~An American Miko~
Chapter Twenty-Four
Empress Or Nothing
"He's WHAT?! Your Majesties! You're obviously not thinking strait! You must consider."
"Enough!" Hotohori and Myst had called their counsel together to tell them about Tasuki and Hakurou, and said counsel had just stepped over the line. Hotohori was not going to have it and was on his feet with the shouted word and a wave of his arm.
The advisors had never quite seen this kind of display of emotions from him before. They shut up at once and bowed their heads to the floor where they kneeled before the dais.
Myst had anger written on her face and Hotohori's aura almost flared he was so angry. This argument about them bringing the strange man who was not a seishi with them had been going on for some time now, then they dropped the bomb about Hakurou's previous occupation.
The anger rang in Hotohori's voice as he stayed on his feet. "How dare you presume to question me and say I am not thinking strait! Am I not the Emperor? Are you not just the advisors? You are here to advise."
One of the advisors looked up, interrupting. "Then we advise you."
"Silence!" The voice boomed so loud the guards standing outside the door jumped. "Guards! Remove this disrespectful man from my sight!"
"Sir!" Two guards came and took an arm of the man each, escorting the advisor out of the throne room.
Hotohori went on speaking to the remaining advisors. "Hakurou is a good man and my friend. No one, is to act in a disrespectful manner to or around him. Is that clear?!"
"Yes Your Majesty!" The advisors slowly picked their heads up.
Myst touched her husband's hand and the Emperor sat back down regally. Myst sat a little straighter as she laced her fingers with Hotohori's on the arm of his throne. "Hakurou is to be treated with the same respect and rights as one of the seishi. If you must have a reason, it is because he has proven himself to Hotohori and also to me. I favor him and because I am most favored by Suzaku as his Miko, those whom I favor are favored by Suzaku, even if they do not bare his mark. He is indeed a good man, as is Tasuki, who is now the new leader of the Mt. Reikaku bandits. Those bandits may one day prove valuable allies against any possible threats. If anyone takes what we have said lightly, they will be severely punished, and you may pass that along as official."
The advisors nodded. "Yes Empress!"
Hotohori waved a hand. "Dismissed!"
The advisors rose, bowed, and backed out of the room.
Hotohori stood and held his hand out to Myst. She took it and stood and he kissed the back of her hand. "It is a great pleasure to me to see you taking an equal role of power here. You are quite competent at it as well."
Myst kissed his cheek as they walked hand-in-hand down the dais. "Well I'm glad to take some of the stress from your shoulders. Most Empresses here may not have any role in power, but as long as you don't mind, I'd love to share your duties with you. We are half of the same soul you and I."
Hotohori smiled and squeezed her hand as they turned into their halls. "I would have it no other way."
They walked into their room and Myst removed her headdress. "I, my love, am hot in this circus tent and I want to go swimming before the weather gets too much cooler. Will you join me?"
He shook his head and took her in his arms. "No. There is paperwork to look over and some of my advisors would have a word with me about delegations and envoys and such. Perhaps Nuriko will swim with you."
Myst kissed him and moved out of his arms. "Maybe." She walked over and opened the door that connected the two rooms, then stepped through and shut the door silently behind her. The room was dark so she stayed quiet. She heard something shift from the bed and headed that way. She smiled as she spied the seishi-shaped lump under the blankets.
Nuriko was stretched out on his back with one hand curled up by his beautiful, peacefully sleeping face, and with the blankets down to his slim waist. The short robe he always wore to bed had fallen open and was showing the gentle rise and fall of his smooth, bare, male chest.
Myst felt her love for him flare again as his slim fingers twitched and he shifted his head slightly on the pillow in his sleep. She removed her clothes and climbed under the sheets with him. She laid over his small body, not straddling him, but just so that their chests were touching, and cupped his face in her hands. She kissed him full on the lips finally and he drew in a deep breath as they held the kiss.
Nuriko wrapped his slim arms around her and pressed her to him with his palms on her back. They broke the kiss and he pushed her hair back out of her face.
Myst smiled down at him. "Wakey, wakey Little Love."
Nuriko smirked and closed his eyes again for a few seconds. He opened them again and gave her another quick kiss. "If I could wake up like this every morning." He said wistfully.
