The Cicada and the Dragon Part II for Arysthaeniru
Title: The Cicada and the Dragon Part II
Author: quelleperedhil
Recipient: arysthaeniru
Pairing/Characters: Yanagi Renji/Atobe Keigo, Yukimura Seiichi/Ryoma Echizen, Ryuuzaki Sakuno, Tachibana An, Oshitari Yuushi, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Niou Masaharu, and many more.
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, but for the most part, not particularly graphic.
Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi-sensei.
Summary: Some bickering, with magic, and a side of dragons.
With the passports gifted by Tezuka, crossing the border of Shitenhouji was no trouble whatsoever. But Yanagi couldn’t have anticipated the heaviness in the air, like there was some kind of sour gravity acting on it.
“Shitenhouji is… depressing,” Sakuno said quietly as they left the border town.
“It wasn’t always,” Yanagi explained with a frown. “Shiraishi was reputed to be a kind, good-humored ruler. Good intelligence suggests that as a dragon-born, he was blessed with charisma.”
Sakuno paused, partially out of disbelief and then some other emotion that Yanagi couldn’t pinpoint. When she provided no further information, he continued, “However, something happened here that has not become common knowledge. How much do you know about the history of this country?”
“Um…not much. My grandmother really liked comedies from Shitenhouji…” she offered, to no real assistance. However, Yanagi was glad to draw her back into the conversation.
“It was not just Rikkai who suffered the warring period. Two elder members of the court, Taira and Hara rebelled against Shiraishi in the first year of his reign,” Yanagi informed Sakuno.
“….But he won if he’s still King now?”
“Indeed. King Shiraishi extinguished the rebellion in a month. That was two years ago.”
“One month?!”
“To end the fight with as little bloodshed as possible, a member of the Tarragon order gifted Shiraishi with a draconic relic, the golden gauntlet. It is said that the gauntlet will increase a dragon-born’s inherent power, gift them with amplified strength and supply a nearly impenetrable personal defense. I have it on reliable sources that the rebellion could not have been put down so quickly any other way.”
“Oh, I see,” Sakuno said and waited for Yanagi to continue the history.
“However, such a weapon is heavy, physically and spiritually. All dragon-born, no matter how good they are, suffer the greed of their ancestor. The gauntlet has surely amplified this trait in Shiraishi as well, corrupting his true personality.”
Sakuno gasped, no doubt with sympathy for the King’s burden. “Then why has no one removed it?”
“Because it is not easily removed,” Yanagi said.
“…So what are we going to do?”
Yanagi smiled. “Remove it. King Atobe seems like the sort of man to appreciate something both shiny and dangerous.”
-
Though Sakuno felt like traveling through Rikkai was intense, it was nothing compared to Shitenhouji. Every person they passed on the road seemed more unfriendly and aggressive than the last. She stood close enough to Yanagi to be holding his hand.
What if they were robbed? Despite Tezuka’s best efforts, Sakuno’s combat skills were barely passable. And Yanagi was blind. As clever as he was, Sakuno didn’t expect him to actually use the long, curved knife tucked into his bag. She would just have to count on her luck. Given her ancestry, that wasn’t exactly insignificant.
As if responding to her thoughts, a group of bulky men stopped them in the road.
“A blind man and a little girl?” the man laughed. “Hand over everything you got, or I’ll take out your pretty eyes to match your friend.”
Yanagi stood in front of Sakuno. “We have very little money, but you are welcome to it.”
“Very little isn’t going to cut it,” the gang circled them. “We might fetch a penny for the girl.”
Sakuno watched Yanagi plunge his hand into his bag, seemingly shuffling around for a wallet. Anxiety tugged at her. Was he going to try to fight? Did he have hidden money?
In that moment of procrastination, everything went to hell. An orange and yellow blur cannonballed down from the treetops and bowled over two bandits. When that blur stilled, she saw that it was a person -- a small person with a bright red tangle of hair, flashy yellow clothes, and no weapon in sight.
It quickly became apparent that their new friend had no need of one. He kicked a man in the face and somersaulted into another. Sakuno wouldn’t have thought it possible to flip more than once in the air. If Yanagi hadn’t pulled Sakuno out of the way just in time, she too would have fallen victim to his mad acrobatics.
How could Yanagi have known to do so when she, able to see, could barely follow the movements?
The highway bandits skedaddled and Sakuno imagined big puffs of smoke in their wake. Though it hadn’t been at all her doing, she felt vindicated.
“Um…thank you…” she squeaked more than said.
“Hey! It’s okay! Didja know that you’re really pretty?! I came because somethin’ smelled nice and it was totally you!”
Face boiling, Sakuno backpedaled to put some distance between her and the eager stranger. Could he tell her heritage from her scent? Fortunately, Yanagi got between them and bowed.
“We are grateful for your assistance,” he said. Whenever the stranger tried to get around him, Yanagi managed to put himself in the way. “May I ask your name?”
Puffing up his chest, the boy said, “I’m Tooyama Kintarou! It’s so cool that you’re wearing a blind-fold! Were you playing pin the tail on the dragon? Can I play too?!” Tooyama looked around eagerly.
“Unfortunately not,” Yanagi said. “We have business with King Shiraishi.”
The energy immediately drained from Tooyama’s face. With an expression round and flat like a toad’s, he sidled up to Yanagi and whispered loudly. “You don’t want to play pin the tail on the dragon with Shiraishi. He has a poison arm.”
“I see,” Yanagi said. Sakuno rather envied his composure. “All the same, we’d really like to speak with him.”
Tooyama looked troubled. “Shiraishi doesn’t like it when new friends come over anymore. …I was going to find Koshimae to help me beat Shiraishi and his poison arm because I already know him.”
“That’s very smart,” Yanagi praised Tooyama. The little redhead puffed up all the more. “But I have something in common with Shiraishi that you don’t: poison eyes.”
Sakuno thought that no one could possibly be stupid enough to believe that, but sure enough, Tooyama jumped up and scrambled behind her. “Poison eyes!” he cried.
“Yes. I want to see him so we can talk about our poisonous parts,” Yanagi said.
“In that case…” Tooyama said nervously. “Maybe Kenya can get you in.”
Yanagi nodded, “If you could direct me toward this Kenya, we would be grateful.”
“Kenya isn’t poison though,” Tooyama said, as if reminding him.
“I believe you,” Yanagi said neutrally.
Sakuno wondered if he even knew who this Kenya was, or if they could even trust Tooyama. But Yanagi didn’t hear the questions in her mind. He walked after Tooyama and Sakuno followed, quick to take his arm and ensure he didn't trip into a divot or anything equally unfortunate.
-
Tooyama Kintarou: dragon-born, incredibly fast and strong, inexplicably superstitious, 150 cm tall, plus or minus 2.7 cm, and most likely around 98 kg, which was quite light for a dragon-born. Or dragon-forged. Yanagi didn’t have enough information to distinguish between the two.
At least, that was all Yanagi could discern about their new contact during their brief walk through the woods. Tooyama quite handily dispatched any suspicious characters on their way to Kenya. Yanagi wondered if it was Oshitari Kenya, famous for his quick deliveries of important documents. Would Sakuno be interested in the history of the Oshitari family, spanning across two kingdoms and dating as far back as the dragon age? He was interrupted before he had the chance to ask.
“Koharu and Yuuji’s house is just ahead here. Kenya usually stops there whenever he’s running,” Tooyama said. No doubt he was pointing, despite Yanagi’s inability to see. Fortunately, he could feel the difference between the official road and the well-cut, but handmade path. “I havta go, but tell them HELLO from Kintarou!”
For a small person, Tooyama had very loud footsteps. Yanagi could their retreat even after a good fifty paces.
“Watch out, Renji,” Sakuno took his arm. Though he had noticed the dip in the ground, he nodded in gratitude. After all, with the growing unsteadiness on his feet, he might need her support the next time.
They approached the front of the house together. Sakuno knocked; the door swung under the power of her gesture.
“Don’t know your own strength?” Yanagi teased.
Sakuno’s voice went high pitched and Yanagi suspected that she was blushing. “N-no! I mean, it was open.”
“Close that again,” someone drawled. “I don’t care if you come in or not.”
Sakuno’s scream informed Yanagi that something was quite off about this place. He couldn’t fathom what; the baking bread certainly smelled nicer than the outdoors.
Sakuno’s yelling took on actual words. How informative. “Why are you in a cage?!”
“Why are you in my house?”
Yanagi felt that both questions were fair and needed to be answered. “We are here to wait for Oshitari Kenya.”
“Oh. He’ll be by later tonight,” the caged person said dismissively.
“Um…why are you...do you need help out of the cage?”
“No,” the man was quick to say. A young man, if Yanagi were to judge by sound.
“Let him be,” said a new voice. “Zaizen’s just in there because he wants to be.”
“Shut up, Yuuji. If your partner could keep his hands to himself….” A page turned. Voice number one, Zaizen, had ceased paying attention in favor of reading. Yanagi didn’t blame him. He supposed that there wasn’t much else to do in a cage.
Yanagi bowed in the direction of voice number two. “I apologize for our rude entrance. I am Renji and this is Sakuno. We come from Hyoutei with urgent business for King Shiraishi. Your friend Tooyama suggested that a man named Kenya might get us an audience.” If Sakuno was at all shocked by the half-lie, she thankfully managed to restrain herself.
“Ah, I’m Hitouji Yuuji. You can make yourselves comfortable here for now--”
Before Yanagi could say anything further, he sensed a presence directly behind him. He wasn’t fast enough to escape the arms that wormed around his waist. “Ooooh, I’m in love! How long has it been since such a handsome man came to my house?!”
A change went over Hitouji immediately. “Koharu!” he shrieked. “Are you cheating on me? You can’t just bring people from Hyoutei into this house!”
The man in question, Koharu, began to pet Yanagi’s hair. “I didn’t bring them here, Yuuji,” he whined.
“You’re so cruel, Koharu! I can’t believe that I spent the whole afternoon chopping wood for your bubble bath!”
“You did?” if Koharu started to cry, Yanagi really hoped that it wouldn’t be on his shirt.
“Only because I didn’t know that you were a cheater!” Hitouji cried out as he ran from the cabin.
“Yuu-bear!” Koharu ran after him, much to Yanagi’s relief.
Another page turned; he estimated the book at least five hundred and six pages in length. “You can’t share my cage,” Zaizen said.
Yanagi wondered if it would be rude to help himself to their tea.
-
Two hours and three cups of tea later, Koharu and Yuuji still hadn’t returned. Yanagi had attempted to question Zaizen on everything Shitenhouji, without much success. The caged boy distrusted him and replied mostly in scathing retorts, only a few of them informative. He managed to gather that they had all been members of Shiraishi’s court and were subsequently banished for protesting his behavior under the gauntlet’s weight.
Though Yanagi was observant without his sight, at times like these he particularly missed his eyes. When all else failed, he could always count on the information he perceived. His own body was beginning to fail him and his mind would soon follow.
He estimated approximately two days, three hours, and forty-five minutes before he succumbed to Yukimura’s power. Because he couldn’t stare at his tea in contemplation, he traced his fingers up and down the sides of the warm glass, letting the heat feed his fading nerve endings.
“We return for you, Renji-kun!” Koharu stormed back into the house, smile in his voice.
“Don’t you call him Renji-kun!”
“That’s his name, isn’t it, Renji-kun?”
“Guys, I thought you said this was pretty urgent, yeah?” said a third voice, vaguely familiar. The last time he heard it, he received documents on the effects of the great freeze on Shitenhouji’s land.
Yanagi stood and bowed politely. “Oshitari Kenya. Thank you for coming.
“Nah,” said Kenya, good-naturedly. “Thank these guys for tracking me down. I was doing a favor for my cousin in Hyoutei, actually. Wanted to have me deliver a letter to Fudomine’s hostage down in Seigaku.”
“In that case, all of you have my gratitude. I don’t mean to press you, but this matter is quite urgent.”
Kenya shook his head; Yanagi felt a little wind off the rapid action. Then, Kenya seemed to realize that his conversation partner wore a blindfold and added, “Of course. I’m not called Speed Star for nothing. Oi, Yuuji. Can we get them a horse, they’ll need it to keep up with me.”
The two men fussed off around the back of the property. Secretly, Yanagi was relieved to give his legs a little rest before an event that would surely be exhausting.
Of course, he thought that before finding out just how exhausting it was to commute with Oshitari Kenya. If he weren’t already dying, that ride would have shortened his lifespan.
-
An hour’s journey brought them before the gates guarding the sanctuary. Yanagi knew them to be tall and heavy, for they took two men heaving and grunting to open them.
“I remember on the day of his coronation Shiraishi jumped and hit his head on this gate just to make his people laugh,” Kenya sighed.
Yanagi frowned; such a jump seemed inhumanly high. Even without the gauntlet, Shiraishi was a dragon-born to be respected. Or perhaps laughed at respectfully, as Kenya implied.
“An interesting first act as king,” Yanagi conceded.
“Well, it’s tradition that you never walk through these gates normally,” Kenya chuckled. “Or at least, it was.”
