D. N. Angel Fan Fiction ❯ Rapunzel's Prince ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

 

Disclaimer: DN Angel is not mine. And whilst this disclaimer may not have any legal value, I would very much appreciate it if you did not try to sue me on grounds of copyright breach. Thank you.

 

Warnings: S-ai, angst, AU.

 

“I can't understand why on earth you wouldn't want to retake your kingdom, your Highness,” Kouyuu commented as he paced the floor. “Your land is falling into civil war and even as we speak, it is tearing itself apart. No ruler in his right mind would allow his own country to fall into such a state!”

 

Satoshi did not bother taking offense at the remark; a week with Li Kouyuu, his cousin's trusted advisor, told him that the man always spoke what was on his mind without thinking about it first. “I don't think I'm the right person to rule the kingdom,” he said shortly. Everyone in the room sighed and Ran Shuuei rolled his eyes impatiently, a show of great exasperation on his part already.

 

“You're better than—“ Kouyuu was cut off as the Ran courtier calmly leaned over and placed a hand over his mouth, stemming the flow of words.

 

The blue-haired prince smiled coldly. “Than who? My father?” The room fell silent, leaving the young minister to slowly turn red with embarrassment. Satoshi stood up abruptly, causing everyone in the room to blink. “I don't care. I don't want the kingdom. Don't bother sending your men to die, Ryuuki. I won't lead them. Place whoever you want on the throne, but it won't be me.” With those words he left, smirking at the stunned reaction of all the nobles in the room. Was it really so difficult to understand that he wanted nothing to do with his former heritage?

 

He walked out into the scorching heat of the day and leaned against a smooth plant that was also called a cactus, but much different from its spikier cousins. He revelled in the shade but at the same time remained outside, unwilling to go back indoors to where his cousins would try and persuade him to take the throne and reunite the country. He didn't want to be known for great deeds or acts of heroism. All he wanted was a quiet life, away from the scheming world of politics and advisors who secretly plotted his downfall. He'd thought that Ryuuki, out of all those people in that room, would understand better than anyone else. The one fundamental difference between them, he thought coldly, was that Ryuuki was capable of ruling. He wasn't.

 

Night fell and he shivered slightly, still unused to the dramatic change in temperature in this desert country. He frowned lightly as the sound of someone muttering reached his ears. It sounded like Kouyuu and Satoshi strained to better hear the voice. “It must have been moved,” it mumbled. “Who on earth would move the doorway? Why would they do this, especially at night? Is it because of security concerns?” Suppressing a smile, Satoshi stood up and made his way towards the person. It was definitely Kouyuu. Only Kou Reishin's adopted son would be this incapable of finding the exit.

 

“Kouyuu?” The man nearly jumped when he heard Satoshi's voice. “Where are you going?”

 

The other refused to speak and Satoshi tried not to smile. “I'm going to the main dining hall,” he said coolly. “Are you hungry?”

 

“I was going that way too!” The older man fell into step beside the young prince and they silently made their way into the dining hall, Satoshi feeling a small sense of satisfaction at seeing the relief painted openly on the advisor's face.

 

Dinner was a merry affair, more so than usual because of Kou Shuurei's return. Satoshi kept silent; he had never been good at small talk; but he could see the happiness painted on the emperor's features and the smile on everyone's faces as they talked and laughed with Shuurei. When she naively inquired about the unusual shade of his hair, he politely replied and somehow made her laugh. He liked her immediately, and thought that he could grow used to this place, this country, this number of people at the table with him. Is this what mother and father always did? The thought sobered him up immediately and he quickly excused himself, feeling guilty for enjoying himself when his father was dead and he was still meant to be in mourning.

 

He wandered listlessly through the halls, brushing past the ornately carved doors and the lavishly decorated corridors, not even daring to marvel at the bright lighting in all the rooms, unlike back in Castle Hiwatari. He berated himself silently for forgetting about his father's death, but of course none of his guilt showed on his face. I am a cursed child, he told himself silently. I don't deserve the Hiwatari Kingdom. I don't deserve to live, or be happy. I will remain in the Khael Kingdom, and vanish into obscurity. Let my - no - the Hiwatari Kingdom find itself a new ruler.

