At the Palace

Part Four

They'd been in the palace for several days. Chichiri had been training Megyn. Since they didn't have Nyan-Nyans to practice on, they secretly used Tamahome. One time he was talking to one of the "women" in the harem; it was Kourin. "She" asked him if he thought "she" was beautiful. Megyn started to make him laugh which the "woman" didn't find very funny at all. She lost count of how many times she'd gotten Tamahome bitch-slapped.

Tamahome also started to teach her martial arts. She was not that bad. She was better at high kicks and punches than, let's say, horseback riding. Since she had been doing double the training, she'd been tired. She had even been too tired to eat on some occasions.

It was about the end of the second week that Megyn was walking by Hotohori-sama's room. She heard a muffled noise coming from inside. She laid her ear gently against the thin door. He wasn't talking nor doing anything else for that matter. She gently rapped on the door. There was silence. "Hotohori?" she asked softly dropping the proper suffix. "It's Megyn. May I come in?"

"Yes, please," came the muffled response. With that, she slowly opened the door and peeked in. Hotohori was sitting on his bed in a robe. His eyes, even from that distance, were puffy from wet tears.

"Are you alright?" His eyes were wide. He looked completely unlike the Hotohori that she knew. This Hotohori was a small fearful child, not regal or tall.

"I am well. What is it you want?" His voice cracked.

Megyn walked over to the bed and plopped down without waiting for an invitation. "You are not well. Tell me what is wrong," she pressed. She put her arm around his shoulders.

"I shouldn't tell you this, but…"

"Tell me. It will be all right." She stroked his hair gently.

"Well, it seems that Kutou has found out that we have found the priestess. They are looking for the Priestess of Seiryuu…"

"Seiryuu?"

"Seiryuu is Kutou's god."

"All right. I'm sorry. Go on."

"If they are looking for their priestess, then they might find you—you are from the other world after all. If that happens, they might declare war on us. They have wanted our land for many years. In fact, they might declare war on us anyway. I do not know if I will be able to handle this situation. What will happen if they wage war on us? Their military is far better than ours. What should happen if we lose? We need to gather the rest of the seishi and summon Suzaku."

Megyn felt so bad for him at that moment. He was always so calm and collected on the outside. The poor man was like this on the inside all along. "You will always have our help." He looked up at her. "We are your friends. We will always be there for you. You can always feel free to talk to us about anything and ask for our help. You aren't running this country alone anymore. And when Jamie summons Suzaku, I'll have her wish for eternal peace in Konan, I promise."

"Thank you," he said graciously. He sat up tall again. He leaned down and hugged Megyn. "Thank you. This means so much to me."

"Stop." She pushed him away. "We're friends, right?" He nodded. "That's what friends do." Megyn got up and walked to the door. Before she opened the door, she said, "We should have more talks like this. See you later. Oh, by the way, you need a woman in your life. I would recommend Kourin from your harem-thing." She opened the door and walked out. Slowly, she shut the door behind her. She walked down the hall. Hotohori seemed different somehow. She was glad she talked with him. Wait. Shit. Kourin's a guy. Oh, well. At least he's a pretty guy.

That night at dinner, Hotohori told them that they would need to leave to find the other seishi soon. "I do not want this issue with Kutou to escalate," he told them. "You must find the rest of the seishi. We have three, including me, and only four more still unaccounted for."

"Okay," said Jamie. "That can't be too hard, can it?"

"Well," began Chichiri, "it will be harder than you think, no da. We have no way of knowing where in the country the seishi might be. They may not even be in this country."

"That's true," Hotohori continued. "I will be sure to outfit you with everything you will need for the journey, and…"

"Wait," Megyn interrupted. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"Unfortunately, as the emperor of this nation, it is my duty to stay in the palace, and I will be unable accompany you."

She stood up, slamming her fists down, to emphasize her words. "But, it is also your duty as a seishi to protect the priestess!"

"I don't need to be protected, Megyn," replied Jamie offhandedly.

She then turned towards Jamie. "Everyone sitting at this table was born to protect the priestess, you. It is our destiny as well as yours."

Megyn awakened to a hard jab in the stomach, courtesy of Jamie. To return the favor, she swung her arm up from beneath the covers and tried to smack Jamie across the face. She opened her eyes and sat up.

"Get dressed. It's time for breakfast."

"Already?" she said, throwing off the covers and hopping out of bed. She grabbed one of the outfits that Hotohori had had made for her. She changed behind the screen. Emerging, she stuffed some clothes in a saddlebag because she remembered they were leaving the palace.

Jamie was sitting on the bed when a servant girl came in to see if they had any bags for the journey. Megyn gave the girl hers, and, as she had already gotten Jamie's, she left.

"Hotohori said that he had something to give to us. Going away presents," Jamie burst out. Jamie was like that. She loved getting presents. 'Gimme, gimme, gimme' was her philosophy. Megyn, on the other hand, was always embarrassed when she got gifts. She never knew how to react, so it was always kind of unnerving.

They strode out of her room, walking towards the dining room. They saw Tamahome walking toward them.

"Sheesh. You guys are so slow. I was sent to get you guys. Hotohori must be getting impatient."

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Greedy Money-grubber. Maybe I'm just a tad bit slower than his excellency's high standards," Megyn said haughtily.

"Excuse her. She must just be hungry," Jamie said, pushing Megyn ahead.

"Damn right! I haven't had time to eat in…" She did the math in her head. "Well, it was a long time. I am ravenous. Move." She pushed Tamahome aside and ran to the dining room. "Breakfast, here I come!"

She rushed into the dining room and plopped into a chair next to Chichiri. Almost as soon as the plate of food was set before her, the food was gone. Hotohori and Chichiri just looked from Megyn to the plate and back to Megyn.

"It's good to have a healthy appetite, you know," said Chichiri, smiling.

Hotohori smiled too. "I agree." Jamie and Tamahome walked in and sat down. "Now, back to the matter at hand. Which way are you planning to go?"

"I thought we would head towards the mountain, you know. I admit, they are dangerous, but the bandits are strong, too. Maybe someone will no something or someone might be…" He trailed off, not wanting to voice everyone's hope.

Hotohori nodded. "That is a good plan. I've readied three horses and all the necessary supplies." By then, everyone knew of Megyn's fear of horses.

"Ah, yes," Hotohori said when Jamie began drumming her fingers on the table. "The gifts." He pulled out twin, golden wrapped, red silk bowed boxes.

Jamie tore the paper off. Megyn carefully untied the bow and ripped the paper just enough to slide the box out.

"Wow! It's beautiful," Jamie exclaimed.

Megyn slowly opened the slim wooden box. Inside was a simple dagger with a leather sheath. She lifted the dagger out and turned it in her hands. Engraved on the sheath in the ancient letters of the world's language was:

Megyn

May this dagger

keep you safe.

Hotohori

"This is so kind of you, Hotohori-sama. But, do you think we'll actually need this?" Megyn asked.

"Let us hope not, but I want to keep you and Jamie as safe as possible." Hotohori smiled.