(Originally posted 4/21/2012)

Beta: OveractiveImagination39

Chapter 12: All good Things must come to an End

After the wedding was over and the guests had all gone, life returned to normal at the Kuchiki Castle for almost everyone, except for Orihime. She knew that this event meant that her time for saying her goodbyes had finally arrived, but where in the past this thought had left her saddened and anxious, she now found herself more relaxed and comfortable with the whole idea of leaving for Las Noches.

Because Sir Ulquiorra had mentioned before that he expected the men and traveling equipment sent by Lord Aizen to arrive soon after the wedding, everyday could be her last one here. Already before the wedding she had begun bidding goodbye to the people she considered her friends, and the ones she had helped to treat together with Master Isshin over the past years whenever the opportunity had arisen. At first she had given her farewells hesitantly, and only because she could not have known if she would ever have a second chance. But recently her heart was no longer as heavy as it used to be when going about this task.

Before the incident that changed everything, even the small presents her friends had given to her for remembering them, had not been able to lighten her mood. She had put all the cute little bags to carry herbs and other ingredients for her healing treatments away out of sight. Even the carefully handcrafted beads made out of wood, stone or bone, which she had received for knotting a prayer rope, Orihime had placed inside the darkness of a box. Only the large amber bead Lady Rukia had given to her, she now wore as a necklace, because it was too beautiful to hide it away.

But the kiss at the arrow shooting contest between Sir Ulquiorra and herself had turned her world around and these unpleasant feelings which had pressed her down suddenly had been replaced by something much more powerful - a feeling from which she gained more strength than she had ever imagined. This emotion must have been there for a much longer time then she had realized, but lay dormant before it was woken by this kiss.

Suddenly everything else, other then being in Sir Ulquiorra's company, became unimportant to her.

Neither the journey to Las Noches nor the lack of knowledge about what she would have to expect from Lord Aizen frightened her any longer. She even found herself anticipating the journey because her knight would be with her as near as possible, both night and day.

Also, the kiss had sealed her belief in the honesty of Sir Ulquiorra's promise to be her loyal knight from the day of his arrival at the Kuchiki Castle until his death. Even after he had said this day, that this was his lord's command, she was deadly certain now that not only the order, but also something else bound him to this promise to be her loyal knight – the protector of her body and soul.

Just before the kiss he had once again spoken to her with this dark, velvet voice. A manner in which much more was implied then she was able to comprehend, and which she was sure, he was not even aware of. But more important was that he exclusively used this quality of speaking whenever he acknowledged her as his lady, and not his lord's. The more she grew accustomed to this special tone, the more she became also sure that his very first words to her, which had held his promise, had been spoken in exactly the same manner.

How this could have happened still was a mystery to her. For a distant and withdrawn man like Sir Ulquiorra, it was most unlikely that he would consider love at first sight an option - not to forget that it had also taken him a long time before he had shown any kind of affection towards her.

But in the past days and weeks, she also realized, he had tried more and more to do everything to make her feel comfortable. Still he always seemed to fight a battle between acknowledging his feelings and suppressing them. Between being her loyal knight and being loyal to his lord.

This made him act rather bold and illogical sometimes. Like drawing his sword against the King only because of a captured veil, which was nothing she would have expected from a man as considerate as Sir Ulquiorra.

Orihime now was sure to whom her heart belonged. Now she wished him to listen to his heart as well, because she was also sure that her knight's heart already knew to whom it belonged. The only problem was that his owner did not want to listen yet.

But somehow she would make him to hear the voice of his heart. Her plan already had taken roots, but it needed some minor improvement. The thinking about how to phrase the question caused her to giggle at an inappropriate moment. Looking up from the page of vellum in his hand, Sir Ulquiorra grew quiet and stopped his reading, "My lady, might I asked what is so funny about King David's dying?"

Tightening her hold on their interlinked hands, resting in her lap, Orihime beamed at him with a fluttering heart.

Out of her wish to be at his side and to listen to his voice without the necessity of a conversation, her plan was born. Based on her observation during Lady Rukia's and Ichigo's Wedding Mass she had questioned him if he could read and understand Latin, and it was no surprise to her that he had given a positive reply. Although she could not understand this language she then had requested if he could read parts from the Holy Book to her. He had agreed, but she had become rather speechless when she had met him the day after her request in Lord Byakuya's library in the late afternoon. Instead of reading directly from the Scriptures, he had prepared a translation of some part of King Solomon's writings, which he had read to her instead.

