Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reluctant Companion ❯ Chapter 1

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I don't own Gundam Wing or characters therein, they belong to Bandai and Sotsu. They
kindly let me borrow them to play with.

Reluctant Companion; The sequel to Sampson Effect

Chapter One

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Milliardo Peacecraft snarled at his guard. "This is ridiculous. I'm a prince of this
kingdom. Release me."

The guard was a very large and phlegmatic individual so he just said, "No. I got my
orders an' I'll have ta say. You're a disgrace. My Lady did love you and you do this to
her? You're lucky I'm so good at following orders. Now ... there's two ways to do this.
The hard way or the painful way. Which do you wanna try?"

Milliardo blinked, this wasn't going the way it should. Relena was angry at him he knew
this, but usually she had him locked up in one of the upper dungeons or a tower for a
while then she forgave him and let him go. But the guard was riveting the cuffs around
his wrists and ankles, shredding his remaining clothing in the process.

This was very bad. This was worse than the time he'd really mucked it up at the temple
and they'd sent him to the back side of nowhere for six miserable months. He'd never
been treated like this before, no matter what he'd done. He realized that he'd really
been cast off this time. He didn't see that what he'd done now was any worse than any
other stunt he'd pulled. Relena would call him back. He was sure.

.

*a few days later*

Milliardo stood in a ditch and watched as Heero and Duo galloped by, laughing. The
dust they kicked up settled on his already dirty face and got into his mouth.

"Look at them two. Make a couple, don't they? Her Majesty made her deal?"

The other mounted guard nodded, jerking on the chain attached to his saddle. "Yurs.
Did. Lady Catalonia got back in time to have a good laugh. Don't understand royalty, I
don't. Why that dumbass brother don't understand that we're a matriarchy I don't get.
Them two figured it all out between them. We get a princess an' they gets a prince. An'
everybody is happy. Except himself."

One of the foot soldiers laughed harshly. "Hear he's in a mess o' trouble. Cast off he is.
Sent away somewhere no one will know who he is. Hope he gets his butt beat regular.
Duo is a good man and kind. Not like what I heard that one was. All sorts of bad things I
heard of him." He jabbed the prisoner none too gently with the butt of his pike. "Get on,
you. Stop draggin' your feet. Want to get to the next stop before dark, we do. If I gots ta
hoof it, you step along sharp too."

Milliardo refrained from reminding him it was hard to walk in leg irons. He didn't need
the other side of his lip split, nor did he need to miss another meal. He hung his head
and struggled to keep up. He was soft from lack of exercise, managing to avoid training
didn't seem so smart now.

.

The small troop traveled for a week, each stop had its own special torture for Milliardo.
The first stop, he was chained in a small shed that smelled strongly of chickens. The
innkeeper didn't want a prisoner in his inn. His meal was stew, served in a wooden
bowl.

The second day was another misery of walking until his ankles were raw. The guards
noticed this and gave him some rags to wrap around the iron rings to keep them away
from his flesh. He was surprised at how grateful he felt.

That night was better than the first in one way and worse in another. He was allowed
into the room with the guards, but he had to sleep on the floor. His supper was cold
cheese and dry bread. Never mind that he'd had no breakfast or lunch.

The rest of the journey was just as bad, his sleeping arrangements were terrible and he
was constantly hungry and thirsty. By the time they reached their destination he was
beyond filthy, hungry or thirsty.

.

Chang Wufei glared at his king and friend and snarled. "I will not. It is unjust in the
extreme to expect me to ... I ... Duo, do not give me that look."

Duo turned up the pleading in his gaze and begged. "Please, Master Chang. I just know
you can succeed. Please try."

Wufei threw up his hands in defeat, he never could turn Duo down when he gazed at
him like that. "Very well. But when I fail ..." he trailed off. Turning, he stamped out the
door, grumbling under his breath.

It didn't take him long to return to his new domain via horseback. He rode as well as
Duo and Heero. He just didn't like horses much. He preferred his own two feet, but
needs must.

.

Milliardo gazed in true fear at the man before him. He was just meeting his new master.
He'd had no idea that Relena had agreed to this when she'd sent him away. He was to
be the slave of this tiny boy, a boy who would have the right of life or death over him for
the rest of his life. He wasn't putting up with this.

"I don't believe so. If you'll excuse me, I don't find this joke to be funny."

Chang Wufei eyed his new slave with a completely jaundiced eye. "I don't joke. You will
do as I say, or else. And my or else is painful, I promise."

