Only Hope

Chapter Five – the King

by: Mel

E-mail: LightofFaeries@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: When I rule the world I shall wrest CCS from CLAMP!! MWAHAHAHA *choke, choke*

Sakura found herself above Somwyal's gate with Glorinmere stretched full out beneath her. Her breath caught in her throat as he descended on the other side of the gate. He landed with hardly a thud. Sakura was stunned. Glorinmere had jumped over the gate!

Sakura sat on Glorinmere for a full five seconds, unable to move. Her horse had just jumped over Somwyal's gate was the thought running over and over in her head.

She was finally awoken from her reverie by the people crowding all around her. Hands reached out to touch Glorinmere and he withstood them for a few moments before tossing his head impatiently and stamping. People quickly backed away. Sakura looked around helplessly. She had never seen so many people in one place and she was overwhelmed. Also, there was still the matter of the Nauzcole outside the gate, Sakura was sure that's what the things chasing her had been. She was afraid that if Glorinmere could jump over the gate, the Nauzcole's horses could too. Unbeknownst to her, the Nauzcole had immediately gone the minute the golden horse had been over the gate. They did not have the enough power to breach Somwyal's gate with all those wards that protected the city and they had been out too long in the full glare of the sun.

There were some yells and a clattering of feet. People with various weapons appeared. Sakura realized they had to be guards as they cleared people away from Sakura and at the same time surrounded her.

One spoke up, "State your name, business, and how you got over the gate."

Sakura, intimidated, stuttered, "Uh-I-I'm Sakura Kinomoto," she began uncertainly. "My horse jumped over the gate and I must see the King." She finished in a rush.

The guards looked at her as if she was mad. Sakura stared back, her expression puzzled. "So, can I go see the King?"

They just stared at her more before one of them snorted and began to laugh. Soon, the rest of the guards joined in. Sakura just looked on, even more bewildered.

"Lass, first of all, no horse can jump the gate. And second, you can't just barge in and ask to see the King," one of the guards finally said, wiping at his eyes. "You have to petition and that can take months."

"Well, my horse did jump the gate, whether you believe it or not, or how else could I have come in? And I have a very important message and the person who gave me it told me to deliver it directly to the King," Sakura cried, despairing starting to descend. She had come all this way to deliver an all-important message, albeit a message she couldn't understand, and for all her trouble, she was being turned away. She slipped softly off Glorinmere and he turned his head, nudging her gently in encouragement. "Please, I must see the King!"

The guards had sobered up when she said she had a message. The same one who had spoken to her before said, "What's your message, lass? Give it to me and I'll take it to the King."

Sakura gulped. "Tell the King…tell him that…the time has come."

But although Sakura hadn't understood the message, the guard obviously did. His face immediately became grim. "You better come with me. We're going to see the King."

Sakura looked at him with frightened eyes. "N-now?" she whispered, no longer sure she wanted to meet the King. After all, she was just a commoner, not even dressed to meet the King.

The guard gave a curt nod. "Now." He turned to the other guards. "You all get back to your stations!" And they scattered. The remaining guard turned back to Sakura. "Well, we better get going. Follow me." And he led her towards the castle. As they walked, Sakura held onto Glorinmere's mane and pressed closed to him, the only familiar thing to her in a new world.

Sakura's eyes were huge as she looked around, following behind the guard. The city was so big! And there were so many people and so many new things. Shops lined the street and new smells floated past her. She couldn't take in everything fast enough. When the guard turned around to see if she had kept up, he saw her awed face and his expression softened.

"You've never been in a big city have you?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head.

"By the way, I'm Captain Huyaka Detto. Your name is Sakura right?"

"Yes," Sakura replied, finally finding her voice.

They lapsed into silence until they reached the main entrance of the castle. The Captain stopped and put out a hand before Sakura as she walked up beside him. A boy ran up to them.

"The stable boy will take your horse, Sakura," Huyaka told her.

Sakura hesitated, not willing to part with Glorinmere. He whuffed at her, seeming to tell her he would be all right. Sakura reluctantly nodded and handed his reins to the stable boy.

"Please take good care of him," Sakura implored the boy. He blushed and nodded quickly. Sakura smiled at him. The boy blushed even more and quickly turned around, tugging the reins and clucking at Glorinmere to come.

As the pair began to walk away, Sakura suddenly cried out, "Wait!" Startled, horse and boy stopped. Sakura ran to them. "I want to keep some stuff with me," she said as way of explanation. Her hands unfastened a saddlebag and dug into it, then emerged triumphantly with the red Clow book clutched in her fists. Using her chin to hold the book to her chest, she quickly did up the saddlebag again before patting Glorinmere on the rump.

"Sorry about that. You can go now," she said to the stable boy and ran back to Huyaka.

The Captain raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. He walked straight to the massive double doors of the castle. The two soldiers guarding the door immediately drew their swords.

"Petitioning hours are over…" one began while the other got a good look a Huyaka.

"Captain Detto!" the other cried, lowering his sword.

"Yes," the captain said nonchalantly. "And I have a piece of very important information that needs to get to the King. Will you please let us through?"

The two soldiers looked at each other and stepped away, sheathing their swords. Huyaka nodded at them and proceeded to open one of the double doors. It opened surprisingly easily for such a big door.

The Captain stepped through, followed by a rather apprehensive Sakura. She found herself in a huge room with a high ceiling, a room big enough to fit her house. Huyaka kept walking and led her through a long, elegant, high-vaulted hallway before stopping by a rather short, portly man who stood at the entrance to another chamber.

