Duo hurried back to the inn and packed up his belongings. As luck would have it, a ship was leaving that day for Sanq from the docks at the edge of the bay. The prince booked passage on the ship and was quickly settled into his quarters.
The journey to Sanq took less than two days. Unfortunately, the ship did not dock in Newport City, and Prince Duo spent another day trying to find the capital city on horseback. Once he was there, he had no trouble locating the cave on the hills overlooking the city. The princes' descriptions had been very precise. Duo let out a cry of joy when he saw that the bush the strange little man had shown him in his dream grew in abundance on either side of the cave entrance.
By the time his brothers returned to the cave that evening, Prince Duo had finally figured out how to turn the nettles into yarn. In the process, his hands had turned into a bloody mess with a thousand cuts and scrapes. Nonetheless, he proudly held up the pathetic little thread, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"You did it," Prince Trowa whispered incredulously.
Prince Duo bit his tongue to keep from blurting out "I told you so," and accepted a firm hug from each of his brothers.
Within a few days, the prince figured out a more efficient, and considerably less painful, method for creating the yarn. He purchased a small loom and needles from a vendor in Newport City. Wisely, he also bought some fabric so he could learn to sew on that instead of wasting the fabric he would create from the nettles.
By the end of the week, the stock of nettles was nearly depleted and Prince Duo barely had enough cloth for two shirts. He searched the area for more. Just as he found a single bush, he heard a hunting horn and the barking of dogs. He quickly gathered as many nettles as he could carry and ran back to the cave.
He held back an expletive as the dogs rushed into the cave, barking ferociously. Instead, he grunted and threw a shoe at the lead dog, which yelped and backed away.
"In there, your highness!" a man's voice called from outside the cave.
'Your highness? Dammit,' thought Duo. How was he going to explain why he and his brothers were living in this cave? His annoyance was compounded when he realized he couldn't explain anything since he wasn't allowed to talk. The dogs bore the brunt of his frustration as he threw the other shoe.
A tall blond man ducked out of the way of the flying footwear as he entered the cave. He stared at Prince Duo in disbelief. The prince stared back slack-jawed. The man was the most beautiful human being he had ever seen, with white-gold hair nearly as long as Duo's, perfectly sculpted features, and intense crystalline blue eyes.
Another man peered into the cave. "What are you doing here?" he shouted at Duo. "Should we arrest him, your highness? He's trespassing on the king's property!"
The blond raised his hand to silence the man. With slow steps, he approached Duo and held out his hand. "What are you doing here, beauty?" the man asked softly.
'*He's* calling me beauty?' Duo wondered as he unconsciously offered his hand to the blond. He tore his eyes away long enough to notice the smirks and knowing glances passing between the other men in the hunting party. They seemed well aware of 'his highness's' preferences.
"Well?" the blond asked when Duo didn't respond to his question. Duo just shook his head. "Can't you speak?"
The lost-puppy-dog look that had gotten Prince Duo out of trouble more than once worked like a charm again. The blond smiled.
"You should bow to the prince, common dog!" one of the men insisted from the entrance.
"Hardly common, I think," the blond man said. "See the fine cut of his clothes and the noble manner with which he holds himself. A nobleman, I think, though not from Sanq or certainly we would have met before now. Am I right?"
Duo beamed at the man's assessment.
"Ah, I *am* right. And since we have never met, you don't know who I am, correct?"
Prince Duo nodded.
"Then we can certainly overlook your breach of protocol. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Milliardo Peacecraft, prince of Sanq," he said with a bow.
Duo returned the bow and struggled for a way to introduce himself. Finally he pointed to his chest, then held up two fingers.
The blond prince looked at him quizzically. "Peace?" he guessed.
Duo shook his head and waved the two fingers.
"Two?"
Duo made a gesture to suggest the guess was on the right track.
"Pair? Couple? Duet?"
Close enough, Duo decided and nodded his head.
"Duet, I am very pleased to meet you," Milliardo said, once again taking Duo's hand. "What on earth have you done to your hands!?" he cried as he now noticed the cuts that lined the younger man's palm and fingers.
Duo smiled sheepishly and used his other hand to gesture toward his work.
Milliardo's eyes surveyed the cave, slowly moving from the loom to the small pile of nettles and half-finished shirts. Finally, he looked back at Duo, a sad expression creeping into his eyes.
"I don't know what brought you to this state, but your troubles are over, Duet," he whispered. "Return with me to the palace. I'll provide you with everything you need."
Prince Duo was struck with a mild panic. He shook his head and gestured in such a way that he hoped conveyed the message 'oh no, I couldn't impose on you.'
The blond prince smiled warmly. "Please. I insist." The gentle command was punctuated with kiss on Duo's sore palm.
Duo melted. How could he possibly resist such an offer?
Everything Prince Duo could possibly want was provided for him at the palace. Everything, that is, except his brothers and the shirts he had been working so hard to complete. His work had all been left behind when Milliardo had scooped him up on his horse and brought him home. The happiness he felt in the blond prince's company only served to compound his guilt and the feeling that he had betrayed his brothers. When Milliardo left him alone, he stared wistfully at the hillside, straining to see the cave, or watched the skies trying to catch sight of the four swans.
