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A Small Piece of Heaven - Part 12

Early October

Treize and Milliardo had spent most of the day been outdoors, inspecting the fencing of the pasture in the north of the estate that the ex-colonel was planning on using for the winter.

"I don't get it, Master. Why are you out here checking your fencing, when you have dozens of people on your payroll who could do this work easily."

"That's true." The duke laughed. "But to me this isn't really work. I enjoy being out here. It's something I have been looking forward to for many years."

Milliardo nodded thoughtfully. His master never spoke much about the past - it was something the both had in common. He knew that the duke had been a highly decorated soldier; a colonel in a special force unit during the war. But he had the feeling there was a lot more that he didn't know about the man. There was something in the past that still gave Treize nightmares today. Of course, Milliardo knew better than to ask.

"Shall we move on to the next section?" the duke asked.

The blond nodded, and the two men spurred their horses into a light trot. Suddenly Noble bucked, almost throwing its rider out of the saddle. Something, probably a wild animal in the brush, must have startled the horse. Milliardo padded his neck and whispered calming words to the steed. Noble was still snorting nervously, as he eyed some bushes on the roadside.

"What was that?" The blond slave dismounted. He handed his reins to the duke and went to investigate.

"Careful, Milliardo," Treize warned, as he reached for the rifle. He knew that occasionally, usually during the wintertime, lynxes and even lone wolfs made their way down from the mountains in search for easy prey.

The younger man nodded in acknowledgement, as he carefully approached the brush. Suddenly his eyes widened in surprise. A gasp escaped his lips. "Master...," he exclaimed

The duke dismounted quickly. He tethered tethering the horses to the nearest tree before he stepped closer to see what the blond had discovered. He expected some kind of wild creature, but he wasn't prepared to find something human. A young man, no a boy; he could be barely older than sixteen or maybe seventeen years at the most. His features were distinctively oriental; his skin had a golden tan to it. Dark, slightly slanted eyes were wide and filled with a mixture of fear and defiance. Despite the low temperatures the boy was dressed only in a pair of thin trousers and a shirt. On his right upper arm, the sleeve was soaked with dried blood. His teeth were chattering, as his body trembled from cold, blood loss and exhaustion. He was defiantly in bad shape.

Treize's eyes caught the red, metal collar around the boy's neck and he frowned in disbelieve.

A war slave? But how? The war has been over for nearly 2 years. He was only a child then. For heaven's sake, he still is only a child.

As Milliardo tried to move closer, the boy jerked away. His eyes darted about, looking for a way of escape, but realizing that he had nowhere to go.

"Easy," Treize told him softly. "You are in no condition to go anywhere."

***

Wufei was well aware that the man was right. He silently cursed himself for his own weakness.
He had been without food since the day he had managed to escape from his master? How long ago was that; four days, five? He wasn't even sure anymore. And hadn't been exactly well fed before that either. His body didn't have any reserves it could use.

Earlier this morning, he had come across a small stream that looked relatively clean, and a batch of wild berries. Famished as he was he drunk and ate as much as he could, which proofed to be a mistake. Wufei wasn't sure if it had been the water, the berries or the fact that he had eaten too many of them that had made him violently ill. After his stomach had finally settled down, in spite of fatigue, fever and chills he had forced himself to his feet. He knew that he had to keep moving if he didn't want to be tracked down. The boy had no idea where he was. He had lost his orientation a long time ago. He only knew that he couldn't risk being discovered. He was a runaway slave and there was probably a price on his head. Whoever found and captured him was most likely to turn him over to his owner. Wufei shuddered at the thought of what his master would do to him if he was re-captured.

When he had noticed the two riders he jumped into a group of bushes. He had nearly panicked as they stopped and approached his hiding spot. When one of the men reached out to touch him Wufei shed away. Once again he cured the fact that he was too weak to fight. He could barely even move his right arm.
The young Chinese boy momentarily closed his eyes in frustration and defeat. When he opened them again he looked straight into a pair of crystal blue orbs and a handsome face framed by long, platinum blond hair. His gaze wandered deeper and fell onto a thin gold colored, metal band wrapping around the stranger's neck. Wufei felt a sting of sympathy. The collar identified the young man as a slave just like him, but its golden color indicated that, unlike Wufei, he had been born into slavery.

Brought into this world only to serve others, Wufei thought bitter. Where is the justice in that?
"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." a soft voice assured him. The blond crouched down, reached out and gently touched his forehead.

***

"He has a fever." Milliardo announced as he rose to his feet. He slipped out of the jacket he was wearing and wrapped it around the boy. The young slave instinctively huddled into the warm fabric.

"Is there still some tea left," the blond asked.
Treize shrugged. "There might be. I'll check." He walked over to the horses, retrieved the thermos from his saddlebag and returned.

"Let me, Master." Milliardo suggested.

The duke nodded, as he handed him the bottle.

The boy had been watching every move they made suspiciously. But this time when the blond slave crouched down next to him he didn't recoil.

Milliardo put the bottle onto his lips. "Drink this. It's warm tea."

The young Chinese drank thirstily. He held on to the thermos with his left hand and struggled when Milliardo tried to pull it away.

"Easy," the blond told him. "You are going to get sick if you drink too much at once."

The boy finally let go off the bottle.

"You can have more in a couple minutes." Milliardo assured him as he screwed the top back on.

