This time the group did not stop to rest. They rode throughout the day and night to make up lost time. Kira hoped that they would make it just in time of the attack (if there was an attack) to help and offer assistance.
However, that was not what happened.
They found the company less than a day's ride behind them. Athrun had covered a lot of ground during Kira's time away.
The company looked as if it were ambushed. It was a familiar scene Kira was witnessing as he led himself through the camp - tents astray, bodies on the ground (men were clearing them out) and banners shredded. They had taken a dangerous amount of damage.
He quickly dismissed his small group to help where they could and Kira continued to ride through the camp, searching for blue-hair somewhere in the distance. His heart felt like it was in his throat, all he wanted to see was that Athrun was unharmed. He found Heine on the far outskirts.
"Ah, there's the Captain." Heine said as Kira dismounted his horse. "Don't worry, it looks worse than it actually was."
"What happened?" Kira looked around the camp in dismay. Men were tending to other men, some were cleaning up the remnants of battle. "Where's Athrun?"
"Rest assured, he's alright. In a foul mood, but safe." Heine grinned,as if he knew something Kira didn't. Heine didn't say anything though, and instead said, "They came out of nowhere in the middle of the night. We were ready for them though, the sorry bastards didn't even know what was waiting for them."
Kira looked around camp. "How many were lost?"
"Hardly any from us. How was the scouting?"
"Just the same," Kira admitted. "They were waiting for us. Likely the same group that attacked you."
Heine looked around the camp, "well I'll be damned if I say it now but we held our own well. The men fought cleanly and followed Athrun's orders."
"Athrun fought?" Kira looked back at Heine, shocked.
"Yes, he was magnificent. Led the charge, he was our fearless hero."
For some reason it had never occurred to Kira that Athrun would be a decent swordsman. He had the best training good coin could buy, and likely some of the best teachers. Besides, Athrun's athletic build would give him an advantage over his opponents.
"Where is he?" Kira remembered he had important business to discuss with Athrun regarding the possible sources of these attacks. Or better, to see if he knew about the traitors.
Heine nodded back towards the edge of the camp. "Be warned, he's in a mood."
That almost made Kira laugh. He was used to Athrun's poor moods by now. "What else is new?"
Kira made his way to the edge of the camp, where the most damage was done. It seemed like this is where the attack started, likely encouraging the camp to push back and assemble before engaging in the battle further ahead.
He found Athrun talking with Rau and approached them.
Athrun said, "Looks like we can handle our own against an attack."
"Seems so," Kira agreed and stopped in front of him. "We got held back infiltrating the camp, part of the group went running towards you, we took care of the one ahead."
Athrun's eyes darkened at the news, "Very good."
Rau said, "Which guards were they?"
Nervously, Kira spared a glance at Athrun and immediately Kira knew Athrun had already begun to suspect which guards.
It was Athrun that answered, "Aeul and Sting."
Now, Rau looked troubled. "The King sent word for those two to join the company. They were recruited by a third-party partner, not within the King's Faction prior."
Athrun turned to Rau, "So even you don't get told everything."
Kira said, "If the planned route ahead is filled with mercenaries waiting to attack we will never make it to the border on time to meet with the Clyne Faction."
Athrun agreed, "An alternate route would deter any waiting attacks. I sent word just in case this was to happen."
"Your pardon, Your Highness?" Rau asked.
Athrun looked at him smugly. "I planned for an alternate route. We'll be meeting with them soon." Then he turned his attention to Kira. "I wish to speak to you privately prior to our meeting."
Kira had to admit, Athrun was in a better mood than Heine had suggested.
Maybe it was just because everything was going his way.
^.^
The men set up a tent for Athrun and he led Kira within it. Two guards were on the door and Kira nodded to them before being enclosed in the large war tent.
This one was not as ornate as his last but was still much larger than the tents the other men slept in. Athrun strode over to the long table, grabbing a pitcher of what Kira assumed was water and poured himself a goblet full. He beckoned to Kira, "You must be tired from your long journey."
