This was infuriating. The old woman was definitely taking her own time to analyze the potion. This was the underhanded deviousness about her that Hayate had sensed even as a child. It had frustrated him then, and it frustrated him now. He wanted to knock her senseless; didn't she understand that Himeno was dying and that every moment was precious?
"You seem impatient," she cackled. Hayate turned away from her obvious glee in disgust.
"Only someone like you would be glad at a time like this," Hayate finally said. She looked up from her foul smelling concoction.
"Whoever is poisoned is of no concern to me. I am merely amused that you managed to find your way back here after all these years," she commented.
Hayate narrowed his eyes. He remembered her crying out to him as he ran away that he would eventually be drawn back to this place…
Was Himeno's fate the fault of this witch, after all? Hayate leapt to his feet, but his sudden movement did nothing to deter the old woman from continuing her investigation.
"I had nothing to do with this, if that's what's running through yer mind, boy," the old woman said after a moment's pause. And she truly looked defeated, defeated by the fact that the boy she had raised from a baby doubted her.
Hayate sat back down and finally asked the question that had been plaguing him his entire life.
"Why did you take me in?" he asked. The old woman did stop her stirring then and looked at him with a look in her eyes that Hayate did not understand.
"How old do you think I am, boy?" she asked him. Hayate shrugged.
"Pushing on a century, I would say," he remarked. She laughed.
"What if I told you I was no more than forty?" she asked him.
"I wouldn't believe you," he stated flatly.
"Well, I am. A jaded forty-year-old, but one nonetheless," she said.
"I've never seen you look younger than you appear now," Hayate said, glaring at her to force her to resume her work despite his inquiries.
"One of my spells backfired, and I became the way I am now—before I took you in," she said, "And one of my foolish dreams was to become a mother, back when I was young enough to bear children mind ye."
"Then why did you hate me so?" Hayate finally asked.
"Because you were the son of the man who rejected me after what I had become," she said bitterly, "But in exchange for a favor I did him, he gave you to me."
"You knew my father?" Hayate asked, surprise filling his system.
"I loved him," the old woman confessed, making sure to look anywhere except at Hayate.
"Is he alive now?" Hayate probed.
"Don't know. I'm sure he's still out there, determined to conquer the world like the child that he is," she said, a tone of fondness coming into her voice.
"Conquer the world?" Hayate asked quizzically.
"It was his constant joke—that he would conquer the world. But underneath his joking, he was serious as well. That I never missed in his comments," she remarked.
"Then, is he part of the royal family?" Hayate asked, fearing the worst.
"By the heaven's boy, are you hoping yer an heir? No, no, he was an average peasant just like me. But he was filled with a sense of justice…" she trailed off as one of her concoctions began to overflow.
"The anecdote," she said suddenly. Hayate snapped out of his thoughts about the father he never knew and waited on edge for her next statement.
"You need to make it yourself. I don't have most of the ingredients for it, and it's a complicated mix at best," she said, and hastily scribbled away at a piece of paper. After a few moments of writing, she handed the parchment to Hayate.
As he took a look at the ingredients, he blanched.
"Are you playing with me?" he demanded, slamming the parchment on the table.
"This is why I said you needed to do it yourself," the woman countered, "The poison was made through similar means as well, which explains why it was so effective on your innocent princess."
Hayate froze. He had not remembered saying that it was the princess who had gotten poisoned in any part of their discussions. This witch…
He grabbed her by the front of her dress and slammed her against the wall.
"Why the hell do you know it's the princess?" he thundered, his eyes hard as ice.
"Because I had a request to aid in creating the poison by another customer," she stated simply, unafraid despite of Hayate's ferocity.
Hayate released her, and turned away.
"So the assassins visited you," he said softly.
"I do not have any allegiances; if they can pay the price, then I provide my services," she stated, smoothing off her dress.
"She's in so much pain now…because of you…" Hayate said through gritted teeth. He clenched his fists and seconds later, slammed one of his fists against the wall. Several mice erupted from the holes in the wall and scattered in fear and annoyance at the disruption. The old woman watched her pseudo-son and sighed. And in a strange gesture of kindness, the old woman handed Hayate a ruby-red stone.