It was quite the dichotomy to hear about how things used to be, yet breathe the oppressive air of the castle. He felt dirt under his feet, and then hard, rich wood at the next stage. Shitenhouji’s stronghold was styled after a temple. That made sense - the influence of the Tarragon monks had been strong here. His mind’s library supplied all of the temple drawings that he needed to conjure a visual.
From the breeze toying with his hair, Yanagi inferred the presence of a center garden. He caught the vague scent of belladonna and wondered if the garden was a poisoned one. Yukimura might appreciate it here.
Would he ever see Yukimura again?
“Yo, Koshikawa. These two gotta see Shiraishi,” Kenya spoke (to a guard, Yanagi presumed). The two of them whispered just outside of Yanagi’s line of hearing; he managed to catch some mumbling about Shiraishi’s mood, some muted comment about a prophecy, and the passing along of a takoyaki bribe.
Eventually, Kenya returned from his conference to inform Yanagi and Sakuno. “They’re going to search us.”
“Very well,” Yanagi said. Smiling ever so slightly, he added a little louder, “If King Shiraishi has something to fear from a blind man and a servant girl, that is his prerogative.
Taken aback, the guard stuttered, “It’s just a matter of course!”
“I see,” Yanagi said in a long-suffering tone. “Go on ahead then.”
Flustered, Koishikawa searched them quickly and sent them through to the King’s receiving room. “King Shiraishi. Two travelers from Hyoutei seek audience with you. Their business is brief, if you will graciously agree to meet them.”
“I am really very busy, Koishikawa,” Shiraishi drawled. His voice carried, but did not echo, suggesting a large room with good sound absorption.
“We do promise to be brief, King Shiraishi,” Yanagi bowed. “I heard tell of your power and was sent by King Atobe himself to determine whether or not you are more impressive than him.”
“Oh,” Shiraishi purred darkly. Fabric shifted as Shiraishi moved, possibly into an upright position. “Even the most wealthy and hedonistic of Kings envies my greatness.”
“Hm, I came here to determine whether or not he has cause to do so,” Yanagi spoke, sounding vaguely bored.
“As you can see, I have everything a King could hope to possess. My subjects bow to my divine right and my words are doctrine,” Shiraishi’s volume increased. The chamber did have a slight echo after all. More importantly, he found it difficult to breathe in the thick, metallic air that filled it.
“Even a blind man can tell that you have power. I cannot say whether or not it is greater than King Atobe’s…” Yanagi caressed his own chin. “Perhaps if I were to behold your abilities in combat, I could say that you are superior.”
Shiraishi’s feet hit the floor. The vibration suggested that he weighed in around 321 kg - impossible for a even a dragon-born walking toward him at that speed. Yanagi only had enough time to push Sakuno toward Koishikawa before the King grasped his shirt and pulled him down, as if it were insolence to be so tall. Perhaps it was, in Shitenhouji. A sword pressed up against his neck.
“I could defeat you in under a minute,” Shirashi bragged. His breath tickled Yanagi’s face.
“Maybe,” Yanagi conceded, quite composed. “But King Atobe could defeat me in that amount of time without a weapon.”
“Hmmph, child’s play. My form is perfect in every discipline.” The sword fell with a clatter and Shiraishi charged him, “Karate.” Yanagi quickly discerned that the most likely attack was a chop and stepped aside accordingly. “Judo,” he thrust his hand out to block Shiraishi’s kick. “And aikido,” but there wasn’t much dodging Shiraishi’s throw. The king grasped Yanagi by the cloak and flipped him over his back.
Having anticipated this, Yanagi remained calm. He raised his finger and informed Shiraishi, “Ah, but King Atobe can do this just as well. What more, he does so completely naked.”
“Eh?!” Kenya sounded in surprise.
Shiraishi rose to his feet. “Clothes don't make any difference to me,” the King proclaimed. Sakuno shrieked; the pitch and volume suggested that Shiraishi had indeed gone full birthday suit. Interesting. “How about this? And this?”
“Very nice….poses, sire,” Koishikawa stammered, highly embarrassed for their out of control King.
“Indeed,” Yanagi sat up and golf clapped. “Well done. But you still have some way to go if you wish to prove yourself the most powerful King in all the land.”
“How? What must I do?” Shiraishi growled.
“I’m not sure that it’s possible for you,” Yanagi shook his head. “You see, King Atobe is the reason that I wear a blindfold. On beholding him completely unadorned, naked without so much as a single jewel, I was so moved that I decided it would be the last thing I’d ever see.”
Without much warning, Yanagi was pinned to the ground again. With 100% certainty, he deduced that Shiraishi’s foot was on the verge of crushing his neck. “You’ll behold me,” the King demanded, yanking off the blindfold. “Behold me and writhe with ecstasy!”
The gauntlet fell to the floor with a clatter. The moments following were silent.
“Renji-kun! You’re cheating on me with Shiraishi!” Koharu whined. Yanagi wondered how long he had been there. In his complete focus on Shiraishi, he had neglected his surroundings. His senses were dulling.
“Koharu! That’s my line!” Hitouji stomped.
Shiraishi removed his foot from Yanagi’s throat and coughed. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but could someone find my pants…”
-
When he heard the story of what had happened and how far he had gone, Shiraishi needed some time to recover. That was just as well for Yanagi, since he could hardly walk without Sakuno’s assistance. A hot bath and a cup of tea restored enough of his strength to respond to the inevitable summons with some amount of dignity.
“I am Koishikawa,” a familiar voice announced quite thoughtfully. Though Yanagi would have deduced it eventually, he was grateful for the gesture.
“Koishikawa,” Yanagi opened the door and bowed with some effort. “I appreciate the trouble you took in coming to show me the way.”
“Of course,” the man sounded a little shy. The pace of his step was odd, as if impaired by - “We have something for you. To thank you for returning Shiraishi to us…”
He stopped to present Yanagi with something. Unable to tell quite what it was, he held out his hand. Koishikawa fitted a slender object to Yanagi’s grip. The wood was smooth and long enough to reach the floor, clearly a staff; the gift couldn’t have been more timely or appropriate.
“Thank you,” Yanagi said, tapping the bottom of the staff to the floor. “Please relay my gratitude to your comrades as well.”
“That won’t be necessary. They’re surrounding him as we speak.” Koishikawa started walking again. Yanagi’s staff assisted him in keeping up.
Sure enough, he could hear the chaos from Shiraishi’s suite before reaching it. Koishikawa knocked, probably more to get their attention than anything else, and announced, “Yanagi of Hyoutei, King Shiraishi.”
“Just Shiraishi will do, Koishikawa,” Shiraishi’s tone was night and day from their confrontation in the throne room. The now good King rose from his chair to guide Yanagi to a well-cushioned seat. “Would you all leave us? I promise, I won’t let Yanagi-kun leave before enjoying some festivities with us.”
Yanagi considered contesting that, but he supposed that both he and Sakuno could do with a hearty meal. Perhaps with that and a nap, they could ride through the night to Hyoutei.
“First of all,” Shiraishi said quietly, “I apologize for raising my hand against you. Despite my inexcusable behavior, I stand in your debt for the return of my sanity and, more importantly, the fate you rescued my Kingdom from.”
Shiraishi’s voice bounced off the wooden floors; he was bowing.
“Name your prize, Yanagi of Rikkai, and it’s yours.”
Naturally, he could not have expected to fool a King. “Before I do so, may I ask how you knew?”
Shiraishi took the seat next to Yanagi, for which he was grateful. Conversation could be had much more easily that way. “You might have fooled me,” he chuckled, “But little gets by my advisors. They might call my word the bible, but really, the worth of a King is determined only by the quality of people who believe in him.”
“Well said,” Yanagi smiled. “As for what I ask of you and your Kingdom, I would claim three boons.”
“Name them. If they are within my power to grant, I will do so without hesitation.”
“For the first, I would have this deed go down in the history books as a rescue from the Kingdom of Hyoutei.”
Shiraishi asked no questions and etched something onto a page, presumably making record of payment.
“For the second, I would claim the golden gauntlet of Sumire for the Hyoutei treasury.”
On this matter, he took Shiraishi’s silence for hesitation. “My concern is that Hyoutei will fall victim to the same temptation.”
“An understandable concern,” Yanagi agreed. “But whatever faults Atobe may have, he possesses the power of insight. I do not think he will be so quick to use a power he can’t call his own.”
Not that Shiraishi had been eager to do so. The rebellion left him with little choice in the matter. “The gauntlet is a tricky and terrible weapon,” Shiraishi warned. “Once it’s on, only the wearer can remove it.”
Yanagi nodded. “You may hold me personally responsible.”
“I guess I needn’t have called for Kin’s return then,” Shiraishi chuckled. “I was going to have him bring down a whole cave on the thing, make it impossible to find.”
“Thank you,” he said, grateful that things had been so thought through. Clearly, the king wanted little more to do with the gauntlet, regardless of what it could offer. Yanagi thought that wise. “The third thing that I ask is something that only you can do.”
The sound of brush on paper ceased. Yanagi assumed that he had Shiraishi’s full attention. “There is someone who I have failed,” he admitted. “And if he is not stopped, many lives will be lost in the short-term. Long-term, it may plunge all of our kingdoms into wars once again.”
Treaties and alliances were all well and good, but they also came with the territory of mutually assured destruction.
“The Kingdom of Shitenhouji is now in debt to both Hyoutei and Rikkai. I will do as you ask.”
“Then you must intercept Kirihara Akaya on his tear through Hyoutei. If anyone can convince him that terrorizing the citizens of the countryside will only hurt his cause, you can.”
“Ah…what shall I tell him?”
“I care not. Soothe his rampage and keep him safe, if at all possible. I leave the rest to your capable judgment, King Shiraishi.”
“Then we march at dawn,” Shiraishi clapped Yanagi on the back. Louder, he said, “You all heard that, right?”
Ah, so Shiraishi knew that the others were listening in. Koharu and Yuuji audibly whispering compliments at each other had been somewhat obvious, but their respective yelps when Zaizen had whacked them for the public display of affection even more so.
“You came to the right Kingdom to stop a war. Here, if it’s a grin, it’s a win!” Koharu and Yuuji chanted the last bit together and then, inexplicably, started screaming.
The explanation followed a second later. The door to the King’s suite came right off the hinges and collided forcefully with the ground. Yanagi worried for the historic wooden floors.
“AHHH!” Tooyama cried out, jumping up and down on the door. “Shiraishi! Be careful, he has poison eyes!!”
Shiraishi chuckled. “It seems like Kenya was a little faster than we needed him to be.”
-
Eyes pale as ice and deep as the waters beneath watched from the skylight of Shiraishi’s suite, though the gaze hailed from much farther up the frozen arm of the river Fortuna. That same river, which hugged Shitenhouji on the north side, passed just under the great Palladian window to King Atobe’s chambers.
Atobe himself stood and laughed, almost maniacally, into the majestic scenery.
“Glad to see that you’re enjoying yourself,” Oshitari said, leaning against the wall to observe. “Peeking into a brothel this time?”
“I’m not you, Yuushi.”
“A fact that has every pimp breathing a sigh of relief. Not even watching is free these days.”
“Maybe if you didn't insist on having your chambers in the dungeons, more people would be willing to visit them for free.”
“But then when I rub my hands together I’d simply be chilly instead of wicked. Every counselor nobody has to have their thing.”
“Apparently Yanagi’s is stripping Kings.”
“Well, now I feel like I have the short end of the stick.”
“That’s what happens when you spend too much time playing with it.”
Oshitari chuckled. “Touché. What is the status on our King Stripper?”
“Coming to us via Shitenhouji,” the King answered, prying himself away from the window.
“Ah, shall we warn Jirou to expect some kind of assault on the gate?” Oshitari proposed.
“Unnecessary,” Atobe started down the corridor, fully expecting that Oshitari would follow. “I’m curious to see how he handles this.”
Half a step behind Atobe, Oshitari smirked, “If I didn’t know better, I would say that you’re coming to like this counselor nobody.”
Atobe hmphed and waited for them to pass a section of soldiers, “He’s amusing. And bringing me a present besides.”
“Something of value, I’m sure,” Oshitari purred.
“Indeed. And the man is dying. I expect that he shall get here and crumple at my feet. Nothing has changed, Yuushi. A counselor nobody is still a counselor nobody.”
“Understood, my King.”
Shoulders tall, Atobe faced the entrance of his throne room. “Come if you can, Yanagi Renji, and fold before the might of Hyoutei.”
The massive room erupted into chanting. Atobe walked slowly, giving his people the chance to admire him as he ascended the dais. At the snap of his fingers, the sound echoed and died.
“My people!” Atobe projected. His charismatic voice required no amplifier in the attentive room. “United Rikkai senselessly marches upon us! Unprovoked, they launch fire at our western walls and rain terror on the border lands.”
He paused to let those words sink in. Though Atobe noted frightened faces among the crowd, all of them looked faithfully to him.
“They may have razed our hard-worked fields,” Atobe continued his speech. “But worry not for the fate of you and your kin! For if you follow my lead and do as I ask, I promise you, the great kingdom of Hyoutei will not lose a single human life!”
