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The Taming of the Cavern King	By : roryheadmav Category: +G to L > Gankutsuou Views: 3530 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Gankutsuou, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
DISCLAIMER: This story is a
non-commercial work of fiction based on the anime/manga Gankutsuou. Original
copyright of Gankutsuou belongs to Mahiro Maeda, Gonzo/Media Factory, GDH.
Absolutely no monetary gain has been made with this work.

THE TAMING OF THE CAVERN KING

Original
Highlander version � 2003 By Rory V. Pascual (under the name of Remillard);

Gankutsuou
Version � May 13, 2006 By Rory V. Pascual

PART FIVE

"Albert, my friend!"
Maximilian raised his tankard of ale to the detective. "Come! Join
us!"

Over a year had passed and the May
Day fair had once again come to the city of Paris. As he approached the table
where Maximilian and Franz sat, Albert glanced at the young men and women
gathered around the flower-bedecked Maypole, streamers tied to their wrists.
Grinning to himself, the detective wondered if those dancers had any idea what
that pole meant. It's definitely something to ask Edmond later on.

"We often talk about you,
Albert," Franz clapped a heavy hand on Albert's back as the detective sat
down at the table.

"Oh really?" the
detective cocked an incredulous eyebrow up. "What about?"

"Why, your marriage to the
Cavern King, of course!" exclaimed Maximilian. "You just don't know
how sorry we felt for you when you rode out of town with Edmond Dantes."

Albert leaned back on his chair.
"What about you, gentlemen? I hope all my efforts in getting Edmond out of
your way was not for naught."

"On the contrary," Franz
put in, "we are happily wedded to the Count's fair sisters, Eugenie and
Valentine. Indeed, every man should be blessed with such beautiful, loving and
obedient wives."

"Is that so?" A
brilliant idea suddenly lit up inside Albert's devious mind. "Would you be
willing to put that to the test?"

Maximilian looked at the detective
curiously. "How so?"

"It's quite simple. We shall
send a boy to our respective spouses with an order for them to come here
immediately to attend to our needs." Albert pulled out his purse.
"Gentlemen, I have here a hundred gold pieces. Whoever's spouse comes here
and obeys the command of her husband shall get this gold."

"That would be a problem for
you, Albert," said Franz with a smirk, "since your loving spouse did
not come to Paris with you."

"On the contrary, at this
very moment, Edmond is at the church, talking to Princess Haydee and Father
Luigi. He told me he has no desire to join in the festivities."

"That's not much of a
challenge at all, even if the Count of Monte Cristo is here." Maximilian
threw his purse on the tabletop. "I accept your terms, and here's same amount."

Adding his own purse to the pot,
Franz remarked, "You'd better quit while you're ahead, Albert. You know
you stand no chance of winning."

"We shall see. Shall we begin
the test then?" The detective gripped the wrist of the serving boy who had
laid a tankard of ale before him. "What's your name, son?"

"Edouard, sir," the boy
replied.

Maximilian flipped a copper coin
in the air, which Edouard quickly grabbed. "We require a service of you,
young man."

"I'll do anything,
sir."

"Very well then,
Edouard," Maximilian began confidently. "Please go to the Lady
Valentine and tell her that her husband needs her right now."

"Is that all?" asked
Edouard.

"Yes, and please tell her to
hurry up."

With a quick nod, Edouard hastened
on his important errand.

There was a smug grin on
Maximilian' face. "I'm so sorry about this, dear friend. It is not my
desire to see you penniless."

But Albert shook his head, taking
a sip of his ale. "Do not count your chickens before they hatch, Maximilian."
Catching the serving boy's approach out of the corner of his eye, the detective
commented, "Here comes Edouard now, and it seems he's all alone."

Maximilian stood up at once.
"Where's my wife?"

"Sorry, sir," Edouard
panted for breath. "But your wife said she's busy with her poker game. 'Go
ask Franz,' she told me."

At this answer, Maximilian plopped
back on his seat in shock. "That's impossible!"

"Don't worry,
Maximilian," Franz reassured his friend. "You're forgetting Eugenie.
Edouard, my boy! Go to the Lady Eugenie. Please inform her that her husband
requires her presence at once and that she should bring her sister, the Lady
Valentine, along."

