Kaoru stared at the man in the red demon mask and swallowed when he
pulled the mask away from his face
Kaoru stared at the man in the red demon mask and swallowed when he pulled the
mask away from his face. The nasty sound of the locks on the door snapping into
place had the hairs standing up on the back of her neck. Moments later, a dark
red energy seemed to gleam across the doors before settling into the wood. The
door disappeared.
Dark anger and fury rolled through the bond with Kenshin, and it was tinged
with fear.
“Sumita…” Kaoru snarled, ignoring the fear that trembled in her stomach. She
didn’t know how to fight magic, she didn’t even have a weapon to fight against
him physically, and her husband was nervous; granted, that spark of terror she
detected from him was gone, buried under an avalanche of hot anger and
something else she couldn’t name… It ate along the lining of her stomach and
engulfed her lungs and throat.
Kenshin’s emotions set off her own. This was the man who had killed
her father. “What do you think you are doing here, bastard?”
“Finishing something I should have taken care of a long time ago,” Sumita
said, with what could have passed as a pleasant smile if not for the look in
his eyes. Without his mask, he was a handsome man. His thick blond hair held
only a few silver hairs at his temples; his cold, almost colorless eyes were
framed by thick lashes. His face was lined around his mouth and eyes, but he
seemed to carry those age marks well. The strength of his upper arms and the
breadth of his chest suggested that he was in prime shape.
“Your husband will not help you, Kamiya,” Sumita said, his smile sharpening.
His voice was just as Kaoru remembered it. It somehow managed to be in the
middle of normal range and completely unremarkable. Hearing it set off sparks
of memory, slithering down her spine and setting her teeth on edge. This was
the man who had delivered her father to the temple for death. The first
banging noises started against the door and something cold gleamed in Sumita’s
eyes. “I have sealed the door with a magic that neither your devil lover nor
his pet mage bitch can fix.”
Kaoru shoved her fear aside. She would worry about that later. “You give yourself
too much credit,” she told him harshly. Kaoru hadn’t been counting on Kenshin
per se, but his presence while she exorcised this demon would have been nice.
Sumita took several steps further into the room. “You’re not even curious to
know what will cause your death?” he asked, the same placid look on his face.
“Enlighten me,” Kaoru suggested icily, eyes scanning the room for something
to use as a weapon.
“I used old soul magic. It’s too complicated for someone as uneducated as
you are to understand, but the only way the door will open is if one of us
dies.” Sumita’s mouth twisted downwards. “I am afraid it drained most of my
magic away, but it does not matter. I will not need it to kill you.”
Kaoru didn’t trust him on the magic issue, but that wasn’t her biggest
problem. So far she hadn’t found so much as a letter opener to defend herself
with. The banging on the wall had stopped and Kenshin was a rush of fury. “So
you would fight with me unarmed,” Kaoru mocked, slipping around the desk to
give herself something to duck behind. “You really are nothing more than a
yellow bellied bastard.”
Sumita’s eyes snapped with temper. A knife clattered on the desk next to her
and she stared at it in surprise. “I am afraid that is the entire defense you
will get. It’s more pleasurable for me if you have the opportunity to fight
back. We even give wild dogs a chance to escape.” His teeth gleamed in the
light. “Your father had a chance to run, you know. He refused. Couldn’t let go
of his pride long enough to spare his family’s life. Pride was your father’s
downfall.”
Kaoru narrowed her eyes and picked up the knife. His arrogance made her
teeth clench and her volatile temper mingled with Kenshin’s to pound in her
ears in time with her heartbeat. He might have been able to block her husband’s
physical presence, but he couldn’t block the bond between them. Their combined
fury ate the fear from her limbs. She was going to have to remember to ask him
about the extent of their bond and how it worked exactly. Twisting the knife in
her fingers for a moment, testing the weight, Kaoru inserted it into the fabric
of the dress and followed the blade all the way to her ankles, cutting so she
could have room to move in the skirt. She was thankful that the red dress was
narrow and sleeveless.
His lunge came fast, the tip of his sword catching the firelight, and Kaoru
twisted to the left, using the flat of the blade to drive the edge of the sword
into the desk. The force of her drive sent her to her knees, so she placed her
left hand on the floor to balance and slammed her foot into the back of his
knees, grimly thankful she was wearing boots. He leaned into the sword to catch
his balance, yanking the sword free as he continued to fall to the right.
Spinning on the heel of his left foot, he swung down at where her unprotected
body should have been.
Except she wasn’t there; Kaoru had moved the moment he had turned away,
rolling onto her shoulder and across the floor, spinning into a crouch to watch
Sumita’s next move. There was a faint shifting of weight to show that her kick
to his knee had been a direct hit. It would give her a slight advantage
in the fight to come, but not one that she could use against him just yet. She
would have to see how much stress she could put it under in the next few
moments. The good and bad thing about fights like this was that they were over
in a matter of minutes.
