The Royal Servant

Chapter 9, Tickets and Trips

A/N: Blah! The evilness has arrived.

Disclaimers: Rumiko Takahashi. Period.

***

The heat was unbearable and Akane was ready to murder anyone who gave her the slightest provocation. The open diner by the side of the road hardly provided enough shade for everyone traveling on the journey. Somewhere there was someone laughing joyfully as they ran into a cool sparking lake. Akane just knew this and a deep, deep hatred for this person was born within her.

"Aw, can't the poor little prince handle a little heat?" a very familiar voice taunted.

Akane closed her eyes and willed herself to remain in her seat.

"Shut up! Why are you here anyway? Don't you have some getting lost to do?" another voice shot in reply.

Breathe in, breathe out, the gypsy commanded herself.

"Well, maybe you should have brought along a servant with a big leaf to fan you with!"

"Well, maybe you should stop being such a -"

"Enough!"

Queen Nabiki looked up with lazy eyes, as did everyone else in their small party who had been sitting in the small, wooden chairs, to stare at the girl who had a fuse the size of a thumbnail. Shampoo just shook her head elegantly before gazing on the scene with wide eyes.

Akane stomped over to where the two sat bickering and with strong hands pulled them both up.

"If you're both going to act like children," she stressed, "then maybe you both need a time out."

With that bold and daring declaration that, of course, was obvious to no one but Akane, the blue-haired gypsy dragged both boys to where the carriages were waiting.

Once they reached the carriages, all three were treated to the sight of a king caught in an excited discussion with the coachmen.

"Yes, yes," the king exclaimed with a slight fog to his glasses. "That's the beauty of it. You don't know when it's going to work, you see. It's completely unexpected and works on the most random people and there's no way of determining whom it will work on."

The coachman looked doubtful.

"But that's also its downfall. You're not listening. Yes, this potion would be very powerful if it worked. I'm not denying that. I'm just saying that it doesn't work-

"-all the time! We're still working on that-"

King Tendo would have continued on for some time if Ryoga hadn't snuck in a hard punch behind Akane's back and had Ranma jumping back with a loud, "Hey!"

Both the coachman and the King politely greeted the three people that had intruded upon their rather engrossing conversation.

King Tendo looked kindly at them and inquired, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Akane pasted on a smile, gave a quick curtsy and told him, "No, your majesty. I was just going to have a quick discussion with these two boys."

("Cheeky, isn't she?" somebody who was royal and by the name of Ranma muttered before receiving an elbow in his rib.)

"Of course, my dear. Of course," King Tendo nodded several times before asking the coachman, "Kyn, do you want to continue our little - ahem - debate elsewhere?"

"That would be excellent, sir," the coachman, Kyn, replied before hopping off the front of the carriage and walking off with the slightly absentminded king of Jyuan.

The gypsy girl faced the two boys, crossed her arms and glared at them.

"What?" Ranma shot out defiantly.

"It's hot," Akane drawled out as though that was the most explanatory answer possible.

"What?" came the repetitive statement from the prince who wasn't that quick on the uptake.

("Stupid, isn't he?" somebody who was not royal and went by the name of Ryo stated loudly before receiving a smack on the head.)

"We only have a while to go before the castle. You two can kill each other in the nice, roomy, cool building, okay? Now, is not the time-"

Luckily for them (well, for Ryoga), Akane could not continue on with her lecture because at that moment, another young gypsy woman decided to show up with bounciness exuding. Shampoo landed by Ranma's side and clamped beautiful arms around his waist.

"Why you yelling at my poor Ranma, Ne? He just-"

Whatever Shampoo planned to say was cut off by a rather high-pitched, unmanly shout of, "Shan, my darling! Where are you?"

Shampoo cringed, Akane smirked, and everyone was just a little bit happier when the King returned with the coachman and the journey resumed.

***

The sight of threatening gray clouds over a building that stood against a dark sky was certainly intimidating. The band of travelers all looked upon the castle with some form of trepidation and hesitation. A short and stout servant quickly ran out with a hand over their head to fruitlessly prevent from becoming soaked by the pouring rain.

"Your majesties!" the servant cried as he stood quivering before the mass of people under the umbrellas. "We didn't expect you to arrive so early."

