Chapter 11: A Kept Promise
"Why did I have a bad feeling about this?" said Wolfram.
Flashback
"Why did I have to play the part of a woman?" Wolfram almost whined. Conrad would have liked to point out to Wolfram that his voice has yet to break but he knew it would just get him killed so he said nothing as he called out, "The coast is clear now," to the other two occupants of the cellar.
Nicola and Gilda came out of their hiding place where Conrad and Wolfram narrowly rescued them from pursuing soldiers by pretending to be an indiscreet couple.
"Ara..." said Nicola, "You mean the elopers? Yuri and Gwendal?"
"WHAT THE HELL?" Wolfram exclaimed, causing Conrad to clasp his mouth shut.
End Flashback
"It's a misunderstanding," Conrad explained. He still felt guilty for knocking his little brother out in order to silence him. Wolfram was out long enough until they found an inn to hide in. Were they in Shin Makoku, Wolfram would probably have tried to blast into him oblivion – 'tried', because he had practised dodging long enough to avoid the blond's fireballs.
"That's what Yuri said," Nicola agreed, "The elopers were actually me and Huber-" Wolfram's fist made contact with the stone wall, cracking it slightly, "Do you mean Griscella-kyo Gagen Huber?" he asked with a slight venom in his voice.
"Wolfram," Conrad warned gently as the woman paled. Wolfram was still seething but at Conrad's gentle warning he calmed down considerably. If one had the eyes, they could see a dark aura fading away from Wolfram's body. "Anyway," he continued, "We have to find Yuri before she has uh... another accident."
"I wouldn't call those incidents accidents, Lord Weller," said Wolfram, "and I don't like the idea of Aniiue being captured."
"You worried about him?" said Conrad slightly amused. This was a side of Wolfram he had not seen since Julian died. Since he had hurt him. Wolfram purposefully distanced himself from everyone since the war.
"Think about it, Con-Lord Weller!" said Wolfram, "Lots of people will be sad, if he does not come home." Turning towards Nicola he then asked, "If they have been captured what will happen?"
"Gwendal will most likely be in prison," Nicola explained, "but Yuri will be taken to the mines for criminal women."
"Gwendal first then," Wolfram almost shuddered, "Better face him first than Yuri."
"What about...?" Conrad began before registering what was said. They had to go after Gwendal first for two reasons:
1. Gwendal was not immune to the Houseki
2. Yuri would kill them if they let Gwendal die
"You stay with Gilda and round up every other half-Mazoku families," Wolfram was telling Nicola as Conrad snapped back to reality, "Meet us at the mines by afternoon tomorrow."
"Promise?" asked Gilda. In answer, Wolfram took out a small rock and placed it in his hands. "This is my Promise Rock," he told the boy, "If you keep it close to you and promise to be a good boy, my promise will be insured." Conrad almost grinned.
Gwendal gazed at the toy dolphin... he could not protect the Queen. Even after she convinced him that she was stronger than she looked. He thought about the conversation he had with her the day before.
"You're weird," he stated bluntly as the open pillion drove through the desert town.
"What do you mean?"
"You're a Queen," Gwendal stated, "You shouldn't have to worry about things like this. You can simply lounge about the castle and let us do the work."
"You can't keep me in the castle all the time even if you tried," Yuri said gently. Gwendal frowned. He, like her, found that there was more to her than just a snippy kid. "Don't you have anything in interest? Gold, men, or gourmet food?"
"No," she said rather indignantly, "I enjoy baseball and violin."
"Then you ought to play on your violin and this baseball to your heart's content."
"Oh, but I have," the teen admonished, "For ten years."
"Nani ka?" said Gwendal, rather surprised, "Does the baseball require more than the Maoh's strength?" Yuri had to force a laugh down, once she explained what baseball was to Gwendal, she knew he would understand. "It doesn't always need talent," she answered, "you just need a passion for it. Like your knitting."
"That's just to help me concentrate," Gwendal grunted.
"Keep telling yourself that, jiji" Yuri said teasingly, "the more you get yourself worked up about it, the less they'll look like animals. Besides I mean what I said the last night, it's not weird."
"And as much as I like gourmet food," she continued, "I would not live on people's tax money, excuse me for saying but I know parts of the history. If I didn't learn from their mistakes or blunders, that doesn't make me any different from them, now does it? I only need to use it in things such as charity, constructions and pay; things to make people's lives better. Anyway, is being a ruler synonymous to living off other people's tax money?"