“Someone taught the devil spawn to fight,” Sumita mused as he took a
double-handed grip on the hilt of his sword. The grip would allow him to funnel
more strength into his blows. She didn’t have the length of the blade to absorb
the impact of his strikes and her wrists would give out if she wasn’t careful.
With the short length of the blade in her hand she was going to have to carve
him bit by bit; knife fights were dirty and brutal and a knife against a sword
was even worse.
Sumita’s movements came at her hard and fast. Kaoru did her best to dodge
them, but her fingers and wrist were stinging by the end of first charge. She
had been busy deflecting his blows until the last one, and then she had shoved
back, using the force of his movements to drive him back into the desk. The
expression on his face said that he wasn’t expecting it.
Instead of scorning her for the move, he narrowed his eyes and came back in,
faster this time. Sweat beaded at her temples as she dodged, the edge of his
sword catching the shoulder of her left arm, slicing shallowly into her skin.
As his sword flew by, Kaoru grabbed one of his wrists, yanking him past, and
slid her dagger across his hipbone before using the momentum of the pull to
dance away.
His eyes were more gray than colorless now, and they flared at her with
hate, one hand going to his hip. “I believe we’re even,” Kaoru murmured,
refusing to acknowledge the blood rolling down her arm, refusing to admit how
it burned.
“Such a pity I won’t be able to kill you as slowly as I have dreamed,”
Sumita said with a sigh. “You are proving to be far too wily for my comfort.”
Kaoru could hear the sound of something being rammed against the door, but
ignored it as Sumita’s stance changed and he charged. She used everything she
could to her advantage, tearing books from the walls and hurling them at him,
using underhanded tricks to get close enough to stab him in vital areas and dancing
around the desk to duck under some of his most vicious blows. Kaoru managed to
avoid most of them, but the back of his elbow caught her in the temple and she
held onto her consciousness by a thread, dodging the next blow on instinct.
They were both breathing heavily as he turned against to face her. He was
bleeding in more places than she was, but her shoulder stung from the scrape of
his blade and her wrists were trembling, her head aching.
“I don’t believe you can handle much more,” Sumita mused. He shifted his
sword to his left hand and opened the palm of his right. Kaoru realized with a
sinking feeling in her stomach that he was about to use magic. It didn’t
surprise her that the bastard had lied and waited until she was exhausted to
use it against her; the fact that she didn’t know how to fight against it was
what bothered her. Black flames began sparking against his palm and she licked
her lips. She had one chance here…
She just hated throwing her only weapon.
Kaoru watched him, the way his lips moved, waiting for the right moment. For
a split second his eyes moved away from her and to the fire in his palm, and
she snapped her wrist forward as fast and hard as she could.
Surprise bloomed in his face as her knife buried itself in his throat.
Sumita stumbled back a step, one hand going to the hilt a half second before
his body fell to the floor with a thud. Kaoru lunged forward, picking up his
sword and burying it in his chest, then ripping it out again, watching to make
sure he was staying dead. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and she
was unable to take her eyes away from the body as her knees gave out.
A wind rushed through the room, the stench of blood and sweat strong, but
she was unable to move, staring at the dead man; his sword clenched tightly in
her fingers. After the wind died, there was a cracking noise and the sounds of
footsteps.
Some part of her brain recognized that she was covered in blood. Her
shoulder was burning, and her head was aching; her knuckles were white with
strain as they tightly clenched the sword. The weakness in her wrists spread to
her arms and the rest of her body and she started to shake.
Sumita was dead. Her father’s murderer was dead. Her family was avenged. She
heard voices and a door slamming into the wall, yet she couldn’t look up and
away from the body to see who it was.
Sumita was dead.
Someone was making a high-pitched keening noise but she couldn’t look around
to see who it was, her actions no longer her own. Kaoru thought she heard brisk
orders being given by a deep, furious voice, but she simply sat there and
stared. Slender fingers wrapped around her wrist and Kaoru looked up to see
Kenshin’s stormy eyes.
“Let go of the sword, darling,” he softly commanded, his voice gruff but
gentle.
~*~
Kaoru had blood on her face, a dark bruise forming just above her cheekbone
and there was a cut on her arm. Megumi walked into the room and took in the
scene. There was a woman clad in a healer’s robe behind her, and the girl
rushed forward. Kenshin swung his eyes back to his wife, who was obviously
going into shock. She didn’t seem to notice when the healer sealed the cut with
a flare of magic and smoothed away the bruise with her fingers, softly telling
him there were no other physical marks on her.
