Hi! I'm back! Thanks a lot to Cutetyhil, Desires of autumn leaves, Indigo Jupiter, Subha-Chan, Hot snow cold fire for reviewing. Also tons of thanks to Indigo Jupiter for faving it. Really I'm grateful to you Noni.
So this chapter presents the tales after eight years. Enjoy!
Had we had today's wall-clock or wrist-watch, it would've shown the proper time. But there, already the sun had risen. His roseate beams touched the face of the asleep boy through the kite-sized loopholes who was lying peacefully on the bed of black velvety bedcover, keeping his head on the tender pillow made of carpus cottons, covered with a dark blue blanket, containing the wools of Navajo sheep and the tapestries of mystical vermillion birds. The mild ultraviolet rays, travelling through his pupils, knocked the eyelids, "Get up boy, princes shouldn't sleep so long."
That worked. With a spring, he woke up. Rubbing his eyes with one of his hands, he expanded his another hand towards the wooden arc. Feeling the presence of air instead of the existence of wood, he frowned and turned his vision to the semicircle. Irony, his amethyst orbs met only vacancy.
"My bow!" He got down from the bed, "Where's it?"
"I've kept it."
Hearing a familiar motherly voice, his gazes ran at the doorway. There stood a violet-haired, purple-eyed lady, wearing long cream-colored sarafan* with gem-covered ornaments. Her hands were seizing a silver tray on which there was a crystal glass filled with orange juice, along with a shiny platter containing two or three oval-shaped, tremendous, thick, warm breads, coated in melted honeyed butter. By its side, a large coppery bowl was placed, occupied with the chubby pieces of spicy grilled coral fishes, with the gravy of fresh tomatoes and coriander leaves. In a circular porcelain cup, there were some cottage cheese dumplings, smeared in cream with some raspberries. The smell of melted grease tickled his nose. Then again, not sniffing once, he rushed towards the lady. Stopping in front of her, he straightly asked, "Mom, where have you kept my bow?"
"I can't tell," The crown princess rolled her eyes, "But if you wash your face and hands and have your breakfast, then I'll return it."
"No mom, you can't do this!" He shook his head, "Yesterday Tala, Bryan, Spencer and Ian challenged me to pluck the mangoes from the mango-trees of the backward garden. If I don't go soon, I'll only get leafless trees!"
"Oww Kai," The violet-head pinched the cheeks of her son, "Don't worry. Everyone is calmly having breakfast. I promise you that nobody will go there before you."
"Really?" The little prince narrowed his eyes.
"Really, my boy." The mother patted his head.
"Okay, then let me wash my face and hands!" Kai left the bed, almost running to the lavatory.
Apraxia Hiwatari, the only daughter-in-law of Emperor Voltaire Hiwatari and his second wife, the mother of Prince Kai Hiwatari couldn't help smirking at that. She had been married with Susumu Hiwatari when she had been only fifteen. Now she was twenty-eight. She couldn't investigate how the past thirteen years had passed. Susumu had been the only son of Voltaire who'd been given birth by the second queen of the former lord of Russia. That's why, Mamelfa Hiwtari, the actual grandmother of Kai had been loved a lot by her husband. That couldn't have been tolerated by the other two wives of the Tatar. Conspiring together, they had mixed poison in the lunch of the ex-prince. Consuming it, Susumu had left the earth, leaving a pregnant Apraxia behind. Mourning for some months, his mother also had followed the footsteps of her son. Apraxia had had also few chances to live long. Fortunately, Voltaire had found out about the assassination of his precious son. Sentencing the wicked queens to their deaths, he'd divided the enormous dominion into four kingdoms, sharing them among his four daughters in order to avoid all the collisions. Their sons were Tala Valkov, Spencer Petrov, Bryan Kuznetsov and Ian Papov. They still lived in the main Russia, being brought up by their lovely aunt, living with their cousin. Since their childhood, they were eating, playing, travelling, crying and laughing together. Now Kai Hiwatari, the eight-year old prince, couldn't think about living without them.