While Atobe basked in the deafening roar of his subjects, Oshitari pulled a velvet rope to unleash the massive chart, revealing their plan of action.
Part 3: Into the Fire
Sakuno wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been plodding along the road. Somewhere between their departure from Shitenhouji and the slow greeting of the sun, she had managed to fall asleep on the mare she shared with Yanagi. They had ridden through a few hours of the night and their new surroundings couldn’t possibly be more different than the wooded Shitenhouji.
“You should have woken me, Renji!” Sakuno said. Was it really safe for a blind man to be steering?
“You needed the sleep,” Yanagi said simply. “Fortunately, our friend seems to know the way. If the roads are any indication, we’re approaching the gate.”
Frowning, Sakuno said, “Do you smell burning?”
“Yes,” Yanagi said. She turned a little to see concern replace his usually collected expression. “Coming ahead, from the northeast.” In other words, coming from Hyoutei.
“Do you think…Kirihara-kun…”
Yanagi shook his head. “No. He is some distance from here; the smell wouldn’t be this strong. We’ll inquire at the border.”
“Mm,” Sakuno said with determination. She narrowed her eyes on the horizon and spotted the fork in the road directing them to different kingdoms. As they approached it, she confirmed that they were indeed going in the right direction. Somehow, Yanagi and the mare had done it. “We have to go slightly right here,” she took the reigns from the counselor and directed the horse. “The sign says we should reach border patrol in just under two kilometers.”
“Thank you, Sakuno-chan,” Yanagi said, with feeling.
Sakuno wondered if he meant it, really, or if he would have been happier to travel alone. He seemed so reluctant to bring her along at first, and her clumsiness held them back a few times. She had even almost ruined their escape completely! And she hadn’t been able to watch Yanagi confront the King of Shitenhouji. During the battle, she had wished that she were the blind one.
The only thing she contributed were passports, which were really thanks to Tezuka, and the opportunity to stop at Tomoka’s house. She sighed; if she ever managed to rescue An-chan, certainly it would be by accident. But she couldn't think like that. Not with the life of a dear friend at stake. As the eyes of the mission, she had to keep looking forward.
And when she did, she spotted the gates of Hyoutei. At last, they had made it to the Kingdom. Naturally, no one crowded the entrance at this hour of the morning.
“We come from Seigaku,” Sakuno informed the front guard, who ushered them into the tall archway. The wall of Hyoutei was not merely a wall, as it appeared on the outside, but a structure thick enough to hold soldiers and administration. Was the interior this broad around the entirety of Hyoutei? How much had it cost and how many years had it taken to build? Yanagi would probably know.
The guard checked their paperwork and found no fault with the legitimacy. “There’s nothing wrong with your papers, but you’re going to have to wait until the wildfire goes down.”
“There was a wildfire? How terrible…” Sakuno sympathized.
“How rare, so far north in this season,” Yanagi commented quietly. Sakuno resisted the urge to elbow him.
“Indeed…” the guard said with a nervous smile. Sakuno couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something off about his tone. “But we can set the two of you up in our mess hall while the roads are cleared.”
Yanagi nodded, “We would be grateful.”
The guards courteously helped Sakuno and the blind Yanagi from the mare’s back. She watched Yanagi, leaning on his staff more with every step he took after the soldier. Riding so long hadn’t done him any good either. He should have been the one to sleep.
“This is our mess hall. The cooks will fix you up some breakfast with us. Special service for coming to the border so early,” the good-natured soldier laughed and patted Sakuno on the shoulder. Tezuka probably would have had the man’s hand for the gesture, but Sakuno didn’t really mind. “Oh, good morning, my Lord.”
“Mmmnn….”groaned a droopy-eyed redhead in backwards armor.
“This is Akutagawa Jirou, captain of this regiment.”
“Nice to meet you, Captain Akutagawa,” Sakuno bowed. Yanagi said nothing, but echoed her gesture.
“NMmhmm…” Akutagawa waved his hand vaguely as he walked by them. Then promptly backed up again to stare at him. The longer he stared, the wider his eyes bulged. Sakuno feared that they might pop out of head and onto his boots. “You know Marui Bunta!” he pointed to Yanagi.
Yanagi remained calm and pointed his blindfold, indicating to Akutagawa that he couldn’t see, “I’m sorry, are you referring to me?”
Akutagawa nodded vigorously, not that Yanagi could see it. “I know your face, you sat behind him at the tournament last year! He ate all of your sugar cane!” The excitable man’s light brown curls bounced with him. “I remember now, Yanagi Renji!”
They attracted every pair of eyes in the vicinity and awakened a few more.
Cocking his head slightly to the side, Yanagi said, “I’m sorry, but - ”
Akutagawa interrupted, going on his toes to pat Yanagi on the arm. “It’s okay. You’re pretty cool, one of the three monster generals of Rikkai and all, but not everyone can be a genius.”
The men around them drew their swords and circled them. Sakuno latched nervously onto Yanagi’s arm. The friendly guard didn’t look so friendly now. He said, “Well done, Lord Akutagawa. We will take the Rikkai spies into custody for further questioning.”
“We’re not spies!” Sakuno insisted, shaking like a leaf as the guards pushed them into the narrow opening in the wall. There was nothing to be done for it now. They had been caught.
-
Yanagi hated to spend even a single moment of his limited time trapped in a cell, but here he and Sakuno were, under the gates of Hyoutei and waiting for Akutagawa’s judgment. Despite Akutagawa’s fondness for Marui, none of the probabilities he calculated were in their favor.
Their chances hadn’t disappeared entirely. Yanagi still had reason to hope.
Keys jangled with the sound of footfalls; a guard was coming down for them. “Yanagi-san, Sakuno-san. You will join Akutagawa for lunch.”
“For…lunch?” Sakuno said, incredulously.
“Very well,” Yanagi interrupted before he could answer. His knowledge of Akutagawa prepared him to expect some level of civility. But, his lethargy and mood swings aside, Akutagawa was a powerful leader in Hyoutei; courtesy was not leniency.
The guard, echoing the politeness of his lord, marched them up the stairs. They allowed Yanagi to lean on Sakuno and made no attempt to bind them. Perhaps they - quite rightly - felt there was nothing to fear physically from a crippled blind man and a young maiden. Their guide ushered them into the room and Sakuno helped Yanagi along into a chair. The food smelled delectable and if not for the armed soldiers behind each of them, the atmosphere might have passed for a cordial lunch.
“Lord Akutagawa,” Yanagi greeted. “Thank you for treating us well.”
“Any friend of Marui’s is a friend of mine!” Akutagawa said cheerfully. “Are you injured? We have a great healer on staff who would be happy to look at you.”
“I appreciate the kind offer, but there isn’t anything that can be done for me,” he said. “I understand that you have to hold us for a certain amount of time, however-”
Akutagawa interrupted him before he could bring up the matter of their release. “How is Marui doing?”
“Very well,” Yanagi said. Beside him, he heard Sakuno nudge the silverware. So that she could start eating, he murmured the traditional blessing.
Akutagawa, having forgotten entirely about lunch, quickly mimicked the gesture. “Will he appear in the inter-kingdom friendly?” he asked, food again forgotten.
“I believe that he intends to. Kuwahara and Marui have been working hard on some new skills.”
“New skills!” the chair lurched as Akutagawa leaned in toward Yanagi. “But there can’t be ANYTHING in the world cooler than his tightrope special!”
“MMmm,” Yanagi hummed vaguely as he chewed. By the sound of it, Sakuno must have been hungry. “I can’t be sure how you would rank his new skill.”
“What is it?” Akutagawa asked eagerly. “Is it a rush? Another balance series? A secret cupcake in his armor?”
Clearly, Marui and Akutagawa were the same kind of warrior.
“I’m afraid that his new move is - ” before Yanagi could explain that the (non-existent) move was top secret, a new guard interrupted them.
“Lord Akutagawa, we’ve caught another person from Rikkai skulking around the border,” the soldier announced, standing at attention.
“Thank you, Takeda,” Akutagawa beamed. “Why don’t you bring him in? Maybe counselor Yanagi knows them.”
With the knowledge that Akutagawa was more intelligent than he acted, Yanagi had to wonder what he had up his sleeve. For a brief moment, he fretted internally about the highly unlikely possibility of Kirihara’s capture. No. There were many explanations more probable than that.
Impossibly, Yanagi heard a chew and pop. At first he thought he hallucinated it. Though he sensed that he had been followed, his luck couldn’t be good enough to deal the most ideal situation. But then Akutagawa nigh deafened him with a delighted yelp. “Marui! It’s Marui!” the excitable member of Hyoutei knocked down his chair to go shake Marui’s hand. “Yanagi-san, did you bring Marui to me?!”
“Er, he fell from a tree, my Lord.”
“Impossible, he has perfect balance!” Akutagawa defended him.
“Yes,” Yanagi answered quickly. “I brought Marui to Hyoutei so he could show you his new move in person.”
“Eh?! My new…” Marui did some quick thinking to catch up. “Yes, obviously, that. My new move.”
Yanagi would give his new staff to see the look on Marui’s face.
“You’re going to show me? Really?” Akutagawa sounded so eager that Yanagi almost regretted taking advantage of him. However, that was part of the border guard’s strength. He needed to be careful to not get caught up in that personality.
“Of course,” Marui nodded. Yanagi got the feeling that he was puffing out his chest a little. “But you know that I always eat an entire cake before combat. I couldn’t possibly show you like this.”
“Oh yes,” Akutagawa agreed. “I would never expect you to. We’ll have a cake prepared immediately.”
“Butter cream frosting?” Marui suggested.
“And fresh berries baked inside.”
Marui swallowed audibly and said, “That’ll do. Will you see it done personally? I don’t think that your friends like me very much.”
“Oh, they’re just concerned because we’re at war,” Akutagawa said. The cheer behind those words couldn’t possibly be real. Yanagi expected him to refuse Marui’s request and continue to avoid real topics, but the young Lord left them.
“Fell out of a tree?” Yanagi spoke lowly.
Marui grumbled something inaudible.
Yanagi smiled. Though he had intellectually known that he wasn’t alone, the company of his comrade was a comfort that he couldn’t describe. While Sakuno had proved useful in many ways throughout the journey, Marui was different. Marui was Rikkai. Marui was a weapon of his arsenal.
They were going to be okay.
“The cook says he can have the cake ready in a few hours. The roads finally cleared enough to let one of the supply wagons through,” Akutagawa said, returning to the room. “Since we have to wait, I brought my secret stash of cookies.”
“They look good,” Marui said, reaching for one. Sakuno too, after a moment’s hesitation, gave into the good-natured offer. Yanagi politely declined and sipped at the provided tea. Fortunately, Marui had the good sense to wait for Akutagawa to bite into his own first. No poison, just sugar.
With that threat gone, Yanagi allowed himself to focus on the most important piece of information Akutagawa provided. The roads were workable again. There was a wagon supplying the kitchens. Perhaps if they could get to that wagon…
“Bunta, why don’t you tell Lord Akutagawa about the time that you almost single-handedly saved a coastal town from Higa raiders?” he suggested, sipping at his tea.
“Oh, that?” Marui said with false modesty. “That was just me taking Kite Eishirou to task for going back on his promise.”
Awed, Akutagawa gasped, “Wow, you’re so cool, Marui!”
“Jackal helped too,” Marui conceded. “Held Kite down while I did this and that.” The chair across from him slid out and Marui danced around, illustrating the battle. If the little crunches and returns to the table were anything to go by, Marui spent half his performance scarfing down cookies. “And then, just when we thought we finished him off, the rest of Kite’s pirates stormed into the bakery. To spar with his biggest man, I leapt up onto the countertop!”
To demonstrate this, Marui hopped up onto his chair and stepped on the edge of the table. Almost immediately, the table tipped, crashing food and drink everywhere. The guards rushed over to the other side of the table to dig their lord out from under plates of turkey and cookies.
Catching the cue, Yanagi grabbed Sakuno by the hand and made for the unguarded entrance. “To the kitchens,” he spoke urgently to her. Blind, he could only guess their location.
“On your left!” Marui said, catching up to them. “They dragged me by it on the way in.”
Sakuno led the way to the kitchens, pulling Yanagi behind her. Marui brought up the rear, knocking over displays of armor, shelves, and then pots and pants wherever they went to slow the hot pursuit.
“Ah!” Sakuno yelped and stopped short. Yanagi could only assume that guards poured into the kitchen through some other entrance. “Let me go!”
Yanagi could only keep her hand and pull while his brain worked triple time to figure out what was going on in the chaotic room. Marui pushed past him to free Sakuno, only to fall victim to her flailing and tumble back into a large, thumping object. The soldiers screamed and Marui laughed victoriously.
“Marui special tag-team gluten attack!”
But there was no time to gloat. They climbed over the wreckage and out to where their wagon awaited. “Sakuno-chan, can you drive a horse drawn wagon?”
Sakuno squeaked with alarm. “No!”
“Well you’re going to have to learn,” Marui said as he barricaded the door. The clamoring voices of the border’s guard drew nearer.
