Winds of Destiny: Converging
Once Upon A Time... Chapter Two
Misaki awoke late in the morning after her arrival at Hawks Landing. She'd found it rather difficult to fall asleep in an unfamiliar bed, though much of the cause behind her restless slumber was due to her incessant dwelling on the conversation she'd had with the Count. To help distract herself from her circumstances, she had unpacked her belongings and settled down with her embroidery stitching; something she'd picked up from repairing Eri's dresses all the time. It was a repetitive activity that required just enough concentration to keep her mind occupied while helping to calm her down when she was feeling restless. She'd managed to fall asleep while stitching and had counted herself lucky not to have woken up with a needle stuck into her skin somewhere.
After freshening herself up in the bathing chamber that adjoined her bedroom, she dressed herself and left her rooms in search of something to eat. She managed to find her way down to the kitchen, remembering the path that they'd taken from the opposite direction the day before. The delicious smell of fresh baked bread greeted her nose as she approached the dining wing, and she inhaled the heavenly scent with a smile on her face. There was something so comforting about the aroma that just wrapped around her and made her feel utterly content. She followed her nose into the kitchen to find the Count standing by the stove and cracking a couple of eggs into a skillet.
He looked over when she entered and smiled at her in greeting. "Good morning."
"Good morning," Misaki timidly replied as she walked into the room. She was still a bit unsure of how to act around him yet, falling back on her refined propriety to present herself.
He took her reticence in stride and casually asked, "Are you hungry?"
She opened her mouth to speak, only to shut it a moment later when her stomach took the opportunity to answer for her.
The Count's smile widened, and he tilted his head toward the dining table in the center of the kitchen. "Help yourself."
She nodded to him in thanks and turned to make her way over in the direction he'd indicated, taking in the sight of such a varied array of food spread across the table's surface in amazement. "Well, you've been busy this morning…"
As she took her seat in front of an empty plate, the Count brought over the eggs he'd been cooking in the skillet and pushed them off onto her plate as he told her, "I'm an early riser."
"Thank you," she said with a smile which he accepted with one of his own before returning to the stove to crack a few more eggs into the hot pan.
She selected an assortment of fruits and a large croissant from the table spread to go with her eggs. Watching him work while she nibbled on a large purple grape, she muttered offhandedly, "Do you like it?"
"Hm?" He hummed, glancing toward her from the corner of his eye.
"Cooking," she answered abashedly as she nervously shifted her eyes away from him. "It just… Seems like you like it."
Apparently she was more comfortable around him than she'd thought. That was the second time she had inadvertently allowed her thoughts to escape her mouth like that. He had told her from the beginning that he wanted her to be herself, but after living most of her life as a lady-in-waiting to her royal niece, expressing her thoughts and feelings for her own sake was somewhat of a new experience for her; one that she'd been gracelessly fumbling through ever since she had arrived at Hawks Landing. Surely at some point such utterances were bound to land her in hot water with her new housemate. It was rather surprising to her that they hadn't already.
He smiled to himself as he slid the eggs out of the pan onto a plate and carried it over to the table, sitting down opposite her as he replied, "The one thing that has remained unchanged for me throughout the long years of my life is food. No matter how the kingdoms or the people who live in them change, I can always find a way to connect with them through food."
Misaki cocked her head to the side inquisitively and observed aloud, "You mentioned something like that yesterday. Just how old are you?"
"Twenty-three," the Count replied, cutting his gaze over to her as he reached out with his fork for one of the poached pears. "Give or take a few hundred years."
Her eyes widened for a moment before she suddenly burst out laughing. "You really are witty!"
He watched her express her amusement with a warm grin and when she calmed, he asked, "How old are you? Not sixteen, I assume."
She wiped a bit of mirth from the corner of her eye as she replied, "I will be twenty-three as well this coming fall."
"And what have you accomplished in your twenty-two years of life so far?" The Count asked before taking a large bite of his breakfast.
