Yumiko became the Queen of the East Kingdom in a quiet, nonpublic ceremony with only her immediate family and the extended family of her husband's brothers and wives in attendance. It was a pleasant ceremony with lots of tears, mostly on the part of the new Queen and her Father. The event became a serious, heartfelt matter that almost made the others feel like they were intruding on a private moment as the present King turned responsibility and ownership of his kingdom over to his beloved daughter. When King Byakuya placed the crown on her head, they were both reduced to tears which caused the others to decide to take their leave. The next few hours passed with the father and daughter redefining their roles not only as monarchs but as parent and child as well. Byakuya had to relinquish her both as a father and a king; this was the time he had both looked forward to and dreaded. Yumiko would be taking her official place as adult and ruler.
"Daddy," she sniffed, combing her fingers through the silken black locks that lay across his chest.
Byakuya smiled, watching her slender fingers raking through his hair. She had done this as a child when he would hold her because she was frightened. His arms tightened around her, and he pulled her head to his chest.
"What, Yumi?" he asked, holding her protectively. If only he could prevent the coming evil, he would give anything to keep her from having to endure it. This had to be the most trying part of parenthood: watching a child go through something complicated and dangerous while being powerless to stop it. The first true test of her as a ruler and a person would be coming to her very soon full of power and fury: the war declared by King Sōsuke.
"Are you sure now is the time? Should this have waited until after the war? You've led the East Kingdom through a war before and came out triumphant, maybe we should - " Her voice was rising with each word, making her sound like she was on the verge of hysteria before her father interrupted her.
"Yumi," he said firmly but gently in his deep lilting voice. Pressing his hands to her cheeks to make her look at him, he smiled down at her while swallowing the tears to keep them from falling. "I would not turn the kingdom over to you if I did not think you were capable of protecting it and saving our people. You have a great man at your side in Coyote. Then there's Uryū and Ichigo who will be fighting for you..." He paused when he saw the sadness flash through her eyes at the mention of the orange haired soldier and the black-haired archer. How careless of him to forget the discussion he had with his son-in-law about distancing her from the two men who had been friends and lovers. For her to think, to be able to correctly bear the burden of her responsibility (and for the two men detrimental to the preservation of their kingdom to carry out their commission for that matter), it had been necessary to sever the intimate ties that bound them. In an attempt to soothe her heart and his, he added, "And you'll always have me."
"Daddy," she gasped, burying her face into the soft folds of his burgundy velvet robes to cry.
"Shed all the tears you can now, my dear daughter. There will come a time when you do not have the luxury to cry," Byakuya warned her, stroking her ebony hair that was twisted into a thick braid that hung down her back to her waist.
Yumiko knew exactly what he meant. Soon the war would begin and there would be no time for tears. Sorrow and mourning would have to wait until they had won the clear victory. Then, and only then, would she be able to grieve for those lost or hardships endured.
~\0/~
Two months later...
"My Queen!" one of the castle guards bellowed, entering the throne room without even knocking.
Yumiko, along with Coyote, her father, Ichigo, and Uryū looked up from the table covered with a map on which tiny figures representing the key players in the war stood. They had been literally mapping out strategies with which to counteract the possible attack patterns of their enemy. Grimmjow and Ulquiorra had sent word to their kingdoms to mobilize all troops to their borders, to not only hold back King Sōsuke's armies but to push them toward the East Kingdom with nowhere to turn.
The guard, who had once been the footman who escorted Yumiko to the Central Kingdom to marry Coyote, swallowed convulsively as the imposing people stared at him without speaking. His already huge blue eyes seemed to widen and he pulled nervously at the high collar of his uniform.
"Hana, what is it?" Yumiko asked, breaking the silence. She used the guard's name in hopes it would calm him and keep him from fainting before he told her what was so urgent that he had to break into a meeting unannounced. This seemed to do the trick in snapping him back to professional mode as he stood erect and stiff at attention, saluting her with a hand over his heart and a slight bow.
