Disclaimer: I do not down CCS or
any of its characters much to my dismay! They belong to CLAMP.
" Speech
* Thinking
~ Sound affects
() Translation
By ~Xiaoling~
Chapter 4:
The New Guards
A tall beautiful girl glided down the grand hallways of the Kinomoto Palace. Her long auburn hair swishing gently with every step she took. Sakura Kinomoto, the only princess of the Kinomoto Kingdom, was now 16, and a powerful sorceress.
But even if her face looked calm and serene, beneath that mask, she was worried sick. She was worried for her father, and for her kingdom's peace and people.
For the last couple years, the Li Kingdom had demanded for the Clow Cards over and over. They said that they were the rightful descendants of Clow Reed, and so the cards belonged to them. Now, they had even started attacking the kingdom with army men and arrows.
Sakura hated fighting, and she somehow knew that this would start a huge war between the two kingdoms. She had dreamt it, the cannons the smoke, and the smell of blood lingering in the air.
"Lady Sakura? Your carriage is ready," Mika said, walking beside the princess that she had known for sixteen years.
Mika was quite surprised at how the princess had changed through all these years. She was no longer stubborn or a trouble maker, in fact, she was kind and loving, just like her mother.
Sakura smiled, "Ok, then we better hurry!"
Sakura and Mika hurried down the hallways to the front gate where the carriage was waiting. Sakura noticed that there were less guards then usual.
"Why are there less?"
"I'm afraid that most of the guards have been sent.."
Sakura frowned thoughtfully. "I assume sent to war?"
Mika nodded sadly. "This morning, the two kingdoms declared war against each other. You were in the library then, and I decided not to disturb you."
Sakura sighed as she got into the carriage. "I really hate war."
"I don't think anyone likes it," Mika said. "But..."
"Expect the unexpected..." Sakura finished. She had gotten the line from Kero, and now she loved saying it.
Mika chuckled a bit.
The carriage started moving and they were heading for the market. Sakura loved going there now, and often went there twice a week.
When they got off the carriage, Sakura and Mika decided to look at the different clothes. Sakura fingered a soft silk cloth in her hands. It was delicate, and would easily rip. Sakura decided not to buy it, and they left the stand.
"Mika, could you go buy some bread?"
"But princ...I mean Sakura, aren't you going to come with me?" Mika said sheepishly. She had always forgotten that she wasn't suppose to call Sakura 'princess' in the marketplace.
Sakura shook her head. "I feel like going around the place alone."
"But..."
"Please, I'm sixteen! I can take care of my self fine...don't worry Mika-chan," Sakura smiled and pushed Mika lightly towards the bakery. "And I have magic." She said softly with a wink.
Mika felt a bit more relieved when she said that. "Ok..."
Sakura smiled greatfully and left for her favorite place in the market. It was at the far side of the marketplace, by a little small river. There was a rock, and she loved sitting on it to think when she had troubles.
Sakura sat on the cold hard rock, listening to the trickle of water from the stream.
"I hope this war will end..." Sakura thought softly.
Suddenly, she heard screams, and horses galloping. Her head perked up and she turned around and peered through from behind a building.
Sakura gasped. There were men on horses in armour, some holding flags with the word 'Li' on it, and they all had swords in their hands. They were killing.
Sakura felt angry, when something hit her. Mika.
"Oh god!!!" She though out loud.
Sakura saw a women running with her child, but they were running to slow.
"No!!!" Sakura felt tears bursting out of her eyes when the women got killed, leaving the child alone and running. "Poor...poor child.."
Sakura glared at the soldier that was at the front. Probably the general of the army. She quickly ran from her hiding spot and to the front of the horses, and stood there.
"STOP!" She screamed.
The general pulled at the reins of his horse, stopping inches from Sakura. He had a helmet on, so Sakura couldn't see his face.
"How dare you block the way!" He yelled. "Are you not afraid of being killed?"
"Yes, I am afraid." Sakura started. "But you can't go killing innocent lives! It's not right!"
"It doesn't matter, as long as we get what we want from the Kinomoto Kingdom, we will leave." He said.
Sakura clenched her fists tightly. "Well you don't have to kill people on the way of getting whatever you want!" Sakura screamed furiously.
"Move out of the way or you die." He said, raising his sword.
Sakura stayed put. "I will not move until you promise me that you will not kill anymore people in this marketplace!" Her emerald eyes were flaring.
The general swung his sword at Sakura.
"Jump card..." She said softly under her breath.
Transparent wings appeared on her feet and she jumped high out of the way.
The general eyed Sakura. *How'd she do that?*
Sakura landed on the roof. An idea struck her. "Sleep card, release and dispel."