 

Satoshi looked around, realising suddenly that his feet had taken him to a part of the castle which he had yet to explore. He looked around carefully, trying to remember from which way he had come, but his mind registered nothing and all the corridors looked equally unfamiliar. He looked around and picked a corridor that looked likely to be the way out and began to walk. Suddenly, the wind began to pick up and he cursed; whereas the wind was a comforting presence back home, here it meant dust storms and grit in his eyes, hair and clothes for the next week if he didn't quickly find shelter. He squinted into the flying sand and ran towards what looked like a door, breathing out a sigh of relief as his fingers felt a handle and the door swung open, letting him into a small, dimly lit room. A few candles littered the surfaces and a small window allowed the rapidly dimming sunlight to illuminate a few of the dusty surfaces. The young prince frowned and peered through the dust motes floating around, only able to make out one large shape in the corner. It looked quite heavy and large, he noted, and it was covered with a heavy cloth, likely to prevent the object itself from getting dusty.

 

He didn't know what made him do it; he still didn't. The blue-haired youth walked over to the covered object and pulled the cloth off, revealing a large mirror. It was shaped oddly, a little like a teardrop, and surrounded with an ornately worked gold frame. Embedded into each twist of the metal was a glittering opal, the gem of Sight; Satoshi had never seen anything of the like before. He knelt down to inspect it more closely and looked deeply into the polished glass, wondering how the mirror had managed to stay so clean over the passage of time.

 

His blue eyes widened as suddenly a shadow floated over his reflection and he looked behind himself, but there was nothing. He slowly backed away and stared even as his own face rippled and vanished, to be replaced by many images blurring together. He saw a vicious battle, a tangle of roses and rushing scenery, as though he were tumbling downwards from a great height. Darkness seeped into the mirror from the edges of the glass and Satoshi stared in fear at the empty blackness in the mirror, wondering what he was seeing. Suddenly a tower flashed through the darkness, a tower so high that he was sure he could see it even from the isolated deserts of the Khael kingdom. Then he saw something that he swore he'd never see again; the green forests and towers of his castle, the Hiwatari kingdom before the High Council had torn it apart in their quest for power. The tower reappeared in the mirror and Satoshi swore that he could hear the wind whispering, “Find Rapunzel.”

 

He stumbled out of the room, unsure of what to think. Satoshi could only focus on the image of the massive tower, and the name Rapunzel. Who, or what, was this `Rapunzel'? Why was he supposed to look for him/her/it? Was it important? Why was he seeing his kingdom reunited? He stepped out of the room and raised his arm against the bright glare of the sun, now in full force. He decided to find Rapunzel, since that was what the mirror had told him to do. Besides, it wasn't as though he had much else to do with his life, and the thought of staying in his cousin's court for the rest of his days made him shudder.

 

The next day:

 

“Have you ever heard of anything, or anyone, named Rapunzel?” Satoshi asked the kind-looking archivist. Ordinarily, he would look for the name himself, but in an unfamiliar library he knew that it would be better to ask for someone else's expertise.

 

Kou Shouka smiled kindly at the youth before him. “I've never heard of the name,” he replied truthfully, “but I'm sure there will be something here.” He moved fluidly over to one of the shelves, turning to beckon to the blue-haired prince behind him. “This shelf has Western names beginning with the letter `R'. I'm sure that if there is any record of Rapunzel, you will find it here.” The younger man smiled gratefully and thanked the archivist, immediately crouching down to read the words on the spines of the books on the very bottom of the massive shelf. Shouka quietly left and decided to ask his daughter to bring the other some manjuu and tea. He was sure that the heir to the Hiwatari throne would appreciate the food.

