Chapter 6: A House Of Cards

His words hung over the room's occupants, eliciting responses of shock and disbelief. He stood unmoving, waiting calmly for his statement to sink in completely.

"Nakago, are you…sure about this?" Miaka asked slowly, all the colour draining from her face. Her eyes begged him to tell her that what he had just said was a joke…that it was all a misunderstanding.

To find out that someone was trying to kill the empress must have come as an unpleasant surprise for her, and Nicholas could see that she was deeply shaken. Sometimes, he wondered how she managed it; to feel everything so deeply without going insane or losing control…to have such a large emotional investment in the welfare of another person. An attempt had been made on her own life not more than twenty-four hours ago, but she seemed to care more about other people than she did about herself…

Yet, at the same time, he understood—perhaps better than anyone—that her ability to feel strongly was the source of her strength and a vital part of who she was. Without it, she would be a shadow of herself; no more than—

A character in a book. How wonderfully ironic. The thought would probably have amused him under different circumstances.

Nevertheless, he would not lie to her, nor did he try to soften the blow by disguising the truth behind meaningless words.

"Yes," he said flatly.

He replaced the white powder on the table, taking care not to spill any of it, while at the same time never shifting his gaze from the advisors and palace doctors. "Who prescribed this?"

"This is completely unacceptable behaviour! Are we going to let this…this…outsider come in here and start accusing us? He may be the Miko's friend, but that doesn't give him the right! He doesn't know what he's talking about!" One of the advisors exploded indignantly, and Nicholas noticed that it was the very same one who had tried to deny the Suzaku no Miko's request to see the empress.

Nicholas directed a thin, frosty smile at the weaselly-looking advisor, "Don't I? Then why is it that your empress is being given a poison which weakens the body, causes a persistent fever until the person taking it eventually dies…seemingly of an illness? A poison which, incidentally, can only be found in Kutou?"

"A lie! That is the most preposterous thing I have ever heard!" the other man spat disdainfully.

"I believe him," a voice interrupted softly. Miaka got to her feet, almost visibly shaking with barely contained fury. Someone trying to murder Houki?…WHY? In that moment, a shimmering veil of red chi surrounded her, swirling around her body like a burning flame…

The fire of Suzaku.

The advisors gaped openly, having never seen such an impressive display of temper from their Miko. Even Keisuke and Taka appeared to have been taken aback by the manifestation of Miaka's anger.

Abruptly, one of the physicians fell to his knees before the angry priestess, his words spilling over themselves in his nervousness. Babbling almost incoherently, he admitted to prescribing the poison which would have condemned the empress to a slow and cruel death.

"I never wanted it do this…" he finally whispered brokenly, hanging his head in shame; remorse heavy in his voice.

The house of cards has begun to collapse, but Nicholas knew that it was not over yet. Far from it, in fact. "There is someone else involved," he announced calmly, unruffled by the events which had transpired…he had seen the Suzaku no Miko's tantrums too many times for them to have any significant effect on him. Instead, he regarded the physician coldly, "Who ordered you to do it?"

The man lifted his head, his face completely drenched in sweat. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before slowly pointing a shaking finger at one of the royal advisors. "Him," the physician's voice had stopped trembling, and his eyes were now filled with uncompromising hatred, "He told me that my family would be made to suffer if I did not do what he wanted!"

The weaselly advisor was taken aback by the accusation, his face first going pale, then turning red with anger, "This is a conspiracy! A conspiracy to discredit me—"

"It is odd that you should use that word," Nicholas remarked impassively, "The assassin you sent to kill the Suzaku no Miko said exactly the same thing." His blue eyes gleamed maliciously as he made one final, cutting comment, "Unfortunately for you, he wasn't very good…you could have hired someone more skilled for half the price."�

Beside him, Miaka raised a trembling hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp of horror. She took an unsteady step backwards and somehow managed to trip over her own feet. She braced herself for the pain which would surely result from her carelessness…only to experience the sensation of someone catching her before she could fall.

Luminous hazel eyes met soft violet ones as time seemed to stand still. Strong arms circled around her waist; supporting her weight, holding her up…

I would never let you fall…not ever…

With everyone else distracted by the Suzaku no Miko's near accident, only one person noticed the advisor pulling out a dagger hidden in his robes and lunging for the sick woman on the bed, aiming to plunge it into her heart in a last ditch attempt to kill her…

Once she is dead, it will an easy victory for Kutou…The Empress was as good as dead already, and it would not take much to send her on her way. A second was all he needed…and after he took care of her, he would exact his revenge on that interfering blonde-haired man who had exposed all his plans. She will die, and I'll make sure that he joins her! It mattered little to him that he would probably be caught and executed for his treachery shortly thereafter; his sole concern was to get rid of the Empress-Regent…anything which happened to him afterwards was of little consequence. Gentokuin was almost assured of his success, almost there…

…until he felt his hand being caught in a painfully tight grip and sharply twisted.

