Ten days later I upload chapter 10 ^^
Hopefully I can make at least two uploads each month until school starts again.
Enjoy!
Chapter 10
The earth began to move as Kanda, followed by the first row of soldiers, walked out on the field. The horse Kanda was on could sense that something was wrong and became agitated, trying to turn back but Kanda pressed on, they were now about ten meters in. Screams from a soldier in the back alerted them to the danger.
"Get it off! Get it off!" He screamed and tried to get loose from a dark green vine that had tied around his leg other soldiers took hold of his arms to pull him in to the group, but the vine resisted and instead began to pull him down under. His screams became more desperate and terrified until Kanda rode over to the vine and cut it off with Mugen. Allen could swear he heard a shrill scream coming from below.
The men, now alerted, drew their weapons. But weapons weren't going to help them. There was a roar as more vines came up, taking soldiers left to right back below the ground. Screams and panic filled the air as the soldiers desperately tried to cut their way through. Kanda's horse fell over and was taken by vines, Kanda would've too if Allen hadn't pulled him up on Timcanpy.
"Retreat!" He ordered. "Back to the forest! HURRY!" The men weren't slow in following and so they desperately tried to work their way back to edge of the forest. Allen tried to coax Tim to go faster but the ground wasn't solid and he could see how vines moved below the dirt. Suddenly a dozen vines appeared, effectively surrounding them. Kanda slashed at them with Mugen as Allen tried to find a way through, but more and more showed up. Then something pink with black dots appeared in the area the princes and the men were; they looked like flower buds thousand times its normal size, they reached over the men with several meters. It was the calm before the storm. Then the buds opened with another shrill scream and revealed rows after rows with sharp teeth where the pistils were supposed to be, the three pink petals and three green sepals stretched out like a cobra and vines came out of its mouth reaching for Allen.
He took out his sword and cut the ones coming for him, Kanda, who was sitting behind him on the horse, was doing the same thing for the vines coming from the sides.
"Hold on Kanda!" Allen told him and without thinking about it Kanda grabbed the saddle with one hand, the other still holding Mugen. As vines tried to get a tight grip on Allen's arms and legs he pulled the reins up and Tim stood up on his hind legs, kicking the flower in front of them, Kanda continued hacking away and as Tim settled down on all fours the flower retreated some ways back, leaving an opening for them to leave. Allen encouraged Tim to take the leap, and so they were out.
"Your Highnesses, are you alright?" An aide asked, Kanda jumped of the horse, sheathing Mugen afterwards.
"Yes, we are", Allen answered, slightly out of breath; he looked over his shoulder over the field, seeing some bodies out there. Most of the men that had walked out on the field had been able to return to safety at the tree line, but there had been losses.
"What was that?" A soldier asked, "I ain't going back out there until it's clear!" Allen shook his head, not knowing either.
"How can such monstrous things even exist?" Another yelled from the group that came back last.
"This must be why uncle said to send a dove before we arrived..." Allen told Kanda who nodded slowly in answer, agreeing with him. Allen dismounted, giving the reins for Tim to an aide.
"We'll camp out here until we've contacted the count", Kanda announced loudly and the soldiers went to work with putting up tents and campfires for the night. When their shared tent had been put up the two princes entered it. Allen sat down on a chair next to a small desk, Kanda sat down on his bed.
"I'll write a letter to the count, and then send it with a dove..." Allen said, mostly to himself as he opened a bag which contained parchment and pens, he didn't see the other man's frown.
"Where the hell we're gonna get doves from?" Allen turned around with an incredulous expression. "What?" Allen shook his head.
"Just forgot that you haven't been to war before."
"If you think that that will impede in anyway..."
"No no, I trust you know what you're doing. It's just that I thought it to be common knowledge to bring doves when going to battle."
"Why? Wouldn't it be better to use messengers?"
"Messengers might turn out to be spies, Kanda", Allen said darkly, "we cannot afford to give away intelligence to the earl..." Kanda was surprised at the seriousness in Allen's voice; he never would've guessed that the usually polite and sweet person that Allen was, would have a dark side. A murderous side. "We do not give anyone access to information that could turn the tide. That is why we use doves..."
"Doves can be caught", Kanda interrupted him.
"Then they have to find the right one first", Allen got a crooked smile which looked misplaced on him. He turned back to the parchment and began writing a letter. They were quiet the two minutes Allen used to write a quick, formal letter.
"Now I just need to sign it", Allen said in his usual light-hearted tone as he brought up the parchment to look at it in a different light. Then he put it down again and picked up the pen to write his name. Kanda stood up and went over to the desk, bending over Allen's shoulder, making him somewhat uncomfortable at the closeness.
"Tch, don't write the wrong name on it, Beansprout", Kanda suddenly said, a smirk playing on his lips. Allen frowned and looked at the other; a sense of foreboding came over him.
"What do you mean by that? This is my name!" But when Kanda didn't answer, Allen knew that this was another one of Cross' schemes to tease and humiliate Allen.
"What did he say to you about my name...?" Kanda took the pen from the younger prince, and brought it down on the parchment.
"You are the bride in this godforsaken marriage and by tradition the bride..."
