Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Checkmate: Royal Aquisition ❯ Inconvenient Guest ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: Inconvenient Guest

“Your majesty, the Bard is in her rooms as you requested,” the guard said at the doorway. Saitou looked up, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“She is to be given full guest privileges but under no circumstances is she to set foot outside the castle. Understood?”

The group of men around him, all various guards, councilmen and lords of the castle merely nodded. The word would be passed to the servants and everyone else in the palace.

“You majesty. The Kyoto forces are similar in strength and number to our own give or take a hundred. They are not drafting any men from the countryside, but are holding countrywide recruiting sites for men to join if they wish. There has not been overwhelming turnout, but a steady stream everyday.”

“And the armory?” Saitou asked, turning to another lord.

“They have every royal blacksmith making everything from swords and knives to full body armor and arrow heads. Last we counted there were nearly a hundred blacksmiths now kept at the palace proper.”

“Once again similar to our own. It's like fighting our own shadow. Damn them. What about magic?” he demanded. A smaller man in plain clothes stepped forward. He looked like a woodsman, but anyone who knew him knew better.

“King Hiko seems to be leaving everything to his heir,” the man said quietly. “No magic has been detected nor does Prince Kenshin seem inclined to use it.”

“That doesn't mean he won't. I want our mages used for defense purposes only. If it's a real war he wants, that's what he'll get. What about military strategies?”

All were silent. Some looked at him blankly. Others chose to look at their feet or something on a nearby wall.

“You've been studying this country for a year and you've learned nothing of their military strategy?”

“Your majesty, King Hiko has never gone to war with just armed forces. He usually relies heavily on magic. Prince Kenshin was trained by him and him alone, but has showed no inclination for magic at all. He keeps council with Prince Sagara and Lord Aoshi, but other than that has no war council. We don't know what to expect because we don't know where he is drawing his information from.”

Saitou almost wanted to have the Lord who spoke out executed. However, he was not about to punish the truth and sitting here like a bunch of silent idiots would only waste his time.

“Since you all have managed to be ahead of schedule on your other tasks you can all work on this one. I want anything and everything you can find. His training techniques, how many hours a day, Lord Aoshi's trainer's name, Prince Sagara's trainer…if he has one, the idiot.”

The men all bowed and shuffled out, documents rolled and tucked under their arms. Saitou sat down as the last one had left, closing the large doors behind them. Long, slender fingers rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Idiots. Complete idiots. Sure they knew their specific jobs, but when it came to having to do anything beyond that they tended to be very weak. How he needed Okita. He could handle these idiots in a way that made sure no one knew they were being manipulated. Saitou had never quite been subtle enough. Then again he didn't grin like an idiot. Somehow when you don't look serious no one thinks much of your words. Saitou always looked serious.

A gentle knock came upon the door.

“Come in,” he said, turning his chair to face the door. The castle's head servant, Saori, poked her head in. Great. Why did he get the feeling this was going to be another headache?

“Beggin' your pardon, your majesty. I need details about our new guest.”

“Details? She's been here a month already. What more do you need to know?”

“Lord Okita and I went over details everyday, your majesty.”

Every day? Oh God!

“I don't have time for this, Saori. Why don't you just take the girl into your charge? If she complains about anything tell her I command her and if she doesn't like it she can go back to the dungeons.”

“Yes your majesty,” Saori said with a curtsy, stepping back to pull the door closed.

“One more thing, Saori,” he said, deep in thought.

“Yes, your majesty?”

“She is a princess. See that she is dressed and treated appropriately. I expect her to know all the manners required of a princess. I also expect her to be present at all court hearings, banquets and special events. Understood?”

“Yes, your majesty,” Saori curtsied again and left.

Now, Kyoto's damn military strategies. How the hell was he supposed to try and learn those? It was time for a trip to the library.

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Tokio followed the corridor like the guard had told her. The head servant Saori was a scary woman. Looks like the King gave control over her to the small stern woman. Tomorrow she was to be fitted for dresses. Dresses! It had been months since she'd worn a dress. And Saori knew Tokio was a princess too. Now everyone was bowing to her. She hated that. Why did the king have to go and ruin her secret? A bard was a lot less conspicuous. Maybe that was why he did it. Everyone would remember whether a princess had been by. Now way to escape if everyone recognized her.

The two double doors were closed but Tokio managed to open the right door without too much pulling. It slammed behind her, making her jump nearly three feet in the air.

“Why is everything here so damned scary? No gardens, no flowers, just scary doors and stone walls with drab drapes.”

The library was huge. Not surprising. Any library in a castle was huge, unless the king was an idiot who thought books were useless. Shelves upon shelves stacked upon one another up to the cathedral like ceiling. Surprisingly though, there were no ladders or stairs.

“Just how do they get the books down?” she mused. “Hello? Is anyone here?” she called out.

Silence answered her. A library with no librarian. How odd was that? Kyoto Castle's librarian was a fat man with a temper and a wheezy voice who had the hearing of a bat. If a page turned three floors up he knew about it. He also knew every book in the library.

For a library that had no one in it, it was sparkling clean. No dust, no spiders, nothing. Just books. Rows and rows of books. Unfortunately there seemed to be no titles on them. That was even stranger.

