I can't even lie to you guys: the only other Knight I recall writing about was Blakely. I wasn't too crazy about Elizabeth's parents since her father was a peasant, making her a half royal. But as far as I'm concerned, I never mentioned much about them or their names. So basically, what I'm trying to say is that I'm an awful writer who forgets her characters. But I mean… whatever. It's been working out so far.
EIGHTY-TWO - A Royal Visit Gone Rash
It wasn't like Zen wasn't waiting for the Knights to come, but it was all too well timed.
Upon Mukaze's leave comes another thing he had to face head-on: Elizabeth's parents. He understood that this was a serious matter, seeing as his mother put an end to their joining. He just didn't think it'd happen so soon after he had the emotional breakdown from Mukaze's visit. But he was ready now. After everything that has happened, Zen feels himself going back to how he was, gaining back his morals and proper way of life.
It took a bit, but now that he's been freed of a woman he didn't love, Zen was ready to take on absolutely anything. Especially when Izana also joins them at the front of the castle, and Haruto stands beside Zen, flashing him a reassuring smile and a soft tap on the shoulder. Zen wasn't scared or worried. He was ready to banish Elizabeth from the castle, and prepare himself to be the best Prince the Kingdom of Clarines has ever had.
As the carriage nears, Mitsuhide is quick to get Shirayuki back inside. "Why can't I stay?" Shirayuki hums as she glances back to get as many glimpses as possible. Mitsuhide shakes his head.
"You don't want to see this," Mitsuhide insists. "Guards, stay with Shirayuki at all times for the rest of the day. I won't be able to guard her during the Knights' visit." Shirayuki looks at Mitsuhide, wide eyes as two guards end up at her sides.
"Mitsuhide…"
"I have to be here for Zen," Mitsuhide explains. "But I won't leave you unguarded. Please, continue doing your work, for there is nothing to concern yourself here. This is why I was hired."
And with that, Shirayuki is dismissed back to the medicinal wing with her fellow court herbalists. But she couldn't help looking back to watch Obi, his back towards her with his straight face staring solely at the approaching carriage. She wanted to talk to him immediately but for now, she will just have to wait.
Mitsuhide watches Shirayuki disappear at the turn of the corridor and quickly returns to the rest of the group. He stands next to Obi and Kiki, eyes narrowing at the carriage as they all watched cautiously. Kiki gets her eyes moving, looking around at the gates as well as the open space that was the front of the castle.
Obi joined her actions and looked around as well. He forced enhancement in his hearing, being weary in the case that the Knights had something up their sleeve. He wasn't going to allow them to 1-up the Wistarias. His whole life revolves around stealth- he was not going to let Zen down now. But for now, all the aides stood quietly and respectfully, not reaching for their weapons nor letting their scepticisms control them.
The horse stops right before the royals, and that's when Haruto takes initiative. She snaps her fingers and walks to stand in front of Zen. Zen looked at his mother, clearly puzzled by her actions. Then, a sudden wall of guards appeared before him, creating a barrier between the Princes and their mother. "Mother, what are you-"
"I was the one who caused this situation," Haruto begins. "That means I'll be the one to end it."
A guard of theirs opens the carriage door, and offers his hand to first let out Mrs. Knight, or Queen Sophia. Then proceeds King Astor, who did not look any more amused than anybody else. And then, the last one to leave the carriage was none other than Prince Blakely, Elizabeth's brother.
Zen is quick to grab one of the guards and whispers a request in his ear, resulting in the guard rushing back into the castle. Izana doesn't think much of the action as he steps up to join his mother's side. But as Zen tries to join her too, Izana gives him a look and gestures for him to stay. He did not want his younger brother on the frontlines of this.
Elizabeth's mother, Sophia, looked exactly like her younger daughter. She was a brunette with long hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. Her jawline was extremely defined, with gentle wrinkles proving her age all about her forehead and under her eyes. She had a lot of powder trying to cover how old she was, but it was clear that she wasn't aging as fine as wine. She was also much taller than her husband, Astor.
King Astor was a sort of short, burly man. His hair was more black than brunette, and he had a very dark, burly beard + mustache to match. He was a stubby short man who didn't look too old, but did clearly work hard for him to age the way he did. Keeping in mind that he was the one wedded into the royal family, he is not the dominant of the pair and stays beside Sophia like an accessory.
