A/N: Only two things to say, thank you for all the nice reviews, loved
reading them! And ENJOY!
Oh and a third thing, Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Disguise
Chapter 9
"Lord Vaaannn!", Merle leaped into his arms crying, "Oh, I have missed you so much!"
"I have missed you too Merle." A smile formed on Van's tired features.
"How are you? Was the ride here exhausting? What did you do at the farm? You have to tell me everything about your stay there!"
Van's smile saddened: Was Hitomi already awake? What would she think when she saw that he was gone? Would she be crying?
"Van!" Walking up to him came Larian, smiling cheerfully, "My friend, it's good to see you again!"
Van nodded at his old friend.
"Come inside, we have arranged a small feast in honour of our King who has finally returned!"
Merle enlaced her arm with Van's and began walking in the direction of the palace. But before Van entered his castle, he turned around and looked over the slowly awaking city and wide landscape with longing eyes.
Did he take the right decision?
****
Hitomi walked through the fields around her home humming happily. She was on her way to Van, with a delicious, self-made lunch. She had stood the morning in the kitchen cooking for her love.
On a meadow she saw a beautiful blue cornflower, giggling she arranged it in her hair. Would Van like it?
"Hello Beautiful!"
Hitomi turned around and smiled at Gaddes, "Hello Gaddes, how are you? Have you seen Van?"
Gaddes thought for a moment, "No, I haven't seen him today. Maybe he is still asleep?"
"No he isn't!"
Hitomi and Gaddes turned to Mr. Mole, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
"Van left in the night, a strange young man came here, making lots of noise, that's why Van came out and after some talking they left."
Hitomi stared at Mr. Mole, Van . was gone?
"Do you know where he was going?" Gaddes asked a little confused.
Mr. Mole sighed, "It's a pity but I didn't understand one word they were saying, I was too far away. I wanted to go nearer, but this Van has really good ears and he is still mad at me-"
Thud!
The basket Hitomi had carried fell to the ground and Hitomi wasn't there anymore. She was running down the fields to the farm again.
Mr. Mole and Gaddes looked at each other confused, "What is wrong with her?"
Watching Hitomi disappear Mr. Mole shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know, but look at the basket here, " he sat down on the grass sniffling, "Mhmm, smells good! Come let's eat!"
Gaddes rolled his eyes and pulled the eating man up, "You just think about eating and spying, aren't you? You won't eat this, it's Hitomi's."
Sadly the old man looked at the food, "She won't eat it and Van won't eat it either. It's a pity, I'm sure she would allow me to eat it."
Gaddes shook his head, "You will never change."
*
He wasn't gone, was he?
Hitomi ran into Van's room and stood still.
Tears formed in her eyes, Mr. Mole was right.
Van was gone.
None of his belongings was there anymore, the whole room looked like it had never been inhabited.
Hitomi slid down on the floor, tears fell from her eyes.
Why had he left her?
****
Merle stood in the grand kitchen of the castle, baking small tartlets. She was silently singing an old folk song Queen Varie had taught her years ago.
Too absorbed in her work, Merle didn't notice the tall man walking up behind her, only as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist she got aware of him.
Turning around abruptly, she looked into Larian's grey eyes, "La-Larian, what are you doing here?"
Not answering her question he let go of her and asked smiling, "Baking for Van?"
Merle nodded sadly, "Yes, he is back for two days now and he seems so unhappy! I have never seen him like this before! Maybe this will cheer him up a bit."
"You are right, I don't know what is wrong with him either. I think I'll talk to him."
"That's good . and if you can cheer him up or get to know what's wrong with him, I'll bake your favourite tart for you as a reward!"
A mischievous smile appeared on Larian's face, "A tart sounds great, but I could imagine a better reward." He kept his gaze steady on Merle's beautiful face.
A flush spread on her face, but she looked straight into Larian's eyes, "Maybe you will get this reward too!"
Larian's smile brightened and without another word he left the room in search of his close friend Van.