Myst chuckled and traced his features with a gentle finger. "Then I'd have married you and not Hotohori. Is it just me Little Love, or are you acting more and more like a man?"
"Ha! More like a lovesick puppy dog."
She kissed his nose. "Well, I'm going swimming. This is most likely the last warm day we are going to have for a while and it's altogether too hot in here and in these robes. Will you come with?"
Nuriko nodded and sat up with her in his lap. "Of course. I've missed our little swims. We've been so busy lately and you're right, it's way too hot in here. That's why I was asleep."
They got up and stretched, not even noticing the state of dress, or undress, that they were in. "Yeah. I've noticed that. You almost fell off your horse a few times."
She turned and noticed that he was looking at a place seeming far off. "Ryuen? Are you all right?"
He started and forced a smile at her. "Fine. It's just a dream I had."
She took him in her arms and he hugged her back as he laid his head against her chest. "What was it about Little Love? Your past?"
He nodded. "And my future I think. Or at least a possible future. It was about my older brother Rouko. He was always a wimp and very timid while I was the one always defending him from bullies. In this dream, I saw him as I had last seen him, a little boy, looking for me and Kourin. He couldn't find us and he tripped and started to cry. Then suddenly he was older and in an ice or snow field. He looked up at me suddenly with tears steaming down his face. He reached for me and cried out my name, but just before he touched me, it was as if something drew me back away from him. I couldn't control it and he fell again only this time he didn't move."
Nuriko looked up at Myst with tears on his cheeks. "Mistyc, I. I want to see my brother again. It's been so long, but I know my parents think me a disgrace for cross-dressing. They told me to never show my face back there again."
Myst shook her head and brushed the hair tenderly from his face. "Well you are not a disgrace! You never were. I know they used to beat you badly for cross-dressing, but I think you have more than redeemed yourself. Not that I would share their values to even think that you would need to be redeemed. I honor and cherish you for your willingness to sacrifice yourself. Come. No more tears."
Nuriko nodded and smiled. "No. There's no need for tears now. So you'll help me see him?"
She tweaked his nose. "Little Love, I'll let him live here if you want."
He smiled and they turned to walk into the royal bed chambers. She put her arm around his waist and squeezed him lovingly. "We'll skip swimming and go right now, in full garb of course. You don't mind if I rag-out your parents do you?"
He laughed and shook his head. "Oh no! Not at all! It might be fun to watch. Shall we tell Hotohori?"
"Why not?"
**********
Hotohori sat at his desk with his advisors surrounding him. He looked up as Myst and Nuriko walked in. He silenced his advisors with a look then turned his full attention back to his wife and friend.
Myst was dressed in full formal court garb, complete with gold and silver headdress with four handmaidens flocking around her.
Nuriko was dressed in the new, beautiful gold and crimson formal robes of a Suzaku Seishi.
Hotohori leaned forward as they stood in front of his desk. "Mistyc, I thought you were going to take a swim. What's the occasion? Is everything all right?"
Myst nodded. "Fine Your Majesty. We just thought that we would inform you that we are going out into the city to visit Nuriko's family. He wishes to see his brother and ask him to come stay in the palace with us. I also wish. a word. with his parents."
Hotohori nodded knowingly. "Now I see why you are going formally. You will be taking at least five guards correct?"
Myst shook her head. "No. Only four. I want to emphasize the point that Nuriko is sufficient enough to protect me."
Nuriko bowed to Hotohori before he could object. "I will keep a clear watch on her your Majesty and we will be back before nightfall."
Hotohori nodded as he stood to walk around the desk and take Myst's hands into his own. "Just be careful and keep your eyes open. There is still that death threat on your life. Take your sword with you just in case."
Myst nodded and gave him a quick but loving kiss. "I will my darling love." With that she, Nuriko, and the four handmaidens left to round up their guards and the imperial carriage."
********** A.N.: The next chapter will have some more pain in it, but one of those sappy 'Your Past Doesn't Matter' parts in it. I hope you like those. There'll be some angst too, and yes... what are my sappy/angsty, parts without their share of tears? Oh yeah! Some bitching out occurs too. I made Nuriko's parents a little stupider than they might actually be, but hey, it makes for some good parts ne?! Enjoy! The next chapter is already in progress!
