Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Boy for Sale ❯ Goodbye Love ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Weiss Kreuz nor am I profiting from this, it is for pure reading enjoyment. The wonderful Koyasu Takehito is the creator.

Goodbye Love

Lady Sorano was greeted in the morning by Irma who had the mail with her. “Here you are Mistress,” the old crone said.

“Oh, Irma you know I don't open the mail anymore. My husband prefers to take care of that and other types of business.”

“Yes I know, but this letter here actually has your name on it.” Lady Sorano leaned forward in her seat to see what Irma was talking bout. “See here, it's addressed to Cora Sorano. It's even got your name all underlined and such.”

“Let's see,” the younger woman said as she opened the letter and read it. The expression on her face was more animated than it had been since the day Fiona was born. Anything that could elicit such visual emotion must have been big news.

“Well, what is it? Is everything okay?”

Cora grabbed onto the older woman's arm and looked up at her with wide eyes. “It's Yohji! He's been captured.” She mumbled along a few sentences as she read the letter a bit more before speaking up again. “….Yohji Kudou is being held captive as a palace servant under the service of the Leilanese Emperor, Ran Fujimya. There are no records of him under your family's name in the slave trade market books. This letter is an attempt to confirm his insistence as to whether or not he is in fact a slave under your household.”

“What're we gonna do?” Irma asked. She was well aware of the runaway story that Crawford had told and could see that as the days went by, Cora was beginning to accept the lie.

“We have to get him back!”

Irma was happy to hear the conviction in her employer's voice. Perhaps her new husband hadn't brainwashed her after all.

“Grand! I'll express-mail a response back as soon as you're ready.”

“Excellent.”

+++

Yohji had been separated from Ran for two weeks due to the fire. It traumatized the redhead's younger sister who had nearly been trapped by it that fateful evening and since then she had been sleeping in his room every night. Noting that her condition was only worsening rather than getting better, the emperor prepared for the girl and their mother to leave the palace until she was completely rehabilitated. A vacation might do them good as opposed to being confined to the house that had partially gone up in flames just fourteen days ago.

After seeing off his family, Ran immediately came to the kitchen in search of Yohji. He found the older boy sautéing garlic with mushrooms and onion in a pan. When their eyes met, Yohji instantly knew that his sweetheart finally had time for him. But sadly he was reminded of his responsibilities in the kitchen and his smile faded. “Don't worry,” the redhead began, as if he could read the long haired man's thoughts. “Someone else can take over for you. But right now, you are mine.” He grabbed Yohji by the front of his shirt and drew him so near that their faces were almost touching. “Andrea!” the red haired man called as he saw her pass by the kitchen entrance.

“Yes, Sir!” the girl reported. She frowned when she saw how close Fujimiya was standing to her kitchen rival.

“Yohji has suddenly taken ill and isn't available any longer. He'll need someone to take over his duties until the sickness passes,” Ran bluffed.

“Of course.” Andrea cringed inwardly. Her right eye was beginning to twitch as she dawned a fake grin, so she turned around quickly to hide her disgust. “I'm sure someone from Beauvais' team can fill in for him.”

+++

In his chamber, Ran lightly settled Yohji onto his bed and climbed on top of him. Their noses touched as they gently kissed and rubbed affectionately together. Impatient due to the amount of time he'd had to wait before being alone with Yohji again, the emperor immediately started taking his clothes off and exhibiting his body. His skin was like milk with two precious pink nipples that adorned his chest. “You're turn,” he said softly.

Yohji blushed as he began taking off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt. He hadn't felt so self conscious the last time they were alone together because the room was dark and his emotions were bouncing off the walls, but now he was much more aware of what they were doing. His lack of experience was making him feel insecure. When he was finally naked, Ran gently reached out and touched his stomach, combing the muscles of Yohji's abdomen with his fingertips.

“I'm going to have you,” the red haired man said while taking in the older boy's appearance. “I'm going to have you because you're mine,” his gaze finally connected with blonde's as he said those words.

