Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own CCS, CLAMP does.
A/N: I'm just basing on Anne Stuart's story "Prince of Swords" to a CCS fanfic.
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Prince of Swords
Chapter One
London, 1775
All of society knew that Lady Nakuru Akisuki had magnificent jewels. They were jewels fit for a courtesan, as Lady Akisuki had once been. Now, however, she was an ancient, with a worn-out appearance that suggests her long life with a soul even uglier than her aged face. She'd gone through three husbands, each one richer than the last, and amassed an impressive number of wealthy young men at her beck and call, and she decked herself in her battle trophies.
In truth, she deserved to lose those trophies. And Syaoran Li, Earl of Xian Lang, meant to see that she did.
Lady Akisuki's ball was a very good success; a crowd of people danced and gamed and ate with careless abandon. Several couples had already found their way to secluded bedrooms. Lady Akisuki was known to be particularly benevolent about such matters. What few people realized was that she liked to observe.
Shaoran knew far too much about Nakuru Akisuki; he scooped the heavy mass of emeralds from her dressing table, where she'd tossed them earlier. Arrogant old crones were always the best subjects for his particular attention; they never imagined someone would dare broach the sanctity of their bedroom unless specifically summoned.
Shaoran had broached the sanctity of many bedrooms, for any number of reasons. He had come to the wry conclusion that nowadays he derived far more pleasure from stealing than from sex.
He slipped the jewels into the soft velvet pouch he'd brought with him for that purpose, flattening them so they wouldn't present an unsightly bulge beneath his gray silk jacket. Five minutes later he was drinking claret a red wine and ogling Miss Connie cleavage. And the diamonds that danced above it.
"Are you going to come hear the fortune-teller, my lord?" she asked, pressing closer in the crowd. She smelled strongly of rose perfume and body heat. He smiled at her.
"There's a Gypsy here tonight? How enterprising of Lady Akisuki."
"Not precisely a Gypsy. A card reader, one who can tell the past, present, and future by a turn of the cards. How can you resist?"
"Quite easily, my darling," he said, having had occasion to sample Miss Connie's cleavage firsthand. "I know my past, my present is obvious, and I make it a policy never to think about the future. It's far too morbid." He detached his hand from hers gingerly. "You go ahead and see this Gypsy."
"I told you, it's not a Gypsy. It's a young Englishwoman Lady Akisuki has hired for the occasion. Not of our class, of course, but she should prove a little less eccentric and great deal less odorous than the usual."
"A cit fortune-teller? How singular," He wanted to leave. Now that he'd managed to fill his velvet pouch, the jewels weighed heavily against him, and he wanted to escape back to his tiny house on Desert View Street, where he could admire the huge, ugly jewels at his leisure and calculate how much money they would bring him. And whether he'd sink more of it into the rapidly decaying pile of stone known as Xiao Lang Abbey, or simply scatter it at the gaming tables.
But he didn't dare leave yet -- it would be too remarkable. At least a fortune-teller might manage to beguile him enough to bear the next two or three hours until he could escape.
Miss Connie caught his hand again. "Come with me, Syaoran, I may need you for moral comfort if she tells me something depressing."
"Trust me, my love," he murmured, allowing her to draw him through the crowds of people toward one of his hostess's gaming rooms. "Morality is one thing I'm in short supply of."
The room was even fuller of people than the ballroom. He could see Nakuru Akisuki, her stately bulk ensconced on a chaise, her hand upon the satin-breeched thigh of young Riu Makoto. The boy was barely out of leading strings twenty's if he was a day and he looked both terrified and flattered by Lady Akisuki's attention, Pity, Shaoran thought, turning away from them.
At first he couldn't see the clairvoyant through the crowds of people. Miss Connie lost her grip on his hand, for which he was devoutly grateful, and they were separated; 'cause Miss Connie was one of the plenty of noblewomen who chaise him for money or just sexual interest; and how could you resist a moment with whim one very handsome guy with a very nice athletic body with his 6-pack very well formed, his disordered brown hair but in a handsome way and those two unique brown eyes, that could melt you in one glare, making feel like melted chocolate with his heat of the like the color of his eyes. He moved through the crush with his usual feline grace, slyly observant beneath half-lowered eyelids.
It took him a moment to realize that the quietly dressed young woman who sat at the green baize table was, in fact, the fortune-teller. She was concentrating on the cards laid out in front of her, her head bowed, so his first impression was of a small, well-shaped head crowned with a neatly arranged cap of hair, light brown, ordinary enough. She was dressed in a sedate blue dress with a minimum of ornamentation, and the hands that held the pack of cards were devoid of even a plain silver ring. Pretty hands, though, he thought and willed her to look up at him.