Treize, who had been watching silently until now asked: "Do you have a name?"

The boy's head turned toward him but he didn't answer.

"I'm Treize Khushrenada," the duke introduced himself. "And that's Milliardo."

"My name is Chang Wufei," the boy answered, putting special emphasis in his last name.
Only free men used two names. Generally slaves were given one name when they were born. And those captured in war or sentenced to slave labor lost the privilege of a using their family name along with all the other rights and privileges a free person had.

They haven't been able to break your spirit yet, have they? Treize thought with a certain amount of respect.

You probably won't like this, but we will have to take you with us and turn you over to the S.A.U. You need medical attention. I'm sorry, but there is not way in hell that I can turn my back and just leave you here to die.

***

When the boy suddenly tensed and stared at something behind Treize, the duke turned. He noticed two riders, accompanied by a bloodhound, heading down the dusty trail toward them. The men reined their horses next to the duke. The dog immediately run toward the boy and started to bark. Wufei brought his arm up to protect himself.

"Control your hound," Treize snapped angrily. He could see the fear in the young slave's eyes.
The men dismounted. One of them leashed the dog and led it aside. "I'm sorry, your Excellency. I suppose Rosco is just as frustrated as we are. This little bastard has been eluding us for nearly five days."

The ex-colonel frowned. "You seemed to know who I am, that gives me some kind of a disadvantage I suppose."

"My name is Muller, my partner is Alex. We are working for Duke Dermail," the man with short cropped brown hair replied.

"Is that so? Then what are you doing on my land?"
"We are trying to re-capture one of the Duke's slaves." Muller explained with a nod in Wufei's direction. "I suppose we have to thank you for your help. If you don't mind, we will take it from here."

Milliardo gave his master a pleading look, but Treize only shrugged and gestured him to step aside. He liked the thought of turning the boy over to those two men as little as Milliardo did, but there wasn't really anything he could do.

The blond complied. He watched with clenched teeth as Muller trained his rifle on the boy while Alex pulled a stun-collar from his saddlebag and walked over to Wufei.

"Get on your feet," the man ordered.

Obviously the boy didn't move fast enough, probably couldn't even move faster, and Alex kicked him viciously. His boot connected first with Wufei's stomach, and then as the boy doubled over in pain, with his head.

From there things were happening so fast that Treize was barely able to follow them.

Milliardo could do nothing against those first two blows, but before Alex could kick the young slave a third time he charged the man with an angry growl. "Bastard." His fist connected with Alex's chin.

As the man stumbled backward, Muller jumped in to help his partner. He slammed the butt of his weapon into Milliardo's abdomen.

The blond slave doubled over. He slumped to his knees gasping for air and clutched his stomach. .

"That's enough!" Treize snapped. His sound of his voice, as sharp as a razorblade, made everybody stop in their track. Directed toward the two headhunters the duke continued. "Leave my property now."

The taller of the two men moved toward the young slave, who was lying limply at the spot where he had collapsed.

"The boy stays," the duke decided.

"You can't do that," the man with the short cropped brown hair growled.

"Watch me," Treize replied calmly, as he tightened the grip on his rifle. "Give my regards to the Duke and let him know that, if he wishes to pick up his slave he can do so at my house."

The two men mounted their horses, but before they rode off one of them turned toward the ex-colonel. "You have no right…"

"This is my land," the duke pointed out. "I even have the right to shoot trespassers in order to protect my property."

As Alex and Miller rode off Treize stepped over to his slave who was still on his knees, panting. "Are you alright, Milliardo?"

The blond nodded and staggered to his feet. "Yes, Master." With an apologetic look in the duke's direction he added. "I probably shouldn't have done this, but beating the boy was absolutely uncalled for. He didn't resist in any way. I just couldn't let…"

Treize cut him of with a dismissing gesture. "You don't have to explain yourself, Milliardo. I don't blame you. Now let us take the boy home. He needs a doctor."

The younger man knelt down next to the black-haired slave. He winced in sympathy as he saw blood trickling from a wound at the side of the boy's face. "He's lost consciousness." He looked up at his master.

"Hand him to me," Treize told him as he mounted his horse. "I'll carry him."

Milliardo nodded. He slipped his arms under the boy's back and knees and scooped him up from the ground. He handed Wufei off to his master before climbing into the saddle as well.

The duke was shocked how little the boy weighed. He was way too light for his age and his size, and Treize could feel his bones through the fabric of his clothes. Damn you, Dermail. How can you treat your slaves like this? He thought angrily.

He cradled the limp body carefully in his arms and clicked his heels. Napoleon fell into a soft trot.

The two men reached the mansion about fifteen minutes later.

Treize turned the boy over to Milliardo long enough that he could dismount, than took him again. He headed up the stairs while the younger man left to take the horses to the stable.

"Evans!" Treize called out as he walked up the wide staircase. He knew that the butler was somewhere near by.

"Dear god, what happened?" the grey-haired man exclaimed as he held open the door for the duke.

"I'll explain later Evans." Treize answered and rushed by him into the house. "Right now I need a basin with hot water, some cold compresses and a first aid kid. Bring it up into Milliardo's room."

"At once, your Excellency," the butler nodded.

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T.B.C.

Author's Note:

Feedback is greatly appreciated, constructive criticism is welcome :-)