Merle watched him leave, she couldn't suppress the giggles coming up. She didn't know why she was laughing, but she just felt like doing it.
She felt happy!
*
Larian walked quickly through the wooden hallways, he was on his way to Van's studies. The previous days Van had always been there, he had only kept working or staring longingly out of the window.
Larian opened the door quietly and as he had thought, Van was standing in front of the grand window looking outside.
The sun had just set and the warm orange of the sunlight was soon replaced by a cool blue. It would be a chilly night.
Van didn't seem to notice Larian entering the room, he was lost in his own thoughts.
"Van?"
He turned around in surprise, his face lightened a bit, "Larian! What is it, do you have more work for me?"
Larian sadly smiled at his friend, he tried to cover his downcast state, but Larian could see through it, "Van, what's wrong with you, you seem so absent-minded since you are back!", Van wanted to protest, but Larian did let him answer, "No Van! We have been friends long enough, I can see that something isn't right and so can Merle!"
"By the way, is there something going on between you and Merle?" Van tried to change the topic unsuccessfully.
A deep frown appeared on Larian's forehead, "Van don't try to change the topic! I'm your friend you can tell me!"
Defeated Van sat down on a soft armchair, "I fell in love."
Larian stared at him, he didn't expected that to happen! Van in love? That was definitely a surprising piece of news!
"A-and what is so bad about it?"
"She is the daughter of the farmer I worked for as a farmhand", sighing he buried his face in his hands, "She doesn't know that I'm the King of Fanelia and I cowardly left her, without saying goodbye. Moreover she is engaged to Allen Shezar. I don't know what to do."
Larian was speechless, which did not happened very often! After some gulping and trying to find the right words he stuttered, "O-oh, seems like lots of problems." He uneasily smiled at his friend.
Van looked up at him, "You are a great help, Larian!"
"I'm sorry Van, but what can I do if she loves Allen and not you."
Van bolted up, "She doesn't love Allen, she loves me! How you think that she loves Allen?"
"I-I thought she is engaged to Allen, so I thought.", Larian took some steps back.
"Her parents arranged the betrothal, she didn't want it! "
"Oh . and if she loves you and you love her, why didn't you tell her that you are the king? If you had told her, the betrothal would surely have been cancelled, who could stand against a King?"
Sighing Van slumped down in his chair again, "At first I didn't tell her because of the disguise and when we got closer, I was afraid of her reaction. I didn't want to lose her, but I think everything became worse."
Larian looked at Van, he really seemed to feel something for this girl.
"You should go back to the farm and tell her everything, at first she surely will be more than mad at you, but I'm positive that everything will be alright again", mockingly he added, "Especially with your charms and talent to talk you will have her back in your arms in no time!"
Van glared daggers at him, "That's not funny Larian! But you are right as soon as I can I go back to Hitomi, I'm going to tell her everything. I just hope that she can forgive me."
"And what about her betrothal?"
"Hitomi wanted to pay Allen a visit and solve the proplems."
Larian threw a sceptical look at him, "Do you think she can do it?"
Van lightly chuckled, "She can do it, I'm sure!"
****
"So hot!" sighing Hitomi slumped down into the leather saddle. She was riding to the estate of Allen Shezar, near the Asturian capital Palas.
She would tell Allen that she wouldn't marry him, never!
But as hard as she tried to think of things she could tell Allen, she couldn't bring her mind off Van. He was gone for two days now and she wondered where he had gone and when he would come back.
She was certain that he would come back to her! He promised that he would stay with her at the farm and he wouldn't lie to her! Never! She was sure of that.
Maybe something had happened to one of his friends and he needed to go there as soon as possible, so he couldn't say goodbye.
Whatever it was he would come back to her . at least she hoped so. Sometimes there was still uncertainty nagging at her heart, but she tried to repress it.
Hitomi was pulled out of her thoughts, when she saw the villa of the Caeli knight. She had to admit, it was quite impressive.
