Hiyee!
*thinking quickly*
Ooh! I got three reviews in TWO DAYS? Hmmm... Maybe this IS worth continuing, no da.
Standard disclaimers--I don't own Tasuki or Chichiri or Link or Laguna, much as I wish I could...Watase-sama, if you're reading this(yeah, RIGHT), could you send me Chichiri or Tasuki for Christmas? Either one? I promise that I would give them a nice place to sleep and good food every night and lots of people who respected them as playmates! *begging* Please?
This chapter was TROUBLE! It goes slowly at first--well, it goes slowly a lot--but it's necessary that it do so for plot building, and I promise that the next one will show you all some more action. Ja ne! Kaneta
Trouble On The Throne
The huge city walls loomed ahead of them, and for a moment Chichiri felt the caress of uneasiness down his body. I don't like city walls. He stifled a shudder, surprised at himself. After spending so much time traveling, he was unused to anything blocking the horizon.
He shook his head, resolutely ignoring the change in his senses as they passed through the gate, and as stone stretched out to either side and above him...finally they were through, and he sighed in relief.
Laguna looked around in awe as they rode through the city. It's huge! He thought in wonder. How can a civilization like this build a city so large? People were everywhere. Laguna noted with envy(feeling every bruise intimately) that none of the people they passed were mounted. Makes sense...what would happen if everyone here was on a horse? Osso led them around the busy marketplace, toward the center of the city.
The Palace--which they drew ever nearer to-- was a sprawling mass in the heart of the city, itself enclosed in heavy walls, but these of smooth white stone rather then rough-hewn granite. Osso led them to the Prisoner's Gate(for Tasuki heard Kenrick laugh about this under his breath)and a curt command was enough for the gatekeeper to let them in.
Osso turned to study them.
"You'll be shown to your cell, but I can say that you shouldn't have to wait very long. It's not often that people come from the Fields..." He dragged out the last word and fell silent, his face still. "Ah. If you speak truth, and you know not anything of our land, then perhaps..."
Osso shook his head, and his voice was strong again. "You are not the first that have come from elsewhere. I will tell you no more than that."
Laguna frowned. "But you said--"
Osso waved, and the four warriors were led roughly to an outbuilding a short way from the Palace, and from there to a cell little better than the one they'd shared in the garrison.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Tasuki burst into laughter. "They're a bunch'a fucking MORONS!" He crowed. "Why'd tha prison be built into the same place as tha palace? That makes no SENSE! Why'd we be put inta here?"
Chichiri said softly "Because we're important--and because, the second we went through the palace gate, I couldn't 'feel' anything, no da. This place is shielded, na no da. My power--and, probably, Link's and Laguna's-- are useless."
Tasuki choked into silence.
"Oh."
With that sobering answer, none of them felt like talking. But after a few minutes the silence was almost painful, and Laguna spoke. "So...what exactly is going to happen to us here? My world hasn't had royalty in two thousand years, so I really don't know what to expect."
Link shrugged. "We'll be taken for an audience, and if we're lucky, and she is a just ruler, she'll hear us out. If she is a tyrant, we can only hope to amuse her long enough to escape. Both choices are equally likely, I'm afraid. Just keep on your guard, and if you're uncertain of what to do, look at us." His voice held no trace of condescension, and Laguna was relieved. "Thanks." He said gratefully. The elf ducked his head. "Naught to thank me for. In my position, you would do the same for me."
Osso was true to his word; They sat for an hour at the most before the door swung noisily open. A strange guard stood there, dressed in plain blue and silver livery. The only ornament he wore was a slim silver brooch hooked to his collar. He was slim and tall, and had a sword at his hip, but wore no armor. "Rise, gentlemen." He said in an accented voice. "Her Ladyship would have words with thee."
Tasuki eyed the guard suspiciously. How come he is alone, against four of us? I don't like this at all. We could easily overpower him, so I assume that this is a test of our innocence. If we try to escape, there are probably another ten hidden guards along the way waiting to kill us.
Satisfied with this reasoning, he followed the guard.
They walked from the building, and toward the Palace proper, and Tasuki grinned to see five more guards appear from behind them to flank the warriors. Thought so.
They walked up a stone stair, to a huge wooden door which sat open, and the guard that led them had words with the young men that stood to either side of it. Laguna noted that they too were dressed in the silver-and-blue of the strange guard; Livery, then. He thought. Past the doors was a wide hall with a lonely run of carpet down the middle of it, barely wide enough for two to walk abreast, and from there, another tall door. Link could hear the chattering of many people behind it even before the heralds opened it.
"Give us your names, foreigners." The guard murmured. They replied in the same soft tones, and the man strode into the room before them. None of the captives could see far into the room, for there were windows above them that cast sunlight into their eyes, and the room before them was lit only by the occasional high window.
The audience room(for, with at least a hundred people scattered about in it, and a raised dais at the end it could have been nothing else)fell silent at his approach. He raised his head and called in a loud voice : "Thy Illustrious Majesty the Princess Royal of Aleran, I bring before thee four travelers; the Priest Chichiri, and the Warriors, Link Hyrulson, Laguna Loire, and Tasuki Genrou." The names were unfamiliar to his lips, but he continued without a pause. "They have come before thy graceful light to beg pardon for, all unknowing, they crossed into the Fields of the Fallen Ones and did cause there to be fires laid, though I shall say that said fires were carefully dealt with by them." He stepped aside, and the guards behind the four elbowed them forward.
Link's eyes adjusted quickly to the change in light, so he was the first to see Her Highness. She was small and had dark hair to her waist; her skin was pale, and she was slender as a blade. Her face was delicate and looked as though it were prone to smiling. One eyebrow was barely lifted in what could have been amusement. Under other circumstances, I think I could greatly like this woman. Link thought.
Tasuki, next through the door, saw her smile at the party, and felt some hope that they might not have to fight their way free. His eyes fell at her feet, where--
My tessen!
Their weapons all lay on a deep rug that had been spread at her feet. He grinned despite himself, and had to force his face into peace. Let the bitch try what she wants, if I can get my hands on that I could have us all free in a second.
Chichiri sighed in extreme relief as he stepped through the door, for suddenly the shield that had been blocking his chi from feeling the world was gone. It was as though a limb had suddenly woken; every scent, every sound, every mote of dust caught in the sunlight from the high windows was deliciously clear and unique to him.
Laguna blinked as his eyes made the transition from bright light to dimmer shadow. He glanced at Tasuki's back as the ex-bandit stiffened, and he noted Chichiri's deep sigh.
That, at least, bodes well for us.
Deepest in the shadow was the dais and throne at the end of the room. Curious--for he had of course never seen a Princess--Laguna willed his eyes to cut through the gloom and alight on her face, hoping that it would not be considered too forthright to gaze eye to eye with royalty.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
For an instant, his heart stopped. Mouth dry as dust, one word escaped his lips:
"Julia?"
