The Riddle
By
Nana
Chapter 3
More Perils
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Author's Notes: WAI!!! Do you know that the original story by the Brothers Grimm is only five pages long?! Hehehe…I am having fun stretching the story a bit, though (especially in the next chapters!). I hope you guys enjoy. Reviews are appreciated.
Disclaimer: The Riddle belongs to the Brothers Grimm, and Rumiko Takahashi owns MiroSan.
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At last they left the forest behind them and continued along the path to the nearest city—the capital of the Southern Kingdom. As soon as they left the gloom of the wood behind, they felt their spirits lift considerably.
"That girl Koharu…" Hachi heard his master trail off pensively.
"Your Highness, I'm sure she's right when she says that old crone won't harm her or anything," said Hachi with as much cheer as he could muster. "After all, what good would it do that witch if she killed off her only companion? I doubt if she could rely on anybody else for her errands."
"You're right. Still…"
Still what? Thought Miroku. Even if he were able to bring her off with him, what made him so sure he could protect her?
And so he let the matter drop.
They were fortunate enough to be able to stop by a friendly inn for a hearty lunch. Much to their surprise, even though the sun was still riding high in the sky, they were advised to stay on until the next day (there were no more inns along the way until they reached the kingdom proper), but they decided not to linger in order for them to save time and reach their destination as soon as possible.
"You know," said the inn keeper a bit confidentially when they were ready to go, "you should really consider just staying for the night, even if it might mean delaying your trip for a bit."
"Why so?" asked Miroku, interested.
"This is bandit territory, you know," replied the innkeeper. "They've been especially active this year. Nine incidents this month alone. Unfortunately, their victims never lived to tell their story."
The innkeeper proceeded to tell them how bodies, shorn of all their earthly possessions, had been turning up on roadsides with increasing regularity. The thieves had never been caught.
"And they don't just limit their scope on material things. Rumor has it they've kidnapped a girl and now they're waiting for her poor father to pay the ransom," said the innkeeper as he shook his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if she turns up by the roadside soon."
But as the story went, the Prince and his servant decided to ignore the warning and continued with their journey.
While there were no more woods for one to get lost into, the road remained long and tortuous. Much to their dismay, they found that they were still on the road by nightfall—the only travelers on a lonely stretch of vacant road illuminated by moonlight.
At least this time, Hachi was confident that they would not go hungry. "Don't worry, Your Highness," he said, patting his backpack reassuringly. "I have come prepared with some food."
Miroku smiled, only half of his attention on his servant. "I don't know, Hachi," the Prince said as he stood up on his stirrups, "I seem to be able to make out some light from the distance."
True enough, a faint twinkle of light could be seen across the stretch of desolate road, and they raced toward it. Pretty soon, they found themselves in front of a two-story stone house.
Warm light poured out from the windows, and inside, they could hear a burst of laughter.
"Hmm…the inn people certainly never mentioned this," said Miroku as he got down from his saddle.
"Maybe it's—it's some sort of private residence," said Hachi uncertainly.
"Maybe," murmured Miroku. At any rate, asking for a place to stay for the night would be the most feasible thing to do, given any residence one stumbled into.
"That's a big family they've got in there," he observed as he knocked on the door.
The sound of laughter suddenly stopped inside. After a while, after Miroku repeated his knock, the door cautiously opened by a fraction and the Prince found himself staring at a distinctly gnarled, oily face, partially hidden from view by the great oak door.
"What do you want?" snapped the face as it peered at him suspiciously.
"Good evening," Miroku began. "Forgive our intrusion at this ungodly hour. We are travelers from far away and were unfortunate enough to be still on the road when night caught up with us."
The face waited.
Taking this as a sign to continue, Miroku obliged. "I was wondering if you would be so kind as to put us up for the night. Do you have some rooms?"
The face was regarding him in a new light. "That depends" it said as it assessed the Prince from head to toe. "We have a rate, you know."
"I'm sure payment won't be a problem," assured the Prince. "We're ready to pay for our board."
The door opened further, and they saw the rest of the little man with the unpleasant visage. "Come in then," he said.
As they stepped into the warm parlor, the man who had let them in turned to a group of men huddling over their drinks, and said, "boarders."
Hachi stared at the man, wondering at the way he made the single word sound as though it had a different meaning behind it.
"Boarders," repeated a burly fellow, a corner of his grisly beard going up as though he found the notion quite amusing. He turned to Miroku. "How much can you afford?"
"That really depends on how much you guys charge for a night, don't you think?" the Prince returned pleasantly.
Miroku made no indication if he were aware of the fleeting look of shuttered understanding that went through the faces in the room; nor did he seem to notice the way they were looking at him—at his serene, even features, the smooth, rich lines of his clothes. On the other hand, Hachi noticed, and he was suddenly afraid.
