Thanks to Sakura Takanouchi (I'm not entirely sure what you mean by flowery. What I think you mean that everything is a bit too blunt, that it should use some more foreshadowing? Or the writing just dark in some aspects? Anyway, as for the Forest of Dim, it's just neutral ground that people use to travel from to get to the other side, where the harbor is. No kingdom has any hold on it), Silential, SwordMasterZ (Basically, Seto is the brains of the group. He's still dangerous because of that, but not in the manner of the Dark Arts. Don't worry, each of their positions are more identifiable in later chapters. This Malik is the normal one – no Yami Malik for this story, unfortunately), and Eternal Eyes (That is tragic, I've really been hoping you would continue on with Hate Me, It's Easier. I know what you mean about how hard original fiction is. I've barely gotten through a few chaptered stories. Thanks for popping in again, though) for reviewing.
Don't be shy, people! If I'm not explaining anything clearly or you have a question, just ask it. If you see any grammar/spelling mistakes or simply find something about the writing style that isn't agreeable, tell me! I love constructive criticism, whether it be presented kindly or otherwise. With that said, here is chapter four!
The Fairest Lady: Chapter Four
Shizuka hummed a cheerful tune beneath her breath as she approached the princess's bedchambers. She flung the doors open and tilted her head curiously, seeing that her friend was not yet up. Suspecting that Anzu's body needed time to adjust from everything yesterday, she went to the curtains and opened them, glancing behind her at the four poster bed. The curtains around the bed were tightly sealed, keeping any sunlight from them. "Anzu, it's time to wake!" She called, approaching the bed. "I know you had a hard time yesterday, but – " She stopped as she pushed the curtains back and found an empty bed. Staring at the twisted blankets blankly, Shizuka could sense the slow beginnings of horror dawning on her. Stumbling back, she whipped around to look at the room. It was as she had left it yesterday when helping Anzu get ready for bed. Desperately, she hurried to the wardrobe and counted the gowns. They were all there, meaning that Anzu had not gone out early for a brisk walk as she had hoped.
"She's gone!" She whispered and ran from the chambers, frantically crying in the corridor, "The princess is gone! Get Prince Yami, hurry!" Servants poked their heads from the rooms, hesitant expressions on their faces. Ignoring them, she dashed down the corridor and the flight of steps to the breakfast room where Yami was sure to be, as he rose at dawn to start the day. The king glanced at her, panting as she pattered to a stop in the breakfast room. Yami rose in his seat, alarmed. Holding a hand to her chest and pointing a finger out of the doorway, she gasped, "Anzu...She's...gone missing!"
"Missing?" The king asked, turning his head to look at her. "What are you talking about, girl?"
"I...went to wake her...but she wasn't in bed and...all of her gowns are there." She paused to wet her lips. Yami was slowly approaching her from round the table, his eyebrows drawn together in concern. "Someone took her in her sleep. There is no way she would be wandering around in her nightgown otherwise." Yami looked to his father, who merely waved a lazy hand, indicating that he could do as he wish.
"Shizuka," the prince said, taking her shoulders, "go find your brother. Tell him to get the soldiers to search the grounds for Anzu. I'm going to search her chambers." Shizuka nodded and hurried away. Yami, meanwhile, ran up to Anzu's chambers. He had an uneasy feeling. Mai had only spoken to Anzu yesterday. He had mentioned the possibility of Mai getting rid of her if she found his fiancée disagreeable, seriously believing that his sister might do such a thing. It was too much of a coincidence that Anzu would go missing only the day after. A chill ran down his back.
Would she kill her? He wondered. Or would she simply transport her elsewhere, so that she's not in the way? Mai doesn't know it, but she's helping Bakura by doing this. All Bakura wanted to do was isolate me, make me miserable. Anzu is one of the last people I have that I trust and love. He came to Anzu's bedchambers and hesitantly moved around the room, feeling uncomfortable being here without her present. It could not be helped if she was missing. If Mai were to hide her, it wouldn't be in the castle or on the castle grounds. Nothing was disturbed, excepting the blankets on her bed. They seemed to have been thrown away without a second thought. Abandoning the bed, he moved out onto the balcony, his hands clenching over the stone. He could see soldiers moving around on the grounds, a purpose set in their mind. They won't find her, I am sure of it. It's best to look anyway.
