A/N: From the number of chapters that I've predicted for this story (16 + Epilogue), I believe that this story will be finished by the first weekend of December, that is if I don't have to add extra or stretch chapters like I did earlier. Alas, the story will end eventually but the saga of ROAE does not. I have been pumped for the sequel since I developed the outline for it after I completed Chapter 3 of this story.
**** The Story by Brandi Carlile ****
The Root Of All Evil
Chapter 11 : The Story
Swimming in the dreadful waters held in her daughter's eyes, the mother answers without hesitation. "No, not if you don't want to. Don't let what Shiro said get to you. I'll … I'll … I'll tell him and he'll understand. Now, as for the story.."
Konatsu slowly draws her knees to her chest and lays her head on them to rest as she prepares for the tale to begin. She stares out into the window at the full moon in the sky and lets the thought of it bring a tiny glint to her eyes. Her eyelids gracefully fall down as she tries to dive into the words as they fall from her mother's lips.
"It's unknown when the history of our people began. I suppose that we've always been here to serve. It's in our blood to do it and that's why we do it well. For that, I think the same families will always be here. Though, I can tell exactly when and where our special family came from. It's a secret for those that don't know, and it's almost forbidden, taboo, to even speak about it."
The mother sadly smiles at remembering the look on her children's faces not long ago. 'How can you know about something that's unknown?" She had to tell them everything. So she might as well not try to hide it again. She continues her story in a slow, quiet voice.
"Like the history of our people, as a whole, it's unknown exactly when the Lord's began taking on concubines and mistresses. They had all the power. They got whatever they wanted and there was no person who could object. It was a few generations before my grandmother, Tomoe, that lords decided to 'stoop below there level.' They decided to go to their last resort to feed their selfish desires."
Konatsu's mother gulps. She doesn't know why, but resumes solemnly and says, "They used their servants. They progessively turned them into something lower than a concubine: a sex slave. No one thought it was possible, but it had happened. They used them for as long as they could until the inevitable happened. Taking advantage of them for such a long period didn't make it impossible for the Lord and his slave to conceive a child."
She studies her daughter intently. Konatsu remains unmoving in her position, eyes still closed, but obviously awake as she nods for her to continue. This was the part where her bright children noticed something else wrong. 'Wouldn't that mean some other families where..." She cringed at how she interrupted Shiro and spit out an explanation before he had the chance to finish. She knew exactly what he was going to say and what he had already figured out.
"It became a problem for the leaders, of course. What if the child was a boy? How could they deal with another heir born to anyone besides his Lady? Yes, they had found a solution to this problem – as brutal as it may have been. It always ended in the death of his slave and in turn, the death of a child. Only a heartless cruel Lord willing to risk the life of another servant would try to turn another after the first. For some reason it was considered completely normal to have killed only one slave. This ridiculous rule was almost law in the other remaining territories. All of them except one – The Northern Lands."
She suddenly halts while thinking about what she was going to say next.
It all made sense.
"It was controversy and it caused chaos. Lord Minamoto, of the Northern Lands, was against it entirely and waged a war with the Western Lands to end it all. The elders gave him no support. His only choice to fight alone with the small army that followed. The war was fought long and hard until miraculously, Minamoto had won. He had taken control of the Western Lands and all that came with it. He began trying to cease the killing in other territories, but knew that it was impossible after having control over two lands that had just suffered the effects of battle.
So, there was my grandmother, Tomoe, young and beautiful, doing her work inside the chambers under the rule of a different Lord. He had lain eyes on her for the first time and everything changed. It was like all that he fought for no longer mattered.
I'll never forget how she said that it took her by suprise being taken as sexual slave. She never gave any emotion or expression when she told my mother the story.. Though, I was told that she wanted her to only get one thing from the story. Do not hate where you came from. Do not hate the seed from which you grow. Lord Minamoto was not a cruel lord. Though, I assumed that she meant that he was not as cruel as the others. Tomoe was never killed because of her pregnancy. Despite the possibility of a male heir, Minamoto kept her alive because he was still against the merciless killing. He kept her alive because Lady Nakano couldn't produce a male heir nor any child. It was his only chance.
So, Lord Minamoto did something no other lord would dare do. He secluded a seperate wing of his castle and prepared it just for Tomoe. She lived comfortably throughout her pregnancy. Her life changed from endless working to absolute luxury. It was all for the simple reason that she had a piece of the Lord growing inside her. Still, Minamoto and Nakano never stopped trying to conceive their heir, you see. So, when Tomoe's delivery was near, they had announced Nakano's pregnancy as well. Many had pressured the lord to kill my grandmother, but he didn't want to risk it. There was always the chance of something going wrong. There was always the chance that Lady Nakano would birth a girl. There was always the chance that they both could birth a boy making Tomoe's child as the first born. Minamoto put his trust in the hands of fate.
As it eventually turned out, Tomoe had a daughter. This enraged the elders. It enraged them that he would waste precious time on the delivery on a mutt. It was a filthy half-breed and they said that Lord Minamoto should have killed it in the womb, boy or girl. He stood his ground with his beliefs and never got the strength to kill them.
The elders where so upset with Lord Minamoto's decision that they went behind his back and formed another army with the fallen Lord Imai. Minamoto never realized the number of people Imai still held under his wing from fear and loyalty. Because of this thought, he ignored the rumor of a secret alliance.