Gwendal smiled slightly. It was true, what she said. He could name a few of his own ancestors who were corrupted by wealth. "My father taught me to be responsible in whatever I do," Yuri continued, "I don't know much about leadership, but I do know that leaders have responsibilities for those who follow them. That's why I wanted to do this job to the best of my abilities."
"Besides you'll stop me before I cause any real damage, right?" she said. Her eyes became solemn, "Promise me..."
"I promise..."
The last thing he remembered from there was that he and Yuri were taken to the palace of justice where Houseki surrounded them. It weakened Gwendal to the extent that he had to lean on Yuri for support as they reached the judges.
His mind was slightly contorted then as the judges tried to force Yuri to kill him with a dagger. Much to his surprise, Yuri refused.
The air turned chilly as Yuri spoke softly to the judges, "You are asking me to hate a race simply because they are different from my own?" Gwendal almost thought he felt this type of chill before.
"Iku Gwendal," said the Queen icily, "This is clearly not the place to unbind us!" Gwendal nodded and led Yuri away. The world obscured as the soldiers closed in on them. He fell, hurting even worse barely hearing the Queen calling out for him until "YAMATE!" she screamed. He felt a small weight on him then and heard nothing more.
The conversation between Yuri and him just the day before replayed in his mind. She fought with him, quarrelled with him and even played pranks on him – no thanks to Conrart. But she trusted him.
Looking back on what he thought of her, Gwendal found that she was not as much of a brat as he had originally thought she was. Of course, she had a blunt streak within her, but so did he and she was not as blunt as he was.
In way, she was a lot like Conrart when he was younger.
Now that he thought about it: she was as blunt as he was; cheerful as Conrart and loud as Wolfram. If Lady Celi had remarried for the fourth time, one would think Yuri was their sister.
Gwendal looked at the dolphin she gave him...
"You don't think it's weird?"
"No."
He had been afraid that she would scoff at his love for cute animals, but she did not. Seeing what she did to Stoffel's spy, and her threats of telling Anissina of his forced vacation, he had thought she would laugh at the prospect of it.
She even protected him from being hit by the sticks the guards used with her own body knowing he was in pain. Who was this girl?
Hearing footsteps, Gwendal hid the dolphin in his fist and remained immobile. Two shadows cast down into his prison, where Houseki stones were enbedded by the hundreds in the bricks surrounding him. From the shape of the shadows, Gwendal could tell they belonged to the Supera guards.
"He hasn't moved at all has he?" asked the first guard.
"Are you that stupid?" snapped the second guard, "It's so strong he can't even move."
"And the girl?"
"If she's lucky, she is sent to the mines," said the second guard, "otherwise they would cut the baby out."
Gwendal felt his blood boil. If they harm one hair of Branwen's...!
BANG! BAM!
Though he had an idea what happened, a dark eye brow raised in question as the younger advisor of the Maoh looked up to the cell door.
"Gwen?" called a familiar voice. Brown eyes peered into the prison cell.
"You took your time," Gwendal muttered.
"I'm just glad to see you're still in one piece," said Conrad, unlocking the manacles from Gwendal's wrists and ankles. Wolfram stood outside, making sure no other guards were there to pursue them.
"Mostly," Gwendal replied, wincing as Conrad helped him up. It was then he noticed how Conrad was professionally hiding his pain. "One would think you'd go after the Queen first." Conrad chuckled slightly. "I much rather have my epitaph say, Lord Conrart Weller died saving his brother."
"How about died in his own stupidity?"
"Less evil than killed by his god-daughter," Conrad joked.
"DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!" Gwendal and Wolfram hissed, feeling a migraine forming. Conrad seriously needed help with his puns.
Branwen? Gwendal thought to himself, where did that come from?
If Gwendal saw what they were forcing Yuri to do, he would be beyond furious. The night before, she was thrown to the criminal women's room where she met Norika. That morning, Norika helped her in the mines where they had to collect Celestial Stones which Yuri had recognised from the Palace of Justice. The strange thing was none of the women looked like the type to commit crimes. When she brought this up to Norika, the older woman replied, "We are considered criminals because we fell in love with the wrong people..."
"Mazoku?" Yuri grunted as she pushed a rock loose.
"Yes..." said Norika sadly, "because we fell in love with the Mazoku."
Yuri suddenly thought of Conrad and what she saw at the beginning of his departure to the Luttenberg Division. Things were no better in Human Lands. "It may be the culture, but I don't think it's right to force people not to love someone just because the significant other is different."
