A Palace of Disaster

Chibi Tsuki

Hiya~!!! I'm back! Don't run off! Well for those who are listening *smiles sweetly* I hope you enjoy this new fanfic I have for you. I know I still haven't finished the other one but I 'had' to type it up and give you a X'mas prezzie before I take a break. And come back in 2002!

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Chapter 1

Teasing the Prince

Sailing down the long, spiral stairs, the young girl picked up her white and elegant gown, in a hurry to meet her parents. Her father, Celurious Noin, the royal and true-blooded sibling of the king of Italy was attending to some exalted guests for the weekend. He had called for his daughter to appear to these guests and present herself, in a 'proper fashion' like all princesses should.

"Sorry about that Naolan," Celurious apologised immediately after his daughter's display of inappropriate behaviour. "My daughter was rather hasty."

The tall pale-haired man chuckled in a friendly way. "It's alright my dear friend."

"Father, you did tell me to hurry," the raven-haired girl protested. Although she was feeling rather down, she managed to speak in a soft tone.

Beside her raven-haired father stood a beautiful lady, dressed in a pale coloured gown that covered her white, sparkling shoes. She had a soft, gentle face and stunning amber-coloured hair that reached a little above her elbows, curling at the tips. Addressing her daughter, she whispered, "Lucretzia." Immediately the young girl apologised and took moderate steps towards her mother who gave her a 'smaller steps please!' glare.

"Shall we head inside for some lunch?" Celurious suggested, gesturing politely with his hand as the guests turned and headed for the dining hall. Walking beside him was a young man with short brown hair. He and the one called Naolan seemed pretty much the same height except that he was slightly shorter.

As they sat down, the young duke spotted the girl sitting directly opposite him and observed her beauty. Studying her looks, he noticed her features and the long raven bangs that covered her face partially. She was possibly sixteen or in her early months of being seventeen but he knew for certain that she was several years younger than him. But that didn't affect his constant yet subtle staring.

Lucretzia giggled as the young gentleman opposite her sipped his wine ever so delicately that it was obvious that he was being foolish. He even lifted his pinky as he held onto the wineglass professionally.

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Once the dinner was over, Lucretzia excused herself and rushed up to her room and quickly changed out of her dress which she despised and into a pair of slightly baggy tan trousers and into a loose white long-sleeved top which she had buckled a belt on top of. She even grabbed some plain peasant-like shoes and a hat that resembled Robin Hood's hat. No matter what type of trousers, shirt and hat she wore, she still looked like a boy, especially with her long hair tied into a bun, hidden by the headwear. Her best friend being a young Page often skipped duties and training to be with the young princess in her journeys and adventures within the castle wall.

"Come on Noin," Kievet muttered to his comrade by her last name, leading her to the garden towards a terribly massive tree with branches twice the thickness of a cannon. The spouting twigs supported the impressive weight and size of the emerald green leaves. Albeit the tree was so huge, it didn't supply any flower but instead, apples. Appealing, lush red apples, enough to feed an entire village.

A spark appeared in the young Princess' eye as she admired the branches more than the actual fruits. "I'll see you up there, Page Kievet!" she squealed as she grabbed onto the thick branches and expertly hauled herself up, higher and higher until she reached the middle of the tree, waiting for the youth. "How much longer until you reach me?!" Without waiting for a reply, she took off, launching off one branch to another. Her hand, meeting the tough bark that was stuck firmly onto the actual branch.

Within several minutes, Princess Lucretzia Noin had managed to reach the top of the tallest tree in the massive garden they had within the palace walls. "Wow!" she gasped, her eyes darting forward and back as she gazed at the closest village, enjoying the splendid view. "It's got a great view up here!" She peered down at the ground with triumphant joy. Slowly she looked over to the castle gate, spotting two finely dressed men with a few guards behind them. One of the men had platinum blonde hair that reached the middle of his back. The other was the duke she'd seen earlier. Both were about the same height.

"Hey Noin," the soldier gasped for a breath, "I just heard that there's a ball tonight. To be held at seven o' clock and all must attend, especially you."

The princess bellowed, "A ball?! But I don't want to wear those frilly and elegant dining gowns. And I hate balls, they 'always' step on my feet."

"That's because you three-quarter lead and one-quarter don't. You're not meant to lead at all," he smirked, obviously trying to annoy Her Highness.

But she ignored him and instead suggested an idea. "Hey let's check out those two down there." Swiftly, she climbed back down, reaching the dirt ground and spying on them, noting the distance between her and the two gentlemen.

Smiling, Treize muttered, "You missed the entertaining event at lunch."

"What happened?" Milliardo nonchalantly asked, looking around at the trees.

"I saw a beautiful angel."

"The young maid standing beside you? Or the five year old princess screaming at the end of the corridor?" he joked. He had his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a white suit and white trousers, unlike the man beside him who wore a black tuxedo.

The older man laughed and said, "It was the sixteen year old princess rushing down the stairs."

"A princess running down the stairs? Now, that I have missed." Both men were smirking at the thought, a red blur came flying out of nowhere at them. The young prince cursed under his breath and looked around for suspicious characters.

"Sorry there," a dirty-faced teenager grinned, wearing peasant-type clothes, sitting in the tree.

"Watch where you drop your apples, young Page!" Milliardo growled, glaring angrily at 'him'. He noted his appearance and huffed, continuing to walk.