A tender look crossed her face as she began to speak. "It may seem trifling, but I've been caring for Eri since she was in diapers. My nurturing instinct is much greater than my elder sister's." Her eyes widened and she raised her hands in front of her. "But I don't mean to give the wrong impression, my sister loves her daughter dearly. She just found it rather difficult to care for her as an infant. I was always able to figure out what she wanted much better than any of the nursemaids, so after a while I became her sole caretaker. Raising that girl has been my life's greatest joy…"
She trailed off, feeling a bit melancholy at the thought of her wayward niece and she dropped her gaze as she thought. 'Until now.'
Shaking off her suddenly gloomy countenance, Misaki lifted her gaze. smiling at the Count as she playfully asked, "And you? I imagine you've accomplished quite a lot in your twenty-three, give or take a few hundred, years."
He stared back at her fondly with his cheek resting on the palm of his hand and wistfully replied, "Perhaps I'll tell you all about it someday."
"How underhanded!" Misaki immediately balked in playful outrage. "Eliciting my story from me without sharing your own. You're wily as well as witty it seems."
The Count let out a hearty laugh in response. "My apologies, you're right. That was rather rude of me. What would you like to know? Ask me anything."
She hesitated for a moment before dubiously asking, "Anything?"
He held her gaze and nodded.
She considered asking him to explain more about his circumstances behind the sudden need for an heir, but she thought better of it. He'd been quite adamant last night that he was unable to elaborate, and she didn't want to worsen the lighthearted atmosphere they'd cultivated throughout their morning conversation.
While she pondered through all of the things she could ask to learn more about him, her eyes were suddenly drawn to his magnificent wings and she found herself asking, "Can you fly? Or are those wings just for show?"
He widened his eyes and blinked, apparently taken off guard by her choice of inquiry, but he quickly recovered. A slow smirk spread across his face as he held his hand out to her and offered. "Would you like to find out?"
She carefully held his gaze as she slowly reached out to place her hand in his. Before she even had a chance to gasp, he'd already swept her into his arms and carried her out into the brisk air of the mid December morning. Somehow in the split second it had taken for them to become airborne, he had managed to secure a heavy cloak around her shoulders, for which she silently commended his foresight. She reached up to flip the hood up over her head to block the wind from whistling through her ears as he carried her high into the air above the manor grounds. Being so close to the warm light of the sun, she felt comfortable enough to lift one of her arms out of the protection of the cloak to wrap around his shoulders, raising the other one to shield her eyes as she gazed out across the scenery below.
"How far do your lands reach?" She asked with astonishment heavily laced through her voice.
The Count nodded his head to the north. "Can you see the river in the distance?"
She nodded, just barely able to make it out through the low hanging clouds.
"That's the northern edge of the forest. It separates my land from the Kingdom of Fire and Ice. From the mountains in the east to the valley where your kingdom lies in the west; everywhere the forest touches is under the domain of Hawks Landing," he explained.
Misaki turned her curious gaze over his shoulder as she asked, "And to the south?"
"The Land of Dragons," he replied, his tone dropping an octave or two and giving it an ominous lilt as he turned his own head to gaze in that direction as well. "But there's quite a bit of distance between their lands and here. That direction also houses the densest part of the forest, where the magic is the strongest."
"Incredible..." she sighed in wonder at the sights surrounding her and the experience of viewing them from such heights.
"Yes, it is," she heard the Count wistfully reply and she turned her head to glance up at his face, only to find him staring down at her with a soft and endearing look on his face.
Misaki opened her mouth to inquire about the look when his eyes suddenly snapped up, focusing in sharply on something heading toward them from the north. "It appears our impromptu flight is over. Duty calls."
She gasped and clutched her arms around his neck as they abruptly began to drop out of the sky at an alarming rate. The Count softly landed in the middle of the back courtyard a moment later and let her down, holding her arms to help steady her. She'd just managed to get her shaky legs under her when the reason for their rushed descent came streaming out of the sky toward them. The eagle halted its dive with a great sweep of its wings before locking its talons around the Count's raised arm, a dark blue ribbon tied around a small, rolled piece of parchment secured to the bird's right leg.
"I'll go take care of the rest of breakfast," Misaki breathlessly offered, still recovering a bit from the sudden adrenaline rush.
"You can leave it. I'll finish it up later," the Count casually replied as he removed the piece of parchment from the bird's leg and sent it off again.
She watched it fly up into the open window of the study before turning her attention back to the Count and asking, "Shall I bring a plate up to the study then?"
