Chapter Thirty-four: Trust

It was a small ship, a cargo ship, Chris explained, unmarked because of the threat of assassination. Ships bearing the crest of the royal family would be targets for river bandits and murderers looking for a hefty ransom. Not to mention the fact that Alasco was on the ship as well, and it would be dangerous for him to pass through these waters when Durbe and Ilya finished with their plans for the subjugation of Heartland Kingdom. People would mutiny. People would rise up against the Barians, just as they had in Arclight, just as they had in Astral. Not that Akari knew what had happened to her kingdom after it fell. She had been in a dark cell in Arclight. Her stomach clenched when she thought of what might have become of her former friends while she was trapped there.

Wherever you are, I hope you're okay, Yuma. I hope you're safe.

The rocking of the ship churned Akari's stomach. She had never been on a ship before. She didn't like it in the slightest, and the only reprieve was to empty her stomach over the side.

"It takes some getting used to."

Chris leaned on the side of the ship next to her and looked out across the river. The ship was moving fairly quickly, and though Akari didn't claim to know much about weather patterns, she found it strange that they had a tailwind heading west.

"It's an unusual storm," Chris muttered. "It usually moves east, but this one is moving southwest."

"Maybe the gods are pissed at Heartland for not fighting back," Akari grunted.

He laughed quietly. "I'm sure."

Akari pulled herself to a standing position. "Were you ever planning on telling me that your brothers are responsible for what happened to Yuma?"

Chris clenched the railing and let out a slow breath. "I didn't know until Vector brought them to Arclight. I didn't even know Prince Astral was still alive. And besides." He turned to her. "To me, Yuma Tsukumo was an upstart. He was allied with dangerous people. This is what the Barians told me."

"And yet you believed them."

"I had no reason to believe otherwise."

Akari slumped back over the railing and rubbed her forearm. There was still a small mark there from the blood oath Chris had forced her to take. "But now you have a reason to believe otherwise. And you're still going along with it."

"No." Chris closed his eyes, and for a moment, the only sound was the rushing waters and gentle whooshing of the wind. "Your brother has allied himself with dangerous people. Don't argue," he added, correctly interpreting her noise of irritation. "His new friends caused property destruction and almost murdered a Barian officer. It's very likely they were aiming to kill Lord Durbe. In fact, I'd stake my titles on it."

She didn't see where that was possibly a bad thing. "They're fighting back. The Barians invaded their homeland." My homeland.

"Not all of them," Chris murmured, and it was so quiet she was sure he was talking to himself.

She opened her mouth to ask him to elaborate but he let out a low breath and turned back to her.

"I have to tell you something." His eyes took on an intensity that she hadn't seen since their wedding ceremony – when he had whispered into her ear that if she resisted it would only put her brother and grandmother in greater danger. "I think you deserve to know."

"Deserve to know what?"

Chris cast a quick glance toward the other side of the ship, where Alasco sat on a pile of cushion while three servants – two women, one man – knelt around him. Barian servants, no doubt. Akari couldn't imagine a Barian lord smiling so gently, almost fondly, at any human servants. Apparently satisfied that Alasco was occupied, Chris licked his lips. "Why I married you."

It had been, she thought at first, a gesture of forgiveness and mercy. But the more she learned about Chris Arclight and the web of politics he and his family were tangled up in, the more she had come to believe that he had a political motive that went far beyond what he'd claimed. "Fine." She crossed her arms, but quickly uncrossed them as she realized that she needed to hold onto something for balance, and grabbed the side of the ship again.

He rubbed his shoulder with one hand and narrowed his eyes at the water lapping at the sides of the ship. "I was mixed up with someone."

She didn't see what that had to do with her. "What, do you owe someone a debt?"

He frowned. "No, I don't- no." He glanced over at Alasco again. "I had a lover."

Oh.

That certainly changed things. Members of the royal family were prohibited from entering into any kind of intimate relationship before marriage as a way to prevent children being born outside the proper succession. Akari had learned this in her short time in the palace. But if Chris was this worried about it, then surely-

"You didn't have a child with someone, did you?"

