Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou or make money from this.
"Gret-a?!" Yaelle stuck her head through the doorway and glanced around the dining room. Not finding who she was looking for, she pouted and skipped to the next room. She went through the next five rooms before finding her sister in the library. "Gret-a!"
"What's wrong?" The human turned to her little sister while holding Tristan in her arms. She had been busy reading a story for the little boy and his brother, who was sitting on the ground before her.
"I can't find Yuji!" Yaelle called out as she waved her arms around like it was the end of the world.
"He's probably in our dads' bedroom." Greta chuckled and laid down the book she was holding. She held out her hand to Thorsten, who accepted it and waggled besides his niece towards the little black beauty. "We'll find him." The oldest said and Yaelle skipped ahead towards her fathers' quarters.
-Sthic-
"Sweetie!" Cheri's voice called out and Henning surprised turned around to find the ex-Maou stride towards him with her brother and his attendant beside her.
"Lady von Spitzweg," he greeted the busty woman before turning to the men, "Lord von Spitzweg, Raven."
"Captain Von Clausewitz!" Cheri's brother greeted the retired captain with a handshake and Raven pulled his colleague in a half hug.
"It has been a while, Henning." The later smiled and the captain responded with one of his own.
"What brings you here?" The retired captain asked as he directed his attention back to the woman of the group.
"Oh, we were on our way back to the Blood Pledge Castle."
"You have heard of the suicides, haven't you?" Brother interrupted sister and Henning nodded. "Heika's gone to confront the humans and now the little ones are unprotected at the castle, so as Uncle it is my job to protect them!" Stuffel continued and the captain shared a look with the ex-Maou, who smiled innocently.
"I would love to join you, with your permission of course."
"That's a wonderful idea!" Cheri called out not the least bit surprised and linked her arm with the captain's.
-Sthic-
"Yuji!" Yaelle screamed as she pushed the door open and entered her fathers' bedroom. Her eyes slid through the room stopping on the closet. Blowing up her cheeks, she strode towards the noise and threw open the closet door. Her brother turned to her with large eyes and stared at her with a caught expression.
"Yaelle, did you find -," Greta asked as she stopped beside her little sister with both of her cousins in her arms, "-him?" Surprised, she looked down at Yuji drowning in one of Wolfram's jackets, before she started to laugh. "What are you doing, Yuji?" As answer the little boy raised his arms, his hands hiding in the elbows of his father's sleeves.
"Yuji can't wear daddy's clothes!" Yaelle yelped with a big smile on her face and she started to pull the jacket from her brother's body.
"But…!" Her little brother put up his teary eyes and she abruptly stopped.
"Daddy wo-…" He pushed his lower lip forward and Yaelle stopped in midsentence. "Fine!" She huffed and pulled up the other on his feet.
"Come on, it's time for bed." Greta said as she ushered the two out of the closet and her little sister's emerald green eyes widened in fear.
"I won't leave Yuji!" The big sister smiled at the cuteness of her little sister.
"Why don't we hold a sleepover in my room? Tristan and Thorsten will also come." Yaelle fiercely nodded and pulled Yuji with her. They moved to Greta's room and with help of the maids two more mattresses got pulled inside. "The boys can share those two and we'll take my bed." Greta pointed to the furniture as she looked at her little sister, who hugged Yuji against her chest. 'When puberty hits, it's going to be hell for the one left behind… and us.' The oldest princess shook her head before watching her little family. 'Who would have thought?' She wondered as she took in how Thorsten was patting Tristan's head and Yaelle who had glued herself to Yuji. 'Only Uncle Gwendal's and Günter's are missing.' A sigh left her lips. 'When will those two finally settle down?' She wondered. 'I actually hope I still have someone to settle down with when this is all over.' She bit her lip in worry and forced a smile on her face as Yaelle looked at her.
-Sthic-
"How about a drink?!" Stuffel stopped the three beside him and pointed to the tavern that had just come into view.
"We need to get to the Blood Pledge Castle, my Lord." Raven answered and Stuffel waved his protests away.
"It's time to refuel." He decided and moved his sister to the tavern. Henning and Raven shared a look before they shook their heads and followed them. Once inside Lord von Spitzweg announced his arrival with a lot of noise – even if the occupiers didn't give them more than a glance.