He glanced up from the parchment he'd just opened and smiled at her as he graciously replied, "I would appreciate that. Thank you."
Misaki returned his smile and shallowly bowed her head to him. He held out his hand in a gesture for her to precede him back into the manor and she quickly followed his suggestion. She removed her cloak as she stepped inside, and the Count immediately headed toward the main landing. She watched him disappear around the corner before collapsing back into her seat at the dining table. Lifting her hand to rest over her racing heart, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm herself. She hadn't known what to expect when he'd offered to show her how his wings worked, but she had been completely unprepared for the exhilarating experience. She was beginning to suspect that was only the first of many exhilarating experiences she would encounter while living with the Count of Hawks Landing.
Nearly two weeks had passed since Misaki had arrived at her new home. Her days typically consisted of waking up and eating breakfast with the Count, which he always prepared, before he'd venture off to his study to attend to the day's correspondence, courtesy of his winged messenger. Misaki would prepare a light lunch around midday which she would bring to him in his study before retiring to the library for the afternoon. The manor housed an expansive, storied room, filled with floor to ceiling shelves of books on all manner of subjects. She had always been interested in storybooks, though she'd had precious little time to herself for reading while she'd been caring for Eri. Since she'd discovered the library, she'd deigned to spend most of her days lost in the stories contained within it.
At the moment though, Misaki was currently on her way to the Count's study, carrying a tray filled with various selections of foods she knew he preferred for his midday meal. She stopped just outside the door and set the tray down on top of the long buffet table situated to the left of the door before reaching up to adjust the neckline of her dress. Once she was satisfied with the amount of skin she'd exposed, she reached out to knock on the door, and upon hearing the Count's answering call to enter, pushed the doors open to let herself into the room.
She picked up the tray from the edge of the table and carried it over to the desk where the Count was sitting and holding up a long piece of parchment in front of his face. As she approached, the eagle perched on the stand behind him swiveled its head around and locked her in a piercing stare, as if reprimanding her for disturbing its rest. She dropped her gaze, and the bird ruffled its feathers before turning its head back around to resume its midday nap. Misaki gracefully set the tray down on the edge of the desk before stepping forward and leaning against the side of it in a conspicuously seductive manner.
She consciously trained her voice to take on a wanton lilt as she asked, "Can I get you anything else? Perhaps a shoulder rub? You look tense."
He turned his eyes down to glance at her hand resting against his arm before sliding them up to meet hers. He blinked at her dryly over the edge of the document he was reading before quickly shifting his gaze back to the parchment and telling her in a clearly uninterested tone of voice, "No, thank you."
Misaki quickly pulled her hand away as if it had been burned and immediately stepped back. She straightened her posture and nervously clasped her hands in her lap, bowing her head to him before turning and hastily exiting the study. After closing the doors behind her, she turned around and leaned back against them, resting her head against the heavy oak surface and sliding her eyes closed with a sigh.
She had been unsuccessfully attempting to seduce him for several days now. Every attempt she'd made had resulted in a progressively colder response from the Count each time. Her first failed attempt had been a product of chance, on a night when a particularly ferocious storm had rolled over the manor. She had been startled by the lightning and thunder and had gone to the Count's room in the middle of the night to ask him to comfort her. He'd taken her back to her own room and settled down in a chair next to her bed, reading to her from one of the storybooks she'd borrowed from the library until he'd lulled her back into a peaceful slumber.
Her next attempt had been a bit bolder. During his nightly bathing time, she'd dressed herself down to only a shift and had offered to help him wash his back. He'd been slow to respond, widening his eyes in shock at the sight of her standing behind him in his bathing chambers, well-nigh completely unannounced. He'd quickly recovered, however, and before she'd had a chance to approach him, he'd exited the bath, hastily wrapped a large towel around his middle, and swiftly thanked her for the offer before assuring her that such a thing was unnecessary for her to offer again. He'd promptly left her standing there alone in muted shock.
