Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unfaithful ❯ Part Two: 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

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................................................................ ...................Rhapsody~*



________________________~* Part Two*~: Temptations
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Prince Vejita watched the woman closely as she leaned over the railing precariously. He could see the emotions and indecision as clear as day on her face. The delicate material of her white wrap flapped in the wind, and he had to blink to make sure that she was real, not some trick of the moonlight. He scowled at these weak feelings he was experiencing and impatiently waited for her decision.

Earth's Queen looked over her shoulder, then leaned over the railing again.

"Hold on for a minute, if you will," she called down cautiously. "I'm coming down."

She took a deep breath, then mustered up her courage and attempted to scale the high railing in her constraining dress. Eventually, she made it over and sat on the railing for a moment, regaining her composure. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the party, where the Saiyan nobility danced as if nothing had happened. Then one of them met her eye disapprovingly, and whatever qualms she had felt before disappeared.

"Hurry up!" Prince Vejita snapped from the ground below, crossing his arms impatiently. "I don't have all night."

Bulma nodded, closed her eyes, then released her grip on the railing. She comforted herself with the thought that if he didn't catch her, she would be killed instantly and her own personal hell would be over. Thinking it over more, Bulma realized that perhaps that was what she really wanted.

She hoisted herself up on the railing in a sitting position, took a deep breath, then closed her eyes and let go. She hardly felt the sensation of falling-- as soon as she released her grip on the railing Prince Vejita rose to meet her with a scowl on his face. Bulma opened her eyes reluctantly. She instantly met the gaze of the Saiyan Prince and supressed her initial fear of the harsh man as best she could.

Vejita slowly floated back down to the ground. The human woman was so unnaturally skinny and unmuscular that she felt like a mere skeleton in his arms. The scent of her, however, was intoxicating. She smelled of warm vanilla and jasmine. The Saiyan quickly purged such thoughts from his mind as soon as he realized what was happening. Thinking about the married queen in that kind of way would bring war upon both of their planets, because when he wanted something, he never ceased chasing it until he had it in his possession.

Bulma smoothed down her wrap when they reached the ground and took a few steps away from the Saiyan Prince, trying to be inconspicuous. They were now standing beneath the balcony, on the edges of Queen Magdalene's beautiful gardens. The smell of magnolias was heavy in the air, and Bulma began to feel pleasantly lightheaded.

"So are you going to stand around here all night?"

Bulma moved to follow Prince Vejita through the gardens silently, ever on guard. If someone were to see them here and tell Yamcha, there would be hell to pay. She cringed to think of the consequences and hoped that she could trust this strange man.

"Where are you taking me?" she questioned after a few moments of seemingly aimless wandering through the gardens.

"I despise people who ask stupid questions," Vejita responded from ahead of her.

Bulma was at first offended, then realized what he meant. The smell of salt was strong in the air, and growing increasingly poignant as they traveled. In the distance, the faint sound of crashing waves could be heard. She felt her heart begin to pound in excitement. The ocean-- Prince Vejita was taking her to the ocean.

"Why are you doing this, may I ask?" she pressed further. "Quite frankly, Your Highness, this is not normal royal protocol."

Vejita snorted. "And neither was the incident in the throne room, or the one earlier by the coast."

Bulma's cheeks flushed in embarassment and shame. "I suppose not, but sometimes those things cannot be helped..."

"Bullshit," was her companion's curt response. "You would have to be blind not to see what is going on. The bastard is still in there now, dancing and getting himself drunk without a second thought towards the whole point of this trip."

"On behalf of my husband, I apologize for the commotion," Bulma started nervously, wringing her hands in a very unladylike manner. In this relaxed, exotic setting, she hardly even noticed. "He just gets a little bit... frustrated sometimes. But I swear to you, the peace talks will go quite smoothly."

Prince Vejita raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It doesn't take a genius to see that that is a lie, but it does take some thought as to why the hell you would defend your husband when you obviously believe otherwise."