"What can I get you, my Lady?" The patron skipped to their table as they were still settling themselves.
"A glass of red wine, sweetie." Cheri smiled politely and the patron turned to the others.
"A pint, my best man." Stuffel ordered and the two other kept it at a juice. Conversation picked up again and all sort of topics passed. Every time Henning tried to push the subject back to them needing to continue towards the castle, Lord von Spitzweg brushed him off. Finally Cheri rejected another refill and stood up.
"The Blood Pledge Castle is waiting on us, gentlemen." She smiled and her brother immediately jumped up.
"Yes yes, of course!" He signaled to the patron for the check, who directly moved to the register. Henning and Raven shared a look before shaking their heads at the same time. Following the royals they made their way outside until the Lord tripped. Like a chain reaction Raven shot into action and pushed his friend out of the way to be able to catch his charge. Henning wildly stumbled sideways grabbing for something to break his fall. His hand found the nearest table, which - with the addition of his weight tipped over to the ground. The side and the sleeve of his jacket got drenched with a liquid his nose identified as beer. The patron immediately stood beside him as the previous occupiers of the table were handing him their napkins.
"My apologies!" Raven had helped up Stuffel and was now leaning over his friends. The napkins got pulled out of Henning's hands and Raven did his best to make them absorb the beer before the fiber could.
"Please gentlemen, you can use the backroom to get cleaned up." The patron's attention was directed towards Cheri instead of the two men on the ground.
"Thank you, they would gladly accept." The ex-Maou answered as Henning stopped Raven from dabbing the napkins any longer and got to his feet. Following the patron, he entered the back with a quick look inside the private quarters.
"Here my best man." The retired captain got pointed to a sink. "Do you need a change of clothes?"
"No thank you." He had worn much dirtier and wetter clothes on his missions that this 'little' spill didn't bother him.
"Alright, I'll leave you to it." The patron hesitated a moment, only leaving when Henning gave him a nod. Taking off his jacket, the captain scooped water on the beer stain and tried to shrub the alcohol out of the fiber. Minutes passed and he finally decided it wouldn't get any better. Wringing the excess water out of the wet spot, he checked his handiwork before draping his jacket over his arm. No use in also making the rest of his clothes wet. Checking his appearance one last time, he approved and walked back to the front, but not before throwing another glance into the private room that had caught his attention before.
'Soldiers?' He wondered as he noted the uniforms the men were wearing. His feet quickly carried him back to the others after one of the men slammed the door in his face after noticing him and something started nibbling at the back of his mind. He stopped beside Raven and got an apologizing look.
"I'll give you some clean clothes at the castle." Cheri made his penny drop.
"There are no soldiers left in Shin Makoku except the ones protecting the castle!" He raised his voice and got three pair of confused eyes on him. His body turned around and with every step accelerating he stormed straight into the private room to find it empty.
"What's going on, sweetie?" Cheri stopped beside him.
"There were soldiers in here…"
"That's not possible." Stuffel huffed and Henning turned to face him.
"That's my point!" Raven's eyes suddenly widened.
"We need to get to the castle!"
-Sthic-
Greta walked through an arcade of the castle and watched the darkness creep around the circles of light the lanterns were creating. A chill ran over her spine and she speeded up. She wanted to be back inside with the little ones, but as she was in charge it was her job to let the guards know all of them could be found in her room. If anything happened they could immediately come to her quarters and forget about the nursery or Yaelle's room. Making it back, she quickly checked on her siblings and her cousins. Tristan was snuggled against his big brother's chest and both boys had taken one of the mattresses for themselves. The oldest boy turned his head towards her as she strolled closer, showing he was still awake. Yaelle was pushing her brother under the cover of the other mattress and tucked him under with a lot of flamboyance. After checking the three younglings, she crawled in her big sister's bed and with only her eyes sneaking out from under the blanket she watched Greta join her. "Good night…" She whispered before quiet calm breathings were the only sounds left.
-Sthic-
With a shock Greta woke up and looked around the room with a beating heart. "What was that?" Yaelle asked with a tiny voice beside her.