“MARUI!” Akutagawa shouted from the kitchens, shattering plates following his voice. “What about our cake?!”
Marui paused and said with great drama. “Go, Yanagi. I’ll stay here and hold them off.”
“There’s room for one more…” Sakuno insisted.
“Just go!” Marui said, kicking down the ladder.
“Thank you for your sacrifice, my friend,” Yanagi said with a knowing little curve of the lip.
The wagon lurched as Sakuno got the large pull horse moving. “Oh goodness no, no, not that way! Yes, yes, this way….ohhhh we need to go faster!” she monologue as they blew past the gate, knocking away guards.
But some continued to give chase and Yanagi was in no position to fight them off. Yanagi groped around the full cart, hoping to at least push its contents out onto those in hot pursuit, when his nose caught a whiff of the barrel.
Cooking oil.
“Ride faster, Sakuno!” he said urgently.
As crops burned on either side of the road, Yanagi gave a great heave and rolled all six barrels of cooking oil out onto the road. At least one of them had the chance of bouncing off and….
An explosion. Sakuno and the horse screamed together, but the heat of the fire only whispered at their backs. A wall of fire grew between them and the border of Hyoutei and the great castle of ice lay ahead.
There was no turning back.
-
Sakuno hadn’t been sure what to expect from this adventure, but the thought of driving a supply wagon through the blazing fields of Hyoutei had never crossed her mind. Despite many lessons with Tezuka, she had never been good at horseback riding. She thought about how she might retell the story to her keeper, about how she had handled the large pull-horse. Maybe Tezuka would be proud of her.
Not that she was done handling the large pull horse. The fire on either side of the road made the animal understandably uneasy.
“Why would they set their own fields on fire?” Sakuno wondered aloud.
“At first, I thought they might be attempting the slash-and-burn agriculture technique…but it’s not the appropriate timing for that,” Yanagi said. “These fields would have had crops - or as many crops as ground with permafrost can produce….”
Yanagi went on to describe the kinds of vegetation that grew at different depths of permafrost and why they might grow slightly crooked. For the most part, Sakuno just nodded.
“…also known as drunken forest phenomenon. But there is one other reason they might burn their fields. One that fits with the season.”
That piqued her ears. “What reason would that be?” she asked.
“Magic,” Yanagi explained.
To Sakuno, that wasn’t much of an explanation at all. She would have demanded a more detailed one, but the sight of Hyoutei’s castle on the horizon stole her words. The absolutely massive structure was comprised not of one building, but of at least two-dozen white stone spires of varying heights. If she turned her head and squinted, it resembled an oddly contorted hand.
She had no time to admire the architecture, for when she squinted, she also noticed men riding toward them. Their horses were riding right over the river! If they didn’t do something fast, they would be captured.
“Renji,” she warned. “We have company.” With the rolling fire on both sides and the border behind them, there really was nowhere to run.
“Good,” Yanagi smiled, inexplicably. “We’ve arrived.”
Apparently, Yanagi had no intention of resisting. The troop of men, led by a redhead who couldn’t be much taller than Sakuno, surrounded them.
“We’ve got you now, Rikkai bitches,” the redhead grinned viciously. “Come nicely or else.”
“We won’t give you the mental strain of completing that sentence, Mukahi-san,” Yanagi said flatly. “We have every intention of cooperating.”
One of Captain Mukahi’s men took over the horse for Sakuno. She slid back into the wagon and latched onto Yanagi’s arm. For better or worse, she would see An-chan very soon.
-
Yanagi had intended to begin his diplomatic mission with Hyoutei in a calm, dignified manner, though he was only a day (and approximately seven hours and thirty-seven minutes) from death’s door. His body thought otherwise. He more collapsed off of than disembarked the wagon. If not for the soldiers standing there, he would have faceplanted in front of Atobe’s counselor, Oshitari.
“Well done, Gakuto,” Oshitari said, tone warm with familiarity.
“I don’t see why I couldn’t just end them,” Gakuto drawled. “After the shit they’re pulling out west - Ohtori is in some real trouble without the usual backup.”
“He’ll manage without Shishido, their hearts are as one.”
“You’re disgusting,” Gakuto said fondly.
“So you’ve said. Anyway, if you’d be so good as to let Keigo know that his number one fan has arrived.”
“I’m not an errand boy,” he grumbled. “But just this once…”
Light footsteps retreated.
“Take the girl into custody,” Oshitari said to one of his guards.
“Yes, counselor,” Sakuno was seized from under Yanagi’s arm. If not for the guard replacing her, he would have fallen. “To the dungeons? Your suite, then?”
“Heavens, no! One of the tower rooms. And not one with a view, mind you. She’s Tezuka’s.”
Sakuno struggled in protest. “Renji!” she cried as they dragged her away. Yanagi would have protested, insisting that she stay with him, but he had a feeling that Sakuno would receive better treatment away from his association. After all, the King of Hyoutei had great respect for Tezuka.
The guards on either side of Yanagi continued in the direction Gakuto had departed, up a stone spiral set of stairs. It was all he could do to twitch his feet along with the guards and try to prevent bruising impact with the limestone steps. By the time they reached their destination, he had completely given up on that endeavor. Perhaps the secret to achieving the famed Hyoutei ass was their obscene amount of stairs.
The wind from the open room was cold enough to make some bite on Yanagi’s barely present limbs.
“Leave us,” Atobe said. The guards let go of Yanagi, letting him crumple to the floor. If he were not mistaken, it was also limestone. He wondered how insane the King of Hyoutei had to be to have a room of columns and no walls this high up a narrow tower, or how talented the architect. Yanagi did not really expect to survive long enough to put his questions to the designer.
The sound of Atobe’s heeled boots approached and stopped just in front of him. A different object, long, thin and wooden, clattered to the floor.
“I believe you left this behind,” Atobe drawled. Yanagi reached forward and found his staff. Relying on it, he made the torturous climb to his feet. Even with the staff to lean on he found the task difficult, but the King of Hyoutei waited in silence for him to do so.
“Thank you,” he said, knuckles white with effort.
“I believe those should be my words,” Atobe sat, but did not invite Yanagi to do so. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t strip for you.”
Yanagi sat down beside the King. He had never been intimidated by dragon-born or royalty. And now, at the end of his life, what did he have to fear personally anyway? “Of course,” he said congenially. “I’m in no condition to appreciate the sight, regardless.”
“Unfortunately for you, I cannot be defeated by flattery alone,” Atobe stated, pleased. “But you have succeeded in amusing me.”
“Fortunately for me, I don’t intend to defeat you.”
“Ahn?” Atobe inquired, feigning disinterest.
“I intend to court you.”
“Court me?” for his tone of voice, Atobe’s eyebrows were 90% likely to be somewhere near his hairline.
“Indeed.”
“But you’re hardly able to walk.”
“Is that a prerequisite?”
Atobe furrowed his brows and considered. Yanagi waited, bemused.
“Oh shut up, I’m thinking.”
“While you’re thinking, you should know that your counselor put Tezuka’s ward in a jail cell.”
“….Not the dungeons?” Atobe said with some concern.
“No, Oshitari-san spoke of a tower.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Atobe said, “Good. I worried for a moment that he turned his sights on little girls. Very well. I’ll see her released.”
Atobe was reasonable on this subject, at least. Sakuno had done him no wrong.
“I’m glad to know that you haven’t held it against Tezuka,” Yanagi said.
Coldly, Atobe said, “Held what.”
“That he rejected your first courting gift.”
Rejecting the subject, Atobe said, “Where are yours? I may well use them to murder you for insolence.”
“I suppose that might count as a rejection. But do you really wish to give the gift up, knowing what it is?”
With a little huff, Atobe said, “Well, I do believe that it’s customary to begin with three courting gifts.”
Surely, Atobe was considering accepting some and rejecting others. That was good news for Yanagi - the King seemed to have dismissed the idea of killing him and taking his possessions regardless.
“Good thing that I brought four, just in case one didn’t meet your approval,” Yanagi supplied.
“Very well,” Atobe said, quite mollified. “Present them.”
Yanagi smiled slyly and bowed, “I do believe that they are in the custody of your counselor, Oshitari. I hope you will allow me to follow tradition and present the gifts after a meal and interview.”
“You do realize that you are inferior to me in every way,” Atobe informed him straightly.
“Perhaps,” Yanagi said. “But considering that I have been summoned into your private audience without noble qualifications, I deserve an interview prior to appraisal.”
Atobe considered this with a noisy hum; he was a rather loud thinker. Yanagi didn’t mind, so long as the person in his company bothered with mental mastication.
“I suppose you have been amusing enough to merit a meal and a bath,” Atobe snapped his fingers to summon guards. “But if I am not pleased, I will take pleasure in letting you die beneath my castle.”
The guards hauled Yanagi off of Atobe’s couch and made to pick him up. “No need,” he informed them. “I can walk just fine.”
Stairs or no stairs, he was Rikkai and he had some pride.
-
The guards, true to their word, locked Sakuno into a plain, sterile jail cell. Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same for the row directly across from her. The prisoners quivered in their cages, backs against the bars to be as far away from the sheer drop off the tower as possible. Sakuno had no idea how high up they were; it must’ve been both terrifying and freezing. Even she, across the room, huddled into the thin blanket provided by the guard.
She wondered if anyone had ever chosen to jump. Perhaps that was the point.
For a few hours she shivered and thought about her life, whether Yanagi was still alive, if she’d ever get to save An. If she’d be able to ever look Tomoka in the eye if she failed.
A low commotion interrupted her downward spiral. She couldn’t believe her eyes when An ascended the steps, cleaner and more sumptuously clothed than Sakuno had ever seen her.
“You’re…you’re…” clears clouded Sakuno’s vision, but for some reason, she could only say, “You’re wearing a gown.”
“Ridiculous, right,” An said, voice thick. “Not even for a proper ball or anything. Though Atobe did offer to throw me one…”
It was so ridiculous that the two girls had to laugh. They laughed and embraced through the bars, pulling on clothes and squeezing patches of flesh just to make sure it was real.
Finally, An sniffed and pulled back, but it was to yell at a guard, “Release her into my custody.”
The guard looked like he wanted to help, but ultimately said, “Sorry, Princess. We’re to keep her locked up until the King decides what to do with her.”
Crossing her arms, An insisted, “Well, there’s no reason to keep her locked up here. Put her in my gilded cage. Misery loves company.”
The troubled man shook his head, “I wish I could, honestly.” Prison was for criminals, not young maidens. “But it would be my job.”
Stubbornly, An pursed her lips. “Then lock me in with her.”
This seemed to trouble the guard too, but less than her previous demands. “Very well. Let me see if I can collect some furs from the lads for the both of you.”
“That would be very kind,” An inclined her head.
The keeper of the keys returned quickly bearing two of the thick furs that Hyoutei warriors typically wear. Apparently, two soldiers had been pretty eager to give up their coats for the Princess An. The guard locked her in with Sakuno and left the girls to some measure of privacy; he watched from the other end of the long row of cages, just out of earshot.
“Being a captive sucks,” An explained, sitting close to Sakuno against the warmest wall. She draped one massive coat over their legs like a blanket and they shared the other as well, squirming close together to each have an arm in a sleeve. “But the people here aren’t so bad all the time.”
“So they’re not keeping you in a place like this?” Sakuno pillowed her head on An’s shoulder.
“No, not at all,” An rested her head atop Sakuno’s. “I have a lovely set of rooms and an even more absurd wardrobe. For the most part I can come and go freely, but outside my rooms, I’m constantly watched.”
That sounded frustrating. She felt sorry for her friend, who valued freedom over almost everything else.
“But it’s worth it, I think,” An continued. “To work something out. The last thing Fudomine needs is to go to war with Hyoutei a second time.”
Internally, Sakuno wavered. She wondered whether or not to tell An that her captivity might be for naught, that Seigaku had whispered, Rikkai had acted and that there was something powerful and mysterious going on in Hyoutei. First the fire and now a horrible stench of death lingered in the air, not as oppressive and heavy as that of Shitenhouji, but equally ominous. There was something bad happening; she just didn’t know what.
“An-chan…” Sakuno said softly.
“Mmm?”
“What do you know about magic?” she asked softly.
An considered her seemingly random question. “Kippei and Syuusuke argued about it during the war. Syuusuke has the knowledge to wield spells, but magic is life and can only be accumulated by taking life.”
“That sounds horrible!”
“There were people willing to sacrifice years of their lives, or their entire lives…but Kippei wouldn’t have it. Not even crops…though oddly, Syuusuke was less reluctant to take years than fields.”
“Fields…” it dawned on Sakuno. An frowned, determining that there was more to Sakuno’s question than met the eye. Finally, Sakuno continued. “The fields of Hyoutei. They’re on fire.”
Before they could continue their conversation, a guard came for them. “Word from the King, my ladies. You’re to be moved into your own suite, beside Princess An,” he informed Sakuno as he unfastened the lock.
“That’s…good news,” An managed to smile. “Don’t mind her, she’s just a little overwhelmed by all of this.”
Sakuno nodded dumbly, allowing An to usher her along after the guard.
