Hey guys! I'm glad everyone liked the fact that Van and Hitomi were finally getting to see that they loved each other in the last chapter! Now, this chapter is where the rebels really come into play! I hope you guys enjoy it and thanks all for the wonderful reviews!
Time Warp: No, I'm afraid Dilandau isn't in this story! The only main Esca characters in this story are Van and Hitomi! But not to worry, Dilandau is in my other story 'All For Love'!!
Sailor Hope: Hey, girl! Long time, no hear! And take all the time you need on answering the SM questions! You've already given me loads of help! I'm just now starting on the outline of the story, but the title's gonna be 'Time and Again'! It'll be AU, a rewrite of the first season! I'll tell you when I post it! Thanks for all the help and hurry and update your stories soon! I just reread 'Coming to Know You' and it got me to wondering what's gonna happen again!! Bye!
dreamingofflyingaway: (blushes) Thanks!
Well, I just answered the reviews with questions and I just had to thank dreamingofflyingaway for the compliment!! So, on with the story!!
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Blessed
Author: Tevrah
Email: kmw852yahoo.com
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Chapter Five
Van awoke in the strangest position. His thigh was draped over a woman's hip and he kept getting the smell of wild flowers in his nose. He looked down and saw Hitomi sleeping peacefully at his side. A small smile adorned her lips. He smoothed a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.
She was beautiful.
A creaking noise caused him to look away from her to the door. His son stood in the doorway with his little fists wiping at his eyes. Van smiled at him and beckoned him forward. Aidan ran to the bed and climbed in beside his mother.
Van wrapped him gently in part of the quilt and watched him fall asleep. Such love welled inside of him that he felt his eyes mist. He watched his wife and son sleep and wondered what he had done to please the gods to be gifted with such a family.
The sun was barely shining and Van didn't feel like leaving his family just yet. So with a happy heart he wrapped his arms around both of them and fell asleep once more.
A few hours later a knock sounded on the door. "Milord?"
Van sat up in bed as Hitomi and Aidan slowly woke beside him. "Yes, Jon?" he called back.
"The counselors are looking for you, Milord," Jon said. "They said that you're late for the morning meeting. Shall I tell them to cancel it?"
Van sighed. There was too much to discuss to cancel it. "No," he said. "Give me a moment and I shall be right out."
"Yes, Milord."
He began to get out of bed when a small hand on his wrist stopped him. "Milord?" Hitomi said quietly.
He turned back to Hitomi to find her with her head down. Very gently, he placed two fingers under her chin and raised her head until he could see her face. "My name is Van."
Hitomi smiled shyly at him, but he could see the happiness in her eyes. "May I kiss you good morning, Van?"
He leaned down and captured her lips with his own in a tender embrace. "Good morning," he whispered against her lips.
"Yucky!"
They turned they faces down to see their son with his hands over his eyes peeking at them through his fingers. They smiled at him. Van reached over and ruffled his hair.
"One day, son," he said affectionately, "you'll be wanting to kiss pretty girls, too."
Aidan shook his head back and forth so fast that his hair moved. "Nuh-uh!"
Van smiled at him again and got out of bed. He put on the clothes that he had worn last night and was aware of Hitomi watching him all the while. He could barely contain his smile when he turned back and saw her flushed skin.
He walked over and picked Aidan up and put him on his shoulder. "Can we go riding today, Papa?" Aidan giggled.
"Only if your mother comes along," Van answered and looked at Hitomi.
Her eyes sparkled when she smiled at him. "That would be nice."
"Get up and get dressed, Mama," Aidan said. "We're gonna go riding!"
Van moved his shoulder and Aidan laughed. Hitomi watched them go out the door with a light heart.
Van closed the door behind him and Aidan and set his son on his feet in front of Jon. There were questions in Jon's face, but he wisely kept them to himself.
"Me and Papa and Mama are gonna go riding, Jon!" Aidan said joyfully. "And Mama and Papa were sleeping together in the same room when I went to Mama's room this morning! And Mama and Papa kissed! It looked real yucky, but Papa says I'm gonna like kissing pretty girls too one day!"
