The Sunset Key, Icarus-- the most wanted Key in the entire Palace. Nobody knew where he came from; nobody knew his reasons for signing up as a Key.

But he knew.

He sold his heart and soul to the devil, making himself nothing but an object of lust. He sold his love to any master who owned him; his only demand was a lock of hair from his Master's head after their first night together.

He threw away pride and integrity; spread his legs wide for anyone willing to pay.

The public called him the Sunset Key.

The rest called him a whore.

But he knew.

He was waiting.

For who?

You…

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let your hair down…

The prince looked up at the blonde beauty from the ground, wondering for a moment if he was indeed dreaming. There she was, with the loveliest gold tresses the kingdom had ever seen.

It was easy to bring her away, away from the tower that was her prison. But she refused to leave, believing that prison was where she called home.

No, sweet prince, I will not let down my hair. Please forget me and let me stay here where I belong.

Icarus rubbed his eyes wearily, pushing his black satin blankets off himself.

That dream again…he thought, sitting up on the bed, careful not to press down onto his ankle-long hair with his hands.

Whatever that dream, there was no point in dwelling too much upon it. The Sunset Key frowned slightly at his own stupidity…

Not when that dream had been recurring for the past two weeks…

Icarus had always been the Rapunzel in those dreams. He would be combing his long lavender hair by his bedroom window, his dark purple eyes staring at the setting sun, waiting for his abnormal genetic structure to start playing tricks on him. He wondered about that sometimes, trying to come up with a proper explanation to the change in his hair and eye color after the sun was down. Everyday with no exception…the people in the Palace always talked about the freak that lived in the highest tower…he was imprisoned above, with half his head in the cloud whenever he decides to stick his neck out of the window for a better view of the outside world. Nobody else in the Palace would want to look at him unless they have to. If not…the Sunset Tower was considered `Out of Bounds'.

Getting out of the dark sheets, he made his way to the living room, searching for a piece of stationery and a pen to request for his supply of food for that month.

Just as the rest of the Palace refused to acknowledge him…Icarus would rather keep his distance with the rest of the Palace.

His name is Tian Ci…heaven's gift…

The Chinese man gave himself a sardonic smirk as he made his way up yet another flight of stairs, carrying a bag full with a month's supply of food. Why would anyone choose to live in such a high tower? He thought.

An image of him dead and foaming at the mouth came into mind…

Eww…

"Who's there?" A voice questioned even before he reached out his hand to knock on the oak door.

"I'm here to deliver your food supply for this month." Tian Ci replied; his speech heavily accented by his foreign heritage.

The servant boy waited outside the door for a moment, before a pair of dark violet eyes peeped out at him from behind the door.

"Where was that old man last month? And who are you, I've not seen you around before." Either that, or it was a long time ago since I stepped out of my room. Bet you twenty pounds on the second one…

"My name is Tian Ci, and I just arrived here yesterday night. The old man last month died on your doorsteps, remember?"

"Ahh…" The Sunset Key nodded at the memory, his mind putting more focuses on the first half of the servant's answer. There goes my twenty pounds after all.

Icarus took a moment to slowly scrutinize the young man before him, dispassionate eyes lingering at no particular part of his body as the other Palace dwellers had done. He opened his door wider.

"Come in, boy." He could use a little company right now.

Tian Ci fumed silently at the remark. Boy? He would be twenty in a week's time! He thought. And this…this…whore…how dare she call him a boy?

The Sunset Key made his way to the couch in the middle of the room, well-manicured fingers pointing in the direction to the kitchen.

"The kitchen is—" Icarus stopped and gave an amused smirk, taking in the mad expression visibly glowing on the boy's face. "You angry?"

Tian Ci ignored the Key, dropping the bag of food in a little less than gentle manner onto the floor, slamming the door on his way out.

"Ni mei shi ba?" The young kitchen help greeted Tian Ci when he returned from his errands.

She looked up from the fish she was decaling, smiled briefly before going back to her work.