Go to Part III
Author: quelleperedhil
Recipient: arysthaeniru
Pairing/Characters: Yanagi Renji/Atobe Keigo, Yukimura Seiichi/Ryoma Echizen, Ryuuzaki Sakuno, Tachibana An, Oshitari Yuushi, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Niou Masaharu, and many more.
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, but for the most part, not particularly graphic.
Disclaimer: The Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi-sensei.
Summary: Some bickering, with magic, and a side of dragons.
With the passports gifted by Tezuka, crossing the border of Shitenhouji was no trouble whatsoever. But Yanagi couldn’t have anticipated the heaviness in the air, like there was some kind of sour gravity acting on it.
“Shitenhouji is… depressing,” Sakuno said quietly as they left the border town.
“It wasn’t always,” Yanagi explained with a frown. “Shiraishi was reputed to be a kind, good-humored ruler. Good intelligence suggests that as a dragon-born, he was blessed with charisma.”
Sakuno paused, partially out of disbelief and then some other emotion that Yanagi couldn’t pinpoint. When she provided no further information, he continued, “However, something happened here that has not become common knowledge. How much do you know about the history of this country?”
“Um…not much. My grandmother really liked comedies from Shitenhouji…” she offered, to no real assistance. However, Yanagi was glad to draw her back into the conversation.
“It was not just Rikkai who suffered the warring period. Two elder members of the court, Taira and Hara rebelled against Shiraishi in the first year of his reign,” Yanagi informed Sakuno.
“….But he won if he’s still King now?”
“Indeed. King Shiraishi extinguished the rebellion in a month. That was two years ago.”
“One month?!”
“To end the fight with as little bloodshed as possible, a member of the Tarragon order gifted Shiraishi with a draconic relic, the golden gauntlet. It is said that the gauntlet will increase a dragon-born’s inherent power, gift them with amplified strength and supply a nearly impenetrable personal defense. I have it on reliable sources that the rebellion could not have been put down so quickly any other way.”
“Oh, I see,” Sakuno said and waited for Yanagi to continue the history.
“However, such a weapon is heavy, physically and spiritually. All dragon-born, no matter how good they are, suffer the greed of their ancestor. The gauntlet has surely amplified this trait in Shiraishi as well, corrupting his true personality.”
Sakuno gasped, no doubt with sympathy for the King’s burden. “Then why has no one removed it?”
“Because it is not easily removed,” Yanagi said.
“…So what are we going to do?”
Yanagi smiled. “Remove it. King Atobe seems like the sort of man to appreciate something both shiny and dangerous.”
-
Though Sakuno felt like traveling through Rikkai was intense, it was nothing compared to Shitenhouji. Every person they passed on the road seemed more unfriendly and aggressive than the last. She stood close enough to Yanagi to be holding his hand.
What if they were robbed? Despite Tezuka’s best efforts, Sakuno’s combat skills were barely passable. And Yanagi was blind. As clever as he was, Sakuno didn’t expect him to actually use the long, curved knife tucked into his bag. She would just have to count on her luck. Given her ancestry, that wasn’t exactly insignificant.
As if responding to her thoughts, a group of bulky men stopped them in the road.
“A blind man and a little girl?” the man laughed. “Hand over everything you got, or I’ll take out your pretty eyes to match your friend.”
Yanagi stood in front of Sakuno. “We have very little money, but you are welcome to it.”
“Very little isn’t going to cut it,” the gang circled them. “We might fetch a penny for the girl.”
Sakuno watched Yanagi plunge his hand into his bag, seemingly shuffling around for a wallet. Anxiety tugged at her. Was he going to try to fight? Did he have hidden money?
In that moment of procrastination, everything went to hell. An orange and yellow blur cannonballed down from the treetops and bowled over two bandits. When that blur stilled, she saw that it was a person -- a small person with a bright red tangle of hair, flashy yellow clothes, and no weapon in sight.
It quickly became apparent that their new friend had no need of one. He kicked a man in the face and somersaulted into another. Sakuno wouldn’t have thought it possible to flip more than once in the air. If Yanagi hadn’t pulled Sakuno out of the way just in time, she too would have fallen victim to his mad acrobatics.
How could Yanagi have known to do so when she, able to see, could barely follow the movements?
The highway bandits skedaddled and Sakuno imagined big puffs of smoke in their wake. Though it hadn’t been at all her doing, she felt vindicated.
“Um…thank you…” she squeaked more than said.
“Hey! It’s okay! Didja know that you’re really pretty?! I came because somethin’ smelled nice and it was totally you!”
Face boiling, Sakuno backpedaled to put some distance between her and the eager stranger. Could he tell her heritage from her scent? Fortunately, Yanagi got between them and bowed.
“We are grateful for your assistance,” he said. Whenever the stranger tried to get around him, Yanagi managed to put himself in the way. “May I ask your name?”
Puffing up his chest, the boy said, “I’m Tooyama Kintarou! It’s so cool that you’re wearing a blind-fold! Were you playing pin the tail on the dragon? Can I play too?!” Tooyama looked around eagerly.
“Unfortunately not,” Yanagi said. “We have business with King Shiraishi.”
The energy immediately drained from Tooyama’s face. With an expression round and flat like a toad’s, he sidled up to Yanagi and whispered loudly. “You don’t want to play pin the tail on the dragon with Shiraishi. He has a poison arm.”
“I see,” Yanagi said. Sakuno rather envied his composure. “All the same, we’d really like to speak with him.”
Tooyama looked troubled. “Shiraishi doesn’t like it when new friends come over anymore. …I was going to find Koshimae to help me beat Shiraishi and his poison arm because I already know him.”
“That’s very smart,” Yanagi praised Tooyama. The little redhead puffed up all the more. “But I have something in common with Shiraishi that you don’t: poison eyes.”
Sakuno thought that no one could possibly be stupid enough to believe that, but sure enough, Tooyama jumped up and scrambled behind her. “Poison eyes!” he cried.
“Yes. I want to see him so we can talk about our poisonous parts,” Yanagi said.
“In that case…” Tooyama said nervously. “Maybe Kenya can get you in.”
Yanagi nodded, “If you could direct me toward this Kenya, we would be grateful.”
“Kenya isn’t poison though,” Tooyama said, as if reminding him.
“I believe you,” Yanagi said neutrally.
Sakuno wondered if he even knew who this Kenya was, or if they could even trust Tooyama. But Yanagi didn’t hear the questions in her mind. He walked after Tooyama and Sakuno followed, quick to take his arm and ensure he didn't trip into a divot or anything equally unfortunate.
-
Tooyama Kintarou: dragon-born, incredibly fast and strong, inexplicably superstitious, 150 cm tall, plus or minus 2.7 cm, and most likely around 98 kg, which was quite light for a dragon-born. Or dragon-forged. Yanagi didn’t have enough information to distinguish between the two.
At least, that was all Yanagi could discern about their new contact during their brief walk through the woods. Tooyama quite handily dispatched any suspicious characters on their way to Kenya. Yanagi wondered if it was Oshitari Kenya, famous for his quick deliveries of important documents. Would Sakuno be interested in the history of the Oshitari family, spanning across two kingdoms and dating as far back as the dragon age? He was interrupted before he had the chance to ask.
“Koharu and Yuuji’s house is just ahead here. Kenya usually stops there whenever he’s running,” Tooyama said. No doubt he was pointing, despite Yanagi’s inability to see. Fortunately, he could feel the difference between the official road and the well-cut, but handmade path. “I havta go, but tell them HELLO from Kintarou!”
For a small person, Tooyama had very loud footsteps. Yanagi could their retreat even after a good fifty paces.
“Watch out, Renji,” Sakuno took his arm. Though he had noticed the dip in the ground, he nodded in gratitude. After all, with the growing unsteadiness on his feet, he might need her support the next time.
They approached the front of the house together. Sakuno knocked; the door swung under the power of her gesture.
“Don’t know your own strength?” Yanagi teased.
Sakuno’s voice went high pitched and Yanagi suspected that she was blushing. “N-no! I mean, it was open.”
“Close that again,” someone drawled. “I don’t care if you come in or not.”
Sakuno’s scream informed Yanagi that something was quite off about this place. He couldn’t fathom what; the baking bread certainly smelled nicer than the outdoors.
Sakuno’s yelling took on actual words. How informative. “Why are you in a cage?!”
“Why are you in my house?”
Yanagi felt that both questions were fair and needed to be answered. “We are here to wait for Oshitari Kenya.”
“Oh. He’ll be by later tonight,” the caged person said dismissively.
“Um…why are you...do you need help out of the cage?”
“No,” the man was quick to say. A young man, if Yanagi were to judge by sound.
“Let him be,” said a new voice. “Zaizen’s just in there because he wants to be.”
“Shut up, Yuuji. If your partner could keep his hands to himself….” A page turned. Voice number one, Zaizen, had ceased paying attention in favor of reading. Yanagi didn’t blame him. He supposed that there wasn’t much else to do in a cage.
Yanagi bowed in the direction of voice number two. “I apologize for our rude entrance. I am Renji and this is Sakuno. We come from Hyoutei with urgent business for King Shiraishi. Your friend Tooyama suggested that a man named Kenya might get us an audience.” If Sakuno was at all shocked by the half-lie, she thankfully managed to restrain herself.
“Ah, I’m Hitouji Yuuji. You can make yourselves comfortable here for now--”
Before Yanagi could say anything further, he sensed a presence directly behind him. He wasn’t fast enough to escape the arms that wormed around his waist. “Ooooh, I’m in love! How long has it been since such a handsome man came to my house?!”
A change went over Hitouji immediately. “Koharu!” he shrieked. “Are you cheating on me? You can’t just bring people from Hyoutei into this house!”
The man in question, Koharu, began to pet Yanagi’s hair. “I didn’t bring them here, Yuuji,” he whined.
“You’re so cruel, Koharu! I can’t believe that I spent the whole afternoon chopping wood for your bubble bath!”
“You did?” if Koharu started to cry, Yanagi really hoped that it wouldn’t be on his shirt.
“Only because I didn’t know that you were a cheater!” Hitouji cried out as he ran from the cabin.
“Yuu-bear!” Koharu ran after him, much to Yanagi’s relief.
Another page turned; he estimated the book at least five hundred and six pages in length. “You can’t share my cage,” Zaizen said.
Yanagi wondered if it would be rude to help himself to their tea.
-
Two hours and three cups of tea later, Koharu and Yuuji still hadn’t returned. Yanagi had attempted to question Zaizen on everything Shitenhouji, without much success. The caged boy distrusted him and replied mostly in scathing retorts, only a few of them informative. He managed to gather that they had all been members of Shiraishi’s court and were subsequently banished for protesting his behavior under the gauntlet’s weight.
Though Yanagi was observant without his sight, at times like these he particularly missed his eyes. When all else failed, he could always count on the information he perceived. His own body was beginning to fail him and his mind would soon follow.
He estimated approximately two days, three hours, and forty-five minutes before he succumbed to Yukimura’s power. Because he couldn’t stare at his tea in contemplation, he traced his fingers up and down the sides of the warm glass, letting the heat feed his fading nerve endings.
“We return for you, Renji-kun!” Koharu stormed back into the house, smile in his voice.
“Don’t you call him Renji-kun!”
“That’s his name, isn’t it, Renji-kun?”
“Guys, I thought you said this was pretty urgent, yeah?” said a third voice, vaguely familiar. The last time he heard it, he received documents on the effects of the great freeze on Shitenhouji’s land.
Yanagi stood and bowed politely. “Oshitari Kenya. Thank you for coming.
“Nah,” said Kenya, good-naturedly. “Thank these guys for tracking me down. I was doing a favor for my cousin in Hyoutei, actually. Wanted to have me deliver a letter to Fudomine’s hostage down in Seigaku.”
“In that case, all of you have my gratitude. I don’t mean to press you, but this matter is quite urgent.”
Kenya shook his head; Yanagi felt a little wind off the rapid action. Then, Kenya seemed to realize that his conversation partner wore a blindfold and added, “Of course. I’m not called Speed Star for nothing. Oi, Yuuji. Can we get them a horse, they’ll need it to keep up with me.”
The two men fussed off around the back of the property. Secretly, Yanagi was relieved to give his legs a little rest before an event that would surely be exhausting.
Of course, he thought that before finding out just how exhausting it was to commute with Oshitari Kenya. If he weren’t already dying, that ride would have shortened his lifespan.
-
An hour’s journey brought them before the gates guarding the sanctuary. Yanagi knew them to be tall and heavy, for they took two men heaving and grunting to open them.
“I remember on the day of his coronation Shiraishi jumped and hit his head on this gate just to make his people laugh,” Kenya sighed.
Yanagi frowned; such a jump seemed inhumanly high. Even without the gauntlet, Shiraishi was a dragon-born to be respected. Or perhaps laughed at respectfully, as Kenya implied.
“An interesting first act as king,” Yanagi conceded.
“Well, it’s tradition that you never walk through these gates normally,” Kenya chuckled. “Or at least, it was.”