"We were due to arrive three days ago," Nabiki informed the servant coldly which earned her a glare from the three of the young gypsies present. Mousse was too busy stumbling through the mud in search of his darling to become offended.

" Condescending woman, " mumbled Shampoo spitefully. Ne and Ryo nodded in agreement.

If Nabiki had noticed anything, she chose to ignore it.

Addressing the servant, she said regally, "Tell them to open the gates. If Queen Kasumi gets sick and anything happens to the heir, it will be your head on a plate."

"Yes, your majesty," the man cried before hurrying back inside.

As they crossed the bridge and entered the vine-covered castle, Akane whispered almost bitingly to Ranma, "Yeah, all of you nobles and royals don't look down on anybody at all."

"What's your problem?" Ranma shot back. "Nabiki's mean to everybody. Even her own husband."

The gypsy just made a disbelieving sound and turned away.

The prince turned helplessly to the duchess on his other side.

How do you win with them? his face questioned her.

Ukyo gazed silently at the back of a certain bandanna-clad head before shrugging.

You don't, her expression answered.

***

" Well, this is certainly nicer than waking up in the servant's quarters, " Shampoo exclaimed as she sat up in the large satin bed and stretched. " I can certainly get used to this. "

From her place at the end of the bed, Akane rolled her eyes. It was early and without any duties ("Oh, no, you can't work! You're our guests!" Kasumi had cried) to do, she had decided to hurry to Shan's room and wake her up. Now though, she began to think it would have been better if she hadn't. The large room was very warm despite the cold rain the night before and traces of a dead fire laid simmering in the giant fireplace. The clear windows allowed sheets of sun, like blankets, to cover the room.

Akane looked at her friend. Even after just being woken up by a thump to the head, Shan still looked beautiful and somewhat regal with her crown-like purple hair behind her. Shan would make a great princess, Akane briefly thought.

" Unless you bag your prince, I suggest you don't get used to it. And don't let grandmother hear you say that either. She'll go into her speech about independence from material things, " the blue-haired gypsy commented wryly.

Shampoo wrinkled her nose cutely at the thought of a lecture before a bright smile dawned upon her face.

" Ne! " she yelled. " Why don't you go down to the kitchen and get me some breakfast? That way, I can be full and ready to greet my Ranma. "

Akane grumbled some indiscernible words, but she still lumbered out of the room to make her way towards the kitchen.

" Thanks, Ne! " she heard Shan call out after her.

When she arrived at the kitchen door, however, the sound of conversation caught her curiosity. Now, Akane prided herself on being able to stay out of other people's business (no matter what Ryo and Shan said about her), but it was still early and she was bored. She also knew that the servants in this castle were sore at her and the others because of their suddenly elevated (temporary, she had to mentally insert) status. They would never include her in the conversation, anyhow. That's how Akane found herself standing behind the wall, beside the wall, eavesdropping.

"He's crazy, that one!" an old, scratchy voice shrieked out and Akane heard the obvious sound of something banging against a table.

"Hush, Margaret!" another female voice said. "You'll wake them."

"Margaret's right, Harlt," males voice timbered. "The man's off his rocker. This country needs a better ruler than a loon and his doormat of a wife-"

"Now, don't you talk about the Queen, Tam," the woman, Harlt, commanded (and Akane could almost picture her waving a ladle with threatening purpose). "She's a sweet girl, but she just doesn't have the heart to rule Jyuan anymore. We all know that. After what happened to her feather and then her sister, well, who could command a country?"

"That other girl - what's her name - did. She went off, landed herself a fortune with a kingdom to match. She rules with an iron fist, that one," Margaret added.

"Yes," the man said and Akane noted the sound of quick footsteps across the floor. She heard frustration in them.

Tam continued, "But she has her own country to run. She can't be bothered with Jyuan. Now, we're stuck with this King and Queen who travel all the time and can't be bothered with state affairs. We'll have to wait another two decades for another heir."

"It's too bad about that-" Margaret began, but whatever she was about the say, it was not good conversation material, because Harlt interrupted her.

"What did the King want anyway, Maragaret?" she asked, an obvious change of subject."