The Shezars were one of the richest families in Asturia, they owned woods and fields in all of Asturia and lots of farmers were working for them. Besides they had a very good reputation in all of Gaea.
Hesitantly Hitomi dismounted her mare. She took a deep breath and straightened out her light pink dress, before she walked up to the grand door.
She just had knocked, as the door swung open. A young woman opened the door, bowing politely, "Good morrow, my Lady"
"Err, could you tell Sir Shezar that Hitomi Kanzaki is here to speak to him?"
"Of course, my Lady! Please follow me into the parlour"
Hitomi was stunned as she walked through the house of Allen. It was really beautiful, all rooms she saw were bright, exotic furniture and sculptures stood in the rooms. Large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Pictures of landscapes and people hung at the walls and in almost every room were fresh flowers.
"Lady Hitomi, please come in. Sir Shezar will be here every minute." This said the servant left.
Hitomi stood in the room, looking around. A large fireplace was in one corner and some cosy armchairs stood around an artfully carved table. A bookshelf with hundreds of books stood in another corner. Interested Hitomi walked over to the bookshelf, quickly reading some titles.
They were very interesting books, probably Allen hadn't read one of them. He only had them there as an embellishment.
"Hitomi, what a beautiful surprise!" Allen came walking up to her, one of his most charming smiles on his lips. He placed a light kiss on her hand , "How do I deserve such a pleasant visit."
"We have to talk about our betrothal!", her hard tone didn't make Allen's smile vanish.
"Oh yes, you will be a wonderful bride, my parents will be fascinated by you! And we need to make a lot of planning. Of course you should stop reading these books and studying when we are married, but we will achieve all this, won't we?"
Just as Hitomi wanted to reply, a servant entered the room, a punchbowl with delicious fruit pieces in it, in his hands. He placed it on the table and left again.
"Something to drink?" Allen asked still smiling.
How she wished to punch this smile out of his face.
"No! And I won't marry you! You didn't even ask me, you asked my parents and I'm sure, if they had known you the way I do, they would never have agreed to this!"
Allen chuckled, "Oh Hitomi, we will marry. We will be the perfect couple! And why don't you want to marry me? This is your chance, I can give you everything you desire. Besides, do you really think another man would want to marry you, when he knows that you are studying and reading instead of being in the house and doing women's work? You can't really believe that!"
Heat was rising in Hitomi and a dangerous spark glowed in her eyes. Before Allen could blink she took the red bowl and emptied it over his head. Allen looked at her wide- eyed, the sweet liquid ran down his hair and into his eyes. Strawberry and orange pieces crowned the top of his head, slowly trickling down.
"If we marry, Shezar, I'll make hell of the rest of your life! ", Hitomi poked her finger against Allen's chest, who, full of fright took some steps back, "I'll cut your hair and I'm going to ridicule you in front of the court! I'm going to tell everyone that you wear women's clothes!"
The colour drained out of Allen's face, "N-no, you can't! It was a misunderstanding!"
"Pah! I don't think so, I saw you with my own eyes! And you really seemed to enjoy it! So think about it, Shezar!" she glared at him one more time and dashed out of the house.
Allen gulped, a strawberry piece slid into his face, what had he done? He had asked a hellcat to marry him! He shouldn't have been blinded by her beauty! Worried he patted his hair. No he couldn't marry this woman, he hated to give in, but his hair and reputation were more important!
Still shocked by this meeting with Hitomi he walked into his bathroom, trying to wash the sticky, red liquid out of his hair.
****
"And the harvest was ."
Van didn't listen to his advisor, it was the same like yesterday, the day before yesterday and the day before that day. Always the same advisor and the same topics.
Bored Van looked out of the window, the sun would be setting soon. He was about to doze in, when suddenly the door swung open with full force.
A man panting heavily stood in the doorway, "The-the. raiders", everyone in the room tensed up, "The raiders are .attacking a small. village in Asturia. near the Fanelian border. They ask for help, the Asturian troops. won't be able to go there in time."