The sound of the bones in his wrist snapping was followed swiftly by the metallic clutter of the knife hitting the polished marble floor as it fell from his nerveless fingers. He caught sight of something dark and dangerous reflected in silver-blue eyes for an instant, before a vicious kick to his side sent him flying across the room, causing him to hit the opposite wall hard.

Everyone stared in stunned silence as the advisor slid down to the floor in an unconscious heap…

moments before they were jolted back to their senses by the guards bursting in through the doors, having been alerted by the noise.

"Take Advisor Gentokuin away. Have him locked up and interrogated when he awakens, " the chief advisor ordered tersely. He was dismayed to learn that they had a traitor in their midst. All this time, we have been so blind…Katsu had been loyal to the late Emperor Saihitei, and he had sworn to serve the Empress as best as he could after her husband's death.

Had it not been for the Suzaku no Miko and her friend…he shuddered to think of what would have happened. He turned around to look at the blonde man who had saved the Empress' life… he had to admit, that the Suzaku no Miko chose her friends well.

Demo…Katsu could not shake the feeling that there was something about the man which seemed hauntingly familiar.

"Nakago, how did you know about the poison?" Miaka asked the minute they got back to her room; her curiosity eating her alive from the inside. She was glad that Houki would be all right…the palace physicians had assured her that now the cause of Houki's condition had been discovered and put to an end, the Empress would make a full recovery.

"When you held the Empress' hand, I noticed that her fingernails had a blue tinge, which is an indication of the poison accumulating over a period of time," Nicholas turned a disconcertingly direct stare on her. "My theory was confirmed when I saw the white power they were giving her. They use the same substance to get rid of people in Kutou so as not to arouse suspicion."

Her eyes widened in astonishment at how sharp his powers of observation were. For him to notice a small detail like that…Amazing. She frowned, deep in thought, "What exactly is this poison anyway?"

"It exists in the real world as well. You might know it as arsenic," Nicholas stated impassively, giving a soft, short snort of amusement when she looked at him blankly; obviously having never heard of it before. Still as naïve and innocent as I remembered, he was almost surprised at how little she had changed. Older, but no wiser, it would appear…a voice at the back of his mind noted.

"Rat poison…" Keisuke muttered as he studied Nicholas carefully, "but you knew that Gentokuin was a traitor, even before that, didn't you? That's why you wanted the advisors present…so he would be pushed into giving himself away!"

From his place beside Miaka, Taka raised a tentative question, his violet eyes going from Keisuke to Nicholas in confusion, "How did you know that he was guilty?" He had seen the cold, ruthlessly efficient way the blonde man had dealt with the advisor, which only served to increase his discomfort around Nicholas. Definitely not someone I would want to get into a fight with…or meet in a dark alley. Although Taka himself was relatively skilled in martial arts, he had no illusions as to who the victor would be if they ever met as adversaries.���

Before Nicholas could answer, Keisuke cut in, "I overheard one of the guards saying that the guy who tried kill Miaka had some of his fingers mysteriously broken…" he said slyly. "How many fingers did you break before he told you what you wanted to know, Nicholas?"

Miaka winced empathically, her eyes expressing abject disapproval at what the handsome former shogun had apparently done. "So that's where you disappeared off to earlier…" she glared at him accusingly.

No one deserves to be tortured by Nakago…not even if that person did try to kill me!

"Eight or nine," Nicholas answered vaguely, as though the issue was of little concern to him. Deliberately ignoring the Suzaku no Miko, he calmly poured himself a cup of tea. "The nice thing about dungeons…" the corners of his lips lifted in a humourless smirk, "No one can hear you scream."

For hurting Miaka, I would have been happy to break more than his fingers…Keisuke was silent for a moment, "You should have asked me along," he told the blonde man, a hard glint in his eyes, "I would have helped."

Note:

1) I got the name Gentokuin from Hotohori's novel (FY Gaiden), "Suzaku Hi Den". In the novel, Gentokuin was actually an ambitious eunuch who worked for the previous emperor. Here, I decided to put him as a corrupt advisor who's batting for the other team!

2) Finally, the answer to what Nicholas was doing in the dungeons earlier…Despite the fact that he's now one of the "good guys", he can be quite ruthless when the situation calls for it. Nicholas "allows" Nakago's violent tendencies to surface, mostly for the purpose of intimidation…