*waves at Assena, Penchy-chan and our new reader Rosethorn* Hi girls and guys (or just girls...) Don't we feel priveliged that Raen's on a roll and is typing out more chapters than...*looks over to discarded pile of essays* ...anything else? Yes we do! Yay us.
Penchy-chan, sorry about the shortness of the last chapter (I thought it was quite long...but then it took me how-long to write? I've got 14 written on my hand reminding me to update before I go memorise my Spanish speech and learn about Socrates and try and keep warm, it's COLD!!!) Erm. Anyway... where you see ** means an A/N at the bottom, just for you...
Hiya Rosethorn, glad to see I'm still picking up a few readers (i think a lot of people go 'blarg, 14 chapters, i'm not reading that' and find something shorter, but yay, hi you!)
*takes deep breath to say something to Assena...* *stops* hehe, that would be telling.
I'm evil and loving it ^_^ Ok, on with it...
The Saiyan Prince and -reputedly, as far as Palace gossip was concerned- the future Queen slipped back into the Palace the same was that had slipped out; through a small window in the far east wing of the Palace. Trunks had recovered from the shock of finding out who the knife belonged to by the time they were both inside; he remembered the strength yet litheness of the one who had tried to kill him, and knew that matched Sena's build exactly, he sighed. There was still the motive that he had to figure out, and Trunks wondered if he'd see Sena later, but right now he was curios about something else.
"What did he give you?" He asked, as Lushka pulled the window closed.
She pulled the leather tube out of her pocket. It was as long as one of Trunks' hands, and about half the width. Her fingers ran over it, searching for an opening. "There's obviously something inside it," she said, holding it up closer to one of the lamps lighting the hallway.
"Let me look." Trunks said, and took the tube. Near one end was a very small catch, Trunks flicked it open with his thumb, and a piece of paper fell from the inside of the hollow tube.
Lushka reached down and picked it up. Her eyes shotting over the paper as she read.
"What's is say?" Trunks asked.
Lushka read the note again. Then out loud. "Girl, drop the enquiry right now, or I'll drop your head from your bedroom balcony."
"Ha," Lushka said shakily. "Little bitch doesn't scare me."
"That's not fair." Trunks said.
"What?"
"That's not fair that you should be in danger because someone's after me."
Lushka half smiled thankfully. "Um, we should go. There's the First Night banquet tonight, for the tournament, and there'll be an uproar if we're both not there."
"Oh goodie." Said Trunks, with as much sarcasm as his young self could muster. "The food's great, and everything, but I'm already sick of banquets, and that evil throne, and those eviller clothes."
"You should turn up dressed as you are now, that would cause an uproar- or a new fashion trend- and exchange the throne for a wooden crate." Lushka giggled at the idea.
"And we could hire someone to paint question marks all around it, as an indication of my state of mind."
They both laughed, finding the image all the more amusing because of the paper in Lushka's hand and the weight on Trunks' mind.
"I better get changed anyway, If Mother sees me walking around dressed like this, she's have kittens." Lushka said. "I'll see you tonight."
"I'll walk you to your rooms." Trunks said. "And promise me you won't go walking anywhere alone."
Lushka smiled again as his concern, but smiled with her head turned so he wouldn't see it. "I promise." She said.
"Thanks. Now let's get going, I'm hungry." Trunks said. Lushka nodded, and off they went.
Sena was thankful she wasn't one of the Krinchi that waited on the banquet tables tonight. It would be a very long night else, and she wanted nothing more than to go to bed early and escape her life in sleep. Lying on her bed, she had the covers wrapped tightly around her for warmth and comfort, and was thinking about the promise the Prince had made her, to get her mother back from those stinking Arkosians. She smiled into her pillow as she thought about it, and wondered when next she would have contact with her father, when she could tell him. She was looking forward to the look on his face, his joy, when she told him as much as she was looking forward to see her mother again.
She tried not to think of what the Arkosian's would do, once her mother had been taken from them. She hoped that Prince Vegita was not starting a war, their civil war was bad enough. But she so desperately wanted a whole family-she didn't even think of her eldest brother, he was not part of the family, but she spared a thought for the brother sent away as a child- again that she really didn't care, and didn't mind how selfish this made her feel either.
She sighed, and closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
The banquet was just as Trunks had predicted: good food, otherwise rather boring. Someone who apparently considered himself to have musical talent had written and performed -badly- a ballad about him and Lushka, while Trunks tried desperately to hide behind his goblet.
