Chapter Nine
"No! Let go of me!" Hibari cried as Nantar, clutching her wrist, pulled her down the road toward the border. They hadn't gotten more than a few yards before Nakago caught up to them, breathing heavily and badly bruised. Nantar pushed Hibari at him again.
"Get her across the border, General!" He snarled. "I don't care how you do it!" As Nakago snatched Hibari, she caught a glimpse of a bright blue symbol on his forehead.
That's it…I remember that symbol…I was so young, and he…assassins, in the palace……blood everywhere….and that symbol…
Nakago tossed Hibari over his shoulder, quite easily considering his wounds, and hurried off down the road, Nantar at his heels waving a sword.
Hibari screamed wildly and hit him as hard as she could, but it felt like hitting rock, and it had no effect on him. From her position she could see the fight going on in the road behind them, but she couldn't see Hotohori. The Konan soldiers greatly outnumbered hers, and most of the Kutou army had fallen already, but they were so close to the border that it wouldn't matter who won, once she was on the other side.
I can't go back… there's nothing for me in Kutou…
Suddenly a half-dozen arrows fell out of the sky around her and Nakago. A cry went up from Nantar, and when she shifted to look, she saw that one arrow had found a target. Nantar had fallen to the ground, an arrow sticking out of his left shoulder. He could barely pull himself off the ground, covered in blood, a wild look on his face.
"Stop, fool!" He cried at Nakago, who halted and let out a curse. Suddenly, Hibari felt herself being thrown to the ground as another arrow struck Nakago.
Hotohori's left arm hung at his side, and he grimaced each time he had to move it. He had forced his way out of the battle, but had lost his horse. Down the road, he saw Hibari's carriage, on its side in the ditch, and three figures on the ground far past it. He lifted his sword and began to run.
Slightly dazed, Hibari opened her eyes and found Nantar leaning over her, his face red and lips pulled back in a snarl.
"I refuse…to let you go…" he panted, out of breath. "let you go…with him…and you are not…even…a real princess…and why should you be happy?" In his right fist, he clutched a dagger, and he raised this hand and shook it at her. "My last orders…from your father…were…to kill you if…if our plans did not…work…because you were….always…expendable."
He raised the dagger again, but before he could strike, Hotohori appeared behind him and drove his sword into Nantar's back. A look of shock came onto Nantar's face as he gasped for breath, but his hand, with the dagger, still swung down into Hibari's chest. As she cried out, Hotohori wrenched his sword free, and Nantar fell over, eyes clouded over with death.
"Excuse me!" The girl had appeared so suddenly at the side of his palanquin, her face so cheerful, reminding him of Hibari. The same color hair, the same green eyes…for a moment he forgot himself, remembering her face…but this girl wasn't Hibari. Hibari had died in his arms on that road, a year ago. He knew that. And still…
Later, while the girl was trying to escape from his palace, he met her again. And still she reminded him of Hibari. Her clothes were strange…but she smiled in the same way…
Once it was made clear that this strange girl was indeed the Priestess of Suzaku, he knew that he would love her. He had always hoped that the Priestess would come someday, and take away his loneliness, but he had never imagined that she would be so like another girl that had, even for a little while, done exactly that.
**Okay, I'm finally finished! I found the remains of this story today and decided I had better finish it once and for all. Sorry it was so sad…poor Hotohori…**
