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Beneath Two Moons
5. Thunder Overhead
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By Jessica Lynn S. (escaflowne@opalwings.com)
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Spoilers: The entire Escaflowne series.

Warnings: Sensuality, shoujo-ai (romance between two female characters), and a bit of violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or its characters. No profit is being made from my silly fanfiction hobby. ^_^ I do, however, own this fic and the original characters in contains. Please do not post this story anywhere without asking first.

Summary: An attempt on Van's life leaves him thoroughly rattled, and his coping mechanisms are faulty. A meddling maid leaves Hitomi concerned and doubtful. Will the happiness they've finally found be shattered so soon, or will what doesn't kill them only make them stronger?

AN: Be forewarned of bit of violence in this chapter, but not quite as graphic as the last chapter's sensuality. Reason being? I like sensuality. ^_^ I don't like violence. Sensuality good. Violence bad. Sushi good. Violence bad.

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***
"If you love enough you'll lie a lot
I guess they did in Camelot"
***

Hitomi had overslept, and Van took care not to wake her. It had been a busy night, and she deserved to rest. If only he were so lucky. He had things to attend to. He kissed her on the forehead and left the room as quietly as possible, shutting the door behind him. He ate breakfast with Celena and Merle in the dinning room.

It was already mid-morning by the time that Hitomi awakened. She peered around the room with groggy eyes, wondering vaguely what the time was. A feather rested on the pillow beside her, perhaps Van's way of saying "good morning" without being present. She rolled over and hugged the blankets, inhaling his scent. She knew she was being silly, but after the activities of the previous night, she was enraptured in a newfound giddiness. A world she had never before touched upon had opened up before her, presenting endless possibilities.

A light knock came at the door, barely audible. "Hitomi, are you awake?" came Halena's hushed whisper. "I have your food."

"Oh, yes...come in." she responded.

"You must have been tired out." Halena ventured with a smirk. Hitomi nodded sleepily, not seeming to notice the connotation of her words. The future queen was obviously not a morning person. "Anyway, I would like to speak to you about something."

"Hmm?" Hitomi inquired. Her vocabulary was going to be a bit limited until she had been awake for a little longer.

"That cat-girl," said Halena, "has been causing a bit of trouble." She launched in to an account of how - before Hitomi's arrival - Merle had tried to convince Van to forget Hitomi, and subsequently threw herself at him. Van - of course - had rejected her advances, with unwavering loyalty to the woman that he loved. Halena maintained that Merle continued to speak ill of Hitomi whenever she wasn't present.

Hitomi didn't know what to say, the story seemed rather incongruent with the Merle that she knew, especially in consideration of the allusions Van had made in the library. Hearing it - whether or not it held any truth - was still enough to put a substantial damper on her mood, though. She knew she had taken Van away from Merle in some respects, but she had always assumed that Merle accepted it. Her actions would not suggest otherwise. But perhaps, deep down, the cat-girl was truly embittered.

Since Hitomi had come to live in Fanelia, it was as if life were a perpetual good dream. Maybe it was all too good to be true. Maybe she would have to wake up and realize what was really happening around her. It would be awful if Halena was right, because Merle was Hitomi's friend and she didn't wish to see her hurt. She'd have to broach the subject with the cat-girl and ascertain her true feelings on the subject. Otherwise, doubt and guilt would fester, eating away at her mind. She did not want to complicate the dynamics of the world around her any more than she had the first time she set foot upon Gaean soil.

***

Every day, some time between breakfast and lunch, the king of Fanelia walked through the garden. It was like clockwork; the pattern was totally predictable. He would sit on the bench alone, looking up at the sky or at the statue of Folken. Sometimes he'd talk to the statue. He'd say silly things like "I hope what I've done has made you proud." or "I can't wait to marry Hitomi." Though his sword hung at his side as always, he was totally off his guard in these moments, floating in some ridiculous world of childish whimsy that was terribly unbecoming to a king.

Hitomi was with her tutor, and Kipalisa had seen the cat-girl go off in to the woods with her Asturian friend earlier that morning. They posed no threat to his scheme. He heard the king's footsteps, and drew his sword, ready to spring.