“Kaoru,” Kenshin tried again, curling a hand across her blood splattered
cheek. “Let go of the sword.” Her blue eyes were so dark they were almost
black. There was a storm rising on the bond between them, but he couldn’t tell
what it would bring yet. He was completely caught off guard when her eyes
suddenly filled with tears, her face crumpling.
A high-pitched noise suddenly rose from her throat and the sword clattered
from her fingers; she leaned forward, away from his touch, to bury her face in
her hands. For the second time since their marriage, his wife cried. This time,
it wasn’t the bitter tears of their wedding bed, but harsh sobs that shook her
small frame. Reaching down he picked her up and cradled her against his chest,
exchanging a look with Aoshi who had a grim expression on his face. “Clean this
mess up and find out what happened,” Kenshin ordered as he stood, carrying
Kaoru in his arms as he left his ruined office.
He made straight for the bathing chamber and ignored the questioning looks
that were directed at him as he hit the corridors. Kaoru had wrapped her arms
around his neck so that her tears were dripping down his shoulder, punctuated
by gasping breaths and she shook in his arms. Her sobbing hadn’t slowed any so
he didn’t bother to undress her; instead, he formed a spell in his mind and
stepped into the bathwater in her bedroom as soon as their clothes vanished.
Kenshin hoped the warm water would calm her down, but he mostly wanted to get
the blood off her skin before she was coherent enough to remember it.
Kenshin was unsure how long they stayed in the warm water before her sobs
finally quieted. Carefully, he called a second washcloth and wiped her face and
neck. He had wiped her down as best he could, relying on magic to clean her
small form while she had been clinging to him, unable to create enough space to
clean her himself.
Kenshin considered her eyes. They were puffy and red, her lashes wet and
there were faint red markings forming across her skin, a sign of how hard she
had been pressing her hands against her eyes. The blue of her eyes was dark and
glazed, so he carefully lifted her out of the water and carried her back into
the main room. Cameral was hovering in the corner and he shook his head,
ignoring her worried expression. Calling one of her soft shifts after he dried
them both with a spell, he attempted to dress her in the nightgown. Kaoru
refused to let go and made a noise in the back of her throat
“Hush,” he soothed. “You will be warmer in your nightgown.” It took several
seconds and a faint crooning noise before she unlocked her limbs. Once she was
clothed, Kenshin helped her into the bed. It took a second to put his own
clothing on and then a heartbeat later he was wrapped around her.
“I’m sorry,” Kaoru mumbled into his throat. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m
sorry.” Kenshin had the vague notion that she wasn’t really talking to him. She
was shaking like a leaf in his arms and soon was incoherent, her lips moving
against his skin. He thought he heard her mention her father once or twice, but
was unable to make out anything else.
Kenshin lay there for some unknown time, rubbing her back and crooning in
her ear, as her sobs became hiccups and sniffles. The door opened and Kenshin
looked up to see Megumi walking over, a stubborn expression on her face. In her
hand was a goblet that had some thin wafts of steam coming from the top.
Kenshin lifted a brow and nodded his head in understanding at the words her
lips formed.
Untangling a hand, he accepted the mug. “Kaoru,” Kenshin said, pulling her
into a sitting position. “I need you to drink this, all right? You will feel
better having something warm in your stomach.” The sedative would also help her
relax enough to sleep.
Kaoru’s hand shook a little, but she allowed him to help. Slow sips
eventually drained the mug, so Kenshin vanished it and pulled her back down
into his arms. He smoothed down her hair and rubbed her back as she pressed her
damp face into his neck and shivered. She wasn’t crying in his arms anymore,
but her grip was still tight around his body.
Eventually, her limbs started to relax as the sedative started to take
effect. “It’s all right now,” Kenshin told her as her lashes closed and her
grip on his hair relaxed. “I have you and you’re safe.”
Kaoru made a faint noise, fluttering her fingers against his chest, and was
quiet. He continued to run his fingers through her long hair, struggling to
control his temper. Now that Kaoru was asleep, he had nothing to distract him.
Lowering his lips to her hair, he reinforced the sedative, making sure she
would sleep late into the morning.
Giving him plenty of time to find out what happened in that room, why it
happened, and who needed to be killed to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again.
Taking a deep breath, Kenshin carefully rolled Kaoru onto her back. Sliding
out of the covers, he tucked the blankets around her. It took only a flick of
his wrist to seal her off from the world via the heavy drapes, another brush of
his fingers to be sure that none but Kaoru or himself could pull them apart. He
stood there for a moment, looking at the dark material before his eyes narrowed
and he stalked over to his closet for a shirt.