Milliardo often caught him in such solemn meditation, and questioned his apparent sadness. Each time, Duo brushed away the blond prince's concerns with a beaming smile and a loving kiss. Milliardo wasn't fooled and would lavish increasingly rare and exquisite gifts on the young prince in an attempt to erase his sadness, but nothing seemed to work.
A week passed and Duo continued to beam in the prince's company and wallow in sadness when he was alone. Milliardo approached him while he was sitting in the gardens in gloomy contemplation.
"Come with me, Duet. I have a surprise for you," the blond prince enthused.
Intrigued, Prince Duo followed, as the older man led him to a small room on the top floor of the palace. He gasped when he saw it had been remodeled to resemble the hillside cave and nearly fell over with joy when he saw the loom and all his handiwork arranged just as it had been in the cave. He threw his hand over his mouth to keep from crying out, then turned to embrace Milliardo in a ferocious hug.
The blond prince laughed. "I thought you would like it. I don't know why it didn't occur to me before," he said, returning the embrace and adding a small kiss. "I'm not sure why this appeals to you, but it obviously does, and that's all that matters."
Prince Duo spent the remainder of the day in the room, working the few remaining nettles into yarn. Prince Milliardo returned occasionally to sit with him and to kiss away the pain in his hands. Having met more than one eccentric nobleman in his twenty-one years, Milliardo thought nothing of his new love's odd hobby.
The next day, Duo's joy increased, well, four-fold when his brothers appeared in the fountains of the palace garden in their swan form. As the days passed, word reached the king's advisor, Tsubarov, that Prince Milliardo's young guest was often seen gesturing wildly to the swans as though he was trying to communicate with them.
It's worth noting that, just as the people of Romefeller shunned superstition and the belief in magic, the people of Sanq were firm believers in all things supernatural. Tsubarov was no exception. He took to spying on Prince Duo, and was shocked to see that indeed, the young man seemed to communicate with the swans and was even more shocked when the swans seemed to respond.
He took his concerns to the king, who rolled his eyes (he didn't share his people's superstitious nature). "The prince is happy. Let the young man be," the king insisted.
Long before his preference for men became apparent, Prince Milliardo had been betrothed to Princess Dorothy of Catalonia. As long as his son followed through with the marriage and, hopefully, produced an heir to the throne, the king had no problem if the prince kept "Duet" on the side.
Tsubarov was unconvinced and despite the king's instruction, continued to watch Duo like a hawk. His surveillance led him to follow Duo that night to the graveyard just beyond the palace gate.
The well-attended gardens on the palace grounds did not, of course, contain the bushes of nettles that Duo needed to complete his project. After much searching, he had found several of the bushes in the cemetery and snuck out when (he thought) no one was looking.
The graveyard was also frequented by a group of sorcerers who called themselves "The Scientists." Duo saw them each night and would laugh softly at their strange incantations. One of them looked remarkably similar to the strange little man who had visited Duo in his dream. The young prince noted this in passing, but otherwise ignored the sorcerers as he gathered up nettles.
On this night, Tsubarov saw them too and his eyes widened before narrowing into a sinister gaze. The Sanqian guards had been trying to capture the Scientists for years, on charges of sorcery and murder. There were many dark tales of their use of corpses in strange magical experiments. Certainly, this strange "Duet" character must be an apprentice of theirs, Tsubarov reasoned. He couldn't hold back a loud "Ha!" when he realized he now had evidence to present to the king.
Hearing the "ha!" the Scientists and Duo glanced at the tombstone behind which Tsubarov hid and scurried off in different directions.
Prince Milliardo was present the next day when Tsubarov shared his discovery with the king, and convinced his father that the man must be mistaken.
That night, Tsubarov returned to the graveyard with a group of guards from the palace. After a brief wait, the Scientists appeared with shovels in hand. The guards rose to go after them, but Tsubarov held them back. The group watched as the Scientists began to dig up a grave.
Moments later, Duo emerged from the shadows and began picking nettles from the bushes, which were situated dangerously near to the grave. Duo winced when he saw what the Scientists were doing, but did his best to ignore them.
"He *is* with them," stated the captain of the guard, before giving the command to arrest the Scientists and Duo.
The guards caused such a raucous rushing across the cemetery that the Scientists had ample opportunity to flee. Duo, unfortunately, was not so lucky, as his shirt became tangled in a nettle bush.
Prince Duo was brought before the king. This time, no amount of pleading from Milliardo could convince his father of Tsubarov's error. While the king did not believe in sorcery, he did believe in murder, and it did appear that "Duet" was in league with the Scientists. He would have to stand trial.
Prince Milliardo tried to make Duo's small cell as comfortable as possible, and had the loom, needles, yarn and shirts brought in for the young prince to pass the time.
The day of the trial, Prince Duo tried valiantly to explain through gestures that he didn't know the Scientists and that he was just picking nettles. Unfortunately, the only person in the courtroom who understood any of his gestures was Prince Milliardo, who explained that "Duet" used the nettles to make shirts. That explanation caused many to roll their eyes in disbelief. The rest of those present whispered among themselves, conjecturing that the shirts must be some sort of black magic and were only more proof of Duo's guilt.