"Brother," Van said, smiling up in admiration at Folken's bronze likeness, "I went to our spring last night; the one mother used to take us to. It's just as beautiful as I remember it. I also learned some rather...interesting...things about my wings. If you still have them in the afterlife, and one of those cat-girls of yours wants to touch them...let them. You won't regret it, believe me!"

Kipalisa made a face of disgust. Van was speaking of his horrid wings, and he did not wish to hear any more of it. He leaped forward, swinging his sword wildly. The blade nearly made contact with the king's head, but by some divine grace, Van ducked without a fraction of a second left to spare. The blade caught only a few strands of black hair, which were picked up and carried away by the wind as Van kicked Kipalisa's legs from under him. He fell hard, and scrambled to get back on his feet. Van stood with his jaw agape, staring at the man with dazed eyes before finally drawing his own sword. He had already given his attacker all the time he needed to regain his footing, and Kipalisa came at him again. This time Van blocked, and a flurry of clanking metal erupted. It was all over very quickly; even faster than it had started.

Kipalisa felt a sharp pain as Van's blade through his throat, and everything went black. In that blackness, he could swear that he saw a glowing sillouhette emerge. It was the form of a woman with long, billowing wings. Well, damn it. There are Draconians in heaven, too! he thought with defeated anger as he was enveloped and carried away in the blinding light ofoblivion.

***

Van stared at the disembodied head and felt sick to his stomach. He hadn't intended to kill the man. Everything happened too fast for him to do anything but react. He had engaged in a fair amount of sword combat during the war, but he had never dispatched someone so quickly and thoughtlessly before unless he had been in a guymelef. That was different; that made everything less personal. He didn't have to watch the Dragonslayers as they died at his hands. He wasn't made to see their suffering faces in the midst of his merciless onslaught. He didn't recognize the pale, bloodied face that laid before him now. The identity of his assassin was a mystery. He appeared to be an average sort of citizen, with medium-length red-brown locks, and he couldn't have been any older than twenty-five years. He had been in the prime of his life.

The would-be murderer hadn't spoken a single word, and his motives were totally unknown. They could have been discerned if Van would have been thinking clearly enough to capture him instead of killing him, but now he would never find out what drives such a man to kill his king. He would never know exactly how long this man had been sneaking around in the bushes. He didn't know if there were accomplices. He should have stayed on his guard, but Van was too busy berating himself internally to keep his wits about him now. He stared at the ground, letting his eyes shift in and out of focus as they chose to. Reality ceased to make sense.

It was as if the world was jolted from it's axis and sent toppling off in to space, spinning in every which way, and defying the laws of physics. Van staggered, hiding his face in his hands in futile effort to ward off the queasiness. Confusion and nausea wrapped around his body; squeezing the air from his throat and lungs like a large and irate python. He gasped hoarsely.

Direedus had heard the clanking of swords, and he arrived at the scene as fast as he could. He found his king standing beside a decapitated body with his face buried in his hands.

"Van-sama?" he asked softly, his voice trembling, "What on Gaea happened here?!"

Van took a single step towards Direedus before his knees gave out beneath him. He fell lethargically in to the guard's arms. Direedus supported his slumping weight, not allowing him to fall over completely.

"I guess I finally charged aggressively enough." said the king with a bitingly sarcastic laugh which held no real amusement. He did not look up. Whatever expression was on his face was hidden completely beneath his tousled hair. Direedus didn't know what to make of the situation. He felt horribly uneasy to be there at the scene of a fresh death, holding his king as if he were a child.

"Van-sama," he repeated, shaking him gently, "what happened?"

Reality snapped its bony fingers, prompting Van to compose himself a bit. He regained his footing and backed out of Direedus's grip. He looked at the corpse again, then at Direedus. "He attacked me, from out of nowhere. I didn't have the time to think." he stated, scratching his head. Despite his newfound coherency, he still looked horribly shaken.

"Do you know who he was?" the guard asked.

"No." said Van uneasily.

"Well, I guess we better dispose of him. He's not exactly the most pleasant sight. We better double the guard and put everyone on high alert."

"We should also inform the council. Who knows who he might be working for, or why he tried to kill me?"

"I'll take care of it, Van. I'll get some of the others to help. You don't look so well."