 

Satoshi worked his way through the shelves systematically. Unlike Kouyuu's haphazard genius, or Ryuuki's pure luck, he was sure that he would be unable to find anything in the books he laid his hands on if he pulled them all out randomly. So he began to search, flipping quickly through the flimsy pages and hoping that the name would catch his eye. He paused a few times per book, looking more closely at anything that remotely resembled Rapunzel, but much to his chagrin and dismay, he could not find anything that so much as hinted at what the word meant, or where it came from.

 

“Excuse me!” Satoshi looked up warily; a remnant of his days in the Hiwatari castle where he'd had to make sure to avoid the queen at all costs. His home had never been as welcoming or as warm as this palace seemed to be.

 

“Father said you'd be in here.” Satoshi's head nodded absently as he returned to his books. “Would you like some manjuu?”

 

Satoshi looked up. “No thank you,” he politely replied. “I'm not hungry at the moment.”

 

Shuurei didn't look like she would take a no for an answer. “I'll put it here,” she announced, gently placing the tray on the ground, close enough for him to reach but not so close that it was in danger of being buried under all the books. “Try one,” she urged him. “Aren't you hungry?”

 

The blue-haired boy ignored her. She would leave soon, he thought. Most girls he knew had no interest in what boys did unless it concerned money or power. But she has her own power, his mind whispered. Indeed, Ryuuki had wasted no time in boasting of Shuurei's achievements both at court and in the Sa Province, and thus Satoshi knew that she was intelligent. Nevertheless, that didn't mean she wasn't on the lookout for a husband. All the princesses and nobles he'd ever talked to only had one thing on their minds: marriage. And no matter how nice the girl seemed, he wasn't ready to marry yet. “Father says you're looking for something,” she said after a long silence. Satoshi frowned and turned to her. Seeing that she'd gotten his attention, she smiled. It was warm, and more sincere than anything he'd seen back home. Even his nurses and tutors had been distant, fearing the wrath of the queen should they become too close to the young prince. “Rapunzel, is that right?” He nodded.

 

“I've never heard of that name,” she continued cheerily. “Where did you see it?” He gave a half-hearted shrug, not wanting to say anything about the mirror. He was sure that someone would laugh at him, and anyway, madness ran in his family. The entire incident could have easily been a figment of his imagination.

 

“I don't know,” he replied quietly, continuing to rifle through the books all the while. “Someone said it to me, and I wanted to know more. But they wouldn't tell me.”

 

“Maybe it's a country or a city?”

 

“No, it's definitely either a person or a thing.”

 

“It sounds foreign to here. Maybe he's in one of the other kingdoms.” Satoshi noticed that she tactfully avoided the issue of his own country and he shrugged.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Would you like some more manjuu?” Satoshi looked down in surprise and stared at the white crumbs on his lap. The plate was completely clean, and he could not help but wonder when he'd last eaten properly. Dinner was a faraway memory and breakfast, for him, did not exist. As though to answer the Kou official's question, his stomach growled embarrassingly loudly. She laughed lightly, but it wasn't mocking laughter, or fake laughter like some of his father's friends. It was genuine and warm and friendly and all the things that none of the councillors' children had ever done when they were playing with him.

 

He ploughed through the books, surprised at how energetic he felt after the snack even though he had never enjoyed eating. It was only when he found himself squinting in order to read the words in each book that he realised that darkness had fallen once more. Nevertheless, he soldiered on, determined to find something pertaining to Rapunzel. He wanted to leave this palace, and this desert country, and do something worthwhile with his life. At least, before he convinced himself that this entire thing was a figment of his imagination, or he was forcefully replaced on the throne. He did not want to be chained to a kingdom forever; look where that had gotten his parents.

 

Days passed like this, but to Satoshi's surprise, no one brought up the subject of his regaining the Hiwatari throne once more. Reports and vague rumours of an uneasy peace in his home country reached his ears, courtesy of `discreet' conversations between Ran Shuuei and his cousin, with the occasional comment from Kou Reishin, but he paid them no heed and continued to search. Then one day, he reached the other end of the archives. He had gone through every scroll, every volume of knowledge in the Emperor's extensive archives and there was still no mention of Rapunzel. Feeling miserable and cheated, he made his way out, only to run into Shuurei, carrying her usual tray of snacks and clearly on her way to the archives. “Satoshi-kun!” She chirped brightly. Sensing that he was ill at ease; she had a knack for these things; she led him to a small alcove next to a large window and he slowly sat whilst she poured the tea and arranged things just so. He blankly stared at the food on his plate, for the first time in a while unwilling to eat. “You haven't found anything?” She asked sympathetically. Satoshi shook his head.

