Gundam Wing

Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing;. I just borrowed some of the characters. Rated: NC-17

Reluctant Companion

Chapter

Milliardo yelled and swore as he was dragged away and lowered into the pit. He demanded to be taken out, to write to his sister or to King Heero. He was ignored.

After calming down, as no one was paying him any attention, Milliardo examined his surroundings.

He was in a pit under the keep. It was about 20 feet deep. He could tell because his reach, due to his height of 6'2" was over 9 feet if he stood on his toes. He could just touch the sill of the door when he jumped.

The circular room left him disoriented. He couldn’t figure out how large it was by pacing from one corner to another because there weren’t any. He kept tripping over the straw and blanket so he finally sat down in the straw and pulled the blanket over him.

He really didn’t need it, as the pit was very near body temperature, but it was something to do.

It was dark in the pit and silent, so silent that Milliardo could hear his heart beating. He could feel every ache and pain, his buttocks still burned, his throat was sore from yelling and his wrists and arms ached from being wrestled into the pit. He wondered when Wufei would take him out of the pit. He ate what he was given but demanded better each time.

He also demanded to write to Relena or Heero. No one even spoke to him. They just lowered the small tin bucket with a plat on top. The bucket contained water. The plate held a fist of black bread. Milliardo ate the bread and drank the water, he eliminated in the bucket. It was removed when the next one was lowered. He assumed that it was thoroughly cleaned as there was no residual odor.

Every other time he was fed, Wufei came to demand his Vow of Obedience, he refused. Every time he refused Wufei told him he wouldn’t be taken from the pit until he did.

When Wufei got the letter from Relena, one he was not expecting, he had Milliardo pulled from the oubliette. Milliardo smirked at Wufei.

“See? My sister ...” Wufei silenced him with an upraised hand and the command, “Read!”

Milliardo decided that his best option was to read the letter

He read:

Milliardo

You will obey your new master. You will be his for the rest of your life. I do not trust you not to foment further trouble. Your revolt was a failure. Your sycophants cried surrender the moment you were removed from our office. You are exiled. Your titles and lands forfeit. Do not call yourself The Zechs or a prince as you are now less that a commoner. You are a chattel slave. Do not forget your status.

Relena Regis

It was sealed with the royal seal and the seal of Anchora. Several ribbons decorated it, showing that it had been witnessed by her entire council of advisors as well as Heero; Duo, in his capacity as High Priest and had been registered as an official document. An attachment included official documents of exile, disenfranchisement and disinheritance. In other words, he was forbidden to return to his kingdom, his property was confiscated by the crown and he was branded a criminal and a slave, with no hope of escape.

He stood, stunned, and allowed the guards to lock a slave collar around his neck then lower him back into the pit. Wufei advised him to think very carefully then left him to silence and darkness.

Milliardo had settled into his nest of straw quickly while the door was still open so he saw Wufei clearly. Wufei gave him a strange look before he motioned to the guard to shut the door.

He spent the next days in brooding over his situation, worrying at different plans, all he realized in the end was that he was stuck here. He really was just a slave now. He didn’t like it at all.

He managed to hold out for two or three days more before he broke. He was still defiant and determined to have his way but he couldn’t stand the darkness and silence anymore. He would do whatever he had to to be allowed out.

“Hello? Please! Call Master Wufei! Tell him that I will submit. Hello?”

The door opened, admitting blessed light and sound. One guard called down, “Swear by Anchora that you’re telling the truth”

“I swear by Anchora’s Scythe of Justice that I’m telling the truth.”

The guards pulled Milliardo. Up and fastened running shackles round his ankles, they buckled the heavy leather belt around his waist, checking to make sure the chains weren’t bound in the D-ring. They locked the wrist bands in place. Then they took him to Wufei.

Milliardo followed them across the courtyard to the apothecary, squinting in the unaccustomed sun. Wufei greeted him at the door, saying, “Good, you’re just in time for lunch. Come.”