Months later, Lady Nakano finally began delivery for his second child. The wait was agonizing for Tomoe. Her biggest fear was for Nakano to have a son. Deep down, she assumed that Minamoto would not kill her and their child if he had failed to produce a son. Tomoe had proven to be more fertile after all, and the chances were greater with her. Sadly, she caught wind in her chamber wing shortly after hearing the newborn's cry that the heir had been born.
The outcome of Tomoe and her daughter is fairly obvious... seeing as we are here today."
The mother hated killing the joy in their eyes when they began shouting of such an amazing discovery. She never actually finished what she was saying...
"You can also see that we are not royalty either despite their special circumstances. Tomoe and my mother, Sakura, lived in solitude and paradise. The lord had ended their previous slave relationship and kept himself only to Lady Nakano. He never avoided his relationship with Sakura as his daughter; though, he never formally introduced his son, Hira, to her as his sister. Growing up watching his father take turns being a father to someone else began to eat Hira alive.
When the death of their father finally came, a breaking point surfaced. Hira drew himself mad at the sight of his half-breed sister crying over their father's dead body. It was jealously and envy. He bottled all of these crazy emotions and unleashed them on Sakura the moment he came into power and forced her into servant work. He treated her nor better or nor worse. Hira took things farther by simply ignoring her entire existence.
He had built a kingdom based off of out lashes and fits. He held no intelligence, authority, or caution like his father. Everyone knew that it would soon crumble, and that became the time when the late Lord Imai's underground army emerged. It was lead by his young and clever son and he reclaimed the land that was rightfully his from the naïve lord. The battle ended quickly and Hira was beheaded.
In the end, Sakura lead a normal life of a servant. She pitied her half-brother more than anything for his ignorance. By the time that Lord Imai's son, Hatanai, was already ruling over the lands she was to serve. Lord Hatanai had no knowledge of Sakura's bloodline and she intended to keep it that way for her safety.
No one exposed her heritage to the Lord as the other servants had already grown a strong sisterhood with Sakura. She married within the servants just as the others and started a family. I was the result and our special family went from there – always cherishing our story and concealing it as best as possible, dealing with the burden of harboring such strong demon blood ….. and the breath taking features it gives us."
She whispers the last part and carefully studies Konatsu's reaction. Her daugher lifts her face and smiles appreciatively.
"Thank you, mother."
Konatsu unfolds her body and scoots closer to her sitting mother and wraps her arms around her neck. She buries her face in the small junction and says, "Thank you – SO MUCH."
Her mother brings her hands to fold around her torso and rubs soothingly on her back. She stares out into space in front of her and recalls something that she wanted to ask earlier.
"When you said that you thought that you've been pretty lucky so far – compared to what could have been - what exactly did you mean?"
Konatsu's grip on her mother suddenly loosens. A few small moments later, she decides to let go and look at her mother in the face.
"It's not as bad as it seems," she whispers.
Again, the woman looks back at her daughter with deep confusion.
The young woman sighs and explains. "I don't like it. That part's obvious from my nightmares. It's just that …. it's not like he's …."
She trails off flushing. It's not that it's embarrassing. Well, it is, but it's also inappropriate. I still feel that it should somehow be private, she thinks.
"You don't have to be in denial about it. Tell me that it's hurting you because I know it is," her mother implores.
"Haven't you noticed? I've never come home with a single bruise or -"
"That mark you came home with on your neck! You told me that one of the taller servants hit you with a tray!" the mother interrupts.
Konatsu releases a groan. " I'm trying to tell you that Kai isn't rough!"
She breaths in and out before resuming in a softer voice. " Nor has he been gentle," she shakes her head slightly, "I don't have enough experience know exactly what gentle is. He's just Kai. He does what he normally does, I suppose. Look-"
She reaches for her mother's and holds them firmly; "I'm okay. Aside from the hole he has left in my pride and dignity and reputation, I'm untouched. Not physically of course, but I am spiritually. He can not break my spirit for wanting something better. I'm your daughter and you should know me better than anyone else to realize this."
"I just don't understand how can act so calm about it. Yet, when you sleep you wail like someone is twisting a knife if your stomach."
"I can still the paranoia better when I'm awake," she shrugs. "It's only harder when you break me from concentrating as you're overreacting."
Her mother's eyes widen. "I hardly call that overreacting."
"It is when you kill my optimism," Konatsu somberly mumbles.
The mother gently slides her hands away from her daughter. As she slowly rises she bends back down and places her right hand on the side of Konatsu's face and kisses her chastly on the top of her black head. The girl looks up at her questioningly.
"Where are you going?"
She stretches her arms in the air and gives a wide yawn. "I'm going to bed. Knowing that my natural tendency to worry is bothering you, I can't sit here and try to bite my tongue. I love you, Konatsu. I'lll do whatever makes you feel better. I'm willing to work with you."
Her mother stalks over to the futons and slowly lays herself next to her husband. "Goodnight, sweetie... Sweet dreams this time okay?"
She knew it was dangerous adding that, but she felt it was only necessary. She truly meant it.
End Notes: I didn't update last week because I had a report due over Hermann von Helmholtz. Everything is falling into place.
I have so many new ideas grown from this story. Besides the sequel, I'm planning on a parody about this and an additional story to make ROAE a trilogy. I'm not so sure if I'll make this a trilogy or not because the third story hasn't been "un-kinked". Though, the parody and sequel are a definite thing.