Yami stared broodingly ahead of him, his eyes pinning the thick trees. For a long time, he stared without full comprehension of what he was doing. The puzzle pieces that had been trying to fit together clicked in place and he lurched forward, his eyes shooting to twice their size. Uttering a strangled noise, he thrust away from the balcony, stumbling inside and collapsing on the bed. The Forest of Dim... Of course Mai knew of the animals' newly violent nature. It's nearest, and no one would be there to help her. I can't send men in because they would surely die. We've tried to travel through the forest. If she as vulnerable as Shizuka made it sound, in only her nightwear...Anzu is surely dead.
X
Anzu opened her eyes and jerked up in bed, startled at her unfamiliar surroundings. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and then gradually slowed as she recalled where she was and how she had gotten there. She pushed the covers back, looking down at herself. Malik had no women's clothes at hand – not that she was surprised – and so he dressed her in a loose, peach caftan that was generally worn in the warmer kingdoms. She had suspected Malik might be from a warmer region, as his looks were unlike any of the men she had met before. She stood and readjusted the sash before leaving the room. At the top of the stairs, she twisted her hair up, clasping it with the pins that she had gotten from her ruined nightgown. Satisfied that she looked somewhat respectable, she carefully descended the stairs.
As soon as she came into the kitchen, a door opened and an unfamiliar male entered. She backed into the stairs before he was given a chance to glimpse her and watched him curiously. A bit annoyed, she noticed that he, too, was handsome. His looks seemed less foreign. His chin-length hair was a shade darker than Malik's, but his skin was a lighter tan. His mouth was turned down unhappily, almost in a bad-tempered way. She pressed herself into the shadows of the stairwell as he passed through the kitchen to the den. Only then did she step from the stairs and peek around the doorway.
"About time you got back," Malik grunted from the table, shutting the book he had been perusing sharply and frowning up at the man as he moved towards the cabinets beneath the bookshelf. Anzu saw that there were bottles of alcohol and brandy glasses stored there. He took a glass and a bottle of what she guessed to be brandy, splashing the substance in a generous amount and drinking it. "I have to talk to you about something."
"Is it so important that you dragged Seto into this?" He grumbled, nodding to the third male in the room. Anzu inspected the sorcerer, Seto, shrewdly. He appeared vaguely familiar. She was certain she had seen his picture somewhere. Unlike Malik or Bakura, he was utterly expressionless. If he was bothered by being involved in their affairs, it did not seem so. If he had not glanced at them at that moment, Anzu might have suspected he was ignoring them.
"It is more important than you are assuming it to be, Bakura."
Bakura, she thought. I have heard that name somewhere. I can't think, though. My mind is so muddled right now from sleep and now that I think about it, I am famished. She put a hand to her stomach as it gave a gurgle that she prayed none of the men had heard. Thankfully, they were all quite thoroughly engrossed in what was taking place in the den to bother about who might be spying on them from the kitchen.
"Yami's fiancée is here," Malik continued. "She was in the forest. Don't ask me how she got in here, either, because she refused to tell me. She very politely said that it was none of my business." Bakura had gone still, his grumpy expression washed away. That caused Anzu to become uneasy. Apparently she was special somehow to Bakura, the way her presence was announced to him. Surely that could mean no good?
"We're not sure if they're betrothed," Seto intercepted, cutting through the thick, thoughtful silence. "They were when they were children. Things may have changed."
"Even so, that is quite fascinating," Bakura remarked, a most unpleasant smile curling his lips upward. He poured himself more brandy and took a small drink from it. "How did she survive in the forest?"
