Book Two: Return

Chapter 18: The Idealist and the Pragmatist

An Escaflowne Continuation by Louise Tjandrasjahan

The guards tensed with dread and terror as a high-pitch scream of a woman resounded from within the royal chamber. A long and gibberish painful plea then ensued, only to be met with a loud slap. Shaking their heads in great concern, they cringed as the cry resounded once again, before finally it was muffled into whimpers and finally into silence.

Their hearts almost jumped out of their chests as the king's booming command reached their ears - they always dreaded the scene that would greet their eyes inside. But of course, no one dared to defy the king, for it meant only death and death alone. Even the strongest man in Ispano would bow deep before Parnall Bardere-Ashakala. He was the epitome of fearsome charisma, to which people feel both hate and vulnerability.

Too preoccupied had they been by the prospect of taking care of Parnall's mess that they didn't hear the gentle sound of the feet padding on the alabaster ground. Dallad wore a smile of amusement on his face as he quietly approached the frightened guards, huddled together as if debating over their limited choice to follow the king's order. Bodies as big as the Freidian bears, and yet they coiled together like frightened rabbits at the king's roaring voice.

Dallad halted just a few steps away, assessing their thoughtful countenance before deciding to break the gloomy reverie, "Your king called. Will you not answer?" 

Dallad's brows furrowed in concern as the two guards leaped in alarm, their knuckles white from clutching their spears too hard. "M-Master Dallad!" Their bloodshot eyes betrayed faint trace of scorn, but the fear of Parnall's fury upon hearing any impertinence toward his beast-agent refrained them from throwing a sour remark or two. Beast people had never possessed the slightest respect among the human race in Ispano, but Dallad held the trust of their king. He could easily whispered words in Parnall's ear that would send them straight away to decapitation.

"Right away! Sir!"

An ironic smile was pasted on his lips as Dallas watched the bigger men clambered to their feet as they opened the door for him. However, he schooled his features into a mask of indifference as he acknowledged the guards' service with a nod, and stepped resolutely into the den.

Again, his intuition never failed him. A woman laid limp on the burnished gold of the floor, the pool of her blood a contrasting crimson – always fascinating if not for the unwelcome smell of it. She was half-naked, with exquisite copper skin hidden beneath the mass of silky black hair. The beauty was however marred by two deep and long slashes on each of the woman's cheeks.

Dallad halted immediately before the puddle, lest his newly polished boots would acquire a new stain. Smiling grimly at the seemingly lifeless form, he forced a customary bow, although he didn't bother to hide the accusation in his eyes.

Parnall was standing at the far end of the chamber; his face wore no expression as he cleaned up his bejewelled blade with a piece of silver silk. Calm ruled the king's countenance, but Dallad's keen sense never failed to probe the turmoil within. Sighing in defeat, Dallad decided to investigate the mess that Parnall had so unwittingly made, crouching down carefully before the puddle. Attempting to avoid touching the naked form as much as possible, Dallad efficiently performed a few customary checks and exhaled in relief when he found her still alive. Slowly he turned back to Parnall, a question in his eyes.

"She is the daughter of one of your noble subordinates, Sire." He began, careful not to rouse the king's wrath.

No answer.

Resisting the urge to shake his head, Dallad leaped to his feet and called the waiting guards to take care of the mess without waiting for Parnall's approval. The guards marched stoically inside, carefully wrapping the woman's body with the already soiled blanket from Parnall's four-poster bed, before exiting silently without looking back. If fear was in their mind at all, they would never dream of displaying it in front of Parnall's eyes. Parnall absolutely despised to see fear in the eyes of his warriors, and saw it as a great weakness. 

For a moment silence refilled the chamber as the king and his beast-agent lost in their private train of thoughts. It was Dallad who finally decided to break the stillness between them. "This will cause some commotion with Lady Tita's family, Sire. For certain, this will decrease your popularity among the noblemen. Already they are forming groups among themselves. There is no way you can tighten your supervision on them if you continue this action, Lord."

Parnall had remained undisturbed as he moved to pour himself a goblet of fine Ispanian wine. Gulping the liquid down heartily, his lips twitched at its sour taste. He smirked as he watched the remaining wine in the crystal bottle. The liquid appeared captivating in its red blood colour, and its promise was the promise of sweetness, and yet sourness was the only thing it could offer. It signified the nature of his people. And of course, his people promised him a lot of things – loyalty and the unquestionable obedience – but insincerity always tainted their promises.

The wretched girl was a perfect example. Her family – noble as they claimed they were – had offered her to be his one of his concubines. He had accepted the offer disinterestedly for the sake of etiquette only, for the family had been his fiercest defender from the start of his reign. But when the time came for him to claim his prize, the worthless creature suddenly opened her mouth and…

His ashen face ceased to smile as he eyed the clogging blood on his right wrist. The girl had been brave, yes, but foolish. And her eyes…how fiery her eyes were. How despicable! She had sunk white pearly teeth into his wrist, thinking she could claim back a handful of her pride that way.

