11-Aug-2005
Title: Harem of Quatre 6/?
Author: Phoenix
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any other series in this fic. I am poor and that is proof enough.
Fandom: Mainly Gundam Wing, but a little bit of Slayers, One Piece, Naruto, FF VII
Pairing: LOTS of hints and evil
Warnings: Mention of NCS, evil people, cussing, I wrote it. Can't deal? Don't read.
Rating: R? Maybe NC-17 for the NCS mention
Archive: CkoS, WWOMB, GW Addiction if they want it…all others please ask
Summary: Quatre's sanity begins to fray at the edges as his sisters push him further into the darkness.
Quatre paced his quarters angrily, the new and final list of "brides" clutched in his hands. How dare they?! How DARE they?! He shredded the paper. Bad enough to be forced to marry people he didn't really love, but to make him rape those who already had lives and loves? For a moment madness seized the blond ruler.
Oh, he would make them pay. He'd marry his sisters off to the worst men he could find. Abusive, twisted, depraved men. Let them be beaten and violated; he would laugh at the knowledge. Flowers would be sent to each and every single one to remind those bitches of what they'd lost. He's make sure their husbands paraded an endless stream of lovers before them. They would know where they stood then!
"Quatre?" A soft voice snapped the threads of insanity trying to claim him.
The young prince turned to find Trowa watching with fear filled eyes. It dawned on him what he must look like at that moment, faced marred by real hatred, heart darkened by real madness. Quickly it all fell away from him as the one person who could heal the wounds stared with uncertainty.
"I'm sorry, Trowa." Gods, now he had frightened someone who should never fear him. "I would never hurt you. Not even the Gods themselves could make me. I swear it."
Real laughter lit up endless green eyes as his lover approached; at ease once the face of his lover replaced the terrible mask he'd seen before. "I know this. However, there is something you are not telling me. Every night I see it consume a bit more of you. Why won't you share your burden with me?" He kneeled before Quatre. "I'll never leave you or betray you. Trust me."
"This I know. The burden is one a king must bear and I won't make you suffer with me." And it would drive his beloved away if the bargain were ever discovered. "Now what brought you here? I thought you and Eisa were going to work on finding the rest of your family?"
"We were but something told me you needed me."
Soulbonds ran deeper than most thought and when they were accepted, each bonded was granted abilities others lacked. Trowa always seemed to know exactly where Quatre was and how he felt; which was why he was drugged anytime the king had to claim a new unwilling "bride." In the morning, the gentle slave awoke remembering a terrible nightmare and nothing more.
"I have to deal with some things without you, beloved."
"Of course. But I wish you would trust me more." Trowa rose, a sad look in his eyes, and left. He knew Quatre wouldn't mind his leaving unasked. Not once since they had met did the blond ruler treat him like a real slave. Yet, he also had never treated him as a true equal. It was a problem. Unable to stand seeing the hurt in his lover's eyes, Trowa went back to searching for any remaining family. Perhaps he could worm answers out of his new friends. Sooner or later, the truth was going to be his.
The young king watched him go, torn. He yearned to trust his lover with everything. How would he react to knowing what Quatre did to keep him? It was killing him and if Trowa left, that would be the final blow. Then the madness would take him a final time, drowning the world in blood.
It was true that King's had the right to take any they wanted to their beds. With armies behind them, assassins in the shadows, and the laws written in their favor, nothing stopped them. His own grandfather had been like that; though Quatre's father had filled his harem with mostly willing women. Still, the practice was one the young blond did not like. No other ruler would look down on him for this. He was King! It was his right, they would say. However, Quatre wanted to be different. He'd never desired to force anyone into his bed. For this many considered him weak. Perhaps his sisters saw it as such and so thought they could manipulate him in this way. And he had let them. What a fool. The only lover his heart knew was Trowa, the one person denied him until this twisted deal was completed.
"My Lord," Rashid interrupted Quatre's dark musings. "You sent Abdul to find me?"