"All she was wearing was a nightgown. She didn't even have any shoes," Malik said with a tiny frown. "There were rumors to the effect that she was brought up...unconventionally, as it was put, since her father was the one that raised her. The only thing I have heard of her mother is that she set up the betrothal arrangements between her and Yami. If she had been equipped, I suppose she might have been able to survive in the forest for a bit. But this deep? – And with how she was dressed? It's suspicious."
"She didn't tell you, hm?"
"No."
"We'll have to check and see if she has any magic in her – enough to transport herself. If not, then foul play was involved. That should make our options broader and even more entertaining."
Anzu shivered at the drawling voice and crept away from the doorway to the stairs. Very quietly did she ascend the stairs while the males were preoccupied with their thoughts. Once she had closed the door to Malik's room, she dived into the covers and stared into the thick darkness, trembling fearfully. The fear had made her remember who Bakura was. He had been the dark sorcerer who was supposed to be executed in Kraion, but had escaped. He was the one who supposedly had betrayed Mai's friendship. Anzu was beginning to think that he had taught Mai the dark arts. It would be no surprise. How else would she have kidnapped Anzu and taken her into the Forest of Dim?
Once her trembling had subsided, and her mind was cleared, Anzu felt unbearably alone. She would not have thought it true, but she missed Yami more than anything. She felt no hatred towards Mai – not quite – and the fear for Bakura, although there, was smothered by her want to see her fiancé. She had never imagined she would want to see Yami. He is so much different than them, she reflected, comparing him to the sorcerers downstairs. He's so honest and open and kind. I have to get out of here...Tomorrow, I will see if I can't find a sword and a compass so that I can leave. But I have no idea where I am. I'll have to wheedle it out of Malik. That is, if Bakura hasn't killed me by then.
At the end of her dismal thoughts, she heard footsteps in the hall and then the click as the door was opened. Swallowing the panicked emotions, she steadied her breathing to long, deep breaths, closing her eyes gently to give the image of a comfortable, sleeping person. Someone approached the bed, the feather mattress sinking down slightly. Anzu felt the brush of fingers on her cheek as the blanket was pulled away from her face. Struggling to keep a calm expression while pretending to sleep, she prayed that whoever it was would leave her be.
A few seconds passed and then Malik's soft voice murmured to someone, "She's asleep." The blanket dropped, covering her face again. Relieved, Anzu continued her careful breathing, hearing two sets of footsteps enter the room. The other sorcerers were there. They were congregating in Malik's room, perhaps to murder her while she was sleeping. She half-wished she had stayed downstairs to find out why they were up here.
"You put her in your room?" Bakura's rasping voice queried.
"Where else would he put her?" The last voice, Seto's, snidely retorted. "Better his than ours, let alone the drawing room or the living room." He paused. "I don't sense any magic from her."
"I never did, either," Malik added. "Bakura?"
There was a long stretch of silence that made Anzu want to shift or at least open her eyes to see what was going on. Nonetheless, she continued her façade and hoped that none of them suspected. Finally, Bakura murmured, "Nothing, which means that someone put her here on purpose, likely to die in the Forest of Dim. Who would imagine that such a puny girl could make an enemy?"
"It is easy to make enemies in Kraion, what with your little hellion of an apprentice there," Seto dry stated. "You should never have given her a taste of the dark arts, Bakura. The animals were fine with our presence up until recently. I rather think she's the cause of it."
"Whether Mai is involved or not is hardly my concern," Bakura answered in a dismissive tone. "The woman was too impatient to deal with minor spells. I doubt that she's the reason for the princess to be in our hands, let alone the animals going out of control. She doesn't have the control, nor the ability. You might as well abandon that theory. But enough...If we continue to talk like this here, we'll wake her up. I, for one, am done with talking. I'm exhausted."
"Of course you are," came Seto's sarcastic voice as footsteps rose from the floor.