"Really? I'd like to know how."

Chang Wufei turned to the near side guard. "Release him. Remove the chains
completely."

The guard eyed Wufei for a moment then shrugged. "It's his funeral, I'd be guessin'.
Fine. Royal pain in my arse he is." The guard unlocked the locks fastening the chains to
the bands of metal around Milliardo's wrists and ankles. He stepped back and waited.

Milliardo pushed aside his discomforts, if he could take this boy, he could get a
dominance over him that would make his life easy. He charged trying to take advantage
of his longer limbs and greater weight. All he did was wind up on his face on the floor
with a foot on his neck.

"You see?" Wufei took his foot off Milliardo's neck. "I think I will call you Milli for now."
Milliardo stirred rebelliously. "If you don't like it, that's too bad. Earn your name back, or
live with it. Get up and come with me."

Milliardo contemplated attacking again but decided against it when one of the guards
pulled his sword. His master just shook his head at the man.

"That won't be necessary. Even if he did jump me, it wouldn't do any good. And I'd
teach him the first lesson in honor. Please, put that up. Although I thank you for your
good will."

The guard put up his sword, tugged his forelock and waited for further orders. The small
slant-eyed boy just walked out the door. A moment later his voice called, "Take Milli to
the old stables and chain him up, please. I'll see to him later."

.

Milliardo jerked on the chain that went from his ankle to the ring in the wall. He was still
filthy, hungry and thirsty. He knew he hadn't been chained long but it felt like forever.

"Hello. Here's food and drink. Sit down on the stool and I'll feed you."

Milliardo glared, what did this boy think he was, a dog. Sit down and be fed? He refused
haughtily.

"Very well. I'll put it here for one candle mark, after that I'm sending it out to the stable
boys."

Milliardo paced, chain rattling. He could smell the stew and fresh bread, see the wine in
the glass and the water in the jug. But he couldn't bring himself to sit, to beg, to be fed
like a child. His pride wouldn't allow it. His rumbling belly demanded it.

He paced and fumed until the mark was nearly burned away. When the boy got up to
take the tray away, he snarled, "Very well. I'm hungry, give it here."

Wufei brought the tray over to a nearby table and set it down. Milliardo reached for it
then realized that it was just out of his reach.

"Sit on the stool."

Milliardo sat waiting impatiently for the boy to move the table over to him. "Well?" he
raised a supercilious eyebrow.

"You will address me as Master, or Master Chang. You will not disrespect me. If you're
not careful, I'll punish you. You won't like it. I promise ... now, open your mouth."

Milliardo did as he was told, only not to take a mouthful of food. He argued. "I'm not
eating off your hand like a dog. Give me the food. Now!"

Wufei just shook his head. "No. You have no manners to speak of. And you are a slave.
You will do what I ask of you or I'll punish you." Wufei put the jug of water within
Milliardo's reach and walked away, back stiff with annoyance.

Milliardo grabbed up the jug and gulped it down. When he was done, he yelled after the
retreating back, "This is unacceptable. I'm a prince. I'm no slave to bow and scrape
before some child. Do you hear me?"

Wufei stood in the door, hands on his hips. "Yes, I hear you. And so does most of the
compound. Cook is not pleased."

Milliardo apologized sarcastically for upsetting Cook. Wufei just shrugged.

"Go ahead, annoy her. I hope you enjoy breakfast. If you have sense enough to eat it."

Wufei walked away grumbling about stupidity, pride and stubbornness. Milliardo curled
around his rumbling stomach and tried to sleep. The fact that it was the back end of
summer and cold at night didn't help at all. He spent the night curled in a miserable,
hungry, filthy ball on the bare floor.

.

Wufei settled in his bed with a soft snort. He was a rather powerful sorcerer and he
could cast a spell to force his slave to obey but it wouldn't do any good in the long run.
Milli wouldn't learn anything. Milli. He hoped to hell he knew what he was doing.

Wufei fell asleep watching the moon rise.

He woke in the morning to the smell of unwashed human. Milliardo's smell had
permeated the entire lower room during the night and was rising like a miasma into his
bedroom. He crawled out of the covers and swore.

He stomped down the stairs and booted his slave in the backside, none too gently.

"Up. You're going to have a bath. You stink and it's getting into everything. Come on."

