.:. 19 .:.
Evening had set in a roar of amber and gold, whilst the moon, as faint as a ghost, threw a quivering path across the water. The air was choked with summer's heat, hanging with salt, smoke, sweat. Each breath stung her tongue.
The queue to board the ship was long, almost as long as the queue to enter the church at the climax of winter, where Yui and her father would provide a helping of broth and bread to those in need. A shadow crossed her face as she thought of her father, left in this village alone, his days haunted by his daughter's wordless desertion.
This will not be forever, Yui thought, quelling her own doubt. We will make a plan, and we will return once things are settled.
But the hour was growing old and she found herself fretting, tossing glances over her shoulder. Shu Sakamaki had agreed to the meeting, although his words, hesitant and strange, perplexed her.
'No... I will meet you,' he had said. 'This will be my burden to bear, and mine alone'.
What was his plan? He was insistent on meeting Reiji, which Yui thought unwise. Reiji was not the type of man to accept an apology, and Shu was not the type of man to offer one. Would it be a battle of words? Would Shu bribe him in exchange for his safety, his silence? Or... would there be bloodshed?
Yui squeezed her eyes shut. She could not think of it. He was safe and he would soon be here, teasing her concern. However, she could not envision any other resolution apart from his safety. Divorce was a rare thing granted in cases of abuse or adultery, and he could not rebuke his title lest another string of guilt consume him.
Suddenly, the queue halted in motion with a series of startled gasps and the snatches of loud, questioning children.
"Look, look!" One child cried, bouncing on his heels. He pointed at the sky. "Up there!"
The order of the line dispersed and formed a close-knit gaggle, not dissimilar to the crowd who chanted and raised their fists at her procession. Yui lifted her head and her hood collapsed, letting her hair fall free. If the people were not distracted by the sight above them, she may have received grief from the latest development in her case. But not a soul bothered her. She made a dreadful sound and smacked her hand over her mouth to repress a scream.
"F-Fire!"
"Fire! Fire at the castle!"
The castle, always the village steeple, was now a beacon of orange light. Black plumes of smoke furiously rose and sullied the painted sunset, the windows empty and glowing like the flashes of cat-eyes.
Yui huffed with resolve and yelled, "I-I'm coming!"
With Eve flush against her chest, Yui burst into a sprint. She flung her wrist to cover her nose, her mouth, cringing at the smoke which crackled dry in her throat. The village streets were dense; people had ventured out of their houses and businesses to gape at the burning castle. Some whimpered, called out, while others fetched aid. Carts were drooping with troughs and buckets of water, the horses twitching an anxious ear with each hot-speck of ash.
"Please, excuse me!"
Yui wriggled and pushed through the crowd, cursing her declining speed.
"Oi!"
Yui did not hear the voice until it called something familiar.
"Oi! Breastless!"
Yui stopped in her tracks and caught his green eyes across the swarm.
"Ayato!" she cried, turning and yelping as she bumped into another back. Yui was a small woman and her pursuit was not faring well against the blockade of large bodies. "Now is not the time!"
"If you're set on gettin' to that place before its nothin' but a pile of dust," Ayato yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth. "You'd better quit your whining and follow Yours Truly."
Taller, broader and more authoritative than she, Ayato slipped in front of her, seized her wrist and wove through the people with ease. He stopped once they reached the tavern, carefully treading around the back of the tied horses. They were spooked by the commotion, frothing at the mouth and lashing their feet, glaring them down with the whites of their eyes.
Without warning, Ayato crouched and took possession of her leg, springing her onto the horse's reluctant back. Yui's grip against Eve tightened as the animal fussed beneath her. All womanly grace was lost; this was a man's horse wearing a man's saddle, and she had no choice but to ride like a man, with her legs apart. She did not believe the horse to have belonged to Ayato. It most likely belonged to a customer, who had gone awry during the fire.
Yui gathered the reins into one hand. "Thank you for your help, Ayato. I appreciate it."
Ayato twisted his mouth. "Believe me," he said, "this ain't how I wanted it."
Before she had the opportunity to respond, he swiftly untied the rope and slapped the horse's rump. Yui inhaled sharply as the beast bolted through the street, mounting clouds of dust. It ran, heedless of whom or what stood in its path, with many having the sense to leap from underneath its hooves.
She was not a strong rider, and if Shu were here, he would berate her arched toes, or her seat in the saddle. But Yui did not care for the class of her riding. All she cared for was reaching the castle as quickly as this hotfooted animal would carry her.
It was not long before she reached the forest, a grey-green haze, where the smoke curled around trees. The forest did not offer its usual solitude or tranquilly; it buzzed with the thunder of hooves, wheels, voices. Horses dashed past her or nipped close at her rear, and Yui appeared the only aid who was not carrying some volume of water. However, calming the fire was not her main concern. She pressed her thighs tighter and squinted through the black rainfall of ash. Each breath of wind scorched her face, the canopies above trembling with heat.
