November 2002

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Esca. Read on.

ALL I NEED

By Youjibaracuda

~*~FOUR~*~

Irishiko continued the decent behind the cloaked man. They reached the bottom to find a long, dark hallway with many doors on either side. The cloaked man with the candle opened the one closest to them and held the door open, motioning for her to enter.

Irishiko stepped into a dimly lit room, small with another door on the other side of it.

She turned when she heard the door behind her close, the cloaked man gone.

"It's good to see you again, Iko," a deep voice said.

Her eyes flew in the direction of the voice, only to notice a man had been standing in the dark corner of the room the whole time.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties, dark skinned, tall with broad shoulders of a fighter. He had short platinum blonde hair that seemed to stand on end and shoot off in all directions, while his piercing amber eyes had a soft glow in the torch light.

Irishiko scowled at the man, and pulling out the letter that had brought her there, she threw it on the floor in front of her.

"What the hell is this about?" she demanded.

"I suppose you wan to get right to the point then," he responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't have time to play games, Korin," Irishiko spat.

The man stepped towards her and smiled, shaking his head.

"You haven't changed a bit," he remarked.

"I didn't come here to talk about the past," Irishiko said harshly.

"Tsk, tsk, temper," he waved a finger at her.

"Damn it, Korin!"

"Shut up, Iko," he man thundered, his playful tone dissolved into a malicious snarl, "You're in no position to be making demands!"

Irishiko took a deep breath. She knew he was right, as much as she hated to be strung along. As it was, she was having a hard time keeping her hand from her sword and simply disposing of Korin.

"Alright," the man proceeded, "Let's get down to business."

"Where is he?" Irishiko asked. Her patience was beginning to wear thin.

"Here's the funny part," he began, crossing his arms over his chest, "I don't have him. But I need him."

"If you don't have him, then who does?" Irishiko asked.

"CeJalii," Korin answered simply.

Irishiko groaned. CeJalii was a ring of organized crime that was in the far west. The only thing that they enjoyed more than spilling blood was making a quick buck.

"I found out they took him about three days ago," Korin continued. "It was also then that I realized that he had made a deal with you. You were to take him to Zaibach safely. I was also surprised that you had put him here, right in the outskirt of Fanelia. I don't understand how it was that I didn't notice that your precious inventor was just outside my very door?"

Irishiko's eyes narrowed. Lancen, an inventor she met years ago, had come from Zaibach, but was seeking another place of refuge, where he could invent things and then with the Akan's help, release it for the benefit of all, as opposed to giving it to greedy businessmen that would just use his inventions for their profit and increase corruption. Korin wanted the inventor in order to sell him off to the highest bidder.

"I made it that way," she responded, "Because I knew that you are so full of yourself you can't see past the end of your nose."

Korin's lips pulled up into a sadistic smile. "That's what makes the current situation so delightful. You are going to go and get the inventor back for me."

"What?!" Irishiko yelled, insulted that he could even suggest that she have a hand in his dirty work. She wasn't his dog to fetch what he wanted.

"You have to free the inventor anyway. And when you do, you will bring him back here to me," Korin said calmly.

Irishiko began to laugh. "What makes you think that I would ever do such a thing?" she asked. "I would never help you obtain anything."

"Oh, but you'll have to," Korin said, smile still playing on his face. "You can't afford not to."

"And why is that, pray tell."

"Come and see."

Korin turned to grab one of the torches off the wall and opened the door on the other end of the room, motioning for Irishiko to follow.

They entered another small room, but there was a glass window on one side of it.

Korin motioned for her to have a look as he stepped aside.

Irishiko approached the glass, looking inside to a tiny little area. White light from the outside was shining through a small hole in the high ceiling, and it revealed the space to be a type of cell, with a door on one side of it and a cot on the opposite end.

But what was in the middle of the cell is what Korin had wanted her to see. There, lying on the dirt floor, bruised, dirty, and fast asleep within the beam of light, was a woman.