"You are a good child, Branwen," said Norika, she shifted her gaze beyond the mine then, "If my child was still alive, he would be ten years old this year." Yuri followed Norika's gaze and saw small stones studding out of the sandy field beyond the Houseki mine. She turned back to Norika; a tear was trickling down her face. Though Yuri herself was not a mother, she knew it was painful life sentence to lose one's child. Something about Norika made her squint. There was a familiarity between Norika and Gilda. What was it?
"Leave him alone!" a voice shouted, snapping Yuri out of her thoughts, "My baby!" Yuri looked back at the graveyard and saw two
"He's beyond help, wench!" one of the guards snapped, pushing the woman away.
"No!" the mother screamed, "Give him back! Give him back!"
"What's going on?" Yuri asked Norika, deepining anger began to burn within her. A baby's wail filled the air, making Yuri angrier than ever, "The baby's still alive?"
"It's a sad custom here," Norika explained, "They bury half-Mazoku and sickly children for reason of little water-" Blue eyes widened when a cloud sand whipped up as Yuri ran as fast as she could to save the baby. Whatever Yuri was doing she was not giving anyone a chance to stop her as she used her body to shield the helpless baby from the spear stabs.
"BRANWEEEEEEN!" Norika screamed, tears flooding down her eyes now. How could that girl give her life away when-?
A ray of light appeared right before the her.
"It is not my intention to shed blood, but you leave me no choice," said commanding voice, surprisingly belonging to gentle Yuri, "JUSTICE BE DONE!"
She was even more surprised when she saw a big sand monster rise from the ground, raised its hand and brought it down with such a force that it raised sand everywhere. Norika could not read the writing made within the handprint. One question was within her mind. Who or what is Branwen?
Yuri had lost all consciousness by the time the spear came in contact with her chest; its blade shattering into shards. She felt the air move around and the ground shook. She felt anger and hatred; a need for justice by blood. A distant voice echoed at the back of her mind.
Yamero!
She knew that voice...
Stop it now!
It was calling her...
Yuri!
Why was that voice so familiar?
Your desire for peace... You cannot obtain that desire with fear and hatred!
She felt the Maoh's power fading, as was the anger and hatred she felt within.
It will only create more fear and hatred!
She remembered the face it belonged to...
That is not how you obtain peace!
His name...
Remember?
His name is-
She felt herself speaking... then all was dark.
"BRANWEEEEEEN!" they heard as they hurried to the mine.
"It is not my intention to shed blood, but you leave me no choice," said an eerily familiar voice, "JUSTICE BE DONE!"
"Not good," Wolfram muttered as they reach the top of the hill. Gwendal was shocked with what he saw.
Though he had seen this side of her once before, he did not like the look of things over here. Particularly the sand monster and the killing intent he felt from the Maoh. Using that much maryoku in a Houseki mine and this dangerous intent to save, Yuri could very well kill herself and everyone in the surrounding area.
"Besides you'll stop me before I cause any real damage, right?"
He look at the sand monster. Sense of justice or not, this did not belong to Yuri. Prankster or not, Yuri was no killer. That innocent smile she gave him... he knew then that she was the right one to be Maoh!
Gwendal now knew what he must do. He stepped forward and slid down the sandy hill towards the Maoh ignoring his brothers' calls. He made a promise and he was going to keep it. She was not ready to kill...
"Yamero!" Gwendal called, staggering towards the frightening figure, "Stop it now!" The Maoh turned her attention towards him. That voice was familiar... it was a voice of reason...
"Yuri!" he called, staggering closer to the raging Maoh. "Your desire for peace... You cannot obtain that desire with fear and hatred!" The Maoh's power began to fade. "It will only create more fear and hatred!" Gwendal continued, "That is not how you obtain peace! Remember?"
Black slits gazed into deep blue. Somewhere inside the raging Maoh was the girl-Queen he served, the Queen he had promised to stop from doing any real harm to innocent lives. "Your courage hath reminded us of our desire to not only judgement but peace," said the Maoh as turned back into the the Queen, "We thank you..." Gwendal allowed himself to fall, clutching his side as the Maoh became Yuri once again.
"Troublesome," Gwendal muttered.
Author's Note: My dearest readers, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I have been quite busy these past two months. Learning new things and all. I'm afraid it will be another two months before I will post up other stories, but I promise I will post up the next chapter of 'Greta's Father', 'To Hold the Sword Again', "A Girl Named Yuri Shibuya" and all the others that have multiple chapters the first chance I get. I thank you all for your support in my stories. See you all in September at the latest.