Chapter Seven: King's Displeasure

King Phoebus roared his displeasure, sending both the injured guards and the terrified advisor out of his study. He started pacing the room, his heart beating fast with fear.

The only reason he had slipped an obedience collar around the girl's neck was because of the old witch that had visited his castle, predicting that Hasho Yoshioka's daughter would end his reign over the kingdom. It was his way of spitting in fate's face, to turn her into his mindless minion and help him with his conquests. If Gikkingen had taken off the mask, he was certain that the rogue noble would immediately recognize the girl, since he had heard scattered reports of the Baron and the Yoshioka family being very close. There was no doubt in the monarch's mind that Gikkingen would not kill Shadow if he saw her face first.

'Will my tracing spell work on her, now that the collar's broken?' Without further hesitation, he ran to his crystal ball, and hurriedly rubbed off the thin layer of dust with the edge of his cape. Placing his hands on top of the ball, the king closed his eyes, and started whispering an incantation. Slowly, the crystal ball came to life, filling with light in a similar fashion to a waterfall. He took his hands off the magical device, his heart still pounding in dread.

The screen in the crystal ball cleared away to reveal two people in a tent, hugging each other while they were on their knees. Gikkingen was immediately recognizable, his cheek leaning into the girl's dark brown hair slightly, and a blissful smile on his face as a few tears squeezed past his guard. The monarch couldn't see the girl's face, as she was facing the other direction. Her face was buried into Gikkingen's neck anyway, softly inhaling his scent.

The king stared, able to see the muscles through the sleeves of her dress, despite her slender frame. She had exceptionally long milk chocolate hair, making the king realize that he had never told his servant to get a haircut. Her skin was nearly as white as the moon.

'… Shadow?'

The girl seemed to stiffen slightly, making Gikkingen look down at her, and quickly wipe away the tears with one gloved hand before she could see.

"Is something wrong, Haru?"

"Um, no. Just tell me if I'm touching any of your wounds."

A slightly foolish grin told the monarch that the baron wouldn't have cared much if she was, just as long as she was holding him. "Don't worry, you're fine." He squeezed her again, clearly enjoying the unexpected opportunity to do so.

Shadow, or Haru, tightened her own grip slightly, although the king could tell that she was aware something unseen was watching her. He tried to keep his breathing as soft as possible, remembering that he could talk to her right now, if he wanted to. But it would be better to wait until she was alone, or even until he could see her face.

'Wait a minute. Gikkingen likes her? No wonder he had been good friends with her parents. She must be a real babe, for him to be enjoying this so much.' He glared enviously at the noble as the girl slowly pulled away from his embrace, a deep blush crossing her fair face. The king's jaw dropped as he fully partook of the girl's simple, but somehow elegant beauty.

She smiled warmly at Gikkingen as her eyes strayed to the pile of junk next to her. "Thanks for keeping all of this safe, Baron. Besides my uncles' insults, I was starting to think that everything really had changed." She took a step forward and grabbed a violin case as the nobleman stood up next to her, smiling softly and taking in her face with calm delight.

"It was my pleasure, Haru. You know I've always held your family in the highest regard."

She giggled, opening the violin case to look at the contents. "I know. Dad might not have been able to convince you to join the rebellion so quickly, if you hadn't idolized him."

He smiled guiltily. "I would have done it eventually, but I won't deny that your father could be very persuasive when he puts his mind to it."

"Be good to my little girl, or I will tear you limb from limb. You may be a friend, 'Mr. Baron', but she is my daughter, after all."

"Understood, sir."

Baron smiled ironically, remembering the exact words her father had used after the shock had worn off about Haru's future with him. Although Hasho wasn't around anymore to deliver on his threat if Baron didn't treat his daughter right, the blonde nobleman had every intention of taking care of the fair brunette, even though the task would probably consume the rest of his days. Not that he would complain if it did.

Haru carefully took her father's violin out of the case, and touched the small dent near the bottom, the one that she had personally put there by accident when she was ten. The lack of dust on the instrument clearly said that the good nobleman had been making recent repairs to it. She sighed sadly.

"Dad promised that he was going to teach me how to play this one of these days, but between fighting the king and going off on missions, I should feel lucky that I know what a violin looks like."

A slight spark came to life in Baron's eye, which drew the king's attention. The tawny lord walked up behind the girl, and reached around her in order to start tightening the strings. "Would you like me to try instead? I'm not your father, and it's been a while since I played, but I could pass on what I know."

Haru beamed. "Would you, please?" she asked with all the eagerness of a child.

Baron chuckled as he finished tightening the strings, and adjusted the girl's hold on the instrument, still directly behind her, so that he could keep the girl in a semi-embrace. "The base rests against your shoulder here, and you hold the top knob like this." He carefully molded her fingers around the top of the violin while carefully drawing out the bow from the case. "You can make different notes by placing one or more fingers on the strings near the top, as well as by drawing the bow across the different strings. Notice that they are in an arch, thanks to the wooden piece here, so you can't play all the strings at the same time."

She nodded, carefully gripping the bow in one hand and the violin in the other one. Keeping his hands over hers, Baron leaned his head against hers while playing a short and simple melody. Haru kept note of how he angled his wrists, and which fingers he used to make what notes.

"Still, the violin is a little tricky to play if you can't hit the right notes. All right; your turn." He loosened his hold on her enough so that she could play on her own. Haru narrowed her eyes in concentration, and tried to mimic Baron's movements. The tawny lord winced once while the king howled and immediately shut off the crystal ball.

Haru grinned evilly to herself while Baron looked around.

"Did someone howl just now?"

She giggled, glad that she had managed to make the king stop watching her. Although she didn't remember being Shadow, she could recognize the feel of the king's gaze, and was quite pleased that she had found a way to get him to stop looking at her. "Must be a music-hater or something. Sorry, I'll try again."

With the king out of the way, she tried again for real. The bow moved slowly, back and forth while she took her fingers off and on the strings at the top. There wasn't a real beat, or a rhythm, but it was still better than the first try.

'This is a bit harder than it looks. Baron's so cool, that he isn't complaining, although he must still be in pain from the wounds I gave him as Shadow. I wish there was a way that I could help him the way he helped me.'

A strange thing happened to her fingers then. Almost of their own accord, they started a dance of their own, making the bow gracefully bow and dip over the strings like a soft waltz. She could hear Baron gasp behind her.

"Haru, that's wonderful. It-" he cut off, making the young woman look over her shoulder at him, reluctant to break off the song. Baron was staring at his arms, and feeling one part near his elbow. Without warning, he rolled up his sleeve and started unwrapping the bandages.

Haru's eyes widened as his bare arm became exposed, and the remaining cuts closed in on themselves, without so much as a scar to tell that they were ever there.

Baron started to raise his hand to one shoulder, but then stopped, blushing a bit, looking at the girl while she was still playing softly on her father's instrument. "How are you doing this?" he whispered softly. "All of my injuries are healing. Even some acquired in my childhood are leaving."

She beamed, realizing that her wish was somehow getting transferred through her song.

This was how she could contribute to the rebellion.

"I'm not sure, but I think I'm going to get popular with Yuki's other patients really quick."