…” “I have need of him.” It was the only explanation the dying man would hear as his life faded from his eyes and I wondered what the green-eyed boy wanted with me. Whatever it was appeared to be my saving grace as the rest of the troop shied away and disappeared into the brush, leaving me to face my new enemy one on one. I have to admit; I had been a great deal more comfortable dealing with the dozen men than this coolly collected individual. He had the look of an animal about him, the intelligent expression of one that was about to pounce on its prey. “What do you need of me?” I asked, curious as to how he could so easily kill someone that had regarded him as his son. “I have saved your life,” he pointed out. “Granted.” The danger here was that this fact gave him a good deal of leverage where I was concerned. “I desire a commission in Prince Quatre’s employ.” Hn. So he wanted to play soldier. He was young, no older than myself, but I could easily tell he was experienced far beyond his years. There was no doubt he was qualified. However, my gaze fell on the dead man lying near his feet as I contemplated the possibility of a likely betrayal against Prince Quatre or myself. “He was a worthless man,” he informed me. “Evil through the core. No one will weep for his loss.” “Why did you serve him?” “I serve no man,” he countered quickly. “Yet you have offered your service to Yon?” Did he think I was dense? “I offer my alliance to Prince Quatre,” he explained. “For what purpose?” There had to be a catch. “I follow my heart,” he replied in a tone that made it quite clear that was all I was going to get out of him. There was nothing more I needed to hear. “Have you a horse?” My new companion was a good deal less disturbing once he had explained himself more thoroughly. Captain Cross, who lay dead by Trowa’s hand back in the glen, had allowed him to join their band of mercenary soldiers about a year prior to our meeting. Trowa’s skills had proven invaluable to them, no doubt, though from the way his brow creased whenever he spoke of his surrogate family I got the feeling he harbored more than a mild dislike for the lot of them. His goal from the beginning had been the same, promises that soon the band would travel to Yon to collect on whatever service they could offer to either side encouraging him to follow until the day came that he could finally gain that which he truly desired. “Why didn’t you just come and offer your services outright?” It seemed the simpler path. “It is your life debt to me that will bring me to Quatre’s side.” He appeared to feel a great deal of unfounded loyalty to my Prince. “I don’t understand why you want to serve a man you’ve never even met so badly you would endure all of that for his sake.” “We met once.” Do tell. Hn. “During the Sonarian Tea Festival when he came to visit for the summer.” That only happened every seven years. “That was five years ago.” Quatre would have been eleven, just a boy. I remembered the summer well as it was the first time we had been separated for any length of time. “Has he become someone else?” he asked and I chuckled at the smirk in his tone. “No,” I replied, shifting in my saddle to adjust for the odd heat of the season. “He is forever Quatre.” Why was it so dark? Had the time slipped away so quickly? “Then he is all I need,” he replied and I had just enough time to wonder about the comment before the world spun heavily and I felt my shoulder impact the earth. My head hurt. It had since that man had cracked my skull but I had had no indication at the time that the injury was severe enough to rob me of my senses. I recall images for a time, voices and Trowa snarling at Wing. He must have gotten him to cooperate, however, because when my eyes finally obeyed my insistent command to focus I was looking up at the scrubbed ceiling of a peasant’s bedroom. The room was fairly clean for a house so poor, the bed scented with fresh hay and the musky flavor of heavy skins. My head still hurt but it was now a dull, throbbing pain somewhere in the distance and I recognized the aroma of medicinal tea in the air. “Good morning, My Lord.” Who? I couldn’t see as the mid morning sun bled through the shutters setting every tiny speck of dust in the air aglow but I liked the voice. It was smooth and gentle and made me feel safely content. “I was beginning to worry you might never open your eyes.” Had I fallen from earth after all? I could only imagine that this must be what angels look like when he stepped into the soft light. I was aware of the cool rag in his hand as he came close and dabbed my face but my mind was quickly assessing the possibility that perhaps I hadn’t survived after all. “Don’t close them,” he smiled, preempting my return to slumber. “Where am I?” My voice was dry and cracked from lack of use. How long had I been laying there? “Maxwell Church,” he informed me, leaning over to check a bandage on my head I had been unaware of but the heady scent of his hair as a thick rope of a braid dangled in my face distracted me rather quickly. “You’ve been asleep for three days.” Damn. I was already a week late before this happened. Quatre would worry. “We’ve sent word to Yon to inform the Prince of your delay,” he told me and I wondered if maybe angels could sense a man’s thoughts. “Don’t close them,” he said again and I felt inexorably compelled to grant his request. “You have such beautiful eyes, don’t hide them,” he smiled, laying a hand on my cheek as he gazed down at me and I wondered