Recollecting the past memories with her no-more husband, her heart ached. She'd been the daughter of a usual soldier. Before Susumu, she'd been in love with the swords and shields as well as bows and arrows. Mayhap for that, she'd been successful to draw the attention of the prince. She'd been the worthy one to be the queen of Russia, still she was. That hadn't avoided her father-in-law's eyes. In an auspicious moment, they'd been affixed in the bond of marriage together. Oh…how flamboyant that life had been! Gazing at the bright moon from the balcony without blinking, sometimes paddling cruisers in tranquil rivers, swinging in spinneys, playing friendly duels and what not? When Kai had arrived in her ovary, who hadn't observed his joy with his or her eyes? He hadn't let her do a single job. In spite of being the mighty prince, he had massaged her feet, often he had given her warm baths, he had fed her with his own hands….he had dreamed. He had dreamed a lot about his unborn son. Apraxia grimaced recalling his words:
"My son will be named Kai Hiwatari. Do you know what it means?"
"Ummm…Nah. You tell me, what does it mean?"
"Silly girl! You've studied a lot and you can't tell that? In Japanese….it means ocean. You know, in Japanese mythology, ocean is considered to be the center of life. In the same way, our Kai will be the center of our life."
"You're fond of Japan, aren't you?"
"Of course! I've decided that I'll get my son married in Japan."
She closed her eyes. Already they'd been occupied with tears. She sniffed, trying to have the smell of her dead love. Instead of that, a familiar fragrance hit her nose.
"Mom?!"
Regaining the sense, she opened her eyes. Her son had already cleansed himself, now wiping his face with his soft phoenix towel. Swiftly rubbing her eyes, clearing her throat, she spoke, "Breakfast is ready, my son. Have this, then go to garden."
"Sharp!"
Five arrows dashed across the leafy bush as the sound of something collapsing could be heard.
"This branch is Prince Kai's," A butler stated, "This belongs to Prince Tala, this green one is Prince Bryan's and the rest two are Prince Ian's and Prince Spencer's."
"Damn!" Bryan punched the air, "My luck is always bad. Whenever I try to get something good, I can't do it. I can't eat this raw mangoes."
"Because you've come in this earth with your torn forehead, falcon," Tala didn't forget to mock, "Try as much as you want. Yet you will never get any ripe mango."
"Then share yours with me," The falcon requested, "I'll share mine with you."
"Impossible!" The wolf screwed his nose, "Who will eat these tasteless bitter fruits? Besides, I'm not going to share my mangoes with anyone. Do one thing, donate them in the royal kitchen. You'll get to eat mango curry in today's lunch…hahahaha…"
"Shut up!" Bryan dived on Tala. Tala also presented a knock-out punch at his nose. Then they both got into scuffling.
"Tala! Bryan! Stop it!" Spencer ordered, not forgetting to expose his 'elder nature', "Don't forget that you're princes. And princes shouldn't fight with each other like this!"
"You're right, Spencer," Tala pulled out his sword, "Princes better participate into duels. Hey chicken, let's have a sword fight!"
"Shit!" The blond Russian muttered.
"How dare you call me chicken?!" Bryan bellowed, "Now you'll see my sword skills!"
"Bryan…"
Hearing the voice of the dual-haired Russian, the lilac-haired boy turned back, frowning.
"Don't fight with Tala. I'll share my mangoes with you, okay?"
Everything became soundless for a few seconds. Then, jumping up and tumbling twice in the air, Bryan asked, "Seriously Kai? You'll share yours with me?"
"Sure," Kai nodded, "After all, you're my cousin. How will I eat my mangoes alone when my cousin will remain sad?"
"Thank you so much, Kai!" Bryan showed the amicable flash of his teeth, "You're the best!"
"Huh…..thank your luck, Bryan!" Tala rolled his eyes, "If Kai didn't save your day, I would chop you into pieces with my sword."
"Only time will say that, Valkov." Bryan hissed under his breath.
"Hilary? Where're you, dear?"