Feeling hypnotized by the emperor's lavender eyes, Yohji gravitated toward him on the bed and initiated the first open-mouthed kiss. Being a virgin he surprised himself at how comfortable he suddenly felt taking the lead. Perhaps being a slave for so many years had left his soul longing for its chance to be the master for once. He held Ran in his arms like a lost treasure, kissing his neck and lightly biting his earlobe. Then he tackled the redhead who was now on his back. Yohji held the man's hands over his head as he took his position on top, rocking their groins together. He felt like there was something he wanted to do—needed to do…but he'd never done this before and couldn't identify what that was exactly. He was rough with Ran. The fact that he was the emperor didn't matter here. He didn't mind slamming Ran down onto the mattress each time he tried to take back control or exploring the redhead's private territory with his tongue. Speaking of which, using his mouth seemed to satisfy part of the unidentified desire he felt inside. Yohji learned that he enjoyed licking or sucking the redhead's erection, forcing him to moan and beg and be at the mercy of his warm mouth.

“Enough!” Ran finally panted, with sweat beginning to appear on his overexcited body. He could see that Yohji was the dominant one in bed and although it irritated him at first, now he was desperate to get fucked. “Yohji,” he said. But the other boy kept going down on him without reaction. “Yohji, my love!” the emperor smiled and pulled the older boy's hair. Now he had the blonde's full attention. “Do you know what comes next?”

“No.”

“Lick me down here,” Ran pointed to his anal opening and Yohji was eager to claim it. “Get it very slippery, alright?”

“Yes.”

“And then one at a time, you're going to start sliding your fingers inside.” Yohji seemed confused. “Don't worry. I'll teach you everything.”

The moment Fujimiya felt the first finger in his rectum he was excited! But it was the second finger that nearly had him bouncing off the bed. His green eyed partner watched in amazement as the gentle prodding of his index and middle finger turned the redhead into a wild man. “Okay…I'm ready.”

Ran helped his nervous lover guide his penis inside. The long haired man moved in and out slowly, afraid to test the limits and accidentally hurt his sweetheart. “Faster.” The request made Yohji anxious at first, but he complied and began to get the hang of things. He smiled, feeling the tightness and the caress of Ran's insides. “Yeah, that's good,” his lover encouraged. The overwhelming feeling of carnal need that Yohji first had was beginning to return. This was the experience his body had unknowingly longed for. This was the solution to his carnal instincts. He pumped his hips rhythmically while kissing the emperor and gripping his thighs. “More,” the red haired man insisted. The houseboy's strokes became longer and deeper. But it still wasn't enough. “Come on you fucker, more!” The embrace that Yohji held grew stronger as he slightly lifted Ran's bottom off of the bed. The younger man groaned with sexual fury. “Do it right!” he yelled, he was tired of the way Yohji occasionally slowed for the sake of gentleness. Finally, Ran bit the long haired man's arm. Yohji slapped him and grabbed hold of both his wrists again.

“Stop it, you little brat!” the blonde warned. Ran managed to struggle away and leaped off the bed, huffing and puffing as he strutted over to a pitcher of water on his dresser. Yohji's frustration amused him. He began laughing as the other boy attempted to come after him. When the blonde got close, Ran spit water all over him like one of the cherubs from the garden fountain. Yohji grabbed him and forced his lover to bend over the edge of the bed. The younger man had finally gotten his partner to really let loose and stop behaving so timidly. He needed to teach Yohji that love making was not for the faint of heart and making him angry seemed to be the only thing that worked.

Pounding him from behind, the green eyed man affectionately held onto his lover's hips. He understood now why Ran had suddenly decided to push his buttons. What was the use of taking the lead if he wasn't going to be a strong leader? Well the emperor had nothing to worry about now while Yohji fucked him as if he'd been born to do only this in life.

As the receiver, Ran's body was constantly being jolted forward. He sprawled his arms over the bed while his ass was practically in the air and pulled the covers toward him, then pushed them away again as different sensations struck him. He was the last one to come after feeling evidence of Yohji's satisfaction spew inside of him. Yohji was holding onto a fist full of Ran's red hair as his humping slowed to a stop. When the older boy gently pulled out it touched Fujimiya in the right way and he came.

They lay there on the bed, staring at the delicately painted angels on the emperor's chamber ceiling. “I suppose I'll have to go back to the kitchen soon. Is there anything you'd like me to bring back? I'd be very obliged to do so,” Yohji said in a happy tone.

“Please don't run off so soon. I get…lonely.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“Of course, my love…that's what you should say.”

Yohji grinned blissfully as he cuddled closely next to Ran. “Yes, my love.”