"Forgive me, your Highness," he said, waving to someone behind him to come in. "But we found this man outside the gates. He insists on speaking with you."
Standing between the two guards who entered was the silver-haired adviser of King Sōsuke. The men surrounding the Queen immediately put their hands on their sword hilts, but she raised her hand to signal to them to hold and not draw their swords. The man was beaten and bruised, dried blood caked upon his typically pristine white suit. His usually impeccable and shiny silver hair was matted and faded in appearance. Although he had always been thin, he now looked positively starved. Gin swayed unsteadily when the guards roughly shoved him forward. Somehow he managed to right himself, holding out his hand in a stop gesture when Yumiko rushed forward to him.
Yumiko could not take her eyes away from him especially when he smiled and opened the one sky blue eye that was not swollen shut. Tears burned her eyes as he stubbornly and elegantly bowed, determined to maintain a shred of his dignity. She returned the respectful gesture, clearing her throat so she could get rid of the choking lump that had formed.
"Why are you here?" she questioned him, her voice faltering when he swayed forward a bit. Every muscle in her body tightened, wanting to propel her forward to be able to catch him if he fell. Instead, to allow him to hold onto his small modicum of pride in his sorry state, she held still without moving a finger.
"I came to warn you, my Queen," he proclaimed, ignoring the skeptical snorts issued from the men behind her. "King Sōsuke is near. He will be marching upon your kingdom in three days. He is coming at you with a full frontal attack strategy, using his best and most vicious soldiers, including hired mercenaries, in his front line of offense."
Yumiko was unable to stop herself from flying to him when he pitched forward and threatened to fall onto his face on the stone floor. She wrapped her arms around him, sinking to her knees to keep him from further injuring himself. It did not even occur to her that he might still be bleeding and would ruin her lovely white dress that she wore today. It did not matter anyway. Soon her hands would be stained with blood that she could never wash away. Placing her lips near his ear, she whispered, "Who did this to you? Was it my men?"
"No. I was caught sneaking away to bring you the news. I barely escaped with my life to be here," he informed her, pulling back to look at her face as they knelt in front of each other. His fingers shook as he reached out to touch her cheek. "I would have gladly died for you, but not until after I had brought you this news. I will serve you, my Queen, if you will have me."
"No, absolutely not!" Coyote yelled, drawing his sword. "You were an enemy and you even betrayed them! How can we trust you?"
"NO!" Yumiko shouted so loudly it echoed off of the bare stone walls around them. She stood to her feet, turning to face her husband. Her eyes met his, boring into their steely blue depths. Extending her hand to him, she pushed down the sword he had raised. She knew he had planned to push her out of the way and run the man through, most likely piercing his heart and as many vital organs as possible so he would die quickly. This whole scene had been played out before but under much different circumstances and with a different man that she was protecting.
"How many times are you going to do this?" Coyote snarled in her face, his lips drawing back from his teeth to give him a feral, severe expression. "How often will you defy me and humiliate me?"
"I'm doing neither. I will do this as many times as I deem necessary to prevent a needless death," she answered, kissing him briefly on the lips. Her pulse beat so loudly in her ears she thought she might be deaf but hearing the metallic grind and snap when he slammed his sword back into its metal sheath proved otherwise. "This man shielded me from any harm when I was being held captive. He took care of my meals and made sure I wanted for nothing considering the already dire circumstances. He even put his life at risk to save mine by helping me escape. Now he's done it again, almost being killed to warn me of when King Sōsuke will arrive. Yet you want to reward him with finishing the job and killing him. No, I won't allow it."
Coyote gave his wife one last scathing glare before turning his back on her to return to stand by her father's side at the war table. He received a knowing and commiserate pat on the shoulder from her father. If anyone could truly understand his anger and indignation with that stubborn, overly opinionated, and downright aggravating woman it was her father.
"Hana, please get the doctor and take this man to a room," Yumiko ordered him, assisting Gin with getting to his feet.
"A room in the dungeon, your Highness?" he inquired, waving his hands to his comrades to help the unsteady man.
