Well, this is chapter 13. Thanks for all the reviews so far ^_^ Enjoy!
When Sen finally regained consciousness, she sat up and looked around herself. She was in a large room with a high ceiling, tall windows, and on one wall was a sliding window that opened to a balcony almost the size of the room. There were potted flowers all over the balcony, vines growing along the railings… it looked like royalty had lived in this room. To add to that, Sen found herself lying on a huge bed with white sheets trimmed in gold. She was still looking around the room when somebody spoke to her.
"Good morning, Chihiro," they said. Sen turned to see Haku sitting at a table near another window. He had a plate in front of him as if he had just eaten breakfast. He probably did, since there were countless foods in front of him: Eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, rice, ham, toast, you name it. It was there.
"Where…?" Sen was becoming very confused. Hadn't they been kidnapped?
"We're at a castle… The people here, even the king, seem to think that we're people they've been expecting or something," Haku explained. "That's all they told me, anyway." He took a piece of toast and started to spread jelly on it, "Oh, they also said that they at first thought we were trespassing, since we were walking around in the woods without looking very official… That's why they caught us out there last night without really giving us a chance to react." He set down the knife he used to spread the jelly and brought the toast to Sen, sitting next to her on the bed. "The king's advisor came in a few minutes ago to see if we were really here and in the flesh…. I have no idea who they think we are though. So right now, you know as much as I do."
Sen took a bite of her toast. "Have they been waiting on us?" she asked, nodding her head towards the food on the table.
"Yeah, and they said that we could use whatever we see in this room. They even gave us permission to wander anywhere in the castle. But you should sleep some more after you finish that," he said, indicating her toast, "you still don't look fully recovered from… whatever they did to us after we blacked out… I think they were a bit rough with carrying us here; I have a few bruises, but nothing to worry about."
Sen got back under the covers of her bed and watched Haku bring the plate back to the table. He came back to the side of the bed and sat down, smiling at her. "Go back to sleep, Chihiro," he said as he ran his thumb across a cut on her cheek. It tickled when it started healing; it felt like a caterpillar crawling along her skin.
Sen giggled and asked, "Are you going to call me Chihiro from now on?"
"As long as I can. Once we get back to the bath house, though, I'll have to call you Sen again. And speaking of the bath house, I think I'll go and see where I can get a bath around here."
He kissed Sen on the forehead, left the room, and Sen fell asleep.
"You said that we were trespassing on the castle grounds; just how far out do they extend? The sun has already risen," Naomi pointed out to the man (or rather… the back of the man), who was still happily carrying her.
"Just a bit farther now," he replied cheerfully.
"And when are you going to tell me your name?"
"You'll know it once we get to the castle."
Naomi shoved her elbow into his back. She'd been doing it all night, plus a few hours since the sun had risen… She was hoping that she had given him a large bruise to poke at in the hopes he might let her down.
She craned her neck to look at Boh, who was walking slowly behind them now with hunger.
"Mister, I'm really hungry now. When will we be there?"
With some annoyance, the man turned around and said, "Just a bit farther, like I just said to your friend a few seconds ago."
As he walked backwards while answering Boh, Naomi looked the way they were headed and saw a castle growing closer and closer to them.
"By the way, what is the name of this lovely lady that I carry?"
"You'll know it once we get to the castle," she mocked, greatly irritated at the fact that he had the nerve to ask her name when he refused to give his own.
"Oh, how positively delightful!" he said with a chuckle. "I've never had the pleasure of meeting someone with such spirit!"
"I'll show you spirit…" she muttered as she jammed her elbow once more into the man's back.
"Come now, that's no way to act in front of a child."
"I suppose your behavior is any better? You're older than I am, plus you're a man, so Boh would fallow your examples, not mine! Honestly, by the time I finally get back with my friends, I wouldn't be surprised if Boh drove Haku mad with the disrespect you're teaching him to show Sen!"
"Are those the names of your friends? Haku and Sen?"
"No," Naomi lied, partly to get on his nerves and partly to protect Haku and Sen from him. Then she put her finger over her lips to Boh, signaling him to keep quiet about it.
"Huh… well I hope Haku and Sen missed you, because we're at the castle."
"What?! Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!" Naomi yelled as she started beating his back once again.
"Aw, I thought you had gotten used to me carrying you!" he said with slight disappointment.
"That was when there wasn't anybody around to stare at my butt while you carried me by," she replied flatly.
"Will you promise not to run off?"
"Well I have no choice, do I? Anybody that sees me running from you will try and stop me."
The man let her down, and Naomi started walking, but she deliberately went faster than the man, who she wanted to keep her distance from.