Van thought suddenly of Hitomi and Merle and his face went white with worry. Where were they? Were they all right? He had previously been too shocked to think of such things, and now his mind was racing at eighty-five miles per hour. He quickly surveyed the contents of his memory and came upon the realization that they were fine. Hitomi was in the library. There was a guard posted not far from there. Merle, wherever she was, was with Celena. Celena could beat him in sword combat; Merle had absolutely nothing to worry about.

His second worry was what would happen if Hitomi found out about this. Her visions had saved his life on more occasions than he could count, but now she was blissfully free of their torment. She had ceased her tarot readings and closed the door on the world of premonition. Would she feel responsible because of that; feel as if she could have prevented things had she only been more aware? Of course she would feel that way. She was Hitomi. Would she try to use her forgotten divining abilities to access the threat? He did not want to put her through all the psychological agony of having to see and struggle to change a harsh future all over again. He just wanted her to be happy for once, and out of harm's way. She deserved some peace.

"I don't...feel well at all." he admitted. "I will never get used to killing. I was hoping I'd never have to kill again. Do me a favor though, please, Direedus?"

"Yes?"

"Get him out of here before Hitomi or Merle come through. Do not let them know anything about this, I don't want to worry them. Send someone to the library personally just to check up on things and make sure Hitomi is okay."

"I'll do what I can, your highness." Direedus answered, understandingly.

***

Merle slumped down on her bed, irritated at time. It was still an hour until lunch was to be served, but she was famished. Her innards rumbled desperately, crying out for sustenance, but she growled at them to be patient. She had exerted herself a little too much in the forest; leaping from branch to branch as she raced Celena through the maze of trees and undergrowth. She supposed that it was a childish thing to do, but there were some childish tendencies that it seemed neither party would ever outgrow. Merle had been running on a haphazard burst of energy; practically having to force herself to be happy and make the most of her friend's short visit. She would be sad when Celena went back to Asturia. She was sad now, however hard she railed against it.

Celena was busy arranging a lovely bunch of wildflowers in a vase on the windowsill. She approached the task with meticulous care, studying the assortment from three different angles and making countless adjustments before she could be satisfied with her work.

"There you go." she said to Merle, stepping back to admire what she had done. She gave a graceful bow in the trademark chivalrous Schezar style. "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl." she said, her voice as smooth as river-polished stones. Merle growled and threw a pillow.

Hitomi peeked around the frame of the open door, giving a courteous knock on the wall rather than just entering. "It's not very interesting in here," warned Merle, "but you can come in if you like."

"It's downright dangerous in here!" retorted Celena, chucking the pillow back at the cat-girl.

"Thank you." said Hitomi, moving to sit beside Merle on the bed. "I wanted to...well, ask you about something." Merle cocked her head. "I may have been horribly oblivious, and for that, I'm sorry. If it really is true, I don't know what I'm going to do... Sometimes I fear that my presence here has alters the natural course of everything too much for me to stay and that inevitably, I will have to go home again and forget this place." Hitomi stammered. "If I'm causing so much trouble." She fidgeted with her hands.

"You're making no sense." stated Merle bluntly. "If you would have never come here,

Van-sama would be dead. The rest of us would have died either in an attack, or killing each other when Zaibach released their Zone of Absolute Fortune. In my opinion, no one is better-suited to rule than you. You have done volumes for this Gaea and Fanelia, and volumes for Van. It had been years since I had seen him truly happy before you came."

"Do you love Van?" Hitomi blurted, her lips contorting in to a frown. "Have you been...unhappy with this arrangement the entire time?"

Merle narrowed her eyes and shook her head in an aggressive no. "No, no, and no! Hitomi, I am really tired of this question!" she muttered with irritation. "I love Van-sama as my surrogate brother, and as my king. That is the extent of it."

"Okay, that is how I had always thought that you felt, but one of the handmaidens was very concerned for you.... She was insistent that you were bitter towards me. You know me Merle, I felt painfully guilty, and I had to ask you for myself."

"Was it Halena?" Merle asked as if a light bulb had gone on in her head. Hitomi nodded.