The king would not allow charges of sorcery into the trial. Nevertheless, in the end, Duo was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by beheading.
Justice in Sanq was swift and Prince Duo had just two days to complete the shirts before his execution. He barely slept as he worked night and day. A dejected Milliardo continued to visit him and even brought more nettles for him, in spite of the objections of Tsubarov and many of the courtiers.
With further intervention from Prince Milliardo, Duo was allowed to bring his shirts with him as he was being led to the platform where he would be beheaded. He paid no attention to the crowd that had gathered to witness the execution. And with only one shirt left to finish, Duo was so absorbed in his work that he didn't see the four swans that suddenly appeared above the platform and began dive bombing the guards.
"The sorcerer conjured up the swans!" some people in the crowd shouted.
Others disagreed. The swans were much too beautiful to be evil, they thought. "They must be a sign from heaven of Duet's innocence!"
Still, Duo paid no attention to the commotion and worked furiously. He had nearly finished the sleeve he was working on and once it was attached, the last shirt would be complete.
With the shirts draped over his arm, he continued to sew as he was led up the wooden steps of the platform by those guards who hadn't been scared off by the swans. The birds attempted to surround their brother as he was led to the execution block, but were waved away by the executioner's gleaming sword. The glint of the sword broke Prince Duo's concentration and he realized he was out of time.
With a sudden jerk, the young prince broke free of his guards long enough to throw the shirts over the swans. Immediately, the swans were transformed into four exceptionally attractive young men.
"Damn that was close!" Duo exclaimed. "Oh. Sorry, Quatre," he apologized to his brother who received the incomplete shirt and therefore still had a wing in place of his arm.
The crowd was dumbfounded. When the swans transformed, a collective gasp had risen. The gasp was followed by a thousand low murmurs and more than a few giggles (the transformed princes were naked, after all).
After getting over his initial embarrassment over being nude in front of such a large crowd, the eldest prince addressed the assembly. "I am Prince Trowa of the kingdom of Romefeller. My brother, Prince Duo, has been wrongly accused. He is innocent."
Duo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that'll convince them," he said, before turning to the crowd and delivering a rather lengthy explanation of the princes' enchantment. After so many months of silence, he could certainly be forgiven for being longwinded.
Prince Milliardo stood at the base of the platform listening to his beloved's story. As the story he ended, he leaped onto the platform amidst scattered cheers from the crowd, grabbed a long-stemmed white rose away from the startled executioner (who had been so stunned by the events that transpired on the platform that he hadn't noticed his sword's transformation) and fell to one knee before Duo.
"Please. Do not return to Romefeller," he pleaded, handing the rose to Duo. "Stay here with me and be my..." he struggled for the appropriate word, before settling on "partner."
Prince Duo agreed in an instant.
The King of Sanq, on the other hand, took much longer to convince. Through the collective efforts of Milliardo, Duo and all of his brothers, the king finally relented. The kingdom of Catalonia was appeased when Prince Quatre offered to marry Princess Dorothy in Milliardo's stead. The princess was thrilled. While she had long harbored a crush on her betrothed, she was intrigued by the possibilities offered by Prince Quatre's wing.
Back in Romefeller, meanwhile, Queen Une gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who was named Relena. His new daughter gave some comfort to poor King Treize, who had suffered a deep depression since his beloved Duo ran away.
On the day of Relena's christening, delegates arrived from all of the neighboring kingdoms and from as far away as Sanq. King Treize was surprised when the Sanqian prince, Milliardo, was announced, since the kingdom was renowned for its isolationism and members of the royal family rarely ventured beyond its borders. Nevertheless, he greeted the prince warmly and welcomed him to Romefeller.
The prince returned the greeting. "And I believe you know my consort," he said, gesturing toward the young man who approached from behind the king.
"Duo!" King Treize gasped. "Consort?" he wondered, glancing back and forth between the two young men. His initial surprise dissipated quickly as he gathered his long-lost son into his arms.
Queen Une finally appeared to greet guests and her heart lurched when she saw Prince Duo wrapped in his father's embrace.
"And his brothers," Prince Milliardo continued his introductions as the four remaining Romefellian princes entered the room.
Seeing the princes, now released from their enchantment, was entirely too much for the queen's heart to handle. The icy organ burst, and the wicked queen fell dead on the floor.
Though the princes explained the queen's role in their disappearance, the king still grieved the loss of his second wife, somehow blaming himself for her dual nature.
Nonetheless, his remaining years were happy ones. The princes Trowa, Wufei and Heero, all remained in Romefeller; having decided that Relena was the rightful heir, they spent their days teaching and guiding her. Prince Quatre and his bride, though they set up residence in Catalonia, were frequent guests at the palace, and over the years were joined by an ever-increasing brood of tow-headed blond children.
Prince Duo, too, returned often to Romefeller. For the most part though, he stayed in Sanq with Prince Milliardo, living... well... happily ever after.
--The End