Disclaimer: I OWN everything in this story, steal it and I eat you. :)

Rating: 18+

Summary: A fallen prince sold to the quadrant's Liege and a woman plagued by memories of who she used to be are thrown together as the prince - Syvoke - tries to destroy his Master... uncovering lies and false ploys that cause him to try and fix the war he has triggered.

Author's Note(s): THIS IS A NANOWRIMO 2009 FIC. So expect quick and regular updates, please ignore spelling/grammar errors, though I will try and limit them.

Repentant Binds

Chapter One

Smoke billowed into the amber abyss. Flickering against the sharp curves of the red and gold battle cruisers; the planet Xyvelt emblem of crossed swords clear against the sides as fire scorched the sky from the burning town below.

Ashes rained down in spots on matted black hair, as the boy it grew from struggled to his feet again. Loose and torn robe like clothes of blue pressing against his slightly muscled physique. Barely an adult for three years since his eleventh day of breath, yet he was the last of the Lyven royal family.

The screams from inside the large stone walls still echoed and he stumbled again, catching his barely adult body against the hilt of his sword as the tip dug into the dirt. Against honor or not, a thought for a higher powered weapon sped through, but there were none left. Disabled by a drone, like they always were before a planetary attack. It was the main reason everyone in this quadrant of space fought with swords... and the rush it gave, of course.

Fear gripped the throbbing organ in his chest and Syvoke snapped his head up to the crowd forming at the wrought cartinium-flax gates. He blinked through the dirt and blood gushing from a small cut in his forehead and it was clear to see two of his guards, without armor on their chests to signify their turncoat status, unlocking what held the hoard from him. His sword was made of the same unbreakable metal.

Syvoke shivered and his vision blurred for a moment. Pulling his sword out, he pursued forward. If he were to die, he would do so by a Lyven citizen at the least. A burst of flame from a nearby home startled part of the crowd and the young Prince - or rather King - watched several run back towards town as more screams erupted. Everything in his body shook with something more than fear but less than escaping. It was like everything was not happening. Had their feud with the Quadrant Liege truly caused him to destroy them?

The fallen prince gripped his sword and lifted it, clenching his jaw as pain ripped down his cut chest and throat. Each step was like needles piercing his nerves and every second drew another agonizing throb to his head. He had to make them understand they could continue on, that they could recover from this attack. His gaze glanced to the fewer battle cruisers, none of the rest fired and many seemed to be making preparations to leave, judging by the signaling flashes to one another.

"Prince Syvoke xon Lyven." It was the shirtless guard to the left that called through the smoky distance. "You and your family are hereby dethroned by orders of our quadrant Liege, Lord Xyvelt! The charges are for clear sedition, without cause, against the highest crown possible in our surrounding space fields."

"He's just a boy!" A woman shouted and pointed towards the castle. "We should go for King Corvock himself!"

Syvoke's shoulders shook and he tried to force his head back up. His body wasn't reacting the same anymore from his injuries, yet everything was becoming so real. Too real. His eyes of tar settled on the barely clothed woman and he recognized her as a worker in the nearby district. One who had once urged others to support the severing of ties with the Quadrant Liege. His stomach churned at the thought of that man who had stolen all his life from him. Father had been right about him.

Several large men went to pass him, one of the Cred species whose height and hair was abnormal for the normally short men of that creed, whose hair usually ran no further than their waists, like his own. Probably a half breed, which was likely why he was on their planet.... a planet of many half-breeds.

"You'll find no one alive," Syvoke spoke, unusually calm despite the cough that followed. Fourteen years old, he was supposed to join the U.I.P. facility to train next year and yet... Silence or rather his ears failed to hear and he walked forward. Part of him wondering if they'd let him through.

Arms latched onto him and his sword was thrown carelessly to ground. Syvoke could feel himself lurch away from the tight grips and the way others ran towards the castle. To check if he was true to his words, he concluded.