"Now, now, you said you wouldn't run off," he said (half scolding her and half laughing at her audacity) as he took a firm hold on her shoulders and walked her the rest of the way.
Naomi gave an exasperated grumble and reluctantly let the young man steer her into the castle, but she still had a frustrated expression that a three-year-old would have if he had to take a bath against his will. Boh fallowed them willingly, happy to be closer to getting food.
Once they got into the castle, a very important-looking woman walked up to them.
Addressing the man, she asked, "Prince Miruto, are these the other two you found in the woods?"
"Indeed they are," he said with a laugh at Naomi's expression. She was glaring at him with disbelief at how a person like him could be a prince.
"It seems that the other girl who was found is… er… well… The king wishes you to take these two to the grand suite on the fifth floor. The others were already brought there."
"Why would prisoners be in there?" he asked.
"I have to time to explain; the king wishes me to prepare the dining hall… Just bring them there and the queen will be up shortly to explain."
"Right… okay, come with me," he said to his two 'captives'. With Boh fallowing, he began to push Naomi towards the elevator. Once inside with the door closed, he asked Naomi, "So, now that you know I'm the prince of this place, what do you have to say?"
"That I still think you're a lecherous idiot," Naomi snapped. "And don't expect me to treat you like 'royalty' that you are, either."
The prince laughed loudly at this and said with relief, "Oh, I have to thank you for that! It's quite refreshing to have somebody be rude to me, for once. Most women, even when I am myself around them, if you know what I mean, get all giggly and shy around me."
Naomi was confused. "Wouldn't you, having your personality, enjoy that?"
"Not after eighteen years of it. It gets rather dull. Ah, here we are," he said as the elevator door gave a loud 'ding!' and opened. "Am I going to have to steer you again, or will you come quietly?"
Naomi had no chance to answer though, because she noticed that Boh had already gone out of the elevator and after a caterer who was wheeling around a cart of food.
"Hey kid, get back here!" the prince ordered.
"But I'm hungry."
"Yeah, yeah, you can eat when we get to the room. Now let's go," he said. He started leading the way, but for some reason, he didn't control where Naomi went. She wondered why he didn't wait for an answer, but didn't ask him. She just fallowed him for the rest of the way there. As long as she was getting to Haku and Sen, and the prince wasn't touching any part of her, she was fine.
"Right through here," he said, holding open a door. Naomi walked through after Boh, who immediately went after the food on the table. Naomi looked around at the room, and then noticed Sen, who looked like she had just woken up.
"Have you had the horror of meeting Prince Miruto?" Naomi asked her, pointing back to the prince, who was still standing in the doorway. He just laughed.
"No, I've been sleeping up here. Haku is out on the balcony; he just got back from taking a bath. Help yourself to some food… or did you already have that rice last night?"
"No. We went out looking for you and Haku, then he showed up and carried me over here."
Sen looked confused. "You remember him bringing you here? Didn't he have some servants knock you out or something?"
"No. He took, what for him would be a pleasure to carry me, himself. He's quite perverted," she added matter-of-factly.
"Um…," Sen began, worried at what the prince would do about being talked about as if he weren't even there.
"Don't worry about it; I appreciate her honesty about me, actually," he said, taking a seat on a trunk at the end of Sen's bed.
"Her… honesty?" Sen asked, hoping that it he wasn't talking about the perverted part…
"Yep."
Sen inched closer to the head of the bed.
"But anyway Sen, do you know what's going on? Aren't we supposed to be prisoners?" Naomi asked.
"Haku told me that the kind thinks we're people he was expecting… The servants here have been waiting on us, too." She looked at the prince, who was now looking very thoughtful, "Do you know why they would be expecting us?"
"I have an idea, but it seems quite impossible. My mother is supposed to be here soon and explain though," he said as he walked over to the food and began picking at it.
Haku came into the room from the balcony and sat next to Sen on the bed. "Good morning, your majesty," he said, nodding to the prince.
"Hmm? You knofw fwho I ahm?" he asked with his mouth full of ham.
"Well, the door was open," Haku replied, pointing to it.
Speaking of open doors, the door to the hall opened, and in came the queen.
"Sen has arrived, sir. She'll be with you in just a few moments."
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Anybody here ever hear of the Kabalarian philosophy? *looks around* It's some theory on how your name effects your personality. If you go to Kabalarian dot com, and type in the name Miruto to get a report on it, you'll find that a few of the details fit the prince quite well. It's rather funny ^_^ Well, I wouldn't mind some reviews on this. Even a flame or two would be appreciated. I hope to get the next chapter up soon :D Ja ne!