He snorted. "No."

"You sound so sure."

"Trust me on this."

The pieces were starting to fit together now. He sounded adamant that there was no way his lover could have borne him a child. Even supposedly infertile women sometimes had children. Her own mother was an example of that; she had tried and prayed for a second child for six years before she miraculously had Yuma. "A man?"

Chris turned away and leaned over the side of the ship.

"Gods, what cruel fate have I landed myself in," Akari muttered. "How long?"

"A month before the Dragoon genocide."

Ten years. Ten years and Christopher Arclight had been sleeping with another man. One time, she could understand. Maybe two, or even three. But for ten years?

"The first time… was an accident. Neither of us intended for it to go as far as it did. But then, there was this… I don't know how to explain it. Thrill. Whenever we met up, we would sneak off and… well."

Akari rubbed her eyes. "Did you ever stop to think that someone might catch you?"

"And here we are," Chris said wryly. "Have you figured it out yet? You seem good at deductive reasoning."

Someone found out, then. Or, more likely, someone was getting too close to the truth, and Chris needed an out. Akari just so happened to be it. "You used me, you married me, to make sure no one found out about your affair." She didn't love Chris. She didn't even like him most of the time. But the thought that she had been forced to marry him so that he could cover up his own stupid choices, the thought that she had been forced into pledging an oath of loyalty to a kingdom that she had no loyalty to made her angrier than she could remember being in her entire life.

But at the same time, she found it easy to keep her outward emotions calm.

Chris fiddled with the thin golden band on his finger. "I promised you I would do what I could to make you more comfortable with this."

"I'm not sure how you think that I can feel any comfort at all in this entire mess," Akari said icily. "You're going to get away with your mistakes and I'm going to pay the price for it."

"It's not all that bad, you know." He pulled the ring off and gazed at it. "You'll be queen someday."

"What if I don't want to be queen?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he placed the ring back on his finger and straightened up again. "I know you hate me, but if it eases your mind even a little, I instructed Mihael and Thomas to return your brother's sword to him."

A splinter dug into her finger as she gripped the side of the ship. "You know where he is?"

"No. But Durbe is being secretive about something and sent his generals off to investigate. Any time Durbe has a secret, it's usually something important."

He turned to leave, perhaps to go back to their cramped bedroom and the too-small bed that Akari was expected to share with her husband (she swore to herself that she'd sleep on the deck if she had to) but she grabbed him by the sleeve.

"Chris."

"What?"

"Do you miss him?"

Chris's shoulders slumped and he frowned at the deck. "He's… changed. We both want the same thing, but... he's going about it the wrong way." From the way his eyes tightened and his front teeth latched onto his lip, she knew that Chris had loved his consort. Ten years was a long time to be with someone.

Maybe it's you who's on the wrong path. "Do you know how to fight?"

He lifted an eyebrow at the change in conversation. "Fight?"

"Yeah, with swords."

She saw the slight change in his eyes, from confused to surprised, and finally a tiny smile appeared. "Yes. I am… decent."

Decent was an understatement; she'd heard that he was among the best in the kingdom. He'd even mentored the crown prince of the Tenjo Kingdom. "Teach me."

The smile twisted skeptically. "Have you ever held a sword, Akari?"

Of course she had. Her father had been extraordinary, and taught her and Yuma both. Unlike Yuma, however, she grew bored with it and quit after the basics, believing there to be no point in learning the sword in her profession as a bookbinder. "I know some. I want to know more."

He nodded slowly, half to himself, before reaching out and gripping her by the shoulders. "You should start with something very basic, then." She scowled as he led her out to the center of the ship, facing the bow. He moved a hand to her waist.

"What are you doing?"

"Spread your legs."

"What?"

"You have terrible balance on a moving ship. If you can master balance on the water, you'll master balance on the land."

Akari glanced over at Alasco and his servants, who were all staring at them with laughter on their faces. She flushed but begrudgingly shifted her stance.