"Please announce Captain Huyaka Detto and Miss Sakura Kinomoto," Huyaka said to the man. The man nodded, and walked into the chamber. Sakura was too nervous to notice any more of her surroundings. She realized she was going to meet the King. The full impact of that implication finally hit her when the man had walked into that room. The King! Sakura had never before dreamed that it would happen to her, even when she was coming to deliver the message. The thought just had never truly occurred to her. She had just kind of assumed that she would see the King without…really meeting the King. Now that she thought about it, it didn't really make much sense, but before, she had never really thought about it. The King was part of a completely different life, one where etiquette was prime, fine speech valued, and finery necessary. Sakura cared nothing for etiquette, spoke the way her father had taught her, and was just as rich as any other commoner. She liked that type of life.

She had no time to contemplate further as a voice rang out. "Presenting Captain Huyaka Detto and Miss Sakura Kinomoto."

Sakura clutched the Clow book to her chest, took a deep breath, and plunged in after the Captain.

She found herself in a room much larger than the first one she had entered. It was lit with several glowing ball-type lamps floating gently in the air that filled the room with light. The room itself was magnificent. Colorful tapestries draped along the walls and family symbols hung from the ceiling. Sakura had never seen a room so fine in her life. It was all she could do to keep her mouth from hitting the floor.

A voice spoke, ringing with unquestionable authority and bringing Sakura's attention to the far end of the splendid chamber. "Captain Detto, what has brought you here?" The speaker appeared to be about twenty-five with a gold circlet in his brown hair. He was seated on a silver chair that seemed more like a throne and was surrounded by an assortment of people, some standing, others seated on cushions.

Huyaka bowed before speaking. "I bring someone who bears an important message, your majesty," the Captain said, gesturing at Sakura. Sakura felt a shock run through her body. Was the man sitting on the silver throne the King? He was so young. Sakura had imagined all Kings to be gray-bearded and stooped over with old age.

The King turned his head slightly to look at her. "Then let her speak."

"Bow before you speak," Huyaka hissed to Sakura out of the corner of his mouth.

Thinking that rather silly, Sakura tried to imitate Huyaka's previous bow. When she straightened she said simply, "The time has come."

Immediately, the atmosphere in the room tensed.

"Indeed," said the King and Sakura got the feeling he was thinking furiously. "And where is the one who gave you the message?"

"He was killed in a wizard duel," Sakura said sadly.

"Oh," said the King with a total lack of feeling. Sakura felt anger boil in her at his reply. How could he act as if it was nothing? As if it didn't matter. Or perhaps it really didn't matter to him. What was one more life to him when he had hundreds at his disposal? Sakura had to fight the urge to yell at the King.

"Did he give you anything?" the King asked in a bored tone as if he wasn't really interested.

Sakura gritted her teeth and held out the Clow book, mentally counting to ten. "He only gave me this red book, your majesty."

Sakura saw something flicker in the depths of the King's amber eyes before his emotionless façade slide smoothly back in place. "How interesting," he drawled. "You can keep that for now." The King turned to a young woman dressed in soft lavender hues standing beside him. "Lady Shikaro, would you please escort this young lady to one of your guest rooms?"

The lady gave an elegant curtsy and walked to Sakura. "Come," she said, beckoning with one slender white hand, her voice light and musical.

"Wait!" Sakura cried. Everyone in the room looked at her as if they had never heard a person shout before. She gulped. "Uh…Your majesty, I was chased by Nauzcole coming here. They may still be outside the gate."

"There are no such things as Nauzcole anymore," the King said calmly, "Please take Miss Kinomoto to her room, Lady Shikaro."

Sakura was about to protest but the Lady caught her arm in a gentle but firm grip and gracefully dragged her out of the throne room.

Sakura walked silently behind Lady Shikaro, the incident in the throne room momentarily forgotten as the Lady led her down one beautiful hallway after another, once again too stunned to speak. Sakura had never thought a single place could hold as many treasures as this castle did. Just by walking down the halls, she saw masterpieces that she suspected were worth more than her father could ever earn. Lady Shikaro turned around every so often to make sure Sakura was following her and smiled softly every time she saw Sakura's awed face. It was refreshing to see the expression of someone who didn't take the castle's beauty for granted.

Author's Notes: Wow! I actually got this chapter out three days after Chapter 4!! That's a new record for me. THREE DAYS! I think I might even get the next chapter out before August (if my mom doesn't have to use this computer for her research). Just to remind everyone, this country is not Japan (or China) so the last names are put last instead of first and calling newly met people by their first name is common. Are Huyaka and Shikaro okay names? I just made them up since I'm no good with any names other than English and I didn't want to put an English name because, even though the setting isn't in Japan, it would be too different from everyone else from CCS's names.

Syaoran was in this chapter (you should all be able to figure out who he was). And Tomoyo was in this chapter too. Any guesses as to who she was? The next chapter will explain why her name wasn't Tomoyo in this chapter (and won't be during further public appearances *hint, hint*).

The next chapter is going to have a lot of important explanations, just to warn you ahead of time. I hope I can get it out in a week or so.

I want to thank MimiGhost, Falcon, moezy-chan, Sakura-Free-Spirit (I think this chapter is slightly longer than the previous ones ^_^ I apologize for my chapters being so short, I just can't seem to make them longer), and EmeraldBlossom for their encouraging reviews!

July 11, 2003

~Mel~