 

“No. I think I might have to return…” He stopped, remembering that he would likely be dead as soon as he crossed the border. He hadn't ignored everything said about his old home. “But I can't really do that, can I?” He smiled bitterly. Shuurei smiled and placed her hand over his.

 

“Well, no,” she said calmly. “But I'm sure someone around here must know something. Why don't you try asking my father? He might know something about it, since he travelled so much in his youth. I can write a letter to Ensei-san or Eigetsu-kun, and see if they've heard anything about Rapunzel in Sa.” Satoshi shook his head; he didn't want to bother her. She was a Sa official, after all; it wouldn't do to impose on her, not when she had so much to do already. “No? Well, that's all right, it's really no trouble for me to do so. And I'll be seeing them soon when I go home, so I can ask them then, if you'd like.” Satoshi felt a small flush of embarrassment creep up the back of his neck. He felt so helpless, like always. Little Prince Satoshi, useless and helpless, soft and weak, pampered and spoiled so much that he couldn't even summon up the courage to attempt to retake his own kingdom.

 

A few days later, he got his answer. Although Khael was mainly desert country, the Emperor himself had exquisitely-tended gardens with dozens of different types of plants all growing together. Some Satoshi recognised from home, others, he found, were completely unknown to him. It was here that he met Ran Ryuuren, the bane of Shuuei's existence and the acclaimed genius of the Ran family.

 

It started with an awful sound that did not remotely resemble anything he'd ever heard before. It was quite dark outside, and the noise pierced the early morning gloom. He lay in bed for a while, unable to move and too sluggish to do anything about it, but soon it became unbearable. He slowly made his way to the window and flung aside the thin drapes, only to see a bizarre figure standing in the Emperor's garden. He squinted a little and soon made out the shape of a man, wearing a turban on his head and a long cape. The figure turned around to look at him and Satoshi stared, unable to react as it approached him. “Who are you?” The man asked. Dimly, the blue-haired man noted that the other peson was carrying a flute and guessed that the instrument must have been the source of the frightening cacophony that had so rudely awoken him.

 

“Stop making that noise,” he said bluntly before turning away. It did not occur to him until after the strange man leapt into the room through his window that he could have just allowed an assassin into the palace.

 

“It is music,” the strange person declared proudly. Satoshi eyed him sceptically before returning to bed.

 

“I don't care what it is,” he mumbled sleepily. “Just go play it somewhere else.”

 

The screeches soon killed any hope he might have had of getting a decent night's rest. “What do you want?” He growled irritably.

 

“What's your name?”

 

You can't be serious. “It's rude to wake someone up and then demand their name without first telling them your own.”

 

“What if I'm an assassin?”

 

“Then you'd tell me your name, I'd turn pale and faint away and make your task of killing me that much easier.”

 

“You're very morbid. Not like Soul Friend Number One or Number Two at all. But you're smarter than Idiot Brother Number Four.” The prince wondered what he'd done wrong to deserve this fate.

 

The sun rose, and Satoshi had long given up sleep as a lost cause. He had briefly toyed with the idea of stealing Ryuuren's flute and throwing it out of the window as soon as the other youth had fallen asleep, but unfortunately the man showed no signs of fatigue in spite of the ungodly hour. He had endured a long monologue on the virtues of Ryuuren's two `Soul Friends' and by the time the youngest Ran began to detail `Idiot Brother Number Three's' faults, the Hiwatari prince had given up on getting any rest at all.