"Then that would explain it." said the cat-girl, wincing. "She acts pretty sneaky, and I don't like her. She's had it in for me since I caught her wandering through the garden the early hours of the morning. I assume that she was meeting a lover or something, and I didn't think much of it, but apparently she did. She's been making snippy little remarks and 'accidentally' burning my food since then. I don't trust her, at all." She straightened her posture and folded her arms in a physical manifestation of her disgust.

"My apologies, I didn't know. I took her to be a kind person, but you're right, she seems to have some heavy secrets." Hitomi observed. "I will have to talk to her. Behaving rudely towards you, and spreading rumors - if that was her intent - can not be tolerated. Can I ask you another question, though?"

"All right." said Merle.

"Do you and Celena..." she began, falling back in to her stammering. "Well, are you and Celena in love?"

Merle stared at her with blank and utterly-baffled expression. Celena's eyes went wide as a dark shade of red surfaced upon her pale skin.

"No." said Merle. She grabbed Hitomi by the shoulders and shook her in frustration. "I can't imagine what handmaiden told you that! Is this the official day to speculate on Merle's exotic and mysterious love life? Because I'll tell you what, I have absolutely none to speak of." She shook her head. "Generally, I like you, Hitomi. But...I don't know what's going on in your strange little brain today!"

"Forgive me then." said Hitomi, with a small smile. "It seemed a little more plausible than you pinning away for Van all these years."

"You're just one confused little girl today." Merle sighed with a sympathetic smile. "You're probably just having marriage jitters. Apparently even the strongest of relationships aren't immune to them."

"Maybe I am." agreed Hitomi. "I feel much better having talked to you though." She gave Merle a hug and left the room.

"What was that about?! About us, I mean...?" asked Celena in a small voice.

"Damned if I know." Merle responded in an equally subdued tone. They sat in an awkward and puzzled silence until their lunches arrived.

***

Van had resigned himself to his room for most of the afternoon, citing to his servants that he was tired. Everyone had let him be. He sat in bed with a glass of vino that he kept refilling, trying desperately to come down off the rush of adrenaline which still coursed through him like all the memories of war he hoped he would never have to touch upon again. He was grateful for Hitomi's absence. He did not feel as if he could put on a mask of normalcy for her; no, not yet. He was troubled by his fleeting thoughts.

Did the brown-haired man have a family out there that didn't know where he had gone; people who were worried for him? Was he just a normal citizen with a grudge against the royal family? Or had he been a Zaibach sorcerer who hadn't been eliminated in the war, coming to Fanelia with vengeance in mind? Had he been a madman who desired the throne for himself? The vast array of possibilities danced wildly through his thoughts; the dead man's face burning like a scar from the sun on the retina of his mind's eye. No amount of vino would drown it out. He drifted in and out of a light sleep filled with dreams of being strangled by headless men. He was jolted awake in a cold sweat to the sound of the door creaking open.

"Van?" he heard Hitomi ask softly. He scrambled to hide the vino under the bed before she came in, but had no time to compose himself any further. His face was sweaty, his eyes were bloodshot, his clothes rumpled and his hair stuck out in all directions. "Van!" she exclaimed in distress upon seeing him. "Are you sick?"

"No.." he said, but his voice was not very convincing.

"You look sick." she said. "I was wondering why you hadn't come out for dinner. I mean, I can understand being tired...but not that tired."

She walked over and sat down beside him. He jerked away involuntarily, pulling the covers up around him as she put a hand to his forehead. "You feel...cold." she said. She took him by the shoulders and gently turned him to face her, embracing him tightly to warm him. His body felt tense in her arms. "And...you've been drinking." she observed upon smelling his breath.

Stunned by her realization, she let go of him, her hands falling limp to his sides. Van had occasionally partaken in vino when they ate, but she had a far greater tendency to over-do it with the vino than him. He definitely had never been one to shut himself up in his room by himself to drink -- not even during the war, when he had been at his moodiest. He was very out-of-sorts, and his sudden change in behavior could only mean that something was wrong. She didn't know what could be wrong so suddenly when it had been such a peaceful day, especially after what they'd done the previous night.

He had already turned away from her, hiding his eyes. She gingerly laid a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on here?" she asked him.

"Hitomi." he said. "Please don't touch me."

