"That's a dumb deal you've made," the stranger commented when Hiei met with him and the fox privately in their rooms the next morning. "You can touch her, but not fuck her. Train her up for Jiro. He he he."
Hiei grunted, disliking the strangers comments. The fox had yet to speak, but had listened while changing out of his pajamas and into his clothes for the day.
The fox finally spoke, "if she's unwilling to give you up, the king might send you away as well. He did that with Jin to keep her away from him. He's still not allowed back. The king values his friendship with you yes, but he values his cousin's chances and opportunities more."
Hiei frowned at both of them, regretting telling them a thing about his deal with the king. He had half hoped they would steer him in the right direction about what to do with the girl and how to give her up when the time came. Telling him he was foolish was not worth his time. Hiei left them where they were, not bothering to say another word. He heard the stranger call out to him, but he ignored his teasing goodbye.
He went to the kitchens, fetching his own breakfast to eat alone. He kept to himself for the morning, watching the others from a distance, especially the girl. He watched her training in the yard from a window high up. She was sparing with the fox, him training her, trying to get her to move faster when she swung her ax around. The thing was heavy to her yet clearly, but she was swinging it around more gracefully than she had been before.
He sensed the king approaching him before he heard or saw him. He nearly left to avoid him, but figured he should face him now rather than later. "What do you want?" he grumbled out as the king stood next to him, watching the girl in her training.
"Hello, your grace. How can I be of service, your grace," the king teased him jovially. "Your rudeness is almost refreshing," he added. He looked down at the girl. She had hoisted the ax above her head, swinging it in an arcing circle before bringing it down so hard that it could have split the fox in two if he had been in its path. "She's gotten better," he commented. "Has she gotten better?" he asked curiously.
Hiei shifted his feet, leaning against the window sill. "Yes," he answered tersely.
"Learning, but not too much?" he asked, still watching the girl with curiosity. She had used her wings to give her a bigger jump back away from the fox's whip.
"I could teach her more," Hiei suggested, knowing what his answer would be. She twirled the ax in her hands shakily, but skillfully. The fox kept trying to hit her with his whip, but she kept deflecting it.
"Keep her pure, as sinless as possible," the king kept his stance. The fox was moving towards her, trying to drive her back.
"Hn," he grunted under his breath. "The cloak has already trapped her in a half good half evil situation, which is what made her raven haired and white winged. I don't think you need to worry about her becoming a fallen angel of destruction anymore."
"You sound like Kurama," the king said in disgust.
"So intelligent, then," Hiei quipped. The girl had stumbled, and the fox did not let up on her. She slowed her circle in front of her. The fox hit her, striking her face, torso, and thigh.
The king gritted his teeth. "A half demon, half human-"
"An intelligent half demon," Hiei interrupted, enjoying how it annoyed the king when he complimented the fox. The fox earned the compliments anyway. "Whose trained her better than the other king's guardsmen have."
The girl stood before the fox, panting with her hands on her thighs. "He thinks he knows everything," the king grumbled.
"The wise and well read tend to believe that, yes," Hiei commented. "He's a well rounded individual." The girl looked determined. She brought her ax back out.
"Her uncle arrives today if reports are true. With a certain man named Haruto who insisted to come along with him," the king explained. The girl charged the fox.
Hiei perked up at the name of the keeper. "I know him. He's-" he stopped himself. The keeper was a full angel and the girl's true father. Yet a some blood bond curse kept him from revealing that to anyone who did not guess it already. The keeper had also told Hiei to marry the girl and protect her from the procurer that way.
"Nanashi," the fox called out.
Both Hiei and the king looked down at the yard. The girl knelt on the ground, hand clenching under her rib cage. She shook her head pushing herself to stand back up on her own two feet. "I'm alright. Just a pain I get from time to time. I haven't had it since I left home though..."
"This Haruto is what?" the king asked once the girl and the fox resumed sparring.
Hiei could not say it. If he said it, it could kill the girl and the keeper both. "He's Nanashi's old boss. He cares for her. More than her uncle does."
The king hummed. He was about to say something, but the sound of one horn blast echoed from the outer walls by the watchers. "One blast means allies. That should be them. Come, you know them just as well as we do."
The king led him to the council room, sending for the girl, the cousin, and the queen to join them when they met with the keeper and the uncle arrived. The fox and stranger came as well, kind of bullying their way into the meeting.
The girl had been rushed in there from her training, all sweaty and disheveled in her haste to see them. She rushed over to the keeper, hugging him in her excitement to see him. She then turned to the uncle and froze before him, not sure how to greet him. She boldly approached him, giving the quickest, stiffest hug before stepping back away in a rush to stand next to Hiei.
The lot of them sat down, with the girl sitting between Hiei and the cousin. The cousin seemed irked that she sat next to Hiei. He had reached over and took the girl's hand in his own. Despite the girl not daring to tell anyone about what she and Hiei had been doing at night, he had a feeling rumors had reached the cousin's ears, or worse, the king had told him about her training with Hiei and to suck it up. The girl did not pull her hand away like Hiei would have preferred.
They spoke, mostly the king, the girl, and the uncle. The uncle was upset about the girl running off and robbing him, but was placated when the king promised to pay him double the money stolen from him, even though that was money from the procurer. The king had already sent double the money to the procurer's business so as to keep the girl from risking falling into his debt.
Once the uncle and the keeper were caught up with all that had happened with the girl and Hiei, the king spoke next, "any clue whom her father might have been?" he directed the question to the uncle.
"No idea," the uncle answered, looking like an intimidated bull before a a larger beast. The keeper sat there stock still. Hiei figured he would have gladly spoken up if he could have. Hiei caught the girl twitch slightly, bringing her free hand to her middle, which likely meant the keeper thought of sharing his identity. "Her mother did not seem to know either."
The king sighed. If only he knew what the keeper was, he would be thrilled to say the least. "Well, in that case, as the closest thing to her father present, my cousin, Lord Jiro, has a question for you. Jiro?" he said, turning to the cousin.
Jiro looked pale, like he had swallowed a bug by accident. "If it would please you, sir, I, um," the cousin stumbled out. "If you would honor me with the permission to marry your niece?"
The uncle frowned at the cousin, trying to at least keep a persona of respectfulness in front of the king, queen, and his cousin. The uncle's gaze flipped from Hiei to the girl to the cousin. "The last man who asked me for that permission tried to kill her and was going to kill him," he nodded over to Hiei. "She aught to decide that for herself, that way I don't take the blame for what could happen as a result."
The cousin stared at the uncle, awe struck. That was not the way of this country. The king gave the cousin's chair a nudging kick next to him. The cousin turned to the girl, not quite meeting her eyes. He slipped from his chair to one knee before her, shoving his chair clumsily out of his way. He kept the girl's hand in his, pulling her to sit and face him.
"My angel, will you marry me?" he rushed out, not looking her in the eyes.
The girl stared down at him, not knowing what to do or what to say. She froze in the moment. It was Hiei's turn to kick her chair. He tapped his foot against her chair's leg.
"Yes," she breathed in a resigned voice. Hiei hated the sound of it.