Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slave ❯ Heir ( Chapter 27 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters from it.

A/N - I MET CHRIS SABAT TODAY! He's the guy who does Vegeta voice!!!! (I actually met Chris Sabat about a month ago - that's how long this chapter has taken to be written!)

Oh yes, I believe that the review left by 'Reviewer' did require an author response - by the way, whoever you are, you cold have told me your real pen name, I'm not going to go spacko at you or anything. Firstly, I'm assuming that you haven't read the original Don Juan, the Italian play? DJ does several horrible things in that play with women; he is seductive, but it's in a bad way…I was trying to be ironic with that comment. DJ uses women for pleasure. I would defend their characters…but I figure as the fic progresses you'll understand why they both slip and out of character. Everything in this fic that seems out of place now will come into play later…I hope >.< I've already changed my plotline twice!

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The gloomy hallway seemed to billow with shadows as the saiyan prince took measured steps towards his foe. All his rage, frustration and embarrassment boiled furiously inside of him, tossing and churning in his stomach as it ate into his very soul. He wanted to make Brolly hurt, he wanted to make him hurt as much as he was hurting right now.

His eyes glowing with rage, Vegeta approached Brolly in a deceptively casual sauntering gait, betraying little of his pent up rage and frustration. His mind was swirling with all the new pressures that life had thrust upon him - becoming king, his engagement to Ilandra, losing his favourite consort and the discovery that this low level freak of nature was a super saiyan!

A ferocious snarl crept across Vegeta's mouth and a growl trickled from his throat. Brolly was watching him approach with apprehension and Vegeta took some pleasure knowing that the his more powerful adversary clearly wanted to flee from the situation but was unable to - his saiyan pride wouldn't allow him to turn his back on his king.

"Prin…King Vegeta." Brolly greeted him with his unofficial royal title and lowered his head ever so slightly, clearly reluctant to take his eyes off of him. He straightened to his full height and sighed ever so slightly. "I believe I know why you've sought me out…"

"Be quiet!" Vegeta hissed, his voice silencing Brolly as it slashed through the air. He glared viciously at the saiyan guard in front of him and curled his hands into fists. "I don't understand why my father didn't have you killed…"

"If you'd let me explain…" Brolly tried to interrupt but quickly shut his mouth with an audible snap as Vegeta fastened ebony eyes seething with hatred on him.

"Oh don't worry, I intend to hear your explanation." He crossed his arms against his chest and took another step towards him. "I want to know why you and my father felt the need to hide your super saiyan status from me!"

As Vegeta ranted the tip of his tail began to twitch and his voice grew steadily shriller. "I also wish to know why you remained loyal to my father when you have enough power to easily have defeated him in battle! I want you to explain to me why I shouldn't fear you trying to steal the throne from me and most of all, I want to know why you failed to warn me about Ilandra when you knew she was working with Frieza!" Vegeta let his arms drop to his sides, his confidence boosted by the looked of trepidation on Brolly's face as he watched him intently.

"You have to understand, Vegeta, it was you're father who insisted on all of the secrecy. I wanted to warn you but your father insisted on keeping you in the dark - truthfully I think he was ashamed that he had allowed Ilandra to get so close to him without suspecting she had ulterior motives." Brolly swallowed and prayed that Vegeta wouldn't force him to defend himself.

He could tell the future king of the saiyan race was spoiling for a fight, but while he couldn't blame him he didn't want to have to take a beating and not lift a finger to help himself. The king had always treated him with respect, but the prince had been raised in ignorance of his strength and now he, Brolly, was facing the full wrath of a disgruntled Vegeta.

"What are you saying?"

Vegeta's waspish comment drew Brolly back to the resent and he reluctantly resumed the conversation. "I'm saying, Vegeta, that your father was head over heels for Ilandra. Before he discovered that she was a spy for Frieza he would have given her anything she asked for - in a way he was more her slave then she his." The legendary super saiyan let out a breath. "He didn't want you to find out that he was so attached to his whore, I think he was afraid you'd find him weak."

"Weak?" Vegeta spat the word out in fury. "He falls for a spawn of Frieza and is afraid I'll think him weak?" He tossed his head back and laughed. "I don't find the concept weak Brolly, I find it sickening! If my father were alive I'd have lost all respect for him by now! Never would you see me becoming so enamored of a female - especially a slave." The future king scowled. "Slaves are our plaything, they're our positions, our toys." He looked up at Brolly, his face darkened by disgust for his father's social lapse. "You do not fall in love with toys."

"What about Bulma?" Brolly resisted the urge to beat some sense into the prince's thick skull. "You seemed more then a little upset when you learned that she had run away with another woman rather then stay with you." Brolly knew he was pushing it but he couldn't help it - Vegeta had so little knowledge of what the real world was like!

"Bulma was nothing to me." The raven-haired royalty haughtily tossed his head. "She means no more to me then you do. Oh, I want her back all right, but not because I'm sentimentally attached to her. I'm going to find her Brolly and then I'm going to make her pay for even imagining she could escape from me!"

The intensity in Vegeta's voice and the fire in his eyes shocked Brolly. It was becoming clear to him now that the prince's feelings for Bulma bordered on the obsessive. He had no doubt that Vegeta spoke the truth when he said she meant nothing to him - but he wanted her nonetheless. Bulma had been the first person who had been a match for Vegeta mentally, she'd taken all of his abuse and yet had still managed to keep sane.