+++

Andrea went through constant episodes of paranoia and worry over the letter she had sent out. Affairs outside of the kitchen were none of her business and she could be punished for creating a document with a forged signature on behalf of General Morrison. She watched carefully each time the mail was delivered to Emperor Fujimiya, waiting for the day that either Yohji was forced to go back home or she was forced to answer to a judge for forgery.

21 days after Andrea had issued her letter to the Sorano family, a letter came back. It was a confirmation that, yes Cora Sorano and her family did want Yohji back as soon as possible. Her plan had worked! She learned this when Yohji entered the kitchen with a vacant expression on his face. “Good, you're here. We need to go over the dinner plans for Thursday night. We're hosting another banquet.”

“I can't,” said the boy's dull voice.

“What do you mean you can't?! Unless you have a damn good excuse you—.”

“I won't be here,” the blonde replied, cutting Andrea short. “A letter came yesterday. I'm going back to my real home and the next ship heading toward the right harbor leaves in just a few hours.”

“That's too bad,” Andrea said pausing for a moment in thought. “Oh well. Now help me smother the rest of this chicken. I think I made the gravy too thin.”

“I really don't want to.”

“You must! You're a slave, you don't get a choice!”

“I'm not obligated anymore, dammit! Didn't you hear me?! My family has sent for me. I don't have to help you do a damn thing!” Yohji grabbed a nearby glass of water and threw it into the already much too watery pan of smothered chicken. Now the gravy was probably ruined, but it was all he could do to retaliate after Andrea's uncompassionate demands without facing any consequences. He had just barely learned to get over the fact that his new place in life was in Fujimiya's palace and that he would never be allowed to see the Soranos again. But now that he was finally beginning to enjoy himself, it was time to leave yet another part of his life behind again. How many times was he going to get passed around?

+++

Ran was in his bedchamber sulking and thinking about Yohji's return to the countryside. At first the news hadn't bothered him. He was an emperor after all and that meant he could just buy the boy back if he needed to. His lover didn't have to go anywhere. But reality told him that things weren't so simple. Only Ran knew how truly special his lover was. To everyone else he was just a member of the domestic staff. There was no way he could demand that a houseboy stay in his palace without creating a scandal. No individual slave was ever invited to stay past their usefulness, especially being that new ones were so easily accessible. To request that Yohji remain on his estate was to admit that he loved him, he loved a slave. But truthfully, he could live with gossip and the sneers. What he would not accept however, was forcing Yohji to choose between him and the family he'd longed to be reunited with, the family he'd fainted over upon the very thought of never seeing them again. What he would do is make Yohji's decision for him. He decided that it was time for the blonde to get sent back to his family and for Ran to just stay out of the way. The blonde would be happiest that way. Wouldn't he?

+++

Finally, it was time to leave. Yohji took a last look around the palace and tried to stall, hoping that Ran would come out and to say goodbye. He knew they couldn't hug, or kiss, or be affectionate in anyway. All he wanted to see was the emperor's violet eyes one final time. He didn't think it was asking too much, but apparently Ran did, because he never showed up. What Yohji didn't know was that his lover really was there. He was hiding in a nearby room with the door cracked open just enough to view Yohji, crying and fighting the urge to stop him from leaving. So he just stood there watching and mumbling the word goodbye to himself.

 

Several days after leaving the palace, Yohji's ship docked at Langdon Harbor. He looked in the direction of the slave market where he had accidentally been picked up all those months ago and had half a mind to get caught up in it again. “There you are!” he heard nearby. Irma came running toward him. She must have been excited because at sixty-eight years old, Irma never ran anywhere. “C'mon then, let's get you home!”

“Will Crawford be home?” the blonde asked with attitude.

“Yes, by the time we get home, he'll be there.” They climbed onto the simple wooden carriage and Irma took over the reigns. “I gotta warn you though. I don't think he's gonna be too pleased to see you. He hasn't had many good things to say about you.”

“Well I have plenty to say about him.”

“May I ask what?” Irma furrowed her brow upon asking.

“Where do I begin…” Yohji filled Irma in as much as he could before they reached the ranch. He didn't have any proof of his claims, but she believed him. Years of experience with him had taught her that he wasn't one to lie, especially not about something so serious.

As soon as they arrived at the house, Yohji grabbed an apple off of one of the fruit trees. He washed it off inside and cut it up for him and Irma to share. “Whatever happens, you can count on me to be in your corner,” the old woman said.

