Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slave ❯ Coronation ( Chapter 33 )

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

A/N - This chapter is late because I got electrocuted at work and lost the use of my right arm for a while. Don't worry though; it's almost back to normal now!

Please visit this site and vote for my story and artwork - If you do I'll write the next chapter reeeeaaaally fast!!! I promise! Please? I love you!

http://www.geocities.com/m0y0s0t0i0c/wawards.html

BTW - This is (technically) the one-year anniversary chapter of Slave! I can't believe it's been that long!

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Vegeta sat sprawled in his throne, a small mountain of signed documents resting on an ornate wooden table beside him. His ebony eyes glared hatefully at the documents and his tail twitched in remembrance of the hours he'd just spent reading and then signing them. He'd banished his attendants and royal followers to the far reaches of the castle, preferring to brood in solitude then to brood with a bunch of slavering morons hovering by his side.

It wasn't so much that the documents had taken a copious amount of time to read through and sign, it was the fact that every one of the royal advisors and stewards had felt it necessary to point out to him that he'd father had never bothered to read through the paperwork - he'd just signed them as they brought them to him. The only way he'd been able to shut them up in the end was to snap at them that his father's lax attitude when it came to signing decrees was probably the reason their empire was in shambles.

The dark haired prince growled at the back of his throat and closed his eyes as his thoughts turned to his impending coronation tonight. It was a silly waste of time in his eyes - he was already the prince by blood! Why did they need a ceremony to make it official? The royal funds could have been put to better use funding something of interest; something like the ki enhancing gun that the weapons branch of his government was trying so desperately to recreate from Bulma's half finished plans.

The rumbling growl grew louder as an image of the backstabbing wench manifested behind his closed eyelids. Once she was brought back to him he was going to make her pay for leaving him! Just the thought of her was enough to drive him into a frenzy, even now he could feel his hands clenching into fists, his teeth grinding together as red hot anger thumped through his veins. It was a struggle to contain his temper, a struggle not to simply power up and begin blowing things up.

If there was one thing Vegeta had learning during his turbulent boyhood in the Kings Army, it was that most things could be solved by really big explosions - even anger.

No woman had ever made a fool of him before, and he wasn't taking the whores desertion lightly. She had betrayed him, used him, tricked him, and made him feel things for her that he'd never felt for a woman before. When he'd been fucking her he'd been able to forget about the pressures of his life - the constant criticism from his father, the constant pressure from the saiyan advisors who'd whispered that he should kill his father earlier rather then later.

He'd even been able to forget that he was going to be marrying a screeching, vindictive shrew that would undoubtedly make his life a living nightmare. Oh, he hadn't been planning on keeping Ilandra around for very long, once he had a child out of her it would have been simple to arrange her death, but now…now everything was different.

Now he was going to be the Saiyajin King. Now he was going to have to avenge his father's death. Now he was going to have to lead his people into a war against the Ice-jins. It was damned inconvenient. He didn't even have Brolly to kick around anymore, after the stupid bastard had decide to beat the crap out of the intriguing son of Bardock he'd sent the imbecile off to track Bulma down. Vegeta chuckled as he remembered Brolly's face when he'd told him to fuck off.

Brolly had begun ranting about having to stay by his side to protect him from Kakarot, muttering things about Kakarot being a weasel, about him being a liar and a cheat who was as crazy as he was malicious. Vegeta had just threatened to banish him if he didn't comply and Brolly had backed off and reluctantly agreed to leave, acting like a sulking child right up until his departure. Vegeta slightly regretted his rash decision to send away the only saiyan who he knew was stronger then him, but then he had been more then slightly miffed about not getting a chance to speak to Kakarot.

There had been something in the younger mans eyes that had reminded him of Bulma. A glimmer of knowledge that intrigued him and attracted him. Repulsive as he had always found men his attraction to Bardock's son was refusing to go away. He'd been attracted to Bulma because she was beautiful, young and had been terrified of him. His attraction to Kakarot was slightly more mysterious - although he didn't doubt that he would, in time, get to the bottom of why he liked him.

Kakarot was, for the time being, a mystery which he was having great problems solving. It was terribly disappointing, but until Bardock was well enough to speak again he wasn't going to know anything about Kakarot. He'd tried searching through the royal archives for information on Kakarot but it was mysteriously empty. He'd found things on Kakarot of course - but nearly the amount of information he should have found for a saiyan of Kakarot's power. A birth record stating that he was the son of Bardock, a record of his acceptance into the King's Army and three of four records of purging missions that he had been sent on. Aside from that, there was nothing. It was as though someone had been trying to hide Kakarot's existence…

A memory of his fathers stirred in the back of his mind, a memory of often finding royal advisors sifting through the records and of finding Ilandra meticulously going through them on one occasion. His father memory was far stronger of some of the other memories he had inherited, indeed, in this memory he could even remember the punishments that been dealt out to both the royal advisors and to Ilandra.

Vegeta shook his head to dispel the fragment of memory from his mind and swung his legs down to the floor. His hesitated in the chair for a moment before he stood up and cast his eyes over the throne room in which he had spent a good part of his childhood watching his father rule. His memories from childhood did not show his father as being a lax ruler; in fact he could only even remember his father governing in the manner in which he himself planned to rule. When had his father stopped caring for his people?