Milliardo woke to the kick and scrambled to his feet swearing. "Dammit. It's barely dawn.
What do you want? Bath?" Milliardo seized on that single word. He wanted a bath, he
hated being dirty with a passion, one of the reasons he skipped training as much as he
could.

Wufei wrinkled his nose. "Yes, bath. You stink. Come with me." Wufei unlocked the
chain from the ring in the wall and headed for the door. "And don't try anything. I'm not
in the mood to mess around with you this morning."

Wufei led Milliardo to the common pump, chained him to it and told him to strip. He
returned to his quarters and fetched a pot of cold water soap that he made for the men
who patrolled the borders. It worked quite well and he was pleased with it. He doubted
that Milliardo would be.

When he returned to the pump, he was disgusted to find that half the keep was standing
around staring at Milliardo. He glared at them all and snarled, "If you don't have duties,
I'll be glad to find you some." The crowd disappeared quickly, except for the one stable
boy Wufei called over to work the pump.

Milliardo glared at him. 'Where's my bath? Why am I here in the courtyard still?
Dammit, I want some answers."

Wufei just handed him the pot of soft soap and said, "Scrub fast. I don't intend for that
boy to exhaust himself while you dally." He turned to the stable boy and ordered,
"Pump."

The boy began to work the pump and water poured from the upper spout of the pump
head. Since this was just above Milliardo's head, he was instantly drenched in icy cold
water. He yelped, cursed and tried to get out from under the water. The chain was too
short for him to get away. Wufei just called over the lurid cursing, "You better wash,
that's all an insolent slave deserves. And hurry."

Milliardo jammed his hand into the pot and began slathering the soap in his hair. He
washed it quickly then washed his body with the resultant suds. He was shivering so
hard by the time he was done that his teeth chattered.

"Done."

The boy stopped pumping immediately, eyes wide. The man before him was practically
blue with the cold. This water well was at least sixty feet deep and cold enough that they
suspended jugs of milk and juices in it to chill them. Then his sympathy was vanquished
by a few ill-chosen words.

"Anchora damn you, you brat. That water is freezing and this soap is nasty. Do you
realize who I am? I don't like this at all. I demand to be sent home. I'm sorry. I'll
apologize to Relena. You can send me back now. I'm convinced."

The stable boy managed to retreat without running, just barely. He didn't want to be
around when Lord Dragon exploded. The beginning of Wufei's rant singed his heels.

Wufei didn't hold back on Milliardo either. He told him exactly what everyone thought of
him. Then he told him that he was never leaving this place, unless Relena sent for him
or he, Chang Wufei, went somewhere and took him. He also told him in no uncertain
terms that his arrogance and haughty attitude would get him a fresh one' if he wasn't
careful.

Wufei ended with, "And remember. I am a sorcerer of some talent and power. You will
obey me if I have to curse you into it. Do. You. Understand?"

Milliardo decided that discretion was the better part of valor, especially in this situation.
He would do whatever he had to to hold off this little squirt until he could get a message
to Relena. He nodded his head.

Wufei wasn't fooled for a moment but he refrained from comment.

After unlocking Milliardo's chain from the pump he led him back into the Apothecary and
pointed to a sink. It was full of pots, still parts and glass ware. Beside it was a pair of
drawstring pants and a low neck tunic

"Get dressed." Milliardo eyed the clothing then dragged it on distastefully. He was glad
of it as better than nothing but it marked him a slave.

Then Wufei ordered, "Wash all that. Be careful of the glass. I blow it myself and you
don't want to have to help me make new. You can reach the fireplace to get the cans of
hot water. When you run out, call me and I'll free you to haul fresh from the pump."

Milliardo growled, that little bastard had made him wash in ice cold water when there
were cans and cans of hot right there. Now he was making him waste it on pots? It was
all he could do to keep from striking Wufei when he bent to attach the chain to a ring in
the floor. Milliardo wondered how there could be rings in such convenient places.

"Wash. Now."

Milliardo gazed at the mess with a sinking heart. No matter his intentions, he had no
idea how to go about this. He'd never washed a dish in his life.

"Um ... very well. I do hope, however, that you're not attached to most of the fragile
things." Wufei made a sound that was half disgust, half inquiry. "I've never done this
before. I'm a prince, not a navvy. I've no idea how to go about accomplishing this task."
Milliardo eyed Wufei from under his bangs. If he played his cards right, the boy would
do most of the job trying to teach him how.

