Firebird's Song Chapter Thirteen: A Monster Revealed
The royal court had gathered once more in great expectation. The emperor was bored out of his mind, as was Ryuichi, who was standing to the right of him. His presence at court was unusual, since the samurai usually preferred to perfect his techniques rather than bother with functions like this. But being a confirmed bachelor, he was willing to take his entertainment where he could find it. The emperor drummed his knuckles impatiently. Finally, a captain burst through the large doors and bowed low before his ruler.
"I have secured the child as ordered."
The emperor grinned broadly.
"Wonderful. Send the girl in."
The captain balked.
"My liege, the child is not presentable-" He was cut off as the samurai stepped forward and thoughtfully placed one hand on his sheathed katana. He was tired of waiting as well.
"The emperor gave you an order." His voice was as cold as stone. The captain shrank back a little, but gave the signal for the squad behind him to approach and part before their ruler.
They did so to reveal a little girl, maybe six to seven years of age. Her wide unseeing silver eyes were full of fear, and she clutched a half-carved wooden flute for comfort. A white kitten was lying across her shoulders, and her blue eyes took in everything around them.
"Come closer, child." The emperor's voice had turned soft and coaxing. The kitten put one paw to the girl's cheek and meowed. The girl moved forward and stopped firmly when the kitten meowed again. Mindful of her manners, the tiny girl bowed low before her ruler, the kitten clinging to the neck of the kimono just in case she fell off.
"What is your name, my dear?"
The girl took a second to gather her courage.
"Haru, imperial majesty."
He tilted his head to one side.
"And your family name?"
The girl shook even harder.
"I'm just Haru, imperial majesty."
His eyes saddened, understanding what she meant.
"I see. I was told that you did something very special last week, but I want to hear you say what happened."
The girl blinked, and looked down inexplicably.
"Well, I was taking a break from playing my flute for the Raven's Claw Inn when a very angry man came in and started yelling something I couldn't understand. He started breaking a lot of people and furniture, and I was really scared. Lady Hashiki likes to say that my music's very calming, so I played a song just for the angry man. He must have liked it, because he calmed down and promised to replace what he damaged. He was still rebuilding furniture when the soldiers came for me."
The emperor looked at her, and then leaned back on his throne.
"That is fairly close to what I heard. Would you play a song for me, Haru?"
The little girl solemnly bowed, expecting this, and raised the crude flute to her lips. What happened next stunned the entire court, including the tall cold samurai. A beautiful melody poured from the girl, sweet enough to make some of the listeners cry. Haru slowly moved her feet around with the beat as the kitten did the same with her head. Time became a foreign concept, and the only thing that seemed to matter was the slightly dirty girl twirling around in front of the emperor.
She finished her song with a sad trill, and bowed low before her stunned ruler. Ryuichi had never seen anything like the transformation brought on by the music. Haru had forgotten about her fear by playing, and her face glowed with a sad triumph, like she knew that she would never go back to the inn. The emperor managed to find his breath.
"Where on earth did you learn to play like that?"
The little girl looked down, embarrassed.
"I didn't learn. I just picked up a flute one day, and music started pouring out."
The Kalmian ruler turned one eye to the sulking musicians in the corner.
"How is it that all of you can practice the same songs over and over for most of your lives and a little girl can play one-of-a-kind pieces with more passion and skill than anything you've ever shown?"
They slunk into the corner, and sent hateful stares at the child that disgraced them. She edged away slightly, like she could feel their scorn. The emperor called for some servants to take the girl and get her cleaned up.
"One more thing." The servants turned back to look at him, as did the girl.
"It's not right that my new favorite songbird should have only half a name, so you're now Haru Nightingale."
Her eyes widened, like that was the last thing she expected. That was the last thing the samurai saw of her that day, but he made the commitment then and there that her new name would not serve her past maturity.
'If she were cleaned up, I bet she wouldn't be half-bad looking. Maybe even pretty.'