Then there was Blakely. Kiki was already scoffing at the very sight of the pretentious man. Again, similar looks to Elizabeth with chestnut hair and bright blue eyes. He was dashing, if you only focused on his looks rather than how he presents himself and how he behaves. With shiny white teeth and an ugly cocky smirk, Blakely winks at the sight of Kiki, who rolls her eyes and looks over at the important two family members.
"Ah, Miss Haruto," Sophia begins, fake enthusiasm bleaching in her words, "how it's been so long!" She offers her arms for a hug, but Haruto just stands and looks at her, confused at her attempts to touch her. Awkwardly putting her arms down, she adjusts her posture and keeps her smile, "you look as beautiful as ever."
"Thank you," Haruto takes the compliment with a smile, "I wish I can say the same." She bows before them, in which the Knights return the bow but Sophia was clearly insulted and not at all content. "Welcome King Astor, Queen Sophia, and Prince Blakely, to the Wistal Palace."
They take in the beauty of the land, the several acres of land that was the castle and the nature they kept in the boundaries. King Astor bows in return and smiles, "thank you for having it- and may I say, what a beautiful piece of land it is."
"My last husband, Kain, would have thanked you," Haruto hums. "But that's not why you're here." Her smile quickly dissolves and Haruto tucks the bit of hair in her face behind her ear. "You're here for your daughter." They nod, but Haruto wasn't finished. "Would you like to go pick her up in her room, or would you like my guards to escort her out here?"
"W-wait," Sophia begins, nervously gulping at Haruto's forwardness, "are we not going to discuss this properly? I thought you invited us over so we could discuss the wedding of our children and fix whatever problems may have risen."
"What part of 'I've put an end to their joining' did you not understand from my letter?" Haruto questions. "I'm assuming my messenger bird did get to you, correct?"
"I-it did, but I figured you invited us to actually try and talk about your rash decision-"
"You believe my decision was rash?" Haruto interrupts her, immediately taking offense.
The rumors weren't wrong about Haruto. Across the nations and kingdoms, everyone had known about Kain Wistaria's wife and Queen, Haruto. She was a forward woman who never took crap from anyone and spoke with directness and honesty. She did not care for sugar coating things, and wasn't afraid to take action on things she deemed not right. Sophia felt immensely intimidated and somehow outnumbered here, but she had to keep her ground.
"My Elizabeth is a good girl, Miss Haruto," Sophia begins softly. "She can act a bit stuck up at times, but she's a good girl. She's beautiful, and would be a perfect Princess to your kingdom."
Haruto just looked at her and completely disregarded her words. "Please, come on in. Let's just go pick her up from her room, yes?" Sophia and Astor were shocked into silence. Haruto, the scary Queen of Clarines, was exactly the way the rumors had made her out to be.
Guards surrounded everyone as Haruto guided them upstairs and through the castle. She spoke not one word as Izana and Zen walked beside her. Behind them were the Knights, and behind them were the three famous aides. Kiki narrowed her eyes on Blakely's back as Obi and Mitsuhide kept their eyes on the guards the Knights had brought from their kingdom.
They brought about 10 guards with them, but Obi was eyeing one in particular. He had his eyes specifically on Zen, almost glaring but not quite. Obi couldn't be sure but he wasn't going to let his guard fall.
They find themselves in Elizabeth's room, where the guards quickly open the door upon Haruto's stare. To the Knights dismay, they watch as their daughter gets walked out, guards holding her arms as her wrists are restrained. But she looked like a mess.
"Elizabeth?" Sophia whispers, covering her mouth with awe to see the disaster that has become her daughter.
A pungent scent emitted from the bedroom, and her body. She hadn't showered since the wedding had been retracted. Her hair hadn't been brushed so it looked shorter due to the knots. She had been sleeping in the same dress so it was wrinkled and stained. But her eyes were sleep deprived, and her cheeks were still rosy from tears. Even Zen's face softened at the sight of her self destruction.
Her parents go up to her, with her mother instantly wrapping her arms around her. The poor girl had gone crazy, paranoid from being potentially disowned while suffering the idea of being rejected. Isolating herself in the room must have worsened it, and it was clear that she was pretty relieved to see her family because she immediately melted into her mother's arms.
"Get these restraints off of her!" Astor starts demanding at the Clarines guards. But the guards remain still, waiting for any of the Wistarias' call. Sophia forces her daughter to turn around to pull and tug at the restraints, which were tightened and initially done upon Zen's request. Blakely, the Princess' brother, glared over at Zen, and stood right in front him, attempting to be threatening.