She withdrew her hand with a frown. "What's wrong, Van? You're obviously not yourself. Has something happened? Have I done something wrong? Are you...angry with me?" He had seemed very happy with what she'd done to him last night. Maybe he regretted it all now? Maybe she couldn't do anything right. She felt a few hot tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"No." Van said. "You've done nothing wrong. Just please...I need to be alone now."

"I don't understand!" she protested, making another attempt to embrace him. He struggled against her for a moment before giving in, then took her by surprise by capturing her mouth in a hot, forceful kiss. The only thing she could taste was the vino. His body was shaking violently against hers, his chest throbbing with the beat of a heart that seemed to want to leap out of the skin it was encased in.

"Van?" she mumbled in to his mouth with wide-open eyes; even more confused than before. Long moments passed. He never withdrew his tongue from her mouth and she struggled to breathe through her nose. His hands made their across her back and over her hips with that same bizarre blend of trembling and force. He leaned forward, pushing her on to her back as he continued to grope her through her clothing. He was suddenly making her very nervous.

She pulled away from his kiss. "Van...stop..." she whimpered. "You're drunk."

"Yes, I am..." he whispered. "I am a horrible mess. You should just let me be."

"Van, I can't... I'm worried about you." she responded, her voice quivering.

"That's Van-sama." he quietly growled. "I am your king, and you should obey my wishes." He forced her shoulders down in to the mattress as if the violence of the act would somehow prove his point.

The hard sound of her slap echoed several times off the walls. Van stared at her, dazed, as if awakened from a dream.

"I am not one of your subjects!" Hitomi shouted. "I am a woman who loves you and has chosen to come here to be with you. But apparently, Van Fanel, I don't know you as well as I thought I did, and I am going to have to reconsider our engagement."

She stormed out of the room with tears in her eyes, slamming the heavy wooden door behind her. He stared at the empty space where she had stood. His fingers traced along the welt her hand had left in his cheek as her words sank in. He may have been drunk, but he was not drunk enough not to realize what he had just done. He was, however, too drunk to think to open the door before running after Hitomi. He hit the wood face-first and slid down to his knees, holding his throbbing forehead.

"Hitomi," he cried out in a hoarse voice, "I am so, so sorry."

She was already too far away to hear him. The thought occurred to him that she would go back to her world. It was all over. How could he have been so stupid? He curled in to a ball, hugging his knees to his chest, and sobbed violently in to the cold, hard floor.

***

Hitomi curled up in a ball beneath the table in her room, almost a mirror of Van in his own. The foundations of everything she thought to be truth were violently shaken. Her world was coming apart at the seams, unraveling before her in a chaotic heap and slipping away like thin strands of silk, falling through her fingers. All the insecurities that her chat with Merle had quieted came back with a vengeance, beating against her skull. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried until her eyes were red and puffy, and the tears would no longer come. It was then that the inquisitive cat-girl found her.

Merle crouched down and looked at Hitomi. "Oh no..." she thought aloud, "She's upset again. If I ask her what's wrong, she'll get all aggressive on me. But if I do nothing, I will feel bad. What is a cat to do?"

Without warning, Hitomi sniffled and threw her arms around Merle, squeezing her until she couldn't breathe. Merle was almost sorry she asked. She fought her way loose and patted Hitomi's back with a slightly awkward sympathy. "You poor thing." she said softly. "Why don't you come out and have some tea with Celena-chan and I? Then you can tell us what's wrong." Hitomi complied with a sniff. Merle draped her arm over her shoulder, supporting her weight as they walked to her own room where the tea was being served.

Hitomi related the incident with Van to Merle and Celena between sips, sobs and sniffles.

"I love Van. I want to marry Van." she said. Her words were choppy and strained as she spoke. "But I don't know if I can marry him after he acted that. I feel like after all this time, I only thought that I knew him. I don't know whether to try talk to him; to be honest I am afraid to. I don't know whether to just go home and leave Gaea behind forever. I don't want to. I don't want this to be all over, and I don't want to forget all of you, but it almost seems as if that is what I have to do. I was so sure of myself before I came here. Why has everything gone so wrong? What kind of cruel trick is God playing on me, waving happiness under my nose and then snatching it away just as quickly?" She slammed her fists down on the table as a sob wracked through her. Her cup of tea was teetering dangerously close to the edge. Celena quickly caught it and returned it to its previous location.