"No. The castle. I'm returning a kindness once shown to me. I do want you to post guards at his door. Despite his delicate condition, he will be viewed as a prisoner, but not treated like one," she explained, turning to glance at her husband.
Coyote nodded affirmatively when she shot him a look that asked the question 'are you happy now?' He was not completely thrilled with the arrangement, but it would have to suffice. He already knew there would be no changing her decision so he did not bother to voice his misgivings. Besides, he would have to trust her judgment implicitly since she would be making the final decisions as to how to pursue the attack. It would help their planning tremendously since they knew when and how King Sōsuke would be coming. They just needed to ready themselves and have their defenses fortified.
~...~
Yumiko rose from the straight backed chair beside Gin's bed to stretch. She had been sitting here for hours waiting for him to awake after Isshin had treated the wounds. Gin had been allowed to take a much needed bath first to get rid of the excess blood so the doctor could easily see the extent of the man's injuries. Most of the wounds were contusions, deep muscle damage that had caused a lot of bruising, but no internal injuries to the organs. He had received a few lacerations, some that required stitches, but no stab wounds. A sad smile formed on her face as she looked at the man who had risked his life to give her the strategic news that would put her kingdom at a better advantage to deal with the coming invaders. Leaning over the bed, she bent down to trail her fingers along his jawline, the side that was not sporting a stomach turning black and purple bruise. A long tendril of her black hair fell over her shoulder and tickled his nose, startling him to wakefulness. She gasped when he instantly came to consciousness, his one uninjured eye popping open wide while he grabbed her by the wrist. Before she could utter a sound, he snatched her off her feet to pull her across his body and down on her back in the bed next to him.
"Stop! What are you doing?!" she screamed, struggling as he held her down with a hand pressed to her chest.
"Shhhh!" he hissed, covering her mouth with his other hand while pulling her close to him. Seconds later, an arrow came flashing past them, splitting the air with a soft whooshing sound as it went across the room. The metal head embedded itself in the area between two of the closely fitted stones comprising the wall. "Assassins! Dammit! I should have known the bastard would have me followed since he did not kill me. In my rush to get to you, I never considered it was all a part of his plan. I'm sorry, my Queen. I've put you danger. That was not my intention."
"Over here!"a man yelled in the courtyard outside below them. The voice had sounded like Uryū's.
Yumiko felt like a turtle on it's back as she kicked and writhed to finally roll herself over and get off of the man in the bed. She went to the window, looking down below where archers and guards had gathered with torches. Squinting her eyes, she tried to make out what or who they were looking at. Frustrated and impatient at not being able to see from the third story of the castle, she resorted to her climbing skills that she had honed to perfection over the years.
Gin watched with unabashed curiosity as the beautiful Queen Yumiko pulled the dress over her head to reveal that she was wearing brown leather pants and a leather vest. He recalled having seen her in that particular get-up before when she had been killing apples during target practice after her arrival at the Central Kingdom castle. He could only shake his head as he observed her swinging her body over the sill. Carefully hauling his sore body out of the bed, he went to the window to see her scaling the wall downward at a fast pace with the ease and grace of a lizard racing across the stones.
"My Queen!" the stunned Head Archer yelled when she appeared out of the dark night like an illusion. He caught himself as he stared at her momentarily with gape mouthed awe because she was dressed in the provocative leather outfit. If her husband were here, he would chastise her for dressing rather unseemly.
"What are you wearing?" Coyote demanded, joining the circle of archers around the man in black lying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of his chest.
"Clothes," she answered smartly without acknowledging the snickers of the men that followed. "Shouldn't we be more concerned with this assassin?"
"Right," her husband returned, raising an eyebrow. They would have a talk later about her choice of clothing. It had worked to her advantage that they had a problem to deal with that was more distracting than her outfit. He nudged the man on the ground the toe of his boot, receiving a groan in return that confirmed his suspicion the interloper was not dead yet. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Yumiko moved to stand beside her husband refusing to comment on the obviousness of his questions. They already knew this man was an assassin sent by the adversarial king. The next answer took them all by surprise.
