Author's Note: OMG! I am so sorry for not updating in such a long time! I have this competition thingy coming up and I have almost no spare time at all…well, anyway, I'd thought I'd start with the sixth chapter already, because I FINALLY finished everything, so…um, yeah.
By the way, Rika, Chiharu, and the others won't be coming in. Well, maybe Rika. And I'm sorry there wasn't any romance in the last two chapters and this one. But I will work on it very soon!
Disclaimer: I don't own Card Captor Sakura.
I Choose Sakura
By: Wings of Jade
Chapter 6: The Consequences
"So," said King Li, sitting down in his chair. "How well are we doing?" He looked at his advisors expectantly, especially Seiichi. Seiichi cleared his throat and wrung his bony fingers.
They were holding a little conference, and King Li was anxious to know how his son's wedding was doing. However, Seiichi chose to start with trade and money first.
"So far," he began, "Our trade is good. The other kingdom agreed not to tax us too heavily, so we are fine with that. Just that we can't tax them too heavily, which I think is not a big problem.
"Your gold and jewellery supply is still at the same point. Nobody has taken any, and each year, it keeps growing, so nothing is wrong there. We have already paid our debts to the Takahashi Kingdom, so we are now debt-free, although King Izumi owes us about few bars of gold." King Li motioned for him to stop.
"Good, good, enough about business. What about news of Syaoran's wedding? And Princess Sakura?" The advisors glanced at each other uneasily.
"They're…fine," answered Seiichi eventually.
"What about the wedding preparations?"
"All set," replied Seiichi at once. "Next week, you'll definitely be expecting a successful wedding."
"Good. Does anybody outside the castle know that Kinomoto Sakura is Syaoran's wife?" The men shifted uncomfortably, and Seiichi coughed.
"Well?" demanded the king. "Answer me!" Seiichi muttered very fast under his breath.
"The thing is…there is." King Li's face grew to a rosy complexion.
"Who? Who knows? I'll have him executed immediately! How dare they break the law!" Seiichi bowed his head and murmured very, very, quietly:
"Well…everybody in the village."
~*~
Meilin and fourteen other girls who had attended the Choosing hoping to be Syaoran's bride had personally signed a contract swearing that they wouldn't tell anyone about Syaoran's new wife. Meilin admitted to herself secretly that she had a big mouth, and that King Li was right to make sure she had used her real signature instead of a fake one(He had insisted that Meilin sign first). After all, Meilin could be blabbering to the women the next day. But after she signed the piece of parchment, she decided to keep her mouth shut.
However, a few days later, Meilin noticed people's eyes shining, their whispers more audible than usual. She found her friend Kiku telling about ten girls something important and gossip-worthy. Meilin walked up to her and poked her shoulder. Kiku told her, "I'm almost done" and resumed her story. In a few seconds, she was finished, and the girls' eyes were widening.
"Wow!" One sighed. "If only I was her!"
"Pass it on," said Kiku. Meilin frowned at her after the girls left. (A/N: Please excuse this interruption, but this is where Meilin turns good…sort of. Well, read on!)
"What were you telling them? I saw some other women saying the same thing; Pass it on. What's up?" Kiku's eyes bulged out ecstatically.
"Wait till you hear this, Mei!" she said enthusiastically. "You know Sakura?"
"Yeah," huffed Meilin. "She—"
"Well," continued Kiku, "She's been absent a lot right? You've noticed that?"
"Yeah," pouted Meilin. "That's because she—"
"And you know why?"
"Yeah," said Meilin, "She—"
"Sakura's Prince Syaoran's wife-to-be!"
"I know," replied Meilin.
"No you don't!" said Kiku cheerfully. "This is big news! This is the first time in history that the town knows the prince's new bride!"
"Because you're not supposed to know," retorted Meilin. "Don't you know the consequences?" Kiku shrugged.
"King Li will never know who said it," she replied. "Besides, everybody knows now. Even that old hag of man Seiichi knows that everybody knows. King Li can't kill us all."
"So? Don't you know the consequences for Sakura?" Kiku's face hardened.
"Who cares about Sakura?" she said coldly.
"You don't get it, do you?" demanded Meilin. "King Li might even hang her for this! He is so strict about rules that once you put a toe out of line, he's going to kill you! When you're not supposed to know, you're not! When you're not supposed to tell, you're not supposed to tell! It is strict regulations that the bride is not to be revealed until the wedding day. So why are you getting Sakura into trouble?" Kiku shrugged.
"Hey, don't talk to me. I just thought that we should all know who the bride is. And besides, this isn't soldier attack information or anything. And if Sakura wasn't stupid enough to tell us, then we wouldn't have known." Meilin was surprised that she was anxious for Sakura. Would the king hang her? They were rivals, sure, but she never wanted her dead.
"You'll be sorry, Kiku," warned Meilin, shaking her head. "You'll be sorry."
~*~
Syaoran tiptoed across the hall, eyeing the guards cautiously. If only they would go on their stupid break already, he'd be free for two hours to wander…
One of them yawned hugely. "I'm hungry," he grunted. "I want some sushi." The other guard clicked his tongue impatiently, tapping his foot.
"Sushi. Is that all you think about? Don't you know we have other things to do? King Li pours millions of money to us for our jobs, and if he catches us slacking off, what do you think he'll do?" The first guard had the grace to look ashamed. He twiddled his thumbs.
"Well," he said. "Just for a few minutes. Not even. I'm hungry."
"Shut up."
"Please?"