"Calm down, Hitomi. That is very unlike Van." observed Merle, momentarily dropping the honorary from his name. "Something strange must be up with him, but nothing gives him any excuse to treat you unkindly." Celena nodded silently in approval of Merle's words.

"I don't want you to leave us though." said Merle pleadingly. "I don't want you to leave Van-sama. He loves you, and I am sure he's already regretting what he did. I'm sorry for every time I was ever mean to you before. I want you to be here. I want you to be the queen of Fanelia. Please stay for a while, at least. Wait this out, see what happens. It won't be the same here without you!" Merle was surprised at the conviction of her own words, but apparently they weren't very reassuring to Hitomi. She only buried her face in her hands and continued to cry.

"Why don't you come to Asturia with me for a while? A week or so?" Celena offered, finally speaking up. "You and Merle both; you could stay at the Schezar estate. Allen would be happy to see you again, Hitomi. It will give you some time away to calm down."

"You know, you and Van-sama haven't been apart for a single day since you came here." Merle pondered. "Some time apart might do you good. You'll have a chance to calm down and think rationally about everything, and realize that not every bad thing that has happened in the history of Gaea is your fault."

"And Van will have the chance to realize how much he misses you, and what an ass he's been." added Celena.

"That sounds good, I suppose." said Hitomi, with a tinge of doubt. She knew Celena was right; there was no need to make a drastic decision so instantaneously. Going to Asturia seemed like a good idea, but she was still fearful of how everything would play out.

"Excellent." said Celena. "We leave first thing in the morning, before the dawn. Don't worry about packing, Hitomi. Eries and I can lend you everything that you will need."

"We best go to sleep now, so that we'll be well-rested for tomorrow's journey." said Merle.

"I suppose I will leave you, then..." said Hitomi, rising out of her seat.

"No." said Merle, "Sleep here. The bed is big enough for all three of us, and you shouldn't be alone."

***

The light of the stars filtered in through the windows as Hitomi crawled beneath the covers, still in her regular clothes. Most of her possessions were in Van's room - nightshirts included - and she dared not venture there. She positioned herself on the left side of the bed, only a few uncomfortable inches from the edge. It was almost symbolic for the way she felt inside, though her intention was only to crowd out Celena and Merle as little as possible.

"No, that's all wrong." said Merle, displeased. "That's my side. Move over!" Hitomi obeyed, inching all the way over to the other edge.

"No, that's my side!" chided Celena, crawling in to her right. Hitomi tried to make herself small between them, and laid very still as not to disturb them, but Merle wouldn't have it.

She snuggled up Hitomi in a manner which was very childish and innocent, draping one arm around her. Celena followed suite, laying her arm over Merle's. Hitomi inhaled deeply, a small but grateful smile forming on her lips.

"Are there knights on the Mystic Moon?" asked Celena with curiosity.

"Not really." said Hitomi. "There are still a few in some countries for strictly ceremonial purposes, but they don't have the real and important duties that you and Allen do."

"Hmm. There aren't cat-girls either, I'm guessing?" Celena asked.

"I don't think there are." said Merle. "You should have seen how much Hitomi gawked at me when she first came here. Isn't that right, Hitomi? Hitomi?" She poked at her with her free hand, to no avail. Hitomi had already fallen quite-soundly asleep.

"Wow, that was fast!" exclaimed Merle, softly. "But I'm relieved. I expected her to be up all night with everything that's on her mind."

"Sometimes it's nice to sleep and forget about it all." Celena whispered.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Merle said. Wordlessly, she found Celena's hand resting across Hitomi's back. She threaded her fingers between Celena's, who responded by giving her hand a gentle squeeze. The night was silent except for the soft echo of their breath as they found that same peaceful sleep.

***

It was late, and the last meals of the day had already been served. All the cooks had left, leaving Halena alone to clean the kitchen. Two guards who had just finished their shift stood outside the door, eating sandwiches. She recognized them as Direedus and Carnip.