"I will not take your last name, Kanda!" Allen almost yelled right in his ear.
"The king himself..."
"When did you start caring of what my devil for an uncle say?" Kanda went quiet, surprising Allen, he then sighed. "Heh, I think I know, he told you that either you do as he says or he'll make your life even more miserable, is that it?"
"Tch, just write my goddamn name already!" Kanda threw the pen down hard on the table and retreated to his bed. Allen took up the roughly discarded pen and put the inked end on the parchment. With fast strokes he wrote something more, he then produced a seal from the same bag he got the parchment and pen. He opened the lid to the seal and stamped it below his name. Turning around, with the parchment facing Kanda he said:
"I may have been the bride during our 'wedding', but I am not now, and we are not a married couple", he pointed at the name he'd written: Allen Walker Kanda, "we are a collaboration. In the future we'll be kings of this country, we'll rule together..."
"What a grand dream you have. How long have you been fantasizing about it? Since you were a princess?"
"I just thought of it, shut up. Cross is the one to blame for all of this, and since there's no going back we'll just have to continue forward, keep walking." Kanda rolled his eyes.
"Fucking can't believe that this is what has come out of my life..."
"Will you work together with me?" Allen asked stretching out his gloved hand for a handshake.
"Fine", Kanda said but didn't take the hand. Allen retracted the hand, a small smile playing on his lips. He then stood up, rolling the parchment together.
"I'll send it first thing tomorrow, I'm tired."
And that he did after eating breakfast the next day, Kanda didn't come with him, he was instead practicing with Mugen showing his personal guards some techniques.
Hours went by with no answer nor reaction from the count. Allen had at first waited patiently, but when more than four hours had gone he'd stopped sitting in the tent reading or the like, to walk around the camp chatting with soldiers. He found Aron Dexter gambling with a couple of other men, having nothing else to do Allen sat down with them.
It had already become dark when something happened by the fortress. Allen and Kanda stood approximately five meters from the start of the dirt field and watched a procession of torches coming out of the fortress going south, towards their camp.
"They took their bloody time", Allen muttered.
"They're not getting attacked", Kanda noted when the vile flowers didn't appear as they trudged over the field.
"Perhaps it's the fire?" Allen asked turning his head towards his partner as he said it, Kanda glanced back at him. "Well, we'll find out when they get here." Twenty minutes later the procession reached the camp, Allen and Kanda stood before them while their guards stood in lines behind them. The group in front of them consisted of eleven men and women and to both princes' surprise no one looked to be a soldier... more like gardeners. They carried no weapons as far as Kanda and Allen could see, when Cross had said that this fortress was their northern defense they'd assumed it to be filled to the brim with soldiers and that it would at least be soldiers meeting them. The man in front of them confused the two the most. He was tall, taller than Kanda and Allen guessed him to be even taller than his uncle. His hair was black though one tousle of hair was stark white – like Allen's hair – he wore black cloak above his black attire, his skin was very light but burned as if he'd been out in the sun too much, except for the burn he looked very much like a vampire.
"I am truly sorry for the delay, I had some trouble with the babies, I hope you'll forgive me, Your Highness", the man bowed slightly at Allen, "My name is Arystar Krory the third."
"Babies?" Allen asked incredulously.
"My flowers, Your Highness", Krory said as if it was obvious.
"Those goddamn flesh-eating flowers that killed some of our men?" Kanda held the handle of his sword, making Krory and his gardeners fidget a bit.
"You've... already seen them, my lord?" Krory said not really knowing who Kanda was.
"Count, this here is uhm... my partner-in-arms prince Yuu Kanda of Ligoun", Krory suddenly got a shocked expression and his red face became even redder from nervousness, he saw Kanda's grip on the sword hardening. Gulping, thinking that it was his ignorance that caused the other man's visible anger, he quickly bowed even more and when he'd bent almost ninety degrees he fell to his knees, the gardeners following suit, to both's surprise. With tears in his eyes he asked Kanda for forgivness, to be lenient in his punishment, this pathetic sight had Kanda's anger dissipate almost immediately. Allen asked him to stop, that there was no need to go to such extremes. Krory nodded as he produced a napkin from his front pocket. He took a minute to gather himself while the two princes watched him.
"I'm sorry", Krory began, "I haven't had such important visitors for almost ten years..."
"Who was the last one?" Allen asked though he realized who just as soon he voiced his question.
"His Majesty Cross!" Krory smiled, "He was the one who gave me Rosemerta."
"Rosemerta?" Krory smiled like a father thinking of his only child.
"My first flower, she's such a beauty now. I've put her in the courtyard so I can be near her..."
"You sound crazy", Kanda said, "these 'flowers' are nothing but sh..."
"Kanda!" He was interrupted by Allen, who then turned to Krory again, "would you please take us to your fortress now?"
"Yes of course!" Krory answered and Kanda told the small army to pack up, and to his delight they did so fast and efficient. He turned to Allen who shrugged and answered the unspoken question.
"Uncle doesn't like slow people."
I'll try to put up the next chapter by the end of this month
and btw, can you use "both's"? My spellcheck said I can't but I can't really trust it... answers appreciated.
Seya next time