It ended in the early hours of the morning, and before Trunks went to sleep he talked to the guards outside his room.
"Tonight, I want two of you to go and guard the Lady Lushka's room. I don't care how many guards she's already got, I want her to have two more. She's in danger."
The four guards exchanged glances, and there was a silent pause before two of them bowed, and marched off down the hall. Trunks thanked them, smiled and went to bed.
He was woken, some immeasurable amount of time later, by a loud ceaseless banging on his door. Trunks sat up, looked around in confusion, yawned and got up. He grabbed his scouter on the way to the door, knowing that whoever was knocking probably couldn't speak his language, and he wanted to tell them off.
"What?" Trunks demanded as he opened the door. "Oh kami." He muttered, freezing in his place.
Lying on the floor were the two remaining guards, and they were both very much dead.
Trunks' stomach awoke enough to inform him it wanted to throw up, and he closed his eyes and put a hand over his nose. He took a deep breath, and braved a look at the wall where there had been writing, last time.
Again, there was blood writing. But Trunks didn't need his scouter to read the words, they were in plain, earth language. 'Big mistake.'
Trunks got dressed with super human speed, he couldn't find any footwear so ran off down the hall barefoot, flying over the mess outside his door. He pounded down the halls until he reached Lushka's rooms, where he banged on the door with a heavy fist.
A sleepy eyed female Krinchi opened the door and bowed. 'What can I do for you, Highness?"
"Get me Lushka." Trunks said, and Lushka appeared down the hall, fully awake and wrapped in a blue silk robe. "Are you alright?"
"Of course, Prince Vegita." Lushka curtsied, and dismissed the Krinchi. "Why would I not be?"
"Someone killed the guards outside my room," Trunks explained. "I had sent some to guard you, and I thought..."
"You shouldn't have done that Trunks." Lushka said.
"Why?"
"Had there been more guards they could have caught your killer." She said, sounding annoyed with him. "I do thank you for your gesture, but do try and think next time."
"Who is it?" A crisp voice called from down the hall, and Maroda poked her head out of her bedroom. "You Highness? To what do we owe this visit?"
Trunks looked curiously at Lushka, her reaction was unexpected, and rather hurtful. "I was just...making sure your daughter was safe." Trunks said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have someone else to talk to." He bowed slightly to them both and raced back off down the hall. He hadn't lied, he didn't want to talk to someone else. This was the last straw, and he had to find Sena.
Maroda looked at her daughter. "He cares for you." She said.
"I know. And if his assassin had attacked tonight he could have been himself killed." Lushka frowned.
"Mmm." Said Maroda thoughtfully. "Go to bed child." She said, closing the door between the Palace and their own rooms, then retiring to her private room. "Good night."
"Good night Mother."
Trunks found his way to the store room where they'd found the knife, it was the only place he could think of where there would definitely be Krinchi, he hoped. The middle ages one was still there, half asleep over a pile of books, but he woke up when Trunks opened the door.
"I need to find a Krinchi." He said. "Her name is Sena, do you know her?"
"Don't have names milord." The Krinchi answered, as if the Prince was testing him.
"Don't argue with me!" Trunks yelled. "I need to find her!"
The Krinchi swallowed. "Y-yes, milord, I know o-of her."
"Thank you." Trunks said. "Lead the way."
There was a loud banging on the window that jolted Sena and her other roommates from sleep. She sat up first, being the least tired as the others had all served at the banquet. There was someone at the window, hovering far above the ground. Sena crawled to the end of her bunk and opened it.
"Sena." A voice hissed. "You're in trouble, get out here." Sena recognised Pasha's voice, and it's desperate tone. "Now, girl!"
Sena crawled out the window, and Pasha grabbed her arm to keep her from falling, while she sorted herself out enough to fly on her own. Her roommates woke up enough to see her disappear, and one got up to close the window. "What did you do?" She whispered out to her friend and the stranger.
Sena shook her head. "I have to go Penchy, I don't know if I'll be back. Take care." Pasha pulled her arm hard, and the two flew off into the night.
"What did I do?" Sena asked.
Pasha looked at her best friend's daughter. "You were careless. There are rumours flying all over the city that one lilac haired young boy and a companion were dressed as commoners inquiring about a knife used to try and kill him. Larran saw his with his own eyes."
