Dedicated to T-bat, with love.

AU, fantasy, OOC, yaoi, etc.

Left alone to face Cathrine's wrath, Quatre winced at her glare. "I can explain."

*Or can I?* he wondered briefly. Now that Trowa had departed, he was able to think clearly and wonder at his own uncharacteristic behavior--how in the name of God had he ended up kissing the other man? Especially when he didn't particularly *like* men? Quatre shoved it aside. For the moment, he had more important things to deal with... like appeasing Cathrine.

"I'm not sure that I even care to hear it," Cathrine snapped, folding her arms across her chest. "I should just toss you and your friends out into the storm and let you stay busy trying to stay warm."

"Now wait just a minute," Quatre protested. "You're hardly being fair!"

"Fair? I don't care about fair! All I see is a court lackey taking advantage of my brother!"

"A *lackey*?! You have no idea who you're dealing with!" retorted Quatre, incensed.

"I don't need to! I'm not going to stand by and watch another one of you people destroy my brother again!" Cathrine yelled.

*Another? Again?* Quatre stared. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She sneered. "Of *course* you don't. Did you really think that this was an *original* idea? Your kind disgusts me, and you can leave my brother the hell alone."

Quatre blinked, the implications finally clicking into place.

Angry as she was with the emissary, Cathrine quailed slightly as Quatre's face went white, his jaw clenching with barely suppressed fury. Clenching his fists, he erupted from his seat angrily. His eyes went narrow, glittering slits that unnerved the woman. "Who dared?" he demanded, voice cold and sharp. "Who *dared*? Trowa is *mine*, by birth and by the stars and by destiny! Who would *dare* touch him?"

Cathrine railed against this. "Just who in the name of God do you think you are?"

"I am Quatre Raberba Winner, heir to the throne, and Trowa. Is. Mine. I *demand* to know who hurt him," Quatre snarled.

In the back of his mind, the tiny voice that was his reason struggled vigorously to quell the rage. *Wait a minute, what am I saying?!* Quatre exhaled sharply, most of the anger dissipating in the shock.

Cathrine stared at him, either stupefied by the outrageous claim or stunned into belief by the weight of his anger. "It's... not possible."

Quatre unclenched his fists and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Officially I and my two close friends are in seclusion at one of the royal estates... actually, Duo placed a couple glamours on me and we're here instead."

"I don't believe you," she said flatly.

Quatre shook his head and dropped into a nearby chair. "I don't blame you. The crown prince doesn't typically go gallivanting about the country with only one bodyguard and a wizard. Nonetheless, it's true, and here I am."

Cathrine remained standing. "Assuming that this claim is true, and you *are* ... him... why in the name of Heaven are you here?"

"I don't--or at least I didn't--have a lot of faith in the stars, Lady Cathrine. I had no intentions of waiting till my betrothed arrived in the Eternal City to see if we were in the least compatible. I talked Duo and Heero into coming up here so that I could meet Trowa and get to know him a little bit. Besides..." Quatre paused. "Besides, I wanted him to get to know me as an ordinary person. Once we get to court, there's so much ceremony and formality... and so little time for me to just *sit* with anyone for a conversation."

"I still don't believe you." But she sounded less certain and her voice was much less flinty.

"I know." Quatre shrugged. "It's only my word--and Duo and Heero's--and no real proof."

Cathrine finally sat. "You... claimed Trowa."

"Yes."

"Did you mean it?"

He stared at his fingers, trying to analyze the lingering, prowling shreds of anger that stalked the corners of his mind, and the tangled knot of emotions that wove around Trowa and all his thoughts about the tall man. "I... did. What an amazing thing... He's mine..." Quatre shook his head. "I don't believe in the stars! It's not *possible* for them to control anything!" The protest sounded weak, even in his own ears.

"You don't sound very certain of that," Cathrine said drily. "But, if we continue the earlier assumption that you *are* His Highness, don't you find it rather strange that you'd feel so strongly about him after such a short time?"

"I don't know. God, what the hell's wrong with me?" Quatre shook his head. "This shouldn't be happening. I should have just stayed put at home and followed tradition blindly... at least that would have saved us all this mess."

Abruptly, Cathrine switched tacks. "Quatre, what's the one thing that worries you most *right* now?"

"Trowa," he answered promptly, without thinking. "I'm worried about Trowa."

She smiled faintly. "Does he know who you're claiming to be?"

Quatre opened his mouth to say yes, then changed his mind. "I don't know..." He frowned, thinking about it.

Cathrine looked confused. "How can you not know?"

"I was trying to tell him, and he said he already knew I wasn't what I seemed... and I didn't think to wonder *how* he could have known. What happened--before?"

"Trowa never told be all the details. But His Majesty, a few years ago, sent a tutor so that Trowa could be trained for court life. As I understand it, this man saw in my brother an easy access to the future king's ear." Cathrine's tone went cold and quiet. "Apparently, he tried a number of ways to bend Trowa to his will."

Quatre growled, almost silently. "I will find this man... and I will kill him," he promised Cathrine. Then he groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "Oh, God. I am an *idiot*. Trowa probably assumed that I--Damn it!"

Cathrine shook her head. "That may very well be true... how are you going to fix it, Quatre?"

Quatre looked up at her. "Does this mean that you believe me?"

"Maybe. Or perhaps I'm just unwilling to see my brother hurt again," she said evenly.

"Fair enough. I need to speak to him."

"I'll try to arrange something for after dinner." Cathrine stood, dusting her hands off crisply. "And, should Your Highness mess up royally, I *will* see to it that your dynasty must look to someone else to fill the throne when it becomes vacant."

Quatre winced again. "I'm so glad that don't have sisters like you. I never would have survived to adulthood."

"Of course you would have," Cathrine smirked. "It's just your enemies who would have had to worry."

Yes, short, I know, but there's always more to come!

Lys ap Adin