The whole room was in tumult, they frantically shouted around. Van could only make out fragments of words.
"What if they attack Fanelia again?"
"We need to send troops!"
"We won't be there in time!"
"These barbarians!"
Van slowly got angry, he wanted to know what was wrong!
"QUIET!"
The room immediately went quiet, all eyes focused on the king.
"Now tell me what's wrong"
Three people began to talk at once, but Van raised his hand, "One at a time!"
Merle stepped up to him, "The raiders were here, attacking our villages."
"And you didn't informed me? What did you think, I'm the King-"
"Van, please calm down! We didn't informed you, because you would have attacked them head over heels, without thinking! They soon left our country and we thought they were gone, but now they are back in Asturia. The raiders are brutal, they don't spare women or children. We have to send help!"
A sudden panic washed over Van, a village near the Fanelian border?
He gripped the messenger by his collar, "Tell me which village", the man caught by surprise, didn't answer, "Tell me WHICH VILLAGE!" Van almost shouted into the man's face.
"Lorion Sire!" Van let go of the man, a numb feeling spread in his body and only one name came to his mind.
"Hitomi"
As if awakening from his trance he sprinted out of the room. Merle called his name, but he didn't hear, he was on the way to the stables. He needed to get to Hitomi, before something terrible would happen.
He jumped on his horse and rode as fast as lightning.
Behind him, Larian tried to mobilise the soldiers to save the village.
*****
A high scream echoed through the woods. Suddenly flames flared in the sky.
Green eyes widened, "What was happening?"
****
Even from far away Van could see the flames licking the sky. Although he was bathed in sweat and his horse was foaming, he spurred it harder, he needed to get to Hitomi!
The nearer he came, the louder were the screams and when he chased through the forest, into the village he stopped.
The whole village was on fire, people were running for their lives, children cried out for their parents, some corpses were already laying on the ground. He recognized a man, who he had drunk beer with at the feast.
Anger was rising within him, this beautiful, peaceful village was destroyed. The people, who had welcomed him as one of them, who he had laughed with were running for their lives.
Van gripped the hilt of his sword, unsheathing it. The hot flames were mirrored in his crimson eyes and with a battle cry he rode into the village, taking revenge.
*
"Where're you going, pretty, you can't escape me! Don't run away!", a tall man shouted. His face and clothes were covered in dirt, he held a heavy sword in one hand. A filthy smirk was on his lips as he followed a young woman.
She stumbled away from the ugly man, but it seemed to be in vain. She couldn't run with her injured leg. And suddenly she tipped over and fell into the dirt. Wincing she turned around. Her green eyes widened as she saw the man hovering over her.
"Didn't I say, you wouldn't escape me?", his eyes shamelessly travelled over her body, "We'll have some fun together."
In despair Hitomi searched the ground for something to defend herself. The man came nearer, she tried to back away until her back was pressed against a stone wall.
As the raider bent down, her hand found something round. With full force she through a stone into the man's face.
Crying out in pain the man held his forehead, a thin line of blood slowly trickling down.
Hitomi tried to crawl away, but the man seized her by the shoulder and threw her hard against the wall.
Crying out in pain she gripped her shoulder. The man towered over her, his blade over her head, ready for the final blow. The madness was clearly seen in his eyes and the sword came down.
But before it was able to touch its victim the sword cashed to the ground. The man still stood there, his eyes wide open, the madness was gone, replaced by an unfocused look. Without another word he sank to the ground, blood slowly oozing from a wound on his back.
Hitomi stared at the dead corpse beside her, not clearly recognizing what had just happened.
"Hitomi, are you hurt?"
She turned to the concerned voice and looked into Van's eyes. He kneeled beside her, a bloody sword lay next to him.
She couldn't believe that he was there, he had saved her! Crying she flung herself into his arms. Van encircled her waist, holding her tight.
How he had missed her! He inhaled her flowerlike fragrance, it was mixed with a smell of flames, but still there. He was so unbelievably relieved that he had come in time, two seconds later and she would have been.