Yet this was not the only thing that had taken her by surprise. When she had looked at his scripting, the rigor and clearness of his handwriting, as well as the beauty of every single letter, had supported her conclusion that he must have done this before. Finally, after she had pleaded with him to tell her where he had learned this all, he had told her that he had spent three years in an Abby after his mother's death, before he had gone into Lord Aizen´s service. In the Abby he had learned Latin because the monks had made him memorize and copy some of the Scriptures over and over again as a method to purify his soul, which they believed to be infected by the seed of Satan. But at first he had refused to write down words he did not understand, and had been so stubborn about this matter, that in the end one of the brothers had given in and taught him.

As usual he had told her this evenly, his face not giving away any emotion at all, like he did not care about how the monks had treated him, but Orihime anticipated he was again hiding how hard this time really had been for him. Because whenever he seemed unfazed, it mostly was the other way around, but according to her close observation, he in general refused to surrender himself to the emotions boiling within him, and the stronger and deeper they were the calmer and stern he appeared.

Only seldom did his guard slip, and as long as they were not alone it was hard to bridge the distance between them and get as near as Orihime needed to let his heart win over his brain. But his unexpected act of translation provided her with the pleasant opportunity to suggest to him to go to a place outside for the reading, as long as the weather still allowed it. With the precious and heavy Scripture they never could have left the library, but only having a sheet of vellum to carry, this was no problem at all.

Orihime then had led him to her favorite place – the castle's old garden, located directly behind the Postern Gate. The garden harbored not only the first cherry tree that ever had been planted after the Kuchiki castle had been built ages ago, but also an overgrown pavilion. On a wooden bench hidden in the shadow of this pavilion, covered with entangled ivory, they met every afternoon before the Evening Prayer.

It was there that Orihime listened to his calm, dark voice with all her heart. Their hands always, soon after Sir Ulquiorra had started reading, found each other, fingers interlinked, holding on to the other tightly.

"Please excuse me, Sir, but my mind drifted away. The history of King Solomon and the establishment of his wisdom and power surely is an important part of the Holy Book, and I truly appreciate your work but maybe you could …," feeling her cheeks heating up in embarrassment, Orihime averted her gaze before she mumbled, "… you could find something more interesting, something more for the heart…," her voice became quieter until the last word was barley audible.

Feeling him pressing her hand she looked up again. With a warm shimmer in his green eyes he inclined his head in acknowledgment.

"Orihime! Orihime - where are you?" Lady Rukia's voice rang out in the distance.

Sir Ulquiorra opened his hand and released hers. Both rose and left the pavilion. "Lady Rukia, I am here in the garden," Orihime called back.

"Ah - there you are, finally I found you, "Lady Rukia approached them, Maiden Nelliel following her suit; both women smiling. When Orihime went to make a curtsey, Lady Rukia stopped her by raising her hand, "This is unnecessary. You soon will be the Lady of Las Noches and therefore be equal to me. Now - I have a surprise for you, "she paused before she looked at the pale knight, "For you both."

Orihime and Sir Ulquiorra exchanged a look of confusion between themselves, and then they faced the lady again.

Lady Rukia laid an arm around waist of the tall woman at her side, "Nelliel asked to be dismissed from my service and requested to become your Maidservant and accompany you on your journey to your new home. And - I agreed with pleasure," once again the lady addressed Sir Ulquiorra, "I assume that your lord will not disagree with his future wife bringing a Maidservant?"

"No, Lady Rukia. Maiden Nelliel is welcome to travel with Lady Orihime if this is my lady's wish as well, "the Fourth Knight bowed his head and waited for Orihime's answer.

Though the thought of having Nelliel at her side felt very conformable to her, Orihime remained silent. Even if going to Las Noches no longer made her as anxious as before, she still was aware that life there would be very different from her life here at the Kuchiki Castle. Surely it would be less peaceful, maybe dangerous, and with less freedom for her and everyone coming with her. Therefore this was not something she considered she could burden someone with as well.

Orihime faced Nelliel with the intention to decline her request, but as soon as their eyes met, she noticed a silent, almost desperate pleading in the Maiden's gaze. So she reconsidered her decision.

"I am very honored and kindly accept Maiden Nelliel's request," she said instead and gained by that a relieved wide smile from the tall, woman with the turquoise looking hair.

