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"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 :
"Fealty of the Heart " Ch 3 “He went to check the traps,” Sister Helen informed me and I suddenly felt silly standing there in my rumpled state. “You’re welcome to wait for him if you like,” Father Maxwell offered. “I’m certain he would want to say goodbye,” he smiled over the top of his reading glasses and I felt my skin prickle with guilt. He knew, I had no doubt of it, but I couldn’t bring myself to care past the point of possibly causing Duo any grief. “I’ll wait.” “Wonderful!” Sister beamed happily. “I’ll go make up the guest room.” “The guest room?” I inquired feeling my stomach sink to my toes. “The traps are scattered from here to the Rine River,” Father explained. “He won’t return before tomorrow afternoon.” Damn it! “I cannot wait that long,” I sighed. “Perhaps you could stop by on your way back,” Sister Helen suggested. “No.” Damn it all to hell! Why had he run? “My duties are clear. I cannot endanger Lord Chang and his men by leaving the main road.” “Will you leave him a message then?” “Yes,” I replied before I had really thought about who would be delivering that message and my tongue froze in my mouth while they waited expectantly. It felt like a horrible betrayal toward Duo to tell them what I wanted to say. “Tell him…” that I love him. “Perhaps this is a message best delivered in person,” the old priest smiled and I understood by the soft light in his eyes that he already understood. “There will come another time,” he assured me but I took little comfort in the words as I felt my heart severed in two as I rode away. Quatre, my Prince, my country and my kingdom. I had chosen my path long ago and it remained dear to my heart but… Duo. I ached to have him by my side. Why had he run? Didn’t he feel the same for me? Or had our time together been nothing more than a game to him? I recalled the tenderness in his touch, the sweet ecstasy of his kiss and couldn’t bring myself to believe he harbored no feelings for me in return, but why had he run? It took every ounce of willful determination I possess to keep my nose pointed toward the sea. I had a duty to fulfill and I would see it through, but every step I took farther away from my beautiful angel brought a grieving pain to my soul. “Master Yui!” “Lord Chang.” “You look weathered to the bone,” the Dragon Master proclaimed clapping his forearm to mine. “I should think not even the promise of my handsome face would have dragged you away from your home again so soon.” It was funny so I laughed but it was a hollow sound even to my ears. “You had fair winds?” “Horrible,” he laughed, joining me on the shore. “But Gobanmian sailors have strong backs and a good grip for the oar,” he smiled proudly. “So we made good time. Have you an escort?” “Prince Quatre would have sent the royal army if I hadn’t intervened,” I laughed, recalling the argument well. “Good man,” he returned merrily. “We’ll have enough to transport as is.” “Shall we retire so you may rest?” I asked politely, knowing how grimy it feels to be aboard ship for too long. “Master O!” he called to the tall, bald man I had come to know as his first mate. “See to the cargo! I have some schmoozing to do!” And I must say, Lord Chang was a most elegant schmoozer. He had every wench at the Inn falling all over themselves for the chance to fill his cup. He is a regal sovereign and I believe his playful jibe about his handsome face was only half in jest. No one with that sort of arrogance and zeal is unaware of the fact that they are drop dead gorgeous. It made me wonder since my encounters with Duo why I had not fallen for this man instead. Or Quatre for that matter, but be beauty where it may, there was none to compare with Duo. I had a vision of him sitting on the porch, his hair thinning and gray as he grumbled about the weather aching in his bones and felt my heart reach out and embrace him. Be beauty were it may… there was none to compare with Duo. “You have the look of a man who has left his heart elsewhere.” “Pardon?” When had I zoned out? “I was unaware that you had a wife,” Lord Chang laughed, drawing one of the bar maids to his side. “I haven’t,” I replied distantly. Where had the wine gone? “From the look in your eyes perhaps you should,” he chortled, sucking on his goblet, which spilled down his front soaking the white satin of his garb blood red. “I don’t think that is possible,” I sighed, fending off the vertigo that had taken hold of my head. “Does she belong to another?” “No… he…” but my words died in my throat. Did he? Was that why he had run away? Because he had some other lover somewhere that already kept his heart? The thought brought with it a pain that lanced my chest and my cup suddenly bounced on the floor. “Speculate not on the heretofore when the present has so much to offer,” he grinned jostling his handful of maiden as she laughed. “Excuse me.” I was clearly not fit for company any longer and my spirit