No, he didn't want to think about it!
Slowly he loosened his embrace, "Hitomi, are you hurt?"
She looked into his eyes, nodding, "My leg, but."
Before she could finish her sentence Van examined her leg, a deep gash was on her thigh. The wound would soon need medical treatment, or there would be an infection, "Hitomi you need medical treatment I'll."
"No, it's alright! Do you know where my family is, are they ok? And what about the raiders? We need to stop them!" She tried to get up, but Van held her down.
"Your family is o.k. I met Gaddes and he told me they are safe and concerning the raiders, Fanelian soldiers are here, they'll defeat the raiders!"
Hitomi nodded, but suddenly a question popped up in her mind again, "Van, w- why did you leave?"
He looked at the ground ashamed or frightened, she couldn't tell. Van wanted to answer, but he couldn't. A soldier from Fanelia came running up to them, bowing in front of Van, "My Lord, the raiders have been defeated, some could flee, but we sent troops after them."
Hitomi looked at Van in confusion, "My Lord? What?"
"Little girl, you can feel honoured, the King of Fanelia was your saviour!" The soldier spoke with respect for his master.
In panic Van watched Hitomi's face. This went wrong! He saw the pain in her eyes, "W-What? I-I don't understand, you-you are a King? W-why didn't you.", tears were falling from her eyes.
"Hitomi, please, I-I can explain!"
"You don't need to explain!" She saw Gaddes coming up to them, "Gaddes, please bring me away from here!"
"Hitomi what- Van"
"Gaddes, just bring me away!" As he saw her tear- stained face and scooped her up into his arms.
"Hitomi, don't go! I can explain everything, please don't go!" Van stood up despaired.
"No Van! I don't want to see you ever again!"
Gaddes was a bit confused, but carried Hitomi away.
Van watched her go, he couldn't follow her, he didn't know what to say. What had he done? He destroyed everything.
He watched them go, Hitomi had buried her head in Gaddes's shoulder.
Van felt like crying too, the only woman he had ever loved, was leaving him, probably for forever!
_________________________________________________
A/N: *dodges* Don't be mad at me for the ending! Next chapter will explain Tomi's reaction! I'm really sorry, but the next and probably last chapter, won't be out very soon, I'm moving tomorrow! So excited! But please review, they will fasten the update! ^_______^ Oh, and I'm sorry for the badness of this chapter! Personally I think there is too much of a rush, but I wanted to get this chapter out and I didn't have very much time to write. Maybe I'll work it over one day. Hope you liked it a bit in spite of that!
So till next update, whenever it will be! Have a GREAT week,
Little Fairy
Love Witch: *lol* My best wishes for your wedding! I'm glad you like this story! And who wouldn't want Van's babies He,he ^_____^
Ryuu Angel: *lol* I know, sometimes I could kill ff.net too *glares at ff.net* But thank you that you reviewed a second time! Just love getting nice reviews!
KNIGHTMARE&Carpenter&Mr.Jack: Yes, Yes I know, I curse a lot too ^__^. Thank you for reviewing and soooooooooooooooooooo happy you like it!
TBPeppy: WOW! Thank you! Hope that I updated fast enough for you! Loved this review!
Van lover: Hehe, another cliffy! Thank you for reviewing!
Snow blossoms: Sorry, I don't know what 'vatta' means. Hope it was ok how Hitomi reacted, not too mopey! Thank you for the nice review!
Rowan Silverfox: He,he thank you for the review!
SabineballZ: I know I'm mean *begins to laugh like crazy* *falls from chair* Outch Ok, I'm not really mean, the last chap will be all fluffy and romantic! Thank you for the nice review!
Lady Luna: Thank you for the review, and I could NEVER pair Hitomi up with Allen! (sorry to all Allen fans) ^__^
Dark fearie 2: Hope you still liked it after reading this chap! ^__^ Till then, thank you!