The huge man didn't bother to bow before his master. Long ago, Quatre rewarded him with permission to treat the king as an equal. It was a privilege Rashid refused to take for granted. There was also his true and abiding love for the too young king. Kind, gentle, and often assuming the best of people. Such boys seldom grew up to become adults, however, Quatre was the exception. Rashid and the Maguanacs had seen to it. Now, with the King's sisters pouring torment on the youth, they all feared for his sanity.
He was being denied completing his soulbond with Trowa. Were it a willing refusal, the King might have found strength to endure the agony caused by rejection. Yet, the bond was welcome and the pain of separation had killed or warped older, wiser men than Quatre. Could he hold out long enough to finish the deal with his sisters or would he become the monster they had seen glimpses of lately? And if he did succumb to that evil, what did that mean for them? And what of the harem?
The women were adjusting well, even the most independent knowing from birth this was the way of the world. While women were free to live their own lives under the Golden King's rule, each knew he had the right to claim any for his harem. Most simply never expected it to happen to them. Several thought they could use their new position to influence Quatre to abolish the laws allowing him and others to marry by force. A few were planning on escape and Rashid had orders to let them go, so long as they escaped AFTER the entire deal was conclude. In all, they dealt with the situation far better, were more practical or sneaky than the men. They might hate Quatre, but they also kept themselves under control until they could act.
The males on the other hand were not raised to expect this. For the first time they were experiencing another owning them, controlling them. It was one thing to think it was wrong in the abstract for women to be forced into harems, another to have it happen to themselves. They were in shock, angered to be treated in such a manner. A few simply accepted it as a part of life, but they were in the minority.
The youth Duo worried Rashid the most. He'd completely withdrawn from life, flinching whenever anyone came near. Once the deal was completed, Quatre was going to abolish all laws allowing harems or marriages to contain forced members. If the men tried to run away then, no one would stop them. The King's biggest regret was that he could never make up for what he had done. However, each passing day brought them new and more horrible surprises from the sisters and tested the blond's hold on reality.
"I wish to understand how anyone can put names such as these on a marriage list!"
Quatre's eyes flashed as he threw his chief advisor and friend the reports created by his spies about each new "bride." Ten new males and ten new females, though most of the women were not ones who would object to a union with a king, especially one who held half the world under control. The men, on the other hand, were different.
"Sephiroth!?" Rashid howled. "Who dares demand this man? He's a vicious killer. Even drugged and bound I would not trust him with you."
"And for him I might allow you to use the drugs again."
The young king sighed and went to sit at his desk. Although he was wholeheartedly against using potions on those forced into his bed, this might warrant an exception. Sephiroth was the most wanted pirate in the world. He'd killed thousands, destroyed entire cities, and simply uttering his name could empty a room in some places.
"He has not been active these last few months," Rashid muttered aloud.
"Some say he has mellowed." Quatre's spies often filled his ears with useful information. "Apparently he found a new toy."
"Who?"
"We never did find out."
"So how will we find him?"
"There are rumors he keeps a small chateau on an island four days journey from here. I've already dispatched a fleet of our best marines."
"You think fast, My Lord." At least, Rashid thought, his powers of logic have not vanished. Yet could Quatre hang on until this hideous bargain was completed? Perhaps they should have taught him cruelty instead of patience and honor?
"Keep reading, Rashid. He is not our only worry."
Indeed he was not. The list of males was almost entirely made up of powerful, independent men. Or men who, though remarkable on their own, were also famous for those around them. Take Umino Iruka. A gentle wise man from the far east. His kindness and wisdom were sought by many rulers as well as peasants. Beside him lingered a man known as Kakashi, a dangerous and deadly killer. What was between the two no one could determine. It was said that any foolish enough to bother Iruka soon ended up dead or simply vanished. And this left out the various students who followed both men. Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, Sakura. Just to name the most well known. There were others; in the shadows. You only became aware of their presence as they slit your throat. To claim Iruka as a "bride" would be a delicate matter. Already Rashid's mind made a list of fighters who might be able to take him quietly, without witnesses.
Once within the palace walls, he could find out if the man would be willing to join the harem in exchange for help with his countries internal disputes; including one where a death warrant was out for his student Naruto. A man as sensible and brave as Umino was rumored to be might find the bargain acceptable.