 

They made their way down to breakfast in due course, where Kouyuu took one look at the genius of the Ran family and mumbled something under his breath about `weed-pulling idiots'. Satoshi decided right there and then that he had been most fortunate in escaping Kouyuu's fate. Of course, he later reflected at breakfast, putting up with Ryuuren for a whole night was completely and utterly worth the horrified expression on Shuuei's face, especially when the youngest Ran loudly asked if Kouyuu had improved since `the first time', which caused Kou Reishin to stand up and haul his foster son out of the dining hall with a face like a thundercloud, and turned Shuuei's normally smiling face into a mask of absolute embarrassment. It was not every day, after all, that one saw Ran Shuuei look anything but self-satisfied.

 

“Ah, Ryuuren!” Shuurei suddenly said as though she'd just thought of the idea. “On your travels, have you ever heard of anything called Rapunzel?” The genius frowned slightly.

 

“How is it written?” He asked mildly, no trace of the eccentric genius anywhere on his features at all.

 

“Ah, I'm not sure,” Shuurei laughed. “But Satoshi was looking for it, and I thought you might know.”

 

“Who? Satoshi? The prince of the Hiwatari kingdom?”

 

Shuurei looked slightly bewildered. “Ah, Ryuuren, you came down to breakfast with him…” she laughed.

 

Dark eyes swept over to Satoshi and they blinked once, twice. As he looked back, the blue-haired youth suddenly saw why people called Ran Ryuuren a genius; those eyes had nothing to do with playing the flute in the most appalling manner known to man, or wearing that ridiculous turban with feathers stuck in it. It was something to do with the way they looked at him, knowing but not pitying. For that small fact alone, Satoshi was infinitely grateful. “I thought you didn't know my name,” he found himself confessing.

 

Ryuuren ignored him, turning back to Shuurei. “How is it written?” He asked. The Kou princess turned to the blue-eyed boy and waited quietly. The Hiwatari prince frowned, thinking about how he would write it, were he forced to do so.

 

“R-A-P-U-N-Z-E-L,” he said finally. Ryuuren's fine eyebrows rose and something fluttered in the youth's chest. Would he finally find the answer to his puzzle?

 

“It's a plant,” the Ran genius responded. “It looks rather like a cabbage, but the leaves are tinged with dark scarlet instead of green. It's said to be very good for women with child, and only grows in warm, damp areas, like marshes. We don't have any of those here in Khael.” Satoshi's shoulders slumped; was the mirror telling him to look for a cabbage?

 

“Are you sure it's not a person?” He blurted out before turning red as everyone stared at him. He wondered where his manners had gone; back at home, he would never have dreamed of interrupting a conversation. Then again, there were no nurses or tutors here to reprimand him for his lack of manners.

 

Ryuuren's shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Perhaps. Although it would rather be like calling your child `Carrot', or `Celery'.”

 

In any case, he had found part of the answer to the mystery. Not wanting to stay any longer, and fearing that his royal cousin might force him onto the Hiwatari throne, Satoshi decided to leave quickly and quietly. However, he also knew that he would need maps, or at least a rough guide to show him how to return to his kingdom. He could no longer rely on Aquila's help; the man was so busy with keeping a watch over the king's massive grounds in this desert country that he would surely not wish to leave his job. Nevertheless, the prince felt that it would be worth a try seeking out the older man's advice before starting his journey.

 

“Go, then.” Satoshi stared in surprise at the one man he thought would provide the most resistance to his idea. Aquila glared and turned back to his horse, but Satoshi recovered quickly enough.

 

“What?”

 

The gamekeeper growled and turned to face the confused prince. “Go back home,” he told the younger man. “Go and find the cabbage, or whatever you call it then.”

 

Satoshi was surprised at the lack of interest on Aquila's part. “Aren't you going to protest?” He asked. He did not want to look a gift horse too closely in the mouth, but he expected vehement protests. Nothing at all like this grudging acquiescence.

 

“Do you expect me to be your guardian?” Satoshi did not say anything. “You don't want to go, do you?” Satoshi unconsciously straightened to look down at the other, unknowingly mimicking his father whenever questioned.