sagged into my shoes as I dragged them off to bed. It felt as though I had only just closed my eyes when a pounding in my head awakened me. “Arise Master Hiiro!” Did he have an iron stomach? “The dawn is upon us! Awake! I wish to be done with this journey and stand at my new brother’s side!” “Must you be so cheerful in the morning?” I groused as I stumbled from my room. “Perhaps it is the company I keep,” he grinned, laying a gentle hand to one of the maiden’s cheeks that left her blushing royally and fleeing the room altogether. My jaw dropped when I beheld the caravan that had been prepared during the night. Twenty men, two wagons and a host of dancing girls dressed in every color of the rainbow awaited our lead. “My Lord,” I inquired as we got under weigh. “Is it your intention to make a gift of these girls to my Prince?” “These?” he gaffed, glancing back at the entourage. “This is my personal staff,” he informed me. “But if you think he would be pleased…” “No!” I barked. “No, definitely not.” “Then all is well,” he grinned and we led the strangely prismatic company out of Corsica and into the open land. I spent most of the day scouting ahead but if any citizens of Gobanme objected to the Dragon Master’s visit they kept their displeasure to themselves. A wise decision considering both Lord Chang and his men were exquisitely trained in the killing arts. The quiet left me plenty of time to think which only led to my sulking about Duo. I needed to know if he had another lover and if not, why he had run away. My heart refused to believe his reluctance was due to any lack of feeling toward me but there had to be something. If it were another lover, they were going to be in for the fight of their life because I had no intension of giving Duo over to them. It was late in the evening when I realized my path had wavered and I was headed straight for the little monastery and turned back. Wing was reluctant to obey and made the call to duty that much harder to follow, but I soon found myself sitting by a fire with my charge and three of his brightly clad concubines. Never had I seen a man with such a libido. “Does he live nearby?” he asked, but I didn’t catch exactly what he had said until his lips curled evilly along his gums. “Beyond the hills to the south,” I replied, preparing for whatever jibe he might inflict on me. “Have you known him long?” was not what I had expected. “Less than a month,” I informed him. “You don’t disapprove?” “I would be a fool of a bigot if I were to criticize such a base instinct,” he smiled, chewing on the jaw of the girl on his right as he slipped the hand he had around her neck down her shirt and my eyes went wide when I realized she was a he. “I have several males in my court,” he laughed delightfully, snuggling the boy closer to his side. “Does this upset you?” “Hardly,” I chuckled; relaxing parts of myself I hadn’t known were tensed. “And your fair Prince?” he asked arching a brow. “I believe he will understand,” I smiled, thinking of Trowa and wondering if I had done right by my Prince, leaving him in such ambitious company. The man, indeed, had a ravenous appetite for the pleasures of the flesh and soon took his playmates to bed. I wondered where Duo was and what he might be thinking as I gazed up at the moonlit sky. I had only met him such a short time ago and already I missed him painfully. The distant sounds from Lord Chang’s tent brought me feverish dreams where Duo and I explored the depths of human passion and I woke before dawn in a heated sweat and in need of a change of clothes. I needed to see him again. The remainder of the trip was the hardest I had ever had to make as my right foot begged to take me home and my left insisted my home lay some miles behind me at Duo’s side. I rode beside our regal visitor as we neared the gates of Rabarba castle with a heavy confusion in my heart as to where my home actually lie. “Hiiro!” came the joyous cry of my Prince as he waved vigorously from the parapet, his bright visage easing my worries until he disappeared, reemerging in his customary place by the gates. Wing whinnied and trotted out to meet him nuzzling, both his chest and pockets in search of a treat until his head suddenly lifted, ears pricked and my heart jumped so hard in my chest I thought it might free itself from my breast. Wing let go a cry and tossed his head happily, but I was already on the ground and by Duo’s side before he could intervene. I didn’t understand how he and his company had come to be there, but there they stood, Father Maxwell and Sister Helen grinning by his side and though his smile was sullen and small it brought sheer joy to my heart to behold. “Father thought it best to thank his Highness in person for his generosity,” he sulked, but I couldn’t stop grinning at him. “Did he now?” I smiled, offering the good priest my most grateful expression. “I don’t know why I had to come,” he groused. “Mind your manners,” Sister Helen scolded. “But the traps need to be tended,” he argued