He led Milliardo to the table and motioned for him to kneel. Milliardo grimaced but did it. He found that kneeling, his chained hands obtained enough slack that he could reach much farther than when standing. But the slack was taken from the length from his waist to his feet. In effect, if he needed his hands he had to kneel, if he had to walk his hands were confined to within a few inches of his waist.

Wufei watched as Milliardo realized his restrictions, then asked, “Will you behave and eat or go back to the pit?” He offered Milliardo a bite of stew at the same time. Milliardo grudgingly took the bite between his teeth. After he chewed and swallowed that, Wufei told him, “No teeth, if you please.” After a slight hesitation, Milliardo took the next bite with his lips.

Wufei made sure that Milliardo got his fill but stopped short of all that he would have eaten. Milliardo started to object but Wufei held up a hand.

“Do you not learn? Do not argue with me.”

“But I’m still hungry.”

“You can’t have anything else just yet. You’ll make yourself sick.” Wufei handed Milliardo a cup of water. “Drink this slowly. It’ll finish filling you up. And I’m sure you’re thirsty. When you are finished there, you may come to me for your chores.”

Milliardo took the cup with an absent nod and a grunt. Wufei reached out and snatched it back before Milliardo could stop him.

“Excuse me! I am not the servant. You are. Do not grunt at me. Say ‘Thank you, Master.’ and say it quickly or you’ll do without for the afternoon.”

Milliardo held out his hands and bowed his head. “Please may I have the water, ... Master?”

“That’s better.” Wufei gave Milliardo the cup – almost.

Milliardo gritted out between clenched teeth, “Thank you, Master.”

Wufei let him have the cup without further comment.

When Milliardo was finished drinking Wufei pointed up the stairs.

“Go to the bathing chamber and clean it. Clean yourself as well,” Wufei’s pinched expression made his feeling for Milliardo’s state of cleanliness clear.

Milliardo went up the stairs, tripping once as he reached too far up the banister. Wufei, who was following him, made a rather cutting remark about his lack of grace.

Milliardo turned around, glared at Wufei and started to snarl at him. Wufei just raised one eye brow and asked, “Would you like to be gagged?”

Milliardo reconsidered what he was going to say and turned around again. He made it to the top of the stairs without further incident and peeked in the first door. Since this was the common room, he continued to the next door on the right. This was Wufei’s bed chamber. Wufei pointed to the last door on the left.

“That is the bathing chamber. You will haul the water cans the night before and set them by the hearth. You’re also responsible for cleaning my bed chamber, changing the linens once a week and keeping the common room clean. Do not touch my desk nor my books. If you disarrange anything there, I’ll beat you. Do you understand?”

Milliardo gave Wufei a scornful look. “Why would you think I would care about your books? I ...”

Wufei just made a motion with his hand. “Shut up. You swore to obey me. You haven’t the slightest shred of honor. You can’t keep your word for two minutes.” Wufei called for the guards who rushed in at once. “Take him back to the pit. He still hasn’t learned his lesson.”

Milliardo felt as if he might suffocate. He couldn’t go back to the pit. He just couldn’t.

“No ... please. No. I’ll do better! I will! I’m sorry. Please don’t.” Milliardo could feel himself trembling but he didn’t care. He hadn’t realized how much the pit had affected him until he was threatened with a return to it. He held the thought that he hadn’t actually given a formal vow like a shield against Wufei.

Wufei motioned to two of the guards. “Hold him still.” The guards got Milliardo by the arms with little difficulty. He couldn’t fight with the running chains on. Wufei produced a gag from somewhere in his voluminous robes. He dug his fingers into the hinges of Milliardo’s jaw and forced the gag into his mouth.

The gag was a heavy strap of leather with a ball on a short stem attached to the middle of it. It narrowed at each end and had straps that went over the top of Milliardo’s head and under his chin. There was no way to spit it out, or pull it either up over his head or down around his neck. And it clearly marked him as insolent.

“When you feel that you can address me properly, I’ll take it off.” Milliardo made a furious noise. “Yes, I know. How are you supposed to tell me that you’ll mind your mouth if you can’t talk, am I right?” Milliardo sullenly nodded his head. “You’ll have to eat. You can tell me then.”