"Quit your whining." Growl. The second guard's stomach gave a growl. The first guard grinned. The other smiled weakly.
"Say," he said. "What were you saying about sushi?"
Syaoran smiled to himself as the two guards shook hands and departed. I wonder how the other guards would be like if they had the same stupidity…
~*~
Syaoran tied a short brown cape over his shoulders, instead of his usual green one, and made sure the collar of his tunic was high enough to reach his chin. It was wide as well, so Syaoran could clamp it over his nose and mouth if somebody recgonized him. Ah, the outdoors—how I miss them. Syaoran had been cooped inside the stinky old castle for months. How could he not enjoy the fresh air again?
He walked slowly, trying to stick close to the stone walls. A little was walk was all he had planned to do. And then it was time to go back in. A little two-hour walk, of course; none of that gay two minute strolls.
As Syaoran crossed the road, in the middle of a crowd, he noticed that the women were gossiping. Okay, the women in his village naturally gossiped, but they seemed strangely excited about something. They looked at Syaoran. Immediately, they swarmed around him.
"Did you hear? Did you hear?" they asked him. Syaoran pulled his collar higher.
"Hear what?" he replied, using a low, husky voice. It was only a little different from his normal voice, but he wasn't one of those people who could vary their tone or pitch.
"Kinomoto Sakura is actually Prince Syaoran's new wife!" One whispered. At Sakura's name, Syaoran squirmed. Then the whole sentence hit him.
"What?" he demanded. "How do you know…"
"About Sakura?"
"Yes."
"Three girls told us. They swore they weren't lying." Syaoran bit his lip. If they knew, then King Li would kill him and Sakura…and maybe innocent people.
"How do you know they're not?" he retorted coldly. "For all I know, they could be tricking us." They shook their heads.
"There's so much evidence," one said. "She's been absent for quite a while and her brother Touya won't tell us why! It must be a great secret!"
"Which means we shouldn't know."
"Men are such spoil sports," sneered another woman, and the others nodded in agreement. "Even if he is handsome." They all looked at Syaoran and giggled. Then they left. Syaoran's stomach was rolling uncomfortably. Maybe I should go home early today, he thought. It might be for my own good.
~*~
"KINOMOTO SAKURA! LI SYAORAN!"
Sakura dropped her paintbrush. King Li must be angry, she thought. But why?
Sakura hurried downstairs. Down the hall, she met Syaoran, who was pale. "What do you think happened?" she asked him as they went down together. Syaoran grimaced.
"I don't know. Something about rules, no doubt." Sakura said nothing.
"Your Highness," greeted Sakura and Syaoran in unison when they saw King Li. His face was contorted with red-hot rage.
"DON'T 'YOUR HIGHNESS' ME, SAKURA!" he bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN YOU WERE OUTSIDE?"
"I don't—"
"YES, YOU DO UNDERSTAND! DID NOT I TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE FORBIDDEN TO TELL ANYONE THAT YOU WERE ENGAGED TO MARRY SYAORAN? DID NOT I TELL YOU THAT IT WAS NOT TO BE REVEALED UNTIL THE DAY OF THE WEDDING?"
"W-Well, y-yes, Your H-Highness," stammered Sakura, "But—"
"EXACTLY!" roared King Li. "EXACTLY! I TOLD YOU SPECIFICALLY NOT TO TELL! AND LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENED! EVERYBODY IN THIS KINGDOM KNOWS! DO YOU KNOW HOW I WANT THE LAW TO BE FOLLOWED? WHEN I SAY SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE, IT IS TO BE DONE! IF I SAY SOMETHING IS NOT TO BE DONE, THEN IT IS NOT TO BE DONE!"
"But—"
"BUT WHAT?" thundered King Li dangerously. "BUT YOU JUST COULDN'T RESIST BREAKING THE LAW?"
"No, Your Highness," said Sakura desperately, "I didn't mean to break the—"
"SYAORAN!" he hollered, rounding onto Syaoran. "DID YOU TELL PERHAPS? COULDN'T RESIST SHOWING OFF, EH?"
"No," answered Syaoran at once, alarmed. "I would never—"
"YOU WOULD NEVER NOT TELL, RIGHT?" Queen Yelan entered the room at this moment. Sakura had never seen her before; she usually stayed in her room. Helan was startled at the amount of noise coming from the Great Hall—or rather, the noise coming from King Li's mouth.
"What the devil is going on?" she cried. "Please, don't shout!"
"DON'T SHOUT!" bellowed King Li. "DON'T SHOUT! THAT'S A GOOD ONE! YOUR SON AND DAUGHTER-TO-BE JUST BLABBED TO THE WHOLE KINGDOM WHO WAS GOING TO BE BRIDE!" Spit was flying from his mouth. Queen Yelan was going as pale as her son was.
"Calm down," she whispered to King Li. "It's okay. It's not a big thing."
"BUT THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW!" Queen Yelan stroked his back and calmly muttered soothing words into his ear, trying to make him calm down. Eventually, some of the red went away from his face.
"Okay you two," Yelan said finally, her voice trembling a little. "Who said it?" Sakura hesitated. Syaoran hesitated. Then—
"I said it," they said in unison.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
FINALLY! Another chapter done! I know that the yelling part was kind of unrealistic, because NOBODY would get THAT worked up over a rule, but this is not Syaoran's father, this is just my VERSION of Syaoran's father. Is it confusing? Ah well…REEEEEEVIIEW! (or it will become more confusing and stupid)