"This!" A guard spoke and this time Syvoke recognized the man - a third guard he had not seen. The one who had guarded him since birth, who had suffered punishments with him for his stubbornness. Other hands tore away from Syvoke as the man pulled him to the top of the hill that crested over the burning town. People ran about trying to douse the flames, others screamed as they burned and houses crumbled. "This is what you have done to us!"

Syvoke stared in horror at the dead bodies being tossed into a pile near the edge of town. It was worse than the quick massacre inside the castle walls, in the throne room where father had been beguiling his two brothers and sister of his earlier days -- the stories he had listened to behind a closed door, too angry with his father to let him know he actually came home last night.... revealing himself right as the attack occurred.

Everyone was desperately trying to save what little they had left now that it was obvious the planet itself would not be imploded.

"Destroyed us!" Another screamed, knocking the Prince to the dirt. His fingers threaded through the long locks and he reared the fourteen year olds head back. He pointed with a gnarly finger to a house, blackened and against the ground. "See that? I listened to my children scream as the flames burnt out their souls! I had to listen as they begged me to save them!"

Syvoke felt the sharp kick and large bat of wood slam against him as several more surrounded him. Everything was dark, yet he could taste the blood gushing into his mouth as they lifted him to his knees.

"No more will we abide by the Lyven families selfish ways!"

Another chunk of wood slammed against his stomach and Syvoke did not resist as bruise after bloody bruise formed. The dirt rolled under him and he screamed as something wet slicked against his back. He could smell the sulfuric smell and hear others backing away as the familiar voice of the man who had first kicked him down grabbed him again. Uncaring and sounding manic. "You'll feel their pain!" He announced from bluish lips that matched his fingertips. His voice sounded pained as he again tipped the vial he carried for protection against the prince again. The quick acting chemical dripped against the wounds on the boy's chest and a scream tore through the air.

Syvoke jerked, screaming and trying to rub it from his wounds. His hands wouldn't reach and he screamed against he was forced forward. Vomit swelled up in his throat and he opened his eyes to the fires burning around them. Blood flowed from his esophagus and out his mouth, yet the wound from his head seemed to not be flowing as hard. It felt like he was choking; like there was a sword through where his heart should have been pumping... and there could have been for all he knew, his vision was fading in and out.

"Tie it tighter!" A man's voice yelled.

Another's interrupted, more feminine than the last. "To the piping from the well!"

Coughing forced more blood upon the princes chin and he felt short of breath, and yet his heart beat as though trying to catch up to this fast pace. His arms couldn't move and a frantic feeling of fear and unimaginable pain began to sway him. He wanted them dead. In that instant what he would have given to be free of this excruciating feeling!

"Why not kill him then?" A woman demanded. "He's not even screaming!"

Syvoke could barely hear the smattering of arguing. Screaming? His mind reeled. He could feel his throat hoarse from the screaming in his head. The pain... no one could avoid screaming!

"Make him a Pet!"

"A Pet?"

Syvoke tried to focus, but the words faded in and out again.

"It's decided then!" A guard spoke, addressing the crowd. "We'll sell the traitorous survivor of the Lyven family to the highest bidder. Gyglien contact the trading network immediately -- if he dies before he'd sold, we'll only get half price!"

Syvoke jerked, but pain exploded like fireworks behind his eyes showing him surrounding for only a moment before all went unworldly still and dark within him....

~*~

Twelve Years Later...

Panic burst. Sweat drenched and a black haired man of twenty six shot up in the small cot. His hands struggled against the cloth he had got caught up in and jerked them to his chest, dragging his nails against the white scars. The manic state of fear shattered like a glass and the man brought his leg up and dropped his head against his knee. His fingers threaded through his hair and he could feel the scars as his eyes remained focused on the hairs on his leg.

A cold shiver ran down from his throbbing head and he ignored the familiar laughter that carried through the cabin. Reygirn was there, guarding him and mocking him like he always did; so much more voiceful than the four other guards who sat quietly around him. He was not fourteen anymore and this was not Planet Ly - no this was a never-ending nightmare... better known as his Master's Flagship - The Barren XX1.