Jon cleared his throat to keep from laughing and Van closed his eyes in exasperation. "Honestly, Aidan, you don't have to tell him everything."
"Sorry, Papa," Aidan said. The little imp didn't look sorry at all.
Jon cleared his throat and when Van looked at him he saw amusement on the other man's face. Van glared at him, daring him to say something. Jon wisely kept silent.
The bedroom door opened once more and the three turned to watch Hitomi come out. There was a blush on her cheeks confirming that she had heard her son's speech. She cleared her throat and curtsied. "Good morning, Jon," she said quietly.
Jon bowed. "Good morning, Milady."
Before anyone could say anything else Aidan's bedroom door opened and Nana Boa rushed out. She spotted Aidan and had to lean against the door for support. "The gods be praised!"
The three adults watched in amusement as Nana Boa rushed to the small boy and pulled him to her bosom. She curtsied as best she could with the squirming boy in her arms and turned back to Aidan's room.
"Don't forget," Aidan called from over Nana Boa's shoulder. "You promised, Papa!"
Van nodded to him with a smile as the door closed shut. Jon bowed to them and turned to walk away. Van grabbed Hitomi's hand and brought it to his lips. She smiled at him and watched as he walked away.
Her day was going great.
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Van was in good spirits. That is, he was until he arrived for the meeting with his council. Once Van assured them that no, he wasn't sick, no, he wasn't dying, and no, he wasn't doing something illegal, his day started to go downwind.
His council was handpicked, and they didn't fuss over him overly much and they didn't try to make decisions without his approval, but being that he was the king and all, the council tended to worry over nothing sometimes.
Van was truly proud of his council, else he wouldn't have picked them when Fanelia was rebuilt. He just wished they would lighten up a little sometimes. Not every action is going to make a reaction of another war.
Sometimes you have to follow instincts, just like when in a battle. You have to choose the course of action that will grant you victory with the least amount of pain and blood.
"Milord?"
Van was snapped from his thoughts at Jon's voice. "Yes, Jon?"
"Milord, now that we've established that you're not at death's door," Jon said with a small smile, "we must talk about the rebels."
"Apparently they've gone into hiding," Dylen said. "The question would be why. Their identities are safely hidden." He gave a bland smile. "No offense to anyone here, but finding who these murderers are hasn't been our luck. Why would they go into hiding now? What has pushed them to do so?"
Van sighed. "I'm not sure, but my gut is telling me that we haven't seen the end of them. They're planning something. Something big. The real question is when."
The table was silent for a few moments while each man thought over what their king had said.
Bartoy cleared his throat. "Perhaps it would be prudent to double the guards, Milord, for the protection of you and Her Majesty and the prince. Only to be on the safe side of things."
Van narrowed his eyes. "Do you think they would be stupid enough to try and steal my family?" he asked in a low voice.
The council looked at him. They had never heard such anger in their king's voice before.
"For what they have done to my people, I would gladly have them killed," he said in a furious voice. "But if they touch my family, I would kill them myself."
"You must calm your emotions, Van," Tyiou said calmly. "You will be of no help in tracking these rebels down if you do not have a cleared mind. Remember that."
Van took a deep breath to control his rage. Just the thought of one of those murdering bastards—
He expelled the breath and found himself under better control. He mustn't think of such things. Those thoughts would only serve to cloud his mind and his concentration. He looked at his council with clear eyes once more.
"Dylen," he said, "I want you to really start bearing down on whomever it is that gives you your information. I want these rebels found. I don't care what it takes."
Dylen nodded.
"Bartoy, go to the library or the monastery and look over each scroll that you can find of the ancient burnings of Gaea. I want even an estimated guess of what their next move might be."
Bartoy quickly nodded.
"Jon," Van looked to his friend. "I want my family safe. Nothing is to happen to them. No harm is to fall on them. I don't care how many guards it takes. Keep my family safe. Is that understood?"
Jon nodded and bowed. "Of course, Milord. I shall see to the doubling of the guards at once." He walked out of the room to see to his duty.
"I want these rebels found," Van stated to his remaining council once again. "Find them."
The men nodded at him and Van dismissed them.