“Thank you,” the blonde boy replied, feeling much better about the situation. Unfortunately, Crawford walked in just as she finished speaking.

“Yohji, I'm so glad that you finally decided to come back,” the older man said smugly, still trying to uphold the lies he had told everyone about the boy's escape.

“You better get out of this kitchen right now!” Irma demanded with her hands on her hips. She didn't like the way that Crawford was sauntering toward them. “You just stop right there!” she held out her hand, honestly feeling a bit scared for the first time.

“Yohji!” a female voice called. It was Cora. She and her husband had just arrived from dropping off extra food to the church house. She squeezed past Bradley to get a better look at the younger man. “I can hardly believe it.” The woman felt so ecstatic she nearly hugged him, but several things held her back from doing so. Firstly it was socially unacceptable to hug a slave and second, part of her wasn't sure as to whether he had really tried to abandon her the way Crawford had led her to believe.

“We need to talk,” Yohji announced. He wanted to be the one to bring up his disappearance first.

“Yes, yes, I know,” replied Lady Sorano. “But not right now. I don't want any stressful business right now. Let's just have things get back to normal.”

What Cora failed to acknowledge was that nothing could just suddenly be normal again after the ordeal he had gone through over the course of three months. The woman insisted that Yohji get settled in his room again and take a nap before supper time. As soon as the boy lay in his bed he began crying for no apparent reason. He himself wondered where the tears were coming from. The crying was in fact his body's way of morning the loss of being able to lie next to Ran. Resting on the bed reminded his arms, legs, and back of this great loss. His body remembered before his mind did, but once it caught up, the blonde was a complete mess. He regretted not going to look for Ran in the palace before leaving. But he'd been too worried about drawing attention to their secret relationship.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened up and Crawford let himself in.

“What are you doing here?!” Yohji demanded while quickly attempting to sit up.

“That's no way to speak to your master.”

“Get out of my room!”

“Listen you underling, this is my final warning to you. I'm the king of this castle and you will obey me or I will make life even harder for you than last time.”

“You'll do nothing of the sort!” Irma yelled. The woman was on her way to show Yohji a new cookbook that she'd pieced together in his absence, when she overhead Lord Crawford chastise the younger man. She jabbed him with the edge of the cookbook and he doubled over in pain before dropping to the ground. Irma took this opportunity to tell Yohji to get out of the bedroom. “C'mon boy, let's get far away from this devil!” she insisted. The long haired man sprung off of the bed. As he crossed the door's threshold, Crawford grabbed his ankle, knowing that the boy and the old woman were on their way to see Cora. Yohji tripped and toppled Irma who hit her head on the metal handle of an opposing bedroom door.

“Irma!” Yohji panicked. The raucous caused one of the servant girls to come investigate. She screamed when she saw what had happened and Lady Sorano came rushing over. Bradley immediately began to blame his blonde haired victim.

“Look what he's done, Cora! Look what he's done to our Irma! He's gone mad!”

“Lies!” Yohji attacked the older man and began thrashing at him, pulling out a lock of his hair in the front while doing so.

“That's enough!” Lady Sorano yelled. She stamped her feet and it made Yohji pause, that's when Crawford grabbed him and pinned him down.

Irma was still alive, but she had been badly hurt and wouldn't wake up.

She was placed in her bed to rest and Yohji stayed by her side. But eventually, Lady Sorano entered the little room to discuss matters with him. “Starting today, You aren't allowed in the house anymore Yohji, I'm sorry,” the woman said while looking down at the floor.

“What? Why?!”

“It's just something that that my husband and I feel strongly about.”

“Are you sure he isn't just leading you? I know you can't possibly feel that way!”

“I beg your pardon! You are in no position to insult him after what you've done. It was one thing for you to run off, but doing bodily harm to my husband and nearly killing Irma, you—.”

“That's absolutely false. I didn't hurt either of them!”

“Yohji, please! He said you jabbed him in the ribs with a cookbook and when Irma tried to grab it from you, you went mad and attacked her too!”

“But, but that's ridiculous. Mistress, you don't actually believe that rubbish, do you?”

“My husband is bruised where he said you struck him and Irma is hurt as well, but you Yohji, you are in perfect health without a scratch on you! Explain that to me!”

“It's all a big misunderstanding.”