"Shu, Subaru...! Please be safe!"
Yet love was not always enough. It was as dangerous as fire; what it burns cannot be chosen, nor can it be controlled.
.:.
At the window, Shu Sakamaki watched the world enfold before him. From the height of his bedchamber, the quiet was beautiful, and suddenly the thought of ruling did not seem so distasteful. But he knew people did not have the same mild temperament as trees.
He thought of his mother's young face. Would she have accepted his child? Shu did not know her person well, and he could only recall her face from the portraits dotted around the castle walls. But he knew she was not ruled by the heart. She was black and white, full of logic and sense. Perhaps she would not have cared as long as it did not distract him from his path to rule.
"To rule," he mumbled. His thoughtful frown deepened. "To wear that man's broken crown."
She could not have berated his knowledge; his head was bursting, but his heart lacked ambition. He did not think he would be unfit to rule. After all, he had been groomed for this his entire life, like the fattening of cattle before the slaughter. He was responsible for thousands of lives, the village prosperity, the face behind the flag in times of warfare.
What glitter did Ayato see behind the crown? Rulers should not be born from the same blood. They should be chosen, they should be won.
"My, my," spoke a voice in the doorway. "And I held the belief that cowards always flee."
Shu twitched a shoulder and did not bother to turn. He could hear the sickly smirk in his words, and he did not care for the sight of it.
"I do not see a reason to run," he said. "Especially from my own bedchamber. You were once a man with manners. You must really hate me... entering this room without so much as a knock."
Reiji delved deeper into the room, the crisp clicking of his shoes drying his throat. Those resounding footsteps aroused sharp reminders of dread, illness, weakness.
"Your history of good manners is reputable," he mocked, standing as his equal by the window. Neither of the men cast a glance. "I hear it is always in good favour to steal ones wife whilst their husband is away."
Shu blew out a laugh. "Bold... to assume she was yours in the first place. She is mine. She has always been... mine."
He thought of Yui Komori, the girl who could turn men into fools. He thought of his promise the previous day, of her lonesome figure waiting at the docks and her face pinched with worry. Guilt dropped into his stomach, like a stone plummeting into water. He had to send her away and distract her with a plan. She was stubborn and meddlesome and this was not her fight; he would fetch her once this had been dealt with. A woman sweetened from the feedings of the church would not understand.
Reiji raised a slender eyebrow. "Oh? I forget, you were not in attendance on our wedding day," he said. "She was mine, she belonged to me, in every sense of the word. I gave her a stable life, more so than any other man could have given her. All you had to offer her was the ruin of a sin-stained child."
Shu's jaw tensed. "You reek of jealousy," he spat. "At least I was able to prove she was not at fault for your abandonment."
Reiji flung himself away from the window as though the sight of trees disgusted him. Shu knew he had touched a nerve by the madness flashing in his eyes.
"You blue-bloods believe your blood is so clean, so superior," Reiji started. "You have always vexed me with your words—"
"—Because your words are always pleasant—"
"—I have always known," Reiji continued, raising his voice in the fight for power. "Before all of this, that you were rotten from the core."
Shu hummed, as though the entire situation was a mild inconvenience. "You would do well to speak less and make haste with whatever you came here for. Though... I would advise you to have waited until the months grew colder. Taking my head as a trophy will not keep well during this heat."
"I am a doctor," said Reiji through pursed lips. "Preservation methods are no cause for concern. Perhaps it would be a thoughtful gift for Yui Komori, considering she held your letters so dear."
Shu snatched his sword, its shell matted with dust from its decorative stance on the wall. He could wield a sword almost as skilfully as he could ride, and that was akin to walking. As a child, it was not only the classroom teaching which exhausted him, it was the physical training. An heir was the village protector, the leader on the battlefield. The village could only be as strong as its lord.
"You fight well with insults... but they are not cruel enough to kill me. Draw your sword," Shu commanded, unsheathing the blade. His blue eyes reflected in the shine, sharp and cold, like a deep-winter freeze. "I am a busy man. You are not the only troublesome thing I have to deal with today."
Reiji grabbed the hilt of his sword—which looked foreign stationed on a doctor's hip—and readied himself, his red eyes playing tricks of blood on the metal.
"You are insufferable. And weak," probed Reiji as they both circled the room. "You are a man who barely possesses the will to feed or dress himself. It is laughable how such a woman chose you. You do not deserve her."