"It's alright sir! I didn't drop it, I threw it." He chuckled and jumped down from the branch, striding up to the gentlemen, chewing on the apple's lush flesh. The youngster wasn't extremely tall nor was he short but in fact, a moderate height. He seemed quite thin which was noticeable because of the belt, even though the clothes themselves were already baggy enough. Treize had watched silently the whole time, noticing his friend's temper rise.

"What's your name?" the prince questioned, stand straight and looking down at the mischief maker.

"Luciao," he replied smartly, his long bangs hanging partially over his right eye.

"I remember you," Treize uttered. "I remember seeing you before lunch, am I right?"

The young 'Page' smiled and said, "Yes Duke Kushrenada. I'm glad you have such good memory. Well if you are bored, we could set up the archery targets and maybe you two could have some fun. Or would you prefer the actual hunting?"

Milliardo eyed him with suspicion but kept his manners, "I'm sure we could try for hunting." I’m sure I could show this guy a thing or two…

"There are deer and warthogs and wild pigs around the place. But the deer are pretty rare nowadays so I ask for you not to hunt them down," he mentioned and led the two gentlemen towards the stables to select some horses.

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Looking at the horses, Milliardo came across a beautiful dark bay but young stallion, with long slender legs of black and a dark reddish body and both his lengthy neck and head, made of a dark chocolate brown. His rump was rather big but when looking at the horse as a whole, he was massive. Even a tall gentleman such as Milliardo didn't reach half way up the stallion's neck when the animal held his head up high. The stable was constructed out of sturdy wood and painted mahogany. It took up a large area and turned out to be nearly as big as a 3x4 metre room and even at the back was a small area for it to enjoy the fresh air outside.

"What a fine creature of splendor," the young prince commented, stroking its neck and scratching where the top of its cheek bone was visible. "I'm sure its owner would be as graceful and…"

"Sorry pal, but I'm choosing this one," a voice yelled as the young 'Page' came walking down the stable with the riding tack.

"Hey but I saw it first, besides I'm the guest around here!"

"It's…" Can't say he's my horse. Page's don't own horses, not until they become a knight. "Alright then we'll see whether you can ride him or not," 'he' sniggered at that point.

"Sure, just find another horse when you lose," Milliardo hissed as the stallion was saddled up. Meanwhile, Treize had selected a white gelding and called for the groom to saddle the mixed Arabian horse and waited while the Page chose another horse.

Lucretzia looked around, searching for a slower horse for the to-be failure. She didn't know whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that all the horses in the stable were fine horses and didn't lack in speed or in style… with an exception of the wild horse they had started to train only two months ago, which still had his fury and temper. Setting of to work, she grinned mischievously and hummed a soft tune, smacking the horse lightly on the neck when it turned to nip her. The young princess was known in the nearby villages for her relationship with horses and how she was able to saddle up even the wildest of those flight animals. Perhaps she was a bit better known to be a strong rider and athlete more than an elegant princess who sat in her garden and viewed the pretty flowers. But overall the villagers enjoyed seeing her whenever she 'ventured' out of the palace grounds.

Leading the horse out of its stable, the trio stepped into the open and immediately mounted on. Lucretzia grinned, glancing at her stallion cheekily. The horse seemed to know exactly what she meant and immediately reared, his back legs stapled to the ground as his diamond hooves was flung around in mid air. He dropped his forelegs and charged off, bucking and pigrooting. No matter how hard Milliardo tried to cling on, the horse kept twisting and turning under him, bumping the prince until he could no longer stay on and fell, crashing savagely into the pile of sand which spilled into his suit. Perhaps the stallion was over-doing it a bit but it had to be done, just to show that Milliardo Peacecraft who he was dealing with.

The show didn't stop there though, tearing through the wind was the terrorising beast, his mane, flying behind him and he continued darting off, ceasing to stop. Immediately, Lucretzia quickened the grey stallion that she rode presently and charged off after her, speeding into the woods and promptly whistling loudly to call him back, telling him the act was over. Like a proud young poodle, he threw his head up and trotted beside the grey stallion that tried to jerk his head around and nip at the favourite. But luckily, the young rider had a firm contact and forced the stubborn horse to ride into his bit before letting him take a break.

By the time they had reached the fallen prince and the laughing duke, Milliardo was already up and growling, ready to insult the young 'Page'.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm sure he didn't mean it. Why don't you ride this one instead? He seems to much gentler and quieter than the stallion," Lucretzia insisted, dismounting the grey horse and handing his reins over to the foreigner. Gleefully, she collected her own horse's reins and jumped on while the duke who had observed the whole 'accident' chuckled silently in his head.

"Milliardo, was that horse too much to handle?" he teased, telling his horse to start walking towards the woods, with his rifle in one hand and Milliardo's in the other. As his friend caught up to him, Milliardo reached for his gun and shot Treize a glare. "All the event that happened in one day… We've still got a whole month before we leave. I wonder if you can survive."

Lucretzia gasped at the thought of an eventful month being with his foreigner. I can't stand one day with him being here! How can I stand a 'whole' month?!

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How'd you like that? And I'll make sure the chapters are longer too.

Oh I can't forget this either...

Disclaimer: *gasp* I hereby inform you that Gundam Wing and the characters in it are not mine, they belong to their respective owners and I have no right to claim them as mine. Nor do I gain any profit from writing these stories to entertain you. They are for you to enjoy reading from my own free will.

Enough of the meanie Disclaimer! And I wish you all a Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year... C'mon when's Chinese New Year?!?!

See ya! CT!