The bond between him and Kaoru was mostly silent now, but he could still
feel the maelstrom she had been not half an hour earlier echoing between them,
the way her emotions crumbled so that he couldn’t tell one from the other. Now
those emotions were softer but so very fragile.
By the time he reached the council room, his temper was a living thing.
The room went silent as he walked in. He was making no attempt to dampen his
fury or to hide it from those in the room. Walking in, he placed his hands flat
on the table in an attempt not to hit something.
Aoshi was standing at the head of the table, his expression tight with
anger, papers scattered in front of him. Saitoh and Sano were on opposite sides
of the table ignoring each other. The three of them were still in their
eveningwear. “What,” Kenshin managed to grit out in a fairly reasonable tone,
“happened?”
“We don’t know,” Saitoh said finally. “We are still… deciphering the spell.”
“You don’t know,” Kenshin repeated, taking in the expressions of the faces
around him. “Someone managed to get into the castle, slip through our
magical defenses, build a soul trap in my office, trap my wife,
almost kill her, and yet we don’t know how they did it?”
“We do know that the man responsible for the assassination attempt is
Consort Esha’s first escort, Sumita. Right now we haven’t been able to find any
connection between him and your wife, but Misao is currently interviewing Esha
as we speak. She has been instructed to put together an entire profile and
history of his family, his connections, and anyone whom he might have brushed
up against in a hallway. Last we had heard, Lady Esha was giving full
cooperation,” Aoshi countered calmly. “Tokio has been running diagnostic spells
on the office and on Sumita’s body and will report once she is finished.”
Kenshin narrowed his eyes. “Aoshi, did you make sure that Sumita is dead?”
“Your wife did a good job.” Aoshi said flatly.
“His spirit has been firmly banished. If he had any spells set to trigger at
his death to reanimate his body, it’s not going to happen,” Saitoh added
calmly.
“That,” Tokio said as she walked in, “would be impossible.”
“Why is it impossible?” Kenshin questioned, forcing his temper back where it
belonged and forcing his mind to hone in on the situation. The rage would
shimmer and wait until it could be put to use.
“Because,” Tokio said as she sat in the chair that Saitoh pulled out for
her, “He was using soul spells. There wouldn’t have been any energy left over
for him to have a reanimation spell to destroy evidence once he was dead.”
Kenshin eyed Tokio in a silent demand.
Tokio rubbed the bridge of her nose, shadows already forming under her eyes,
silent testament to the energy she had already burned. “He used a soul trap, as
we all know, but I have never seen one like this before. The spell was tied to both
of their life forces, instead of just the victim’s. The only way to trigger the
end of the spell was for one of them to die.” She frowned. “Normally with such
a spell, you can break the bond and both will live. Sumita somehow managed to
step out of the caster’s bond so that the energy couldn’t have been used
against him.”
Saitoh frowned. “That should have been impossible.”
“Should have,” Tokio agreed. “I need to do more research into the spell.
Anything you can get me, Aoshi, anything that looked like tools or a casting
circle, any sign of spell work will be helpful. If I can figure out the spell,
then I can work a defense against it in the shields.”
“You will figure out the spell,” Kenshin corrected.
Tokio nodded and then ran her hand through her bangs. “There is something
else.”
“What else,” Sano asked tightly, “Can go wrong tonight?”
“Because Sumita managed to break the caster thread, there was only one way
to break the soul trap.” Tokio sighed. “One of them had to die. Sumita went
into that room on a suicide mission. If he killed Kaoru, the soul trap ended
and we killed him. One way or another, one of them was going to die. The odds
were for Sumita: he was stronger, faster, but the fact that he was so drained
magically makes me wonder if he actually thought he could win.”
Kenshin made a furious noise in the back of his throat. “Are you saying that
my wife…”
“Should have died in that room,” Tokio said tiredly. “Your wife must be very
skilled with a weapon.”
“How did she get a weapon in the first place?” Sano questioned, looking
around at the table. “Kaoru didn’t go into that room with a knife or sword, and
there wasn’t anything in that office.”
“So this man,” Kenshin gritted out. “Gave my wife a weapon and taunted her
with it?” His knuckled turned white as he applied pressure to the table.
The door to the council slammed open and Misao walked in, her expression
pale and lined with strain. “Sumita wasn’t supposed to have magic and he has
ties to Yukishiro Enishi.”
“What?” Tokio managed.
Misao paced in front of the table, her lips white with strain. “According to
Lady Esha, Sumita comes from a line of servants who are bred not to have magic.
They serve the royal family and are tested every twelfth birthday and again at
twenty. Sumita is the youngest son who took over after his older brother was
found with minute traces of magic in his blood.”
“So suspicion increased on him?” Saitoh questioned.