Her most recent attempt, prior to the rejected offer of a sensual shoulder massage, had been during dinner the previous night. She had "accidentally" spilled a bit of her glass of wine down the bodice of her dress and attempted to remove the stained piece of clothing there at the table. Before she'd even finished untying the laces the Count had left his seat, removed his jacket, and draped it over her shoulders. He'd made a pointed suggestion that she retire for the evening to clean herself up while he cleared off the rest of their dinner. She'd attempted to salvage the ploy by suggesting that he join her, but he'd politely declined, not offering her a second glance as he proceeded to remove the dishes from the table and carry them back into the kitchen.
She didn't know what she was doing wrong. All of those techniques had worked in the books she read from the library. She had happened upon the small section of romance novels while she'd been perusing the shelves one morning and had become enthralled with the graphic depictions of the passionate love affairs contained within them. Knowing that she would be expected to engage in such acts with the Count rather soon, she'd decided that it would probably be a good idea for her to educate herself on the ways of seduction, in order for her to be able to satisfy him when it came time for them to begin attempting to conceive.
His caveat of waiting until she'd fallen in love with him to take her to bed was to be respected, surely, but at the rate they were going, the first snow of the coming year would be upon them before that happened. She had accepted the possibility that she could fall in love with him, someday, after they'd had sufficient time to get to know one another and grown comfortable in each other's company. She just wasn't confident that it would happen in the time that he had allotted for it to, and she had come to the decision that she was willing to trade on their future love to share her body with him now.
Unfortunately, it appeared that the stubborn Count was refusing to cooperate with her plans. She was beginning to suspect that he had no interest in her sexually. That was going to be a big problem if they were expected to conceive a child together. Perhaps she wasn't being obvious enough about her intentions. Asking him to comfort her, offering to wash his back, spilling wine on her dress and attempting to disrobe in front of him; those were all subtle seduction tactics. Perhaps it was time that she took a more straightforward approach. Of course, she couldn't just come right out and ask him to bed her; she was a lady after all. Besides, she was fairly certain that he would only turn her down anyway. She had to make him want her.
With her new plan in mind, Misaki headed off to the library in search of some new reference materials.
Misaki proudly surveyed the five-course meal she'd prepared for their dinner that evening, spread out across the long table in the formal dining room. She'd gotten the idea from one of the romance novels she'd previously read, and she'd spent the early part of the afternoon looking up recipes in the library before perusing the ingredients that the Count had in stock in the kitchen. Every dish she'd prepared was carefully crafted using components that were known to have aphrodisiac properties. She unfortunately hadn't been able to find any oysters, but truthfully, she couldn't say she really cared for them all that much anyway.
However, she had been able to locate several other ingredients that she did like, using all of them to make up the evening's meal laid out before her. They would start with a soup made from ginseng and pine nuts in a rich chicken broth with shredded bits of chicken, carrots, and celery therein, followed by an appetizer of baked figs with goat cheese and a sweet potato, pomegranate, and apple salad. For the main course, she'd prepared a honey garlic grilled salmon paired with asparagus and saffron rice, served alongside a vintage merlot and dark chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.
Everything had come together so well. She'd even had a bit of extra time to alter one of her dresses into a slightly risqué, off the shoulder piece that showed an ample amount of cleavage, especially when she bent over. If this didn't work, there was nothing else she could possibly think of that would. The sound of footsteps echoing around the corridor leading into the formal dining room sounded out behind her and she turned from lighting one of the many candles scattered about the table just in time to see the Count walk into the room.
He looked around the intimately lit space with wide eyes and asked, "What is this?"
Misaki softly blew on the long match in her hand to put out the flame before answering him coyly, "It's dinner. You've been so busy lately, I wanted to give you a treat."
Walking toward him, she demurely lifted one of the strawberries from the tray at the end of the table and swiped it through the bowl of whipped cream before bringing it up to her mouth and biting into it in a way that she hoped came across as provocative.
His eyes followed her over to the chair at the head of the table and she held his gaze as she pulled it out before gesturing for him to take his seat. He hesitated for a long moment, staring across the room at her suspiciously before slowly making his way over to sit in the chair. Misaki hummed in satisfaction before moving around to his left side and reaching out for the bottle of wine. She leaned over, reaching across his place setting for the goblet to the right of his plate and bringing it over to pour a generous amount of wine inside.
As she began to reach back across to set the goblet back in its place, the Count abruptly ordered, "Stop."