"Oh, the ingredients to some concoction he and Yurling are working on. Something about hereditary and orphans and children born out of wed-"

"Hey, Akane, whatcha' doin' outside the kitchen for? I've been lookin' everywhere for ya!"

The conversation inside the kitchen ended abruptly and when Harlt pushed open the kitchen door, she was greeted with the sheepish face of a certain young gypsy.

"Hello, Harlt," Akane murmured with what she hoped was an innocent and winning smile. The woman just looked coldly at her.

"I was just passing by and yeah, just passing by and not listening and-"

"isn't she funny, Harlt?" Ranma joked as he grabbed Akane's arm.

"Hilarious, your majesty" Harlt answered.

"I'll just move her along. Come on now, Akane," the prince said. He dragged a nearly immobile girl towards the south doors.

He was dragging her towards the woods.

***

"There!" said Ranma triumphantly when they reached the spot he wanted. He turned to the gypsy beside him gleefully, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. He gestured to the spot.

"Well?" he queried, his full attention on her.

Akane looked warily at him before turning to stare doubtfully at the clump of dirt nestled between the large tree roots.

"What?" she demanded. "Why'd you drag me here?"

Disappointed, but undaunted, the prince called, "Come on. Sit down."

Akane warned in a low voice, "This better not be one of your tricks, Ranma," as she did as he asked. She sat down in the squishy mud, moved her bottom around a bit to get comfortable, and settled her eyes upon him again with an expectant gaze.

"You don't feel anything?" Ranma questioned her desperately.

Akane narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"No. Am I supposed to feel something?" answered the gypsy.

"Not even a tinge of a memory? Nighttime, a moon, a prince beside-"

Growling furiously, Akane pushed herself up and past the all to dense boy.

"Jerk!" she shouted.

"What!" Ranma yelled after her.

The girl spun around with fast arms and flaring eyes.

"You jerk!" she screamed again, just to make sure he didn't forget. "Trying to reenact the precious little moments you and your little fiancee princess used to have! Sicko! I'm not your stupid princess!"

"You don't know that," countered Ranma, approaching her and not bothering to deny anything even though her accusations were way off base. "That's why you're here, isn't it? To find out if you are my -" Ranma stopped and blushed.

"If you are the princess," he finished.

After fumbling for awhile to say something smart in reply to that, Akane decided upon another "Jerk!" and stalked angrily out.

***

Huffing and torching so that she looked very much akin to a female dragon with a thorn in her side, Akane stomped her way down the long, second story hallway. If she were in any other condition, she would have jeered at forced elegance of the castle - the work of four people trying to make a habitat of animals livable for royalty. Gold-framed portraits covered the cracks in the walls and the railing was scrubbed mercilessly before being recklessly painted over. It was all a very desperate sight to behold.

However, as fortune would have it, Akane did not notice these things. She was lost in hazy cloud of anger that had fogged up her mind. How dare he! He didn't understand her at all! Not that he would even try, that jerk. How dare he presume - to even think that she - to have the nerve to assume -

So wrapped up in her anger that the gypsy could barely finish a thought, much less note the purple form coming towards her. Shampoo landed with an easy bounce in front of her accepted sister and cocked her head.

" Where's my breakfast, Ne-ne? " demanded the purple gypsy without any sign of reproach.

"Huh?"

The sound came out with all the intelligence Akane could mutter on a last second basis as she surfaced from her thoughts.

Shampoo laughed and moved to grab Akane's arm. She started walking the other girl slowly beside the railing, down the hall.

" Did you drop by to see Ryo? " she asked slyly.

" Huh? No. Why would I go see Ryo? " the other girl returned in bewilderment. What was Shan talking about?

Shampoo rolled her eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh before saying, " Anyway, I need your help, Ne-ne. "

" On what? "

The gypsy continued with eyes averted, " Seeing as how I'm going to be Queen one day, I believe I need to touch up on a few areas. As you know, my speech, outside of our language, isn't that great - "

" Oh ho! " Akane exclaimed, extracting her arm and forgetting all about the prince. " If only you have practiced when grandmother told you to, like Ryo and I did, you wouldn't be in this mess. "

Shampoo crossed her arms and gave a petulant scowl.