"Ignore them," he whispered, walking behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and pointed. "Look straight ahead. See the way the ship cuts through the water."

It made her queasy to think about, but she nodded.

"Good. Watch it. Focus on what's in front of you and ignore what's to the side. Give yourself the illusion that you're not moving."

That was easier said than done. In her peripheral, she could still see the trees going by, could still feel the ship move.

But it felt slower, somehow.

"Move with the ship, not against it, and you won't feel like it's moving at all." He finally released her shoulder. "It works for me, anyway."

"Oh, well as long as it works for you."

He laughed softly. "I'll take the first rest. When you're too tired to stand, you can have the bed." She heard him give a curt greeting to Alasco as he passed on his way below deck.

Christopher Arclight was an ass sometimes.

When Alit had first met Durbe, Durbe was a year above him in the military. He was bookish and scrawny and small; though he was slightly taller than Alit, he never seemed bigger for it, and many of their peers mockingly referred to Durbe as The Little Barian. It never seemed to bother Durbe as much as it bothered Durbe's only friend, a permanently sullen and disrespectful Barian named Mizael; Durbe would always whisper to Mizael to let it go, and Mizael would always argue. In the end, Mizael would settle for casting glares at anyone who dared mock Durbe. In addition to his asymmetrical face and rumored abandonment by his own parents, which were juicy enough subjects among the recruits on their own, Mizael had a strange loyalty to Durbe. This, and the fact that Mizael openly flaunted authority but always caved when Durbe asked him to do something was the talk of their class, and Alit occasionally heard people jokingly speculating when they would do the soul transfer.

That, too, always bothered Mizael.

Alit thought Durbe was a strange kid and questioned why he was in the army when he was clearly the product of poverty. So was he, but at least in the mining towns at the base of the mountains there was ample supply of Baria Crystal. Durbe looked as though he had never touched one in his life when Alit first saw him.

Despite Durbe's physical limitations, Alit grew to respect him. He avoided conflict whenever possible, accepted blame when it wasn't his to accept, and was a sharp strategist. Once, when Alit and his friend Gilag found Durbe sitting alone at break with a book, it had seemed the perfect opportunity to pick on him. Gilag stole the book, Alit made fun of it – "The Third Reign of Arclight, oh it sounds riveting" – and asked Durbe why he was there.

Alit never forgot his answer.

"The Barian Kingdom is only as great as those who lead it."

The implication was clear and borderline treason. But Alit knew that behind his undernourished body and weak powers there was a brilliant leader.

After Alit and Gilag graduated from their training, they were stationed at the same outpost on the northern border as Mizael and Durbe. Gilag had resented it; that was where they sent troublemakers and weak Barians.

But Durbe had big plans for the future, and it ended up being both the greatest honor and the biggest punishment to be sent to that outpost.

Alit traced his fingers over his forearm. The cut that Durbe had made there had long since healed, but Alit never forgot it. "Gilag, what do you think we're doing here?"

"Durbe asked us to look into whatever it was he saw out here," Gilag grunted. He rubbed at his nose. "Why it had to be at the crack of dawn, though…"

They had been wandering the forest for nearly an hour. What they were supposed to be looking for, they couldn't find. It was a blinding light, Durbe explained, but he failed to explain why he skipped the wedding reception with Mizael and ended up in the only part of the palace facing west – the bed chambers. It could have been Prince Astral.

But why would Astral risk this a second time?

Alit stopped and Gilag followed suit. "He seemed worried."

"He's always worried." Gilag crossed his arms and shrugged. "After what happened to Mizael, I think that's understandable."

Alit snorted and rolled his eyes. "If Durbe thinks we're going to go down as quickly as that scrawny archer, I'm going to have to feel insulted."

Gilag laughed. "I'm gonna tell Miza you said that."

"Go ahead," Alit said with a grin, giving Gilag a punch on the arm. "Remember that time I beat the crap out of him in training? I can take him."

They headed off again, this time a little to the north. Durbe wanted them to check back in that evening so he could fill them in on the events at Heartland, but there was plenty of time to head to the Arena. After all, there was no better place to gather information than the black market.