It was quite the dichotomy to hear about how things used to be, yet breathe the oppressive air of the castle. He felt dirt under his feet, and then hard, rich wood at the next stage. Shitenhouji’s stronghold was styled after a temple. That made sense - the influence of the Tarragon monks had been strong here. His mind’s library supplied all of the temple drawings that he needed to conjure a visual.
From the breeze toying with his hair, Yanagi inferred the presence of a center garden. He caught the vague scent of belladonna and wondered if the garden was a poisoned one. Yukimura might appreciate it here.
Would he ever see Yukimura again?
“Yo, Koshikawa. These two gotta see Shiraishi,” Kenya spoke (to a guard, Yanagi presumed). The two of them whispered just outside of Yanagi’s line of hearing; he managed to catch some mumbling about Shiraishi’s mood, some muted comment about a prophecy, and the passing along of a takoyaki bribe.
Eventually, Kenya returned from his conference to inform Yanagi and Sakuno. “They’re going to search us.”
“Very well,” Yanagi said. Smiling ever so slightly, he added a little louder, “If King Shiraishi has something to fear from a blind man and a servant girl, that is his prerogative.
Taken aback, the guard stuttered, “It’s just a matter of course!”
“I see,” Yanagi said in a long-suffering tone. “Go on ahead then.”
Flustered, Koishikawa searched them quickly and sent them through to the King’s receiving room. “King Shiraishi. Two travelers from Hyoutei seek audience with you. Their business is brief, if you will graciously agree to meet them.”
“I am really very busy, Koishikawa,” Shiraishi drawled. His voice carried, but did not echo, suggesting a large room with good sound absorption.
“We do promise to be brief, King Shiraishi,” Yanagi bowed. “I heard tell of your power and was sent by King Atobe himself to determine whether or not you are more impressive than him.”
“Oh,” Shiraishi purred darkly. Fabric shifted as Shiraishi moved, possibly into an upright position. “Even the most wealthy and hedonistic of Kings envies my greatness.”
“Hm, I came here to determine whether or not he has cause to do so,” Yanagi spoke, sounding vaguely bored.
“As you can see, I have everything a King could hope to possess. My subjects bow to my divine right and my words are doctrine,” Shiraishi’s volume increased. The chamber did have a slight echo after all. More importantly, he found it difficult to breathe in the thick, metallic air that filled it.
“Even a blind man can tell that you have power. I cannot say whether or not it is greater than King Atobe’s…” Yanagi caressed his own chin. “Perhaps if I were to behold your abilities in combat, I could say that you are superior.”
Shiraishi’s feet hit the floor. The vibration suggested that he weighed in around 321 kg - impossible for a even a dragon-born walking toward him at that speed. Yanagi only had enough time to push Sakuno toward Koishikawa before the King grasped his shirt and pulled him down, as if it were insolence to be so tall. Perhaps it was, in Shitenhouji. A sword pressed up against his neck.
“I could defeat you in under a minute,” Shirashi bragged. His breath tickled Yanagi’s face.
“Maybe,” Yanagi conceded, quite composed. “But King Atobe could defeat me in that amount of time without a weapon.”
“Hmmph, child’s play. My form is perfect in every discipline.” The sword fell with a clatter and Shiraishi charged him, “Karate.” Yanagi quickly discerned that the most likely attack was a chop and stepped aside accordingly. “Judo,” he thrust his hand out to block Shiraishi’s kick. “And aikido,” but there wasn’t much dodging Shiraishi’s throw. The king grasped Yanagi by the cloak and flipped him over his back.
Having anticipated this, Yanagi remained calm. He raised his finger and informed Shiraishi, “Ah, but King Atobe can do this just as well. What more, he does so completely naked.”
“Eh?!” Kenya sounded in surprise.
Shiraishi rose to his feet. “Clothes don't make any difference to me,” the King proclaimed. Sakuno shrieked; the pitch and volume suggested that Shiraishi had indeed gone full birthday suit. Interesting. “How about this? And this?”
“Very nice….poses, sire,” Koishikawa stammered, highly embarrassed for their out of control King.
“Indeed,” Yanagi sat up and golf clapped. “Well done. But you still have some way to go if you wish to prove yourself the most powerful King in all the land.”
“How? What must I do?” Shiraishi growled.
“I’m not sure that it’s possible for you,” Yanagi shook his head. “You see, King Atobe is the reason that I wear a blindfold. On beholding him completely unadorned, naked without so much as a single jewel, I was so moved that I decided it would be the last thing I’d ever see.”
Without much warning, Yanagi was pinned to the ground again. With 100% certainty, he deduced that Shiraishi’s foot was on the verge of crushing his neck. “You’ll behold me,” the King demanded, yanking off the blindfold. “Behold me and writhe with ecstasy!”
The gauntlet fell to the floor with a clatter. The moments following were silent.
“Renji-kun! You’re cheating on me with Shiraishi!” Koharu whined. Yanagi wondered how long he had been there. In his complete focus on Shiraishi, he had neglected his surroundings. His senses were dulling.
“Koharu! That’s my line!” Hitouji stomped.
Shiraishi removed his foot from Yanagi’s throat and coughed. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but could someone find my pants…”
-
When he heard the story of what had happened and how far he had gone, Shiraishi needed some time to recover. That was just as well for Yanagi, since he could hardly walk without Sakuno’s assistance. A hot bath and a cup of tea restored enough of his strength to respond to the inevitable summons with some amount of dignity.
“I am Koishikawa,” a familiar voice announced quite thoughtfully. Though Yanagi would have deduced it eventually, he was grateful for the gesture.
“Koishikawa,” Yanagi opened the door and bowed with some effort. “I appreciate the trouble you took in coming to show me the way.”
“Of course,” the man sounded a little shy. The pace of his step was odd, as if impaired by - “We have something for you. To thank you for returning Shiraishi to us…”
He stopped to present Yanagi with something. Unable to tell quite what it was, he held out his hand. Koishikawa fitted a slender object to Yanagi’s grip. The wood was smooth and long enough to reach the floor, clearly a staff; the gift couldn’t have been more timely or appropriate.
“Thank you,” Yanagi said, tapping the bottom of the staff to the floor. “Please relay my gratitude to your comrades as well.”
“That won’t be necessary. They’re surrounding him as we speak.” Koishikawa started walking again. Yanagi’s staff assisted him in keeping up.
Sure enough, he could hear the chaos from Shiraishi’s suite before reaching it. Koishikawa knocked, probably more to get their attention than anything else, and announced, “Yanagi of Hyoutei, King Shiraishi.”
“Just Shiraishi will do, Koishikawa,” Shiraishi’s tone was night and day from their confrontation in the throne room. The now good King rose from his chair to guide Yanagi to a well-cushioned seat. “Would you all leave us? I promise, I won’t let Yanagi-kun leave before enjoying some festivities with us.”
Yanagi considered contesting that, but he supposed that both he and Sakuno could do with a hearty meal. Perhaps with that and a nap, they could ride through the night to Hyoutei.
“First of all,” Shiraishi said quietly, “I apologize for raising my hand against you. Despite my inexcusable behavior, I stand in your debt for the return of my sanity and, more importantly, the fate you rescued my Kingdom from.”
Shiraishi’s voice bounced off the wooden floors; he was bowing.
“Name your prize, Yanagi of Rikkai, and it’s yours.”
Naturally, he could not have expected to fool a King. “Before I do so, may I ask how you knew?”
Shiraishi took the seat next to Yanagi, for which he was grateful. Conversation could be had much more easily that way. “You might have fooled me,” he chuckled, “But little gets by my advisors. They might call my word the bible, but really, the worth of a King is determined only by the quality of people who believe in him.”
“Well said,” Yanagi smiled. “As for what I ask of you and your Kingdom, I would claim three boons.”
“Name them. If they are within my power to grant, I will do so without hesitation.”
“For the first, I would have this deed go down in the history books as a rescue from the Kingdom of Hyoutei.”
Shiraishi asked no questions and etched something onto a page, presumably making record of payment.
“For the second, I would claim the golden gauntlet of Sumire for the Hyoutei treasury.”
On this matter, he took Shiraishi’s silence for hesitation. “My concern is that Hyoutei will fall victim to the same temptation.”
“An understandable concern,” Yanagi agreed. “But whatever faults Atobe may have, he possesses the power of insight. I do not think he will be so quick to use a power he can’t call his own.”
Not that Shiraishi had been eager to do so. The rebellion left him with little choice in the matter. “The gauntlet is a tricky and terrible weapon,” Shiraishi warned. “Once it’s on, only the wearer can remove it.”
Yanagi nodded. “You may hold me personally responsible.”
“I guess I needn’t have called for Kin’s return then,” Shiraishi chuckled. “I was going to have him bring down a whole cave on the thing, make it impossible to find.”
“Thank you,” he said, grateful that things had been so thought through. Clearly, the king wanted little more to do with the gauntlet, regardless of what it could offer. Yanagi thought that wise. “The third thing that I ask is something that only you can do.”
The sound of brush on paper ceased. Yanagi assumed that he had Shiraishi’s full attention. “There is someone who I have failed,” he admitted. “And if he is not stopped, many lives will be lost in the short-term. Long-term, it may plunge all of our kingdoms into wars once again.”
Treaties and alliances were all well and good, but they also came with the territory of mutually assured destruction.
“The Kingdom of Shitenhouji is now in debt to both Hyoutei and Rikkai. I will do as you ask.”
“Then you must intercept Kirihara Akaya on his tear through Hyoutei. If anyone can convince him that terrorizing the citizens of the countryside will only hurt his cause, you can.”
“Ah…what shall I tell him?”
“I care not. Soothe his rampage and keep him safe, if at all possible. I leave the rest to your capable judgment, King Shiraishi.”
“Then we march at dawn,” Shiraishi clapped Yanagi on the back. Louder, he said, “You all heard that, right?”
Ah, so Shiraishi knew that the others were listening in. Koharu and Yuuji audibly whispering compliments at each other had been somewhat obvious, but their respective yelps when Zaizen had whacked them for the public display of affection even more so.
“You came to the right Kingdom to stop a war. Here, if it’s a grin, it’s a win!” Koharu and Yuuji chanted the last bit together and then, inexplicably, started screaming.
The explanation followed a second later. The door to the King’s suite came right off the hinges and collided forcefully with the ground. Yanagi worried for the historic wooden floors.
“AHHH!” Tooyama cried out, jumping up and down on the door. “Shiraishi! Be careful, he has poison eyes!!”
Shiraishi chuckled. “It seems like Kenya was a little faster than we needed him to be.”
-
Eyes pale as ice and deep as the waters beneath watched from the skylight of Shiraishi’s suite, though the gaze hailed from much farther up the frozen arm of the river Fortuna. That same river, which hugged Shitenhouji on the north side, passed just under the great Palladian window to King Atobe’s chambers.
Atobe himself stood and laughed, almost maniacally, into the majestic scenery.
“Glad to see that you’re enjoying yourself,” Oshitari said, leaning against the wall to observe. “Peeking into a brothel this time?”
“I’m not you, Yuushi.”
“A fact that has every pimp breathing a sigh of relief. Not even watching is free these days.”
“Maybe if you didn't insist on having your chambers in the dungeons, more people would be willing to visit them for free.”
“But then when I rub my hands together I’d simply be chilly instead of wicked. Every counselor nobody has to have their thing.”
“Apparently Yanagi’s is stripping Kings.”
“Well, now I feel like I have the short end of the stick.”
“That’s what happens when you spend too much time playing with it.”
Oshitari chuckled. “Touché. What is the status on our King Stripper?”
“Coming to us via Shitenhouji,” the King answered, prying himself away from the window.
“Ah, shall we warn Jirou to expect some kind of assault on the gate?” Oshitari proposed.
“Unnecessary,” Atobe started down the corridor, fully expecting that Oshitari would follow. “I’m curious to see how he handles this.”
Half a step behind Atobe, Oshitari smirked, “If I didn’t know better, I would say that you’re coming to like this counselor nobody.”
Atobe hmphed and waited for them to pass a section of soldiers, “He’s amusing. And bringing me a present besides.”
“Something of value, I’m sure,” Oshitari purred.
“Indeed. And the man is dying. I expect that he shall get here and crumple at my feet. Nothing has changed, Yuushi. A counselor nobody is still a counselor nobody.”
“Understood, my King.”
Shoulders tall, Atobe faced the entrance of his throne room. “Come if you can, Yanagi Renji, and fold before the might of Hyoutei.”
The massive room erupted into chanting. Atobe walked slowly, giving his people the chance to admire him as he ascended the dais. At the snap of his fingers, the sound echoed and died.
“My people!” Atobe projected. His charismatic voice required no amplifier in the attentive room. “United Rikkai senselessly marches upon us! Unprovoked, they launch fire at our western walls and rain terror on the border lands.”
He paused to let those words sink in. Though Atobe noted frightened faces among the crowd, all of them looked faithfully to him.
“They may have razed our hard-worked fields,” Atobe continued his speech. “But worry not for the fate of you and your kin! For if you follow my lead and do as I ask, I promise you, the great kingdom of Hyoutei will not lose a single human life!”