When the last member had filed out, Van leaned back in his chair wearily. He cleared his mind to control his emotions. But without meaning it to, the memory of Hitomi the night before came back to him. A smile graced his lips as he remembered turning to her again and again in the night. His smile widened even more when he remembered waking to have Hitomi's hands sliding down his chest.
A throat cleared. "Your Majesty."
Van opened his eyes to find a soldier bowing to him. "Yes?" Van asked.
The soldier handed him a small piece of folded paper, then bowed and walked away.
Van looked down at he paper in dread, and then slowly opened it. To his relief he found childish scrawl on the paper.
WE lEFt wiThoUt ya! ComE and find Us!
MaMa and AidaNVan smiled at his son's unruly handwriting. He got up and put the paper into his pocket. He walked out the throne room door with a smile on his face. He had just saddled his horse when a breathless solider interrupted him.
The soldier bowed quickly. "You must come, Milord! There's been another fire set to one of the western fields! It's burning so quickly that half the field is afire!"
Van cursed under his breath and told the soldier to lead the way. He would have to make it up to Hitomi and Aidan. Right now he had work to do.
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Hitomi watched with amusement as Aidan raced through the open field chasing after butterflies of different shapes, sizes, and colors. His shirt wasn't tucked in, his hair was even more unruly than ever, and he was absolutely adorable. He fell, but was up again before Hitomi could even move.
Aidan ran to his mother's side and plopped down beside her. "When's papa coming?" he asked.
Hitomi smoothed his hair back. "I don't know," she answered.
"He's gonna come, though. Right, Mama?" Aidan asked.
Hitomi bit her lip searching for the right words. "You know that your papa is a very important person, don't you?" she asked.
Aidan nodded and his hair flew in front of his eyes again.
"Well, sometimes," Hitomi started, smoothing away his hair again, "even though he wants to spend all of his time with us, he can't. He'll be called away to help his people, our people. Do you understand?"
Aidan nodded solemnly. "Papa has to help the people because it's his job." He suddenly jumped up. "I'm gonna be just like papa when I grow up!"
And with that he was off again.
Hitomi smiled at her son's retreating form and lay back on the soft grass, closing her eyes. It was a beautiful day. Sudden fear gripped her so tightly that her eyes flew open and she clutched at her chest. She was suddenly feeling so very afraid, but why? Then she realized what it was and her eyes widened.
It wasn't her fear she was feeling.
She jumped to her feet and raced off. "Aidan!" Her strong legs quickly covered the ground and she found herself in the Fanelian forest. Where was he? "Aidan!"
Panic was gripping her so tightly that she was having trouble breathing. Not looking where she was going, she rammed full speed into a hard chest and would have fallen if strong arms hadn't caught her. She slowly raised her eyes until she found herself staring at a masked face.
"Hello, Your Grace."
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Van was bone-tired. Darkness had just fallen and the fire had been put out. But over half of the trading crops had been burned and a few villagers had been injured with serious burns. When was it all going to end? He trudged his way to the throne room where he knew that the council would want an immediate update.
He walked into the room to find several soldiers gathered there. Confusion and dread settled in his stomach as he walked to them. They noticed him and bowed. Fear bloomed when he a man stepped forward. It was Wells, the stable master.
"Wells?" Van said. "What is going on?"
Wells twisted his cap in his hands and looked at the floor. "I-it w-was l-late, Milord, a-and H-her M-majesty and t-the p-p-prince h-hadn't r-returned, s-s-so I-I w-went l-looking f-for t-them and-and I-I j-just f-found t-their h-horses." Wells gulped loudly and held out a piece of paper to Van. "T-this w-was t-tacked on-on the s-saddle."
Van slowly took the paper and opened it. Please, dear gods, let him be wrong.
To the infidel king of a once great land,
Your reign is coming to an end. At first we thought only to take the little prince, but her majesty proved to be such an…encouraging target. If you ever want to see your family again, infidel king, you will abdicate the throne so that a more worthy king may heal this land.
Dragons, Puritans of FaneliaVan's roar echoed off the palace walls.
To Be Continued…
Well, what did you guys think? Be sure to let me know, now, okay? Thanks!
Tevrah