"That old sleaseball? You believe him?"
Pasha squeezed her arm so hard it hurt. "That matters not! You left the knife just lying around! How stupid are you?"
"I didn't! I swear! The knife I used I destroyed that same night, after seeing you for the bracelet." She saw the look on Pasha's face and repeated. "I swear it. I did not leave a knife lying around."
"Well...whatever happened, a knife was found, the two kids went to Kalin's shop, and Kalin gave a very accurate description of you when they asked who had bought it."
"I didn't." Sena repeated. "I-"
"You swear, I know. But if you think anyone other than us is going to listen to your story then you've lost what little sense you had." Pasha said. She didn't mean to be so hard on the girl, but she'd never be safe again in the Palace, which meant that the Rebel's had just lost their inside source of information. Not a position easily gained.
Sena was silent. "Thanks- for coming to get me."
"Na, you may not be the brightest spark, but you're...a worthwhile kid." Pasha admitted.
Sena smiled. "I'm not a kid." Pasha patted her head.
"Yeah kid, I know."
Trunks stomped down the hall in rather a bad temper, and nearly tripped over one of the hides carpeting the hall and kicked it.** Once arriving, he banged on the door of the room the Krinchi led him to probably harder than necessary. A timid sleepy woman opened the door, and Trunks's guide looked at her apologetically.
"This is Sena's room?" He asked.
The sleepy face looked surprised at one of her companions being given a name by one so high up in the pecking order. "Yes highness." She squeaked.
"Can I speak to her?"
She didn't want to say no for fear of getting blasted, so opened the door wide enough for Trunks to see the empty bed. "She's not here milord."
"Where is she?" Trunks asked. "I have to talk to her."
The woman pointed out the window. "Sorry, milord."
"When?"
"Just now, milord."
Trunks felt cheated, then didn't know what next to do. If she had run away, then didn't that mean she really did try and kill him? And the guards? And left that note? Trunks looked up at the Krinchi, who were waiting for orders. "Um, go back to bed." He muttered, and left.
He didn't go back to his room, he found another window, flew out of it and set himself down on the highest point of the Palace roof, sparing a thought for all the window-climbing-out-of he'd done today, and -not that he knew it- Gohan had been doing too.
There was a little bird poop, even up here. Trunks laughed a little, but his heart wasn't in it, and he thought of Earth and his mother and Gohan and then couldn't even pretend to laugh.
He needed to find a way off this planet where he didn't know what to believe. Sena had seemed to wronged by the Council, and was counting on him to set things straight. So if she was the one trying to fool him was everything she'd said about the Council lies?
But how was he supposed to leave Lushka to whatever Sena would deal out? Trunks sighed and drew his knees under his chin, and watched the lights of the city beneath him. It wasn't a cold night, maybe beyond the reach of the city's fires it would have been cold, but even at the pinnacle of the Palace, it wasn't cold. There were no stars, the sky was too light, a sickly orange colour from the lights reflected off bits of cloud; but there was a half moon in the sky. Trunks watched it, thinking that could be Marunkre, where the krular grew.
Now that Trunks though about it, Arienla hadn't even been on the planet for breakfast that morning, had she? He couldn't quite remember but a good many emissaries had been introduced to them as they arrived and he hadn't met her until the moment before the tournament. And if she had organised to have poison put in his food while she wasn't there, then why did she show up at all and risk being arrested?
Trunks thought to sort it out in the morning. At this lonely moment the roof was his haven and he didn't feel like meeting with anybody. He picked at a tile and watched little pieces of roof dust blow away on the wind and tried not to think about anything. It wasn't working. He missed Bulma and Gohan too much. Either of them would know what to do. Either one of them could have handled things better. Either one of them would be on their way home by now, but not Trunks. He was stuck on the roof of a Palace where all -imost/i- of its inhabitants said it belonged to him. The other few were trying to kill him. Trunks' face was getting hot and his eyes were becoming blurry as steaming tears filled them.
He wasn't a Prince, he was just a ten year old who wanted to go home.
**Hehe. There ya go Penchy-chan! Trunks kicked hide! *snigger* Stay tuned to see if other things in your email come to pass (hopefully not in such a smartass way ^_^)
Am going to go write more now that the tv's stopped blaring and i can concentrate, see you all later.
Next up: Sena's origens...(3 dots)