Bulma was shocked in spite of herself. On Earth, not even her closest comrades would have dared to pry into her private life, if that was what Vejita was doing, and here he was, talking as if he fully expected her to respond. She was partly relieved at the change from formality, but at the same time a bit unsettled by his dark, calculating eyes and dangerously alluring accent. She could not even allow herself to consider what might happen if she allowed herself to be won over by his strange, casual world and darkly handsome looks.

"I love Yamcha," she claimed stiffly. "He is my husband, and I am his wife-- it is not my place to talk about our private matters."

Vejita smirked, and Bulma had to look away to keep from smiling back. "You know, if I were a human, then I might have fallen for that. But, unfortunatly for you, I am a Saiyan. I can smell your fear."

The Queen of Earth's heart skipped a beat at this insinuated threat. If Saiyans could literally smell fear, then what else could they detect? "My marriage is not a topic open for discussion, Your Highness. I can't understand why you should be concerned anyway."

"I'm not," Vejita informed her seriously. "My nosy mother is. She concerns herself with everyone else's problems and never her own, the stupid woman. She sent me off after you like some sort of mediator."

"Queen Magdalene is one of the kindest people I've ever met," Bulma said with a smile.

Prince Vejita chuckled, clearly amused at this opinion. "Then you don't know her very well."

"Where is your father?" Bulma asked suddenly, reaching out to pluck a flower from its bush. "Your mother is such a beautiful woman, I would think that--"

"The son of a bitch is dead," Vejita interuppted, angered by her question. "Magdalene killed him with her own bare hands."

Bulma's jaw dropped before she could stop the reaction. "She killed him? But... why?"

Prince Vejita's eyes darkened with memory. "She did it when I was ten. The bastard treated her in much the same way that your husband does to you. When it kept on getting worse, she just powered up and killed him. He suffered, of course, to make up for all of the years that he had given her pain. That's the best thing that she ever did."

Bulma thought of how terrible things must have gotten to drive the seemingly level-headed Queen Magdalene to murder her own husband. Then the memories of all that Yamcha had done to her rose to the surface of her mind, and her heart sunk as if she were reliving them again. Just as Vejita had described, Yamcha's treatment of her was not improving. But the idea of killing him... Bulma pressed a hand to her throbbing temples and brushed the dark thoughts aside. Magdalene was a Saiyan, part of a race notorious for their quick tempers and inhuman strength. Perhaps that sort of thing was more common on this planet. Bulma would not have been surprised.

"I am sorry," she finally said softly. "I know what it is like to lose your father at a young age."

Vejita scowled. "I was relieved when he was stuck into the ground."

They passed through the remainder of the gardens in an awkward silence. Bulma's mind raced with images of Queen Magdalene finally giving in to her frustration and fear and doing away with her husband, grinning as she squeezed the life from the abusive man. Then the images of the Saiyan monarchs were replaced with those of she and Yamcha. He screamed and struggled uselessly as she killed him, and she couldn't help but smile in the darkness at the thought.

Prince Vejita, having superior vision in the dark, caught her slightly sadistic smile and held back one of his own. It was as he had said-- he had felt no remorse when his father had been killed. The man had beaten both he and his mother from the start, and he had often contemplated doing it himself, if he had only been strong enough. Glancing over at Bulma, however, he realized that she, unlike his mother, did not have this option. Even on her best day, she could not match the strength of her husband. She was trapped. He knew how she felt.

They stepped out of the gardens and onto a small path that led behind the palace and down to the rocky coastline. Queen Bulma paused and allowed him to lead the way down the narrow path, her cerulean blue eyes still cloudy with thought. Vejita did not mind the silence; he in fact preferred it, so he made no efforts towards conversation. Then Bulma took a seat on a rock nearby and pulled her knees to her chest, looking more relaxed than Vejita had ever seen her.

"Do you come down here often?" she asked quietly.

Vejita nodded, glaring out across the dark waters. "When I pissed off."

Bulma bent her head back, exposing her white throat to the breeze. She was silent for a moment, allowing the wind to caress her body luxuriously. "It must be so nice to have a place like this," she continued. "Nobody can find you here."