"I'm fine," Kira said, in regards to receiving a drink from Athrun. Athrun shrugged, put down the pitcher and drank heavily from his goblet. Kira waited for him to finish.
Eventually, he put that down too and said. "I know you're upset at me for withholding information about those two."
The words almost came as a surprise to Kira, and he had to tread the subject carefully. "I was surprised. I thought it would have been Shinn."
"No," said Athrun. "He's a troubled soldier."
"I take it this is how you formally apologize for using me in one of your schemes again." Kira let the comment slide off his tongue bitterly. "Glad I could be of service."
Placid green eyes watched him from across the tent before Athrun moved. "Ah, I recall you are an honest man. You prefer truth and virtue over double-dealing and scheming."
Kira clenched his jaw, feeling unhappy and frustrated with how this conversation was going. "You wanted an answer, and you received it. There were spies within the company. Why not let me know who you suspected?"
"I didn't know exactly who they were. Had I, it would have been troublesome if you had given their away identities. I don't want to talk about that." Athrun moved towards Kira, and stood hardly a pace away from him. His gaze eventually slid downwards, scanning Kira. "I see you took no injuries."
A harsh breath involuntarily huffed out of Kira. He had meant to ensure Athrun's well-being when they entered the tent, but seemed the roles were reversed. "Worried you won't have anyone to use if I died in battle?"
"You wouldn't die in battle," Athrun corrected. "It's true then, you did as I asked?"
"Yes," Kira said, understanding Athrun was referring to him killing whoever they found.
Kira had killed them in cold blood.
The thought of it still bothered him and he tried to focus on another topic. "I hear you fought in the front lines."
"Does that worry you?" Athrun said in a deep, almost sultry voice that surprised Kira.
"I'm not worried," Kira said, "If you fight as good as you deceive people, then I have nothing to fear."
Athrun smiled at that. "For once, you and I agree."
With that, Kira was given simple orders about the meeting set to happen this evening.
'You are to receive Captain Murrue Ramius and Andrew Waltfeld.' Athrun had said and sent Kira off to help establish camp.
He helped where he was needed, and found most of the men to be in high spirits. King factions and Prince factions were sitting around the fire together, drinking stale wine and telling stories about the battle. Shinn was even partaking in the celebratory evening, drinking with Yzak and Dearka as they told their own tale of sneaking into the camp and infiltrating it stealthily.
Kira was patted on the back, and congratulated by both factions for his job well done. Everyone wanted him to join them and tell his version of the epic tale that had begun to sweep across the camp.
Suddenly, Kira saw a blue-haired prince standing on the edge of the commotion, a hint of approval in his eye before he turned around and continued a discussion with Rau.
Kira understood the reason he was sent off with these men. It wasn't only to weed out the spies Athrun had already known about.
It was to cement his captaincy within the group so no one would erode his authority.
It was clever. It was down-right deceiving but undeniably clever. However Kira didn't want to gloat about killing men and he so politely declined the offer. It didn't stop the nightly enjoyment for the men.
Eventually, it was nightfall and he rode to the outskirts of the camp to escort the waiting Captain Murrue Ramius and Andrew Waltfeld to Athrun. The men watched as the petite, however fearless, leader (who was not only a woman, but a former adviser in the castle) strode through the camp.
"Is that Murrue Ramius?"
"I thought she left when Mu died."
The comments went on like this and Kira did his best to ignore them, Murrue certainly did.
They walked into Athrun's tent, who was waiting with Rau and Heine.
"Captain Ramius," Athrun greeted, standing in front of a chair not at the head table but directly across from the seats on the other side. "I am grateful that you decided to agree to my offer."
"As always, it doesn't feel like much of a choice," Captain Ramius said as she slid off her large fur coat and sat at the seat designed for her, across from Athrun. "We have conditions that will apply."