Edouard grimaced. "But it's a
long run from here." Before the boy could complain further, Franz flipped
him another copper coin. With a snappy salute, Edouard declared, "Right
away, sir!", and went on his way.

Franz winked at the detective.
"Eugenie will not counter my wishes. You'll see. She'll be here in a few
minutes with Valentine."

Sure enough, Eugenie and Valentine
appeared at the edge of the town square, walking with long, purposeful strides,
parasols in their hands. Edouard followed a cautious distance behind them.

Seeing their wives, broad smiles
formed on the faces of Franz and Maximilian. "My love..." they
greeted in unison, arms wide.

Instead of the anticipated
embrace, however, Eugenie struck Franz hard on the head with her parasol,
shouting furiously, "How dare you disturb our card game!"

Maximilian was trying, in vain, to
evade Valentine's pounding umbrella. "Do you know that we lost fifty gold
pieces because of you?"

Albert and Edouard winced and
grimaced, watching helplessly as the two women beat the living daylight out of
their poor husbands. When the dust finally cleared and the two wives had
stalked off, Maximilian and Franz lay in a broken heap on the ground.

The detective clucked his tongue.
"I guess it's my turn now." He raised his hand to Edouard, revealing
a shiny gold coin in his palm. "Edouard, I want you to go and fetch my
spouse for me."

"Those crazy women will beat
me to a pulp!" Edouard cried in fear.

"No, my spouse is not at the
poker game. You'll find him at Father Luigi's church with Princess
Haydee."

At once, Edouard's eyes widened.
"Are you talking about the Count of Monte Cristo? The Cavern King? He's
your wife? You're the unlucky sod who married him?"

"One and the same."

The boy quickly shook his head.
"No way! He'll do a lot worse to me than just pound me into the
dirt!"

Albert smiled reassuringly.
"Edmond won't hurt you. I swear it." Waving the gold coin before the
boy's eyes, he urged, "Go on, Edouard! Tell Edmond that I need him
here."

For a moment, Edouard hesitated,
staring at the tantalizing gold coin. Greed getting the better of him, the boy
grabbed the gold piece. Running off, he shouted back at the detective, "If
he kills me, you'll pay for my funeral!"

When the boy was gone, Albert bent
down to help his two friends who were tangled up like pretzels. "Here!
Let's get you two on your feet."

Franz cried out in pain when the
detective accidentally gripped his broken arm. Albert was about to go to
Maximilian's aid, but the man quickly stammered, "No, it's all right. Just
give us a little time to get our bearing."

Suddenly, like music to his ears,
the detective heard a voice fraught with worry call out, "ALBERT!
ALBERT!"

Although blackened and puffy,
Maximilian and Franz's eyes widened like platters at the sight of Paris's
infamous Cavern King, hugging their friend, concern written on his handsome
face. A very pretty butterfly-shaped barrette was pinned at his left temple.

"Albert, are you all
right?" Edmond demanded. "Good God, you scared me half to death! I
couldn't get a straight answer out of that boy you sent. Sweet Jesus, Albert, I
had to..."

From the direction of Father
Luigi's church, a woman shrieked, "OH MY GOD! HE KILLED EDOUARD!"

With a fierce snarl, Edmond yelled
back, "I just throttled that stuttering little idiot, fool! He's not
dead!" The nobleman's eyes fell upon the tangle of bruised flesh and
broken bones at their feet. "What the hell's this? Roadkill?"

"A minor mishap,
Honeybun."

"You call this 'minor'? It
looks like a million head of sheep have trampled these two. Are you sure you're
not hurt?"

"Actually, I'm quite
fine!"

"Then, why did you call
me?"

Sheepishly, Albert scratched his
head. "I was hoping you could fetch your sisters for me."

"SAY AGAIN?"

"I want you to fetch your
sisters for me," the detective repeated.

Edmond stared at his husband in
disbelief. "You let that blithering twerp drag me away from my mother,
whom I haven't seen in over a year, just to fetch a couple of obnoxious twits?
Let their husbands do it!"

Clearing his throat, Albert
pointed to the bloody mess on the ground.

