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Bound, Bonded and Betrayed	By : Deb Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 13359 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 26
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"Bound, Bonded and Betrayed"

Chapter 26

Relena did have a few words to say to Heero regarding his lack of attention to her and the amount of time he'd spent away from her, but Heero only listened with half an ear and let her get on with it. Once she'd finished he'd calmly stated he wasn't about to neglect his duties and the princess had better get used to it as with the harvest time fast approaching he would be kept even busier.

When the princess had questioned that statement he'd explained that not only would he have the books to continue with, but he would be required to spend quite a bit of time away from the castle with his brother, visiting many of the farms and checking on the farmers and their crops. A lot of the trips would be day ones, but there would be a few which would require him to be away from the castle overnight or for a few days at a time.

To say Relena was unhappy about that information was an understatement.

Duo was even more unhappy than the princess when he heard about it.

Quatre had picked up on Duo's misery and questioned the younger slave about it. When Duo had told him the reason for his depressed state, Quatre had smiled, taken him by the arm into their sometimes shared chambers and sat the slave down to explain in further detail.

“Quite often our masters will take us with them when they ride out, Duo. It depends on where they are going and if they will require our services whilst away. I've accompanied Prince Trowa several times, more so on the trips when he stays away overnight.”

Once Quatre had explained things a little more clearly, Duo did cheer up a bit. The thought of having to spend his days alone at the castle with only the princess and her snooty maid for company had sent his happy disposition into hibernation.

Since the episode with tripping and breaking the dishes, Duo had been a lot more careful. He worked hard and diligently to win back his master's approval, trying to anticipate what his master would need and have it ready before the prince could ask. He was determined to be the perfect slave so his master would have no reason to punish him.

Things had settled down again, Duo caring for his master and Dorothy caring for her mistress. The princess took on a few more duties, mostly going out from the castle and visiting the various villages, attending functions that required or requested a royal presence. The Queen was delighted with her new daughter-in-law and the interest she showed in the kingdom and its subjects. The King was also smitten with the princess.

Relena could be charming, sweet and had a silver tongue when it suited her. She played the role of dutiful princess to perfection, winning over the royal family and the subjects with ease. Dorothy was a constant presence beside her, assisting and encouraging her mistress every step of the way.

The maid knew that once Prince Heero ascended to the throne, her mistress would become Queen – and that meant Relena could then make any and all changes she wished. Having gained the trust and loyalty of her subjects, not to mention the rest of the royal family, no one would dare to oppose her. Relena was well on the way to doing just that.

While Relena had the charm and the demeanor, Dorothy had the cunning, slyness and skills to carry out the devious side of things.

Between the two of them they were a formidable force.

And their main item of business was to get rid of Duo.

Dorothy hadn't tried anything further since the tripping episode, deciding it would be better to let things settle a bit before she came up with something else to get the long haired slave into trouble for. In-between looking after her mistress, Dorothy let her mind wander over possible things she could do to discredit Duo and ways to implement them so she couldn't be blamed in any way.

*

The harvest season arrived and with it the demands on Heero's time increased. At first Relena was a little put out by it all, but after a few discussions with Dorothy, the maid convinced her mistress that her husband was needed to oversee certain matters. Besides, Dorothy had come up with a few schemes of her own that would be much easier to implement with the prince away and once Relena was privy to those schemes she could only agree with her maid.

If they wanted to remove Duo once and for all, this would be the perfect time to cause the young slave no end of trouble and succeed in their plans.

Duo had no idea of what the two women were plotting and carried on with his duties as usual.

* * *

Heero was leaving early in the morning to ride out with Trowa to a couple of the larger farms close to the castle. He gave instructions for Duo to tidy up his study area and his wardrobe of clothing whilst he was gone. “Once you have finished those duties you may return to your own quarters, or if you wish, you may give Quatre a hand with his, Duo,” Heero told his slave over breakfast.

“Yes, master,” Duo replied and opened his mouth for the piece of bread his master offered.