“Then please, prove it to me. I want to believe you, but things aren't pointed in your favor!” the woman stressed. She shook her head in frustration and took a nearby seat. “You just can't be in the house anymore, Yohji. I'm sorry. At this point you're a threat to us all.”

Lady Sorano's words hit Yohji like a ton of bricks. No more were the blonde's days of living in the house with the rest of the family or even stepping foot inside. It was out to the shed for him, to live among the other slave men like a true prisoner of domestic service.

Clara, the eldest servant girl who had been primary cook when Yohji first arrived six years ago had temporarily returned to her post when he vanished, but now she was instated for good. The long haired boy was forced to toil in the heat with all of the other man slaves instead of cooking in the kitchen. The labor wasn't always terrible, feeding the livestock, fishing, and harvesting food wasn't so bad. But the ever present gleam of the sun was torture on someone who wasn't used to it. However, the worst part had to be the way he was treated by the other men who resented the fact that he used to be a house slave and lived inside with the family. Yohji was under their direction with Irma still in a coma. They'd trick him into doing their work for them while they sat in the shade someplace and relaxed. It took him a few days to realize that he was being played for a fool. He tried not to let the pranks bother him, but after two weeks he couldn't take it anymore. Someone filled his work boots with honey and ants wouldn't leave him alone for the whole rest of the day. Steaming mad, the blonde went into the slave shed and ruined everyone's sleeping spaces by tearing them up or flipping them over. A slave named Big Joe stood in the shed doorway. “Hey!” he yelled. “I'm the one whose been orchestrating all the tricks we been pullin'. So if you just wanna get back at someone, get back at me. Don't go tearin' up all these men's belongings. They ain't got much!”

Yohji stared for a moment. “Fine!” He shoved past the much larger man and went over to the piles of vegetables they'd collected today that were destined to be sold at the market. He kicked open several of the wooden crates and potatoes came spilling out. Then he went to the apple bins and started tossing them into the field before stepping on all of the grapes. Almost all of the goods had been destroyed by the blonde's fit of rage.

“What the hell'd you do that for?! Now we're all gonna get in trouble!”

“I picked most of this shit myself anyway! So, it's not like I'm ruining any of your goddamn hard work, you stupid fucker! Maybe I'll get the strap for this, but so will you!” The younger man yelled at the top of his lungs. Big Joe picked him up and threw him into a horse trough. Everyone who was circled around them began to laugh, but just as swiftly as he'd gone down, Yohji rose like the living dead out of that trough and landed a hard punch to his attacker's jaw. Everybody saw Big Joe's face jolt to the side from the impact and his big body spun completely around with it before biting the dust. Completely drenched and filled with anger, steam began to noticeably escape from the top of Yohji's hot head. The other men slaves just looked at each other.

“You took down Big Joe,” someone said plainly.

“I'll do you just the same,” the blonde insisted while walking forward.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't mean to start any trouble.”

Completely frustrated, the green eyed boy began to slick excess water off of his face and wring his hair out. “Clean this shit up!” he demanded and began walking back to the slave shed to get a change of clothes. But Master Bradley had this way of always knowing when to catch the younger man at his worst. Crawford saw the struggle from inside the house and dragged his wife outback to see the mess. It was a perfect opportunity to prove how dangerous and ungrateful Yohji was.

“Look at him, Darling. He ruined everything those men harvested, went swimming in the trough, and now he expects them to clean up his mess while he rests up in the slave shed. He needs to leave the ranch!”

“Yohji, how could you?” Lady Sorano asked when she met the blonde outside. She didn't know what could have possibly gotten into the boy who she had grown to love. “How can I keep you if you act like this?!” She shook her head lightly while closing her eyes. “I can't…You'll have to leave immediately. My husband insists upon it.”

“What?” The question was so faint it almost couldn't be heard. “You bring me all the way back here just to throw me out?”

“It's not like you wanted to be here in the first place. I didn't want to believe it at first, but—,”

“Irma told me what Bradley's been saying about me. He said I ran off, but it's not true! He kidnapped me and left me passed out in a strange town miles from here.”

“Oh, and I suppose that's why you stayed gone so long?” the woman asked sarcastically. “If you hadn't been captured by the Leilanese government you would have never come back.”

“That's not true!”

“Oh sure it is.” Cora's voice was beginning to crack. She was genuinely hurt by how deceitful she thought Yohji was trying to be with her. “I'm sure they put you to work like a real slave instead of the way this family treated you, so it was time to come crawling back.”