"There'll be plenty of time to discuss the rate, stranger," said the first fellow as he stepped in front of the newcomers. "We're short on food for guests, though. Do you have any provisions with you?"
Hachi stepped forward and showed him the fowl he had in his backpack.
"Excellent!" said the old man, clasping his hands in front of him greedily. "Bring it to our cook and she'll know what to do with it."
As Miroku was being shown to their room, Hachi made a detour to the kitchens. He found the cook easily; she was the only one there, huddled in front of the hearth.
He deposited the bird on the table with instructions to make dinner, and was surprised to find the girl clutching at his sleeve when he turned to go.
"Save me," she whispered.
Hachi stared at her with wide eyes. Before he could say anything though, she had turned back to the table and began to pluck the feathers from the raven.
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They stared at the portly figure of the servant as he left the kitchens in a fluster and headed up the stairs to attend to his master. They made sure he was already inside their rooms before they began to talk among themselves.
"Easy enough—"
"Seems to be really rich—"
"Kill them when they get down—"
Even as Hachi helped his master to settle down upstairs, little did he know that the den of thieves downstairs were already preparing their own special welcome for any traveler unwise enough to step into their parlor.
But first, some dinner.
Before the guests could even come down, the men were already helping themselves to the steaming stew their captive cook had brought out from the kitchens.
Raven stew was not exactly the best thing on the menu, but beggars couldn't be choosers, especially when the meal—and everything else that was to come later—were free pickings.
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Miroku listened carefully to what Hachi had to say about the girl in the kitchens before he stood up.
"Your Highness," whimpered Hachi. "There are twelve of them down there, and—and—"
"I know," the Prince said quietly as he patted the sword he had slung on his hip.
Two against twelve was an unfair number, but that was the hand that they were dealt with. Upon stepping into the parlor, Miroku realized that they were in deep trouble. Without their knowing it until it was too late, they had stepped into the den of thieves they had been warned about earlier in the day.
He knew there was nothing he could do except to stall and bargain for more time, rather than having those criminals at their throats immediately.
There was another problem: the girl in the kitchen…
Time was running out. They could not stay inside the room forever.
"Ready?" said Miroku, a hand on the doorknob.
Hachi swallowed hard and nodded, a pudgy hand on the hilt of his own sword.
A surprise met them as they crept out into the landing of the second floor.
Silence—absolute silence—met them from below.
"What the hell--?" mouthed Miroku as he stood with his back to the wall. Cautiously, he peered down at the parlor, and a curious sight met him.
The twelve men were slumped on the tables in varying angles, bowls of soup toppled to the floor or still steaming beside them. The cook stood there, surveying the scene in shock.
"What happened?" Miroku asked as he quickly made his way down.
"I—I don't know, my lord," stammered the cook. "They were eating out of the bowls when they just—collapsed."
Miroku took the ladle from her and examined the contents of her cauldron.
"It was the raven your servant handed me in the kitchen," explained the cook as she watched the Prince examine the meat in the soup.
"Hachi," he said softly. "You told me you caught the raven, but you never told me where you got it from."
"When I got back to that witch's hut, I found it eating off my horse, Your Highness," said Hachi.
"You mean, it was eating off your poisoned horse," clarified Miroku.
"Yes, Your Highness."
The Prince put down the ladle. He could not seem to be able to get his brows down. "And this," he said quietly," was what you intended us to eat earlier on?"
Hachi grinned weakly.
Miroku sighed. Well, he couldn't expect Hachi to be perfect, could he?
"No matter," he said, a reluctant smile crossing his face. "What's important is we never had a chance to sample it. On the other hand, this extraordinary piece of luck has saved us from a great deal of trouble, don't you think?"
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It took a while, but they were finally able to put the whole thing behind them. After they had deposited the girl safely back to her family, they were able to go about their way again. In no time at all, they found themselves outside the gates of the Southern Kingdom.
"At long last!" exclaimed Hachi. "Civilization!"
Miroku had to smile at the relief in Hachi's voice. After what they had gone through, he himself was looking forward to some rest and relaxation.
It was quite a comfort actually, to be able to arrive and see that things were just as he had remembered them. The same white, pristine walls greeted them on the outside. If his memory served him correctly, what lay inside would prove to be even grander.
He had been to the Southern Kingdom as a child; his parents had taken him along to take part in the celebration of a royal birth. The baby was a princess, as far as he could recall.
That was sixteen years ago. Even though the Southern Kingdom had maintained cordial relations with his, the ties were distant. He could only hope the King would still recognize him and accept him for who he would claim he was. Right now, though—
"Are you just going to stay there the whole day or would you at least stand aside and allow people to get through?" asked a voice dryly behind them.
Miroku turned around and saw her. And found that he could not look away.
Little did he know that he was looking upon the worst peril to beset him and his quest yet.
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