“If the princess should require your help remember you are to serve her as you would myself, not that I think for one minute she will require you as she has that maid of her own to look after her.”

Duo dropped his head and scowled. “Yes, master.” He didn't fancy serving the princess at all, but if she demanded he do so then he had no choice but to obey, to refuse would mean a very severe punishment and Duo had no intentions of suffering again if he could help it.

Having finished breakfast, Duo stacked the dishes ready to take back to the kitchens and assisted his master with his final preparations. While the prince packed a couple of last minute items and finished off some paperwork, Duo took those dishes to the kitchens, returning to his master's quarters once he was done. Following the prince out of his chambers and along the hall, they ran into Prince Trowa and Quatre.

“Brother,” Heero greeted.

“Heero,” Trowa replied. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suggest we get going. We have quite a bit to get through today and I'd rather be back here before it gets dark.”

The two princes and their slaves walked through the castle and out into the stone courtyard where the stable boys awaited them with their horses. Several of the royal guard were also waiting to escort the princes and keep them safe.

“Remember what I said, Duo,” Heero stated and kissed his slave. “I will return this evening.”

“Yes, master,” Duo replied and stepped back from the horse so Heero could mount.

Trowa exchanged a similar farewell with Quatre before mounting his own horse and settling into the saddle. With a smile, Trowa turned his horse and with his brother by his side, the pair headed out of the courtyard and towards the farms beyond.

Once the horses had disappeared from sight, Duo turned to face Quatre and gave the other slave a small smile.

“Come on, Duo, we best be attending to our duties. Our masters will be back before we know it.” Taking the long haired slave's hand in his own, Quatre led them both back into the castle.

* * *

“Is there anything special you have planned for today, mistress?” Dorothy asked, setting the tray upon the bed for Relena to eat from.

“I hadn't planned on anything in particular. I thought I would take a walk in the gardens later, all the flowers are in full bloom and it's such a pretty sight.”

“Would you like for me to accompany you?” Dorothy perched herself on the edge of the bed and picked up a piece of fruit from the breakfast tray.

“Yes, that would be nice.” Relena looked at the tray of food before her and frowned. She picked at a few items.

“Mistress? Is there something wrong?” Dorothy asked when she noticed Relena's lack of appetite.

Relena gave a sigh and pushed the tray away a touch. “No, there's nothing wrong, I just don't feel all that hungry.” Actually, she felt a little nauseous, but decided not to say anything about that.

Frowning, Dorothy picked up the tray and set it to the side. “Maybe a nice walk in the gardens with the fresh air will help to improve your appetite. You've been cooped up inside the castle for the past couple of days so it will do you the world of good to get outside for a bit.”

“Yes, I think you could be right. Prepare my clothing for me and once I'm dressed we will take that walk.”

Dorothy went to do as she was bid, fetching clothing from the large closet.

“Has the prince already left?”

“Yes, mistress. He left early. He said he didn't want to wake you and to let you know he will be back for dinner.”

“What about that slave of his?”

“I don't believe he's taken the mouse with him,” Dorothy replied, using the nickname she'd given Duo, “as he was the one to give me the message from the prince this morning.”

“In that case leave the tidying of the chambers, Dorothy and go and find him.” Seeing the question in her maid's eyes, Relena continued. “We might as well make some use of him rather than have him sitting around doing nothing whilst Heero is away for the day. He can clean up the chambers while we enjoy our walk outside.”

“As you wish, mistress,” Dorothy said with a smile. “I'll go find him now and have him come to the sitting room so you can tell him what he's to do.”

“Thank you, Dorothy.”

*

Duo was busy tidying up Prince Heero's study and humming to himself when he heard the door to the sitting room of his master's old chambers open. Wondering who could possibly be coming into the chambers, Duo dropped to his knees and lowered his head, knowing it must be someone of some rank higher than him to have entered without knocking. When he spotted the skirts of the hated maid, Duo almost gasped aloud with shock.