if the heavenly host could not see their reflections because his were the most spellbinding shade of deep violet I had ever seen. The universe seemed to decide in that moment to implode as if being sucked into the black pupils of his eyes and I felt an enormous desire to fall right in along with it. But heaven would have to wait; I still had a job to do. “Your name?” “Duo.” “I am…” “Hiiro Yui, leader of Yon’s armed forces and Prince Quatre’s most trusted companion.” Well, he was one up on me, that’s for sure. “Your reputation precedes you,” he chuckled, moving away and for some reason I suddenly felt cold. “Maxwell Church?” Why hadn’t I heard of it? All churches were supported by the monarchy. “It’s just me, Father Maxwell and Sister Helen,” he explained. My hand reached out for him when he passed and I was pleased when he noticed and altered his course, coming back to my side. “Only three of you?” God in heaven, he was so warm. “We don’t get much of a congregation way out here,” he laughed and I swear I heard birds take flight. “Duo?” “Yes?” he replied softly, falling back into my personal space until I realized it was because I was pulling him closer and stopped. “Does your head hurt?” I shook it and felt a little dizzy but the pain was still somewhere along the fridges. “Would you like some more tea?” he asked and once again I saw him moving closer, the heat of his breath washing through me until I felt as if my skin might catch fire. “No.” Damn it! What in the hell was wrong with me?! “Perhaps there is some… other need I might fulfill?” he smiled and I gasped and latched onto his wrist as his fingers touched the bare skin of my stomach and sent an electric shock through my flesh. “Relax,” he soothed, but come on! No way in hell! I did let go of his hand though, because the feeling his touch afforded me was something I found I simply could not deny. “You are so beautiful,” he sighed and I felt the weight of his gaze as he exposed me to the air, the heat of his palm, the gentle strength in his fingers as he woke things inside me no one had ever dared approach before. “Duo.” His name felt so natural on my lips I gasped it again when his softly touched the skin of my chest. My hand automatically laced into his hair finding it soft and thick to the touch as my breath was stolen away and my body began to take full control of the situation. I know I encouraged him; I wanted nothing more than to feel the heat of his mouth around me. So incumbent was this desire that I refused to allow my mind to alert me to the fact that he was male and arched back into the bed when he complied with my wishes. It was not uncommon for maidens to offer themselves to passing royalty or regents of the realm so I grasped to that knowledge and lifted my hips and prayed the gods would forgive me for my weakness as he drew from me a blinding culmination that left me shaking like a leaf, gasping for breath and on the verge of unconsciousness. “I’m sorry,” he hissed through the liquid haze surrounding my mind. I had never felt anything so wonderful in all my days. What in the hell was he apologizing for?! “You weren’t strong enough for that.” Well, perhaps he had a point, I was feeling very much like I was going to pass out. “Rest.” Mmmmm yes… that sounded like a very good idea. When next I opened my eyes it was to find a young woman in my room who wore the traditional clothing of a Nun. She was kind but unremarkable in her efforts to clean, feed and see to my needs and spoke not a word about a beautiful, young angel that might visit the ailing traveler in her Church. By the time she left I was convinced it must have all been a very explicit, hopelessly erotic, utterly fantastic dream. The memory of soft lips and the heat of his throat flooded my body with need once again when she departed but I had no sooner closed my eyes in an attempt to see his face when a heavy bag jingled as it was dropped on the foot of my bed. “What’s this?” I asked, feeling unreasonably irritated by Trowa’s distraction. “I felt Cross’s men owed you some form of reimbursement for your injury,” he grinned, plopping down in the wooden chair by my bed. “You tracked them?” The bag was heavy; if it were filled with gold a man could easily live well off of it for some time. “Not exactly a difficult task,” he chuckled. “And what would you have in return?” I inquired, wondering what this little good deed would cost as well as how many of Cross’s men were still alive. “Just doing my job.” I froze for a moment to assess the statement before cocking a brow and noting the long grin that spread over his lips. “But if you were to feel inclined to heal in a timely fashion so that we might continue our journey I would be much obliged.” His last words before I had lost consciousness in the forest came back to me. <i>”Then he is all I need.”