Wufei requested the guards to take Milliardo to the bathing chamber and make sure that he cleaned it and himself properly. Milliardo managed an outraged squawk, which made the guards laugh.

They weren’t laughing so much by the time they got Milliardo done cleaning the bathing chamber.

Milliardo eyed the men with disgust, undisguised and cold. They eyed him back. The Dragon Lord wasn’t a forgiving sort. If he said something he meant it. They wondered how this tall lanky fool was going to survive their battle of wills. They also knew that Wufei would win. He regularly won battles of will with Duo and Heero. Rather frightening when you thought of it.

One guard just shrugged. “You can cooperate or we can report you to Master Wufei. He’s got no patience so you’ll probably get another punishment. I’d take mine one at a time and pick my battles carefully. Ought to get a bath anyway. You stink of the dungeons. And you can have hot water this time. Wash you then use the water to wash the floor.”

Milliardo considered carefully then nodded his head. He stood to wait until the bath was filled and was immediately told that if he wanted a bath he’d better get busy. So he filled the tub himself for the first time in his life.

He settled in the tub and realized that he was only going to have time for a quick wash if he wanted to wash his hair and clean before supper time. He really wanted his supper and was sure that he’d get only bread and water again if he wasn’t done with his chores. He washed his hair first and then stood up in the tub sluicing the suds out of his hair and using them to wash his body. Then he stood with a towel wrapped around his waist and stared at the guards. One of them blinked then snickered.

“You don’t have a clue what to do next, do you?”

Milliardo shook his head. This was going to be interesting. He wondered how much of his job he could get them to do for him. He was trying for all of it but he’d settle for what he could get.

He didn’t get much. All he got was a laugh and a brush which he looked at like it was something he’d never seen before. He actually really hadn’t, or he had but hadn’t paid any attention. So one of the guards showed him how to do the job, which got him exactly one paving stone cleaned. He growled and knelt to finish the rest.

After he scrubbed the floor one of the guards enumerated the other jobs he had to do to clean the whole of the bathing room. They included scrubbing out from behind the tub, cleaning the hearth and dumping water down the jakes. He managed all these tasks with a minimum of fumbling, thanking his lucky stars that the guards had removed his chains so he could bathe without getting the leather belt wet. He idly wondered if the locks would rust shut.

His thankfulness lasted exactly long enough for a servant to show up with his new clothing. It consisted of a pair of draw string pants and a boat neck tunic. Two guards just pressed their swords to his body and waited while the other guards chained him again. Then the two who had accompanied the servant left again with the snickering boy.

Milliardo glared at his two remaining guards and wondered if he could get them to do more of his work. Just before he could do anything Wufei came into the room.

“Be sure that he does the work. Don’t do any more than you have to to show him how to do it. And make sure that he gets behind the tub. It hasn’t been cleaned in at least three months.” The head guard told Wufei that all that was already done. Wufei praised the guard on his diligence then said, “Since he’s done here, send him down to the sinks. I need quite a bit of my special glass wear washed.” Wufei turned to Milliardo. “And that reminds me. You never got your punishment for breaking the glass. I’ve already replaced it by myself so I’m adding two lashes to your punishment. That makes ten of the hickory for you.”

Milliardo vowed to himself that it would be a cold day in a desert before he’d submit to having his ass caned like a school boy. He never thought of the alternatives.

Wufei waited until the cleaning was done then called the guards to bring Milliardo to his office. They dragged the struggling man in and shoved him to his knees. Milliardo reached for one of the men but stopped the second Wufei just snarled, “remember the pit.” At that he froze.

Wufei nodded. “I’m glad you remember. You will not struggle against your fate. It will do you no good. Instead you should struggle to accept and create a place within which you can exist with a minimum of pain.” Wufei turned to retrieve an object from his desk. When he turned around again he ordered the guards to put Milliardo over the desk.

Milliardo tried to struggle but found that he was over the desk before he could form a coherent plan. The sharp order of ‘Hold him!’ let him know that he had failed again. He realized that the effort of getting him over the desk had involved more than four hands. Master Wufei was not only a lot faster than Milliardo would have thought but he was much stronger too. Those robes he wore didn’t interfere with his movements in the least.