How Ardinesque.

Soon the memories of her abrupt but valiant surrender back during his onslaught on Fanelia clouded his head. Alarmingly the memories brought searing pain in his chest, as if Ardine herself had come and stabbed him through physically, avenging the death of their parents and the fall of her dynasty. In his mind's eyes, Ardine looked menacing with dripping blood on her neck and a scimitar in one hand. 

And in his moment of temporary blindness, Parnall had unwittingly destroyed the girl's face, only realising that he had committed an error after the clouds of his nightmare vanished.

Poor Lady Tita. She probably despised being the pawn in the game of politics that her family played and decided to take the opportunity to rebel. What happened to her was most unfortunate, though he could still justify her action as defiance to the king. And perhaps the wounds that she had received on her lovely face were nonetheless a just and suitable punishment.  

Nevertheless…

"Dallad, come near." He commanded, his eyes never leaving the swirling content of his goblet. Somehow the red liquor had intensified the image of his last encounter with Ardine, even to the unbearable point. 

Dallad stirred from his position, lowering his hands from the folded position on his back as he watched Parnall's inner struggle. He had served the young king long enough not to underestimate the heaviness veiled behind the shade of his golden orbs. It was anger; anger directed towards oneself, the kind that brewed slowly and destroyed one's inner realm inside out.

"What's wrong, Dallad? I told you to come near,"

The king's surprisingly gentle command made him realise that he had been holding his breath. He exhaled in a gentle rush, his lips quirked ironically as he rearranged his composure and neutralised his face. He refused to appear to be daunted by the young boy, regardless his kingly status. He nodded firmly as he approached Parnall, inwardly pleased with the control he exerted over his own emotions. No one – no one – shall catch Dallad with his emotions open under broad daylight. For him, his inner world was something others could not take from him, even in his lowliest status as a slave.

"You word, my lord?"

Parnall let out a weak smile as he gestured toward Lady Tita's limp body before finally spoke, "Arrange the best chamber you could find for her, and have the royal physician examined her wounds. I do not wish to see her smooth skin blemished."

Parnall's command was certainly the last thing Dallad had expected to hear, for Dallad soon whipped his head up and almost starred at the king in something akin to shock and bewilderment. True that there was no way he was able to perceive Parnall's ways of thinking, but to care for the woman he almost condemned to death was beyond Dallad. It was as if two different persons reside in the same body, the same shell who was now staring grimly at the bloody mess one the floor.

But Dallad knew better than to question the king's judgement. Parnall had released him once from eternal slavery, and Dallad had vowed ever since to follow the young monarch without the slightest question. He had become a free man, and yet he subscribed freely to the life of servitude as Parnall's agent.

And this included the present situation. He would be very lucky indeed if Parnall decided to enlighten him later on.

Suppressing a sigh, Dallad retreated to fetch the guards and ordered them to both take care of the lady and the bloody floor. Much scrubbing must be done indeed.

"This way, milords." Hefting one torch in one hand, the burly cottage owner motioned for the heavily cloaked figures behind to follow him to the basement, the keys attached on his waist jingling as he half skipped on the stairs. He should consider it an honour these noblemen had chosen his place for their meeting, but he couldn't help wondering about the purpose of their meeting. Of course, he knew better than opening his mouth. He reckoned the lordies would be able to arrest him just by lifting up their little fingers. Best to stay silent and keep out of trouble altogether.

The lordies were following him silently, sometimes whispering among themselves. He had strained his ears, but he was unable to make sense of anything. He just managed to catch the word "Van" and "the king", so they must be on duty by the decree of his majesty. He should not have cared, especially that he was on the receiving end of the bargain. He should have been thankful those lordies chose his cottage's basement and not some other places. After all, visitors were hard to come by in this age of war, and it was difficult to make money these days. The generous sum that the customers had paid for his silence had worth more than his rooms' tariff. His wife and children needed the food, and judging from how his friends had fared so far, he should have considered himself lucky that he was at least still able to provide some meals on his table. He wasn't about to blow his chance to make a decent living.

Nevertheless, these people were suspicious. He had heard rumours that a lot of people somehow blamed the king for the last horrible attack, and that the king ignored people's pleas to remove the foreign princess from Fanelia. They said the king had betrayed his own country. Well, he had never seen the king from nearby, but he had seen him twice, first in his welcome-back procession and second in his wedding procession. The king was a little bit young, but he seemed to be a decent man altogether. The king didn't appear to be the traitor type to him.

"Well, are we near there yet?" a forceful voice broke his reverie. The voice sounded cold, unfeeling. For a moment the cottage owner almost regretted renting his basement to those strange cloaked people.