“Ah, there you are you wretch. The mistress wants to see you in her sitting room right away,” Dorothy sneered. Without waiting for any form of acknowledgment from the other slave, she turned on her heel and departed the chambers.

It took Duo a couple of moments to regain his senses, the fact that the maid had simply waltzed into his master's old chambers as if she owned them had left him stunned. The request from her though made its way into his fuddled brain and he quickly rose to his feet, placed the books he'd been putting away back onto the desk for the moment and hurried out of the room to see what the mistress could possibly want with him.

Arriving back at the marital chambers, Duo knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter. When the princess called for him to come forth, he opened the door, walked silently on shaking legs to the sitting area and dropped to his knees. “The maid said you wished to see me, mistress?” he said softly, doing his best to hold the trembles at bay.

“That is correct,” Relena replied. “I am going to take a walk out in the gardens and Dorothy is going to accompany me. Whilst I am gone you are to clean up the chambers, make the bed and put all the clothing away. I expect these quarters to be spotless by the time I return. Do you understand?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Good. You may start,” she said with a flick of her wrist, clearly dismissing him.

Rising to his feet, Duo kept his head bowed and walked through to the bed chamber, he might as well start in there. He pulled up short when he entered and took a look around. When he'd been in the chamber this morning to assist his master to dress, the room had been tidy. Now it looked like a tornado had gone through it.

Clothing sat upon the bed, floor and chairs, tossed around and left to sit where it landed. Shoes were scattered around the floor and a tray of breakfast dishes sat upon the dresser. With a soft sigh, Duo set to work, wondering how he would get through all of this work and what his master had asked of him before his master returned.

* * *

Quatre had finished his assigned tasks for the day and returned to his quarters. He'd fully expected to find Duo there as well and was confused when there was no sign of the other slave. Thinking that Duo must still be working and would be along very soon, Quatre took a quick bath to clean himself and dressed ready for lunch. He trotted off towards the kitchens to join the other slaves and staff, expecting that Duo would no doubt join them as well.

It was quite a shock to him when he entered and found his way to his place at the table and of Duo there was no sign.

Sitting with the others, Quatre ate his meal, watching carefully. When he'd finished, he tried asking some of the others if they had seen Duo at all so far that day. No one appeared to have laid eyes on the slave and hurried off from their finished meal to attend to their duties. Quatre couldn't ask Noin either if she'd seen Duo as the cook was serving lunch to the king and queen.

Frowning to himself, Quatre decided he'd better go and see if he could find Duo. He recalled the other slave saying that Prince Heero had requested he clean up his study and quarters, so that was where Quatre aimed for.

The door to Prince Heero's chambers was slightly ajar, Quatre knocked softly and waited. When no reply to his knock was forthcoming, he pushed the door open a little and entered. Looking around, Quatre could see that Duo had been cleaning up, but there wasn't any sign of the slave. With a frown, Quatre went through the entire chambers but couldn't find a trace of his fellow slave.

Stepping back out into the hall, Quatre decided he'd go ahead to the marital quarters and see if Duo was there or in his room. Just as he was approaching the door to Prince Heero's marital chambers, the door opened and Duo stepped out, balancing a tray in his hands. Quatre made sure that Duo would be aware of his presence, not wanting to scare the other slave.

Hearing a soft noise, Duo looked up and spotted Quatre. Carrying the tray he all but ran down the hall to the blonde.

“Duo? Is everything okay?” Quatre asked, noting the distressed look in those violet eyes.

Giving a glance back at the door to the suite of rooms he'd just left, Duo whispered, “Not here, walk with me to the kitchens.” Not waiting to see if Quatre was following, Duo set off at a brisk walk.

Jogging to catch up to his friend, Quatre couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his gut. When they were far enough away from the rooms, he asked again. “What's wrong, Duo? I thought you would have been finished with your duties by now as there wasn't all that much for you to do, but when I went back to our shared rooms you weren't there, you weren't at lunch in the kitchens either.” Narrowing his eyes, he asked, “Have you eaten lunch?”