Dragontamer9741: Thanks for waiting and of course for reviewing! ^__^
Farhancharizard: *lol* But the vacation was fun! I even wrote at while eating, but I had to stop that, because my parents got angry ;__; And more fluff will come soon! ^__^
Freelancer47: Hope the Allen bashing was fun. And thanks for the nice review!
Kat-Tastrophe: Yes Van was stupid! ^___^ I'll try to update soon!
MysticalDreamer32: I'm sorry that I didn't put your idea in, it was really sweet. But I had wrote a long part of the chapter before. Sorry! But thank you for the review and that you liked it this way too!
Jossi-31: Thanks for reviewing! ^_______^
Crystel: Could you maybe mail me when you posted you fic, I won't be able to visit ff.net very often, but I'd love to read your story! And thank you for reviewing and telling me your opinion, it always makes me happy and the story going! ^__^
Night of the Raven: Thank the review! And Hitomi will be a little upset! ^___^
Oh and a third thing, Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!!!!!!!!!!!!
In Disguise
Chapter 9
"Lord Vaaannn!", Merle leaped into his arms crying, "Oh, I have missed you so much!"
"I have missed you too Merle." A smile formed on Van's tired features.
"How are you? Was the ride here exhausting? What did you do at the farm? You have to tell me everything about your stay there!"
Van's smile saddened: Was Hitomi already awake? What would she think when she saw that he was gone? Would she be crying?
"Van!" Walking up to him came Larian, smiling cheerfully, "My friend, it's good to see you again!"
Van nodded at his old friend.
"Come inside, we have arranged a small feast in honour of our King who has finally returned!"
Merle enlaced her arm with Van's and began walking in the direction of the palace. But before Van entered his castle, he turned around and looked over the slowly awaking city and wide landscape with longing eyes.
Did he take the right decision?
****
Hitomi walked through the fields around her home humming happily. She was on her way to Van, with a delicious, self-made lunch. She had stood the morning in the kitchen cooking for her love.
On a meadow she saw a beautiful blue cornflower, giggling she arranged it in her hair. Would Van like it?
"Hello Beautiful!"
Hitomi turned around and smiled at Gaddes, "Hello Gaddes, how are you? Have you seen Van?"
Gaddes thought for a moment, "No, I haven't seen him today. Maybe he is still asleep?"
"No he isn't!"
Hitomi and Gaddes turned to Mr. Mole, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
"Van left in the night, a strange young man came here, making lots of noise, that's why Van came out and after some talking they left."
Hitomi stared at Mr. Mole, Van . was gone?
"Do you know where he was going?" Gaddes asked a little confused.
Mr. Mole sighed, "It's a pity but I didn't understand one word they were saying, I was too far away. I wanted to go nearer, but this Van has really good ears and he is still mad at me-"
Thud!
The basket Hitomi had carried fell to the ground and Hitomi wasn't there anymore. She was running down the fields to the farm again.
Mr. Mole and Gaddes looked at each other confused, "What is wrong with her?"
Watching Hitomi disappear Mr. Mole shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know, but look at the basket here, " he sat down on the grass sniffling, "Mhmm, smells good! Come let's eat!"
Gaddes rolled his eyes and pulled the eating man up, "You just think about eating and spying, aren't you? You won't eat this, it's Hitomi's."
Sadly the old man looked at the food, "She won't eat it and Van won't eat it either. It's a pity, I'm sure she would allow me to eat it."
Gaddes shook his head, "You will never change."
*
He wasn't gone, was he?
Hitomi ran into Van's room and stood still.
Tears formed in her eyes, Mr. Mole was right.
Van was gone.
None of his belongings was there anymore, the whole room looked like it had never been inhabited.
Hitomi slid down on the floor, tears fell from her eyes.
Why had he left her?
****
Merle stood in the grand kitchen of the castle, baking small tartlets. She was silently singing an old folk song Queen Varie had taught her years ago.
Too absorbed in her work, Merle didn't notice the tall man walking up behind her, only as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist she got aware of him.