"In a moment, milord. Well, here we are!"

The cottage owner felt those people's eyes on his back and knocked on the wooden door with one dirty knuckle. And then he held his breath and waited.

"I am not receiving visitors at the moment." A muffled voice answered from inside, his tone was impatient.

"The visitors you are waiting for, Master. Er…" the cottage owner stepped aside abruptly as one of the cloaked men brushed past him and pronounced deeply, "It's me,"

There was a short pause before the answer finally came, "You may come in."

The man smirked beneath his hood and opened the door swiftly, stepping aside to allow the other man come into the room. With one nod he dismissed the cottage owner and closed the door behind him, removing his hood as he did so.  Golden hair spilled on his shoulders as he did so, and the dim light finally revealed a black patch on his right eye.

In the middle of the room, a man in black knelt with his head down as he greeted the newcomers, "General Gaudi de Fanel. It's been a long time."

Brushing the courtesy aside, Gaudi proceeded to sit on the available chairs. He motioned to the other still-cloaked figure and gestured him to sit beside him as well. Pouring himself a goblet of nectar, he stole a glance at the reclined man and said, "What have you found so far? Well, we may begin with Lady Merle's whereabouts."

"I can only tell you that it is indeed very strange, my lord. She seemed to disappear into the thin air. I've already contacted my agents in the three other kingdoms and made inquiries about the lady, but none of them managed to find anything."

Gaudi narrowed his eyes, thinking very hard, "Is there really no information at all?"

"It was easy to make investigation in Asturia and Freid, especially that Lady Merle is well-known over there, but…"

"But what?" Gaudi raised one eye-brow, his tone curious.

"Ispano…it seemed to be too impossible to penetrate their layers. Everytime I sent an agent into their camp, he would soon be unheard of."

Arranging his sitting position, Gaudi attempted to catch his companion's reaction innocently. He was not disappointed. He saw the others flinched ever so slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead he encouraged the agent to continue.

"Go on,"

"However, some of them managed to return my message. Their messages are not very clear and appeared to be hastily encoded as well. In summary, some of them mentioned that the king kept a prisoner in the dungeon while the others mentioned a heavily guarded guest chamber. It was not clear, however, if Lady Merle was inside or not."

Gaudi signalled his agent to stop. Time to make the other inquiries. "How about Fanelia's current state?"

"Someone from the court's inner circle seemed to spread rumours among the peasants. This has caused some unrest; especially that Fanelia's state of economic was not very superior at the moment."

"There is nothing new about that," Gaudi replied in a bored voice. "I've heard some of the rumours: that we are going to war against Ispano. But there is not going to be war. You can see in your last investigation that the Ispanians are pretty much dormant at the moment. The war will happen only if they attack us first, which is quite impossible at the present time."

The agent's voice sounded a bit alarmed as he continued his report, "But there is something going on under their so-called 'dormant' state, Your Excellency! My sources pinpoint that there are some underground activities in Ispano."

Rubbing his chin gleefully, Gaudi bared his teeth and pointed out, "It appears to me that there is some trouble brewing in Ispano as well, perhaps right under Parnall's nose."

"And in our kingdom as well." Gaudi's agent supplied gravely, his slumped shoulders appeared to shrink even smaller if possible, "There was a great unrest among the people that the king actually keeps Lady Ardine as his ward. They are unable to overlook that she is the Ispanian king's twin sister. This fact alone is the one that triggered the rumour about the war in the first place."

Gaudi's knowing smile disappeared upon hearing this piece of information. His fear all this time had been proven right. He understood Van's decision to keep Ardine under his wings, but the consequence was bad for his political image. Regardless the fact that Ispano had abandoned Ardine as their future queen, the princess was still the relative of the king who led an unanticipated attack on Fanelia. Gaudi himself was torn between the devotion to his country and the devotion to the princess. He was still exploring his feelings, but he felt obliged to protect the princess at all cost.

At his agent's silence, Gaudi realised that there was nothing more to report. Waving his hand, he dismissed the other man and nodded his consent as he asked for permission to leave.



Parnall had locked himself in the solitude of his office the moment he dispatched the order to clean up the mess in his chamber. So there he was now, excusing himself from his kingly duties in the court room using the unread military development proposals as his excuse. The truth was, he wasn't even in the mood to pore over jargons and difficult calculations about some new machinery. Instead, he used the quietness to think of what had just happened about an hour ago.

He discovered two things about himself after the incident. First, as much as he hated to admit the fact, he was afraid of Ardine. Ardine was still alive, and that meant she could always come back to Ispano to overthrow his position and claim the throne. He had made a great mistake by releasing Ardine. He should have known better than giving her a chance to rebuild her power and perhaps return to Ispano.