“No, it was taken off. Magic is hit and miss in Wargen’s kingdom and if one
son is born with it in a family bred to keep it out, they figured that Sumita
wouldn’t have it,” Misao said with a sigh. “Lady Esha was horrified that he had
it, not to mention to such a degree.”
“How does he know the Yukishiros?” Aoshi asked.
“Lady Esha wasn’t certain that the connection was more than tentative,”
Misao admitted. “But apparently when Enishi first came to Airthór, Sumita was
part of the group that greeted him. It was safe to put some people into his
path that didn’t have magic, since the reason he was sent was to train his
gift.”
Sano let out a low whistle.
“The reason that it took me so long to come back here was because I pulled
all the files that we had gathered when Tom… the Yukishiros first made the
tentative offer.” Misao flicked her wrist and files landed on the table. “I
glanced through them, but I haven’t been able to find the connection between
the Yukishiro family and Sumita yet. There had to be someone to relay
information between them. I just can’t find it.” Misao reached up and pulled on
her bangs and made a frustrated noise.
Megumi walked in a few moments later. “Your bed isn’t letting me look at
your wife,” she warned Kenshin irritably.
Kenshin ignored her, frowning. Something was tinkering at the edge of his
mind and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. “So the Yukishiros are somehow
connected to Sumita, which is logical because it gives them a connection to
Wargen’s throne. What connection do the Yukishiros have to my wife?”
“You mean besides switching her into your bed?” Megumi snipped.
Aoshi frowned, his eyes narrowing. “Even so, Tomoe made a firm point when
she called Kaoru a slave. I can’t see why they would care that she is Queen. If
Tomoe was telling the truth, then they should be sitting back and letting Kaoru
embarrass herself as Queen and watch us fall apart.”
“That would mean Tomoe was telling the truth,” Misao said with a snort. “For
all we know, this attack was done to cover up some sort of minor blood
connection to the royal family or to hide some sort of scheme that Kaoru might
know something about; or if she is some part royal, and with the way the
temples are structured, might be able to stop whatever mad scheme there is. The
possibilities are endless, here.”
Kenshin’s eyes swung to Aoshi. “What have you found out about Kaoru’s
father?”
“Nothing,” Aoshi said. “There was no information about an execution, and any
information about those who worked in the temple is only accessible by the
priests. My men haven’t managed to read them yet.”
Kenshin frowned, eyes focusing on the table. “After the Introduction Ball I
believe that there is no doubt that Kaoru has been trained in a Royal Court. I
want to know what connection there is for her to the Yukishiros and how deep it
goes.”
“I believe,” Aoshi said quietly, “that the only one who knows that is Her
Majesty.”
~*~
Kaoru woke up slowly. It felt like she had been wrapped in cotton and heat.
Even as her eyelids opened, they felt sticky and she frowned at the odd angle
of light thrown across the comforter that was under her hand. She was alone in
the bed, but the bond told her that Kenshin wasn’t far away.
Once Kaoru finally found the energy to move, shifting on the bed so that she
could rearrange her legs a little, the events from the night before began to
crash into her brain and she moaned into her pillow. Kenshin had to be furious
with her. No matter how much comfort he had given, he had to be utterly furious
with her. Lying there, wrapped in blankets, her nose pressed into sheets that
smelled like his skin; she wanted to weep. It seemed that she didn’t have any
tears left to cry. There was an odd sort of numb exhaustion that seemed to ache
in the back of her eyes and left a weariness in her limbs.
Letting her lashes close, she stilled at what sounded like footsteps. She
didn’t want to see anyone right now… much less her husband. She didn’t want to
admit anything to anyone other than herself right now and she didn’t know how
she was going to do if anyone wanted answers.
The bed bounced a little as someone settled against it, and she gave a small
sigh as someone stroked her hair. Tilting her head upwards and peeking through
her lashes, Kaoru found herself staring at a pair of grave violet eyes sparked
with amber. His mouth was a tense line and she dropped her gaze. What was she
supposed to say or do at this point?
“We need to talk,” he told her in a gentle voice. “There are some things you
haven’t been very comfortable in telling me and I haven’t wanted to push you,
but I think after last night…” his voice trailed off.
Kaoru lifted her stare back to his face, uncertainty written across her
features. “Why would you want to know?” Kaoru asked her voice scratchy and
hoarse. She swallowed and dropped her gaze again. Something flickered across
the bond so fast she couldn’t quite catch it, but the rush of warmth and
affection had her breath catching in her throat.
“Kaoru,” his voice was low, one hand curving under her cheek and lifting her
head. “You share my soul. There is nothing about you or your past I do not want
to know, to memorize. There is nothing that has to be forgiven.”