"I wouldn't have expected any less," Athrun said and took a seat. Kira sat on Murrue's right, and Andrew sat to Murrue's left. "Well, Captain, what are your conditions?"
Marrue sat back in her chair with an exhale. It seemed to Kira that Athrun made her uncomfortable. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that being in Athrun's company, with a large army at his disposal, made her uncomfortable.
"We'll agree to escorting you through the woodland on the condition that your men travel at night."
That came as a shock to Kira, Rau and Heine. It wasn't to Athrun. "I understand this is standard custom for the Alliance to travel at night. Is it because you lack faith in our company's discretion?"
"No," Captain Ramius assured. "The company you lead is of no fear to the Alliance. It is in your best interest to adopt travelling at night until safely reconvening at Jachin Due."
"Why is it in our best interest?" said Rau.
Captain Ramius' steady brown eyes remained on Athrun. She folded her hands on the table. "There is a particularly large company ahead of your current route. If there are any more like this the Alliance will not offer our help in battle."
"We're aware of those ones," Rau said. "We've already come in contact with them."
Andrew smirked at that, "There's another one, larger than this company. Way larger than those mercenaries who took you on by surprise."
There was silence around the table. Rau shifted, looking unpleased behind his mask.
"The fact that you are disclosing this information means you intend to deliver us to Jachin Due." Kira observed.
"I am aware of the current affairs within the Palace. I do not intend to go up against the crown and thus we are offering arms only under our conditions." Captain Ramius said.
Athrun sat back, inhaling deeply. Kira could see him considering the offer. He surprised Kira when he asked. "Kira, do you think the company is capable of night travel?"
Their eyes met across the table before everyone's attention turned to Kira and he looked from each of their faces, before settling on emerald green eyes. He regained his composure, truly thinking about the question. "We held strong under a conspiracy attack, I don't see why we can't take on the challenge night travel holds."
Athrun looked back to Captain Ramius. "Then we agree to your conditions under my own terms: Kira Yamato is to captain the Archangel Alliance until we reach Jachin Due."
No, no, no. What was he doing?
Kira had just barely gained the support from King and Prince factions, and now he was to take the command of an entirely unknown faction while keeping his under control?
Both Captain Ramius and Andrew Watfield assessed Kira in a different way as they glanced over at him. There was something in their eyes that Kira did not understand, some kind of secret each of them knew, like an expectation Kira hadn't known about yet. That bothered him.
It was Andrew that snickered and Captain Ramius snapped her attention to him, regarding him coolly before turning back to Athrun. "Very well, he seems an appropriate candidate. I'll accept only for the duration of our travels until you are situated at Jachin Due. We will go no further."
"Very good. There is another reason I called you here tonight." Athrun leaned down and produced a cylinder-can that held a map inside. He unfolded it over the table and used fruit to hold down the edges.
"I understand you know the country."
^.^
They sat over that map for hours into the night as they, meticulously, planned a new route across the country.
It involved many moving parts, which Kira was not particularly happy with. The Alliance was to scout ahead a day's ride, and behind a day's ride. Athrun's company was going to travel at night, which meant days were for a handful of men to patrol. Kira would have to switch between days and nights in order to maintain the men, Rau would stay exclusively nights with the men, and Heine would stay days.
As for the Alliance, since they were Kira's to captain, his main focus was to make sure those scouts were watching for signs of ambush, and clearing their flank.
The new route would get the group to Jachin Due in less than a week.
It was longer than the original route, and Kira knew it was by design. Athrun wanted more time.
He sent four messengers to report the news to the King, two of them were king faction members, one was his own faction guard and a one was a camp follower who watched the battle happen.
The King would receive word that there had been traitors to the crown within the company, which was ambushed but held their own against the attack. The original route was compromised and Athrun, the quick-thinking and clever Crown Prince, would lead his men through an alternate route.