"Give this to her for the time being," she said, "It will stall the spread of the poison and give her relief from the pain."
"Your price," Hayate demanded immediately, knowing nothing was free from this witch.
"Only your word that you will return it back to me," she said, her features softening. Hayate felt a lump form in his throat in gratitude, but he was not about to display its extent to her. But he did not need to, for the old woman knew.
She had not raised him for seven years for nothing, after all.
"Your price for the poison evaluation," Hayate managed to croak out after an unusually long pause of silence.
"That you bury me in the clover field after I die," she said softly. Hayate turned to her, his eyes widening in shock at her—price? Request?
"Very well," he promised, and taking the parchment, the dagger and the ruby stone, mounted onto his horse and took off back to the castle without another look behind him.
…
Mawata had fallen asleep, leaving Go in charge of keeping watch during the night. He was grateful for her kidnapping of him earlier now. He could sense many in the forests beyond the riverbank in this area. Had he not been on the river, he would have been ambushed for sure. Not that he doubted his own abilities, of course, but still.
She was a beautiful woman that was for sure. Pale, pearl-like skin ringed with curls of turquoise-green hair and a small frame that was delicate and feminine, yet strong and tough. Having been in training most of his life, Go had very few prolonged encounters with women. Recently, it had been visits to the brothels—a one-night encounter—and then departure. Other than the princess, whom he now spoke with rarely since they were both no longer children, Go had spent very little time actually conversing with a woman.
And she was irritating him to say the least. She rarely explained things in their entirety, and seemed to enjoy his frustration. Added to that was the fact that she seemed to not notice that he was male at all…
He knelt down towards her, and placed his thumb on her lips. She looks so defenseless, Go thought, almost the way the princess had seemed as a baby. He pulled his finger away and focused on the action occurring on the riverbanks. Why had they not shot arrows at him yet?
Well, he decided, they were in the thick of their territory—whoever 'they' were—and there was no escaping that. Coming up with strategies was not his strong point; he acted before he thought and dealt with things as they came. But he wasn't alone this time, and this stupid woman thought she could just drop him off and walk off?
But maybe she could, another voice whispered in Go's ear, maybe she could afford to do that because she's neutral. Or maybe she's playing you right into their hands…
He decided he would deal with that later, and shut his eyes for some rest under the light of the moon.
…
"You seem down, Sasame," he commented over dinner. Takako had been given the honor of joining the women for a feast, while he was given his usual honor of meeting with the leader. An honor that he preferred to do without. He had respected this man long ago—and still believed in his vision for the future. But the man himself had decayed. His weakness was apparent especially to Sasame who had known him the longest in the group. And Sasame wanted to destroy him using that very weakness. If only he could find its source…
"It is nothing," Sasame replied in his usual monotone voice around the leader. He tried to betray no emotion. After his first failure, he knew the leader's cruelty. He had looked up to this man as a father after he had abandoned his own family, but it was a lie that he now only maintained on the surface.
"How is Takako treating you?" he probed despite Sasame's blank look. Perhaps part of him still wanted to treat Sasame like a son, even if in the end he was only treating him as a weapon.
"She is a worthy partner, and has not let me down," Sasame replied immediately. I will not let you have her, Sasame thought fiercely.
"Indeed. You have not failed a mission since she joined with you. I am thinking of testing her abilities alone—to give you a rest of sorts," he continued. Sasame started. Send Takako on a mission on her own? Was the leader trying to pull away Takako from him?
"We have worked very well as a team. I believe that is our strength," Sasame said quickly, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice. It was almost as if the leader could sense what was passing through his mind.
"I believe you protect her too much. It stifles her true ability. I am determined to see her true power, Sasame. She may be just what we have been waiting for," the leader concluded, rising from the table. Once the leader decided something, he did not let go of the thought easily, Sasame knew.
As he left, Sasame clenched his fists, allowing the fury that was bubbling inside of him to show plainly on his face.