It was nearly midmorning and Astral had still not woken. They couldn't stay where they were; it was dangerous for Yuma and even more so for Astral should anyone come through the forest. During the earliest hours of the morning, Yuma had found a higher concentration of cypress trees, which he knew grew only in a particularly swampy part of the Wyvern Forest in Arclight, a few miles from an overflow in the river.

He didn't understand how or why they'd ended up here, but Astral's unconsciousness certainly had something to do with it. If they had been transported from the Sargasso Waste all the way back to Arclight, seemingly instantaneously… It reminded him of the Barian portals. And there had been a flash of light; Shingetsu remembered it even if Yuma hadn't.

They could figure that out later. For now, they had to make it to the Dragoon Shrine. He considered praying that none of his friends had been transported to Baria or any village or city. They would surely not survive there. But it was too late to pray now, even if he had any faith that the gods would do anything other than insist that things followed a predetermined course.

Shingetsu wasn't helping matters much, either. He wouldn't touch Astral ("I'm not worthy of the honor of touching the rightful king of the Astral Kingdom") and he complained at length. Yuma understood; Shingetsu hadn't wanted to travel with them in the first place and only did because Ryoga had been worried that he would let slip that he encountered the Barians' most sought-after fugitives in the Sargasso Waste. But when Yuma suggested that they were a mere ten miles from the nearest port city and that Shingetsu was free to go as long as he swore not to tell anyone anything, Shingetsu refused.

"I'm interested in you, Yuma," he explained, and though Ryoga would be furious that Yuma would even consider allowing Shingetsu to go free at this point, Yuma found that he trusted Shingetsu. He still didn't know anything about Shingetsu's life circumstances or why he chose to be a bard or how he'd ended up deciding to go to the Waste on his own when he was clearly cowardly, but Shingetsu had proven that he didn't have any ill intent toward Astral when they'd been transported here. He could have killed Astral and made it out to look like it had happened before they'd left the Waste. But he didn't. He stayed by Astral's side and waited for Yuma, because he believed Yuma would come to their aid.

He may have grated Yuma's nerves at times but Yuma believed that he probably did have the best intentions.

"Let's take a break, Yuma," Shingetsu offered after a few hours of walking. "I picked some fruits along the way."

Yuma's arms were sore from carrying Astral through the woods, so he agreed. He was starving; they had no more of the smoked meat from a couple of nights before. Yuma's body craved more than fruit, but he took the small, under-ripe apples that Shingetsu offered him and ate them gratefully. They were bitter and hard, but they were better than nothing, and he needed his strength. If he was going to have to carry Astral all the way to the Shrine, he was going to need as much energy as he could get.

"Is he going to be okay?" Shingetsu asked quietly, nodding at Astral's sleeping form next to Yuma.

"Yeah. When he uses his powers, it sometimes makes him pass out. He'll be fine." Yuma wished he was as sure of that as he sounded. Astral usually only slept for an hour or two, and it had been an entire night. As long as he still breathed, Yuma could hope.

"Does he use his powers often? What are they like?" Shingetsu sounded eager, and sat up straighter.

"N-no." Yuma frowned at Shingetsu's sudden interest. He was a bard, Yuma reminded himself. It was only natural he'd be curious to know about the powers of the Astral World. "I've only seen him use them five times. This is the third time since… since the kingdom fell to the Barians."

Shingetsu's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Yuma. I'm sure you lost friends that day."

Yuma closed his eyes. Impatience, terror, helplessness. Fear for his kingdom, fear for his friends, fear for the family he hadn't seen in two years. It was all so vivid, remembering how he stood in that library, waiting for Ryoga to come back. Wondering if he ever would. "It hurts to think about it. I'm sorry, Shingetsu."

"I understand." Shingetsu picked at the seeds in the apple core he was holding. "Do you have family, Yuma?"

