Summery:
Inspired by Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) by Florence And The Machine. Kurogane accompanies Tomoyo-himeon a trip to a foreign country where cats roam the palace and the magic isn't what it seems. Fai is a mystery, beholden to the king for reasons he won't explain and bound by something he won't reveal. He's secretive, standoffish, infuriating, trapped and Kurogane can't help but like him, even if he's not sure he's heard a single true word from him yet.
Chapter: The looking glass so shiny and new
Warnings: Sexual content, strong language
Please review and enjoy~
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It was nothing like home. It wasn't home, but Kurogane thought it should at least be something like it. Tomoyo-hime loved it but she loved anything unfamiliar, unknown. She liked the style; the towering castle, the white varnished floors, the ornate furniture. Everything was gilded, gleaming with gold and brass. The windows were high but sealed. They let in blinding light but there was no airflow to speak of; it only deepened the ninjas feeling that if they stayed too long he might suffocate.
Shirasagi was sprawling, cavernous, connected by winding hallways and open air courtyards. Even inside there were touches of the earth; deep red wood and fresh cut bamboo stalks. In Versailles? Nothing. Even the roses, pristine, white, he later learned were glamoured; enchanted to never wilt. They had been dead for years, decades, centuries maybe, he didn't know. Magic had a way of doing that; making something long dead behave as if it were alive. He'd always hated illusions.
But he was stuck there for at least another month, his own fault he supposed, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. Kendappa-ou had suggested Tomoyo-hime arrive early and spend spend some of the season in France; she was next in line for the throne after all and it would pay for her to begin making political allies. There would be other dignitaries before the week of the ball and it was safe; she had almost convinced Kurogane to let her go with only a small band of ninja, but in the end he insisted he come, just in case.
His own damn fault.
He had never liked sitting court. He was a ninja, a warrior; he wasn't meant to stew in one place for so long. Tomoyo-hime happily watched the entertainers, smiling and clapping at all the right times; he was stuck hovering over he shoulder, bored and restless.
He found the French court infinitely more trying than that at Shirasagi; for starters at Shirasagi they actually talked about politics and the country and surrounding nations. In Paris, at the palace of Versailles, they watched dancers and acrobats, ate overly sweetened pastries and got absolutely nothing done. The dancers held little interest for him; they were slim and lovely, both male and female, and they twirled through the room gracefully to unfamiliar music. They wore tops cropped to show lean stomachs and intricate, jeweled henna tattoos. Their hair was dark and glossy, their eyes a rich brown, their skin tan. They were from India he thought.
There were acrobats that tumbled in choreographed lines, bouncing onto each other's shoulders form precariously balanced pyramids and stars. They were court entertainers for the king of Spain, who was in France on business with the King Ashura. Kurogane had ninja under his command who could perform the same feats and kill a man while they were at it.
He wasn't completely unoccupied though, not by a long shot. The one who held his attention though wasn't meant to entertain him. Someone, of course, but not him.
Although, to be fair, he wasn't the only one stealing glances at the king's most... exotic companion. Guards and guests alike couldn't help but stare at the creature that knelt at His Majesty's feet, head nestled in his lap, the king's fingers carding through his hair. He wasn't the only concubine the king kept at hand; there were others present even at that moment, all charming young men, French, with ebony hair and smoldering dark eyes. They sat on the arms of his chair, draped their hands on his shoulders, sipped from tall glasses of bubbling alcohol and ate delicate pastries, all while insidiously, quietly, cunningly but, if you watched closely, obviously competing for attention from the King, murmuring quietly too him, posing and preening.
Except for one.
He didn't look at all like the rest; his hair was more akin to ivory than ebony, his eyes a bright crystal blue. He smiled, but didn't chatter like the others. He didn't need to; he already had the king's attention, along with everyone else's.
But they stared because he was an oddity. Kurogane heard whispers that he resembled a person from a bordering country, but he had never seen a German for himself and had nothing to compare to.
Still, that wasn't why he watched; it was something about he face, his expression. He didn't simper and smolder like the others, didn't flirt and pander and suck champagne down like water. He smiled.
Constantly.
Almost eerily.
Almost unhappily.
Which didn't make sense because what did he have to be unhappy about? He was a pampered pet of the king and a favored one at that. Sure being a pet wouldn't be his idea of happiness but it wasn't as if people just fell into a position like that; he sold himself, that was a given.
Which left him wondering why? Because watching him, seeing him all but flinch when touched, seeing him cast his eyes down at contact the others vied for, it left him uneasy for reasons he didn't know.
But then he'd see a spark, just a spark, of defiance in his eyes and all he could do was stare, watch until the spark died, until blue flame frosted over and the smile intensified, blazing with frozen beauty, just like a dead rose.
Pretty
Perfect
Paralyzed
ありがとう,
ハッピーハロウィン
ShingetsuXMangetsu