There were so many things that did not add up in his life at the moment. It was as though he had been throne off balance and was now viewing the world from a skewered point of view. Everything that he had seen as normal before now seemed so meaningless and mundane, so useless and small. The only thing in his new life that remained was his hatred of what his father had done to the Saiyan Empire. Had they been any lower they would have been bowing to the Cold Empire already.

Vegeta was still growling at that thought when the door to the throne room opened slightly and a waif of a slave squeezed through the gap. She hastily bowed in Vegeta's direction and then, obviously flustered, she took a few steps forward and addressed him.

"Sir, the Council of Advisors wishes for you to begin your preparations for tonight's coronation ceremony." She lowered her head and peaked at him through the glossy black strands of hair, her luminous lime green eyes watching him with a mix of trepidation and fear. The slave was so on edge that the moment Vegeta straightened in his chair she let out a squeak of fear and made a movement in the opposite direction.

"Were you the only person willing to come in here and speak to me?" Vegeta sat back in his chair and watched the servant girl through ebony eyes while he formed a bright blue ki ball in one hand.

"I was made to speak with you by my master." She lowered her head again and continued to speak. "No one was wiling to come in here because one of the servants who was in here before said that you had threatened to kill the first person to disturb you." The woman snuck a glance up at him and then shrugged. "Sorry for disturbing you by the way."

Vegeta's mouth twisted into a small smile at her sarcastic tone and he studied the girl a little more closely, taking in her eyes and hair, her pale white skin and her obvious human characteristics. With a slight shock he realized that the save was probably a good two feet taller then he was; an outrageous size for a human or a saiyan female!

"Tell me, human, do you think the royal advisors cowards for refusing to enter here themselves and instead sending in a helpless girl?" He leant forward, eager to hear the slave's answer.

The dark haired woman shook her head. "I know it's wrong to speak ill of my…master…but I think that cowardice is one of his strongest features." The human woman spat out the word 'master' and defiantly met his eyes, straightening to her full height.

"And who is your master?" Vegeta arched one eyebrow and waited for an answer. An age seemed to pass before she spoke, and for the briefest of moments he thought that the slave would stay silent just to be difficult, then she smiled faintly and chuckled.

"My master is Lord 'Tato, the father of the most exalted Princess Zucchini and the highest of your Excellencies Advisors." The girls voice rose, mocking the reverent tone that many of his advisors took when they spoke of his betrothed and of her father.

Vegeta froze and had to restrain himself from laughing! It was too much to picture the esteemed father of his bride-to-be ushering a defenseless servant into the throne room because he was too frightened to face the prince! Vegeta let out a burst of rough laughter and shook his head with mirth.

"Lord 'Tato is your master?" He stood in a smooth movement and sauntered down the stairs until he stood on level ground with the human woman. "Is he proud of what his daughter has achieved or does he fear for her safety?" Vegeta circled around the slave like a shark, toying with her like a cat plays with a mouse.

Surprisingly the human woman blocked his face and again dared death. "I think he's proud. He believes that his daughter will charm you in the end - hell, he believes his daughter to already have a place in your heart." Her cat-like green eyes flashed and she tossed her hair. "Does your majesty have anymore queries or can I go now?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice once more, however far from being irritated with her manner as Vegeta was sure had been Lord 'Tato's plan, he felt refreshed from the verbal banter.

"Only one more question." Vegeta stepped closer to the girl and smirked when she flinched at the darkness that swirled through his eyes. He waited until she met his eyes once more and then he spoke one last time to the strange girl. "What is your name?"

"Lena." The tall female bowed hastily and then scurried from the room, clearly off-put by his demeanor. Hen the door closed behind her Vegeta crossed his arms across his chest and began to pace the throne room floor, determined not to bow to the wishes of his royal advisors.

Why was it that a mere servant was able to meet his eyes and speak frankly to him while the court dwellers seemed unable to open their mouth without speaking embellished nonsense that flattered rather then told the truth. It was irritating that he had just spoken more freely with a low level human wench then he had spoken with anyone since his ascension and his father's death.

The saiyan prince frowned. Why was he going through with this coronation if his every instinct was screaming at him to prepare for the oncoming war with the ice-jins? It was ridiculous! He didn't need those pompous idiots to go through with a ridiculous ceremony to announce to the world something that everyone already knew!

Shaking his head Vegeta stormed from the throne room, determined to put an end to the pathetic ceremony.

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A/N - I apologize over how this chapter must seem to many of you - useless. Trust me when I say that this chapter is very much a scene-setting chapter. I'm trying to show people what Vegeta is going through in his day to day life as well as what he is feeling with the many things he is dealing with (Bardock, Bulma, Kakarot & the Empires condition.)

Someone commented that at the moment it doesn't seem like V/B will get together - but trust me, they're going to meet again REAL soon. Oh and the dark haired woman is not going to be a main character - she is only in the fic to introduce Zucchini's father to us, because he's playing a main role soon.