+o+o+

The loud slaps echoed through the library of the Castle of Hirako. With an amused smile on his handsome face Lord Aizen stood behind his knights, observing them and sipping leisurely at a goblet filled with blood red cherry wine.

Once more Sir Nnoitra hit the small stick against the palm of his bare hand, making the young pages standing at the room's side, flinch and duck their heads.

"These annoying bugs are worse then the Ten Plagues. I say we give them a taste of their own filthiness" the lanky Fifth Knight sneered loudly before he gestured unfocused with the stick over a table on which stones and small, simplified wooden buildings formed a map of Lord Shinji's country.

Sir Luppi, who belonged to the three knights at the table, snapped the stick out of the other man's hand, "My lord, I suggest we choose...," with a forceful and pointed move of the stick, he knocked two of the buildings over and also another one next, standing not far away from the first, "These villages to make an example. They are the ones nearest to where the ambush took place. I would think we will find the missing weapons there." Sir Luppi moved away, respectfully making room for Lord Aizen.

"And what Luppi, would you suggest?" the lord asked, his focus intense on the well clad man.

The knight shrugged and smirked, "Simply removing the villages from the face of the earth, including their inhabitants. They have to learn better not to gamble with you, my lord."

The Lord of Las Noches and now also of the country of Hirako thoughtfully looked over at the overturned buildings and sighed, "Even if it hurts me, I have to agree with you, my dear Luppi. Please make your choice first. Nnoitra and Aaroniero are responsible to take care of the other two villages like you have suggested." Suddenly he turned around and stared at Sir Starrk who had watched everything leaning against an emptied bookshelf located in the background. Yet now the First Knight stood erect.

"Please Starrk; do not hesitate to speak your mind. You know how much I cherish your opinion."

Despite the lord's kind words the First Knight hesitated. Eventually he spoke up, "Sire forgive me my boldness but you should consider at least sparing the women and children and giving them the chance to personally pledge their loyalty to you and make themselves useful."

Lord Aizen's smile vanished before he gestured Sir Starrk to follow him to the middle of the room. There he pointed along the walls and at all the young pages lined up there. "Do you not think we have already enough servants to fulfill everybody's needs? And tell me Starrk, does gluttony not belong to the deadly sins and should we therefore avoid it?"

For a long moment the First Knight returned Lord Aizen's stare than his head dropped and he nodded, defeated.

The Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Knight commented his movement with overt laughter. They bowed to Lord Aizen and started to walk out of the library.

"Sirs wait," the lord's sharp voice stopped them before they reached the door, "Do not let yourselves get carried away by your eagerness. Remember to make sure to keep one person alive as a witness who can inform Lord Shinji. Hopefully this incident will finally change his mind. It is time to settle things here. I am longing to return to Las Noches to spend some peaceful and serene time with my new wife. Ulquiorra should already have returned with her."

Hearing his lord's words caused Sir Nnoitra to snicker while the other two knights grinned lewdly at each other.

+o+o+

Orihime's nose tingled awfully, but she tried her best to ignore it because she did not want to interrupt Sir Ulquiorra's reading. As suddenly as the itching had occurred it vanished again and she relaxed while her head returned to rest on her knight's shoulder again.

Weeks had past and August had changed into October, and still no sign or a message from Lord Aizen or his men had arrived. She and Sir Ulquiorra still met every afternoon in the garden whenever the weather allowed it, but more often they had to stay inside because it was either too cold or raining. But today it was once again lovely outside and the low sun managed to provide them with some warmth.

Orihime's stomach fluttered and she felt her face heating up yet again listening to the words from a Scripture she had never believed could exist. One Father Omaeda never would read from during Mass.

But her knight had ensured her that it truly was an original part from the Holy Book and she had no reason to doubt his words. But the words which passed his lips, even if they where holy, caused her the same embarrassment she had experienced the night where Maiden Nelliel had told her and Lady Rukia about how to please a man. While the embarrassment that night had been just exciting, the one she felt now with her knight was sweet and thrilling at the same time.

Hiding her face in the cloth of his tunic she continued to listen to his dark, velvet voice, "How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins," he stopped feeling her nuzzling deeper into his shoulder, "My Lady, these words seem to offend you, shall I therefore stop my reading?" Ulquiorra asked while watching her lifting her head just enough that he could only see her eyes while the rest of her face still was hidden behind his shoulder. She furiously shook her head and allowed him to catch a glimpse of her flushed cheeks.