What had become of Akari and Gran since Yuma had left Arclight? Akari had assured him that she was safe, but what about now? "My parents died a few years ago. I used to live with my grandmother and sister before I joined the Guard. Akari didn't want me to but…" Shingetsu would think him insane if he explained that his father had implored him to uncover the secrets of the Barian lords. "I hadn't talked to her in all that time. I hope the Barians haven't done anything to her." His voice cracked by the time he was finished.

A flicker of familiarity crossed Shingetsu's eyes at Akari's name. "Akari? Akari Tsukumo? That name sounds familiar."

Yuma smiled humorlessly. "She was a bookbinder from a village in the Astral Kingdom. She won't be familiar, Shingetsu."

"No, I'm sure of it." Shingetsu frowned as he rummaged around in his satchel, pulling out a small wooden instrument of some sort, a stack of parchment bound with what looked like yucca, and a number of writing utensils. Finally, he pulled out a crumpled leaflet. "Yes, here."

He handed it to Yuma. Yuma's stomach lurched; it was an execution notice. He stared at his name for a moment, then at the charges of insurrection, attempted murder, and destruction of property. He was about to ask Shingetsu what this had to do with anything – as well as voice his dissatisfaction that his alleged "attempted murder" of Vector hadn't come to pass – when he saw the second half of the decree.

Following the execution by hanging, our beloved Lord Christopher, Eldest Son of Arclight, shall be wed to the Lady Akari Tsukumo of Astral Kingdom. The people of our kingdom are warmly welcomed to witness our Prince's union.

This was surely a mistake.

"No," he said, thrusting the paper back at Shingetsu. "That's not possible. Akari would never consent to that."

They're taking care of us.

"She came to see me the night before. She would have told me."

"I'm just showing you what I found," Shingetsu said, eyes wide. "I only meant well."

"No, no," Yuma muttered, rubbing his eyes. "It's not your fault…" Did Ryoga know? He had been there. He'd told Yuma about how they saw the stage where Yuma was to be hanged. "Shingetsu, were you there?"

Shingetsu lowered his eyes and grimaced. "Yes. I was curious, I admit. Please forgive me."

Yuma shook his head. "That doesn't matter. What happened? Did they say anything about Akari?"

"Yes, there was a speech by Lord Durbe. He announced that you had… died in your cell, and then Lord Christopher and Lady Akari would be wed."

"What did he say exactly? If you remember." Yuma's heart was racing. Ryoga had told him that Durbe had spoken, but that Anna's explosion had interrupted Durbe's speech. Had he lied?

Shingetsu screwed up his eyes in thought. "What he said exactly was that 'the terrorist Yuma Tsukumo committed suicide in his cell last night. Regretfully, we cannot give you the execution you came for. Instead, we would like to offer the people of Arclight the opportunity to witness the union between your beloved Prince Christopher and, as a gesture of goodwill toward the Astral Kingdom and a show of forgiveness for her brother's sins, the Lady Akari Tsukumo.'"

It was almost verbatim what Ryoga had told him Durbe had said. Shingetsu had clearly been there. Except Ryoga had told him that the explosion interrupted Durbe before he mentioned the marriage.

"Why would he lie to me?" Yuma whispered.

Shingetsu gingerly placed his hand on Yuma's shoulder. "Don't let it bother you, Yuma. I'm sure he meant well, too. Maybe he didn't want to upset you."

"Upset me?" Yuma turned his head. "He didn't think it was prudent to tell me that my sister was forced to marry one of the Barians' puppet rulers?" He covered his face with his hands and rested his elbows on his knees. "Gods. I know I'm not in the best state of mind right now, but I think I deserved to know that." He himself had tried to keep from Astral from knowing the fate that befell the king and queen, but Ryoga had insisted. He needs to know now so he can move on quickly. Did he not think Yuma could handle it?

"I'm sorry." Shingetsu hesitated a moment before sliding his hand down Yuma's arm and gently holding his wrist. "I seem to have upset you and I'm sorry." Yuma couldn't muster the energy to pull his hand away.

It was comforting, in a way, to know that at least he had someone he could trust in that moment.