Chapter Eight
Nantar practically dragged her toward the carriages, and Hibari resisted all the way.
"You can't make me go!" She cried. "We can still make peace!" Nantar snorted but didn't reply. "Let go!" She cried again, using all her strength to break his grip on her arm. If anything, it only made him hold on tighter, and she knew there was no way for her to get away from him that way.
The moon was at its highest, and with no clouds, the courtyard where the carriages where standing was almost as bright as day. Her entire entourage was standing, waiting and ready to leave. Nakago was sitting atop his horse next to her carriage. Suddenly she realized that everyone was waiting for her, and that Nantar had intending on leaving long before she found him in her room.
"You-!" She started, but Nantar cut her off by giving her a hard shove toward her carriage.
"Get in." He snarled, yanking open the door and trying to push her in. She grabbed the sides of the doorway and tried to hold her ground, but he was much too strong for her.
"You lied to me!" She cried. "You lied to my father! You're not here to make peace!" She raised a hand to hit him, not realizing that she lost her grip on the carriage doing it, and before she could land a second hit, he had shoved her inside, followed, and slammed the door.
"Go!" He called out the window. The carriage started forward, and Hibari, who had been trying to stand was knocked over onto the seat. Nantar made no move to help her up, and when she finally untangled her skirts and sat down, she proceeded to glare at him furiously.
"You lied to me." She repeated, getting angrier by the minute. "My father told you to come here and try to make peace with Konan, and all you did was argue with them and insult them and treat me like a.servant!" She spit out the last word at him. She had expected him to be angry, even deny her accusations, but it came as a complete shock when he began to laugh cruelly.
"We weren't here to make peace, your Highness," he added sarcastically. "we were here to arrange your marriage to the Emperor. With that, Kutou could have the land boundaries your father wants, and Konan would have no choice but to let our soldiers in." Hibari stared, shocked. "The peace talks were all a front, while I negotiated your betrothal to the Emperor. Of course, I couldn't get near him, but I did find someone who was willing to listen."
"His advisor." Hibari moaned softly. "The one you were talking to in the garden earlier."
"Yes." Nantar spat. "Unfortunately, the discussions didn't go as planned. The man seemed to think I was being unfair, so I had to get rid of him, before all your father's careful planning had a chance to be revealed. And of course, we couldn't really stay after that, and I had decided that the Emperor didn't have enough interest in you to agree to marry you. As it is, now that your father's first plan has failed, we will go ahead with our invasion of Konan."
They were rushing through the city, going fast enough that anyone still awake and outside had to dive out of the way or be run over. Hibari saw their angry faces fly by. She knew she should be angry, but most of her was so shocked and confused that she couldn't think of anything else. But for some reason, Hotohori's smiling face kept appearing in her mind, and although she tried to push it away, it always came back.
"Your Highness, it just isn't possible!" An advisor on the far right cried out. Hotohori frowned from where he was seated on his throne.
"We cannot go after them without starting a war!" Another shouted.
"They killed Chan-cho!" One in the back called out.
"We cannot prove that." The first one snapped. "Your Highness, please reconsider. Would you risk starting a war for some bastard princess from Kutou?"
Hotohori's eyes flashed and he stood angrily. "They will not leave Konan without my permission. Send a hundred soldiers on horseback to retrieve them."
"But your Highness-!"
"And I will go with them!" Hotohori finished. "Get me my horse! We leave before the hour is up!"
Hibari hadn't said a word to Nantar since they left the capital of Konan and hurried east, as fast as the carriages could go. Nakago rode next to her carriage, and after catching his eye once, she frowned and kept her eyes on her lap.
Her mind raced with ideas to escape Nantar, just short of leaping from the carriage, which she had considered only for an instant. She had to warn Hotohori, she had to tell someone that Kutou was going to invade, she had to stop Nantar from getting back to her father's palace, where she would be hauled away and locked in a room somewhere for as long as they needed her out of sight.
This is all my fault, her mind cried, if I had only paid attention more in those peace talks, maybe I could have changed something.
The sun was beginning to rise, just peeking over the horizon, and Hibari hoped that Nantar considered himself out of danger and stopped the horses to rest. She knew that if they reached Kutou's border, there was no way she would ever escape.
Hotohori rode fast, ahead of the huge column of soldiers on horseback. He knew Nantar had at least 3 carriages, and he had a chance at catching up if they could only go faster.
"My Lord!" A voice cried from outside the carriage. Hibari's head snapped up. "My Lord, there are horses behind us!" It was Nakago.
"There's at least a hundred armed men on horseback!" Someone else cried. Nantar growled angrily.
"We're almost to the border!" He shouted at Nakago. "Don't stop until we cross it!"