"About time you woke up, princy," Reygirn snapped with a chuckle. He rubbed a finger against his stubble. "I would have woken you up, but you're sweating like an animal."

"The vessel will be reaching our connecting port in three point two minutes," a silver haired guard interrupted, casting a quick look of silence to the noise filled man and then looking to the Pet. The enslaved man was scratching at the three black rings on his middle fingers and the branding on the back of his palms as he always did when awaking - the marks of a slave.

Syvoke looked away to the wall. Lyme was always filled with periodic facts, as though to torture him with nonsense. The thought dropped as he reflected on the smooth way Lyme fought and trained him. No, speaking was the least of the tortures you'd hope to feel from him.

"Master will want you prepared to depart immediately," Lyme spoke again and the door slid open to the cell like room of gold.

"Indeed," a sharp voice of deep ambiance stated.

Syvoke stood immediately. His body protesting in earnest from his nightmare just minutes ago, yet he lowered himself into a kneeled bow. "Master Xyvelt." The sound of a snarl crept into the man's voice as he spoke to the guard and Syvoke allowed himself a small smirk that he dared not show. He had accomplished what he set out to do. It had taken years of fighting against the binds that held him as Master Xyvelt - the quadrant Liege's - pet... to realize it was submission that angered him the most.

"Stand up," Lord Xyvelt spoke and the room seemingly cleared of warm air. The air lock had opened just paces down the hall. "I will escort you into the Universal Instruction port myself."

"Lord Xyvelt," Lyme's expressionless face rose. "If I may interject, the U.I.P. may only increase the rumors you are trying to cease. It is in between class times, there will be many students about."

The blond turned his head and eyes of deadened red to his lead guard. "I'll suffer the consequences," he turned his broad shoulders, swathed in gold silk and a white cape until he was straight with his Pet. "I will not risk an escape attempt."

Reygirn snorted and apologized at the glare he received. "My apologies, milord."

"See that you control that mouth of yours, Reygirn, or you will see the end of your employment," Lord Xyvelt flicked his fingers and a red haired guard handed him a chain of small links. He wrapped it around his fist and his nostrils flared as the fallen Lyven prince lifted his head to allow the end to tether through the small hole on the collar on his neck.

"Something the matter, Master?" Syvoke questioned in his cavalier tone, though his face remained solely serious. A revered feeling of elation broke through him. There was nothing better than to see his Master become furious from his compliance. Nothing better than to cause him pain or revulsion from the destruction he caused him. One day he would get revenge.

Lord Xyvelt narrowed his eyes and hastily jerked the Pet forward, summoning his guards behind them as he headed out into the hall. Forcing the U.I.P. to accept his Pet as a student had been the right decision. No matter what the consequences of it were. No longer could he stand that submissive Pet to gallivant about his halls as though he did not care for the death of his former life.

Syvoke pursed his lips as they came through the air lock and off The Barren flagship. Master was serious then? The busy halls of the prestigious combat training grounds he once was accepted to as the youngest adult to receive experienced training... never had he thought he would ever step in these halls after the death of his title. Pet's were no more than slaves to the elite here, yet he would not be.

The question why still lingered, but Syvoke jerked from the thoughts as the main airlock doors opened to the Universal Instruction Ports mail hall. A bland expanse of gray metal and emblems of every planet's royalty along the walls. His eyes strayed to the black mark forever branded on the wall to the left and his body ran cold. The Lyven family crest had been burnt off.

Syvoke's resolve to destroy Master Xyvelt hardened once again. Reconfirming his plans to methodically dismantle the bastard who destroyed his life and gain revenge for the family he still agonized over.

There was no forgiveness for the death of one's soul.

~*~

To Be Continued...

A/n: NaNoWriMo 2009 - MWHAHAA! I am up to 2421 words so far and I have only written for an hour and nine minutes. I love it. Chapter one is done and I hope I have somebody interested in continuing. I really like how it has progressed so far. Was not expecting it to go so smoothly so far. Let me know what you thought!