Warnings: Nothing much, really. Touch of language, suggestion of shounen-ai, the usual. Great confusion. I'm confused…

Disclaimer: I don't own the G-boys, I don't even own the concept of Katarin, that's Nanashi Kage Enjeru's. I do own the plot! Yay me! I own something.

Author's Notes: I know. It's been forever! I'm so sorry. But Uni's been just nuts, and I don't have a heap of access to computers when I'm away there. But here it finally is. If ever you want to see what the hell I've been doing, check www.xanga.com/KittyKinneas You can also add me to your MSN or AIM lists. MSN: keickocat98@hotmail.com AIM id: irvinegunsmith Mostly it's easier to get me on AIM when I'm at Uni, because I can use AIM express on the Uni computers. *grins* Anyways, here it is. Have fun.

Chapter Two: Hissst.

High atop a mountain, where storms raged and snow fell ceaselessly, and there was never any sun to warm the chill, a deep network of caves was carved. They worked their way endlessly down into the centre of the mountain, where they widened out into an immense cavern, glittering and shining with veins of gold and diamonds in the rock. Thousands upon thousands of phosphorescent glow-worms collected there, drawn by a subtle spell woven into the cavern walls. A city lay there. A city of Drow, darkelves, pitiless and merciless, females the dominant sex, and treating their menfolk like little more than cattle.

Huddled in the corner of a dark rock cell, curled on mouldy bits of straw beside a putrid bucket of water, was a tiger, just like Hikari. She whimpered low in the back of her throat, and shifted a little, wincing as she did so.

The Drow had not been kind to her, least of all their Queen. Bruises showed beneath her dirtied white fur, and she could barely open her eyes. She hardly even reacted when a soggy lump of bread was thrown through the tiny window high up in the thick oak door of her cell.

She would eat it. Eventually. Though everything in her cried out that she should just let go, she had made an oath, and that she would never - could never - break.

She closed storm-cloud blue eyes again and let her mind wander, groping for any other mind that might not be Drow. If she could find someone - anyone - they might help her. But she was weak, her reach was short, and there was no one.

She allowed herself a small whimper before strengthening her resolve once more. She would not give in. She would not bow. She would not give The Nemesis the satisfaction of seeing her break.

And, more importantly, she would survive.

* * *

They sat in a companionable silence, finishing off the last of their meal and just resting quietly in one another's presence. It was good to be able to let down their guard somewhat, even if they couldn't do so completely. But with Hikari out of their immediate presence, the onus was on Matthias to keep her safe.

Trystan looked sidelong at Hiyuu and hid a roll of his eyes. That severe look seemed always to be on the other guard's face, and Trystan didn't know that he had ever seen it vanish when Hiyuu was awake and aware.

"Matthias' attention is going to wander…" Hiyuu said suddenly, putting his bowl aside.

Trystan looked at him, then away, back to the mug of ale he cradled between long-fingered hands.

"Not so much that it will jeopardise his objectives," he said, absently lifting a hand to the lower line of his tattoo.

"How can you be so sure?"

"You don't trust that the choice was correct?" Trystan shot back.

Hiyuu shook his head.

"It's not that. I just don't… trust Matthias."

Trystan sighed and shook his head a little. Hiyuu never had trusted Matthias. They were just too different. They were both equally as devoted to their cause and their Queen, but Matthias was far more relaxed about most things than Hiyuu. The blonde wasn't lackadaisical about his duties, and he had never failed to carry out an order, but for Hiyuu, that wasn't enough. As far as he was concerned, nothing else should cross one's mind when one was on a mission. Which was, of course, the reason Hiyuu wasn't in Matthias' place - he would have scowled the poor young Prince Duo to death.

"He won't fail us. He can't afford to and he knows this," Trystan pointed out softly.

Hiyuu curled his lip.

"He thinks with his dick instead of his brain, and the moment he saw the Prince, he stopped worrying about his mission, and started worrying about something else entirely."

"And you don't think it might just the right away to approach His Highness?"

Hiyuu paused, mug halfway to his lips, and turned prussian eyes to his BladeKin. He snorted, shaking his head.

"It is never a good way to approach anyone," he growled.

"You ought to give him more credit…" Trystan ventured after letting Hiyuu calm down in a few moments of silence. "He can handle this."

Hiyuu kept his doubts to himself, knowing nothing he said would make Trystan come to his way of thinking. The emerald-eyed guard was just too blinded by his faith in their Queen to question any decision she made, even bad ones. And Hiyuu believed trusting this mission to Matthias was a bad one.

Well, when Matthias failed, he would be there to pick up the slack. He would not let this mission fail.