“The mistress sent for me whilst I was tidying up my master's study. She wanted me to clean up the chambers. Once I'd done that she sent me to the laundry with her clothes and then I had to fetch lunch for her and serve it as well.” He neglected to add that he'd had to serve that maid too; in fact, he'd had to wait on Dorothy hand and foot as well as the princess.

“I see.” The frown on Quatre's face deepened. “You didn't answer my question about your lunch.”

Duo broke eye contact and did his best to evade the question. “I can't stay and chat, Quatre, the mistress has ordered me to return and give her a foot massage, plus I still have my master's chambers to finish tidying up before he returns.”

“I'll give you a hand,” Quatre offered as they continued walking towards the kitchens.

“No, you can't, you have your own work to attend to. I don't want you getting into trouble because of me.”

“I've finished everything my master asked of me today so I'm free to do as I please,” Quatre replied and opened the doors to the kitchens for Duo to pass through.

Setting the tray down, Duo began to unpack it. With Duo removing the dishes, Quatre fetched a loaf of bread and broke a couple of large pieces off it. Picking up a couple of pieces of fruit, he handed the food to Duo. “Sit and eat that, I'll finish the tray off while you do,” he ordered. Seeing Duo's hesitance, Quatre put on his softest look, his eyes welling a touch. “Please? Eat it for me, Duo?”

Closing his eyes and giving a soft sigh, Duo took the food and began to eat. No one could resist the blonde when he used that particular 'look'.

“Good.” Quatre beamed and began to finish off unloading the tray.

Eating quickly, Duo soon polished off the bread and fruit and began to look around him nervously. “I really should be going back otherwise the mistress will be angry with me,” he said miserably. He'd been looking forward to spending a little time with Quatre once he'd finished his duties. Seemed he wasn't to have that privilege today.

“I'll walk back with you,” Quatre stated. Seeing the panicked look starting to appear in those violet eyes, he continued, “I'll go to Prince Heero's quarters and finish off tidying those up for you. Was there anything else the prince wanted you to do for him today?”

“I'd already sorted through his books and put most of them away. Aside from the last few, all I had left to do was tidy up the study and chambers. Quatre, it's not that I don't appreciate your offer, but if my master should find out you could be in a lot of trouble – so could I.”

“It's okay, Duo,” Quatre reassured. “Before you came to live at the castle I often took care of Prince Heero's rooms. I am more than familiar with how he likes his books stacked and things arranged. It won't take me long and no one has to know about it. As for the princess... I'll leave her to you.” A warm smile was added. “I'm not doing anything else as I've already finished my work so I'd just be sitting in my room staring at the ceiling or walls. In one way you're doing me a favor by keeping me busy.”

Knowing he was defeated, Duo nodded. “Thank you, Quatre.”

* * *

“Considering you were a manual slave for most of your life you do give a very good foot rub,” Relena said, her eyes half closed in bliss.

Duo didn't reply, he simply continued to massage the princess' feet and ankles, working on one and then switching to the other. His hands ached along with his back from kneeling, bent over slightly at the waist in order to reach the pink feet of the princess. He'd been at his task for quite some time and although he couldn't see the candle-marks, he knew by the lengthening shadows that the day was drawing to a close and his master should be coming back soon.

That thought gave him a combination of joy and apprehension. He sincerely hoped that Quatre had managed to finish tidying up his master's rooms for him otherwise the prince would be very disappointed in him and Duo didn’t want to disappoint his master or suffer any retribution either.

“Dorothy, please set out some fresh clothing for me, the prince is due back very shortly and I wish to bathe before he returns.”

“As you wish, mistress.” Dorothy put down the book she'd been reading and got up from the comfortable chair to go through to the bedchamber and set her mistress' clothing out as requested. Once that was done she passed back into the sitting area. “Would you like me to run the bath for you now, mistress?”

“Yes, please.”

Leaving the long haired slave still massaging her mistress' feet, Dorothy left.