The warm feeling that filled him whenever she touched his bare skin or rested against him, spread forth and caused his mouth to twitch upwards, but he resisted the urge, keeping his face stoic.

Sitting and reading to her in the sanctuary of the pavilion had cast a kind of spell upon him, making him soft and allowing her to bathe in his personal space like no other one before. At first he just had been satisfied to know that this seemed a proper cure against her anxiety and to her inquires about Lord Aizen. He also found it comforting as well, and after her request at the beginning of their readings, and with a little help form Maiden Nelliel as to what kind of tale a woman would prefer to listen to, he had begun translating the Song of Solomon for her - a scripture for which the monks strictly had forbidden him to read. But he had done it nevertheless, and those words immediately had come back to his mind after the Maiden's explanation.

He soon had found out which effects those words caused, and that he could increase the result when he spoke to her in a special way. This became a personal challenge for him to see how much of a reaction he could induce from her. At the moment he was very satisfied with today's efforts, knowing that he had to end their solitude in two days due to a decision he recently had made. Today it was more than time to inform her about this, but first he would allow himself the pleasure of having her so near while he finished reading the seventh verse.

Ulquiorra allowed the warmth he felt to reflect in his eyes, "Very well. Then I shall continue - Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries. How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!"

Slowly pronouncing every word with care he continued his reading, feeling her hot breath more and more run through the fabric of this tunic, causing a shiver to run down his spine. But too soon the text ended and Ulquiorra lowered the velum and gathered himself for his announcement.

Orihime did not move, keeping her face snuggled into his shoulder. When he placed the hand holding the velum on this thigh and turned his head slightly towards her, she released a deep sigh and whispered, "This was so wonderful that I could just hear it again."

Sir Ulquiorra pressed her hand shortly, "Very well, My Lady. I shall read it again but first I need to provide you with some important information."

Alarmed, she sat upright, waiting.

Her knight placed the velum next him on the bench before he shifted around so that he could face her properly. Taking both of her hands in his he said, "My lady, it is of no use to wait any longer for my lord's men. Soon the weather will become too bad for comfortable traveling therefore I have requested assistance from Lord Byakuya in this matter. The lord will be so kind to lend me a horse litter, two trained horses to carry the vehicle, and four of his men to ensure your safety on the journey."

His warm hands embraced Orihime's securely like he wanted to tell her not to worry and she did not. She felt safe now and was sure this never would change as long as he was at her side.

"I understand," she replied calmly, "When will we leave?"

"After we have read all verses from the Song of Solomon. There are only two left. Therefore I request you to be prepared to leave in three days time," he answered relieved that she took his announcement so well.

Releasing her hands, Sir Ulquiorra changed back into his former position and took the vellum up again. Orihime also placed her head back on his shoulder to listen to his voice once more.

+o+o+

Against the pain Grimmjow lifted his sword, gritting his teeth and trying to hold the handle tighter, all the while ignoring the trembling of his injured arm. Then he made a fast, wide strike from the left to the right, but the sword nearly fell from his grip as a sharp pain rushed through his arm caused by the sudden movement. Grimmjow cursed loud using his mother tongue as inwardly he continued condemning the Goddess of the Sea for her punishment, as he lowered his sword trying to get control over the pain. Was it not enough that She had taken Nelliel away from him? Now She also had to rob him of the possibility to keep up his honor?

The Goddess was known for Her wavering mood, which changed as fast as the sea itself. One moment the water was smooth and in the blink of an eye a storm pushed the waves up high and without mercy.

Nelliel had been chosen to serve Her with her body and soul and he had had the boldness to act against the Goddess' wishes and had taken Nelliel all to himself. Now, She seemed to call for retribution.

His arm continued to throb painfully. There was no hope that he ever could fight with this arm again. Not as long as it was not healed completely and this would never happen as long as the arrow's head had not been removed which seemed to be an impossible task.

Tentatively Grimmjow took the sword in the hand of his good arm and balanced its weight.

"It is not as hard as it looks," Sir Baraggan's sudden voice from behind made Grimmjow turn around on his heels. The Second Knight had approached him completely unnoticed.

Grimmjow tried his best not to show his surprise, and silently cursed again that the old man had managed to catch him off-guard. "What do you want," he growled annoyed about the unrequested interruption.

Sir Baraggan stepped closer, ignoring Grimmjow's angry stare, until he came to stand next to the other man's arm holding the sword. First, he corrected Grimmjow's stance before he took hold of a rope he had worn over his arm, "Hold still boy, this will help you learn to fight without making use of your old sword-arm in any way."