"Aa…mei shi. Xie le, E-niu." E-niu was the one who first discovered him at the front steps of the Palace, battered and unconscious. Due to the fact that they were both Chinese sold to this foreign land as slaves, they quickly became best friends. It was from E-niu that he learnt bits and pieces of information about the Palace and the Keys.

["Ni mei shi ba?" – Are you all right?]

["…mei shi. Xie le."—I'm fine. Thanks.]

She had told him that the Palace was just a more elegant-sounding name for a harem, but in fact, there was no difference other than that. The Keys would wait in their room until their services were required. Some waited for a few days for a new Master, some months, while some others had never seen the world beyond their little window.

"Then perhaps you should tell me what made you so angry?" The girl asked, her hand still busy with her chore. The once smooth skin of a young child's hands was now rough and calloused. Tian Ci looked away. Such were the life of a slave. Call it fate; call it injustice, but what exactly could they do about this?

"The Sunset Key…that prudent girl called me `boy'!" Tian Ci replied, a huge part of his temper returning with as much force as before.

E-niu stifled a giggle.

"What?" Tian Ci barked, irritated.

"Compared to him, you are a boy." E-niu placed the fish onto the place and dried her hands on her apron.

"Him?" The Chinese man kicked himself mentally at his stupid monosyllabic response.

E-niu brought a hand to mask her amusement slightly.

"Yes. You mean you never realize all the Keys here are males?" She ridiculed.

Brown eyes widened.

"And do you have any idea how old is the Sunset Key?" She pressed again.

Tian Ci shook his head; his right hand involuntarily began playing with the counterfeit gold band on his ring finger.

"Oi, Tian!" The man turned towards the direction of the door.

"The owner of the Sunset Key wants to have a word with you." Were his instructions.

Tian Ci had expected a posh, intimating looking room behind that door. He expected a stern old man staring at him from behind an old- fashioned black leather chair. He had expected many things. But never had he imagined seeing what he saw.

It was a well-lit, white washed room with no furniture in it. Pieces of art sculpture were placed randomly around, their beauty hidden by a mere piece of white cloth. Paintings done by various artists had added color to the void space.

There, standing in the middle of the room, no more than the age of fifteen, was a young girl admiring the portrait in her hands, oblivious to the man who had just entered the room.

Tian Ci felt like a street rat who had just found himself in a fairytale castle. Everything looked so peaceful and clean in there, including the pale girl whose back was presented to him. With her fair complexion, ash-gray hair and slender build, she could have easily been one of the many sculptures around.

Wait, Tian Ci thought, reminded of his mistake with the Sunset Key's gender. Better check before I make a fool of myself again.

The longhaired creature was suddenly aware of being watched. He/she stiffened slightly and turned around, lowering the painting to take a good look at the intruder. A look of recognition began to fill those green eyes.

"Oh," the person said, walking to place the canvas at the edge of an empty wall. "My name is Yeka, owner of the Sunset Key."

"Long Tian Ci." Came his reply. `So it's a guy this time. What is it with effeminate guys around this area?'

Yeka nodded, reaching for a ribbon in his pockets to tie his hair up.

His eyes were an unusual shade of green, the Chinese man noted. It was the type of green that is so light and cold that it might as well be colorless, the color of mint. But beautiful as they seem, one could not ignore the barely contained predatory gleam in them.

Tian Ci shuddered involuntarily.

"Are you all right?" Yeka asked, seeing the shiver that passes through the other man. "I can turn up the heater if you want to, it's always cold during this time of the year, and it does not help that we are in the wrong part of the Earth. So, how do you find the Palace so far?"

"I like it well enough." Tian Ci tried to keep his voice neutral and failed at the attempt. Anger at his previous encounter with the Sunset Key and contempt at the trade was practically oozing from his tone and body stance.

The owner raised an elegant eyebrow and laughed.

This man, he thought. Would certainly be an interesting source of entertainment.