The Masked Knight
Disclaimer: Mostly the main characters all belong to Clamp, and the detailed ideas too.
(A/N: From this point on, I actually started making up my own ideas. I wanted the story to continue in the direction that I think how it fits the storyline.)
Chapter Four: Prince of Northern Star
Sakura stared at herself in the mirror, "I can't believe I am marrying Syaoran only knowing him less than a week. I know it's fake marriage, but… it's Syaoran! Sakura, let's be real. This is my one chance of finally meeting with the Prince of Northern Star."
Then there was a knock on the door and the female motel owner came in with a bright red traditional dress, "I am here to get you dressed and pampered to become a beautiful bride for your handsome groom downstairs."
Sakura nodded and let the woman in. Sakura sat down in front of the mirror again and let the woman work her magic on her hair and face. While Syaoran, Jake, and Madison were downstairs looking at the map of Valkyrie entrance.
"Jake will lead the band as the bride's body guard. Madison will sit in the carriage with Sakura as her maid of honour. Sakura needs as much protection as possible. I want her to return home without a scratch," Syaoran instructed.
Sakura took a big breath as she slowly walked down the hallway heading towards the stairs. Syaoran, Madison, and Jake all stood up watching her in her beautiful traditional Chinese red wedding dress.
She gracefully walked down the stairs looking like a born princess. The dress made her green emerald eyes pierced through the morning sunlight behind her.
"What a stunning beauty," Madison looked up admiring Sakura. It had been months since Madison dressed up according to her gender. With her father's recovery from a broken shoulder, Madison had to take her father's place in the military. Her position of service in the military would be unrealistic to wear anything remotely feminine.
Sakura heard the comments and smiled happily. Only a few steps away from the bottom of the stairs, Sakura accidentally stepped on the base of her long dress.
Sakura lost complete balance and fell forward. Syaoran quickly caught her in his arms spun her around as she landed safely on the ground.
"Well… that was embarrassing," Sakura blushed with a faint smile, "Sorry, this was my first time wearing a long dress…" Sakura couldn't help herself but to stare into Syaoran's hazel eyes as if the time froze in place. He was definitely the most attractive person she'd ever met. She thought to herself, it's either that or perhaps it was because Syaoran was the first outsider she met.
"Don't forget your fan," the woman ran down the stair handing it to her.
Sakura snapped out of her own world and grabbed the fan, "That's right! My granny told me the fan is used to surprise the groom with her beauty. So you hold in like this," Sakura held the fan up to her face. It was a good excuse to hide her smile from Syaoran before everyone else noticed her subtle hints that she was attracted to him.
"Someone is in love~~~" Madison teased Sakura happily. Sakura looked down shyly holding back her smile.
"In all seriousness," Syaoran uncovered Sakura's face, "Thank you so much for helping us."
"I'm more worried about the success rate of this mission," Sakura was concerned. She shook off her own feelings and turned her focus on the mission.
"No need to worry about that. Once we enter Valkyrie, I will escort you out of the city safely," Syaoran made it as a promise.
"One more thing, I need my bag back. The bag holds something that is important to me. I can't leave without my bag," Sakura worried even though no one else could use the Clow Book.
"I'll take care of that," Jake answered and left.
The owner led them outside where their carriage awaits. The carriage was small and was decorated in festive red colour carried by one horse.
Madison happily took Sakura's arm and walked to the carriage with her.
"If your sister found out that you are getting married today, she will be thrilled. You are the only son in the family who is not married. Why not just turn this fake marriage into a real one?" Jake teased while nudging Syaoran.
"I know, but she is not an ordinary girl. If the world knew about her, it will cause a lot of chaos between both kingdoms," Syaoran said. Jake looked at him all confused.
"I'll explain everything when all of this is over," Syaoran patted his shoulder.
They travelled down a path in the forest that led straight to Valkyrie, but on the way they were stopped by a group of men who blocked the path.
"Greetings, General Li," a young man walked in front of Syaoran.
"Keroberos," Syaoran jumped off of his horse, "I wasn't expecting you here."
"If I didn't know what you were up to, I don't serve to be your trustee advisor," Kero said.
"Did Captain Avalon come with you?" Jake asked.
"No, I came here on my own," Kero replied, "How can you get married without me bearing you gifts?" Kero called up four of his men who carried two fancy boxes. They lifted the lid and inside was filled with weapons.
"I guess we are all set," Syaoran knew he could count on Kero
The rest of the travelling went smoothly as they entered the gate of Valkyrie without any issue. Just as they passed gate security, a general demanded a thorough search.
"We receive new intelligence that a group of Mikaysium spies will enter the city. Sorry for the inconvenience, we have to conduct a thorough search of the carriage," the general, Spinel said.
"We understand the seriousness of the situation. But I have to apologize that we are in a hurry. My father is ill, and as the only son of the family, it in my honour to bring home a bride," Syaoran explained the situation.
"Where will the wedding be held?" Spinel asked.
"Not far from here. A small townhouse, 50 blocks east from here. It is near an apothecary shop," Syaoran added the details.
"Let them pass," the general commanded. As soon as the carriage began moving again an arrow fell on the ground caught the general's attention.
"Hold it right there!" Spinel walked over and picked up the arrow.
"Damn it, the stupid motel owners gave us a broken carriage," Madison cursed inside the carriage. "What are we going to do?" Sakura panicked.
"Carrying weapons as gifts for marriage? Arrest them!" Spinel commanded.
