***Author's Note***
Thanks for the reviews and yea...thanks. And don't
forget to review at the end!
Disclaimer: Look at previous ones.
Dedication: " " (I am
getting lazy)
Parents' Wish
Chapter 7: Van's
Reaction
By: ME jus1digigirl
*Maura*
Kaira
slowly made her way to the throne, expecting a speech to come from her parents'
mouths. Upon reaching the throne room's doors, a pair of guards opened them for
her to enter. As they bowed at her, she entered. Her mother and father were
sitting side by side in gold thrones, each with a unique design carved in. Her
own throne stood by her mother, empty, the plush red cushion seat visible.
Her parents noticed her arrival
and her father stood up. He motioned to the guards and servants standing
around. "Leave us be and wait outside this room till the meeting with my
daughter is over and I give you the command to return." Everyone bustled
out, leaving the royal family of three alone.
Now King Hippoly turned to his
daughter and gave her a small, somewhat kind smile, which was only returned by
a serious one. "Come my daughter. Why so glum?"
Kaira walked up to her father
and bowed to him. Straightening herself she answered defiantly, "I wish to
know the exact reason for this forced marriage."
Now her father's smile faltered.
"Kaira," he said in his best fatherly tone, "from what your
mother has told me, you burst out in front of her and interrupted her this
afternoon. Now, you will know the exact reason when the time comes but now, do
as your parents wish and behave! You will marry King Van. I hear he is very
noble, brave, and courteous not to mention that he's considered handsome by all
the ladies. Many would die to be his wife and queen. He will make a good
husband and alliance."
Kaira's eyes went wide with
fury, her plan of avoiding an argument gone. "So that's it! You and mother
want to sell me off as a prize in exchange for an alliance with Fanelia!"
Queen Hippoly did not speak and
let her husband to the talking. "You will not speak to the King and Queen
this way!" he shouted.
Kaira's tears began again. The
hard, determined, young woman disappeared at the sight of her father's anger.
"You are also my mother and father!" She turned on her heels to leave
the room. "I will go to Fanelia but trust me, you cannot make me marry a
man I do not love!"
She prepared to exit when her
mother finally spoke. "Do not try and escape Fanelia, dear Kaira. We have
placed a spell around you to prevent you from leaving its grounds. If you
attempt to leave, we shall sense it and the spell will be bound around you
tighter so do not try. And the spell can only be lifted if I wish for it and I
will not choose to lift it until the day of the wedding."
Kaira hung her head and flew out
the door, reminding her of what had happened earlier that evening. This time
however, she ran outside to the waiting carriage.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Are they
done yet?" Hitomi asked clasping her hands together tightly and pacing up
and down the corridors in front of Van's bedroom.
"Hitomi, sit down before
you make a hole in the floor!" Merle exclaimed. She was sitting beside
Yukari on a bench outside of Van's room. Amano and Jair were inside with the
doctors to tell them exactly how the king had injured himself.
Hitomi sighed. "I know but
I'm so worried about-" she was cut off by another voice.
"Merle! Merle!" It was
Torak again, running towards her.
Merle stood up exasperatedly.
"I told you not to bother me Torak! What is it now?"
Torak gasped, trying to catch
his breath. "I-I got news that His Highness has just arrived from the
Mystic Moon!"
Merle looked at him. "You
got that right! Remember Lady Hitomi?" She pointed behind Torak where
Hitomi stood watching.
Torak turned around and his eyes
widened as he kissed her hand. "La-lady Hitom-mi! What a surprise! What a
surprise." And indeed, he sounded very surprised for he suspected the
feelings the king had towards this girl and did not want to know what would
happen when he told King Van about the engagement.
"And," Merle continued.
"Meet her friend, Lady Yukari." Torak turned to Yukari and kissed her
hand making her blush.
"Merle," Torak turned
back towards her. "Did the king bring back anyone else from the
Mystic Moon!?" He was worried because two people from the accursed place
would mean twice the bad luck and more people would mean more bad luck. He was
hoping Van hadn't brought anyone else, as he and the rest of the council
members sill believed the ancient legends.
Merle nodded. "Yes in fact
he did. Sir Amano. He's in with the king now along with Jair and the
doctors."
Torak's eyes went wider and he
paled. "The d-doctor? What has happened?"
"Yup." She pointed a
finger towards the door. "You can speak to him in there. But you'd better
hurry. He's arranged for a grand feast later on this evening so he'll need to
get ready."
Torak nodded and knocked on the
door. A doctor opened it and he stepped in. Moments later after the door had
shut, the three girls heard a roar, which was unmistakably Van's.
"WHAT!?"
"I wonder what that idiot
Torak said now," Merle said, eyes narrowed.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Torak
shrank back at the king's rage, who was now sitting up, ignoring the protesting
doctors and glaring at Torak.
"Torak, exactly how long
did you know about this engagement plan?" Van said through his teeth,
speaking each word slowly and deliberately.
"Since...since it was done.
Fifteen years ago," Torak said, eyes down.
Van didn't trust himself to open
his mouth. He had managed to control his anger over the years but now, just after
bringing Hitomi back and getting hurt, he was getting news of his fiancée, whom
he didn't know, coming before the night was over.
Closing his eyes and trying to
calm down, he thought of all the ways an engagement could be broken between kingdoms.
Currently, he couldn't think of any since he had never been in a situation like
this before.
Deciding that this matter would be better to
discuss without the doctors as an audience, he dismissed them. "Go down to
the Great Hall and wait there. I will personally give you each your payment in
healing the king. Go now and not a word of what you have heard so far."
They bowed as the left, closing
the door behind them.
"Now," Van turned to
Jair and Amano who were still in the room. "You may each have a seat on
those chairs." They sat, not speaking.