“Look at me, dammit!”

“I beg your pardon!”

“Look at me!” The blonde removed his shirt to expose his bare chest and back. “Does this look like the body of a humble slave?” Cora couldn't help but note that he seemed very well fed and there weren't any whip marks on his body like most laborers had. And his face didn't have the hard look of lost hope like other slaves. “I was living a dream before I came back here, but I did so without resistance because I missed this place! I left behind a lover and a whole other life! I know it might sound hard to believe, but you must.”

“I can't just take your word for it. I'm sorry, but you've lost your credibility in my eyes.”

“Fine, perhaps you'll believe Emperor Fujimiya. Allow me to write to him so that he'll speak to you personally on my behalf and—,”

“On your behalf?! Ha! Why would someone of his importance take pity on someone like you?” Cora said smugly.

Yohji's face went pale and his heart dropped in his chest. Who said anything about pity? “Someone like me?” he began. “I'll tell you why!”

Before the green eyed man could give Lady Sorano a piece of his mind by revealing his relationship with Ran, Crawford interrupted them. “Cora Darling, I'll take it from here.”

“No!” Yohji insisted.

“It's in your best interest to keep quiet. I've had time to think about the matter and…I don't want you gone. I think you're at a stage in your life where you just need a little more discipline. And that's why I've enrolled you in culinary school.”

Cora looked up at her husband in surprise and then back at Yohji. “Oh?!” She was confused.

“This is a trick…” the younger man announced. “You just want to act like a hero when you're really the villain.”

“Yohji!” Cora scolded.

“It's true and I can prove it! Just wait `til Irma recovers. She'll be able to vouch for me.”

“That poor dear is in no condition for matters such as these. I'll have you know that the doctor thinks Irma has suffered permanent damage because of you. How dare you try to ask her for help now!”

“But it wasn't my fault!”

Master Bradley turned to his wife. “Darling, why don't you leave us men alone to talk.”

“But—,”

“Go on.” The woman obeyed her husband's command and went back into the house. “Now you listen and you listen good,” the older man began while running a hand through his dark hair. “I hope that all of the hardships I've orchestrated for you have been a demonstration of how vulnerable you are under my power.” His face was solemn and shadowed by evil intent. “As for Cora…That woman submits to anything that I tell her. It wasn't more than fifteen minutes ago that I convinced my wife to kick you out of this place and with hardly any effort on my part she agreed to take you back. I hold your life in the palm of my hand.”

“You only think you do.”

“Well think about this, dear boy. She lived with you for six years, but was still willing to accept my version of the story about your disappearance after only being married to me for a mere six weeks. I think that speaks volumes, wouldn't you agree?” For once…Bradley was right. The older boy could see Yohji's spirit weakening. It was only a matter of time before he broke all together. “And don't go thinking that Irma's testimony can save you. If I catch you within ten feet of her room in effort to expose me, I swear Yohji, I'll do something to her, something worse than what's already occurred. Are we clear?!” The blonde man looked at him with defeat in his eyes. “Don't worry,” Crawford's demeanor suddenly became as gentle as it'd been the first time he and Yohji met. You'll learn new things at culinary school and you'll learn how to please me at the same time. Fun for you, fun for me.”

Yohji didn't say anything, he just stood there staring for a moment and then backed away slowly. This couldn't be happening to him. One man couldn't have this much influence on the quality of his life. If only that cretin of a man hadn't threatened Irma. Yohji was completely prepared to fight and cause as much commotion as the air in his lungs would allow him to. But that all came to an abrupt standstill upon finding out that someone innocent might get hurt in the process.

“Where are you goin?” Crawford asked. He furrowed his eyebrows. Yohji was not complying as well as planned. “You don't walk away from me while I'm talking to. Now I'm warning you to stand still! Don't go any further.”

Without even thinking, Yohji made a run for it. Halfway through the chase he hid in the stables while Master Bradley sought after him. Carefully watching the older man's feet from a crouched position, Yohji mounted a horse when the coast was clear enough and began riding out of the ranch.

“Close the gates!” Crawford yelled. “Close `em! Hurry up.”

The green eyed man had no idea where he was going or how far he would get. But he had to leave. Horse thievery was a crime punishable by death, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He at least needed some time to think. He needed someone in his corner. How far away was Emperor Fujimiya's palace again?