Brolly looked at Vegeta's flushed features with renewed interest, seeing for the first time how far removed from reality the future king really was.

~*~

Surrounded by a million glowing stars threaded across a velvety black sky, two pale bodies lay entwined on a bed. A single window cast a silvered glow on them and their pale skin appeared even more translucent then ever in the ghostly light. Shadows and light played across their bodies, highlight the contours and curves of their near perfect bodies.

Bulma stared at the ceiling listening to the low hum of the engines of the space ship, contemplating what would happen to her when she finally met Frieza. Tangled in the blankets next to her was Ilandra, her pale skin glimmering in the moonlight. Glancing briefly at the Ice-jin princess, Bulma sighed and rolled to the side of the bed, a thousand different emotions swimming through her mind.

Doing her best not to wake Ilandra she slipped off the bed and left the darkened room, padding silently out to the main room where she dropped into a chair and watched the stars pass by. It was strange but she felt empty. It was as if she had forgotten something or was missing something and she couldn't quite work out what it was. There was something about her current situation that didn't seem right - everything seemed so surreal and twisted that she sure she wanted to be here.

She glanced down at her hands wondering, not for the first time, if she'd made a mistake leaving prince Vegeta. Her mind felt like a giant pendulum - one moment she was glad she was away from him and the next she was wishing she were back with him! It didn't make sense! Why would she want to return to that monster? That rapist? That…that sadistic son of a bitch who had destroyed her life! What was wrong with her? Was she so screwed up that she didn't realize he was bad for her?

She let out another sorrowful sigh and tipped her head back, closing her eyes and concentrating on the monotonous strains of the ships engines. The engines hum was comforting; it reminded Bulma of white noise - now there was something that was guaranteed to put her straight to sleep! She could remember as a small girl she would curl up on her mothers lap and watch television until late into the night. Staying awake was never a problem, not until all the scheduled shows ended and the television lapsed into the dull roar that was white noise.

Funny how simple everything had been for her as a child. If only she'd had an inkling of what was to come. She would have made more of her childhood! Gone on more adventures! Spent more time getting to know her parents and less time getting to know television! Still, it was easy to wish these things with the clarity of foresight and besides, the future was far more important then the past.

What would tomorrow bring? Only one thing was for certain and that was that tomorrow she would be meeting Lord Frieza and tomorrow would bring with it either her freedom or her bondage with yet another master.

~*~

Brolly and Vegeta had moved their conversation from the hallway to the more personal space of Vegeta's quarters. Tension vibrated through the air and Brolly felt as though he were balancing on a knife-edge, waiting to see which way Vegeta would push him.

"You asked why I haven't taken the throne of Vegeta from you or from your father?" Brolly spoke into the brittle air, breeching the subject that was clearly on the prince's mind. He didn't particularly wish to explain himself to Vegeta, but he knew that unless he gave a satisfactory explanation of his motives for remaining loyal, Vegeta would likely make life impossible for him on the planet Vegeta.

"Yes I did." The prince was perched on the edge of one of his high backed chairs, watching Brolly through suspicious, narrowed eyes.

"The reason is quite simple Vegeta - I'm not a prince. I was not raised to become the king as you were. I'm neither qualified nor capable of ruling your kingdom." Brolly kept his voice bland, only stressing the word 'your' to make Vegeta feel more secure. "I have no interest in becoming a king and I don't really want the responsibility or the pressures that go with it." He met Vegeta's turbulent eyes with his own. "You're the king Vegeta, I was raised by your father to be loyal to him and to you - why would I turn my back on what I've been taught?"

"Because my father had your father killed, perhaps you resent him for that." Vegeta straightened his posture but didn't take his eyes of the legendary.

Brolly hid a surprised expression, Vegeta was far more insightful then he'd thought - it appeared that as crazy as the prince was he was still thinking logically at least. "My father was weak. He deserved to die." Brolly shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. He couldn't remember his father and felt no attachment to him, if anything he felt contempt for the man who had sired him.

Vegeta opened his mouth to question Brolly further when the door to his room was flung open and a familiar, willowy figure stalked in. The prince's eyes narrowed as the silhouette of princess Ilandra was outlined in the doorway.

"Oh, there you!" Zucchini gushed, starting towards Vegeta with outstretched hands - her long fingers poised to hook Vegeta with. "I feel simply awful for not being here to comfort you earlier!"

Vegeta ignored the princess as she continued to rabbit on about how hard she'd searched for him and how terrible she felt about his fathers death. How he loathed the woman! Her concern was obviously false, even Brolly was looking at her with an obvious glare of distaste on his face. Their eyes met again and a shared look of annoyance passed between them as Zucchini's voice rose to a nasal shriek, demanding to know how long it would be before they were married, her voice imperious.

"Married?" The word dropped from Vegeta's mouth like a stone. "What do you mean by married?"

"You haven't been told?" Zucchini narrowed her eyes and smiled in a distinctly unpleasant manner. "Well Vegeta, it seems that your royal advisors have voted unanimously that we should be wed as soon as possible…" Zucchini paused dramatically then continued; sinking her long, varnished ails into Vegeta's arms. "They want us to produce a heir to the throne of Vegeta, as soon as possible."

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A/N - A bad place to leave the chapter but I'm in the middle of exams. The real reason I haven't been updating lately is because of university. I've been too busy to plan my chapters let alone write them! Forgive me for all the spelling mistakes in this chapter! I haven't had it beta read!