The first blow was shocking, not in the fact that it was agonizing but in the fact that he was being hit at all. He’d never been punished in his life, not by beating at any rate. He’d had a whipping boy when he was younger, then in the priesthood, he’d only been confined to quarters, or sent away for a while. So the pain was shocking to him in more ways than one.

He yelled out around his gag and Wufei leaned in close to his back to whisper in his ear. “Think how Duo felt, unable to even scream. You put yourself here. Now you will endure your punishment like a man instead of a petulant child.”

Milliardo just growled behind his gag and braced himself. He didn’t have long to wait for the rest of his punishment. Wufei gave him the other nine lashes, carefully spreading them so that none of them over lapped. This also ensured that he couldn’t sit comfortably as his entire back side was welted. He didn’t realize that the welts were no worse that would be given to a disobedient pot boy. To him they felt like he’d been whipped half to death.

Wufei put the cane away. He watched Milliardo as he got himself back under control, when he was sure that Milliardo was ready to listen he announced, “That was nothing compared to what I’m prepared to do. I’ll break you in like an out of control stallion. You will obey me. Do you understand? I will settle for nothing less than complete and total subjugation. You’ll learn what Duo endured due to your stupidity. Now, go to the sinks and start washing the things there. Go!”

Milliardo went.

Wufei climbed the stairs to his common room and settled at his desk. He pulled a piece of paper from the rack and started a letter. He chewed on his pen for a few moments then wrote a quick note which he sanded, sealed and sent to the stables for a horse messenger to take on its way.

After finished this task he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for several moments. He sighed, grumbled, “I guess it is all up to me. He’s about as cooperative as a mule. I don’t like what I have to do but he’s entirely too spoiled for his own good.” Wufei clapped both hands down on his thighs and stood up, thinking, ‘I better check up on him. No telling what mischief he’s gotten up to by now.’

And indeed, Milliardo had gotten up to some. He’d managed to figure out how to wash the glass ware by putting a tub on the floor so he had the use of his hands, but he’d washed himself into a ‘corner’. He was surrounded by clean glass with no easy way to stand up without breaking something. He was kneeling in the middle of the mess swearing.

Wufei had to laugh up his sleeve, Duo had done almost exactly the same thing, but he’d figured out how to get out of the mess himself. It had been made easier by the fact that Duo wasn’t wearing running chains.

“That’s quite a mess you’ve gotten yourself into. Would you like me to help you? Or would you rather be a pig?” Wufei smirked at Milliardo and waited. Then he realized that Milliardo couldn’t answer until he removed the gag. He tossed the key at him. Milliardo caught it and undid the lock.

Milliardo eyed his predicament for a moment, realized that there was absolutely no way for him to get out of this without breaking something and snarled. “I think you better help me.” He replaced the gag without being told to.

Wufei thought about this reply for a split second then just started picking up the glass. He put it on the shelves where it belonged while Milliardo just knelt and waited.

The longer he waited the more impatient he got. He shifted around then sighed loudly.

“Something on your so-called mind? If so, I don’t really care, Milli. When you’re ready to swear your oath, I’ll remove the gag long enough for you to say it.”

Milliardo grimaced at the name but held his peace, it would be undignified to try to say something with a gag in his mouth. He sighed again and stood up. There was room enough now that he could get up without breaking anything.

“If you’re willing to swear, I’ll take out the gag. Nod your head if you agree.” Milliardo snarled wordlessly.

Wufei knew he was repeating himself but he felt like he was dealing with an idiot or a small child. Duo had been easier to handle in the midst of a complete panic attack. This fool just looked at him with an expression that was very like a cow. Wufei snarled back, whirled around and headed for the sitting area at the front of the room next to the doors.

He sat carefully on the comfortably padded chair that was his especially. He was much too dignified to flop down like he wanted to. This was not going to be fun, Milliardo was just as stubborn as Relena had told him. Wufei wearily contemplated his fate. Sometimes he wondered which god he’d offended and if numerous expensive offerings would appease him/her.