Chapter 1a: Of The Six

     Duo was tired of struggling; there was no way he would escape now.
He was exhausted and filthy.  They had stripped him and chained him; he
was utterly humiliated.  A hand cupped his chin and forced him to look
into a pair of hard blue eyes.
        "You _are_ a pretty one."  She said, a smile curling her lips.
"Lord
Treize will be pleased.  Noin!  Take him!"
        Noin bowed.  "Yes, Lady Une."  She said taking the end of the
chains that bound his wrists.  She gave them a sharp yank that almost
pulled him off his feet.  He fixed her with a scowl and stumbled after
her.
        The walk was not far, down a short hall, before Noin pushed open
a heavy wooden door and dragged him inside.
        The room was dimly lit by candles in randomly mounted sconces on
the walls.  It was plushly decorated, covered in silks and satins and
beautiful velvets.  Duo swallowed, this was so much luxury that it
nearly overwhelmed his senses.  There were three enormous beds that
dominated the space.  Two sleeping figures in the near two and one in
the far bed.
        Noin bet down and snapped a silver bracelet around his ankle,
then unchained his wrists.  "Don't move."  She warned.  "We may both
regret it if you do."  With sure strides she went to the nearest bed and
shook one of its occupants awake.  "Up!"  She whispered, hauling the
figure out of bed.
        The figure was as naked as he was, and the figure was a woman.
"Yes,
Miss Noin."  She said softly.
        Noin pointed at Duo.  "Bathe him."
        "Yes, Miss Noin."  The woman replied.
        Noin smirked, turned sharply and was gone, leaving only the
sharp click of a bolt sliding home.  Duo turned his attention back to
the woman who watched him with a frank curiosity.  He suddenly recalled
his nudity and quickly covered himself with his hands, though she was
completely unashamed of her own.  She covered her mouth with one hand
and laughed softly at his modesty.  It was a lilting musical sound, and
it annoyed him.
        "What are you laughing at?"  Duo demanded.
        "There is no need for such modesty here."  She replied, her
words slightly Russian accented.  She flipped her long hair behind her
shoulders and took a step forward.  Duo could see that she too wore a
silver bracelet.  "You are from the mines, yes?"  Duo nodded dumbly.  "I
thought so.  Come."  She offered her hand.  He took it and allowed her
to lead him to a curtained off section of the room.  She drew the heavy
drape and began to run water into a large, sunken marble tub.
        "Does it have to be so dark in here?"  Duo asked.
        The woman said nothing, only rose and turned up the lighting,
which Duo realized was not candlelight at all, but electric.  He watched
her.  She moved gracefully and had a mess of purple black hair almost as
long as his own.  "Get in."  She said softly.
	She was beautiful and it had been so long since he had seen a naked
woman, much less been bathed by one.  He licked his lips and climbed
into the tub.  "What is your name?"  He asked, reveling in the warm
water.
	"Shesta."  She replied, unbinding his braid.  "What is yours?"
	"Duo."  He replied.  "What is this place?"
	She ran a brush gently through his snarled hair.  "Did they not explain
it to you?  You have been chosen by Lord Treize, you complete his
collection of six."
	He pulled away and faced her.  "What do you mean?"
	"You, myself and the other four," she gestured vaguely at the curtain.
"We six are Lord Treize's favorites."  She took a deep breath.  "We are
his slaves."
	"And what do we do for Lord Treize?"
	"Whatever he wishes."  Her black eyes caught his violet eyes and they
stared at each other for one long minute.  He let his gaze wander away
from her eyes and over her full breasts and shapely curves and felt his
mouth go dry.  "You are so beautiful."  He said.
	"Thank you."  She whispered, looking away from him.  He cupped her chin
in one hand and she smiled at him faintly.  He stared at her.  Duo
suddenly pulled her into a rough embrace and captured her lips in a
bruising kiss.  She lost herself in the kiss for a moment, parting her
lips to admit his roughly probing tongue before pushing him away, shock
and pleasure coloring her face.
	"Duo!"  She gasped.
	He sat back, ashamed for having so little self control.  "I'm sorry,
it's just that I…"  He looked at her.  Need made his breath ragged and
naked lust shimmered in his eyes.  "Please."  He said softly.
	"I must bathe you."  She said, pinning her hair up and climbing into
the tub.  She settled into the water, and took up a small bar of soap.
"How did you come to be here?"
	He shivered a bit form the contact.  He had forgotten the simple
pleasures of a warm bath.  "I have worked in the mines since I was a
child."  He said.
	"Hmm."  She nodded and began shampooing his thick hair.  "Things will
be much different for you here."  She said softly moving his hair off
his back.  She slipped closer to him and he could feel the soft press of
her breasts against his back.
	"What are you - ?"  Duo said.
	"Shh, you must be quiet."  She whispered.  Under the water one of her
hands caressed his thigh.  He shivered in anticipation.  Her fingers
wrapped around his swollen member.  He let out a low throaty moan and
bucked against her hand.  She stroked him gently and squeezed the tender
flesh.
	"Shesta…"  He panted.  "Aaaaaa."  He bit his lip and spilled himself
into the water.  She removed her hand and gently began rinsing the soap
from him.
	"Why did you - ?"
	"Because you needed it."  She replied, rising from the water.  "Please
get out, I will get you a towel."  She stepped out of the tub and
disappeared behind the curtain.  Duo stepped onto the tile floor and
Shesta reappeared a moment later with a towel for him.  She handed it
over without a word and he began to dry himself.
	"Why did Noin pick you to do this?"  He asked her.
	"I do not know."  Shesta replied.  "I was perhaps the most convenient.
Turn around."  She began running a brush through his hair.  "Any of the
others would have done the same if she had chosen them instead."
	Duo luxuriated in the feel of the hairbrush.  "Tell me about the
others."
	Shesta smiled a little.  "Heero is number one of the six."  She said,
softly.  "He comes from Japan, he was a great warrior before he came
here.  Trowa is number three; no one knows where he came from.  Not even
himself, he is a performer, an expert flutist and a wonderful acrobat.
Number four is Quatre, who was a prince with more riches that we could
imagine.  And the fifth is Wufei, the last descendant of a great warrior
clan."  She carefully dividend his hair into three sections and began to
plait it.
	"And you?"
	"Kidnapped."  She said simply, wrapping a band around the end of his
hair.  "Now sleep."  She drew the curtain aside.  "You will need it."