She glanced down at him in shock. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish here, but whatever it is, I'm not impressed." He stood from his seat, sending the chair skidding back a bit across the floor with the suddenly ruffled feathers of his spread wings. Staring down at her with a cold scowl etched across his handsome features, he told her in a low and controlled tone of voice, "I advise you to start taking the situation we're in more seriously before my patience completely runs out."
He abruptly turned and stalked out of the dining room without a backward glance. Misaki stood there in shock, completely unable to process the suddenness of what had just happened. A single tear pooled in the lower edge of one wide, unfocussed eye before breaking loose to stream down her pale white cheek. She set the wine bottle back down on the table and turned her head, staring across the surface at all of the untouched food she'd spent her entire afternoon preparing for them. Her mind quickly set aside the horror of what had just transpired between her and the Count and focused instead on ensuring that the food didn't go to waste. She absentmindedly lifted the back of her hand to wipe away the moisture from her face, sniffling softly as she moved to preserve whatever she could of the spread.
After removing all of the dishes from the table and returning them to the kitchen where she placed them under a preserving cloth, she'd blown out all of the candles and replaced them in their rightful place. She recorked the wine and returned it to the cellar where she'd gotten it from before turning her back on the dining room and heading up the stairs to her sleeping chambers. She had little more than the single strawberry she'd eaten to tide her over for the night, though she felt like if she tried to eat anything else she would be sick. She leaned back against the surface of the door as it slid shut before slowly sliding down to sit on the ground. Pulling her knees up into her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and bowed her head, finally letting the tears fall as she sobbed her woes to the silent, darkened room around her.
Misaki somberly walked into the kitchen the following morning, modestly clothed in one of her normal dresses. She kept her head bowed and her eyes trained on the ground in front of her, as they were still a bit tired from crying herself to sleep last night. She'd almost considered not even coming down for breakfast, but she quickly brushed aside that immature notion. She had clearly upset the Count with her behavior over the past few days, and she felt that she owed him an apology, as well as an explanation for her actions.
He was standing in his usual place behind the stove when she walked in, but although she was certain he'd noticed her, he didn't turn to acknowledge her or offer a word of greeting. As she'd suspected, he was still upset with her. This kind man who had taken her into his home despite her deception instead of sending her back to her family to face punishment for treason, who had always greeted her with a smile and a warm meal every morning and allowed her the freedom to do anything she so desired… And now, because of her clandestine scheming, he couldn't even look at her.
She slid her eyes closed a took a deep breath before bowing deeply at the waist and sincerely telling him, "I'm sorry."
There was silence for a moment before his dispassionate sounding voice responded, "For what?"
Straightening her posture but keeping her eyes trained toward the ground, Misaki meekly replied, "I've never had a lover before. I'm not sure what to do."
She heard him sigh and the clear sound of his voice when he spoke next told her that he'd likely turned around to face her. "I told you, the only thing you need to do is be yourself."
She had expected him to say something like that. After she'd calmed herself down while sitting on the floor in front of her bedroom door last night, she'd gone into her bathing chambers and sat in the bath for a long while, ruminating over everything that had gone wrong during the past week. She knew what she'd done had gone against his wishes, but she didn't know what else to do.
Shifting her eyes to the side, she worried her hands in front of her and told him pitifully, "I don't know how to make you want me."
His voice sounded alarmed as he asked her, "What makes you think you need to do anything of the sort?"
"You said so yourself. The reason I'm here is to bear you an heir. But I've been here for almost two weeks, and you haven't shown any interest in my body." She finally lifted her head a bit and glanced up at him, asking the question that had been running through the back of her mind since the first time he'd turned down her advances, "Am I not attractive to you?"
She watched his eyes widen and his expression slacken with shock as he uttered in muted disbelief, "You think—?"
He crossed the room in a flash, and she suddenly found herself wrapped up in the strong and comforting grip of both his arms and his wings, and she gasped.
"Oh, Misaki… I'm so sorry," his deeply apologetic voice sounded next to her ear.
"Why are you—?" Her whole body tensed in alarm at the confusion rioting through her. He'd switched so suddenly from maintaining a cold distance to tightly wrapping her in a warm embrace. She was having trouble rationalizing the reasoning behind his swift change in attitude.