Sayoko Tachibana, the empress of Japan, was searching her only biological daughter in the foliage. Large trees, wearing leafy branches, bowing down in the weight of ripe and juicy fruits, shrubs dressed with flowers in red, pink, blue, yellow, orange colors, clear ponds, lakes and cascades, the statues of stallions, elephants made of marble-stones, chirping of different birds, the cheerful butterflies, bees-everything was elevating the exquisiteness of the plantations. The entire garden was so large that nobody could be found easily if he got lost once. Conversely, the queen was trying to find the princess unswervingly.
"Oh, eat more!" The royal-blue haired girl sprinkled some rice in the pond, "If you don't eat more, you won't be healthy."
Some bubbles were seen in the water. Sitting by the loch, she poured her hand into the water. A goldfish pecked on her fingers.
"Aw Goldie, don't play pranks!" Her voice was affectionate, melted and honeyed, "Have your meal properly. Your memories are so weak. If you eat well, you will be brilliant."
The goldfish named Goldie moved back as though it'd understood her words.
"Mariam!"
In a wheel, she turned at the owner of the tone. Seeing the Regina, she stood up and bowed down.
"Have you seen Hilary?" Sayoko asked her.
"Pardon me, your Highness," She replied gently, "But I haven't seen Princess Hilary."
"Oh God…only you know where she is now…" Sayoko hastily left the place.
The purple-haired girl was swinging beneath the orange tree. The season of that fruit hadn't come yet. The little white flowers were falling down like the droplets of rain on her. Perhaps she was enjoying that. That's why she didn't want to leave the place.
"Dew-Chan, have you seen your sister?" An almost exhausted queen of Japan appeared before her, with her fatigued voice.
"No mom, I haven't seen her," Dew got up from the cradle, "Oni-chan may be in the cherry-garden."
"Oh okay…." She again started running. Shrugging once, Dew again sat on the swing, swinging in her own cheery mood, almost getting showered in the piles of orange flowers.
Three brown, tiny and furry squirrels were hopping around the gigantic cherry tree. One of them chirped something, another of them told her something in return. As they heard the conversant footsteps, they stopped and quietly gathered under the tree. After a few seconds, a little girl in chocolate-colored, arm-lengthened hair appeared there. Her ruby-colored pools were sparkling like the night stars. The soft phosphorescence of the sun lay on her bright milky skin. She was wearing a baby-orange georgette frock with puffy sleeves whose edge was touching her ankles. The orange rose tied with her bandana was increasing the daintiness of her hair. A round bamboo basket was hanging down from her wrist. In it, a few ripe guavas were gathered. Placing it before them, she signaled. Getting it, one of the squirrels came near the carrier, picking a circular fruit from it and finally sinking its teeth into it.
"Squirrels, do you eat guavas?" The brunette crouched before them, "Puffed rice? Grapefruits? Kittens and puppies?"
The three little creatures nodded, still busy in biting fruits.
"Giantess!" She stood up, "How gluttony you are! I won't talk with you anymore."
One of them showed its tongue, not caring her words.
"You're kidding with me?" The princess frowned, keeping her hands on her waist, "Let me see who gives you fruits later!"
"Hilary-Chan, what're you doing here?" Her mother entered into the cherry garden, "You're feeding the squirrels again?"
Turning at her, Hilary smiled sweetly once, occupied with innocence.
"Let's go with me, darling," Sayoko held her wrist softly, "If you keep roaming in the sunshine, your skin will burn."
"But mom, dad says that sunlight is good for our health," The innocent girl inquired, "How will it be harmful for our skin?"
"Oh, how will I make this girl understand…she keeps questioning me all the days!" The mother sighed, "Just come with me."
"Okay okay, I'm coming…" Bowing her head down, Hilary followed her mother. Before leaving her base, she looked at the squirrels for the last time in that day who were enjoying the monsoon guavas with jovial mood. Smiling once, she left the place.
Umm...so how was it? Good or bad?
Do read and review. Pardon the grammatical and spelling errors :P
-Misty ^_^