Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Prince's Captive ❯ Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

A sound startled him awake. He bolted up in bed and scanned the room. There was no one in it but him. His eyes narrowed and his attention was drawn to the door. He could sense a familiar ki behind it.

The person knocked on the door for the second time and Vegeta growled. "This better be important!"

"It is. Can I come in?"

"Whatever."

Nappa entered the room and closed the door tightly behind him. Vegeta tossed back his sheets and went to get some clothes out of his chest of drawers.

"What the hell is so important that you needed to disturb my sleep?"

"We've captured someone sneaking around the palace," he answered. "There is reason to think she is a spy, but she won't talk. I think the King is going to order her execution."

"What does any of that have to do with me?" Vegeta asked.

"I thought you might want to take a look."

He sighed. "Fine." He finished getting dressed. "Take me to them."

<~~~>

Vegeta pushed the double doors open and stepped into the spacious room. A few soldiers were standing in a semi-circle, there was a woman sitting on the floor between them. Her head jerked in the Prince's direction when the doors opened.

Vegeta froze. This woman looked somewhat familiar. He kept staring at her face and finally her image clicked in his mind. She was the woman who had been bathing in the lake!

He took a step towards her. She was just as beautiful as she was when he'd last seen her. Her eyes were sparkling sapphire orbs. Her long aqua-colored hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

Her hands had been tightly bound behind her back and she hung her head forward, avoiding eye contact with the staring Prince.

Nappa touched his Prince's shoulder, lightly. Vegeta came back to reality and shook off the unwanted hand. "Who is she?"

"She says her name is Bulma and she's just a commoner."

Vegeta looked at Bardock as he spoke. The Prince hadn't noticed him there before. Radditz was at his side. He didn't look too alert, he was probably regretting spending the night out with Amara, though he had no idea that he'd be up this early the next morning.

Vegeta walked over to her. "Bulma is it?"

She nodded, still avoiding meeting his gaze. He knelt and placed his fingers under her chin. He lifted her head until she was looking at him. "Are you a spy?"

She shook her head.

"I want to hear you say it."

"I am not a spy," she said, looking him in the eyes.

He looked at her for a moment, weighing the validity of her response. There was a slight sparkle in her eyes that told him that she might not be telling the truth, but he wanted to keep her alive and find out more about her. He would have her, at any cost. Of this he was sure.

"Son?"

Vegeta turned to see his father standing in the doorway. He walked over to him, stood before the taller man and spoke, "She's given me her word that she's not a spy. And we don't have any credible proof that she is. We should wait until we find out more about her."

"She was sneaking around the palace," he said. "What the hell could she have been doing?"

Vegeta turned to Bulma. "Well?"

"I was lost," she said. "I thought I might find a soldier to help me find my way."

Vegeta turned back to his father who looked amused. "Lost?" He laughed. "Maybe, but what good would sparing her do for us?" He looked down at his son, trying to use his height to be intimidating.

The Prince thought for a moment. "I want her."

The King looked surprised. "What?"

"I said, I want her," he repeated. "I will take full responsibility for her and she will be mine."

King Vegeta blinked and then smiled. "I understand. All right you may have her, but like you said she is your responsibility and I don't want you to forget that. If anything goes wrong…"

Vegeta nodded. "Yes, of course, father."

King Vegeta turned and left the room, a few palace guards hurried after him. He listened until he couldn't hear his father's footsteps anymore and then turned back to Bulma.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Untie her and take her to a room!"

Radditz knelt and removed the rope from Bulma's wrists. He lifted her to her feet and walked towards the doors. Her eyes met his as they passed one another. She was frowning sharply at him.

He followed them out of the room, but went in the other direction down the hallway. Nappa hurried to his side and fell into step with him.

"Why did you come get me?"

"I told you before, Prince."

"No, the real reason." He stopped and looked at him with cold, serious eyes.

Nappa looked uncomfortable. "It was Radditz's idea. He said you knew the woman indirectly and that you probably wouldn't want her executed."

"Radditz?"

He nodded.

"Hn. I'll have to have a little talk with him later." He continued walking again and Nappa, trailed behind.

<~~~>

Radditz walked down the hallways, ushering Bulma in front of him. He was smiling, slightly as he watched her walking from behind. Wow, what a view.

He remembered walking away from the palace one day and felt Vegeta's ki nearby. He approached from a patch of trees beside the lake. He was startled to see a woman bathing in it, but even more startled when he spotted Prince Vegeta on a hilltop watching the woman as well.

When he saw his father and few other select soldiers dragging her into the palace, he stopped his father and told him that the Prince should have a part deciding if she should be executed or not. And he was glad he did. He could see the difference in Vegeta's face when he laid eyes on her.