"I came to kill the traitor, Gin," the man wheezed, coughing up copious amounts of blood that soaked into the bare soil beside him. "I did not come to harm the Queen. I was placed under strict orders to let her be. King Sōsuke wants to deal with her personally. There are men coming behind me to kidnap her to take her to the king."
"Why are you telling us this?" Yumiko inquired, backing away when the man opened his eyes to stare into hers. Only on rare occasions had she seen such soulless eyes devoid of emotion; a pair of dark brown eyes, Sōsuke's eyes, came to mind.
"Because I am an assassin. I have no loyalties. I was hired to do a job by an inhuman bastard who deserves to die. Since I'm dying, I want to return the favor to him," the man panted, his breathing labored.
"What do we do? Call the doctor for him?" Coyote inquired, expecting a yes. What he did not expect was for his wife to grab his sword and plunge it into the heart of the dying man.
"He was dying anyway," she said as if to explain her violent action, her voice low and menacing. She looked around at the men staring at her with open mouths. Reaching down, she pulled the arrow from the dead man's chest; it had missed his heart by several inches. Holding it up for them to see, she demanded, "Who's arrow is this?"
A young archer who looked as if he had just joined their ranks stepped forward. He kept his eyes on the ground beneath his feet as he stuttered, "I-I d-did, y-your H-highness."
Yumiko drew back her hand to give the young man a crisp, stinging slap to the face. "Next time you aim, shoot to kill. There's no reason to cause needless suffering."
Yumiko withdrew her husband's sword from the body to return it to him. Without another word, she turned her back to leave. There was a tense and deafening silence among the men who stayed quiet while watching their Queen walk away. She walked in surprisingly slow metered steps after committing the shocking, barbaric act of killing the assassin, then slapping the archer who had failed to kill him the first time. There was no panic, no tears. For an extended moment after she had disappeared from their sight, the shell-shocked King continued to stare at the empty air that was heavy with tension and a feeling of unease. None of them were sure what to think upon the startling and unforeseen advent of their warrior Queen. Coyote held his sword gingerly with the tips of his fingers not moving a muscle while blood dripped from the tip onto the ground at his feet.
"What is it?" Uryū inquired of the pale, stricken man.
"She did not cry," he replied, his voice weak and low. He was afraid something had died within his wife in that moment; he hoped this war and it's horrors would not destroy her. As infuriating as her boundless mercy could be, her compassion was an inherent part of her. Lowering his eyes to the dead man in front of him, perhaps that had been her way of showing mercy to this man, by putting him out of his misery. The assassin had received a mortal wound and even if he was not already dying, surely only torture and death awaited him from King Sōsuke for failing his mission.
Uryū sighed heavily, casting an annoyed glare at the man standing in front of him. Since he could not follow after her, he dared to issue an order to the new King. "Go to her. She needs you."
Coyote gave the man a nod. He knelt down to clean the blood from his sword using the dead man's cloak before sheathing the weapon and rushing into the castle. He found her in their room, gazing out of their window at the star filled night sky.
"Are you all right?" he questioned her, tentatively putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine," she answered, her voice tranquil. "I know what my father meant now...that there will come a time when I will not have the luxury of tears."
"But you're still human, sweetheart so - " He stopped speaking when she turned to look at him. His eyes held hers that were just as calm as her voice; there were no turbulent emotions, not even a hint of anger.
"I am the Queen. I have to be strong to protect my kingdom and those I love," she told him, putting her arms around his neck. She kissed him, a pleasant lingering kiss with no urgency only passion to convey her love to him. " I cannot allow illogical emotions to cloud my thinking or judgment. I can't lose anyone I love."
Coyote held her, pressing his lips to her forehead briefly. They stayed in each other's arm for hours, content in the closeness with no words passing between them. They could only think about what would be occurring after three sunrises from now. On that third day, everything would change forever. Coyote ran his fingers through his wife's hair, kissing her tenderly on the lips. Actually, some things already had changed.