Cinderelena (part 8)
Storyteller
That was his cue. Duo stepped forward to bow to the king and only a lifetime on the streets gave him the reflex to jump back and avoid the King’s blow. The King's steel shod cane crashed imperiously against the marble floor
"What joke is this, Heero?" the King demanded angrily. "Bad enough that Quatre goes after a boy, but do you have to take after him too? I can disown you for this!"
"Actually, Your Highness, you can’t," the Ch'in youth said politely. Wufei stepped forward, an ancient looking scroll in his hands.
"Chang Wufei, this is no business of the Ch’in. Leave and I’ll forget this insult," the king snarled. The King's eyes were rimmed red, and saliva began dribbling in one corner.
Wufei shook his head and Duo wondered how on earth he could remain so calm. No one in his right mind would face a maddened bull. But then, they weren’t in the right mind at all, not at this particular moment. In the left mind, and its getting crowded there, a teeny voice whispered crazily in his mind. He viciously clamped it down and exulted at the scream of agony that echoed. The Ch’in boy brandished the scroll. "By the laws of your own country, your Highness, the marriage between Heero and Duo and your younger son Quatre with Trowa is legal."
"Who said so! I am King!"
"The law set down by your predecessor, King Lowe the 13th, is still valid today. By the laws of your own country, Your Majesty, no law by a deceased king that has been affirmed by the Council can be changed and it must be upheld."
Wufei unscrolled the parchment. "According to this scroll, King Lowe had married Ikari Heero and he set the law soon after than a homosexual marriage is as legal as a heterosexual marriage anywhere within the kingdom. To quote Section 1 of Article 16 of the Korinthian Charter of Rights and Freedom, 'Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality, religion or sex, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.'" [1]
"Which means, Your Majesty, Heero is still Crown Prince and he can wed Duo Maxwell if he should wish and there is nothing that can be done to bar this marriage. This applies to Prince Quatre and Trowa Barton as well."
"But a marriage without issue or heir can and will be declared null and void! That is the law too!" the King snarled, rising on trembling legs to glare at them all. Relena was stuttering Heero’s name with the look of dumbfounded surprise still evident.
"A heir need not necessarily be of blood descent," Wufei continued, unruffled. He reminded Duo of an unmoving boulder in the face of a storm. "An adopted child can be designated heir."
The King was speechless with anger. Relena finally stumbled forward, clutching Heero’s clothes in desperation. "Heero! How...how could you love that that….jerk?!?!"
Heero raised his hand and the thunderous sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed around the room. An abrupt moment later the deep, red imprint of his hand stood out on Relena’s pale cheeks. "Never, never refer to Duo as a jerk. I don’t need you anymore so you can leave now. I’m sure you know the way out yourself."
When Relena refused to even budge, a strange gleam entered Heero’s eyes, a gleam Duo recognized all too easily. The last time that gleam had appeared, there wasn’t much left of the person whom it was directed at and the stain was still evident on the floor. "Heero, NO!" The boy restrained his lover with difficulty. "Heero, it's not right! Just ignore her!"
"It is advisable to leave now, Miss Relena," Trowa told her. The girl glared at them all, tears of frustration in her eyes. She stomped her foot.
"Damn you all, it wasn’t suppose to happen like this!" She turned accusing eyes at Heero and Duo. "You weren’t suppose to fall in love with him! You were suppose to love only me!"
"Now who ever made that rule?" Wufei murmured mildly.
"That’s the way fairytales go, idiot! The prince was supposed to fall in love with the poor girl! Not the poor boy!!!!" Relena cried, waving her arms around. To emphasize her point, Quatre thought. Although in reality it made her look like a frenzied, animated scarecrow.
"Too bad, so sad," Duo muttered under his breath.
"Now you know life is not always a fairytale," Heero said, his voice and features impassive once more. "Not for you at least. You have till the count of 5 to leave my sight."
"Five?" Quatre asked. "It used to be 3!"