Vejita glanced over as she rested her chin on her knees and closed her eyes. He would not have been able to survive for this long without having somewhere where he could be alone. Bulma had done it, and here she was now-- a caged animal at best. Rather than go against character, he remained silent and kept his eyes on the ocean, watching out of the corner of his eyes as she savored the brief feeling of freedom. This time, Yamcha was not here to take it away from her.

Then she slid off of the rock and back down onto the beach. She began picking up shells as best she could in the darkness that hindered her kind. Under her breath, she started humming a song that sounded strangely familiar to Vejita. It caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise and triggered his memory.

"What is that you're humming?!" he demanded, more harshly than he had intended.

Bulma started and turned wide blue eyes to him. Even Vejita had trouble resisting their dangerous beauty. "You really can hear well, can't you, Your Highness?" At his impatient expression, she hurried to answer his question. "Is the only Saiyan song that I know," she explained. "I was flipping through a history book one day and it was just..." She shrugged. "There. It appealed to me in a strange way, I suppose."

Vejita furrowed his brows, but did not comment. His black eyes remained fixed on the churning water. Bulma, puzzled, turned away and commenced her humming, oblivious to Vejita's dazed state. The Saiyan Prince, however, was far from puzzled. He was downright confused.

When Saiyan children are born, they are traditionally given a song that belongs to them, that they memorize at an early age and sing on their way to lessons. They are supposed to be able to distinguish their true mates through this song, for the Saiyans believed that if two people really had a bond, they would know each other's songs instinctively. It was an ancient tradition that dated back farther than anyone could remember, and one that would likely be continued for centuries.

Vejita's song, however, was an odd one-- a tune full of ups and downs and unexpected twists that perfectly matched the volatile man's personality. While the other children hummed songs of hope and celebration, the Saiyan Prince had only his haunting rhapsody to soothe his numerous nightmares and use to pass the time. His father had possessed one much the same, which was reason enough for him to hate it.

But now, hearing it from this exotic woman's lips, it took on a whole different sound, like the waves of the ocean or thunder during a storm-- darkly beautiful. It seemed that it was too extraordinary of a coincidence that she should know it, but then again, she was human, and married.

Vejita scowled at these overemotional thoughts. She had found it in a damned history book, so what was the big deal?

"Do you suppose that someone will see Yamcha back to our chambers?" Bulma asked, interuppting his train of thought.

Vejita found himself looking back into her alluring face and clenched his fists in frustration. "Probably not."

"Oh." Bulma's face fell, and the shells she had been collecting slipped from her fingers. "Then I had better be returning to look for him."

Vejita stared at the abandoned shells on the sand, like last hopes and dreams that were now Bulma's life. "I will see to it that he's returned by morning."

All that Bulma could manage was a grateful smile that made him want to eat Yamcha alive like the savage that he was thought to be.

"Pick your shells back up, woman, all they do here is litter the beach."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Bulma said as she collected her shells again. The frosty white wrap flapped gently in the breeze, giving Vejita peeks of her slender figure beneath the transluscent material. Her skin was almost as white as the dress, he realized. "Would it be possible to come here again?"

Prince Vejita slid off of his rock and beckoned for her to follow him back over the rocks. "Perhaps. I would much prefer to get these talks the hell over with."

Bulma glanced back over to the ocean, thinking that she couldn't disagree more. Then she began to hum Vejita's song again.
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When Queen Bulma was safely returned to her chambers, and the throne room was completely empty of servants and guests, Prince Vejita emerged from the balcony to sit beside his mother on the throne. He had been gone for over an hour, and Magdalene's bright green eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"So?"

Vejita slouched in his throne and adopted his usual scowl. "What?"

Magdalene's anxious smile disappeared. "Don't play stupid with me, Vejita. I wish to know what happened over the past... what, hour and a half?" She suddenly looked alarmed. "How is the poor girl? She didn't fall into the ocean, did she?"

Vejita smirked. "Don't worry Magdalene, the sharks on this planet are quite friendly, I'm told."

"I've had enough of your sarcastic bullshit, Vejita!" Magdalene warned seriously. "Queen Bulma's problems are no laughing matter."

"Its none of your business anyway," Vejita pointed out. "Who the hell cares if the bastard hits her? They're here to sign our treaty, not become our best friends!"