</i> How deep did his feelings for my Prince run and in what context did his loyalties lie? I would study on the matter but for the moment my body demanded rest. Six months I had been on the road over land and sea and though I disliked being delayed from returning home this close to its end, it seemed foolish not to accept the generous hospitality of the Church and return whole and healthy. Quatre would not be pleased if he learned of my wounds. “We are prepared to leave whenever you feel strong enough,” Trowa sighed, standing to leave. “Though that foul tempered, wretch of a horse of yours seems intent to send me to an early grave.” I laughed, picturing him trying to tend to Wing’s needs. The fool creature would sooner starve as receive oats from any other hand but mine. “Set him free,” I told him, knowing full well the stallion could fend for himself and would return to my side the moment I had need of him. “I tried,” he groused. “He made straight for the house. We would never have returned him to the yard if not for Duo.” Hark. “Duo?” He was real? “A ward of the Church,” he explained and my heart throbbed excitedly. He was real! “The beast calmed and followed him right into the barn.” Wing had followed him? “Not that I blame him,” Trowa chuckled. “The boy could charm the clouds from the sky with nothing but a smile. You have to admit his beauty is as rare as his gentle spirit,” he grinned and I felt as if my soul had been ripped naked by his emerald gaze. “Or did you managed to sleep through his tender ministrations?” “I thought he was….” …an angel. “What?” he smiled expectantly but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “Where is he?” I asked, forcing the vertigo away as I sat up. “Trying to keep that demon horse of yours from impregnating every mare in the yard,” he laughed but was right there by my side as I wavered and fell back onto the bed when I tried to stand. “Perhaps another day’s rest?” he suggested. “Help me to the window.” I had to see him for myself. It was difficult to stay on my feet with the world spinning round but I managed to make it to the window with Trowa’s aid and felt my chest tighten when I saw him with Wing in the corral. They were… playing together. I had never seen the stallion behave in such a way as he pranced and ducked and trotted around, but his antics were nothing more than a distant oddity as my gaze was captured by the mesmerizing image of Duo laughing in the sunlight. “Beauty hath tamed the beast,” Trowa spoke softly at my side. “Take me to him,” I commanded, narrowly avoiding a fall when Trowa caught me as I turned to walk away. “I think not,” he laughed, dragging me back to my bed. Damn it! I needed to see him. I needed to know if it had been a dream and if not, I really needed to apologize. “I need to speak to him,” I grumbled as my body betrayed me and fell back into the furs. “I’ll send him in.” A reasonable alternative; why hadn’t I thought of it? “You stay in bed. It could take him some time to convince Wing their romp session should be cut short,” he chuckled and I nodded knowing full well I wouldn’t make it past the hall even if I tried. The exertion of my little walk coupled with the fatigue of my injury dragged my mind down into a quagmire of foggy thoughts and misty visions. I lay in a half sleep as images of Duo swam in my mind, his face, smiling so sweetly in the soft glow of a sunbeam; his laugh like music in the air and his mouth so hot and hungry on my body. Why had he done it? Was his loyalty to the crown such that he would offer his services so openly to a complete stranger? Or was it merely his nature to be so generously accommodating? He had touched me in a way no other being had dared and I had welcomed him. No, I had begged for more. Even in light of my injured state I could not have denied the need that arose inside me, the need that once again played around the edges of my sanity, begging for a chance to reach out and claim more. It had only one necessity… “My Lord?” Duo. “Duo,” I breathed, swallowing whatever words might have followed as my throat tightened and a heat wave washed through me at the touch of his hand. “What is it?” he asked sympathetically, laying a hand on my forehead. “Are you feverish?” He was worried, bless his heart; worried about me. I had meant to speak to him, truly I had, to call him close and tell him I was sorry for the way I had treated him but the words would not fall from my lips and when he leaned down, his concern for my sanity clear in his eyes I lost what little control remained in me in my weakened state and gasped heartily when I grabbed him and kissed him. “My Lord, please,” he hissed breathily, his lungs heaving above my chest but I couldn’t let him go. “Don’t leave.” I was begging for the first time in my life but I didn’t care as long as he remained. “You haven’t the strength for this,” he whispered but I had already surrendered to the unyielding need inside and he whimpered deliciously as my hand slipped down his pants. “Touch me,” I pleaded, viciously lashing out at the part of my mind that would have injected reason into the encounter so that it slinked back into the shadows. “Lord… please,” he panted, the heady sound of his voice begging for everything his words were not as I pleaded once again… “Touch me, Duo,” and urged him by aiding his hand in its reluctant quest. “You’re not… well,” he groaned and relinquished his mouth to mine once again. He was half on the bed now, his legs spread with one knee by my side which gave me full access to the places that forced those sumptuous little sounds from his throat. It was difficult to remain on the waking side of the darkness that was trying to claim me, but I would have sold my soul before I would have allowed myself to pass out. All too soon he was shaking in my arms; every drop of passion that poured from me absorbed, regenerated and injected back into my body until my vision swirled with blazing stars and my mind was filled with thunder. I know he granted me the gift of his apogee because I recall seeing the birth of the heavens in his beautiful eyes just before my world exploded with light and everything went black.
~ * ~ |