She met the gold sparks of his stare for a long moment before moving to sit
up, remaining silent as he pulled her up easily. She was surprised when he
shifted her against him so that her cheek was pressed against his chest, his
lips pressed against her hair. Kaoru breathed in his scent for long moments,
striving to memorize the feel of him. “What do you want to know?”
He was quiet for a long time. “Tell me about your mother.”
Kaoru raised her head and looked up at him and swallowed. “My mother?”
“Hmmm…” he agreed. “We might as well start at the beginning. Did she have
your hair?” His fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of her neck. “What was
she like?”
Kaoru blinked at him for a long moment. “My hair?” she asked in confusion
before she shrugged. “My hair is my mother’s in everything except color. She
was from the north and she was very fair and small boned.” She licked her lips.
“She married my father when she was very young and they waited several years to
have me, going against the tradition of the church.”
Kenshin continued to play with the ends of her hair. “Did she teach you how
to hold your head like a lady?”
Kaoru stilled against his chest before nodding slowly. “Yes.” She tightened
her grip around his waist. “She was a perfect lady. She never had interest in
horses or swords or anything beyond running a household and her books, but she
was perfect in everything she did.”
“Whose idea was it to learn how to defend yourself?”
“My father’s,” Kaoru admitted. “He struck a deal with my mother. She agreed
to let him teach me how to use ‘boy’s toys’ as she called them, if she and I
worked on being a lady three mornings a week. The weekends were spent with a
tutor along with three hours each evening doing homework.”
“Kaoru… who were your parents?”
Kaoru shivered in his arms. “Can I… can we talk about this later?” She
twisted her fingers against his shirt. “Please?”
Kenshin carefully felt along the bond and noted the way fear and panic
seemed to war inside her, and kissed her temple. “All right. What do you want
to talk about?”
Kaoru bit her lip. He deserved the truth. She had to tell him something. It
was only fair. “Sumita… that man… my father…” She stuttered to a halt and tried
again. “My father was accused by the temple for crimes he did not commit. The
man who attacked… h-he… was responsible for my father’s death.”
Kenshin pressed his lips together as he processed her words. “He killed your
father?”
“No,” Kaoru admitted. “He was responsible for his death. How much do you
know about Temple executions?”
“Not much.” Kenshin said.
“In order for the Temple to be able to execute someone for treason to the temple
or to the throne, there has to be a witness. It’s all very complicated and
based on tradition and spells, but Sumita was the man who sat before the Royal
Judgment and had my father condemned. I am not sure how he managed to get past
the spells, but he did, and my father died.”
Kenshin rubbed her back for long moments, his mind going over everything she
said. “You were sent to the temple,” he said slowly, continuing when she nodded
against his chest. “You were given as a slave and I am assuming your mother
died during your stay?”
“Grief,” Kaoru whispered. “Her people had an odd magic. I didn’t inherit any
of it, but I always thought my parents were curiously aware of each other.”
“Kaoru… are you part of the royal family?”
Kaoru shut her eyes tightly before nodding. Kenshin didn’t say anything for
long moments. “So after your father’s death, Sumita was sent away.”
“Yes,” Kaoru confessed in a muted voice. “I swore I would find a way to
avenge my parents, but it seemed impossible until…”
“Until?”
“You.”
“What do you mean?” Kenshin asked, something lacing his tone Kaoru couldn’t
understand.
Her fingers twisted in his shirt and she looked at him with a cautious
expression. “How much do you know of my people’s religion?”
Kenshin frowned at her. “You are very loyal to your goddess,” he said
finally. “It has changed over the years according to the temple and which
Priests hold the records.”
“Yes, some of them are very loyal,” Kaoru agreed tiredly. “Magic goes
against our temple religion; the reason your marriage caused such a stir was
because the Priests have banned magic for centuries. Her Highness’s marriage to
you was going to break down that ban and throw everything into chaos.”
“How does that…”
“When Tomoe made me her offer to switch places with her for my freedom, all
I had to do was take her place in her marriage bed. I didn’t think it was going
to be that difficult an ordeal…” Her words died and she looked up. Kenshin was
amused to see a faint blush dust across her cheeks. “I had seen you once
already and you were very handsome.”
Kenshin blinked in surprise. He opened his mouth to comment but Kaoru rushed
ahead. “As you can imagine, that was why I was so mad at you when you told me
that I was your wife. You got between me and the chance to find my father’s killer.”
“I don’t understand how you thought you were going to be able to find him,”
Kenshin said with a frown. “You didn’t have any resources or…” He considered
her features. “ .”…Kaoru?”
“I had a few options,” Kaoru said finally. She fidgeted and sighed. “How did
Sumita manage to work that spell? He said he used old magic and I didn’t know
what to do.” Kaoru looked up at him. “I have never fought against magic
before.”