"I’m feeling generous today," Heero replied, deadpanned. When the count reached 3 and Relena still stood there with no signs of moving, Trowa and Wufei acted in concert to grab her arms and practically dragged her out screaming and protesting.
The King had slumped back in his throne, his clothes askew, foam and spittle running down one side of his mouth. His eyes were blank and unseeing. Heero stepped forward and calmly checked his heartbeat and peered intently at him.
"It worked," he announced finally. "Mission accomplished."
"What worked?" Duo cried. "He’s just lying there cooing!"
"Exactly," Heero replied unperturbed. He turned and raised his voice. "GUARDS! Summon the Royal Healer! The King has had a relapse!"
A flurry of activity brought in all sorts of people and a bare moment later they all cleared out. In the ensuing interval, Trowa and Wufei returned, minus Relena of course. She had been dumped outside the Palace without further ado. Duo was still blinking in puzzlement then a light bulb lit brightly above his head. He brushed it away irritably before speaking.
"You knew he was already very sick!" Duo accused. Heero nodded. "You knew his heart couldn’t stand any extra surprises or stress!" The Crown Prince nodded again as he settled gingerly on the throne. "You purposely provoked him!"
"Heero!" Quatre exclaimed.
"All true," the dark haired youth nodded. He slipped the Crown Prince circlet off and carefully settled the Crown on. He frowned at the loose fit then threw the Crown away and placed his circlet back. "Now the King is ill, very ill and can no longer bear out his duties with a clear and fit mind. His health is at risk too. So his heir the Crown Prince will assume all his responsibilities and duties. Including his power."
"But if he gets better…." Duo trailed off.
"He won’t," Heero shook his head. "I spoke with the Healer just now. It seems that the King is no longer able to carry out his duties, much less even voice his needs. I was told he is now paralyzed and he might not recover."
"Wasn’t that a bit harsh?" Duo asked, biting his lower lip. He felt rather…guilty. The King had only been concerned for the country and the welfare of his sons after all.
"One, his health was already deteriorating. It was just a matter of time. Two, his mind was going too. Two days ago he issued a decree that no one at all could eat meat, no meat of any kind at all, because that day he had trouble chewing his roast chicken. Wouldn’t it be better for him to retire than for him to pass some new law that we had to give right of way to chickens?" Heero looked evenly at them all.
"He’s right," Quatre admitted. Duo’s smile grew wider and wider. He practically sprang into a surprised Heero’s lap and curled up against the Crown prince, looking very pleased and satisfied.
"So, Heero, when we getting married?" Duo purred as he slipped his hand down his lover’s chest. It was slowly going lower and lower.
Heero looked stuck between enjoying the caress and shoving away the public display of affection.
"We’d better leave. I’ll see you later for more details, Heero!" Quatre called out as he tugged Trowa away. Wufei had already beat them to the door at the first sign of impending intimate activity. As the young prince gently closed the door behind them, he could hear muffled exclamations and moans coming from within. He smiled to himself.
Wufei was waiting for them at a respectable distance. Quatre walked up to him and bowed deeply. "Thank you for all your help, Wufei."
The Ch’in youth shook his head. "No, I should thank you. It was getting very hard to be reasonable with the King and our government was almost at a dead end. Heero would be a much better ruler with Duo at his side."
"Not to mention the favors we owe you now," Trowa added without expression. Wufei grinned slyly.
"Of course, we mustn’t forget the favors, must we? I’ll be sure to remind you at the proper time. And it's now time for me to report back to the Ambassador. He expects a detailed accounting."
"See you later, Wufei, friend," Quatre added. The Ch’in boy grinned and quickly strode away in a dignified manner. "Now," Quatre turned to smile slowly at the Red Guard. "This calls for a celebration, don’t you think?"
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[1] This is taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a minor adjustment of adding 'sex' after the religion criteria. More information like this stuff can be found at the UN page. Go?
