Future Lover

“Kaiba! Kaiba!” Seto could hear Neema’s voice fade in the distance as he was dragged by the guards to their destination. “Let him go!”

“Where are you taking me?!” Seto demanded, jerking his hand so that the guard would let go, though that attempt was futile. The guard was bulkier than he was, and also a few centimeters taller. “I didn’t do anything! Let me go!” he yelled, letting his sandaled feet scrape the stone floors so that they would have a harder time of dragging him.

“Look,” said the guard, stopping in his steps. “We don’t know why you’re being sent to one of the empty rooms here in the palace, ok? All that was said to us by His Excellency Seth is to take you from your room, and present you to him. So keep your mouth shut before we get in trouble as well,” he said as the other proceeded to cuffing Seto’s hands.

“So I’m in trouble?!” 'Shit,' he thought. 'Someone might have seen us in the garden, or it wasn’t just Neema that saw me carrying Atemu to his room!'

“No one gets in trouble without doing anything. Priestess Ishizu confirms of it,” said the other. “Look, we’re sorry, ok? We’re just doing what we’re told,”

“Now, are you going to be a good pale skin and come with us or do we have to carry you over our shoulders?”

Seto didn’t answer and continued walking. 'This is so the end of my life. I should have known better. I should have known that there will be consequences like these. He is king after all. Seto didn’t get to admire the beauty of a real Egyptian palace. I mean, I should have thought this through before breaking in the damn palace and dressing up like a lowlife. Again, some billionaire I am, and some lover I turned out to be, not being able to keep a secret. I just know Atemu would get in trouble for this, too.'

“Hey,”

Seto snapped out. “Yeah?”

“Here we go,” he opened the door, and a line of priests was what greeted him. The two guards presented him to them like an animal, throwing him to the floor. “The slave, Your Excellencies.” They left.

Seto folded in his legs as if sitting on a pillow in a tea room back in Japan, his head down. He saw one approach him, and grab his hair, forcing him to look up at the priest. “Ugh.” He managed to moan because of the painful pull on his hair.

It was his look alike. Seth. Seth hit him, making Seto’s lip bleed and left Seto’s cheek bruised. Seto lay on the cold stone floor coughing his hair covering his eyes, almost believing that he would have to lose a tooth. He thought he saw one of them approach, but was stopped by another. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” he roared, and kicked him in the gut. Seto curled up in a fetal position, the chains making noise as he pulled his hands close to his chest. Seth grabbed his tunic by the neck, and forced Seto to looked at him again. “Answer me!” another punch to the face, and Seto was thrown to the ground again.

Seto heard a woman gasp as he hit the floor. “I don’t…have to…answer to…you…” he replied. “You’re not…the boss…of me…”

“Insolent fool!” Seth said angrily. “I asked you a question,” Seth knelt by Seto’s head, and held Seto’s chin. “Focus your eyes on me!” he yelled. Seto looked at him. “Who are you?”

“Doesn’t your priestess…know?” Seto asked. “They say…she knows everything. How come she doesn’t…know my name?”

“Are you really testing my patience?” Seth growled.

“I’d rather die…than answer to you.”

“Then die you shall.” He took Seto by the tunic’s neck again, and hit Seto’s stomach with his knee, and then hit Seto on his face, making Seto cough up blood.

“Ra, Seth, stop!” Ishizu tried to get him away from the limp body on the floor.

Seto’s face was severely bruised. There were blue and purple blotches on his cheeks, and he felt the other bruises on his torso form. He just knew he was bleeding inside from Seth’s punches to his middle. Everything hurt, and he was sure that he had broken a few ribs because of the priest throwing him to the floor like some doll.

Seth pushed her away. “Don’t tell me what to do!”

“His name is Kaiba. Kaiba Seto.” Said Ishizu. “He’s from Japan, a rich man, who has a brother he is raising, and who is in trouble at this very moment, worrying about his father figure.”

Seth didn’t speak for a moment. “And who are you to His Majesty?”

“I thought…I told you….that I won’t answer…to a moody bitch…like you…”

Seth did not have a lot of patience. “Get a guard and a whip.” Shada went out for a few moments, and went back with what Seth had ordered. “I want twenty lashes. I’ll count.”

One.

Seto screamed his tonsils out.

Two.

He writhed in pain.

Three.

Tears slowly ran down his face.

Four.

He decided to keep his mouth shut.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

His lip bled even more.

Eight.

Nine.

Seto couldn’t help but scream.

Seth held up his hand, telling the guard to stop. “Have you had enough?” he asked, approaching the bleeding body. Seto’s tunic was torn, and the whip left open wounds on his back. “Will you tell me what you are to His Majesty?”

Seto felt like he was slipping away. “N…no…”

Seth turned around, and moved to leave. “My last count was nine. Continue. Rishido. You supervise.” Rishido gave a bow.

Ten.

Yami’s smiling face flashed in his mind.

Eleven.

'Atemu.'

Twelve.

'But I don’t think I’ll be able to live after this…'

Thirteen.

'there would be…so much of my time not spent with you…'

Fourteen.

'so many words left unsaid…'

Fifteen.

'so many actions not done…'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How can you be so cold?!”

Seth was quiet for a moment, and drank the wine in the goblet he held. “Be glad that I didn’t have him raped.”

Ishizu gasped, appalled. “Raped?! You have got to be out of your right mind, Seth! You’re mad! I’ve seen Atemu’s forefathers punish and judge his people, but you! You’re just plain cruel! Wiked and vile!”

“And you?!” Seth put down the goblet. “Do you think that he can get away with this?! Do you?!”

“I do! And do you know why?!” she paused. “Because I am siding with Atemu on this!”

“You bitch.” Seth hit her.

She looked at him. “You know you can never replace him in Atemu’s heart!” said Ishizu. “He’s already given himself to that man, and yet you continue to pour your hate for him for getting to Atemu first!”

Seth’s eyes widened. “What?”

“You heard me right!” she snapped. “He had offered himself to him just this afternoon! Do you honestly think that you can still make him change his mind?!” he was silent. “I thought so,” Seth sat on his study chair behind his desk, and Ishizu approach him, giving him a reassuring embrace. “All you can do now is protect him of what is to come. You do know that the Dark Lord is about to be summoned, right?” again, Seth didn’t answer.

Yes. It will just be a matter of time before the Lord of Darkness would come to rise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neema had managed to get the door open when the knob had broken and had the door stuck. No guards were outside, and she ran in the direction where the guards had taken Seto. “I’ve got to tell His Majesty…” she said and kept running. There were slaves talking to each other in a hidden hall, and stopped to ask. “Where have they…taken him?”

“Who?”

“The pale one,”

They bowed their heads. “We were in a hall near the room where he was taken.”

“He was punished.”

“And damn, did he have a punishment.”

“What else did they do to him?” Neema demanded.

“I think Priest Seth beat him up.”

“By the way things sounded in there, yeah,”

“What else?” she asked.

“We heard the cracks of whips.”

“And his screams.”

Neema was getting more and more worried by the second. “Did he do anything to make them stop?”

“He didn’t make any pleads.”

“At first we heard him resisting.”

“But the guards didn’t know anything about what was going to happen, so he obeyed.”

“We don’t know if any of the council members made Priest Seth stop.”

Neema thought she was going to cry. “No…”

“He was nice, too. At least that’s what we thought.”

“He was quiet, and he preferred being alone, and he liked being in that big tree in the garden.”

She had to know where he was now. “Where is he now?”

“Last thing we heard, he’s being taken to the throne room to be presented to His Majesty.”