The Count slapped his hand to his
forehead. Glaring at the two men lying in the dirt, "You two are pathetic!
Did you get my husband into trouble? Looks like you got what you
deserved."

"Err, Edmond..." The
detective interrupted. "Actually, your sisters did this."

"And you want me
o fetch those two crazy harpies?"

"Well, yeah! That's the
idea." Albert gazed hopefully at the older man. "You are going to
fetch them, aren't you, my sweet?"

To his dismay, the nobleman
snapped back, "OF COURSE NOT! I have better things to do with my time than
run around after those twits. Now, if you'll excuse me, Haydee awaits me."

Before Albert could argue, Edmond
stormed off. His spouse's reaction was totally unexpected. The detective just
found himself sagging into his seat.

"HE HE HE!" snickered
Maximilian from his position on the ground. "It looks like we share the
same bad luck in spouses."

A pained laugh escaped Franz's
lips. "I guess no one wins."

Albert shook his head in
disbelief. "I don't understand. Edmond's changed. He's not..."

"LET US GO!" an angry
female voice shrieked.

Another, much younger, voice
declared, "UNHAND US RIGHT NOW OR WE'LL TELL FATHER!"

Albert felt his heart skip a beat,
hearing that familiar roar drown out those shrill cries. "IF YOU SHRIEKING
BANSHEES DON'T SHUT YOUR MOUTHS, I'LL CUT OFF YOUR TONGUES AND FEED THEM TO THE
DOGS!"

A relieved smile formed on the
detective's face, seeing the villagers clear a path for the tall, imposing
nobleman who was dragging his sisters behind him. Reaching the three men,
Edmond shoved Eugenie and Valentine forward.

That same moment, Louis and
Princess Haydee, as well as Father Luigi, came to investigate the ruckus.

"What is the meaning of this
disturbance?" Louis demanded, turning glaring eyes towards his son.

Edmond, however, ignored his irate
father, and focused all his attention on his two sisters.

Gesturing to Maximilian and Franz,
the nobleman asked, "Would you mind explaining this bloody mess to
me?"

"We were playing poker and
these two idiots disturbed our game!" Eugenie exclaimed. "Because of
them, we lost fifty pieces of gold!"

"We are not maids to be
commanded at their whim!" complained Valentine like a petulant child.
"We will not tolerate being ordered around by our husbands! We will not
play the subservient wife!"

To the shock of everyone, Edmond
gave his sisters hard swats on their behinds with the flat of his scabbard. The
two women stepped back, stunned by the hard blows they had received. Louis was
about to rush forward, but Haydee held him back.

"HOW DARE YOU MAKE A MOCKERY
OF MARRIAGE!" Edmond declared in fury. "You've been wedded for over a
year and you still don't know what it's all about! It's not a matter of
subservience, of who will serve who. Marriage is about two people joined as one
being by God. No man or woman shall claim dominance over the other. This is an
equal partnership, wherein both husband and spouse give and take, and share
each other's joys and pains." Slowly turning his head, the Count accorded
his husband a warm smile. "Marriage is about trust and, especially,
love."

Walking towards Albert, Edmond
continued, "I know what each and everyone of you think of me � that I'm a
demon, the Cavern King, a beast you fear and abhor. None of you sought to seek
out the truth to my abominable behavior. None of you knew that I had suffered
unspeakable agony and humiliation at the hands of another man."

At this admission, everyone gasped
in shock. Louis's mouth had gaped open, truly stunned by his son's revelation.
He glanced at Haydee, who nodded her head.

"Your son told us everything,
Monsieur," Father Luigi confirmed.

Edmond grasped Albert's hands
tenderly. "Only this man dared to break through the barrier of my soul.
Although I was cruel to him, he never gave up. He made me realize that I have
nothing to be ashamed of, that what happened to me was not my fault. And that's
it's not too late for me to find real happiness." Caressing Albert's face,
the nobleman whispered, "He helped me to find true love."

Edmond looked at Eugenie and
Valentine. "My dear sisters, Maximilian and Franz love you very much, and
I was wrong to keep you two apart from them. I should have known that they are
not like the man who hurt me." Laughing lightly, he remarked,
"Besides, if they didn't care for you, they wouldn't have gone through all
that trouble to get rid of me. In a way, I'm extremely grateful to your
husbands. I would never have found Albert Herrera if it wasn't for them."
Turning somber, the Count advised, "Love your husbands, sisters. This kind
of warm, generous love they're giving you only happens once in a lifetime. Hold
on to it. Never let it go...as I almost had."