The only threat he had was being taller than Zen. "Let my sister go," Blakely requests, looking down at Zen, who remained unphased. "Haven't you done enough bullying her here?"
"Do you think I'm bullying her?" Zen asks in pure disbelief. Blakely nods aggressively, clearly unhappy with Zen's words. "She disrespected my staff, took advantage of my kindness, and tried to poison my kingdom the day of our expected wedding."
The family froze, and Elizabeth was quick to bust into tears. Her wails and sobs echoed through the corridor as her parents stared at her with horror. "Th-they… they found out… the h-herbalist girl… with the red h-hair…" Through her terror stuttering, she explained that the plan had been compromised. But Zen eyes their fearful shock, realizing that this wasn't her plan whatsoever.
"It was all you two, wasn't it?" Zen started, causing Obi, Mitsuhide, and Kiki to raise their guards up even more. They stood there silently, looking elsewhere that wasn't at Zen's angry expression. "You used Elizabeth as a way to sneak poison into my kingdom in attempts to poison me, my family, and my people. And your first victim…" Zen looked down, clenching his hands into tight fists, "was going to be Shirayuki."
The Queen looked over at one guard and nodded. This was the guard Obi had his eyes on for a while, and his superstitions rang true. Almost immediately, the guard revealed a dagger and threw it with aim locked on Zen. But Obi, being the ninja that he is, threw his mini knives at the dagger and deflected it from even getting close to Zen.
"Guards!" Izana yells, quickly taking initiative and grabbing Haruto away from the sudden fight. Clarines guards began leaving their posts and darted straight for where the sounds of swords were being pulled out of their sheaths.
Kiki quickly took out her sword and punched one of the guards near her while disarming a second one with her sword. Mitsuhide doesn't even take out his sword and takes on 3 guards with his sword still in his sheath. He manages to out-perform them and pushes them down by jabbing their stomachs with the very end of the sheath.
Obi doesn't treat the opposing guards as people and throws his knives carelessly, not really aiming to hurt them nor not really caring if they do cause damage. He manages to get two to the ground with his knives as he slowly walks over to the guard that almost killed Zen. Obi reveals his intimidating smirk to him, watching as the guard shakily holds his sword against him. "You made a very bad choice," Obi slurs.
Zen takes down the remaining 2 guards and watches worriedly as Obi scares the man into dropping his sword and apologizing rapidly. Zen didn't even want to imagine the kind of face Obi was showing him right now. It's been a long time since Zen has seen Obi's rogue side, the stone cold face that he used to mask his feelings and hide his true self from people. But this, this very moment, this had been Obi's true nature.
Clarines guards came rushing, arresting the guards that were disarmed and downed. But they kept the one that Obi was talking down at. They didn't want to interrupt Obi while he was being terrifying.
Haruto was quick to leave Izana's protection and went up to Sophia. Without hesitating, she slapped her across the face. "So you think coming in here and attempting to kill my second son was going to help?"
"Look at what your son has done to my daughter!" Sophia screeches, practically hissing as she held her reddened cheek. Elizabeth stood there shamefully, weeping a little more loudly. Blakely takes her in his arms and tries to calm her down.
"So you thought killing him inside my palace was going to work out?" Haruto slams back, glaring harshly at Sophia. "Attempted murder is a felony here, Sophia, as it is in most kingdoms."
"But I personally did not threaten or harm your boy," Sophia points out. She jabs her finger to gesture towards the guard Obi had been frightening. Zen widens his eyes and looks over at Mitsuhide, who takes charge and rushes towards Obi. "It was that guard who tried to do it."
Mitsuhide holds Obi at his shoulders and tries to pull him away saying, "it's alright, he's harmless now." Obi had a knife in his hand, not shaking one bit as he kept the guard grounded and curled up in fear. "You stopped him before he could hurt Zen."
Obi wanted to hurt him. He wanted to hurt all the guards that had put his Master and his friends at risk. But even Obi knew himself. His 'careless' knife throws drew no blood, and only managed to down them for Kiki and Mitsuhide to disarm them. He lost that bit of himself; the malicious aspect that made him one of the most terrifying thiefs in the game. But the past is in the past, and Obi is a changed man.