It was all according to Athrun's plan.
They stayed up for the majority of the night until Athrun dismissed everyone. He stood up and stretched while Kira tended to pieces of his armor that he had meant to check for signs of damage.
"Leave that," Athrun said eventually, rolling his shoulders and neck. "Attend me."
Kira's head snapped up from his work, "Don't you have servants for that?"
"I didn't bring any with me," said Athrun, smoothly. "Is the Captain of the Guard above assisting his Prince?"
"N-no," Kira stuttered, putting down his armour and slowly standing. "I've just...never done this before."
"Take orders?"
"Attended someone," Kira clarified and walked over to Athrun.
Athrun turned around, showing his back to Kira, where the ties began at his neck all the way down to his low back. Kira inhaled deeply and began unfastening the ties. The high parts of the collar slipped beneath Athrun's fine and soft blue hair. Athrun exposed his neck, giving Kira more space to work while thinking of just how soft Athrun's hair was. It felt like fox fur.
"Wasn't someone else doing this for you?" Kira asked as he worked. The eyelets were tiny, and he had to make sure to pull all of the string though it before moving onto the next one.
"Getting into it is much less difficult than getting out." Athrun teased.
The teasing tone in his voice caught Kira off-guard. He was not used to Athrun being in such high spirits. "You seem pleased."
"I'm the type who takes a great deal of pleasure in small victories," said Athrun.
"You knew they would come?"
"I didn't think we would meet our 'surprise' attackers until after we met up with the Alliance." Athrun stepped away from Kira when the shirt was fully untied. He let it fall off his sculpted shoulders and hang at his taut waist that tapered into lean hips where his pants were still fastened.
He continued, "I think once they saw that our company had been attacked they were more inclined to believe there were waiting ambushes ahead. It seemed they were more interested to find and dispatch me than harming the whole company. That must have pleased the Alliance to some degree. If the situation were to arise and they became part of a political dispute, it will be easier to cut the head off the leader than slaughter an entire field of solders."
"That's what you believe will happen? They'll just kill you to gain a hold in the dispute between you and your Father?"
"I suppose we'll see."
Kira waited, keeping his gaze steady on Athrun who hadn't turned to face him yet.
Inside the tent was warm from the fire and lit torches. The hard planes of shadows danced on Athrun's smooth back, his long hair hid most of his face but Kira could still see him frowning.
After a moment, Athrun turned and said, "I don't think I would have got to this point without your help, at least not without half my men gone. I am glad you came back. I meant that. You were right when you said I'm not used to…" He broke off.
Green eyes lifted to meet Kira's steadily, the planes of his sharp jawline were lit in firelight that made them appear even more elegantly balanced.
Kira sighed, helplessly. "You're in a strange mood. Stranger than usual."
"I'd say I'm in a good mood." The words sounded thickly coated in silk.
Athrun was still standing in front of him, trails and shirt hanging off his waist - emerald green eyes bright and clear. He truly looked like he could be made from firelight, something Kira could only catch a glimpse of and never enjoy because he would disappear if Kira tried to reach for him.
Kira did not reach for him.
The hard reality of his situation hit him painfully in the chest.
Athrun was a Prince and Kira had nothing to offer him. Had this fragile moment occurred between Kira and another guard of his ranking (given the same attraction were there) he would not have hesitated to step closer and capture their lips. Maybe make it so far to push them on the bed and continue to remove each piece of clothing slowly, savoring the moment.
Kira stepped back, his heart hammering throughout his body. He swallowed, "I should finish my nightly errands."
"Go," Athrun dismissed him.
He turned back towards the table where he was working on his armor while Athrun continued into a sectioned off part of the tent to prepare for bed.
When he was gone, Kira wordlessly picked up the armor and continued systematically checking the buckles and straps. It was faster than he anticipated, taking less time. Then there was nothing to do and he went outside, if only to allow the cool night-breeze pass over him.
^.^