While Atobe basked in the deafening roar of his subjects, Oshitari pulled a velvet rope to unleash the massive chart, revealing their plan of action.
Part 3: Into the Fire
Sakuno wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been plodding along the road. Somewhere between their departure from Shitenhouji and the slow greeting of the sun, she had managed to fall asleep on the mare she shared with Yanagi. They had ridden through a few hours of the night and their new surroundings couldn’t possibly be more different than the wooded Shitenhouji.
“You should have woken me, Renji!” Sakuno said. Was it really safe for a blind man to be steering?
“You needed the sleep,” Yanagi said simply. “Fortunately, our friend seems to know the way. If the roads are any indication, we’re approaching the gate.”
Frowning, Sakuno said, “Do you smell burning?”
“Yes,” Yanagi said. She turned a little to see concern replace his usually collected expression. “Coming ahead, from the northeast.” In other words, coming from Hyoutei.
“Do you think…Kirihara-kun…”
Yanagi shook his head. “No. He is some distance from here; the smell wouldn’t be this strong. We’ll inquire at the border.”
“Mm,” Sakuno said with determination. She narrowed her eyes on the horizon and spotted the fork in the road directing them to different kingdoms. As they approached it, she confirmed that they were indeed going in the right direction. Somehow, Yanagi and the mare had done it. “We have to go slightly right here,” she took the reigns from the counselor and directed the horse. “The sign says we should reach border patrol in just under two kilometers.”
“Thank you, Sakuno-chan,” Yanagi said, with feeling.
Sakuno wondered if he meant it, really, or if he would have been happier to travel alone. He seemed so reluctant to bring her along at first, and her clumsiness held them back a few times. She had even almost ruined their escape completely! And she hadn’t been able to watch Yanagi confront the King of Shitenhouji. During the battle, she had wished that she were the blind one.
The only thing she contributed were passports, which were really thanks to Tezuka, and the opportunity to stop at Tomoka’s house. She sighed; if she ever managed to rescue An-chan, certainly it would be by accident. But she couldn't think like that. Not with the life of a dear friend at stake. As the eyes of the mission, she had to keep looking forward.
And when she did, she spotted the gates of Hyoutei. At last, they had made it to the Kingdom. Naturally, no one crowded the entrance at this hour of the morning.
“We come from Seigaku,” Sakuno informed the front guard, who ushered them into the tall archway. The wall of Hyoutei was not merely a wall, as it appeared on the outside, but a structure thick enough to hold soldiers and administration. Was the interior this broad around the entirety of Hyoutei? How much had it cost and how many years had it taken to build? Yanagi would probably know.
The guard checked their paperwork and found no fault with the legitimacy. “There’s nothing wrong with your papers, but you’re going to have to wait until the wildfire goes down.”
“There was a wildfire? How terrible…” Sakuno sympathized.
“How rare, so far north in this season,” Yanagi commented quietly. Sakuno resisted the urge to elbow him.
“Indeed…” the guard said with a nervous smile. Sakuno couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something off about his tone. “But we can set the two of you up in our mess hall while the roads are cleared.”
Yanagi nodded, “We would be grateful.”
The guards courteously helped Sakuno and the blind Yanagi from the mare’s back. She watched Yanagi, leaning on his staff more with every step he took after the soldier. Riding so long hadn’t done him any good either. He should have been the one to sleep.
“This is our mess hall. The cooks will fix you up some breakfast with us. Special service for coming to the border so early,” the good-natured soldier laughed and patted Sakuno on the shoulder. Tezuka probably would have had the man’s hand for the gesture, but Sakuno didn’t really mind. “Oh, good morning, my Lord.”
“Mmmnn….”groaned a droopy-eyed redhead in backwards armor.
“This is Akutagawa Jirou, captain of this regiment.”
“Nice to meet you, Captain Akutagawa,” Sakuno bowed. Yanagi said nothing, but echoed her gesture.
“NMmhmm…” Akutagawa waved his hand vaguely as he walked by them. Then promptly backed up again to stare at him. The longer he stared, the wider his eyes bulged. Sakuno feared that they might pop out of head and onto his boots. “You know Marui Bunta!” he pointed to Yanagi.
Yanagi remained calm and pointed his blindfold, indicating to Akutagawa that he couldn’t see, “I’m sorry, are you referring to me?”
Akutagawa nodded vigorously, not that Yanagi could see it. “I know your face, you sat behind him at the tournament last year! He ate all of your sugar cane!” The excitable man’s light brown curls bounced with him. “I remember now, Yanagi Renji!”
They attracted every pair of eyes in the vicinity and awakened a few more.
Cocking his head slightly to the side, Yanagi said, “I’m sorry, but - ”
Akutagawa interrupted, going on his toes to pat Yanagi on the arm. “It’s okay. You’re pretty cool, one of the three monster generals of Rikkai and all, but not everyone can be a genius.”
The men around them drew their swords and circled them. Sakuno latched nervously onto Yanagi’s arm. The friendly guard didn’t look so friendly now. He said, “Well done, Lord Akutagawa. We will take the Rikkai spies into custody for further questioning.”
“We’re not spies!” Sakuno insisted, shaking like a leaf as the guards pushed them into the narrow opening in the wall. There was nothing to be done for it now. They had been caught.
-
Yanagi hated to spend even a single moment of his limited time trapped in a cell, but here he and Sakuno were, under the gates of Hyoutei and waiting for Akutagawa’s judgment. Despite Akutagawa’s fondness for Marui, none of the probabilities he calculated were in their favor.
Their chances hadn’t disappeared entirely. Yanagi still had reason to hope.
Keys jangled with the sound of footfalls; a guard was coming down for them. “Yanagi-san, Sakuno-san. You will join Akutagawa for lunch.”
“For…lunch?” Sakuno said, incredulously.
“Very well,” Yanagi interrupted before he could answer. His knowledge of Akutagawa prepared him to expect some level of civility. But, his lethargy and mood swings aside, Akutagawa was a powerful leader in Hyoutei; courtesy was not leniency.
The guard, echoing the politeness of his lord, marched them up the stairs. They allowed Yanagi to lean on Sakuno and made no attempt to bind them. Perhaps they - quite rightly - felt there was nothing to fear physically from a crippled blind man and a young maiden. Their guide ushered them into the room and Sakuno helped Yanagi along into a chair. The food smelled delectable and if not for the armed soldiers behind each of them, the atmosphere might have passed for a cordial lunch.
“Lord Akutagawa,” Yanagi greeted. “Thank you for treating us well.”
“Any friend of Marui’s is a friend of mine!” Akutagawa said cheerfully. “Are you injured? We have a great healer on staff who would be happy to look at you.”
“I appreciate the kind offer, but there isn’t anything that can be done for me,” he said. “I understand that you have to hold us for a certain amount of time, however-”
Akutagawa interrupted him before he could bring up the matter of their release. “How is Marui doing?”
“Very well,” Yanagi said. Beside him, he heard Sakuno nudge the silverware. So that she could start eating, he murmured the traditional blessing.
Akutagawa, having forgotten entirely about lunch, quickly mimicked the gesture. “Will he appear in the inter-kingdom friendly?” he asked, food again forgotten.
“I believe that he intends to. Kuwahara and Marui have been working hard on some new skills.”
“New skills!” the chair lurched as Akutagawa leaned in toward Yanagi. “But there can’t be ANYTHING in the world cooler than his tightrope special!”
“MMmm,” Yanagi hummed vaguely as he chewed. By the sound of it, Sakuno must have been hungry. “I can’t be sure how you would rank his new skill.”
“What is it?” Akutagawa asked eagerly. “Is it a rush? Another balance series? A secret cupcake in his armor?”
Clearly, Marui and Akutagawa were the same kind of warrior.
“I’m afraid that his new move is - ” before Yanagi could explain that the (non-existent) move was top secret, a new guard interrupted them.
“Lord Akutagawa, we’ve caught another person from Rikkai skulking around the border,” the soldier announced, standing at attention.
“Thank you, Takeda,” Akutagawa beamed. “Why don’t you bring him in? Maybe counselor Yanagi knows them.”
With the knowledge that Akutagawa was more intelligent than he acted, Yanagi had to wonder what he had up his sleeve. For a brief moment, he fretted internally about the highly unlikely possibility of Kirihara’s capture. No. There were many explanations more probable than that.
Impossibly, Yanagi heard a chew and pop. At first he thought he hallucinated it. Though he sensed that he had been followed, his luck couldn’t be good enough to deal the most ideal situation. But then Akutagawa nigh deafened him with a delighted yelp. “Marui! It’s Marui!” the excitable member of Hyoutei knocked down his chair to go shake Marui’s hand. “Yanagi-san, did you bring Marui to me?!”
“Er, he fell from a tree, my Lord.”
“Impossible, he has perfect balance!” Akutagawa defended him.
“Yes,” Yanagi answered quickly. “I brought Marui to Hyoutei so he could show you his new move in person.”
“Eh?! My new…” Marui did some quick thinking to catch up. “Yes, obviously, that. My new move.”
Yanagi would give his new staff to see the look on Marui’s face.
“You’re going to show me? Really?” Akutagawa sounded so eager that Yanagi almost regretted taking advantage of him. However, that was part of the border guard’s strength. He needed to be careful to not get caught up in that personality.
“Of course,” Marui nodded. Yanagi got the feeling that he was puffing out his chest a little. “But you know that I always eat an entire cake before combat. I couldn’t possibly show you like this.”
“Oh yes,” Akutagawa agreed. “I would never expect you to. We’ll have a cake prepared immediately.”
“Butter cream frosting?” Marui suggested.
“And fresh berries baked inside.”
Marui swallowed audibly and said, “That’ll do. Will you see it done personally? I don’t think that your friends like me very much.”
“Oh, they’re just concerned because we’re at war,” Akutagawa said. The cheer behind those words couldn’t possibly be real. Yanagi expected him to refuse Marui’s request and continue to avoid real topics, but the young Lord left them.
“Fell out of a tree?” Yanagi spoke lowly.
Marui grumbled something inaudible.
Yanagi smiled. Though he had intellectually known that he wasn’t alone, the company of his comrade was a comfort that he couldn’t describe. While Sakuno had proved useful in many ways throughout the journey, Marui was different. Marui was Rikkai. Marui was a weapon of his arsenal.
They were going to be okay.
“The cook says he can have the cake ready in a few hours. The roads finally cleared enough to let one of the supply wagons through,” Akutagawa said, returning to the room. “Since we have to wait, I brought my secret stash of cookies.”
“They look good,” Marui said, reaching for one. Sakuno too, after a moment’s hesitation, gave into the good-natured offer. Yanagi politely declined and sipped at the provided tea. Fortunately, Marui had the good sense to wait for Akutagawa to bite into his own first. No poison, just sugar.
With that threat gone, Yanagi allowed himself to focus on the most important piece of information Akutagawa provided. The roads were workable again. There was a wagon supplying the kitchens. Perhaps if they could get to that wagon…
“Bunta, why don’t you tell Lord Akutagawa about the time that you almost single-handedly saved a coastal town from Higa raiders?” he suggested, sipping at his tea.
“Oh, that?” Marui said with false modesty. “That was just me taking Kite Eishirou to task for going back on his promise.”
Awed, Akutagawa gasped, “Wow, you’re so cool, Marui!”
“Jackal helped too,” Marui conceded. “Held Kite down while I did this and that.” The chair across from him slid out and Marui danced around, illustrating the battle. If the little crunches and returns to the table were anything to go by, Marui spent half his performance scarfing down cookies. “And then, just when we thought we finished him off, the rest of Kite’s pirates stormed into the bakery. To spar with his biggest man, I leapt up onto the countertop!”
To demonstrate this, Marui hopped up onto his chair and stepped on the edge of the table. Almost immediately, the table tipped, crashing food and drink everywhere. The guards rushed over to the other side of the table to dig their lord out from under plates of turkey and cookies.
Catching the cue, Yanagi grabbed Sakuno by the hand and made for the unguarded entrance. “To the kitchens,” he spoke urgently to her. Blind, he could only guess their location.
“On your left!” Marui said, catching up to them. “They dragged me by it on the way in.”
Sakuno led the way to the kitchens, pulling Yanagi behind her. Marui brought up the rear, knocking over displays of armor, shelves, and then pots and pants wherever they went to slow the hot pursuit.
“Ah!” Sakuno yelped and stopped short. Yanagi could only assume that guards poured into the kitchen through some other entrance. “Let me go!”
Yanagi could only keep her hand and pull while his brain worked triple time to figure out what was going on in the chaotic room. Marui pushed past him to free Sakuno, only to fall victim to her flailing and tumble back into a large, thumping object. The soldiers screamed and Marui laughed victoriously.
“Marui special tag-team gluten attack!”
But there was no time to gloat. They climbed over the wreckage and out to where their wagon awaited. “Sakuno-chan, can you drive a horse drawn wagon?”
Sakuno squeaked with alarm. “No!”
“Well you’re going to have to learn,” Marui said as he barricaded the door. The clamoring voices of the border’s guard drew nearer.