 

“I beg your pardon?” Aquila laughed roughly. The blue-haired prince frowned lightly at this open mockery, although he had long become accustomed to it. The gamekeeper was not as subtle as the nobility he dealt with usually, and his words were usually well-meaning, if not always tactful or kind.

 

“Don't beg my pardon, your Highness.” Those alert brown eyes, surrounded by wrinkles that no man of his years should ever have to bear glanced up at him. “You're looking for an excuse not to go,” he snapped shortly. “You'll keep telling yourself that you need to look for maps, advice, a guide, supplies, but you'll never make it out of those gates.” The prince's brows drew downwards coldly.

 

“Are you saying that I'm afraid?” He demanded angrily.

 

“Of course not. I'm merely saying that you're looking for a way to delay the trip. Whether you're afraid or not is an entirely different matter. Are you afraid?”

 

Satoshi opened his mouth, a searing retort on the tip of his tongue until the full impact of Aquila's words hit him. To his surprise, they stung even though he thought that he was fully immune to the taunt of `coward', the one thing his people had shouted at the castle gates every day until he'd been moved to a smaller, less conspicuous building. Blinking back a sudden sting in his eyes and fighting back the small wisp of hurt at Aquila's words, he quickly turned and walked away. The Master of the Game watched him go, brown eyes narrowed and shimmering with the barest hint of regret.

 

The prince knew that he would get no help from Aquila. It appeared that the man viewed his duty as already done, and no longer wanted anything more to do with the Hiwatari clan, or its war-torn kingdom for that matter. Satoshi hastily pulled books out from amongst the shelves in the archives, more for the sake of doing something rather than actually, actively seeking out maps. The gamekeeper had not used any, but he knew that they were essential if he was to return on his own. So immersed in his task of raking pamphlets, sheaves and bundles of paper out was he that he did not even hear Shouka's footsteps, or the rattle of his dreaded tea set.

 

“My goodness, your Highness. Is something the matter?” Shouka knew better than to confront the other about the mess in his archives; he could tell there was something heavier on the other's mind.

 

Ice-blue eyes glared fiercely at him from amongst the books scattered around his feet. “I'm leaving,” the prince declared. Shouka smiled and nodded.

 

“Of course you are. Where to, may I ask?”

 

“Home.”

 

It appeared that despite his proclaimed disinterest in the affairs of his father's kingdom, Crown Prince Satoshi Hiwatari was still very much attached to the forests and lush green lands where he'd been brought up. He still thought of it as home.

 

“And what will you do when you reach home?” He inquired. “Does this, by any chance, have something to do with those maps of our lands?”

 

“Don't patronise me! I will find those maps! I will return home! Even if I have to march there with an army of a hundred thousand men gathered from Khael and Arandakar, I will return home!” Satoshi's voice cracked at the end of this final sentence and Shouka serenely glided forward, sweeping books and scrolls out of his path and gently bending down, extending a hand to Satoshi. “Your Highness, perhaps you should get up and have some tea first. Just leave the papers; they can wait.” Smiling all the while, he hoisted the other to his feet, surprised at the young prince's lack of weight.

 

He sat the boy down and poured him a small cup of tea, gently talking to the other all the while. “I brewed this tea myself; perhaps you'll tell me how you find it? Seiran and Shuurei never seem to take kindly to my little `extra' additions even though I'm sure it's not that bad - be careful, your Highness!” Satoshi had snatched the delicate piece of china up and drained the tea in one gulp, slamming the cup down on the table and rattling the teapot. Blue eyes stared at him in shock as the blue-haired youth keeled over and fell out of his chair, the stress and the appalling taste of the tea dragging him into unconsciousness. Shouka stared down in surprise at the young man. “Well,” he murmured to himself, “perhaps I might have boiled it for just a little too long…”

 

He awoke in a dark room. The searing sun of the desert kingdom had long gone down, leaving a slightly cooler breeze to waft in through the window and the clear moonlight to gently fall across his bed and the small table next to his head. Used to being alone, he did not even register the shadowy figure watching over him in a hair until he stepped on the person's foot. “I'm sorry!” The prince gasped, jumping backwards. “I did not mean to -“

 

“That's all right. Here,” a thin cup was pressed to his lips, “Drink. Shouka sent for me when you lost consciousness in his archives.” The voice was warm and soothing, but Satoshi paid it no heed.