Realisation struck Shu's face like a slap. "I see... now. She is the only thing you cannot cure, cannot control. She frustrates you and she has ruined you. You would not see her die, but you would see her hurt. No... you want it. Hurting me... will hurt her. Like she has hurt you. You want her to know the loss... of love."
Reiji clicked his tongue. "You speak nonsense. I care little for the woman who has disgraced my name, and my good favour."
"That is a lie I have told many," said Shu, a critical smile playing on his lips. "But... actions cannot be deceived. You saved her during a dangerous childbed, and you seek my blood for revenge. Revenge is an emotion born out of hurt, betrayal. One cannot be hurt by something that they hold no care for."
The doctor's face was odd when startled, as though it did not know how to perform the expression. Reiji had only realised the truth of Shu's words in that moment, and violence was his only response.
He lunged, swinging his sword in quick, erratic motions, and Shu parried each one, his stance defensive. Reiji's swordsmanship was not composed nor controlled like his person; it was fuelled by a maddening hatred. The tip of his blade smacked into the chandelier and it rocked wildly, like a ship in the eye of a storm. The candles tumbled down in a fiery rain, igniting the rugs beneath their feet.
Although the bedchamber was not small, it was not equipped to hold a duel between two tall men wielding long swords. In Shu's retreat, Reiji had forced him to stumble into the dresser, sending the items atop it flying. But they only acted as fuel for the flames nipping at their ankles. They both heaved heavy breaths, their foreheads shining from the intensifying heat.
"This family has controlled everything in my life... and it is finally enough." Vowed Reiji, his face dangerous and dark in the smoke-choked room. "I will destroy you and this family. If it shall be the last thing I do."
Shu flashed his teeth, growling, and pushed himself forward to attack. He thrust his sword in the direction of Reiji's blindspot, and he inhaled a sharp breath and leapt backwards, crashing his sword into Shu's at the last moment. The lord smirked at his trembling blade.
"I have no plans... to die today."
Shu continued to cut his sword, driving Reiji backwards and out of the door. He weaved his body around the rising flames, his lungs weeping for clean air. The fire had spread to the curtains, the bed and was licking at the walls, casting everything in a hellish glow. The smoke was thickening, his vision obscured. The only thing he could clearly see was the glittering snatches of swords.
Once in the corridor, they both paused and greedily inhaled. Sparks blundered on their clothes, their skin dusted in ash. Reiji vaulted to gain the upper-hand and Shu immediately raised his sword. But the doctor did not strike; he strolled down the strip and knocked each candle from its pedestal. Lines of flames burst from the floor, pushing Shu further and further towards the dead-end of the hall.
He narrowed his eyes. "Stop this."
"Hm? I thought you liked playing with fire," replied Reiji, his teeth gleaming red in the firelight. "I suppose nobody ever told you how it can burn."
The flames had forced them close and Shu cringed at the heat, blinking moisture into his eyes. Reiji was not panicked by the predicament and Shu did not think he cared whether he perished in the flames, as long as he took Shu Sakamaki down with him.
Shu coughed, his throat swelled. The flames were as high as prison walls. He was trapped and out of choices.
'Everyone has a fucking choice.'
Subaru's words came to him, always blunt and effective.
Shu strained against Reiji's sword, his eyes drifting beyond his shoulder to a slither of a gap where the flames had not reached the wall. Shu drove his foot into Reiji's stomach and flew to the side, slipping down the corridor with his back pressed against the wall. He sidestepped the flames for what felt like an eternity, his face scorched and tender.
The corridor was unusable, unrecognisable. The walls were reduced to black skeletons, the faces in the portraits melting into disfigurement. The fire was leaking down the stairway and gobbling up the ornate carpets. Shu wheezed and clutched his chest; his sword hung limp at his side.
A shadow emerged from the smoke, nursing its stomach. Reiji glared down from the top of the stairway.
"Brave or foolish? I simply can't decide."
"Enough with these games," spoke Shu, his voice hoarse. "I care little whether you live or die, or if it is by my hand or by the luck of the flames. All I care for is the future. Not what my father wants, or what my mother wanted. Mine. So... it is you who is the fool, to believe that you, or this fire, will stop me from living it. Because you are sorely... mistaken."
Both men charged and jumped and their arms flew up, and with a great whirl, their swords crashed down. There was a gurgling moan of pain, blood glossing a blade, and a hysterical girl's cry.
A/N: A little chapter for now in preparation for a super exciting one near Christmas time. Although, you could say it's Christmas time already judging by the amount of lights and decorations up. Lockdown is making us very festive it seems :P
So, I always struggle writing realistic fire scenes because I never know when something is getting dangerous, and when that person should really be dead. My English teacher commented on it once so now I have a complex, haha (I was fourteen, so here's to hoping I've learnt a little more since then!)
Until next time,
allyelle~