“Did he cast a spell while you were in there?” Kenshin questioned, forcing
his voice to be calm.
“No…” Kaoru said slowly, her gaze narrowed in thought. “Sumita… he said the
only way out of the room was if one of us died. I… baited him, and he called a
knife for me to fight him with. He had his sword, but he didn’t use anything
else against me. I’m sorry about the mess in your office.”
“You’re alive,” Kenshin told her firmly, “that’s all that matters.”
“He said he used soul magic, Kenshin. What is that?” Kaoru asked finally,
shutting her eyes as Kenshin continued to wrap her in the warmth of his
emotions.
“It’s magic that is punishable by death to use,” Kenshin said flatly. “The
books that hold such magic are locked away and guarded with spells and physical
traps. How he got his hands on such a spell will be found out. Aoshi is looking
into it. He is also getting the details on how long he has been in Wargen’s
Court.”
Kaoru nodded her understanding.
“Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I couldn’t get into that
room?” Kenshin asked suddenly.
Kaoru lifted her head to stare up at him and he let go of her hair to cup
her face between his palms. “I could feel how furious you were,” she admitted.
His gaze was a pale blue that was lightening to light gold.
“You were in danger and I could do nothing. That is not a comfortable
feeling.” He stared at her wide-eyed expression and leaned back a little bit.
He feathered his thumbs across her cheekbones. Leaning forward, he pressed his
mouth against hers, his mouth gentle enough, but there was something almost
desperate in his touch against her. “Try to get some more rest. I will handle
this matter.”
Kaoru blinked and frowned at him. “But…” she started and he slid his fingers
over her lips. “Ken…” His fingers settled a little firmer against her flesh.
“I want to take care of you.” He lifted his finger from her lips and tapped
her nose. “Spend the day relaxing and sleep when you can. Cameral is under
strict orders, so don’t even think you are going to get away with anything. Let
her know if you are hungry.” He nibbled on the corner of her mouth. “Don’t argue,
either.” He stood easily and tucked the covers around her waist. “ Reading will
be an acceptable past time.”
Warm affection continued to wrap around her as he left the room, so she
didn’t feel alone. She looked up when Cameral came in with a tray in her hands
and gave a faint smile of thanks. The look her husband had given her just
before he left had sent butterflies dancing her stomach, and there was
something about the way the bond shivered between them that had changed.
Tucking into the meal, she decided she would worry about it later.
~*~
Sano stared at the small man in front of him, glaring down at him as he continued
to babble and stutter out his insistences that he didn’t have the herb that he
wanted. The squinty eyed little man was shifting nervously from foot to foot,
and the fact that he kept casting glances behind him to see if what his hired
hands were doing did nothing to improve his case.
It had been in the first candle mark after dawn that Tokio had isolated the
different components in the spell. The fact that Kenshin hadn’t been in the
room had given them the time they needed to figure out a plan. Sumita had used
a complicated spell. Sano didn’t understand the complications of it, but the
use of cassiabark and elderberries mixed with carnation petals as a power
booster… it spelled trouble. Especially since the sale of cassiabark was
heavily sanctioned and elderberries were only available with a royal seal; the
fact that Sumita had gotten his hands on those components for his spell meant
trouble for someone.
He was just the person lucky enough to be able to enforce it. “You know,”
Sano told the shop keeper, trying to remember his name, failing, and deciding
to tag him as Shifty instead. “I’m just the initial force. You can either tell
me the truth or I can report that I don’t like what I see and either Shinomori
or Saitoh can come down here ask you the same questions, repeatedly, until they
get answers.”
Shifty paled. Sano didn’t particularly mind that the man was more nervous
about Saitoh or Aoshi. Their reputations had been crafted the way they had for
a reason and his for another way. However, his temper was riled up
enough that he would have little trouble knocking the heads together of anyone
in his path. He allowed a little of that anger to bleed into his eyes and face.
“By order of the King I’m closing you down until I get answers that make me
happy. Then you get to answer questions to make other people happy. Rumors that
I don’t like have been circulating. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about
some elderberry on the black market, would you? ‘Cause if you do, and you don’t
tell me, I’ll crack your skull.” Not that things were going to go easy for him,
but if Shifty had enough information to tie the elderberry to Sumita, he might
managed to keep from being cursed to the darkest hell Kenshin knew of.
In all the years that Sano had known Kenshin, he had only seen him this
worked up once or twice. They had met when they were both boys in court;
Kenshin’s fourteen to his thirteen. The fact that Sano had been twice as tall
as the small boned prince had always given people the impression that Sano was
the older of the pair; taller or not, he had known from that first day who was
the most dangerous of the two.