Once the footsteps faded, Anzu turned the slightest bit and felt her heart leap to her throat, seeing Malik standing by the door, watching her with a shuttered expression. His lips curled upward almost laughingly. He put a finger to his lips and then turned from the room, swinging the door closed softly. Anzu sat up in bed, staring at the door, baffled. Her trembling returned, this time from being caught eavesdropping on the sorcerers' conversation. Malik did not seem like he was about to tell Bakura. Still, she did not trust him.
X
Jounouchi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he approached Yami, his heart sinking heavily to his waist. They had searched all day for Anzu on the castle grounds and then later, in the city. There was not a trace of her. Jounouchi gave hourly reports to the prince, knowing how anxious he was. There was nothing to be done anymore, not when it was so dark and when Anzu, by all accounts, was not in Kraion.
At the moment, he was feeling as though he were drowning. His sister had been sobbing when he last saw her, convinced that her friend was dead. Yami's stolid expression was even worse. Jounouchi knew it was an automatic defense so that no one could see his true emotions. He did not fancy telling Yami that they might not be able to reclaim his fiancée. "Report," Yami quietly said as Jounouchi came to stand in front of him.
"Well..." Jounouchi cleared his throat, conscious of how unsteady his voice was. "We haven't found any trace of how she was taken from her room, nor where she might be. I'm...afraid she's not in Kraion, Yami." He spread his hands out helplessly. "We've looked in every possible place. No one has reported seeing the princess, and my men have not seen even a shred of her. No offense, but I don't think we have a very good chance of finding her." Yami was staring past him, at a point just beyond Jounouchi's shoulder.
"Thank you, Jounouchi," he told him. "I appreciate all you've done today, even if it was a wasted effort." He sighed and turned his weary, despondent gaze to meet Jounouchi's. "Did I not tell you that Mai was up to something? I know you don't want to believe it," he added as Jounouchi's mouth flew open, "but it is a bit too coincidental. Only the day after she speaks to Anzu and she goes missing? No, I'm sorry, but it is too much. I place all blame completely on her. And...I think I know where Anzu might be."
"You do? Yami, why didn't you say something? I would have sent men out – "
"I know. This, too, is a lost cause, because the men would just be killed." Yami could see that Jounouchi was thinking, his nose wrinkling slightly as he did. Although his friend could be slow at certain things, like numbers and politics, he was not stupid as many of the other soldiers assumed. He had a sharp sense of observation that no one else could claim to have, and when it came to subtle meanings like this, it only took a minute or so for him to understand.
"...The Forest of Dim?" He said in a shocked voice. "You said Bakura might be in there!"
"Which is why I am convinced she may very well be dead. I don't like thinking about my fiancéebeing deceased. What else can I think, though, when there are monstrous animals that care nothing for humans and Bakura, who does not even seem to have a conscience, let alone a heart?" He shook his head. "If she had a sword or a bow and a quiver of arrows, she might have survived long enough to find a place to hide. As it is, she had nothing from what Shizuka tells me."
"We can't give up hope, Yami," Jounouchi quietly told him, reaching out to clasp his shoulder. "Anzu's stubborn. She won't let herself die, not when she's supposed to be married. Did you warn her about Mai?" Yami nodded glumly. "She probably came to the same conclusion and hates her guts now. If that's it, she's going to be pissed as hell and will want to be back to kick Mai's ass." He smiled cheerily at Yami. "Don't worry. If we can't get to her, she'll come back to us." He laughed. "Hell, maybe she'll force Bakura into helping her get back to the forest if she meets him."
X
Anzu was unaccustomed to being woken up by sunlight dancing across her eyelids. There was no sound of Shizuka's bright voice waking her up, making the experience altogether unpleasant. She rubbed her eyes and flipped the covers away, stepping out of bed. The room was cold now that she was not covered by the blanket and the floor was even colder. Noticing the window some feet from the bed that she had not seen there yesterday, she moved to it and undid the chain holding the windowpanes together, pushing them out. The morning air was cool, a brisk wake up call. As she breathed, she could see small puffs of air forming in front of her face. The forest, having looked unwholesome and evil yesterday, appeared lovely at dawn with the sun streaking down across from it, glittering between the trees and casting rays of colour on the ground.