* * *

Matthias knew he had promised Trystan and Hiyuu he would check on them once the formalities were done, but the braided Prince Duo was just too intriguing, and he found himself sitting talking with him long after he could have left the dining room politely, without ruffling feathers over the time spent there.

They had discussed various things - war, magic, the seasons, politics, Duo's father, his upbringing, Matthias' upbringing (with only a few… embroideries), horses, and sundry others - and were just now finally moving onto that most delicate of subjects, religion.

"Hethena is your patron goddess, yes?" Matthias asked, picking a grape from a half-finished platter of fruit before them.

"Mm," Duo agreed with a short nod. "But I…" he trailed off and took a slice of orange, using it to occupy his attention.

"You…?"

"Well…" He dropped his voice. "I never really thought… or… rather believed in Her… in any god or goddess. I suppose I'm just a doubter… I just… well, people talk about feeling Her presence or having a sudden revelation and I… never have. Not even a vague sense of something bigger than me out there."

"Perhaps you're in the wrong faith," Matthias suggested, grinning.

Duo laughed.

"Maybe, but I don't have much choice. As Prince, I have to be seen as a devout patron of Hethena."

Matthias nodded pityingly. He looked around and realised most people had left, then turned his eyes back to Duo.

"Much as I have enjoyed your company and your conversation, Highness, I must take my leave of you. Hiyuu and Trystan are probably already tearing their hair out imagining reasons I might have been detained."

Duo smiled and nodded, standing as Matthias did, and bowing politely to him.

"I hope you take a good rest, Ambassador, and I'll see you at breakfast."

Matthias nodded and gently touched Hikari's side with a soft-booted toe. She stirred from her sleep and opened one blue eye to look up at them. After a moment, she stood and stretched from head to foot, even her whip-like tail stretching right out behind her.

Duo hesitated a moment, watching her, then looked at Matthias.

"Can I touch it?"

Matthias chuckled.

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind at all."

Duo smiled a little at him and reached out to rub between the tiger's ears, delighted when she purred deep in her chest and pressed back against his hand.

"What… what is she?"

"A lateral. Their kind are large in numbers where I live."

Duo considered for a moment, watching Hikari.

"You named Katarin after them…" he hazarded, eyes flicking back to Matthias'.

"In a manner of speaking," the Ambassador replied, laughing softly.

Duo nodded, and straightened.

"At any rate, I should let you get back to your faithful guards and take myself to bed. Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight."

As if on cue, Duo yawned, then smiled sheepishly at Matthias, who chuckled.

"Good night, Duo. Sleep well," he murmured, bowed from the waist, and left, Hikari padding at his side.

Duo watched them go, eyes fixed on the swinging, linen-wrapped braid trailing down Matthias' back. He flushed suddenly, from head to foot, but couldn't work out where it came from. It made him uncomfortable. He blinked a couple of times, then left the dining room and headed for his own, thoughts confused.

Quinn was waiting for him when he got there, and he smiled gratefully at the little blonde when he noticed the steaming bath.

"I'm going to marry you one day," Duo teased as he slid into the water, eyes fluttering closed.

Quinn laughed softly, busying himself with tidying around Duo's room. He set the Prince's sword on its stand, instead of leaving it slung across the bed where it had been carelessly tossed. He folded clothes still wearable, hung the black jacket on a peg on the wall, and threw those too dirty just outside the door for the washerwomen.

"Me? Oh, no, Highness, your father would not like that!" he teased back.

Duo snorted.

"My father," he said delicately. "Can go fuck himself. I'll marry who I want."

Quinn grinned to himself, turning down the bed and pouring Duo a glass of water to help dispel the still-apparent heat of his room. Their land was a hot one, and the castle's more prominent rooms - the dining hall, the audience chamber, the King's study, etc - were well-built with intent to draw fresh air and cool breezes through them, but not so the sleeping chambers which, in Quinn's opinion, was sheer stupidity. How was one supposed to sleep when all one could think about was how much weight they were losing in sweat?

"And," the blonde wondered slyly. "Who do you want?"

Duo glanced at him, going a touch red around the tops of his ears. He shook his head, shifting in the water.

"No one specifically. I just meant… well… you know."

Quinn chuckled to himself and nodded, turning down the sheets for his Prince and laying out his nightshirt. That done, he sat down to a mend a tear in one of Duo's riding cloaks.

"I know. I'm only teasing," Quinn replied, hiding another grin.

* * *

"Any longer and Hiyuu would have torn his own hair out," Trystan commented wryly as Matthias entered the rooms they had be given for the duration of their stay.

"I wouldn't have done such a thing," Hiyuu replied huffily, making Matthias grin.

Wei Ling stepped out of the shadows, his herald's staff clasped tight in one hand, and he scowled at Matthias.