Hibari grabbed the window and pulled herself close to it so she could look behind them. There was an enormous dust cloud rising up at least 2 miles back, but before she could look closer, Nantar grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her back inside the carriage.
"You're not going to make it." She snapped at him. "Hotohori's coming up fast."
Nantar snarled. "We're too close to the border for him to catch up." He leaned out her window and yelled to Nakago. "Send someone ahead to the nearest village and get all the soldiers there rallied and marching toward us." Nakago saluted and left the side of the carriage.
Hibari sat very still for another few minutes, hoping against hope that they didn't reach the border before Hotohori caught up, and resisting the urge to leap out of the carriage.
Suddenly, a horse appeared beside the carriage, but it wasn't Nakago's horse. A soldier, garbed in Konan colors and armor, leaned over to the carriage. "Stop in the name of the Emperor!" He shouted at Nantar. Nantar made a wild motion with his arm, and when Hibari turned back to look at the soldier, there was a knife sticking out of his neck. She screamed.
Another Konan soldier rode past, waving a sword at the driver of their carriage. Suddenly, the carriage slowed, then speeded up again, then the horses tried to turn and it was skidding sideways down the road. Despite her screaming, Hibari heard a loud crack, and suddenly the carriage overturned and rolled into the ditch. Hibari was thrown across the seat and her head cracked on the door handle before the carriage turned upside down and stayed there, dumping her onto the roof. Nantar threw open the door, and dragging her by the back of the neck, pulled her out of the carriage. Stars danced in front of her eyes, and while her head cleared, she saw a battle taking place on the road. The Kutou escort was outnumbered, and most of them were surrendering, but the Kutou soldiers wouldn't give up. They fought their way through their servants and attacked the Konan soldiers without mercy. Suddenly, Hibari was hauled to her feet as a horse glided up next to her. Nakago glared down at her, sword in hand and already bloody. Nantar pushed her at him.
"Take her to Kutou." he gasped, "don't let that Emperor get his hands on her." Nakago grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her up behind him, but she pulled her arm out of his grip and tried to run. She saw Hotohori in the middle of the fighting just before she was snatched around the waist and dragged the other way down the road. Before she could be forced onto Nakago's horse, however, an arrow flew out of the air and hit the poor beast, which reared. Nakago had been trying to pull her up behind him, and didn't have his hands on the reins when it reared, and he was thrown off onto the road. The horse took off riderless, and Hibari turned around and tried to push Nantar away from her.
Nantar practically dragged her toward the carriages, and Hibari resisted all the way.
"You can't make me go!" She cried. "We can still make peace!" Nantar snorted but didn't reply. "Let go!" She cried again, using all her strength to break his grip on her arm. If anything, it only made him hold on tighter, and she knew there was no way for her to get away from him that way.
The moon was at its highest, and with no clouds, the courtyard where the carriages where standing was almost as bright as day. Her entire entourage was standing, waiting and ready to leave. Nakago was sitting atop his horse next to her carriage. Suddenly she realized that everyone was waiting for her, and that Nantar had intending on leaving long before she found him in her room.
"You-!" She started, but Nantar cut her off by giving her a hard shove toward her carriage.
"Get in." He snarled, yanking open the door and trying to push her in. She grabbed the sides of the doorway and tried to hold her ground, but he was much too strong for her.
"You lied to me!" She cried. "You lied to my father! You're not here to make peace!" She raised a hand to hit him, not realizing that she lost her grip on the carriage doing it, and before she could land a second hit, he had shoved her inside, followed, and slammed the door.
"Go!" He called out the window. The carriage started forward, and Hibari, who had been trying to stand was knocked over onto the seat. Nantar made no move to help her up, and when she finally untangled her skirts and sat down, she proceeded to glare at him furiously.
"You lied to me." She repeated, getting angrier by the minute. "My father told you to come here and try to make peace with Konan, and all you did was argue with them and insult them and treat me like a.servant!" She spit out the last word at him. She had expected him to be angry, even deny her accusations, but it came as a complete shock when he began to laugh cruelly.
"We weren't here to make peace, your Highness," he added sarcastically. "we were here to arrange your marriage to the Emperor. With that, Kutou could have the land boundaries your father wants, and Konan would have no choice but to let our soldiers in." Hibari stared, shocked. "The peace talks were all a front, while I negotiated your betrothal to the Emperor. Of course, I couldn't get near him, but I did find someone who was willing to listen."
"His advisor." Hibari moaned softly. "The one you were talking to in the garden earlier."
"Yes." Nantar spat. "Unfortunately, the discussions didn't go as planned. The man seemed to think I was being unfair, so I had to get rid of him, before all your father's careful planning had a chance to be revealed. And of course, we couldn't really stay after that, and I had decided that the Emperor didn't have enough interest in you to agree to marry you. As it is, now that your father's first plan has failed, we will go ahead with our invasion of Konan."