Obi backs off, allowing Mitsuhide to gesture over to Zen so he could take his place while Mitsuhide arrested the man who attempted murder. Obi puts his knife away and lets out a relieving sigh, toning down the stress as soon as he meets eyes with Zen. He smiles warmly at Obi and quickly rushes over to give him a hug.
"M-Master…" Obi stood there, frozen. He accepted the embrace, but was extremely shocked. Zen held the man tight, his gratitude breaking the meter. Regardless of how jealous he was of Obi, Zen could never deny all that Obi has done and has been willing to do for him. And saving his life has been added to the list of reasons why he installed Obi in his closest circle of aides, and friends. "I-I-"
"I'm never letting you out of my sight, Obi," Zen murmurs. "I have not, and will never, regret my decision of hiring you as my third and last aide." Obi slowly returned the embrace, feeling the hold tighten. "Thank you, for saving my life."
"For you, Master," Obi whispers, "anything." Dissolving the hug, Zen holds Obi's shoulders for a little longer, nodding at him appreciatively. Letting him go, Zen looks over Sophia and Astor, eyebrows raised.
"If it weren't for my aide, my reflexes would've been too slow and my life would have been taken," Zen begins. "Would you like to go to war, Queen Sophia and King Astor? I don't mind letting you go back right now to prepare." He narrows his eyes, azure orbs going dull. "I like my battles fair."
Sophia froze at this time. Every war that Clarines has been in has won, even if it didn't directly have to do with them. The Clarines armor is well trained and well prepared for any sort of attack, as they have allies all over the world. Kain Wistaria built a formidable kingdom that no one dares to disrespect. Haruto took control after Kain's passing, making the kingdom still scary (if not, scarier) due to Haruto's apathetic personality.
And then Izana, the living definition of terror, has been slowly taking his mother's place. And with the way he was looking at Sophia, she was sure that he wasn't going to be lenient.
"War is a bit excessive, don't you think?" Astor attempts, rushing in front of his wife before she could do any damage. "Is there any way we can pay off our crime? We have gold, and lots of fish and treasures from pirates."
"I don't want stolen goods," Zen scoffed. "And I don't really like fish… but that's besides the point!" Zen looks over at his brother and nods, "you must atone for your actions, Queen Sophia and King Astor. I won't be punishing Elizabeth or Blakely, as they are essentially your pawns."
Astor expressed a bit of relief, but Sophia was still wide-eyed and furious. She was not having it, "I have no intentions on going to war with you. I know when I'm defeated."
"So why'd you try murdering my son?" Haruto exclaims. She pushes Zen back, eyes enraged. Haruto was always calm and collected, but it was clear that when it came to her kids, she refused to hold back. "My husband was taken from me long ago, and these two boys are the only things I have left. I would have nothing if I didn't have Izana and Zen- do you understand?"
Sophia's skin crawled with goosebumps, intimidated by Haruto's breaking of composure. "I-I apologize on behalf of my guard, but he is the one to be punished as he held the weapon of attempted murder."
"A guard does not kill unless instructed to do so," Haruto hisses. "Our guards and the staff of our kingdoms do not do things they are not told to do until said otherwise. The guard was doing his job upon your request, Sophia."
"I still didn't hold the weapon-"
"I should have you killed!" Haruto screeches, losing touch with her self-restraint. "I should order Obi right now to have your head on a pike!" Izana takes initiative and holds his mother's shoulders, trying to calm her down. Zen tells him to pull her away from the crowd for a breather while Zen handles it.
Before he could muster another word to the Knights however, an alarmed guard came rushing to the crowd, in search of any of the royals. Out of breath, the guard stops before the Prince and catches it. Mitsuhide, Kiki, and Obi look weary, still having their guard up as they wait for the guard to inform them of anything. "There were more guards… in the trees… an ambush…"
"An ambush?" Zen repeats, wide-eyed. "Is everyone okay?"
"Guards came rushing, but…" the guard looks down at his trembling hands. They were lathered with blood, dripping to the floor right before everyone. Everyone's eyes filled with horror. "We stopped the attack promptly… a few injured… unsure about casualties…"
"Has the herbalists been informed?" Mitsuhide asks.
"The injured are being taken to the medical wing right now but…" the guard looks around, as though in search for someone. "They also attacked the Mountain Lions on their way out, too." Obi's eyes widened.
"Are they hurt? Are they alright?"
"No casualties for them but," the guard looks into Obi's eyes. "Shirayuki's father got hurt."