"You spent much too long with that Princeling. What did you think you were doing?" he growled.

"You don't have the right to question me, Wei Ling! 'That Princeling' is my mission and I'll deal with him however I see fit."

"I have been here, in this place, longer than you, Matthias. I know the Prince, and I don't think-"

"I am aware you don't think," Matthias purred snidely. "It's your greatest flaw."

Wei Ling snarled, and his hair snapped suddenly from inky black to as blonde as Matthias' own. He took a step forward, fingers shifting on his staff, and glared.

"Wei Ling…" Trystan said softly. "Your hair."

Wei Ling blinked, lifting a hand to pull a lock of his hair forward so he could see it. His lip curled in disgust at himself and with a quick blink, his hair turned dark as night again.

"I hope you don't lose control like that if you happen to get angry with someone in the castle," Hiyuu mused, fingers tapping absently against the hilt of the sword at his hip. He drew it suddenly and pulled a whetstone out of a small pouch on his belt, going about sharpening the sword with attentive care. He didn't seem to mind the glare now levelled at him from dark almond eyes.

"I tire of this," Wei Ling said suddenly, and left the room, a thundercloud almost visible above his dark head.

"Why Wei Ling?" Matthias when the herald was out of earshot. "He constantly bucks against authority and only follows half the orders given him. Tai would have suited my purposes better…"

"The Queen knows what she's doing," Trystan reminded him, feeling a sense of deja`vu that made him grin inwardly.

"Still…"

"Quinn was the best choice for the position he's in, and Tai would have been a distraction, as would Quinn have been for Tai. No, it had to be Wei Ling, for no one else save Tai could hold the place, and Tai wasn't suitable," Hiyuu said rationally.

Matthias sighed, but he could see the wisdom in that.

"Milliardo?"

Matthias closed his eyes, dropping to a knee.

"Majesty,"he replied to the thready voice, relaxing slightly when Hiyuu and Trystan laid a hand on each of his shoulders, boosting his telepathic reach.

"How goes it?" she asked quietly.

"Well enough. The Prince is easy to talk to and I have not had any trouble with him."

"I am glad to hear it."

"Is there any word on Lucrezia?"

"No…" He felt her sigh. "We are doing everything we can, but it is getting still harder to mind-speak her. We will have to do something soon."

Matthias nodded.

Hiyuu uttered a low word in archaic language, biting his lip.

"Our strength weakens, Majesty," Matthias murmured, bowing his head a little lower. "We must bid you farewell."

"And I you. Take care. Feliah be with you."

"And you, Majesty. Farewell."

Hiyuu took his hand back, stumbling so that only the steadying hands of his BladeKin kept him on his feet.

"You ought to learn better control over your power sharing," Trystan commented amusedly, helping Hiyuu over to the bed. Hiyuu just nodded and was soon sleeping deeply.

"Hiyuu's worried," Trystan murmured, turning back to Matthias.

"When isn't he?" Matthias wondered, arching a platinum brow and tugging absently at his braided hair with a grimace.

"He thinks you'll be too busy trying to pluck the Prince that you'll forget what you're supposed to be doing."

"When have I ever?"

Trystan shrugged, fingers working against the shaft of his war-pike.

"I was only saying what someone else suggested."

Matthias shook his head and turned, heading for the door.

"Tell your BladeKin to cease his worrying. I won't make any mistakes."

"I can try to tell him, but you know how he is."

"I do at that. I'll see you in the morning, Trystan. Sleep soft."

"Dream well," came the instant reply, and Matthias shut the door behind him.

He found the apartments he and Hikari had been given, and the great cat was already there, purring happily in the middle of his bed.

"Move your feline behind, Hikari," he murmured amusedly, then chuckled when she only opened an eye and regarded him boredly. It slipped shut again in seconds. He rolled his eyes and slipped behind a screen to change into his bedclothes.

"Was Hiyuu bitchy…?" she wondered suddenly, as he was pulling the linen off his braid, having come out from behind the screen.

"Not especially, but Wei Ling was." He sighed. "The man doesn't like me."

"He doesn't like anyone," Hikari pointed out.

"Everyone likes someone… Move over."

Matthias slipped beneath the thin sheet, shoving Hikari over.

"Is that any way to treat me?" she wondered with mock indignation.

"I forget…" he purred, grinning into the pillow, then yawned hugely. "We'll argue about how you should be treated in the morning. I'm exhausted. Go to sleep."

She laughed softly and laid her head on his thighs, eyes slipping shut.

"Sleep soft."

"Dream well."

~ ~ ~

Author's Notes: What the hell is going on? Hopefully the next chapter should be a bit snappier than this one was. Again, my appologies.