Second, he was aware that Ispano may not be in a better situation as he led himself to believe. His agents had reported some underground activities led by the former king's loyalists. His fears were also doubled over the fact that Fanelia had stationed several agents in his army. He tried to uncover their camouflages one by one, even consulting the ex-Zaibachan scientists who were at the moment working for him to arrange a mass indoctrination for the members of his army. He had been reckless. He had been underestimating Fanelia's ability to rise from the ashes.

In truth, he was aware that it was quite impossible to crush Fanelia in the first assault, and he was aware of the risk of awakening Fanelia's vigilance. Despite being the smallest, Fanelia was still one of the AFFI kingdoms – not an easy target to destroy. He thought he was buying Ispano time to perfect its army of guymelef. On the contrary, he had awakened the lion in Asturia, and perhaps the dragon in Freid.

Staring intensely at the report before him, he was trying to absorb whatever information that his scientists had provided. It seemed like a proposal of the rebuilding of Alseides. Parnall was aware of the fact that Alseides was one of the strongest guymelefs ever created during the war, having witnessed Dilandau Albatou trained several times in his childhood. Nevertheless, as an Ispanian, he was also aware of the greater technology that was hidden in Escaflowne, Ispanian ancient masterpiece that was currently under the possession of the king of Fanelia.

People thought that Ispano still held the source to Escaflowne's technology, but the truth was that it was long gone with the oldest race and first generation of Ispano. He had dispatched his people to look for the ancient ship and hunt down the ancient parchments about their departure, but their search always came to nothing. The last time he heard, his agent reported the ancient parchment being in possession of King Dryden Fassa – the more complicated to retrieve it, especially as Asturia became rather hostile toward Ispano.  

He needed someone to support him. At first, he thought he would be able to pour his heart's content to his mother despite the fact that she could barely grasp what he was actually saying. He thought her presence itself was enough. However, things were not as wonderful as what he had fantasised. He was not even certain his mother recognised him. What he had planned as re-bonding between mother and son was crushed by the fact that his mother would never be cured.

As well, his newly acquired position as the king of Ispano raised the need of a strong woman who was able to match his ambition and become the anchor of his mind. He needed someone who would reinforce his status as the king of Ispano, a prominent noble from one of the great kingdoms of Gaea perhaps. Surely if he chose wisely, he would gain a strong alliance with that other kingdom. 

He needed a warrior. A woman warrior.

The corners of Parnall's lips curved up as his memory flew back to the moment when he first saw Celena Schezar among the fire that engulfed the castle of Fanelia. He was unable to see the lady's face very clearly as he was tucked high inside his guymelef, but what a piercing pair of icy blue eyes! But such things were expected from the former owner of Alseides. As a child, the tale of Dilandau Albatou's combats was legendary, and once he had seen the young commander trained with his subordinates from the confinement of his quarter. Parnall could never forget how the sun of that day glistened against the silver strand of the wiry young man, so swift and flexible in his sword dance.   

Ironically, young Parnall later learnt the truth. Dallad had managed to salvage Zaibach's restricted documents from Zaibachan underground agents. The documents stated that Dilandau was not genuinely a male, but rather the result of a series of laboratory experiments on a girl named Celena Schezar. What was the lady's age? Certainly she was much older than Parnall.

Nevertheless, she was worthy of a whole kingdom, or at least that was what Parnall managed to assess during their brief meeting – the first time after she turned back into Celena. The light that had shone brightly in the eyes of Dilandau Albatou lurked behind those transparent blue, disguised under her prim lady-like manner and Schezarish haughtiness. Dilandau Albatou was still alive.

And he would be the one who possessed Dilandau's brilliance…in the form of Celena. Celena's presence as his queen would bring him power…and glory. Yes, he would think of a scheme that would deliver her to him no matter how much it would cost. He would send Dallad to Asturia with the proposal soon.

Parnall's thought halted as his eyes rested on the bookshelves that was the secret entrance to the dungeon where his mother's chamber was. For a moment he was considering a visit to his mother's den. However, knowing well enough that his mother would not even regard his existence, should he even care?

But he had already known the answer. He cared. And he wanted his mother to feel it even if it was for a split second. With a heavy heart, he stepped into the darkness before him and prepared himself for a monologue.

However, once again he halted in his track as he remembered something else. Dallad had told him some interesting report about his Fanelian prisoner. Perhaps he should have visited the cat-lady? He was sure his mother could wait. 

It was something that Gaudi thought he would never think to do, but at the moment, he wanted to scream his head off. He sat silently there, somewhere in the middle of the airless basement – his silence extended even long after his agent had left. His companion did not dare to interrupt him, having been seated just the opposite.

Shaking his head slowly, Gaudi could feel an ironic small forming on his lips. He had not yet sorted the shock he received in his mind upon hearing Hitomi's vision – he had heard before that the queen was able to see the stealth-cloaked Alseides, but he dismissed this as old wives' tale. Common folks always had the habit of exaggerating war legend, but it was the first time he had witnessed such ability and the image of Hitomi's figure reclining on the ground was strongly imprinted in his mind.