Turning around abruptly, she looked into Larian's grey eyes, "La-Larian, what are you doing here?"
Not answering her question he let go of her and asked smiling, "Baking for Van?"
Merle nodded sadly, "Yes, he is back for two days now and he seems so unhappy! I have never seen him like this before! Maybe this will cheer him up a bit."
"You are right, I don't know what is wrong with him either. I think I'll talk to him."
"That's good . and if you can cheer him up or get to know what's wrong with him, I'll bake your favourite tart for you as a reward!"
A mischievous smile appeared on Larian's face, "A tart sounds great, but I could imagine a better reward." He kept his gaze steady on Merle's beautiful face.
A flush spread on her face, but she looked straight into Larian's eyes, "Maybe you will get this reward too!"
Larian's smile brightened and without another word he left the room in search of his close friend Van.
Merle watched him leave, she couldn't suppress the giggles coming up. She didn't know why she was laughing, but she just felt like doing it.
She felt happy!
*
Larian walked quickly through the wooden hallways, he was on his way to Van's studies. The previous days Van had always been there, he had only kept working or staring longingly out of the window.
Larian opened the door quietly and as he had thought, Van was standing in front of the grand window looking outside.
The sun had just set and the warm orange of the sunlight was soon replaced by a cool blue. It would be a chilly night.
Van didn't seem to notice Larian entering the room, he was lost in his own thoughts.
"Van?"
He turned around in surprise, his face lightened a bit, "Larian! What is it, do you have more work for me?"
Larian sadly smiled at his friend, he tried to cover his downcast state, but Larian could see through it, "Van, what's wrong with you, you seem so absent-minded since you are back!", Van wanted to protest, but Larian did let him answer, "No Van! We have been friends long enough, I can see that something isn't right and so can Merle!"
"By the way, is there something going on between you and Merle?" Van tried to change the topic unsuccessfully.
A deep frown appeared on Larian's forehead, "Van don't try to change the topic! I'm your friend you can tell me!"
Defeated Van sat down on a soft armchair, "I fell in love."
Larian stared at him, he didn't expected that to happen! Van in love? That was definitely a surprising piece of news!
"A-and what is so bad about it?"
"She is the daughter of the farmer I worked for as a farmhand", sighing he buried his face in his hands, "She doesn't know that I'm the King of Fanelia and I cowardly left her, without saying goodbye. Moreover she is engaged to Allen Shezar. I don't know what to do."
Larian was speechless, which did not happened very often! After some gulping and trying to find the right words he stuttered, "O-oh, seems like lots of problems." He uneasily smiled at his friend.
Van looked up at him, "You are a great help, Larian!"
"I'm sorry Van, but what can I do if she loves Allen and not you."
Van bolted up, "She doesn't love Allen, she loves me! How you think that she loves Allen?"
"I-I thought she is engaged to Allen, so I thought.", Larian took some steps back.
"Her parents arranged the betrothal, she didn't want it! "
"Oh . and if she loves you and you love her, why didn't you tell her that you are the king? If you had told her, the betrothal would surely have been cancelled, who could stand against a King?"
Sighing Van slumped down in his chair again, "At first I didn't tell her because of the disguise and when we got closer, I was afraid of her reaction. I didn't want to lose her, but I think everything became worse."
Larian looked at Van, he really seemed to feel something for this girl.
"You should go back to the farm and tell her everything, at first she surely will be more than mad at you, but I'm positive that everything will be alright again", mockingly he added, "Especially with your charms and talent to talk you will have her back in your arms in no time!"
Van glared daggers at him, "That's not funny Larian! But you are right as soon as I can I go back to Hitomi, I'm going to tell her everything. I just hope that she can forgive me."
"And what about her betrothal?"
"Hitomi wanted to pay Allen a visit and solve the proplems."
Larian threw a sceptical look at him, "Do you think she can do it?"
Van lightly chuckled, "She can do it, I'm sure!"
****
"So hot!" sighing Hitomi slumped down into the leather saddle. She was riding to the estate of Allen Shezar, near the Asturian capital Palas.