That said the old man slung the rope around Grimmjow's torso and fastened the bandaged arm flush against the knight's side.

So prepared, and under the gaze of the Second Knight, Grimmjow tried some strikes and shamefully noticed how often the rope held his arm in place when his instincts kicked in calling him to use the fixed arm either for balancing out his movements or to switch the sword back into the other hand.

Far too fast Grimmjow was covered in sweat and panting like an overworked dog. He still had a long way to go before he would have his stamina back, but with this experience his hope had returned and Grimmjow was sure he could restore his stamina as well as become skillful enough to win back his rank from this weakling Luppi.

Grimmjow pulled his bandage arm from the rope's hold and untied it when DiRoy arrived. Carrying a carefully packed bundle on his back, the boy ran across the training ground in the outer ward of Las Noches towards them, "Master, master - I have a message from Cirucci for you!" he called out waving eagerly with one hand.

Once he had arrived at Grimmjow's side, DiRoy needed to bend down and catch his breath before he stood upright again and continued, still rather breathless, "Cirucci gave me more of the herbs and the other stuff, but she said that the time for repayment had come and that she wants you to visit her the day which followed after the next Full Moon will have occurred."

Grimmjow nodded and gave DiRoy a pat on the shoulder before he dismissed him.

After the boy had left, Sir Baraggan cleared his throat, "So, the Cirucci made a bargain with you? I am astonished," the old man eyed Grimmjow skeptically. The other knight stayed silent not knowing what to think of this remark and feeling more and more unconformable under the Second Knight's close look.

"She must see something in you that escaped the eye of us others. The Cirucci women are known to invite only those man who had proven themselves the strongest warrior among many others to their hut," the old man mused. Then his gaze clouded and with a hushed, distant voice he said, "I have known the mother of this young Cirucci. Ah - she was such a beautiful woman and she honored me with more than one invitation in those days when I was young as well, and long before I even became the First Knight."

A low and deep sigh escaped the old knight before he huffed and patted Grimmjow's shoulder softly like Grimmjow just had done a moment ago to his squire, "Make sure to be in a good shape, boy. The Cirucci's are skilled women, very skilled indeed and not easy to satisfy. "

With these final words, Sir Baraggan walked away, leaving behind a unfortunate man who brushed rather sullenly through his, hair that was decorated with azure feathers.


Explanations

Prayer beads may have their origins in the Eastern religions in India in the 3rd century BC. The use of knotted prayer ropes in Christianity goes back to the Desert Fathers in the 3rd and early 4th centuries. These counting devices were used for prayers such as the Jesus prayer in Christian monasticism. The period after the First Council of Ephesus in 431 witnessed a gradual growth in the use of Marian prayers during the Middle Ages. [source en . wikipedia wiki/History_of_the_rosary]

Medieval Bible:
[...] a book was an extremely precious commodity and the care and expertise that went especially into liturgical and biblical texts was tremendous, embodying the value and centrality of those texts in the life of the communities that produced them and used them. […] The Scriptures, therefore, were quite literally "scriptures"-that is, writings, copied by hand, rather than printed pages.

With regard to the Bible in particular, the first thing to realize is that there were no "Bibles" in the middle ages in the sense of a single volume containing the whole of the Scriptures. A complete medieval Bible would have required approximately 95 quires, adding up to around 1520 parchment pages. Binding such a tome together in a single volume would produce an unusable text, too heavy to lift, and easily damaged (though the 12th century did see the production of a handful of three-foot high "display Bibles," typically containing only a section from the Scriptures).

Instead, a complete medieval Bible (or "pandecta") would typically be divided into nine volumes. And such complete Bibles were, actually, exceedingly rare, though we have records (and, in a few cases, extant copies) of such Bibles dating primarily from the 9th and 12th centuries.

More commonly, books of Scripture were circulated in even smaller volumes containing, for example, the writings of Solomon, thereby allowing for a flexible and open-ended ordering of the books within the Bible (the four Gospels, for instance, appeared in various orders, with John often second).
[source: sacradoctrina . Blogspot . de /2004/11/bible-in-middle-ages-ive-been-meaning. html]

*From Song of Solomon 7 Verse (King James Version)

Author's Notes:

I apologize for making Baraggan so OOC and not the adamant, embittered geezer that he originally is. I hope you will forgive me this slip.

Thanks for reading and as usual I would like to hear your thoughts.