" Will you help or not? she demanded pointedly.

" Of course. What are sisters for? "

" Good. Now, you have to keep in mind to speak to me only in the worldly language, no matter how difficult it might be and don't hesitate to correct me, either. I certainly need all the - "

"Ah, Shampoo! Akane!" a voice yelled from the first floor. The two girls leaned over the railing that surrounded the large hold in the center of the floor. King Tendo stood there with a piece of paper in his hand and a large grin on his face.

"Just the two girls I wanted to see," he said.

"What is it, your majesty?" Akane yelled down to him.

"Now, now, Akane," he reprimanded. "Don't call me that. Dr. Tofu would be fine. I was wondering if you two girls could do me a favor by doing a bit of shopping for me. I would do it myself, but I'm quite busy and I would ask the servants to do it, but they seem to have some crazy idea that I'm not quite right in the head and I don't want to feed it or anything."

"We'll do it," Akane jumped in before he could go on.

" We'll? " Shampoo hissed by her side.

" Build up points with the friend of the family, " Akane hissed back.

"Yes, me and Ne do shopping for you," Shampoo shouted down to the first floor.

If it was possibly, Dr. Tofu's smile got even brighter.

"Great! I'll be up with the list right now," he told them and disappeared from sight.

Shampoo turned to face Akane.

"Ryo," she said simply and Akane understood.

"He can carry the stuff."

***

"Cabbages! Five tins a head! You know you want your cabbages!"

Akane always loved the marketplace. She loved the hustle, the bustle, and the sight of people who didn't care about manners or the general rule that said you had to restrain yourself in public.

"So, what's on the list?" she asked Shan, who had said list in her hands. Shan's forehead was creased with perplexity.

"Moonshod, Turnbore, Asdiful - "

"Isn't Asdiful the stuff you put in blood - "

"- to make stop bleeding," Shan finished for him. Ryoga, who had been up and training by the rime to gypsy girls pounced on him, was more alert than usual.

"What does the king want with that?" he questioned of his companions curiously.

Shampoo appeared thoughtful, but Akane just shrugged, grabbed an apple and threw a coin into the vendor's hand.

"Why does it matter?" she questioned back. "We get the stuff, we bring it back, we're done. Hey, is that tea fruit? I love those!"

She hurried over to the open store with the large quantities of fruit in front. Picking up an orange-brown fruit shaped like a box, Akane numbered the joys in her life. She wondered briefly how fruit could hold such a high position.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" a boy about her age walked over in an apron.

"No, but you can sell me something that can. How much for - "

"That money for stuff on list, Ne-ne! Not for you," Shampoo yelled as she ran towards the girl with the fruit in her hand.

"Shut up, Shan," Akane yelled back, not taking her eyes from the fruit.

"Ne-ne?" the boy in the apron asked, incredulous.

"Yeah?" Akane murmured.

Suddenly, she found herself wrapped by tight, unfamiliar arms and hauled off the ground for a good five seconds. Not one to be taken advantage of, Akane kneed the guy in the chest before hopping on the ground. The guy doubled over slightly and groaned, but didn't collapse (which forced Akane to feel an inkling of respect).

"What's the matter?" inquired Ryoga as he and Shampoo came up beside Akane.

"This weird guy -" Akane began when an out of breath voice interjected with, " - fiance."

"What?" all three gypsies cried.

With much effort, the boy straightened himself up and tried to casually shake the brown hair from his forehead.

"You grow up, but that temper doesn't change, does it?" he smirked at Akane who felt that he shouldn't be smirking with what he just did. She frowned at him disapprovingly to get this point across.

"Can't even remember me, you r own fiance. Shame on you. Tatsuo? Does that ring a -"

"Tatsuo!" Akane shrieked, which earned her quite a few looks, as she jumped to hug the boy around the neck.

"Killer grip too," Tatsuo hacked out before Akane let him go. He greeted the other two.

"Good to see you, Shan," he said.

"Good to see you too, Tatsuo," she struggled to get out and enunciate perfectly.

"Ryo," Tatsuo said shortly.