 

“I lost consciousness? But how?” His mind slowly recovered and as it did, the mist over the events of the past few hours lifted and he hastily pushed the drink away, the foul taste of that tea returning to haunt his mouth. “The tea?” He asked without thinking. The healer laughed softly.

 

“Best you not let Shouka-san hear about that,” she gently said. “It would break his heart to know of your opinion.” Satoshi felt himself colouring and thanked the darkness for the cover. It would not do if he was seen blushing like some young maiden. He was not, after all, a princess, even if the people in the Hiwatari kingdom now told jokes about the eunuch prince who had not dared to come and rescue them from the clutches of civil war.

 

“The maps,” he rasped out, trying to disentangle himself from the mess of sheets. “I need to find those maps.” He leapt out of bed, only to stagger and almost fall on his face once more. Surprisingly strong hands firmly but gently pulled him back up, and he sat heavily on the bed.

 

“Be careful, your Highness. It would not do for me to tend to you for these few hours and then have you injuring yourself once more. I do not heal only to have others undo my work.” There was a faint hint of steel behind that voice now and Satoshi felt compelled to obey. The only person he knew who had that power besides this healer was his old nurse, and she had died a few months ago in the care of her family. He remembered giving them a monetary pension of sorts. “Have some more to drink.” There was now a note of faint amusement in the voice. “Rest assured, it is not the rest of Shouka-san's tea.”

 

Satoshi gulped the rest of the water down and breathed in deeply, forcing his emotions back inside where they belonged. “Thank you,” he whispered into the darkness.

 

“It is no trouble,” the healer serenely replied. “Can I trust you to remain here whilst I tell Shuurei-san and her friends that you are all right? The Emperor himself has been asking about your health when he heard of what transpired in the archives.”

 

The prince shrugged carefully, slowly trying to get out of the bed once more. “I would like to go out,” he replied cautiously. “Perhaps I could come with you?” There was a pause and then the rustle of shifting robes.

 

“I think not,” she replied in amusement. “I shall fetch them. You are exhausted from your journey and the pain of leaving your home. And I can see from the pallor of your skin that you have not been eating well. You must take care of yourself, your Highness. If I may be so bold as to suggest that, of course.” That serene, calm voice brooked no argument and Satoshi could tell that the final phrase was only a formality and little more. This woman spoke with authority, and expected to be obeyed. “Rest here. If I return and find you gone, I will not be best pleased. Neither will Shuurei, or the youngest Ran.” Satoshi idly wondered how Ryuuren had managed to hear of his incident in the archives and decided to rest for a while. It appeared as though he would not be leaving this room for a while, although the darkness was soothing and nothing like the oppressive stillness that had surrounded him in the west wing of the old castle he and his family had lived in.

 

A few minutes later, he heard footsteps and the sound of voices, accompanied by a wailing flute. He was tempted to pull the pillows over his head, but that would be a childish act and he seemed to have filled his quota for the year as it was. “Satoshi-kun!” Shuurei burst into the room, followed by two dim shapes whom the prince assumed to be Ran Shuuei and Li Kouyuu. They were inseparable; it was only fitting that they would both come to visit him at the same time. Ryuuren entered in a more orderly fashion, although of course his flute still jarred on the ears in ways that Satoshi had previously thought were not possible.

 

He spent some time reassuring his…cousin's friends that he was fine and in good health. No, he had not been sneaking swigs of sake in between scrolls and mealtimes. Yes, he had been sleeping well, although this was a blatant lie told only to reassure everyone. No one needed to know about his troubles, especially not the Khael court. During this time, he was immensely grateful for the healer's presence, glad for her timely intervention during loudly-asked questions. “Now then,” Shuurei's voice suddenly took on a more serious tone. “I hear you were shouting about bringing a hundred thousand men from here and Arandakar to your homeland. What was that about?” Satoshi failed to notice the way all the men suddenly back away from the Kou official, or the beginning of a large vein making itself known across Kouyuu's forehead even as he slowly moved away from Shuurei.