Kenshin had been surrounded by some larger boys of the court; they were
determined to make sure that the small prince understood that until he came into
power, they were still in bigger than he was. Sano, already having a reputation
for aggression, had stepped forward to help (unaware at the time of Kenshin’s
parentage), not liking the situation. It had taken him only one glance at the
golden-eyed boy to realize that his help was not needed.
Three years later, Kenshin had decided to go and assist Shishio Makoto in a
war against his wife’s uncle who happened to be the King at the time. Sano had
gone in with him, watching his back, watching the way his battle magic and
temper had honed him into something his pale face and large eyes had never
promised unless you happened to see him angry.
Now, that anger was barely being contained. The only reason Kenshin wasn’t
on the streets himself was because he refused to leave Kaoru until there was
concrete information. According to Tokio, who occasionally checked in, he had
been bothering everyone until Kaoru woke up half a candle mark ago. Then he had
disappeared again.
“Elderberry is illegal.” Shifty tried, sweat beading at his temples.
Sano grinned. He loved it when they attempted to be difficult. Reaching
forward, he fisted his hands in the man’s shirt, lifted him off his feet and
shook him like a rag doll. “Now,” Sano informed him once his head stopped
bobbling like a child’s toy, “you can either tell me what I want to know about
spell ingredients, or we can just go ahead and start breaking things.” He eyed
some expensive looking vases. Megumi would think they were ridiculously priced
and find something more expensive for her liking. “When we’re done, I get to
hand deliver you to my King. You can either go in a very small box or you can
still have your legs.” Sano’s grin sharpened.
“I… I have books,” Shifty finally managed. “Ledgers!” He seemed to be having
trouble breathing, so Sano set him down hard on his feet. The man stumbled.
“I suggest you point me in the direction of those books and ledgers,” Sano
said in a soft voice. “They had better stand up to Shinomori’s scrutiny, or
what I do to you will feel good in comparison.” Not that much was going
to save the man from Aoshi once Sano delivered the information, unless Saitoh
needed the stress relief more.
……..
Sano shut the door to the shop behind him, his hands still tingling slightly
from the use of the transportation spell Tokio had given him to send anything
suspicious back to Aoshi’s office. Shaking the pins and needles feeling from
his fingertips, he stepped onto the street and started the walk back home.
“Sanosuke? Sano?” A male voice broke into his thoughts. Sano turned and
found himself looking into a familiar face. Dark hair was pulled away from a
familiar face with an even more recognizable headband. The green clashed with
the red shirt tucked into dark brown breeches. “It has been some time, my
friend.”
Sano broke into a smile, surprise lightening his features. “Katsu! What are
you doing in these parts? Shit, the last time I saw you, you were making bombs
for Makato… that was what… thirteen years ago? Why do you have that ridiculous
headband?”
“The headband attracts ladies, my friend. You should know that… although it
appears that someone had stolen yours.”
“That would be my wife,” Sano said with a smile. “She burned it on our
second anniversary and gave some very… interesting threats involving my jewels,
if you catch my meaning.” Katsu reached where he was standing and they clasped
forearms.
“Are you busy?” Katsu asked, his brown eyes smiling. “We could find
breakfast and catch up on old times. Thirteen years is far too long for us to
be apart.”
“I would….” Sano cut himself off and dragged a hand through his hair,
mussing the coarse locks. “I can’t. Probably won’t be able to for some time.
Are you going to be in town for longer than it takes you to get laid?”
“A man has to eat. I’m actually here to see a friend. He has a sister.”
Katsu waggled his eye brows suggestively. “There is the possibility…” Katsu
studied his face, his words dying as he took in the serious lines around Sano’s
eyes. “Something has happened at the palace? You look tense.”
Sano’s lips pressed together for a moment before he shrugged. “Someone
attempted to murder the Queen last night. The attempt failed but…” Sano’s words
cut off as he got a look at the expression on Katsu’s face. It was gone in a
heartbeat but for a second his features had been contorted into a sort of rage…
“Katsu?”
“Is the Queen all right?” Katsu questioned, his voice now showing only
polite interest and concern.
“Hell, as far as I can tell but shit like that messed a person up
sometimes?” Sano asked darkly under his breath. “Some first escort named Sumita
was involved. I have to get back. Things are getting a little tight, if you
catch my meaning. Kenshin is pissed. Stop by the palace before you head out and
have lunch. You can meet the wife. Megumi would hang me by my balls if I didn’t
at least try to get you over.” Katsu gave a distracted nod and smiled.
“I will. Take care of yourself,” Katsu said.
Sano nodded and watched his friend walk off. He frowned, unable to put his
finger on what part of the conversation had bothered him, before sighing. He
had too much to think about right now; he would worry about odd behavior in his
friend later.
Turning on his heel, Sano headed back to the castle to report his findings.