"Your honor, it was only an arrow. May I ask what is problem?" Madison got out of the carriage.
"Illegal import of weapons is against the law," Spinel replied.
"Sir, this is not a weapon but a symbolic gift for the groom's family. The bride is from a small native hunting tribe. They use arrows signifying wealth and prosperity of the new family. It symbolizes a secure continuation of the family's bloodline. It is a tradition of the tribe to deliver arrows for her in laws as a sign of respect," Madison explained.
"In that case, we have a tradition here as well. There is a temple two blocks down; I will escort you there personally. If I may ask, do you know the significance of the temple?" Spinel was obviously testing their background.
"Of course, in order to receive blessing of a new marriage the bride and groom must pray to the earth deity. It's signifies unity of two into one. The tradition says that the couples who pray to the earth deity will have a happy and long-lasting marriage," Kero replied from behind Spinel.
"I shall lead the way," Spinel led the way to the temple followed by his soldiers guarding the carriage.
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Sakura and Syaoran walked side by side into the temple. Syaoran took Sakura's hand into his and led her to the statue of the earth deity. Both of them kneeled before the statue on a cushion.
"Today, I, Syaoran, in the honor of my father will marry my fiancé Sakura. As a lifetime promise, I am sworn to protect her, care for her, and love her as my one and only," Syaoran said looking over at Sakura.
Sakura hesitated, as making a fake promise with a deity wasn't respectful and may bring bad fortune. Sakura looked back at Syaoran knowing that they could all die if they didn't play it real, "I, Sakura Avalon, will forever treasure this gift and bring honour to my family. I will forever hold my peace and be faithful to my husband, to my children, and to my new family."
Suddenly, Spinel drawn his sword and sliced off a strand of hair from both of their heads. Sakura shrieked and grabbed onto Syaoran's hand. Sakura's body began shaking as Syaoran helped her up as he moved himself in front of Spinel.
One soldier walked up, and grabbed the two stands of hair from the ground. He then wrapped the hair together in a red ribbon.
The soldier hand it to Spinel, and he handed to Syaoran, "If you are a martial artist, you would've stopped my sword. But you didn't. Upon finishing this ceremony, you are now married. Congratulations."
Syaoran thanked Spinel, and he held Sakura's hand as they exit the temple along with Madison, Kero, and Jake.
One soldier walked up to Spinel and asked, "Sir, you don't think they are spies?"
Spinel answered with confident, "On the contrary, the groom is too confident. Any normal person would be scared and question me. I can guarantee that they are spies."
On the way to the townhouse where the meeting took place, Jake spotted a few men dressed in black were spying on them. They entered a small house welcome by their own soldiers dressed in local civilian clothing.
"They knew," Madison close the door behind them.
"Are we still going to continue with our plan?" Jake hesitantly said.
"There is no turning back now. This way," Syaoran opened a secret wall passage and lead his team to a storage room connected to the backyard.
Syaoran opened the lid of two boxes, inside were civilian clothes with low quality protective vest. They didn't have a lot of options, but this will have to do.
Syaoran took out a bag and handed to Sakura. "This was stolen by the motel owners. Jake got it back for you. Inside this bag also contained civilian clothing. I have a horse outside for you to escape. Go get change."
Syaoran personally waited for Sakura to change into her civilian clothing, and showed her to her horse.
"Keep going forward, there is the west existing gate. Once you leave, do not turn back," Syaoran instructed.
"I have something for you," Sakura took out Syaoran's mask from her bag and handed to him.
"You came all this way to just give me my mask?" Syaoran took it from Sakura's hand.
"That was one of the reasons," Sakura looked down shyly and smiled.
"I have something for you too," Syaoran handed her a jade stone ornament, "You can pawn this for some money to get you home safely. Remember not to easily trust anyone from this moment forward. The world is a dangerous place, protect yourself at any cost."
Sakura nodded as she got on her horse, "Do you think I still have a chance to see…"
"Prince of Northern Star? Of course, I made you a promise and I will keep it," Syaoran looked up at her. Syaoran hit the horse as it began running.
"No, I meant you!" Sakura held tight onto the strings as her horse carried her away. She wasn't able to say a formal goodbye to him. She was more concerned about seeing Syaoran, than the Prince of Northern Star at this point of the mission.
The horse ran towards the gate in great speed showing no sign of stopping. The villagers scattered as quickly as possible opening up a path for Sakura to pass.
Sakura was nervous and scared as she started squeezing the horse's sides with her legs. This signalled the horse to stop causing Sakura to lose grip and fell off on the ground.
"Are you okay?" an old man walked to Sakura and helped her up.
"Yeah, no broken bones luckily," Sakura got up and brushed the dirt off of her clothes. The old man saw the jade ornament on the ground and handed to her.
"Thank you," Sakura brushed the dirt off of the ornament and noticed three Chinese characters carved vertically onto the jade, Li Xiao Lang. Sakura looked more closely at each character carefully, Li-Xiao-Lang.
Li Xiao Lang deemed the title Prince of Northern Star for his courage and bravery. He was the only member of the royal family to join the military and fight for his kingdom. A crownless prince who is destined to die at the hands of his own bloodline.
Sakura remember what her grandmother told her about Prince of Northern Star. She felt the whole world crushing down as memories of every moment between herself and Syaoran, "It's him! This whole time it was Syaoran… Syaoran, he is the masked knight, Li Xiao Lang, Prince of Northern Star! He is Prince of Northern Star!"