They were rushing through the city, going fast enough that anyone still awake and outside had to dive out of the way or be run over. Hibari saw their angry faces fly by. She knew she should be angry, but most of her was so shocked and confused that she couldn't think of anything else. But for some reason, Hotohori's smiling face kept appearing in her mind, and although she tried to push it away, it always came back.
"Your Highness, it just isn't possible!" An advisor on the far right cried out. Hotohori frowned from where he was seated on his throne.
"We cannot go after them without starting a war!" Another shouted.
"They killed Chan-cho!" One in the back called out.
"We cannot prove that." The first one snapped. "Your Highness, please reconsider. Would you risk starting a war for some bastard princess from Kutou?"
Hotohori's eyes flashed and he stood angrily. "They will not leave Konan without my permission. Send a hundred soldiers on horseback to retrieve them."
"But your Highness-!"
"And I will go with them!" Hotohori finished. "Get me my horse! We leave before the hour is up!"
Hibari hadn't said a word to Nantar since they left the capital of Konan and hurried east, as fast as the carriages could go. Nakago rode next to her carriage, and after catching his eye once, she frowned and kept her eyes on her lap.
Her mind raced with ideas to escape Nantar, just short of leaping from the carriage, which she had considered only for an instant. She had to warn Hotohori, she had to tell someone that Kutou was going to invade, she had to stop Nantar from getting back to her father's palace, where she would be hauled away and locked in a room somewhere for as long as they needed her out of sight.
This is all my fault, her mind cried, if I had only paid attention more in those peace talks, maybe I could have changed something.
The sun was beginning to rise, just peeking over the horizon, and Hibari hoped that Nantar considered himself out of danger and stopped the horses to rest. She knew that if they reached Kutou's border, there was no way she would ever escape.
Hotohori rode fast, ahead of the huge column of soldiers on horseback. He knew Nantar had at least 3 carriages, and he had a chance at catching up if they could only go faster.
"My Lord!" A voice cried from outside the carriage. Hibari's head snapped up. "My Lord, there are horses behind us!" It was Nakago.
"There's at least a hundred armed men on horseback!" Someone else cried. Nantar growled angrily.
"We're almost to the border!" He shouted at Nakago. "Don't stop until we cross it!"
Hibari grabbed the window and pulled herself close to it so she could look behind them. There was an enormous dust cloud rising up at least 2 miles back, but before she could look closer, Nantar grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her back inside the carriage.
"You're not going to make it." She snapped at him. "Hotohori's coming up fast."
Nantar snarled. "We're too close to the border for him to catch up." He leaned out her window and yelled to Nakago. "Send someone ahead to the nearest village and get all the soldiers there rallied and marching toward us." Nakago saluted and left the side of the carriage.
Hibari sat very still for another few minutes, hoping against hope that they didn't reach the border before Hotohori caught up, and resisting the urge to leap out of the carriage.
Suddenly, a horse appeared beside the carriage, but it wasn't Nakago's horse. A soldier, garbed in Konan colors and armor, leaned over to the carriage. "Stop in the name of the Emperor!" He shouted at Nantar. Nantar made a wild motion with his arm, and when Hibari turned back to look at the soldier, there was a knife sticking out of his neck. She screamed.
Another Konan soldier rode past, waving a sword at the driver of their carriage. Suddenly, the carriage slowed, then speeded up again, then the horses tried to turn and it was skidding sideways down the road. Despite her screaming, Hibari heard a loud crack, and suddenly the carriage overturned and rolled into the ditch. Hibari was thrown across the seat and her head cracked on the door handle before the carriage turned upside down and stayed there, dumping her onto the roof. Nantar threw open the door, and dragging her by the back of the neck, pulled her out of the carriage. Stars danced in front of her eyes, and while her head cleared, she saw a battle taking place on the road. The Kutou escort was outnumbered, and most of them were surrendering, but the Kutou soldiers wouldn't give up. They fought their way through their servants and attacked the Konan soldiers without mercy. Suddenly, Hibari was hauled to her feet as a horse glided up next to her. Nakago glared down at her, sword in hand and already bloody. Nantar pushed her at him.
"Take her to Kutou." he gasped, "don't let that Emperor get his hands on her." Nakago grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her up behind him, but she pulled her arm out of his grip and tried to run. She saw Hotohori in the middle of the fighting just before she was snatched around the waist and dragged the other way down the road. Before she could be forced onto Nakago's horse, however, an arrow flew out of the air and hit the poor beast, which reared. Nakago had been trying to pull her up behind him, and didn't have his hands on the reins when it reared, and he was thrown off onto the road. The horse took off riderless, and Hibari turned around and tried to push Nantar away from her.