If she felt his silent summons, she managed to ignore it, a fact that amused him. He moved to the edge of the room, behind her, where he could watch the back of her head and his follow guests' gullible reactions.
Her head lifted, and he could see her profile. Surprisingly delicate for a bourgeoisie, he thought. He moved slightly, hoping for a better glimpse, but she managed to elude him. The longer he was unable to get a proper view of her, the more determined he became.
Her voice was soft but surprisingly clear, and no cit's voice. "I see a man, Lady Akisuki," she murmured. "In your bedchamber."
Shaoran didn't move as the crow tittered. There was no reason why she should be referring to him, when there were far more obvious reasons for a man to be in Nakuru's bedchamber. The leering smile she cast at Makoto suggested that Lady Akisuki agreed.
"A lady doesn't admit to such things," Nakuru announced in a voice subtly less cultured than her fortune-teller's. Nakuru Akisuki had risen in the world during her long and varied career. Shaoran could guess that the fortune-teller, conversely, had fallen upon impecunious times.
He moved slightly, still frustrated by his inability to get a glimpse of her. "This man is not a friend or a suitor, my lady," the girl said quietly. "He is a thief."
Shaoran grew very still indeed. The buzz of conversation increased, and Lady Akisuki no longer seemed quite so sanguine.
"You're telling me I shall be robbed?" she demanded, releasing her grip on Makoto's thigh.
The young man took that moment to escape, wise child that he was. Shaoran stayed watching.
"I believe the robbery might already have occurred," the girl said.
"Nonsense!" Lady Akisuki hissed. "No one would dare..."
"Perhaps the Wolf has struck again," Freddie Lindbergh said with a silly laugh. "It's been a quite a time since he's been on the prowl."
"I do believe, Freddie," Shaoran said lazily, "that the Wolf has never been seen. How can you be sure it's a man?"
"Don't be daft," Freddie protested. "What else could it be? There's more than physical agility involved in these robberies. There's incredible daring and cunning as well. Don't expect me to believe a child could carry out such involved and outrageous schemes."
"I was thinking more along the lines of a young woman," Alistair said smoothly.
She turned then, as he knew she would, goaded by his subtle suggestion, and he was able to view her with lazy deliberation. He took his time doing so, lifting his quizzing glass with casual disdain.
She was barely past the first blush of youth, which relived him. She wasn't astonishingly beautiful, though he could find no fault with her small nose, her generous mouth, her high cheekbones, or her stubborn chin. If there was anything unusual about her face, it was her eyes. They were far too wise for a woman only a bit past twenty, and their clear, translucent emerald-green reminded him of very beautiful and big Emerald diamonds. Her hair was streaked with light, a light honey-brown color and what he could see of her form was trim, an attractive good condition and well shaped. But it was her eyes that held him. Dangerous eyes. Contemplating him with odd clarity.
He smiled at her. He had no faith whatsoever in fortune-telling, or in quiet young women being able to see past him indolent exterior. He knew perfectly well how such sharps worked --they took a combination of fact and conjecture and came up with a logical guess. The Wolf hadn't made an appearance for quite a while; he was due to strike. And the fortune-teller was betting her reputation that it would be tonight.
"Don't intimate the child, Xian Lang," Lady Akisuki chided him. "I'm hardly likely to have given her the run of her the run of the house. If you like, we can have her searched for any missing trinkets before we leave."
"Only if you allow me to do the searching" he drawled, but his eyes were caught with hers, and he could see the wariness, and the sudden anger there.
"This is tedious" Lady Akisuki announced. "I'm more interested in my love life. Come, Miss Jessamine let's concentrate on the rest of my reading. I've been told remarkable things about you I'd hate to think I was mistaken in hiring you for the evening."
If the old hag thought she could cow the mysterious Miss Jessamine, she was as deluded as she was about her irresistibility. The girl turned back to her with more dignity than Nakuru had ever possessed. "Certainly, your ladyship. If there is a robbery, it would be only a temporary inconvenience. A more lasting influence would involveā¦"
Shaoran stopped listening. He had no interest in the page of swords or the knight of cups, and he doubted the rest of the crowd did. He was interested only in Miss Jessamine, and if that were indeed her true name, then he was the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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A/N: I think I made the first chapter much longer than the prologue hope you liked it.
Thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them. They help me to be able to continue with the story
Thanks to you:
dbzgtfan2004Hope you like the first chapter. And don't forget S&S! FOREVER!
pure-lillyI'll really appreciate your supporting. Thank you and indeed it is a very good book.
R&R! Please! They mean a lot to me. Or you can contact me at StarCrystalMoon... (it's hotmail if I finish it, it won't appear)