"The king really made some nasty work of that crazy guy who attacked him today, so I've heard?" asked Carnip. Halena's eyes went wide and her heart caught in her throat at the words. She paused from mopping the floor to listen in to the conversation.

"Sliced his head clean off." affirmed Direedus, with much less amusement. Neither man paid any mind to the thud of Halena's mop as it slipped from her hands and hit the floor. "I was the first one on the scene. Van-sama was too shocked about the whole ordeal to do much of anything, and I was the one who had to clean up."

"Who do you suppose he was?" asked Carnip.

"None of us know." said Direedus. "I'm just hoping this isn't part of anything bigger. I curse the day I ever said that things weren't exciting enough around here. Van-sama could have died. That's not something that I ever want to happen. I would die protecting him."

More words were exchanged between the two, but Halena didn't hear any of it. She was frozen where she stood, unable even to cry. Then again, she hadn't cried in as long as she could remember. She hadn't cried when Fanelia was razed and her family perished in the flames. She hadn't cried when she first inspected her reflection after that, and seen for the first time the deep, bruise-colored scars that ran all along the left side of her body. Or maybe she did cry, she realized as she searched her memory. She had stopped crying the day she met him.

Kipalisa had been remarkably kind to her, but he was so much older than she was. She wanted him to see her as a woman, not just some sorry excuse for a little girl. She wanted to win his love. So she sucked up all her tears and ceased to shed them. She held her head up high and stayed cool regardless of what happened around her. Her efforts paid off. Kipalisa noticed. He took her in when his home was rebuilt. He told her of the secrets of the royal family and of his eventual plot to punish them for their wrongs. He grew to love her, and accepted her in spite of her disfiguring scars.

She tried to have faith in him when he said he was going to kill the king, but somewhere in the back of her mind and heart she had been terrified. She had been terrified that it would come to this. Now all the terror was gone, leaving only a void in which the truth silently echoed. Kipalisa was dead.

A slowly-trickling fountain of anger sprung within her mind and began to fill that void. "Gentlemen?" she asked the guards, poking her head out the door.

"Hmm?" asked Direedus.

"I am feeling ill. I don't think I will be able to finish my cleaning."

"I'd believe it! You look as pale as a ghost." said Direedus, worried that perhaps the talk of the severed head had been too much for a gentle lady. "Just let the kitchen be, and go get some rest. I'll have someone explain that you fell ill to the cooks that come in the morning. They'll understand. It happens to us all."

"I'll walk you to your room." Carnip offered.

"Thank you, sir. You are too kind." Halena said. Her face and voice were cold and stoic, but the anger level within her was rising. She had aided Kipalisa in his secret fight against Van because she loved him, but now things were far more personal. Van would pay for what he did. Her position was actually a wonderful one in which to exact revenge. The blindly-devoted guards may have vowed to protect the king with their lives, but his death would be so quiet that none could come to his aid.

***

Van was horribly hung-over in the morning, and his head throbbed all the more for the injury he had sustained the previous night. Sunlight offended his waking eyes, as he climbed out of bed. As he struggled to his feet, a note on the table caught his eye. He picked it up to read it. His eyes crossed; none of the letters made any sense. Perhaps it was written in the language of the Mystic Moon? It was a few moments before he realized that he had been reading upside-down. He turned the letter over.

Van-sama, it read,

Hitomi and I have gone back to Asturia with Celena-chan. We will be there for a week. Don't try to come after us. I hope you use the time to think long and hard about how you acted.

Merle

He stared at the note, wondering vaguely what Merle was referring to before the past night's events flooded back to his mind. He smacked himself hard in the forehead, further-irritating the dull ache. Then he realized with relief that if Hitomi was in Asturia, she hadn't gone back to her world. The way he had behaved was disgusting, but at least he now had the chance to set things right. Maybe it was best this way; that she was away somewhere safe while they conducted an investigation in to the assassination attempt. Still, he would miss her, and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself until he saw her smiling again.

~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Only minor changes this time; mostly a bit of expansion upon Halena's character. This chapter is rather short, but I think that it still serves its purpose.

Song Quote: "Jackie's Strength" by Tori Amos.

Site Plug: http://www.opalwings.com/escaflowne