Chapter Twenty: Worry

As the sun set that night, something strange happened inside the mayor of Raven's Hill. He coughed twice, and massaged his throat as the fire within it ceased. He drank once more from the pitcher and tried talking again.

"Ahhh…. Agh!" he sighed. He shook his head a bit more, and set the pitcher down. "That could quite possibly have been the strangest thing to happen to me."

But… why had he lost his voice like that? He used to be able to yell at his brother for hours, so how come he didn't even last ten minutes this time?

He growled, and sat down for his meal. His maid had brought it in a bit earlier, but he couldn't focus on food without his voice.

After all, what's a politician without his voice?

Now… what to do about the green girl? He set down his fork, and closed his eyes to think.

She had to be somewhere in the area. The younger Mr. Hatachi had been clear that the girl was barefoot, and had no survival skills, thanks to her life in a cage. He growled menacingly, and began pacing the room.

How could a six-year old freak outsmart every man in the village?! Where could she possibly be hiding?!

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, he would approach his older brother for help again. No one knew those woods like he did. If Muta joined the hunt, sweet victory would be theirs.

xxXxx

"Y-yeah. I can handle lightning storms," Haru said a little hesitantly, like she was afraid to stumble over her own words as Baron managed to open a small side door to her castle with the same hand that was now scarred, balancing her back expertly with his wrist and arm. He smiled warmly as he began lightly stepping down the hall, so as not to disturb those who were already sleeping.

But, then suddenly, he looked away from her face, and concentrated on something in her midsection.

A little puzzled, she looked down, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. "Is something bothering you?" she asked curiously.

He nodded a bit, looking at her hands. "I've been noticing that black mark on one of your fingers since you returned last week. Would it happen to be a birthmark of some sort?"

Her blood turned cold as she hurriedly covered the finger with her other hand. "It's nothing to be worried about," she said hastily, trying to think of a way to explain the twin black lines that circled each other around her finger. "It's a…"

Blast it, why wouldn't a story come to her when she needed it to? She was a rotten liar from the beginning, but she didn't want to share the true importance of the strange mark with anyone.

Baron was waiting patiently, now at the foot of her tower. But he obviously wasn't going to put her down until he heard what she had to say. His eyes seemed so stern right now, like he knew what she was trying to do. "Yes?" he asked pointedly.

The green woman sighed in defeat, and told him the truth. "It's a reminder that the green-eyed man gave me, when we met three months ago."

Baron nearly dropped her in surprise. "You've met him?!"

She nodded, feeling a little amused at his almost violent reaction. "Come on, do you really think I'd be going through all these security measures unless I was absolutely certain that this guy was a serious threat?" Her blood ran cold, thinking about the terrible encounter. "On second thought, Baron, would you mind just holding the net safe for me? I shouldn't have let myself get so easily distracted from being your pupil."

He nodded dimly, although his eyes were a little wild, for some reason. "How did you meet him?" he asked sternly, making her blood feel almost like ice.

"I'd really rather not talk about it," she whispered, unable to disguise a slight tremor in her tone.

Baron sighed a bit, some irritation present in the gesture. "Haru, please. I've been hearing everything from 'he'll kill you' to 'binding your power' or even 'enslaving you', but I'd like to hear directly from you what's going to happen when he comes. Just trust me."

Just trust me.

It was a fairly simple phrase, but at the same time so complicated! Sure, she liked Baron as a good friend, but… to tell him about that?! Her father was fond of breaking furniture into firewood at the mere thought of what the green-eyed man was planning to do with her.

But then again… Baron was preparing her troops for that terrible confrontation. She still had no idea if his contributions would make a noticeable difference in the fight, but… maybe if Baron had a complete understanding of what they were facing, he would throw himself completely into his work, if he hadn't already done so.

Yes. Perhaps Baron did need to know precisely what was at stake.

"If I show you, will you promise not to tell anyone?" she asked softly. "It's pretty personal, and the reasons I gave everyone to fear the green-eyed man were as much as they really needed to know."

He nodded firmly, and perhaps unconsciously squeezed her a bit.

Or maybe it wasn't unconsciously.

"I know how to keep a secret, Haru. You can trust me."

She sighed a bit. "Can I tell you in the morning? I'm a little wiped out right now."

Baron nodded gently, having suspected as much. He was just laying down the groundwork so that she would tell him later. He set her down gently next to the curtained doorway, instinctively knowing that she would want to tackle the stairs on her own. "Meet me at the place where I was supposed to train you?" he asked.

She nodded, stretching a little before pulling aside the curtain that led to her tower. "Probably an hour after sunrise. Don't worry about your chores tomorrow. I'll organize a Random Day."

"Random Day?" he couldn't help but ask.

She laughed at him a bit, lingering in the doorway. "Those are days when I 'randomly' give everyone on this side of the mountains the day off work, usually once a month. There are usually a few parties and such scattered around my realm, and I doubt you'll be in a teaching mood after I tell you precisely what's going on. Good night, Baron."

He smiled at her, but then gently touched her hand so he could kiss it again. The sparks made their entry through Haru's body, but this time with a content calmness, like it had all the time in the world.

She didn't jump again, but her heart began to pitter-patter uneasily as Baron gave a last farewell, and started walking down the hallway to collect the electrified net. As she let the curtain fall back over the doorway behind her, her mind suddenly jumped, and she wheeled around to pull it aside again to look at Baron.

"Don't touch the net with your bare hands!" she called to his retreating form. Although it was fun for her to play with lightning bolts, other people seemed to suffer dearly for trying the same, even when electricity was in a subdued form. Even her witch cousin left such activities to the green woman.

Baron looked over his shoulder, and smiled that beautiful smile that made her feel unusually warm again. "I know."