Wufei just shrugged. "I'll offer you this bit of ... encouragement. Or advice. Learn
quickly. You'll earn one lash of the hickory for everything you break. Now get busy."

"But aren't you going to demonstrate at least once?"

Wufei just snorted. "Put hot water in the tub. It's called a sink. There's some soap on
the window sill. Add about this much." Wufei made a circle with his thumb and
forefinger. "Swish it around then start washing the glass ware. Dip it in the water and
then rub off the dirt with a rag. Do I really need to go through the whole process for
you?"

Milliardo just gave Wufei a disgusted look and turned to his task.

.

It didn't take him long to break a beaker, then a test tube. Wufei didn't go to see what he
was doing. He just made a mark on a scrap of parchment, one mark for every broken
piece of glass ware. The pots and pans and other metal ware fared much better, but
they weren't very clean either.

Wufei just ordered him to do it all again. He grumbled sourly but returned to his work.
He was going to fake the little bratt out if it took him all month. He scrubbed everything
again, making sure it was clean this time. Wufei wondered if his patience was up to his
task.

When he was done, he called Wufei to inspect his work.

Wufei nodded, "Well done. Now scrub the floor with the waste water. Brush, rags and
bucket are there." He pointed to where the supplies were stored under the rank of
shelves on the back wall. "And don't make that face. The last person to scrub this floor
was Duo. Get to work. If you complete on time, you'll be allowed to have warm food. If
not, your lunch will be cold."

Milliardo couldn't contain himself. He threw a royal fit. He threw the pots and other
metal ware all over the floor. He was, however, wise enough to leave the glass where it
was. Not because he didn't want to break it but because he was barefoot and didn't
want to tread on slivers.

Wufei just gazed at the mess for a moment then remarked, "Well, that was nice. Now
clean up the mess, scrub the floor, and put the dishes away. Be glad you decided not to
smash any more glass ware. You've already got eight lashes coming." Wufei watched
as Milliardo gauged his chances of winning a fight. "I wouldn't if I were you. My training
included unarmed combat, sword play and ... my instructors were all larger than you
are. Remember this. You're the useless male from a line of strong women. I'm the
youngest son of the Dragon Clan. The only reason I'm not in Chin, ruling a rather large
domain of my own is that my clan won't tolerate magic users or lovers of men. And I'm
both. As well as temperamental, sarcastic, arrogant, and stubborn. Don't press your
luck with me. Nor try my temper too far. You'll find I don't anger easily, but once
angered I do tend to ... breath fire, as Duo would say." He pinned Milliardo with a very
sharp look. "Now I believe you have work to do. Get to it!" Wufei walked away leaving
Milliardo panting and glaring. "And don't forget ... dragons are fire proof."

Milliardo kicked the bucket then yelped as his bare toes complained.
.

Milliardo cleaned up his mess, whining all the while.

Wufei just returned to his task of making a healing salve, and more mess for Milliardo to
clean up. Milliardo watched in disgust as Wufei dirtied all sorts of things, leaving them in
piles on the long bench he was working at.

The ground floor of the converted stables was a large apothecary laboratory. It was set
up in work stations; which included a clean up area, chopping and grinding apparatus at
one table, stoves for cooking and a distillery in its own side room. As well as several
storage areas.

The upper level was smaller, covering about half the area of the ground floor. It was
divided into a bathing chamber, a master bed chamber, a smaller bed chamber and a
large common room which contained Wufei's office, library and sitting area. All of which
Milliardo was expected to keep clean.When Milliardo found this out the next day, he threw what Wufei scornfully referred to as
a tizzy.

He was in a bad mood because all he'd had to eat was bread. Wufei insisted that
Milliardo eat from his hand and Milliardo refused. And he'd been made to sleep on the
floor with nothing between him and the clod slate but a thin blanket. Wufei said he
hadn't earned a bed yet. So now he stamped his feet and screamed like a two-year-old.

Wufei didn't do or say anything until Milliardo wound down and went silent, then he went
to the door and called in four guards.

"Take him away and put him in the oubliette. Give him a blanket and two forks of straw.
Bread and water. I'll check on him in a few hours."

Milliardo struggled but what with being chained to the ring in the floor and worn out from
his journey on foot, short rations and his little fit, he didn't last long. The guards dragged
him away and lowered him into the pit like dungeon.

Wufei gazed after him, rubbed his face with both hands and returned to his task. He
sighed and grumbled, "Damned stubborn jackass."