“MARUI!” Akutagawa shouted from the kitchens, shattering plates following his voice. “What about our cake?!”
Marui paused and said with great drama. “Go, Yanagi. I’ll stay here and hold them off.”
“There’s room for one more…” Sakuno insisted.
“Just go!” Marui said, kicking down the ladder.
“Thank you for your sacrifice, my friend,” Yanagi said with a knowing little curve of the lip.
The wagon lurched as Sakuno got the large pull horse moving. “Oh goodness no, no, not that way! Yes, yes, this way….ohhhh we need to go faster!” she monologue as they blew past the gate, knocking away guards.
But some continued to give chase and Yanagi was in no position to fight them off. Yanagi groped around the full cart, hoping to at least push its contents out onto those in hot pursuit, when his nose caught a whiff of the barrel.
Cooking oil.
“Ride faster, Sakuno!” he said urgently.
As crops burned on either side of the road, Yanagi gave a great heave and rolled all six barrels of cooking oil out onto the road. At least one of them had the chance of bouncing off and….
An explosion. Sakuno and the horse screamed together, but the heat of the fire only whispered at their backs. A wall of fire grew between them and the border of Hyoutei and the great castle of ice lay ahead.
There was no turning back.
-
Sakuno hadn’t been sure what to expect from this adventure, but the thought of driving a supply wagon through the blazing fields of Hyoutei had never crossed her mind. Despite many lessons with Tezuka, she had never been good at horseback riding. She thought about how she might retell the story to her keeper, about how she had handled the large pull-horse. Maybe Tezuka would be proud of her.
Not that she was done handling the large pull horse. The fire on either side of the road made the animal understandably uneasy.
“Why would they set their own fields on fire?” Sakuno wondered aloud.
“At first, I thought they might be attempting the slash-and-burn agriculture technique…but it’s not the appropriate timing for that,” Yanagi said. “These fields would have had crops - or as many crops as ground with permafrost can produce….”
Yanagi went on to describe the kinds of vegetation that grew at different depths of permafrost and why they might grow slightly crooked. For the most part, Sakuno just nodded.
“…also known as drunken forest phenomenon. But there is one other reason they might burn their fields. One that fits with the season.”
That piqued her ears. “What reason would that be?” she asked.
“Magic,” Yanagi explained.
To Sakuno, that wasn’t much of an explanation at all. She would have demanded a more detailed one, but the sight of Hyoutei’s castle on the horizon stole her words. The absolutely massive structure was comprised not of one building, but of at least two-dozen white stone spires of varying heights. If she turned her head and squinted, it resembled an oddly contorted hand.
She had no time to admire the architecture, for when she squinted, she also noticed men riding toward them. Their horses were riding right over the river! If they didn’t do something fast, they would be captured.
“Renji,” she warned. “We have company.” With the rolling fire on both sides and the border behind them, there really was nowhere to run.
“Good,” Yanagi smiled, inexplicably. “We’ve arrived.”
Apparently, Yanagi had no intention of resisting. The troop of men, led by a redhead who couldn’t be much taller than Sakuno, surrounded them.
“We’ve got you now, Rikkai bitches,” the redhead grinned viciously. “Come nicely or else.”
“We won’t give you the mental strain of completing that sentence, Mukahi-san,” Yanagi said flatly. “We have every intention of cooperating.”
One of Captain Mukahi’s men took over the horse for Sakuno. She slid back into the wagon and latched onto Yanagi’s arm. For better or worse, she would see An-chan very soon.
-
Yanagi had intended to begin his diplomatic mission with Hyoutei in a calm, dignified manner, though he was only a day (and approximately seven hours and thirty-seven minutes) from death’s door. His body thought otherwise. He more collapsed off of than disembarked the wagon. If not for the soldiers standing there, he would have faceplanted in front of Atobe’s counselor, Oshitari.
“Well done, Gakuto,” Oshitari said, tone warm with familiarity.
“I don’t see why I couldn’t just end them,” Gakuto drawled. “After the shit they’re pulling out west - Ohtori is in some real trouble without the usual backup.”
“He’ll manage without Shishido, their hearts are as one.”
“You’re disgusting,” Gakuto said fondly.
“So you’ve said. Anyway, if you’d be so good as to let Keigo know that his number one fan has arrived.”
“I’m not an errand boy,” he grumbled. “But just this once…”
Light footsteps retreated.
“Take the girl into custody,” Oshitari said to one of his guards.
“Yes, counselor,” Sakuno was seized from under Yanagi’s arm. If not for the guard replacing her, he would have fallen. “To the dungeons? Your suite, then?”
“Heavens, no! One of the tower rooms. And not one with a view, mind you. She’s Tezuka’s.”
Sakuno struggled in protest. “Renji!” she cried as they dragged her away. Yanagi would have protested, insisting that she stay with him, but he had a feeling that Sakuno would receive better treatment away from his association. After all, the King of Hyoutei had great respect for Tezuka.
The guards on either side of Yanagi continued in the direction Gakuto had departed, up a stone spiral set of stairs. It was all he could do to twitch his feet along with the guards and try to prevent bruising impact with the limestone steps. By the time they reached their destination, he had completely given up on that endeavor. Perhaps the secret to achieving the famed Hyoutei ass was their obscene amount of stairs.
The wind from the open room was cold enough to make some bite on Yanagi’s barely present limbs.
“Leave us,” Atobe said. The guards let go of Yanagi, letting him crumple to the floor. If he were not mistaken, it was also limestone. He wondered how insane the King of Hyoutei had to be to have a room of columns and no walls this high up a narrow tower, or how talented the architect. Yanagi did not really expect to survive long enough to put his questions to the designer.
The sound of Atobe’s heeled boots approached and stopped just in front of him. A different object, long, thin and wooden, clattered to the floor.
“I believe you left this behind,” Atobe drawled. Yanagi reached forward and found his staff. Relying on it, he made the torturous climb to his feet. Even with the staff to lean on he found the task difficult, but the King of Hyoutei waited in silence for him to do so.
“Thank you,” he said, knuckles white with effort.
“I believe those should be my words,” Atobe sat, but did not invite Yanagi to do so. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t strip for you.”
Yanagi sat down beside the King. He had never been intimidated by dragon-born or royalty. And now, at the end of his life, what did he have to fear personally anyway? “Of course,” he said congenially. “I’m in no condition to appreciate the sight, regardless.”
“Unfortunately for you, I cannot be defeated by flattery alone,” Atobe stated, pleased. “But you have succeeded in amusing me.”
“Fortunately for me, I don’t intend to defeat you.”
“Ahn?” Atobe inquired, feigning disinterest.
“I intend to court you.”
“Court me?” for his tone of voice, Atobe’s eyebrows were 90% likely to be somewhere near his hairline.
“Indeed.”
“But you’re hardly able to walk.”
“Is that a prerequisite?”
Atobe furrowed his brows and considered. Yanagi waited, bemused.
“Oh shut up, I’m thinking.”
“While you’re thinking, you should know that your counselor put Tezuka’s ward in a jail cell.”
“….Not the dungeons?” Atobe said with some concern.
“No, Oshitari-san spoke of a tower.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Atobe said, “Good. I worried for a moment that he turned his sights on little girls. Very well. I’ll see her released.”
Atobe was reasonable on this subject, at least. Sakuno had done him no wrong.
“I’m glad to know that you haven’t held it against Tezuka,” Yanagi said.
Coldly, Atobe said, “Held what.”
“That he rejected your first courting gift.”
Rejecting the subject, Atobe said, “Where are yours? I may well use them to murder you for insolence.”
“I suppose that might count as a rejection. But do you really wish to give the gift up, knowing what it is?”
With a little huff, Atobe said, “Well, I do believe that it’s customary to begin with three courting gifts.”
Surely, Atobe was considering accepting some and rejecting others. That was good news for Yanagi - the King seemed to have dismissed the idea of killing him and taking his possessions regardless.
“Good thing that I brought four, just in case one didn’t meet your approval,” Yanagi supplied.
“Very well,” Atobe said, quite mollified. “Present them.”
Yanagi smiled slyly and bowed, “I do believe that they are in the custody of your counselor, Oshitari. I hope you will allow me to follow tradition and present the gifts after a meal and interview.”
“You do realize that you are inferior to me in every way,” Atobe informed him straightly.
“Perhaps,” Yanagi said. “But considering that I have been summoned into your private audience without noble qualifications, I deserve an interview prior to appraisal.”
Atobe considered this with a noisy hum; he was a rather loud thinker. Yanagi didn’t mind, so long as the person in his company bothered with mental mastication.
“I suppose you have been amusing enough to merit a meal and a bath,” Atobe snapped his fingers to summon guards. “But if I am not pleased, I will take pleasure in letting you die beneath my castle.”
The guards hauled Yanagi off of Atobe’s couch and made to pick him up. “No need,” he informed them. “I can walk just fine.”
Stairs or no stairs, he was Rikkai and he had some pride.
-
The guards, true to their word, locked Sakuno into a plain, sterile jail cell. Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same for the row directly across from her. The prisoners quivered in their cages, backs against the bars to be as far away from the sheer drop off the tower as possible. Sakuno had no idea how high up they were; it must’ve been both terrifying and freezing. Even she, across the room, huddled into the thin blanket provided by the guard.
She wondered if anyone had ever chosen to jump. Perhaps that was the point.
For a few hours she shivered and thought about her life, whether Yanagi was still alive, if she’d ever get to save An. If she’d be able to ever look Tomoka in the eye if she failed.
A low commotion interrupted her downward spiral. She couldn’t believe her eyes when An ascended the steps, cleaner and more sumptuously clothed than Sakuno had ever seen her.
“You’re…you’re…” clears clouded Sakuno’s vision, but for some reason, she could only say, “You’re wearing a gown.”
“Ridiculous, right,” An said, voice thick. “Not even for a proper ball or anything. Though Atobe did offer to throw me one…”
It was so ridiculous that the two girls had to laugh. They laughed and embraced through the bars, pulling on clothes and squeezing patches of flesh just to make sure it was real.
Finally, An sniffed and pulled back, but it was to yell at a guard, “Release her into my custody.”
The guard looked like he wanted to help, but ultimately said, “Sorry, Princess. We’re to keep her locked up until the King decides what to do with her.”
Crossing her arms, An insisted, “Well, there’s no reason to keep her locked up here. Put her in my gilded cage. Misery loves company.”
The troubled man shook his head, “I wish I could, honestly.” Prison was for criminals, not young maidens. “But it would be my job.”
Stubbornly, An pursed her lips. “Then lock me in with her.”
This seemed to trouble the guard too, but less than her previous demands. “Very well. Let me see if I can collect some furs from the lads for the both of you.”
“That would be very kind,” An inclined her head.
The keeper of the keys returned quickly bearing two of the thick furs that Hyoutei warriors typically wear. Apparently, two soldiers had been pretty eager to give up their coats for the Princess An. The guard locked her in with Sakuno and left the girls to some measure of privacy; he watched from the other end of the long row of cages, just out of earshot.
“Being a captive sucks,” An explained, sitting close to Sakuno against the warmest wall. She draped one massive coat over their legs like a blanket and they shared the other as well, squirming close together to each have an arm in a sleeve. “But the people here aren’t so bad all the time.”
“So they’re not keeping you in a place like this?” Sakuno pillowed her head on An’s shoulder.
“No, not at all,” An rested her head atop Sakuno’s. “I have a lovely set of rooms and an even more absurd wardrobe. For the most part I can come and go freely, but outside my rooms, I’m constantly watched.”
That sounded frustrating. She felt sorry for her friend, who valued freedom over almost everything else.
“But it’s worth it, I think,” An continued. “To work something out. The last thing Fudomine needs is to go to war with Hyoutei a second time.”
Internally, Sakuno wavered. She wondered whether or not to tell An that her captivity might be for naught, that Seigaku had whispered, Rikkai had acted and that there was something powerful and mysterious going on in Hyoutei. First the fire and now a horrible stench of death lingered in the air, not as oppressive and heavy as that of Shitenhouji, but equally ominous. There was something bad happening; she just didn’t know what.
“An-chan…” Sakuno said softly.
“Mmm?”
“What do you know about magic?” she asked softly.
An considered her seemingly random question. “Kippei and Syuusuke argued about it during the war. Syuusuke has the knowledge to wield spells, but magic is life and can only be accumulated by taking life.”
“That sounds horrible!”
“There were people willing to sacrifice years of their lives, or their entire lives…but Kippei wouldn’t have it. Not even crops…though oddly, Syuusuke was less reluctant to take years than fields.”
“Fields…” it dawned on Sakuno. An frowned, determining that there was more to Sakuno’s question than met the eye. Finally, Sakuno continued. “The fields of Hyoutei. They’re on fire.”
Before they could continue their conversation, a guard came for them. “Word from the King, my ladies. You’re to be moved into your own suite, beside Princess An,” he informed Sakuno as he unfastened the lock.
“That’s…good news,” An managed to smile. “Don’t mind her, she’s just a little overwhelmed by all of this.”
Sakuno nodded dumbly, allowing An to usher her along after the guard.
Go to Part III