She had learned how to summon her cards without her wand. Everyone around them fell asleep. Sakura leapt off the roof and to the bakery. She sighed in relief when she saw Mika still there, hiding behind a table.
"Mika! Thank god!!"
"Princess!!!? Oh my god! I was so worried! I thought you were killed or something!" The two hugged. "Why are they all asleep?"
"I put them to sleep, but I made sure you didn't fall asleep. We better hurry back to the palace and tell father about this before they wake up!" Sakura said urgently.
"We can't take the carriage...since we both don't know how to drive it.." Mika said worridly.
Sakura smiled and pulled out the fly card. "But we can fly! Fly, release and dispel!"
Wings appeared on her back and on Mika's. Mika was shocked, but soon recovered.
They flew above the city and back to the palace as fast as they could. When they got there, Sakura ran down the hallways almost knocking over a maid holding a platter of tea.
She bursted into her father's room where he was talking with her mother. "Father!"
"Sakura? What's wrong?"
"The...~pant~, Li Kingdom!!! They ~pant~ attacked the marketplace!!" Sakura panted, dropping onto a chair.
Fujitaka jumped up from his sitting position and slammed his fist against the coffe table. "What?! They attacked already?! But we just declared war this morning! How could they attack so quickly?!"
"Maybe...maybe they had planned all this already." Queen Nadesiko guessed.
Fujitaka looked furious as he stormed out of the room. "I will go prepare the armies quickly. We don't have any time to loose."
Sakura and Nadesiko sat silent for a few moments.
"How did you survive Sakura?" Nadesiko asked softly.
"I put them all asleep...I...I couldn't kill them." Sakura said, looking at the carpeted floor.
Nadesiko smiled softly at her daughter. "I am glad that you didn't kill. Killing is wrong, you know that."
Sakura nodded, "Excuse me mother, I will just be returning to my room."
"Very well...and Sakura?"
"Hm?"
"Please, don't leave the palace anymore. It is to dangerous." Nadesiko frowned.
Sakura nodded werily and left the room. She frowned sadly as she remembered that little child that was left all alone in the market, since his mother was killed. Sakura sighed softly, and walked into her room and flopped onto the bed.
Kero fluttered over. "Did you buy me anything?!" He said hopefully.
Sakura rolled over and frowned. "Sorry Kero, I couldn't! The Li Kingdom attacked the market place...it was horrible Kero!!! There was blood on the floor, and screaming!"
Kero frowned, "Oh no...that's horrible..."
"Yeah...I hope nothing like this
will happen again..." Sakura sighed.
Sakura awoke as the first rays of some shone through her window. She groaned softly and stretched her arms in the air.
"Mika?" She called.
No reply.
Sakura got up slowly, and slipped into her slippers. She peered out of her room, to find that Mika wasn't there. She walked down the hallway and asked a nearby maid.
"Do you know where Mika is?"
"She's in the kitchen cooking for the arrival of the new guards, princess." She replied.
Sakura nodded and thanked her. *New guards?* She stopped the maid again. "Wait! Where are the new guards?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Mika told me to give you this." The maid handed over a slip of paper. "That should explain it all I think." And she left down the hallways.
Sakura unrolled the slip of paper in her fingers.
Dear Princess Sakura,
Your father has heired more guards
for the castle, and this morning they will be all meeting in the ballroom.
It is a welcome feast for them and your father wishes that you attend it.
I'm sorry that I am not there, but I must help out in the kitchen! See
you soon!
Mika
Sakura frowned. She still hated feasts and parties. It was such a bore! She quickly ran to her room where some maids were already waiting.
"You are to wear this your highness." A girl said, holding up a light green puffy dress that had pearls on it.
Sakura nodded and changed into the dress while the other maids fixed her hair with clips decorated with pearls. Sakura slipped on a necklace and matching earrings and then into matching light green high heels. She put on white matching gloves with pearls decorating the rims.
Sakura walked down the halls, the maids trailing behind her. Sakura wanted to scratch her hair, since her tiara was making a hair pin poke into her scalp.
The maids opened the ballroom doors for her, and she stepped into the room. All eyes turned to her, and she smiled at them all and took her seat next her brother.
"Late again squirt?"
Sakura blinked innocently and stomped on her brother's foot. Touya scowled and acted as if nothing happened.
Sakura looked around the room at
the new guards for the palace. One of them caught her eye though. He had
brown messy hair, and deep amber eyes. Somehow, she felt that she had met
him somewhere before.
AN: Well, I guess you can all guess
who this is! Who else has brown messy hair and deep amber eyes?! LoL ^^
But the question is, what the heck is he doing as a guard in the Kinomoto
Palace?! Something's going on here ~.^
