Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Of Courtesans and Corsairs ❯ Chapter 6

A/N: Bit of angst in here, y'all! Hope ya like!

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Days passed, and all of LaGrange was abuzz with activity, feverishly preparing for the arrival of Queen Relena and the wedding/coronation celebrations that would follow. Even the youngest in body and in spirit were set to light tasks of gathering flowers and helping to decorate the city, all to please their future High Queen and brighten the mood of the High King's Concubine.

The people of the city knew Heero's heart was hurting, though any foreigner first clapping eyes upon the man would have sworn otherwise. Heero strove to keep his face from betraying any more of his pains, masking his unease for timidity as the royal family rode through the streets to see Relena's coach and party to the palace safely.

Wu-Long sat beside Heero throughout the ride, dressed in his imperial yellow garb and fussing when he was not napping. Heero wore a simple white robe and trousers, both made of fine silks as was customary for the fine warm weather LaGrange was having. His Majesty Wufei was in his traditional war attire; an imperial yellow tunic embroidered with a red and black winged serpent along his shoulder blades and down his back, black-tooled leather breeches, his broadsword, a sash of gold silk, and of course his crown. The crown was not as gaudy as that of the crown of Sanq, but it was the power it held that interested him, not fashion. The crown was a gold circlet made with a serpent's head to rest upon the forehead of the wearer, to give the illusion that he was descended from the dragons as the legends told of all LaGrange kings, and wings that spread on either side of the wearer's head, demonstrating his vast powers to rule so great a kingdom.

Heero sat across from his lover and king in the carriage, to permit the Queen to settle beside Wufei. Wu-Long napped against him, giving him time to notice the intricate detailing of the circlet. There were individual ridges to denote individual scales all along the dragon's body, and he identified the eyes to be of pearl, though the gems were no larger than the eye of the women's sewing needles.

He remembered when he first saw the crown, and how much he giggled at the sight of Wufei in it. Bless his husband's heart, but he did look comical with his ears sticking out like great wings and blushing in his indignation. It was a chore to explain himself that night during lovemaking, but he sobered up quickly after meeting with Wufei's immense disapproval.

`But you hate that crown with a passion!' Heero could hear himself saying, to which Wufei's reply had been, `Yes I think it looks ridiculous, but it is the tradition behind it that I will not have you laughing at!'

"Mama?" Heero sat up in an instant and gazed warmly upon his child, who now was looking up at him intently with his sparkling blue eyes. "I'm hungwy, Mama. Awe we home yet?"

Heero shook his head and kissed his son's cherubic cheeks fondly. "No, sweet, but we will be home soon. You and I will have lunch in my rooms when we're there, I promise."

"But I'm hungwy now," the child whined, but quieted under Heero's lightly disapproving glance. Instead of pursuing the subject and finding nothing better than a scolding for his efforts, the boy decided to turn his attentions to the king and smiled up at him winningly. "Do I gotsta call Wady Wewena `Mama'?"

"Wu-Long!" Wufei's sudden bark left the child bewildered, which wasn't what the King had in mind. He hadn't meant to snap, truly, and there was no excuse for his actions. With a little pat of apology atop his son's head, the king tried again. "My son, Queen Relena is to become my wife. That means she is to be addressed by her full title, just as I'm addressed as `Your Majesty'. Understand?"

"But she's mean!" the boy blurted, curling closer to Heero instinctively. "Mama should be queen!"

"Mama can't be queen and that's final!" The rebuke left Wu-Long stunned, and he was crying in no time. The King felt terrible about making his son cry, but this was hardly a time or the place to coddle him out of this tantrum! Wufei glared at his son admonishingly and drew himself up to the point that his back was ramrod straight. "Prince Wu-Long, I'll not tolerate this! You will welcome the Queen as we all shall, and I will not hear a word of protest from you!"

Wu-Long then did the oddest thing. He scrunched his little face into a perfect mirror image of the High King's scowl, which knocked the wind from Wufei's sails most efficiently. "She's not wewcome! Not to me!"

Heero popped his son on the backside with a little too much strength than he'd intended. "You'll do well to watch that impertinent tongue, my little Highness," he warned, taking Wu-Long into his lap and rubbing a bit of the sting out of his bottom. "Your father the King commands respect, even when he does things you do not approve of. When you are king, it will be the same."

"Then I don' wanna be king!"

The outburst hung in the air like smog, the words weighing heavily on Wufei's heart. Heero was startled out of his wits, torn between rebuking his child for such a hateful outcry and defending him from Wufei's mounting wrath. Wu-Long knew he'd said something positively dreadful, but refused to apologize for speaking the truth.

The blaring of trumpets broke the silence; Queen Relena and her royal train had arrived. As was customary, Relena was standing outside of her gossamer-trimmed coach and awaiting her betrothed. Wufei glared to the prince darkly as he exited the carriage to formally accept the Queen to the kingdom. "We shall discuss this further when there are less pressing matters to attend. Heero, take his Highness home and put him to bed. I will make the necessary excuses."

Heero bowed his head in compliance and scuttled out of the carriage with Wu-Long in tow. After talking with a guard in hushed tones and well out of earshot or vision of the gathered masses, it was arranged for Heero and Wu-Long to take the guard's horse back to the palace while the guard was to wait in the carriage and act as bodyguard to the royal couple.

Wufei saw them leave out of the corner of his eye, and his heart felt like a lead weight. <My son…I pray you will fare your heartbreak better than I…>