Mild fatigue came over him and he yawned. It was his fault for staying out so late. He had left the nightclub at 2 AM and gotten only three hours of sleep before he was paged because some guards had said they had seen someone sneaking around and wanted back up. Damn rookie soldiers!

"Tired?" Bulma asked, half-turning.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Bulma turned and punched him in the stomach. She continued her assault on him, but stopped when she realized that he wasn't even flinching.

He grabbed her smaller hands in his. "Resisting is futile…" His sentence trailed off when she kicked him in the crotch. He doubled over a little and let go of her in surprise.

She slid past him and ran down the hallway. She went around a bend and ran into someone. She stumbled back, losing her balance and landing hard on her butt. She looked up at the person. She recognized him as the large, muscular, bald man from before.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

Bulma pulled out a laser gun and fired it twice at him. He held up his hand and both shots dissipated instantly when they met it.

"Nappa!" Radditz came around the bend.

"What the hell is going on here?" Nappa demanded.

"She got away from me."

Nappa looked at Bulma in disgust. "It's a good thing the Prince sent me to help you. She is under suspicion of being a spy and she sure is giving us reason to go with the suspicion."

Radditz nodded and took the gun from her. She didn't resist. She had her eyes fixated on Nappa.

"My gun didn't have any effect on you."

"Of course not," Nappa said. "I can't believe they didn't frisk you." He looked up at Radditz who shrugged. "I'll finish up here. You look exhausted, go get some rest."

"Yeah, I guess I am." He walked past them. "See ya."

Nappa took her arm and they began to walk in silence. Nappa found a suitable room for Bulma and shoved her inside of it.

"Hey!" she said, falling onto the bed.

Nappa closed the door and leaned against it. "So who are you?"

"A commoner." Bulma sat down on the bed.

"You're going to stick to your story, huh?" Nappa stepped away from the door. "You're not permitted to leave this room, got that?"

"Why are you doing this to me? You have no proof!"

"And you're sure not trying to sway us into the direction of believing you," he said.

"I'm afraid," Bulma said, as tears began to run down her face, despite her efforts not to cry. "I was just trying to find my way and now you've captured me and that monster wants me as his concubine."

Nappa blinked. "What did you say?"

"The short one with the spiky hair," she tried to explain. "He said that he wanted me as his."

"That doesn't mean he wants you to be his concubine. He probably just didn't want to see you die unjustly."

"How do you know?"

"I know Prince Vegeta and he's never had a concubine before. Why would he start now? And why you? You're not even a Saiya-jin." He laughed. "He'd probably break you in half."

"Would you know how rough he could be firsthand?" Bulma asked.

He stopped laughing and closed distance between them. "What did you say to me, you little bitch?"

Bulma bit her lip.

"Listen, I'm not going to stand her and let you talk to me like that. I may have to teach you a lesson." He lifted his hand and she squeezed her eyes shut.

The door opened and Nappa froze with his hand above Bulma. Amara came into the room. "Whoa there, big guy. Don't loose your cool."

"You don't know what she just said to me…"

"I heard from the other side of the door," she said. "But just think if I would have been the Prince. What would he have done if he caught you like this?"

He growled and lowered his hand. Amara walked up to Nappa who was much larger than she, but she placed her hands on her hips and stood her ground.

"You're no longer needed here, so leave," she said.

He looked like he'd been slapped. "Who put you in charge?"

"The Prince is on his way up," Amara said. "I would hate to have to tell him what you were about to do."

He scoffed. "I'm leaving." He turned sharply on his heel and stormed out of the room.

She turned to Bulma. "You've got a lot of nerve. I like that. Don't let those guys push you around."

"Thanks for stopping him," Bulma said. "You must be the only one who believes me around here." She flopped down on the bed.

"My opinion doesn't matter, so I'd rather not state it," she said, sitting next to her.

"What will he do when he gets up here?"

"Who? Prince Vegeta?" She laughed. "He's not on his way up."

"But you said…"

"I know what I said, but it's not true. I don't know when Vegeta will come, probably not for a while so relax. When Radditz comes back I'll have him guard your room instead of that big bruiser, Nappa."

"That's a relief," Bulma sighed. "What's your name?"

"I'm Amara," she said, standing. "I'll be outside the door if you need me."

"Are you a guard?"

She shook her head. "Make yourself at home. If you're hungry I can get you some food."

"I'm famished."

<~~~>

Is Bulma a spy or not? If she isn't then who is she and what was she doing sneaking around the palace? Hmm… Will she be able to escape? And what exactly does Vegeta plan to do with her? Find out in the next installment!