And the news from the agent taxed him as well. He didn't show his frustration, but he started to feel rather worried, especially as his mind was making connection between Hitomi's vision and the report of the social unrest among Fanelian common folks. Damnation! Who was the person who had been insane enough to spice up the already heated Fanelia with more rumours? The agent had his suspicions on Fanelian court's own inner circle, but Gaudi found it difficult to believe. There was also this possibility that other kingdoms decided it was the right time to jeopardise the already fragile Fanelia's security and sent their own agents to wreck more havocs.

Glancing briefly at his companion, Gaudi finally decided to break the silence and raised his voice, "Well, Your Majesty, what do you think?"

The other threw his hood back slowly, revealing the black mass of his hair and a pair of sharp ruby eyes. He bit on his lower lip and supported his chin with his fist as he was thinking, his left knee bobbing up and down in disquiet. "If what your people reported is true, that means it will be soon before the rebels declaring their existence. The question was: how to suppress this, or even better, eliminate the whole nonsense."

Gaudi gazed at his cousin without the slightest trace of expression, although Van's response had surprised him. Van had always believed in democracy despite his monarch status. Did he feel threatened? "Perhaps we could arrange an audience with the leaders of the groups, if they ever revealed themselves in the first place."

Van rose to his feet, hands clasped behind his back as he walked toward the direction of one of the torches hung beside the door. He kept his countenance calm, but Gaudi could see his hands trembling slightly. Was he afraid? Angry?

"Bloody hell!"

Gaudi lifted his face at the curse. It had been a long time since he caught Van cursing openly, especially ever since his reunion with Hitomi. The news of the potential uprising must have disturbed him very much. Van was a proud man; was it possible that he resented the challenge to his status?

He would never find out if he didn't ask. "Cousin Van, I am just wondering if…"

Van turned back to him and gazed into his eyes askance. Suddenly Gaudi felt his throat going dry. He was unable to ask whether it was in Van's best interests to protect his own position or to defend his people from inward threats. Asking the question was the same as betraying his good faith in the younger man. He felt horrible for accusing Van of something that was still unclear while it was clear that the young king needed his full support, having his authority both challenged and tested.

Van hadn't known the whole story. But again, rumours usually never reached the ears of the people in concern. There was something more – people heard that even before Ispano attacking, Van had intended to wed Ardine as his second wife, and that he had been neglecting Fanelia's security because he had been having problems among himself, his current queen and Ardine. People assumed it was the reason why Ispanian army was able to so easy to penetrate Fanelia's defence. Their king had been drowning in pleasure and neglecting his kingly duties.    

"Van, I…"

"There would be civil war," the younger man blurted out all of sudden, causing Gaudi to bit back his words, "A lot of people would die. These rebels understand nothing of the things happening in my court."

Gaudi was silenced by Van's last sentence. Van was right; these people didn't understand what Van had done for them so far. He could feel the heat travelled up his ears – he was ashamed of himself, ever doubting Van in the first place. The Van whom he knew would never abandon his people in exchange of fortune and absolute power. And Van loved his queen dearly – he would never exchange her for anything in this world.

Smiling lazily, Gaudi leant back in his chair as he regarded Van in undisguised pride – half knowing what his cousin would decide in the end, "What should we do, Your Majesty?"

Van's ruby eyes brightened at this question, a single confident smile decorated his lean features, "You know what to do. You have my confidence, Cousin."

Merle sighed in longing for the old dungeon in the basement despite the richness around her. At least she could attempted escape there. Dallad did not place her in a similar prison since the day he discovered her trying to pull the bars out of the small window of her cell. Instead, he had shown her one of the king's guest rooms and ordered 24-hour vigilance outside the door. Never had she stopped speculating the reason of her captive, but the king seemed to leave Fanelia in peace at the moment. She wondered why. Was the assault only to show Ispano's power? Or was it intended only as some sort of a sick 'punishment' because Fanelia had welcome Ardine, who now became an exiled princess? 

Nevertheless, Merle failed to see the benefit of her capture for Ispano. Of course, Parnall may plan to use her against Van, but what for? The old and rusty relic dubbed Escaflowne? Merle might not know a lot about the old machine itself, but the fact that Escaflowne was designed and produced by the Ispanians was common knowledge. As a king, Parnall should have had access to the documents of Escaflowne's creation. He could have reconstructed the machine and improved its function.

Still, it bothered her even more to learn the truth about her past. She hardly remembered anything, but something in her conscience told her that Dallad did not lie. Her mind may not remember it, but her body does. Even as she was searching for a clearer image of her childhood, she was somehow already familiar with her surrounding. She knew every corner, every door, every chamber and corridor…as if she had spent her whole childhood playing hide-and-seek there. Sometimes she could even picture another blurry figure hovering around the child version of herself in her memory. Who the figure was, she didn't know.