 

“I…don't remember,” he said truthfully. What he'd said earlier on in the day did not spring to mind; truth be told, much of it was still misty.

 

She leaned in more closely. “I'm sure you do, Satoshi-kun. You were shouting about how you would return home no matter what the cost, and you were searching quite hard for a stack of maps which, if I remember correctly, were in the Emperor's council room at the time.”

 

He had the feeling that he'd said something very wrong, but being less well-versed in the ways of women, especially women like Shuurei, he did not know any better than to claim ignorance. “I'm afraid I do not remember saying that.” There was a muffled laugh and everyone turned to look at the healer whom, they had all decided, was a likeable enough person, if not a little too prone to rising above her station and forgetting herself at times.

 

“My goodness,” the woman said gracefully, waving her fan in front of her face. “Your questions will be the death of him, Shuurei-san.”

 

Before anyone could react, however, Ryuuren interrupted the conversation. “When will you leave then, Satoshi?” Surprised at being addressed in such a familiar way, the blue-haired young man was caught off guard.

 

“I—“

 

“Don't be stupid,” the healer calmly interrupted. At the look on the other nobles' faces, including Shuuei's, she cleared her throat and rustled again, clearly adjusting the bulky sleeves of her robes. “He is in no fit condition to be gallivanting about the desert or around the borderlands. Besides, there are people patrolling it now.”

 

“Whose?” Satoshi's voice interrupted the woman mid-flow. When there was silence, he spoke again. “Whose people?” Kouyuu muttered something darkly about how, if Satoshi had wanted to find these things out, he should have attended the king's daily briefing sessions, but the prince paid him no heed. The ice-eyed man would have gladly grabbed the healer and shaken the information out of her if he could, but as it was he was barely able to sit up without the aid of the headboard.

There was an awkward silence and finally Ran Ryuuren broke it. “Lord Caelen's men. Do you know the name?”

 

Satoshi frowned. Lord Caelen? There had never been a Lord Caelen, at least not in his father's High Council. There had been a petty noble once, but he had been exiled for treachery and conspiracy to harm the people. Surely it could not be the same man? If anything, he was expecting either Duke Lamasque or Marquis Toussaint to have gained a small portion of control over his father's kingdom; they had always been the most influential ones. “What about Lamasque or Toussaint?”

 

The officials shot grim looks at each other. “Perhaps we should discuss this when you are better,” Shuuei gently suggested.

 

His dark eyes were met with ice-blue chips, as hard and cold as the glaciers atop the mountains he had trained in as a child. “No.” Satoshi said coldly. “Tell me now. Tell me everything.”

 

They talked throughout dinner, Shuurei sending for food and wine to be brought up as well as some candles. After all, she said, it was better to eat and talk of serious subjects when the room was brightened, lest they be affected by the darkness. Satoshi learned that his father's High Council had been all plagued by a mysterious disease only known as the `Fire Wasp's Sting', rendering them all incapable of directing their troops properly or even being able to travel to form alliances with each other. Meanwhile, their troops had run amok and become little better than mercenaries, plundering the lands that their lords had gained over time. Then a new figure had arrived, and he had brought an end to the bloody battles which tore the country apart.

 

“Lord Caelen.” Satoshi repeated the name thoughtfully. “He was a useless, petty noble in our court. Of course, he may well have changed over time. Exile usually hones a man, makes him harder than steel and rips all the humanity he has from his body.” Kouyuu shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair and shrugged. “Do you have a physical description of him?” Amidst their discussion, no one realised that the healer had quietly slipped out of the room, down to where the dovecotes were. At first light the next morning, a bird soared out into the gradually brightening desert, heading eastwards, towards Satoshi's homeland.

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and thank you for reading!