So...I'm facing the east here, towards Siruean. Then I have to go west, the way I came from. The mountain lion will probably want to eat me again if I go that way. I could go east towards Siruean, but I would first have to pass through Revaldi villages to get to the coast. And then I need money to get boarding for a ship to Siruean, too... It's just so complicated. My best bet is to go west, to Kraion, with or without the mountain lion.
Sighing, Anzu turned away from the window and patted at her hair, removing the pins. After combing through it and twisting it up again, pinning it back in place, she left the room. She could hear Malik's voice barking out something in a foreign language from the kitchen and a snicker from one of the other sorcerers. Cautiously, she moved down the stairs, sharply recalling how they had spoken about her last night and what type of person Bakura was. If Malik and Seto were associating with him, she wondered what type of people they were. The only person I really can say is an ally is Malik, she thought, and hardly even that.
She peeked into the kitchen, seeing Malik and Bakura cooking at the counter in the middle of the kitchen, chopping vegetables. Bakura saw her first, raising his eyes to the staircase casually. He put down his knife and hit Malik in the shoulder with the back of his hand. Malik, too, looked up, his mouth tight with irritation. The expression cleared when he saw her. "Awake, are you?" He greeted amiably enough. She nodded and entered the kitchen, keeping her eyes away from Bakura. She wanted nothing to do with the man. "How did you sleep?"
"...Fine, for a person who is stranded in the middle of a forest," she answered a bit tartly. One of his eyebrows rose in a mild manner. Since he knew she had heard their conversation, she suspected he understood her feelings perfectly well. Anzu flicked a look at Bakura to see what his reaction was. Her cheeks warmed indignantly, seeing a smirking, amused expression on his face. She knew she was bound to hate him more than she feared him. "Would you like my help?" She asked Malik, nodding to the vegetables. He stared at her and then looked at the vegetables, clueless.
"You know how to cook?" He managed after puzzling it over in his head.
"I'm not an ordinary princess."
"What a relief," Bakura remarked, forcing her to look at him. "I feared we were going to have to deal with one of those spoiled, foul-tempered brats that only know how to sew – and not even that, most of the time." Anzu's eyes narrowed irritably. Bakura merely grinned. It had been some time since he was able to irritate a person so easily. She was just as fun to play with as her fiancé was. Admittedly, Bakura missed those days of pissing Yami off. Malik knew how to turn his insults back at him, having a similar personality to Bakura's, and Seto would simply turn away and ignore him.
"As it happens, I am as foul-tempered as the lot of them," Anzu told him. "I might not be in my kingdom, nor in Kraion, but I am a princess. I expect to be treated with at least a bit of respect."
"A princess that cooks?" He returned. "I've never heard of such a thing. I believe you may be a fraud, dear lady." He gave a sarcastic bow, graceful though it was. He saw her eyes move to his knife lying on the cutting board. He seized it before she could get any wild ideas of bounding over the counter and stabbing him with it. That would be a bit inconvenient to his future plans. After all, he hardly wanted to boast in the underworld that he had been killed by a princess the first day he met her. Not to mention, such a small little princess. He wondered vaguely if she ate at all.
"Can I trust you with a knife?" Malik asked, cutting into their exchange, waving his own knife.
"You can," she said. "I cannot assure you that he can." Bakura grinned tauntingly and set the knife on the cutting board again.
"I have some things to do before breakfast is ready, anyway," he said, moving towards the door behind her. He paused, murmuring in her ear, "But I would be careful how to treat us around here, princess. We have a tendency to play with our food before we kill it." She turned to stare at him, her face pale. Satisfied his message had been received, Bakura waved a hand to Malik and left through the door.
X
DIS: Well, there's the fourth chapter. Sorry for the, er, shortness of it. Hopefully longer chapters to come...Please leave a review on the way out, telling me how it is so far. Ideas and constructive comments embraced. Ciao!