and I laughed out loud at his petulant tone. “I take it you live in the hills to the south of Corsica?” Lord Chang interjected as he, Quatre and Trowa joined us. “Yes, My Lord,” Sister Helen bowed her head respectfully. “We are honored that you know of it.” “What I know pales in comparison to the truth,” he smiled, looking Duo up and down and I felt compelled to step between them. “What a lovely gathering,” Quatre exclaimed, inspecting the many colored dancers as they helped tend to the wagons and livestock. “Will they dance for us?” “If it is your wish,” Lord Chang smiled, and I felt compelled to step between them as well but Trowa beat me to it. “Wonderful!” Quatre enthused, and I balked openly when he laid himself along Trowa’s back and allowed the taller mercenary to pick him up piggyback and dance him around. “We’ll have new entertainment for the feast!” my Prince laughed and I felt the warmth of it right down to my toes. I couldn’t eat. My stomach had been infested by a swarm of fireflies that set my blood on fire as I gazed upon Duo during the celebration. Quatre insisted he and his surrogate family sit with us at the King’s Table where Lord Chang took a place at my Prince’s left hand, Trowa on his right where I suspected he would forever remain. The Gobanmian dancers were a spectacle to see but my eyes refused to gaze past the glowering visage of Duo’s face. I didn’t realize I was gaping at him like a hungry goat until he finally excused himself and wandered off toward the gardens for some fresh air. “Don’t be a fool, man. Go after him,” Lord Chang hissed in my ear and I was suddenly on my feet in pursuit of the beauteous angel that had so captured my soul. I found him quietly studying a yellow rose blossom some distance into the garden and could not for the life of me think of one thing to say. “I fear I owe you another apology,” he smiled softly into the flower beneath his nose. “Why did you leave?” I had found my tongue at last. “It was easier that way,” he shrugged. “For whom?” I inquired a bit more desperately than I had intended. “There is no need to patronize me,” he scowled and I felt the swarm in my stomach lurch and rise up into my throat. “Patronize?!” I gasped, stepping closer to him. “Is that how you perceive my feelings?!” I had taken him by surprise though I could see in his eyes it was what he had wanted to hear. “What have I to offer a regent of the realm?” he asked softly and the answer spilled from my lips as easily as rain from the sky. “Everything.” But he did not believe. “Duo,” I entreated his full attention. “I would leave all this behind tonight if you were but to ask.” He stood silently regarding me as if trying to discern the truth in my words and I was shocked to discover they were inexorably true. My heart had decided for me. Whatever the consequences, I belonged with Duo. “I could not ask such a thing of you,” he said, turning his head sadly back to his rose. “Then stay with me.” “And desert my family?” he snorted. And I understood. That’s why he had run. “They will be well cared for, I assure you,” I smiled, moving forward to take him in my arms and I swear I felt the heavens open up and smile down on us when he laid his head on my shoulder and sighed. “Who will tend the traps?” “We’ll hire a hand,” I chuckled. “Sassy needs her medicine twice a day.” “Sassy?” I inquired. “The black sow.” “Then we’ll bring her here so you can care for her,” I grinned kissing his hair. He had been suffering the same confusion I had all this time. Longing for the place his heart had pinned itself yet unwilling to leave what he already knew to be a happy home. “Hiiro?” “Yes?” I replied rocking him gently under the starlit sky. “Will we be accepted? Will your station be threatened?” I thought about it and had to stifle a laugh at the image of Quatre and Trowa’s growing affection before I replied, “Considering recent events, I think it will be some time before anyone even takes notice of us.” “But when they do?” he asked, turning the most beautiful, serious eyes upon me that I had ever seen. “Then anyone that objects can jump off the world and make way for those with open minds and loving hearts,” I smiled as I kissed him and felt the pieces all click into place. We walked arm in arm back to the celebration where Lord Chang had taken full advantage of his endless cup of wine and joined his harem on the floor. Quatre was in Trowa’s lap and I had no doubt a treaty would be sighed and enacted before the end of the week. Our family had grown but it was no less strengthened in its integrity. I pulled Duo close noting the soft smile on Father Maxwell’s lips as I made an oath to myself that the man would never want again. There are certain inalienable truths in this world. Integrity is something that must be discovered by one’s self, never patronize a pigheaded horse, wine will often make a man behave like a monkey, and you cannot lose if you truly follow your heart. owari :)
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