I AM A BLESSED BIRB. This chapter and it's following choices was guest-wrote by AkisMusicBox, the author behind Point For Me! She gave so much life to the story! LOVE YOU BIRB
Kijima's first instinct was to wake him - it was dangerous to fall asleep in the cold like this, or so his reading told him. As a scribe, Kijima had spent much of his life going from village to village, helping the poor and wealthy alike get their knowledge and wishes on paper. It left him to learn a little about a lot of things.
One thing it didn't teach him about, however, is why once Ren closed his eyes, his medallion started radiating warmth. Not enough to burn, but enough to keep the chill from seeping into Ren's torso. Trapped in the cloak, it sunk into Kijima as well. It gave him time to think.
Hikaru had met Lady Kyoko at Lord Takarada's birthday celebration for his granddaughter, Maria. Somehow, turning ten justified a week long fete and feasting. Lady Kyoko wasn't a lady proper, but she was a favorite seamstress of Maria's that Takarada saw fit to raise in station, to be Maria's companion.
Hikaru was smitten at first sight. Kijima recalled him already writing lyrics about the girl their first night there. Anytime Kijima had looked for Hikaru, there he was, either serenading or looking for the girl. Kijima had thought it was a mere fling, a harmless flirtation, but when they left the estate, Hikaru had announced his secret engagement to the girl.
The engagement was secret because Kyoko would never dream of offending Maria and stealing her attention. Which, Hikaru fully accepted, claiming the desire to earn more money, to prove he could be a suitable spouse. Kijima had been nigh certain Hikaru would have fallen in love again once they had been on the road for a few weeks.
He didn't. And by the time he was ready to go to Kyoko and ask the Lord for her hand, at the very tavern Hikaru had decided it was time, Ren had been there. "I'll take my payment when we arrive safely. My destination is that direction, anyway," he had said.
It was all too quick for Kijima's liking. Hikaru had said it was destiny at the time, but Hikaru was missing. And Kijima wasn't a person who trusted destiny had his best interests in mind.
So, before he fell asleep, wrapped around Ren, he slipped the knife out of Ren's belt and tucked it behind his own back.
The sunlight glared harshly off the snow and into Kijima's eyes. His limbs were sluggish and stiff; he strained to uncurl himself from Ren's waking form.
Ren groaned. "Huh. We're alive." He pushed the cloak off of his shoulders, then touched the medallion. He shook his head.
"Seems we are," Kijima croaked. Steeling his nerve, he wrapped an arm around Ren's chest and yanked him back. With the other hand, he pressed the knife to Ren's throat. Ren's body tensed like a bow string. Kijima leaned in and growled into his ear. "And if you want to stay that way, you better tell me why you have such a vested interest in a bard and an upjumped lass's fairytale."
Ren's lips curled back as Kijima's arm shook.
Dear reader, if Ren refuses to talk, go to Chapter 33. If Ren tries to talk his way out of it, go to Chapter 34.