A deep silence fell upon the
village. Then, as one, the villagers began to clap and cheer for the detective
and his spouse. There was no doubt in everyone's mind that the Count of Monte
Cristo has, at last, been tamed.

Albert embraced Edmond, kissing
him tenderly. "Oh, Honeybun! I love you so much!"

"I love you too,
Albert!" Edmond whispered teasingly, "I'll love you even more if
you'll share your booty with me. I saw all that money. Damn, my jaw ached from
that speech."

"Edmond, did you mean it?
Everything you said?"

"If I didn't, I would've
divorced you long ago."

Louis went towards the two lovers.
In his hands, he held colorful streamers. Tying the ends of the ribbons to
their wrists, he asked warmly, "Would you and Albert start the dance, my
son?"

Edmond graciously bowed to his
father. "Father, it would be a great honor."

Taking the Count's hand, Albert
led Edmond towards the Maypole. He then went to his position opposite the
nobleman. As the musicians played a merry waltz, the two lovers began to dance,
waving their streamers in the air.

"This is ridiculous,"
Edmond finally grumbled when he was out of his father's hearing range.
"What am I doing leading the May Day dance?"

�

There was a mischievous grin on
the detective's face as he motioned with his lips to the Maypole. "Edmond,
what does this thing remind you of?"

The Count stole a quick glance at
the colorful pole with its bouquet of flowers at the top. "Judging from
the look on your face," Edmond began, "it's definitely something
obscene."

"Just look at the Maypole, my
sweet! What do you think it is?"

Edmond blew a loose strand of hair
from his forehead in exasperation. "Since the May Day dance was once a
fertility ritual, I'd say you are thinking about that worm between your
legs." The nobleman felt Baptistin bristle in his hair at that remark.
"No offense, Baptistin."

"Excuse me," said Albert
in affront. "My endowments are not worm-like. I'd like to think of it as
just as impressive as a thick and juicy bologna."

"Harrumph!" the Count
snorted. "If we were not in public, I would dare you to prove your claim
of sausage greatness."

Going to his lover's side, Albert
swept Edmond into his arms and backed him up into the Maypole. "Why let
all these people stop you?"

"My family's watching, you
dirty young man!" argued Edmond. "For someone as old as I am�making
out with a man half my age, and in public? My father will disown me all over
again!"

�

Instead of answering, the
detective's hand descended to the nobleman's waist. With a tug on his belt, he
loosened Edmond's trousers. He then moved his hand further down, his finger
probing the tiny orifice that lay between those round globes. As he pushed
inside the crack, a delighted moan was elicited from the Count's lips.

"Oh, what the hell! Let's
show them what a REAL fertility ritual is like." Edmond smiled fondly at
his husband, letting his coat slide down his arms. He even raised his leg, knee
bent, propping it up against Albert's hip. "No shame, Albert. Do to me
what you will."

Albert placed his arm under the
crook of that bent knee and kissed the nobleman on the lips. "Honeybun, I
thought you'd never ask."

As the two men made love at the
Maypole, they did not notice the shocked expression on the Parisians' faces.
Edouard, who had already regained consciousness, was grinning ear to ear at the
sight that was unfolding before him. Making a hasty Sign of the Cross, Father
Luigi clapped heavy hands over the protesting boy's eyes. The two lovers were
oblivious to the fact that Louis and Princess Haydee, and Edmond's two sisters,
had collapsed right on top of Maximilian and Franz in a dead faint, absolutely
scandalized.

Only one saw everything that's
happening. Having been dislodged from his young master's tresses by Albert's
heated palms, the butterfly had fluttered up to the top of the Maypole to sit
on a rose blossom. Baptistin was moving his mandibles furiously.

If one understood the language of
butterflies, he or she would have heard Baptistin exclaim with mixed fondness
and exasperation, Good heavens! What perverts these two are!

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The Taming of the Cavern King

THE TAMING OF THE CAVERN KING

PART FIVE