~Celesta Hellewise Harman
"He's WHAT?! Your Majesties! You're obviously not thinking strait! You must consider."
"Enough!" Hotohori and Myst had called their counsel together to tell them about Tasuki and Hakurou, and said counsel had just stepped over the line. Hotohori was not going to have it and was on his feet with the shouted word and a wave of his arm.
The advisors had never quite seen this kind of display of emotions from him before. They shut up at once and bowed their heads to the floor where they kneeled before the dais.
Myst had anger written on her face and Hotohori's aura almost flared he was so angry. This argument about them bringing the strange man who was not a seishi with them had been going on for some time now, then they dropped the bomb about Hakurou's previous occupation.
The anger rang in Hotohori's voice as he stayed on his feet. "How dare you presume to question me and say I am not thinking strait! Am I not the Emperor? Are you not just the advisors? You are here to advise."
One of the advisors looked up, interrupting. "Then we advise you."
"Silence!" The voice boomed so loud the guards standing outside the door jumped. "Guards! Remove this disrespectful man from my sight!"
"Sir!" Two guards came and took an arm of the man each, escorting the advisor out of the throne room.
Hotohori went on speaking to the remaining advisors. "Hakurou is a good man and my friend. No one, is to act in a disrespectful manner to or around him. Is that clear?!"
"Yes Your Majesty!" The advisors slowly picked their heads up.
Myst touched her husband's hand and the Emperor sat back down regally. Myst sat a little straighter as she laced her fingers with Hotohori's on the arm of his throne. "Hakurou is to be treated with the same respect and rights as one of the seishi. If you must have a reason, it is because he has proven himself to Hotohori and also to me. I favor him and because I am most favored by Suzaku as his Miko, those whom I favor are favored by Suzaku, even if they do not bare his mark. He is indeed a good man, as is Tasuki, who is now the new leader of the Mt. Reikaku bandits. Those bandits may one day prove valuable allies against any possible threats. If anyone takes what we have said lightly, they will be severely punished, and you may pass that along as official."
The advisors nodded. "Yes Empress!"
Hotohori waved a hand. "Dismissed!"
The advisors rose, bowed, and backed out of the room.
Hotohori stood and held his hand out to Myst. She took it and stood and he kissed the back of her hand. "It is a great pleasure to me to see you taking an equal role of power here. You are quite competent at it as well."
Myst kissed his cheek as they walked hand-in-hand down the dais. "Well I'm glad to take some of the stress from your shoulders. Most Empresses here may not have any role in power, but as long as you don't mind, I'd love to share your duties with you. We are half of the same soul you and I."
Hotohori smiled and squeezed her hand as they turned into their halls. "I would have it no other way."
They walked into their room and Myst removed her headdress. "I, my love, am hot in this circus tent and I want to go swimming before the weather gets too much cooler. Will you join me?"
He shook his head and took her in his arms. "No. There is paperwork to look over and some of my advisors would have a word with me about delegations and envoys and such. Perhaps Nuriko will swim with you."
Myst kissed him and moved out of his arms. "Maybe." She walked over and opened the door that connected the two rooms, then stepped through and shut the door silently behind her. The room was dark so she stayed quiet. She heard something shift from the bed and headed that way. She smiled as she spied the seishi-shaped lump under the blankets.
Nuriko was stretched out on his back with one hand curled up by his beautiful, peacefully sleeping face, and with the blankets down to his slim waist. The short robe he always wore to bed had fallen open and was showing the gentle rise and fall of his smooth, bare, male chest.
Myst felt her love for him flare again as his slim fingers twitched and he shifted his head slightly on the pillow in his sleep. She removed her clothes and climbed under the sheets with him. She laid over his small body, not straddling him, but just so that their chests were touching, and cupped his face in her hands. She kissed him full on the lips finally and he drew in a deep breath as they held the kiss.
Nuriko wrapped his slim arms around her and pressed her to him with his palms on her back. They broke the kiss and he pushed her hair back out of her face.
Myst smiled down at him. "Wakey, wakey Little Love."
Nuriko smirked and closed his eyes again for a few seconds. He opened them again and gave her another quick kiss. "If I could wake up like this every morning." He said wistfully.