“That will be enough,” Relena commanded.

Duo ceased in his ministrations and leaned back, keeping his head bowed and waited for the princess' next orders.

“That is all I require of you today. Before you go I want you to listen to me and listen carefully. You are not to tell Prince Heero anything of today and your service to me. I will let him know that I have required your services for various things and that is all. If you disobey me then rest assured I will be the one to punish you, not the prince; and it won't be at all pleasant. Do you understand?”

Duo could hear the threat and malice in the tone of the voice and it cut him to the core. “Yes, mistress,” he whispered.

“Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now go, I do not wish to have my sight disturbed by your wretched presence any longer.”

Only too happy to leave, Duo scrambled to his feet and ignoring the fact that one of his legs had gone to sleep due to his position on the floor, he hastily left the chambers and aimed for his master's old ones. He didn't slow down or stop until he was inside the familiar study. Noting he was on his own, Duo let the soft exhalation of breath escape him and sank to the floor.

A glance around told him that Quatre had been true to his word and the study was perfectly neat and tidy. Getting up, Duo took a quick walk around the chambers, double checking everything was in its proper place. Not that he doubted Quatre in any way, but it paid to be careful.

Satisfied that all was as it should be, Duo hastily left and returned to his former quarters to take a quick bath and prepare himself for his master's return.

*

Quatre looked up from his position reclining on his bed when the door opened to admit Duo. Giving the long haired slave a smile, Quatre pushed himself up into a sitting position. “You're back,” he announced.

“Yeah, the mistress finally let me go,” Duo replied. “Thank you for finishing off my master's chambers for me, Quatre. I don't know if I would have had them done by the time he returns. As it is I will be having to move fast to get bathed and ready to greet him,” Duo replied, rummaging around in the small chest to locate clothing suitable amongst the few items he'd left there.

“I have word that the masters should be here just as the sun dips below the horizon,” Quatre stated.

Glancing at the blonde, Duo bit his lip. “That doesn't leave me with much time at all,” he said, noting the lengthening shadows.

“I'll give you a hand if you wish?”

“Thanks.”

Quatre slipped from the bed and went through to the bathing chamber to fill the tub for Duo. With Duo in the water and scrubbing himself clean, Quatre placed his fellow slave's discarded clothing to one side to take to the laundry and fetch the brush.

Duo washed himself in record time, climbing out of the tub and pulling the plug. Drying himself he walked back into the shared chamber.

“I'll go clean up the bathing chamber whilst you dress. I'll be back in a minute and help you with your hair,” Quatre offered and without waiting for a reply, he disappeared into the bathing chamber.

When Quatre returned, Duo was just slipping the amulets to his ankles and snapping them closed. Sitting back on the bed, he quickly unraveled the braid as Quatre climbed up behind him and started to brush the long tresses.

As he brushed he questioned Duo in regards to his day and the services he'd had to give to the princess. Duo only related what he'd already told the other slave, unwilling to divulge much else and especially not how Dorothy had also taken advantage of the situation and expected him to wait on her too. The words from the mistress had stuck in his mind and he wasn’t about to risk any form of punishment from the princess if he could help it. He had no illusions that whatever the princess would dish out in the punishment area would be nothing at all like his master's punishment.

When Quatre pressed for more details, Duo evaded answering, managing to distract the blonde by commenting on the time of day. “Our masters should be here any moment, Quatre. We really should be going.”

Knowing there was more to the other slave's day than what he was letting on, Quatre opted to remain quiet and not push any further. He did make a mental note to himself to see if he could find out what Duo had been doing and the reason for his reluctance to part with any information.

Tying off the neat braid, Quatre lifted it over the other slave's shoulder. “All done. Let's go wait in the castle foyer for our masters.”

Not needing to be told twice and eager to see his prince, Duo hopped off the bed and headed for the door, a chuckling, blonde slave right behind him.

~ * ~

tbc..
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Bound, Bonded and Betrayed