Merle's sensitive ears perked up at the sound of footsteps outside her chamber and ceased her reasoning. Those footsteps sounded different, very unlike Dallad's. Dallad's were calmer, stealthier – he walked with the grace and precision of a tiger. But these footsteps…were quiet, too quiet. Merle was unable to tell exactly what kind of man she would soon face. Suddenly she was afraid, so afraid that she could feel air in her surrounding become colder and the back of her neck pricked involuntary.

The door opened with a screech, revealing nothing but a long black shadow of a man. Merle attempted to peer at the man's figure from her hiding corner, but of course, she just had to accept that it was impossible to do two things at the same time, especially when she was situated under a bed ten meters the opposite of the wooden door. She would sense the person approaching, but she didn't dare to move a muscle. 

"HAH! FOUND YOU!"

She literary jumped and banged her head as a dark haired head appeared upside down in front of her all of sudden, the sound of his laughter ringing painfully in her ears. It sounded so young and mischievous, so different from the aura she had sensed earlier. It must be why she was unable to guess her visitor's personality in the first place. He must have been only a child.

"Ow ow ow….!" Merle groaned as she slid out from the underneath the bed, rubbing her head in pain and humiliation. "Damn! If I knew you were only a child, I wouldn't bother to hide myself. I thought you are the king himself!"

The young man before her just smiled quietly and sat on the nearby chair. She waited for him to say something, but the boy just sat there quietly, scrutinising her from head to toe with his curious golden eyes. Still rubbing her head in annoyance, she sat cross-legged on the bed and glared back at him.

The boy was not an ordinary person, she realised. He bore the typical Ispanian features – dark skin, black hair, small red dot in the middle of his forehead – and he had these most peculiar golden hawk eyes. Merle would consider him rather pretty and feminine if not for his angular chin and two thick black eyebrows. In fact, she felt she had seen the face somewhere, but it was buried in her memory.

Tired of waiting, Merle braved herself to begin the conversation, "You are not supposed to be here. This chamber is guarded so forcefully, and the king himself seemed to give a strict order not to make a contact with me."

The boy leaned back in his chair as he spoke, his features serene, "I sneaked in."

"That's impossible!" Merle almost sputtered in her laughter, "There were like, two or three burly guards outside this door and at least one under that balcony. Besides, they installed steel bars on the windows!"

There was a short silence between them before finally Merle realised something amiss. She narrowed her eyes into slits as she peered into the pair of golden orbs and questioned him in suspicion, "Who are you?"

"Just a child, like what you say."

Merle gave her best threatening growl. "Your name, I'd like to know your name."

"Oh. Do I have to? It doesn't seem important to me."

Merle could almost feel fumes coming out of her ears. The boy was so insufferable. What was so difficult with a little bit of introduction? She had hoped that perhaps Van had sent this boy to help her, but looking at his pleasant attitude, she threw all the good expectations out of the window. "Fine. Whatever." Merle gritted her teeth, "I don't care about your name, or how you get here. Just tell me what you want."

Merle felt like bashing her head on one of the bed's pole when she heard his response, "Nothing. I just want to see your face."

Afterwards, both of them fell into staring contest. Merle was the first to break the eye contact. Still, she didn't give up too easily. She felt at least he owned her to tell his name. This time she tried a different tactic, "May I please know His Majesty's name?"

The question was intended to mock him, and she smirked in satisfaction as the boy looked at her in mock horror – or was it real surprise she saw in his eyes? It was her turn to be dumbfounded as the boy broke into a huge grin in the next moment.

"My name is Parnall." He finally said in fully developed baritone. The boy may not be so young after all.

"And?" Merle leaned forward and gestured her hand as if encouraging him to say more. Parnall decided otherwise.        

"That's it."

And as he listened to the cat-lady snarled and spit at him, Parnall put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes slowly. He may keep this role of a visitor for a while, perhaps. He was not in a hurry. He would savour this encounter, slowly.

Hitomi tightened her blanket around her shoulders as she squeezed her eyes tightly, pretending that she was already asleep. Van was coming back from his midnight excursion – she could hear the soft footfalls outside their shared bedchamber became louder by the seconds. Her husband thought she was not aware of him slipping away quietly, but in truth she sensed Van's every single movement, even the tiniest one. She had not been able to sleep soundly since the day she had her vision. Worse, it started to happen more frequently.

Hitomi was disappointed. Van was taking action without consulting her again. He thought she hardly knew anything; clearly he underestimated her. The ladies of the court may not be most cooperative when she demanded them to tell her about the rumours, but there was good chance that she may know more than her husband. At first the ladies were not very detailed, but they soon blurted their stories as Hitomi used her technique of persuasion: bribe. As the old proverb said, diamond is a girl's best friend. It was indeed Hitomi's best friend as long as she acquired all the information that she needed.