"I've done so many things wrong from the moment you arrived here. I hoped that giving you space would help you to open up to me, but what I really did was to leave you all alone." He pulled back a bit and raised his hand to cup her cheek, gently lifting her face to gaze into her eyes. "Of course I didn't invite you here only to bear my child, Misaki. If that was all I wanted I could have chosen from any number of women throughout the land. I want to have a child with you, because it's you," he softly and emphatically iterated to her with compelling sincerity.
He wasn't exaggerating. She personally knew of many women who would have killed to be in her position, which was even more reason for her to be bewildered about why he was so insistent that it be her to bear his child. There was nothing special about her other than being the younger sister to her kingdom's ruling matriarch. But compared to the kingdoms throughout the land with which the Count was already allied, her meagre kingdom was a veritable pauper's town, as insignificant as it was mundane. They had no strong trade alliances, or precious commodities, or military might. They very well kept to themselves and lived modestly off of what their lands provided. She could think of no plausible reason why he should be so fixated on her.
"You barely know me," she quietly entreated, her voice and expression both despondently morose.
He stared back at her with the tenderest expression she had ever seen directed at her as he brushed her hair back away from her face and told her, "I feel like I've been waiting all my life for you."
An inextricable feeling of nervous excitement welled up inside of her in response to his heartfelt proclamation. It spread a wave of warmth throughout her entire body that washed away all of her grief and doubt. For some unknown reason beyond her comprehension, this man was unequivocally in love with her. The look on his face and the tone of his voice was too obvious for her to discount. She'd seen it so many times in the castle between her sister and her husband, or in the faces of the happy couples who would come to request the King and Queen's blessing for them to be wed within the castle walls. However he had come to develop such feelings for her, she somehow got the feeling that it had occurred long before she'd ever set foot in Hawks Landing.
Shaking herself out of her stupor, Misaki stubbornly contended, "But none of my seduction tactics worked."
He cocked an incredulous eyebrow at her. "Seduction tactics? Is that what all of that was supposed to be?" All of a sudden he tilted his head back and let out a great peal of laughter. "Where did you even come up with such ridiculous schemes?"
Sliding her gaze to the side in mild chagrin at his blatant amusement of her misguided efforts, Misaki mutedly grumbled in response, "Romance novels."
He quickly managed to get his raucous laughter under control, though he continued to chuckle as he swiped a finger under his eye to wipe away the mirthful tears which had accumulated there during his fit. "Romance novels? You know all of that is fiction, right? Not even very good fiction, usually."
Misaki crossed her arms across her chest and pouted. "It's not like I have any experience to draw from."
The Count placed his hands on his hips and tilted his head to the side, regarding her skeptically as he remarked, "As you've said. Though I have a hard time believing that you hadn't any suitors back in Evermore."
Misaki dropped her arms and shrugged. "I didn't have time for anything like that. I was always looking after Eri. She was a rather rambunctious troublemaker much of the time."
His regard for her softened and he somewhat fondly observed, "You are the type to set aside your own circumstances in favor of your loved ones, aren't you?"
"I've been told that a time or two before, yes," she timidly admitted, shifting a bit self-consciously under his tender scrutiny.
The Count let out a soft sigh and reached out a hand to gently cup the side of her face, gazing openly into her eyes as he told her, "You have no need whatsoever for any sort of seduction tactics, Misaki. I would take you to bed in a heartbeat were I a weaker man."
She held his gaze as she softly asked, "Why do you not?"
"I told you, I want all of you." His gaze followed the path of his hand as it drifted down the side of her neck to brush her hair back from her shoulder before softly trailing the backs of his fingers down her right arm. "Until your heart is ready to accept me as well, I'll not settle for just the pleasure of your body." His sharp, golden eyes snapped back up to hers all of a sudden. "As you should expect no less from me in return."
Feeling slightly short of breath from the sensations that his actions and the burning look in his alluring gaze had evoked within her, she fought to calm her racing heart as she breathlessly replied, "You know, I think I might already be falling in love with you, Count Keigo."
A sultry smirk tilted up the corners of his lips as he told her, "Just call me Keigo."
TBC...