Then there was the matter of Sanji; perhaps the world's most famous cook. A fighter in his own right, Sanji was the adopted son of a former pirate. They quietly ran a restaurant which welcomed everyone. His friends included the undisputed King of Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy; a green haired man the spies only knew as Zoro; an inventor called Usopp; and a pair of women who were as clever as they were ruthless. There was also something about a pet, but that probably wouldn't matter much. Still, trouble would come to the city if any of his friends or his father found out where he was to be taken and for what. Perhaps he would accept a position as Royal Cook in exchange for becoming a "bride"? What was one night compared to a lifetime of wealth and fame?
Sighing, the older man wished there was a way to be sure of acceptance. The King didn't need to ask permission yet did try to get it. Unfortunately, some were too independent to accept, or had lives and loves they were unwilling to give up. It was Quatre's right to take any into his harem as he pleased. No one could match his power and to go against him meant having half the world hunting you down. Except, for the first time in over ten generations, there was a ruler who actually never meant to abuse his power; all the blond wanted was to be with his soulmate. Why was this such an insult?
And still more problems leapt off page. One made Rashid wince. Gods. Why her? Which of his Lord's sister could be that demented? One of the women was Princess Amelia. A disaster waiting to happen. While her father would jump at a chance for an alliance marriage and chance to move his daughter up in the world, the problem came from the girl herself. Idealistic in the extreme, bossy, given to running off on her own, and with a sister who knew just enough about magic to get into trouble wherever she went. The palace would be in ruins before a week had passed!
"Saw Amelia's name?" Quatre was currently burying his head in his hands at the desk. "We'll have to bar her sister and find someone to become the Princess' project. What about that cursed guard you hired last month?"
"Zelgadis?" Rashid thought about it. Yes, this could work. The man was cursed with stone skin and a dark manner. The Princess was certain to try curing him or cheering him up or both; any of the options kept her out of their way. "I'll assign him to her bodyguards."
"Now look at the last two names."
All color drained from Rashid's face. It couldn't be.
"My-My Lord," he stammered, unable to form coherent thought. How had this happened? Were they seeking to endanger the whole kingdom?
"By the rules of our deal, I must take each person named by my sisters as a bride so long as they are worthy of being part of a King's harem." Quatre's voice was shaking and he refused to look at his oldest, dearest friend. "But I never thought they would go so far, push this hard. I always believed my sisters were good people."
The urge to hunt down and maul each and every single woman who had contributed to keeping the King from his soulbond, and thus aiding his daily disintegration, filled Rashid.
"They hate me, Rashid." This time, the faithful retainer knew his Lord was crying. "I've tried so hard to be a good brother and ruler. Not like father. He wanted political marriages for them and I told them they could marry as they pleased. But they still hate me."
"Not all, My Lord. Some appreciate what you have given them. At least half the people on this list will be willing and excellent additions to your household."
However, Quatre continued as if he hadn't heard. "They hate me because I am male and inherited the throne they never could. Or because I have more freedom than they ever have. Some hate me because Trowa is my soulbond. A slave? A male?" He gave a bitter laugh. "How easily offended they are by violations of tradition when it's not their lives."
"We could always speak with the ones who suggested these two. Perhaps they are open to a bargain?" Rashid did not want to send any of his men to their deaths and there was no way any under his command could bring this man or the woman in.
"I have already offered them everything I could think of. Money. Power. Freedom. They want none of it."
So they were defeated then.
"Then we will not bargain." Rashid's eyes went frighteningly empty. "They will change their choices or I will being wedding arrangements."
"Wedding?"
"They have tested you to breaking, My Lord. But I have lost all patience. Allow me to do as I please and by morning, two new names will grace your desk. Willing people. I swear it."
Quatre found himself with in an unwinable situation. If he used force, he broke his word on the deal. If he did not, many were going to die and he would still never have Trowa. The thought of it cut him like an assassin's blade, slicing out any human compassion or love for those who did this.
"Do what you have to. My permission is given. Go as far as you think necessary." Then he turned and headed for his chambers. Just saying the order made him feel dirty.
Rashid bowed. He could do anything he wanted now. And he was going to use that power. The sun would rise on new world tomorrow.
End Part 6
Phoenix
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