Magdalene's green eyes were hard, and her mouth set in a tight line. "Something happened, something noteworthy. I can see it in your eyes, and I can smell it on you." When Vejita's eyes narrowed stubbornly, she returned his glare with one of her own. "Allow me to remind you that I am still queen and ruler of this planet, Prince Vejita. And most importantly, I am your mother and only parent. I think that I have a right to know what has unsettled my son so much."

Vejita was not impressed. "Fuck your alleged authority, Magdalene. No one has told me what to do since you killed my father."

Magdalene stared at her son in shock. No one had brought up that portion of their dark family history in years, though the images still plagued her dreams and undoubtedly his. It was then that she knew that indeed, something had happened out on the beach that night, something that had startled Vejita enough to snap at her in a way that he hadn't since childhood. She decided to use her better judgement and back off. For now at least.

"You are right, of course," she allowed breezily. "You are a grown man now, and soon to be king."

Vejita narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and Magdalene could not help but see more of his father in him than herself. The thought chilled her straight down to the bone. And that, of course, was not an easy thing to do.

"Be sure that you don't train yourself to death tonight, you understand?" Magdalene then stepped out of her throne and exited the throne room, leaving her baffled son behind to wonder what had come over her.
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Magdalene had met Vejita's father two years before his birth, at a royal function in the height of summer. She had retreated from the party to the balcony in attempts to escape from the suffocating heat, and the burly Saiyan Prince (or at least he had been prince back then) had followed her.

Later on he had admitted that it was because he had been intrigued by her strange appearance. Unlike most other Saiyan women, she had snapping green eyes and a stubborn expression that gave away her natural fire. Tired of having to consort with the endless parade of look-alikes that his father had been providing in hopes of him mating, Vejita senior had taken a chance on the most unlikely woman imaginable.

Magdalene's family was a good one, of course-- one of the noblest and strongest on the planet. But generally, Saiyan men were not willing to take the risk of mating with a woman so different from the norm. They both had been young, desperate, and lonely, which perhaps accounted for their bad marriage and abusive relationship.

Vejita had charmed her with his oily words and handsome face, and in no time at all she was his fiancee. She sported an enormous diamond on her ring finger, a fresh bite-mark on her neck, and had the jealousy of every woman in the court by the time they were married in the spring of the following year. She had foolishly believed that she was living in some sort of utopia. Unfortunately for her, it hadn't lasted long.

Soon into the marriage, Vejita began to hit her. Not slaps, mind you-- blows across the face and to the tender parts of her voluptuous body, intending to keep her securely in her place as the quiet, obedient mate that he desired. At first, she had made excuses for him, even going so far as to blame herself for her husband's behavior, but then it all began to fall apart in her mind.

The blows got harder, and so did her resolve. Soon enough, she was striking him back and receiving punishment for her insolence tenfold. Then came the day when she felt as if she could not take it anymore and slipped away from the palace to gather her thoughts.

It was there that she decided what she had to do. She was getting older now, as was her son Vejita, and things would only get worse. She feared that if something weren't done soon, he would kill her.

All seemed according to plan until she discovered that her husband had been striking her son as well-- when she wasn't around, of course. Now responsible for not only her own life, but the life of her adolescent son, she was forced to move ahead with her risky plan.

She remembered entering their room that night, scared out of her wits, thinking that it was now or never. She would never forget the expectant look in her husband's dark eyes, the angry look and the raised fist that she had been cowering from for the past twelve years.

She would cower no more.

Vejita did not notice the long knife she had hidden in her wrap until the last moment, when she had already carefully inserted it between his ribs. She vividly remembered his dark life's blood soaking onto her from his fresh wound, warm and sticky between her fingers.

King Vejita had uttered one last sound-- the chilling death rattle that she had been picturing in her dreams for years now, and then fallen. When the royal guards found him, she fed them a heart-wrenching story depicting an intruder and a bloody fight to the death. Then she showed them where the criminal had jumped out of the window. Not a single person questioned her story. It was exactly as she had planned it.

No one cried at his funeral, not even his own son.
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Rhapsody~*
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