Myst chuckled and traced his features with a gentle finger. "Then I'd have married you and not Hotohori. Is it just me Little Love, or are you acting more and more like a man?"
"Ha! More like a lovesick puppy dog."
She kissed his nose. "Well, I'm going swimming. This is most likely the last warm day we are going to have for a while and it's altogether too hot in here and in these robes. Will you come with?"
Nuriko nodded and sat up with her in his lap. "Of course. I've missed our little swims. We've been so busy lately and you're right, it's way too hot in here. That's why I was asleep."
They got up and stretched, not even noticing the state of dress, or undress, that they were in. "Yeah. I've noticed that. You almost fell off your horse a few times."
She turned and noticed that he was looking at a place seeming far off. "Ryuen? Are you all right?"
He started and forced a smile at her. "Fine. It's just a dream I had."
She took him in her arms and he hugged her back as he laid his head against her chest. "What was it about Little Love? Your past?"
He nodded. "And my future I think. Or at least a possible future. It was about my older brother Rouko. He was always a wimp and very timid while I was the one always defending him from bullies. In this dream, I saw him as I had last seen him, a little boy, looking for me and Kourin. He couldn't find us and he tripped and started to cry. Then suddenly he was older and in an ice or snow field. He looked up at me suddenly with tears steaming down his face. He reached for me and cried out my name, but just before he touched me, it was as if something drew me back away from him. I couldn't control it and he fell again only this time he didn't move."
Nuriko looked up at Myst with tears on his cheeks. "Mistyc, I. I want to see my brother again. It's been so long, but I know my parents think me a disgrace for cross-dressing. They told me to never show my face back there again."
Myst shook her head and brushed the hair tenderly from his face. "Well you are not a disgrace! You never were. I know they used to beat you badly for cross-dressing, but I think you have more than redeemed yourself. Not that I would share their values to even think that you would need to be redeemed. I honor and cherish you for your willingness to sacrifice yourself. Come. No more tears."
Nuriko nodded and smiled. "No. There's no need for tears now. So you'll help me see him?"
She tweaked his nose. "Little Love, I'll let him live here if you want."
He smiled and they turned to walk into the royal bed chambers. She put her arm around his waist and squeezed him lovingly. "We'll skip swimming and go right now, in full garb of course. You don't mind if I rag-out your parents do you?"
He laughed and shook his head. "Oh no! Not at all! It might be fun to watch. Shall we tell Hotohori?"
"Why not?"
**********
Hotohori sat at his desk with his advisors surrounding him. He looked up as Myst and Nuriko walked in. He silenced his advisors with a look then turned his full attention back to his wife and friend.
Myst was dressed in full formal court garb, complete with gold and silver headdress with four handmaidens flocking around her.
Nuriko was dressed in the new, beautiful gold and crimson formal robes of a Suzaku Seishi.
Hotohori leaned forward as they stood in front of his desk. "Mistyc, I thought you were going to take a swim. What's the occasion? Is everything all right?"
Myst nodded. "Fine Your Majesty. We just thought that we would inform you that we are going out into the city to visit Nuriko's family. He wishes to see his brother and ask him to come stay in the palace with us. I also wish. a word. with his parents."
Hotohori nodded knowingly. "Now I see why you are going formally. You will be taking at least five guards correct?"
Myst shook her head. "No. Only four. I want to emphasize the point that Nuriko is sufficient enough to protect me."
Nuriko bowed to Hotohori before he could object. "I will keep a clear watch on her your Majesty and we will be back before nightfall."
Hotohori nodded as he stood to walk around the desk and take Myst's hands into his own. "Just be careful and keep your eyes open. There is still that death threat on your life. Take your sword with you just in case."
Myst nodded and gave him a quick but loving kiss. "I will my darling love." With that she, Nuriko, and the four handmaidens left to round up their guards and the imperial carriage."
********** A.N.: The next chapter will have some more pain in it, but one of those sappy 'Your Past Doesn't Matter' parts in it. I hope you like those. There'll be some angst too, and yes... what are my sappy/angsty, parts without their share of tears? Oh yeah! Some bitching out occurs too. I made Nuriko's parents a little stupider than they might actually be, but hey, it makes for some good parts ne?! Enjoy! The next chapter is already in progress!
~Celesta Hellewise Harman