Alas, her husband was way too stubborn when it came to discussing his dilemma. Hitomi thought Van had left his pride behind when he came to her 'begging' her to marry him, but no! He still stubbornly wore it like a trophy. He came to her to find comfort, but how could she help if he refused to tell her what the problem was?!

Besides, she was afraid. She was scared her vision would really happen. She had learnt in the past that her visions would only happen if she willed them to happen, but she was unable to stop 'what ifs' repeating over and over again in her head. She supposed she just never learned. 

Hitomi stifled a gasp as the skin of her arm came into contact with Van's icy fingers. Outside she could hear the wind howling and something that sounded suspiciously like rain. Autumn was approaching Fanelia – it must be very cold outside, especially in the middle of the night. Hitomi's brows furrowed ever so slightly – she was torn between her determination to ignore Van and her desire to take care of her freezing husband.

Let him chill! A voice that sounded suspiciously like her self cackled, causing her to shiver inwardly. Sometimes he had to learn how it felt to be ignored. With that in her mind, Hitomi pretended to rearrange her sleeping position and turned her back on her husband.

Her ears pricked as she caught what sounded suspiciously like a male chuckle and held her breath in anticipation as she sensed Van sank one knee on the mattress and crawled slowly into her blanket. She instinctively tightened her precious blanket even more, unwilling to share it with Van. Let him die of cold! A wicked voice in her head had said.

Apparently Van would not give up. He just simply fitted his own frame against Hitomi's curled one and draped one muscular arm across her abdomen. Goosebumps appeared as his hot breath caressed the back of her neck, causing her to shiver.

Cursing aloud, Hitomi tried to break out, but she failed. Her strength was useless against Van's deadlock grip. Hitomi rolled her eyes in annoyance; she knew what would happen next. Van would trail tiny hot kisses along her neck, and one thing would lead to another, until…

However, questions soon filled her mind as Van just simply rested there behind her, literary doing nothing. In curiosity, she forgot her anger and turned slowly to face her husband. Van's face looked less harsh under the dim light, somehow gentler. There were dark circles under his eyes as well, and he appeared much older than usual, much fragile.

Hitomi's heart went out to him as she reached out, circling her arms around his neck. Van breathed in Hitomi's scent and tightened his hold around her. Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Silence became a balm that soothed the aching in their hearts.

"What's the matter Van?" Hitomi was the first to break the comforting silence, preparing herself for a not-so-pleasant conversation ahead. Planting a light kiss on Van's firm lips, she repeated her earlier question earnestly, "What's the matter?"

Van sighed as he returned the kiss, treading his fingers into Hitomi's soft strands. Something in his mind urged him to tell her the complete story, but something else held him back altogether. Still, he needed to say something. Hitomi would not be satisfied with 'nothing' as an answer.

Despite his realisation, he would settle with the same answer over and over, which was, "Nothing. Everything is under control." He began to question his intelligence, because that was also the reason of their regular fights. He would expect no less from his woman. She was such a hard-headed one, always refusing to back-out.

To his surprise, tonight's Hitomi was an entirely different person. Tonight she merely shrugged and smiled. Perhaps she realised he kept her out of politics for her own good. There was no use for her to get involved in the state problems of Fanelia.

And yet, perhaps he was wrong. Hitomi was just trying a different tactic.

"Have you received any news about Merle yet?" Apparently she was aware of Van's meetings with his undercover agents, but Van was not going to answer that. He merely shrugged off the question.

She had decided to use the frank approach instead of using Merle to bridge the conversation. She did feel deeply concerned about Merle's well-being, but there was more pressing matters she had to discuss with her husband.

"I heard rumours."

Van refused to show his surprise. It must only have been Hitomi's tactic to coax the truth from him.

"Rumours are everywhere." His ruby eyes gleamed, warning Hitomi wordlessly not to break the peace between them. Hitomi, on the other hand, chose to turn a blind eye upon the warning.

"I'm worried. I sense someone attempting to take over Fanelia from you."

Something cold seeped into Van's heart, but he chose to ignore it. "You worried too much. Nothing has ever been changed." His voice rose as he told her again, "rumours are not to be believed."

Hitomi rose from her flat position, one of her elbow supporting her mass. She stared deep into Van's eyes, her voice was soft as she restated her opinion, "The existence of rumours itself proves that something has gone wrong. You cannot exclude me forever, Van. You have to involve me sooner or later."

Van tried a different approach. This discussion they were having may have become a fight, after all. "You know nothing about managing a kingdom." He told Hitomi tersely. It was true. Hitomi was after all, not a royalty back in the Phantom Moon. How could she know first hand about dealing with politics and the people?