"I'll go look, don't worry." The big sister reassured the other and sneaked out of bed. One pair of emerald green eyes followed her every move as she walked to the door and with one last look backwards she disappeared in the hallway. Yawning she walked towards the closest window to get a peek at the courtyard. With half open eyes she checked the soldiers at the entrance and found two figures talking to each other. Another yawn escaped her lips and she continued her way to the first window around the corner. Staring down her eyes fell on the guard patrolling this side of the castle. 'Maybe he knows what that sound was?' She figured and pushed the window open. The noise made the soldier look up and wave at her as he recognized her. "Thomas, did something happen?" Greta called out and the man shook his head. "Nothing, because a noise woke us." Thomas frowned.
"I'll inform the others and check the area around your room."
"Great, I need to return to the little ones." She waved and closed the window again as the soldier wished her a good night. Stretching her limbs she moved back to her room and smiled as she thought about the soldier who had just left. Thomas could always be found beside his mate Rufus. Those two were the best of friends, which wasn't a surprise as they were very similar, except for that Rufus was much more muscular than his friend. He always liked showing off his arms to the girls and she had been on the receiving end more than once. At first Raphael had been a bit jealous, but he had quickly gotten over that as he noted how more annoyed she was becoming each time. Now he actually teased her with it. Her smile suddenly fell as she knew Rufus was stationed at the entrance. With two more steps she stood in front of the first window again and for a second time searched for the two figures. Finding them she quickly realized those men weren't muscular and a warning bell sounded in her head. 'If I run I could still reach Thomas.' She calculated as her feet already started to move. She flew through the corridor and down the stairs until she reached a side entrance and just in time saw the soldier's back disappear around the corner. "Thomas!" She called out just above a whisper as she ran after him. Turning the corner she bumped into the soldier, who had heard her.
"Princess, what's wrong?!"
"Rufus, isn't he stationed at the entrance?"
"Yes." Thomas frowned.
"And they are only with two?"
"Yes." The soldier touched the hilt of his sword.
"From inside the castle I could see two men dressed as soldiers at the entrance, but they weren't muscular." Greta explained and Thomas' jaw tightened.
"Get back to the others, Princess. I'll check the entrance and will get back at you." Greta nodded and quickly moved back to the inside of the castle. Worried about her family she accelerated and almost busted through the door. Yaelle immediately was on high alert and sat up as straight as she could.
"Thomas is looking around." Greta whispered as she crawled on the bed. Her little sister gave her a worried look and she pulled Yaelle into a hug. In silence they had been waiting for fifteen minutes when Thomas entered after a short knock. "And?" Greta asked as the soldier stepped to her bed.
"We need to get you all to safety!" The big sister's eyes widened as the younger tightened her grip on her.
"Yaelle wake up your brother." Greta said as she patted the girl's back before removing herself from her embrace. She crawled off the bed and moved to her cousins. Her finger caressed Thorsten's forehead and after a couple of rubs he opened his eyes. "We're going on a little trip, but you have to be quiet." The boy yawned but nodded. Greta gave him a reassuring smile and moved to the baby beside him. Carefully not to wake the boy, she picked him up and nested him against her chest with his head on her shoulder supported by her right arm. Next she went back to Thorsten and wrapped her left arm around his waist. His small hands disappeared around her neck and she straightened herself with both boys in her arms. Yaelle stood already beside Thomas with a sleepy Yuji holding her hand. With one nod from Greta, the soldier moved to the door and checked the premises before signaling them to follow him. They sneaked to the kitchen where they met another soldier.
"Our escape route is secure."
"Great, Princess," Thomas moved to Greta, "Bert will take you to Hildyard."
"What are you going to do?" The woman asked and the soldier hesitated before answering.
"We know what their target is. We're going to lay a trap."
"What's their target?" Greta immediately asked and again Thomas hesitated.
"The nursery, Princess." The woman's eyes widened and her grip tightened on the two boys in her arms. "Take them to safety, Princess." Thomas gave her a reassuring smile and Greta nodded.
"Yaelle, Yuji stay in front of me." She turned to her siblings.
"The coast is clear, Princess." Bert said and with one look at her big sister, Yaelle pulled Yuji with her after the soldier. Greta glanced backwards, but Thomas was already gone and quickly followed the others.
R&R