Ryuichi woke with a start, and realized that he was still on a boat, heading back to Kalmia. Tearing eyes continued to see the girl Haru as she slowly grew into a beautiful young woman, forever playing her little flute. His friend was right; the samurai would not have difficulty convincing the emperor to invade Alon, for the humiliation laden on both of them. And since the king had gone traveling, he doubted that the queen mother would be able to muster the force needed to resist the attack.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
A few more months later, Haru and Baron were providing music for the yearly midsummer dance, watching the couples and children have fun in the town square. Baron would have danced with his wife again, but the baby was due any day, and he wasn't about to risk anything with either of his loves. Their sweet melody served as their dance, and they were content with it. The villagers took the constant breaks Baron ordered for Haru with good humor, knowing better than to try to reason with him. He was just handing a glass of punch to her when she suddenly froze, her eyes wide with horror. Baron groaned.
"Not again."
Haru shook her head fiercely.
"No, not that. I want to go home now."
He looked at her puzzled as she struggled to rise on her own.
"Remember what I told you about my creep alarm? Someone's coming that makes Ryuichi seem like a softie."
He jerked violently, and helped her up, guessing who could be bad enough for her to say that. His words were loud enough for everyone to hear.
"If Haru says that someone terrible is coming, then it's true. The best thing to do would be to return to your homes and lock the doors. Don't light any fires or draw attention to yourselves."
A raspy voice from above cut off any that tried to do so.
"What, and miss the show?"
Everyone looked up to see a dark-haired man riding an impossibly large crow. Baron stepped protectively in front of his shaking wife, determined to protect her. The middle of the square cleared enough for the bird to land, the villagers horrified. Finally, one had courage to say something.
"It's Unmar! Only he rides a giant crow!"
The mothers tried to cover their children while leaving the square. The magician laughed and snapped his fingers, making an invisible wall similar to glass so no one could escape. The black bird shrunk to normal size and flew to the tavern's roof to sadly watch the proceedings.
"There's no need for anyone to get upset. I just want to meet my old friend's wife."
Haru's hands stiffened on Baron's shoulders, as did he.
"We are not exactly friends, considering what happened last time we met."
Haru had never heard her husband speak in such a cold crisp manner. Unmar laughed.
"Just because I didn't behave myself last time I came to a party doesn't mean you should never invite me."
"Actually, it does. Since you've done enough damage for several more years, I would appreciate it greatly if you would leave."
Unmar shook his head slyly.
"Without even giving my regards to the Mrs.?" He sharply slashed the air with his hand, and an unseen wind knocked Baron far from Haru. She gasped, and tried to run for where he had fallen. Unmar stepped between her and her goal, making her stop sharply. He looked at her face thoughtfully. "You must be an even better flutist than the samurai said, if it can so easily take precedence over your beauty."
She glared and tried to side step around him.
"Flattery doesn't excuse hurting my husband."
He grabbed her by the hand, and Baron rose to his feet sharply to come to her aid. Unmar snapped his fingers again, and a second invisible force pinned him to the wall of the tavern, his arms spread out and unable to move. He struggled against the bonds angrily. Haru tried to go to him, but the magician was still holding her fast.
"Why so desperate to be with him? You know he's a monster." Even if he had seen her hand coming, he never would have expected it to soundly collide with his cheek in a deafening slap. All the villagers gasped, shocked at Haru's bravery. Unmar stumbled back, unintentionally releasing the woman in his surprise. She didn't waste time running to her husband's side, and gently touched his face through the hood.
"My husband may be many things, but the only monster around here is you. Sweetheart, are you okay?"
He looked at her through the hood.
"Love, he could kill you without thinking twice. What are you doing?"
Her eyes melted with devotion and an inexplicable anger.
"If he's going to kill us, I'm not going down without a fight."
Unmar's eyes reddened with anger, rubbing his red cheek.
"You know; I was going to just kill your husband and the baby, but I think everybody should look at him with a real pair of eyes." He snapped his fingers again, and the dark cloak dissolved from Baron's body completely. Haru tried to shield his face from the villagers, but the damage was already done. They gasped, now seeing the stranger they had welcomed into their midst.
The orange cat looked at his wife.
"Haru, run."
She actually glared at him before putting herself protectively in front of him.
"Not a chance, love."
Unmar tilted his head to one side, amused at this woman's bravery. Perhaps she didn't realize what she was up against.
"When I said 'everyone', I meant you too." He flicked two sparks of purple lightning sharply at the pregnant girl, and they hit her, one in each eye. She cried out, and held her hands to her face, clearly in pain.
The magician twirled his hand around, and another wind made Haru turn sharply to face her terrified husband and lower her hands. Baron watched in horror as the silver in her eyes began to melt away into a sweet maple color.