Hitomi merely looked at him with her sad blue-green orbs – so sad that he almost regretted saying what he had just said. She was evidently hurt deeply. Still, he was doing it for her own good. He could not let Hitomi being involved in something that would probably endanger her life. Hell, he would even send her back to the Phantom Moon if he could.

Van sighed in exasperation as he took her hand in his and turned the palm to kiss it. Plea was written in his ruby eyes as he searched for a hint of anger in Hitomi's face – he would at least feel a little bit better when she was angry with him. But never in sadness. He could never bear the thought that he caused Hitomi's misery.

"Come here." He opened his arms and drew Hitomi's smaller frame into his embrace. A small smile appeared on his lips as he felt Hitomi sighed in content and relaxed her body. She was warm, very warm. It felt right just to hold her, with silence as their only companion. Sometimes he wondered why Hitomi was unable to understand him. Her presence was his only comfort. It was enough for him to have her by his side forever. She didn't have to give him anything in return.

And yet, he sensed Hitomi was still unfulfilled.

It hurt him so.

"Van?"

"Hm?"

A pause.

"Who do you think will be there to help you when things are going wrong?"

Van was unable to answer the question. He had sworn to protect Hitomi at all cost, but who would protect her if something befell him?

"I'll be there."

And with that last sentence, Hitomi snuggled closer to Van's heat and fell into deep sleep, a satisfied smile graced her lips.

Author's note:  

Dear readers,

It's been almost over a year. I know that most of you must have been quite peeved waiting for me to install this chapter. I told some people that I had a writer's block, but for me the truth is quite scary.

I almost abandoned this fanfic.

This fanfic has become so big and complicated for me that I was scared to think of the continuation of the plot and how the characters would develop. Something had backlash at me: I never plotted out this continuation properly in the first place, and without plan, it was very difficult to know where I was going.

There were times when I really, really wanted to write out this chapter, but the only thing that I did was staring on the blank screen with a blank mind. No word or idea flowing out of my brain no matter how hard I forced myself to think. I felt terrible. I started to feel that writing was a great burden, especially with other things going on in my life

The only thing that keeps me going after all this time is you, the readers. I am touched by your positive comments and encouragement – whether commenting about my plot and characters or just simply urging me to update the story. Some of you guys are not even deterred by my ever changing websites (yeah, I know I changed address way too often that in the end I started to feel a bit guilty =P). 

Thank you.

You guys are my inspiration.

*sniff*

WELL!! Enough of sentimental talk! Now: about the characters – something I really love to discuss.

VAN/HITOMI: one of the classic problems in some marriages – this guy was way too protective; so protective that he left his wife out of the picture. Van changed a lot after Ispano's attack. He used to be enthusiastic about Hitomi joining him in his monarch duties. We could see this in the earlier chapters where he argued with his advisors about his choice of wife. At the beginning of the story, Van definitely wanted a woman who would actively take part in his life. But after he sensed a potential danger that may threatened Gaea once again, he began to fear for Hitomi's safety and instead limited her movements. He hoped that he would be able to keep an eye on her easily this way.

Hitomi, however, was unaware of what was going on in Van's head. She felt left out. She was aware of Van's great love for her, but she was unsatisfied with the way Van always tried to 'protect' her. Hitomi is an independent woman, and she hates it when she was unable to contribute to resolve her husband's problem. Of course, her first reaction was always anger and complaining, but with time, she became matured and understanding enough to see Van's point of view. It didn't mean she would give up, though.

PARNALL: this is one of the characters whom I don't really know how I should develop. He can be a real villain or an anti-hero, depending on how people read this character. At this point of the story, we can see that he was quite lonely and inexperienced. He held his fears and his thoughts in himself, and he seldom revealed his plan to others. While this would make him an unpredictable enemy, this was rather a disadvantage on his part, because he seldom discussed his decisions before executing them. And yes, he was a bit sick in the head as well.

GAUDI: Gaudi was still himself, not much to tell here. Except that we could see here that he didn't trust people easily, even his own cousin. Although he swore that Van had his allegiance, his true loyalty laid on the people of Fanelia themselves. Gaudi would do anything to protect Fanelia. The source of his earnestness would be revealed later.

There is some inconsistency with Gaudi's past. In interlude 2, I wrote that Gaudi's parents were murdered, but in chapter 17, I wrote that his mother fell sick and passed away a year after Gaudi left for his grandpa's castle. I would like to amend that: Gaudi's parents were murdered. I have already altered the last part of chapter 17 if you guys want to check it out. There is additional information on how Gaudi's parents were killed. 

MERLE: was just being her obnoxious, ignorant self. =P This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as she amused Parnall.

And lastly, I still have to edit myself, so forgive me if you find some strange phrases or expressions.

Yours truly,

Louise Tjandrasjahan
20th of August 2003, 12:18 AM
Perth, Western Australia

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