She was dressed in a light pink gown that was wrinkled, but appeared to be of fine material. The woman had honey colored hair that flowed past her waist and  small golden circlet was around her fore head.

Irishiko whirled around to look at Korin once again.

"Is that--?"

He tossed something to her which she caught in mid air. She opened her hand to reveal a ring in her palm, the Fanelian insignia of royalty catching the light.

"The Queen of Fanelia," Korin said smugly.

Irishiko clenched both her fists, the ring still in her left hand.

"You kidnapped the Queen of Fanelia?" she asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I need insurance," her companion replied, "I need to make sure that you can't be high handed about all this. It's simple: you give me the inventor, I give you the Queen. A pretty good deal if you ask me."

"You bastard," Irishiko growled.

"I'd watch your language if I were you," Korin said, turning and re-entering the room they had been in before, Irishiko in tow.
"You have a week," he said. "If I don't have the inventor by then, unharmed, she dies. It's that simple."

"Or I could simply kill you right now," Irihsiko spat.

Korin shook his head. "That would be no good. She's been given a drug that takes effect in seven days. If I'm dead, then in seven days so will she. When you bring me what I want, I will give her the antidote."

Irishiko's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, and I suggest you get some royal help," Korin said.

"What?"

"I want the King of Fanelia to personally come and claim his wife," he continued. "If he's as righteous as he claims to be, I would expect him to offer to come."

"You want a ransom," Irishiko stated.

"It's not everyday that I get to kidnap royalty," the man responded.

"You won't get away with this," Irishiko said. "You know I can find a way around this."

"I look forward to your feeble attempts," he retorted. "I suggest you get moving. The clock is, after all, ticking."

Irishiko growled as Korin turned and walked out of the room, leaving Irishiko alone.

The woman wasn't sure whether to run after him and beat Korin senseless, or just kill the first thing she could find. Neither of those options, however, were open to her at the moment, so she had to simply leave. She wouldn't give Korin the satisfaction of knowing that he had backed her into a corner.

She jumped up the stairs of the staircase she had descended earlier, skipping two steps at a time.

She got to the top and walked outside, a curious Ero following her.

"Iri-sama," he called to her as they walked to their horses.

When she didn't respond, Ero grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him.

"I think I've been very patient about all this. Now tell me, Irishiko, what's going on?" Ero demanded with searching grey eyes.

The woman sighed and loosened herself from his grip.

"I can't tell you right now," she said. "As soon as we get out of the city, I'll explain everything."

Ero nodded in agreement, knowing very well that he couldn't demand anymore from his superior.

~*~

"…so now we have to bring Lancen back and hand him over in exchange for the Queen," Irishiko summed up.

Ero let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his red hair. They had stopped just outside the city, next to a stream in order to let the horses have a drink.

"So now we have to go in the middle of CeJalii territory," Ero thought out loud. "You know they hate us. You in particular."

Irishiko grunted. "Yes. Only because I wouldn't let Jordanii take advantage of me," she said, recalling the time the CeJalii elder's son had tried to come on to her.

"So do you have a plan?" Ero asked.

Irishiko set her jaw firmly. "I'm going to have to think of one quickly. This changes everything."

~*~

TBC…

Okay, y'all, Baracuda here.

Are you guys totally confused? I'm sorry if you are, but I promise it'll be cleared up quickly. I have the plot for this defined and have promised myself not to change it or add to it so it doesn't become this kind of monster.

As for you guys that want to know where the hell Hitomi is, I'll tell you: she's in the next chapter. Promise. Some V/H action finally! ::giggle::

For those not on my A/A list: check back at the end of next week for new chappie(s)

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Always leave reviews,

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Making me happy.

--Youjibaracuda

"BYE BYE BOYS!"

"HAVE FUN STORMING THE CASTLE!"

::whisper:: "Do you think it'll work?"

::whisper:: "It would take a miracle."

--The Princess Bride