[Open] [AU]
The King of the kingdom to the far east was not doing well. Of course you knew that, everyone knew that. It was plain to see. He was dying slowly and he had no male heir to the throne. Though they had tried they only produced one daughter- which would make her Queen once her father died, seeing as her mother had perished years before. It would have
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Unfortunately, the Young Dragon himself hadn't really been cooperating. He himself had gone to supervise the rebuilding and pacification of Atem's kingdom. It was weeks later that he finally returned, covered in mud and sweat and not exactly in the best of moods. He strode into his bedroom in full platemail, only noticing the woman left for him once he was done reading the reports from the few battles still going on.
His eyes were cold when they finally turned on her. "Is this how a Queen accepts defeat?" he asked. "I expected more."
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Getting news that Seto was coming back they had her chained, a collar around the neck, with thick links leading away from it and to some hook above the bed (as if she really was going to try and run), and dressed in scantily clad clothing of her own homeland.
Those eyes were different from any she'd ever really become acquainted with in her short time, and despite her position she stared at the man head on. "I would and have given up everything so that my country could survive the downfall their previous King put it in." Though it was obvious the disdain one should have stating something like that, she had nothing but neutrality. "Their survival is more important than my own being."
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He shook his head, his hands lingering on the edges of the scrolls. Those red eyes of hers were still bright and bold and horribly familiar. It had been a long time since he had seen her, he had been a child under Gozaburo Kaiba's thumb then. But this was far from what he had expected her to grow into. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him. The collar didn't suit her at all.
Kaiba's lips pursed together as he forced himself to look away. She was a slave, nothing more. Nothing worth paying attention to. "I don't know what my bannermen told you to do," he said, "but I don't have time for these...services now. Are you capable of assisting me with taking off the placemail, at least?"
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She still watched him carefully, even with her conflicting emotions. Another wave of relief washed over her as she heard he didn't even want to use her for her real purpose being here. She wondered if he wasn't attracted to her for a second but in the end it didn't really matter.
"If you come closer. I don't know who has my key," She said with a serious note of disdain in her voice; still a slave and yet she couldn't swallow her pride enough to act completely submissive. "But I can't undo these chains."
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"You don't get out of them until I'm sure you're not going to cut and run," he said as he stood just in front of her. His eyes carefully went over her body from head to toe, though he didn't offer any reaction.
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"There's no reason for me to run. But I don't expect your trust just because I'm here." Or because she signed herself away quite literally for her own Kingdom. No. She'd earn it just like anyone else. She was at least determined not to be treated like a delicate little flower (or an object made just for sex even though that was her title now...).
"Now," Her voice lowered as she reached her hands out to him and started taking off that armor just as gracefully and quickly as she was skillful with it.
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"What exactly did you think to accomplish with this?" he finally asked as the heaviest part of his armor slid off his shoulders. It revealed a thin chest but reasonably broad shoulders. "Your people are still dying. It will take years for them to restore enough of their fields to sustain themselves. All you did was prove yourself to be weak."
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"The Court thought it was best." Maybe they even betrayed her feelings to do so. "I was not cutting it. I could not fix the lands the way my father had left them. They said if it was the last proof that I cared I would.."
Her lips pursed tightly before she drew the bottom one to bite lightly on it. She needed to think better of her words than spilling them. "Why do you care anyway? You got so much out of this. My fate, my weakness, should not matter to you."
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"Weakness always matters to me," Kaiba replied, his lips pulling into a smirk. "Especially when it leads to you telling me who to go after to stamp this nonsense out permanently. Perhaps it was not such a bad idea to keep you around."
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She tried not to give rise to his plans. Why should she have cared anyway? Wasn't the Court supposed to be working with them somehow? Keeping the people happy? Had they sold her out for nothing?
"You think it is they who are leading the people to keep rebelling against you and your men?" She couldn't help but ask, keeping her eyes on him.
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"It's clear enough. They got rid of you. I suppose they think that they will placate me with you, drive my soldiers out, then have the kingdom to themselves without having to get blood directly on their hands," he said. "Not to mention that they could blame it on your family if anything got out of hand. All the people know is that you ran to me at the first sign of trouble."
He chuckled. "I think they played you very well."
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Her hands dropped only so they could clench at her sides. Her eyes were starting to color darker, anger in them. "And they will get what's coming to them. You're going to go kill them to get what you want. At the very least there's that." It wouldn't be enough to satisfy her own anger, clear in the way she'd started shaking that wasn't from the cold. But there was nothing she could do. And she would not resort to begging to be let go. At the very least she would honor the contract she'd been forced into.
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He leaned forward, knitting his fingers together and resting his chin on the point. "Why shouldn't I just let them have it?"
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"I expect you to do what I signed myself into for. The land became yours. You're supposed to help them. If the Court is leading them to fight against you then you should take care of them first. It's not that my people are sheep but led against the only people they have left to trust against you and your people, the decision is clear." Her tone was no less than a Queen's should have been.
"It is likely that my contract by them was made into nothing more than a farce. They probably made me look like I ran away- and to you. So there's no reason they have that wouldn't tell them to try and keep you and your people away." Damn the Court. Damn them all.
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"I don't care about your people," he said bluntly. "If they are not strong enough to fight, there is nothing more for them except death." He came closer, watching Atem intently. "Even if your Court is misleading them, I still have to cut through them to get to the leaders. They will still die. So I ask again, why should I bother?"
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She didn't draw away when Kaiba came closer, just standing strongly and tilting her head up proudly. She would not back away. "Can you not take control over a land that is yours now? You cannot truly be so weak that you'd back away from the obvious solution and instead run home with no further plans in mind." She managed a small smirk of her own back at him.
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