Tokio went to the nearest shelf and reached for a book, drawing her fingers back at the last second. Nothing jumped out at her. Why did she have this creepy feeling? She pulled the book out and opened it.

Blank pages. Every single one. Tokio slid it back in and took the next one out. It was the same. She checked the entire shelf. Every single book was as blank as the first.

“What the hell?” she asked aloud.

“How did you get in here?” a low voice behind her said, scaring the shit out of Tokio. She spun around, eyes wide, and fell back against the shelf.

Saitou stared down at her, slightly amused and slightly annoyed.

“I opened the door,” she answered. Smart answer there, Tokio. Of course you opened the door. Duh.

“Opened the door? It just let you in?”

“It? It what? Why? Was it not supposed to? Not like there's anything to protect. These books are all blank.”

Saitou frowned. The library had very very old magic protecting it. No one could apparate in, no one without the King's permission could enter. The books were also sealed. No one could read them without the proper magic.

She could not read the books or see anything. No surprise, she had no magic. But the doors simply let her in? That could only happen if….if she had absolutely no ill will toward Fujita. Could he really trust her like Okita had?

“So I should probably leave…” she said, picking herself up.

“Wait,” he commanded, picking up the book she had dropped. “What did you want to read?” he asked.

“Nothing in particular. Anything…except poetry. I hate poetry.” Saitou almost smiled at that. A woman who didn't like poetry. That was a first in his book.

“Here,” he said, handing her the book. Tokio looked down. Now it had a title and the pages were full of words.

“What the hell? What did you do?” she asked, curiosity overcoming caution.

“Removed the magic keeping you from seeing it.” Tokio now looked at all the shelves. Titles sprang out like glowing invitations. The uniformity it had once had was gone. Even some dust was evident.

“How do you get the ones down from up there?” she asked, pointing upward. Saitou extended his hand and a book from the utmost shelf pulled itself out, flying down.

“Oh…more magic,” she said, the excitement lost.

“You seem to dislike magic a great deal,” he commented.

“I don't dislike it….I just don't have any. It's a constant reminder of what I will never be able to achieve.”

“Don't waste your life moping over what you do not have. Use what you do have.”

Tokio gave an unladylike snort.

“What? You mean the beauty I was cursed with?” she said harshly. “That has stronger bars on my future than not being able to do magic.”

“There are other qualities besides Beauty.”

“Funny, no one else seems to care about those,” she answered in a small voice.

Saitou looked down at her curiously. Okita was right. She was a lost pup who had long since abandoned her pack and now roamed alone….and vulnerable. Sure, he had been the same having come to the throne at the age of 15, but she was no man. She had not been conditioned from birth to take on this burden.

Tokio curled herself up in a corner…or at least tried until a chair suddenly appeared under her. A big, fluffy, comfortable chair. She looked up at the King but he seemed lost in thought as he stared up at the book shelves. The man was a mystery in many ways. So dark, cold and scary, yet he did the smallest things that proved otherwise. Not that it ever showed in his face.

“What sword art do your father and step-brother study?” he asked. Tokio looked up curiously.

“Sword art? You mean like technique?” He gave a brief nod. “I'm not sure, I never saw them practice. Something called Hiten Mitsurugiryu I think.”

“And here I thought all princesses went down to stare at men practicing.”

“Watch a bunch of men hack at each other, all covered in dirt and sweat? Yuck! Besides, my father forbid me to go anywhere near them.”

Saitou frowned. “Why?” he asked. Tokio's white cheeks easily turned red although her eyes did not leave the page she was on.

“He said I was a distraction….”came her hesitant answer. Saitou almost laughed. A distraction? Only weak men let a pretty woman distract them. “Only father, Kenshin and Lord Aoshi didn't do…stupid things when I was around. Sometimes I wonder if Lord Aoshi doesn`t like girls.”

Now Saitou did chuckle. Lord Aoshi? The fierce Lord Aoshi? Gay? Ah the mind of a naïve sixteen year old girl.

“If I asked you questions about your country would you answer them truthfully?” he asked.

“Of course. You are my host. By Kyoto law I am required to accommodate my host in any way possible. I'll warn you though. If it was anything important my father would not have told me. He doesn't really tell anyone anything.”

“I need to know my adversary.”

“You're going to war against Kyoto, aren't you?” she asked, looking up. She looked sad, but not surprised.

“Kyoto has declared was on us,” was his reply.

“Then I'm not going home anytime soon…” she asked tentatively.

“Not unless your step-brother's head shows up on a plate, no.”

Most other women would have been devastated at such news. Why the hell did she look so happy? Saitou finally found the books he needed. He did not have time for idle chit chat with the prisoner princess. She was contently engrossed in her book

 

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Saitou poured over the military books, quickly flipping through irrelevant information. There was no documentation on the sword style she had mentioned, except a brief explanation of the fall of a province in the far north some centuries ago being due to a warrior named Hiko who was rumored to have mastered the same technique. It was no secret Hiko's real name was unknown and had been passed down to him from his father.

“Always only one successor. Never more than one. Must be one deadly succession technique. Idiots.”

But what could that tell him of Kyoto's army?

He pulled his eyes from the pages of the book and looked down at the chess set he and Okita had once played on long winter nights when Okita had been too ill to sleep.

Why the hell didn't I think of that before?!