Van now faced Torak. He realized
it really wasn't the old man's fault. Afterall, he was only doing what his
parents had requested. "You are the oldest and wisest of the council. I
know you were present at my parent's marriage and at my birth and you are here
with me now in my ruling time. I ask you, is there any known way to break this
engagement without insulting the Kingdom of Hippolyta or starting a war?"
Torak seemed to be thinking for
a while and then shook his head sadly. "I am sorry You Highness but I do
not know. I also do not know the reason for the betrothal. However, I do know
that the Princess Kaira shall be arriving soon and that King and Queen Hippoly,
her parents, will be visiting Fanelia in a week for the expected wedding
ceremony. I advise that the feast you have planned be in honor of the
princess." Torak took a deep breath and did not dare to look up at Van who
was clenching and unclenching his hands.
Finally, he spoke. "Very
well. You, Torak, may inform everyone of the reason for the feast. Have the
dining hall set for six extra guests which includes the princess."
"Who may the others be my
lordship?" Torak asked making his way towards the door.
"Lady Hitomi, Lady Yukari,
Lady Merle, and Lords Amano and Jair." Van replied in an obvious tone.
"And Torak, you are not to tell anyone of this engagement. As far as
anyone is concerned, she is just another candidate as queen. Nothing more. We
will work on a plan to break this engagement later on but for now, do as I say
and not a word!" Van said forcefully.
Torak nodded and exited the
room, hurrying down the hall in a fluster.
Hitomi, Merle, and Yukari
watched him practically run out of the room and wondered what had happened in
there. They had seen the doctors leave and when questioned, all they would talk
about was the king's state of health, nothing more.
Curiously, Merle slowly poked
her head into the room. "Lord Van? Can we come in or are you going to
leave us out here to die in suspense?"
Van's face relaxed as her
remembered his friends. "Come in."
Merle bounded in, followed by a
relieved Hitomi and a tentative Yukari.
Hitomi immediately walked to
Van's side. "How're you feeling? The doctors told us your wings are fine
and I can see that as well." Van had retracted his wings earlier.
"Does your wrist hurt much?"
Van lifted up a bandaged hand.
"Not much but this helps."
Hitomi smiled. "I'm
glad."
Van smiled back and stared into her
eyes. Hitomi stared back, her insides positively melting. For a moment, the two
seemed to forget the other four people in the room until Merle began giggling.
Blushing, they looked away from each other and Van gave an annoyed glare at his
friend.
"Sorry. Umm...I got a
tickly feeling in my stomach. Must be this dress!" Merle said between
giggles.
Hitomi just smiled and shook her
head. Turning back to Van, she inquired, "So Van, what was all that about
with Torak? What happened?"
Van suddenly felt very ill. How
to tell Hitomi that after bringing her back, he was expected to marry someone
else? Well, he supposed he could tell her what he had asked Torak to tell
everyone but he didn't want to lie to her nor did he want to hurt her feelings.
"Umm...it was nothing
really," Van said hastily.
Hitomi raised an eyebrow and
looked at Amano and Jair who were suddenly interested with the view from the
window. Turning back to Van, she said, "Yelling your head off is nothing?
Come on Van! You can tell me!" Hitomi smiled. "I wouldn't tell and
neither would Yukari or Merle. Right?"
Yukari and Merle, though
curious, didn't want a part of promising something they might not be able to
keep, joined Amano and Jair at the window. Hitomi sighed and rolled her eyes.
So much for their help.
"Well, you can tell me
anyway."
Van sighed. "Oh fine.
There's going to be a...a princess coming as a candidate as queen. That's
all," Van said blushing not wanting to look up at Hitomi.
Hitomi just stared at him and
simply stated one word. "Oh."
Merle, who had obviously
overheard, didn't want Hitomi to think that Van actually considered these
snotty princesses as brides. "But Lord Van just treats them as guests so
there's nothing to worry about!" She said walking over to the bed.
Hitomi smiled gently.
"Who's worried?"
Van sighed in relief.
"Well, since you're obviously not, would you all care to join me as my
guests this evening at the feast?"
The others had too, come over.
"We'd love to uh...King Van." Amano said politely.
Van waved a hand. "Please
don't. I hereby declare that those in my presence now, do not need to name me
with formality." He grinned up at them.
"Alright Van." Yukari
said speaking for the first time and smiling at Hitomi.
"Merle, please ask the
maids to prepare six guest bedrooms in this hallway." Merle nodded and
walked off.
"Your High-" Jair
stopped at Van's grin. "I mean, Van, I am not a guest to Fanelia! My house
is in the village. I only come to the castle to do my daily work."
"Well, tonight, you are my
guest since you seem to be a close friend of Merle's." Jair grinned and
bowed.
"Thank you
m'lord...Van." Jair grinned.
~*~ What will happen when Kaira
arrives? And will the feast turn out to be a good one? Will Torak manage to
keep his promise not to tell? What will Hitomi's reaction be if and when she
finds out the truth? ~*~
***Author's Note***
Gak! ::smacks head:: Sorry, sorry! I know! There's
no V/H fluff in this part either! I'm sorry! I didn't know how to add it in
with about four other people standing around! But I will soo try to put in more
fluff in later chapters like I said before. I mean, Kaira hasn't even arrived
yet! Normally, I write a lot but it seems that these chapters are shorter than
expected. I'm getting the feeling that this is going to turn out to be a
verrryy long series! Hope you don't mind. Please review and tell me what ya
think! And remember, suggestions and ideas are most helpful!
*Maura*
P.S. How old is Prince Cheid (sp?)
in the series? If you know, please tell me in the review. Thanks.