"Jerk who isn't really Ne's fiance," Ryoga answered in greeting with an accompanied dark look so that Tatsuo would make no mistake that he hated his guts.

"Let it go, Ryo," Tatsuo chuckled. "I'm not going to steal your precious Ne away. I'm married anyway."

"Really? And you couldn't even tell me?" Akane said with a feigned hurt expression.

"Well, I haven't seen you since I was eight so I think it would have been difficult to tell you," said Tatsuo. He quickly scanned the shop.

"Listen, I can close down now. You guys don't mind if I steal Ne for a few moments, do you? There's something I want to show her."

"Shampoo don't mind," Shan said just as Ryoga answered with a clipped, "We mind."

"Here," Akane said as she stuffed the money pouch and list into Shampoo's hand. "Can you do the shopping for me? I'll meet you back at the castle."

"No problem," Shampoo called cheerfully before Ryoga could protest. "Have fun, Ne-ne!"

"I will."

"Hey, what about me? Don't I have a say in -"

"Come on, Ryo. We need to shop now."

What can you do if you're a poor boy with two girls working against you? As Ryoga found out - nothing.

***

"Now, you promise this is between us?"

Tatsuo asked this as the two made their way down the cellar stairs. Akane looked at the worms crawling in and out of the walls a few inches to her left and gulped. He had pulled her into a pub of some sort, led her behind the counter and straight into what she had believed to be a wall. She had wanted to pull back as they walked down their first flight of stairs, but that would mean she was chickening out. If Akane was anything, she wasn't a chicken.

"Of course," she tried to say calmly, but it only came out a squeak.

Tatsuo smiled approvingly at her.

"I knew I could trust you. I would have written to you and told you about this sooner, but you traveled so much. You gave me the idea for this, you know."

"I did?" Akane squeaked as she watched the candle's flame flicker obnoxiously. Stupid, untrustworthy candle.

"Yeah," Tatsuo said as his eyes misted slightly, "you said when we were eight and ran away from that stupid house belonging to that old lady that smelled like burnt plastic. I remember, you said, 'If the people who watch us can't do it right, than it's only right that we watch ourselves.' Do you remember that, Ne? You probably don't, but I couldn't forget it. You were my hero."

"I was?" Akane said doubtfully, but more reassured now. She was his hero. Of course she was.

"Yeah," Tatsuo said as he pushed open a wooden door stuck between the dirt. He allowed Akane to enter and she did so only to find, in amazement, a large, clean room with wood walls. There were two tables in the center and large posters of paper laid all over. The three people in the room shot their heads up to glare at Akane.

"It's okay, guys, she's one of us. She's the one I've been telling you about," Tatsuo reassured them.

One of the more burly men eyed Akane doubtfully.

"What if she rats us out?" he grumbled.

Tatsuo blew a disbelieving breath as he closed the doors.

"Right, Ne giving us up. She hates royalty. She'd rather be buried alive then help them," he told the others. Akane though he gave a rather bad analogy seeing as how they were both alive and both very much underground.

"Tatsuo, what's going on?"

He smiled at her and opened his arms.

"A revolution, Ne-ne. That pathetic Queen and crazy King have ruled their royal thumb over us long enough. The people are taking back the land of Jyuan. We are going to make Jyuan better, stronger."

As he rambled, Akane could see the light of the candle reflecting from his eyes. His eyes were hard and desperate with a strange kind of wanting. Akane had seen that before. She had seen it in the nobles of her youth. It was the want of power.

He turned his hungry attention on her.

"All because of you. Won't you help us?"

Akane backed up. She couldn't answer.

"Won't you help us?" he questioned again, louder this time.

The word was trapped in Akane's throat like a baby bird caught in the thorns.

"Which side are you on, Ne-ne?"

***

"Where's Akane?" Ukyo tried to instill lazily into the conversation.

Ranma was bent over the pieces on the game board. He moved a piece.

"I don't know," he mumbled. "Probably off being a stupid tomboy."

Ukyo moved a piece.

"Did you guys get into a fight?"

Ranma moved a piece.

"Yeah."

Ukyo moved a piece.

"Well, aren't you worried?"

Ranma moved a piece.

"About what? She'll come around."

The game ended and Ranma lost.

***