She would tell Allen that she wouldn't marry him, never!
But as hard as she tried to think of things she could tell Allen, she couldn't bring her mind off Van. He was gone for two days now and she wondered where he had gone and when he would come back.
She was certain that he would come back to her! He promised that he would stay with her at the farm and he wouldn't lie to her! Never! She was sure of that.
Maybe something had happened to one of his friends and he needed to go there as soon as possible, so he couldn't say goodbye.
Whatever it was he would come back to her . at least she hoped so. Sometimes there was still uncertainty nagging at her heart, but she tried to repress it.
Hitomi was pulled out of her thoughts, when she saw the villa of the Caeli knight. She had to admit, it was quite impressive.
The Shezars were one of the richest families in Asturia, they owned woods and fields in all of Asturia and lots of farmers were working for them. Besides they had a very good reputation in all of Gaea.
Hesitantly Hitomi dismounted her mare. She took a deep breath and straightened out her light pink dress, before she walked up to the grand door.
She just had knocked, as the door swung open. A young woman opened the door, bowing politely, "Good morrow, my Lady"
"Err, could you tell Sir Shezar that Hitomi Kanzaki is here to speak to him?"
"Of course, my Lady! Please follow me into the parlour"
Hitomi was stunned as she walked through the house of Allen. It was really beautiful, all rooms she saw were bright, exotic furniture and sculptures stood in the rooms. Large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Pictures of landscapes and people hung at the walls and in almost every room were fresh flowers.
"Lady Hitomi, please come in. Sir Shezar will be here every minute." This said the servant left.
Hitomi stood in the room, looking around. A large fireplace was in one corner and some cosy armchairs stood around an artfully carved table. A bookshelf with hundreds of books stood in another corner. Interested Hitomi walked over to the bookshelf, quickly reading some titles.
They were very interesting books, probably Allen hadn't read one of them. He only had them there as an embellishment.
"Hitomi, what a beautiful surprise!" Allen came walking up to her, one of his most charming smiles on his lips. He placed a light kiss on her hand , "How do I deserve such a pleasant visit."
"We have to talk about our betrothal!", her hard tone didn't make Allen's smile vanish.
"Oh yes, you will be a wonderful bride, my parents will be fascinated by you! And we need to make a lot of planning. Of course you should stop reading these books and studying when we are married, but we will achieve all this, won't we?"
Just as Hitomi wanted to reply, a servant entered the room, a punchbowl with delicious fruit pieces in it, in his hands. He placed it on the table and left again.
"Something to drink?" Allen asked still smiling.
How she wished to punch this smile out of his face.
"No! And I won't marry you! You didn't even ask me, you asked my parents and I'm sure, if they had known you the way I do, they would never have agreed to this!"
Allen chuckled, "Oh Hitomi, we will marry. We will be the perfect couple! And why don't you want to marry me? This is your chance, I can give you everything you desire. Besides, do you really think another man would want to marry you, when he knows that you are studying and reading instead of being in the house and doing women's work? You can't really believe that!"
Heat was rising in Hitomi and a dangerous spark glowed in her eyes. Before Allen could blink she took the red bowl and emptied it over his head. Allen looked at her wide- eyed, the sweet liquid ran down his hair and into his eyes. Strawberry and orange pieces crowned the top of his head, slowly trickling down.
"If we marry, Shezar, I'll make hell of the rest of your life! ", Hitomi poked her finger against Allen's chest, who, full of fright took some steps back, "I'll cut your hair and I'm going to ridicule you in front of the court! I'm going to tell everyone that you wear women's clothes!"
The colour drained out of Allen's face, "N-no, you can't! It was a misunderstanding!"
"Pah! I don't think so, I saw you with my own eyes! And you really seemed to enjoy it! So think about it, Shezar!" she glared at him one more time and dashed out of the house.
Allen gulped, a strawberry piece slid into his face, what had he done? He had asked a hellcat to marry him! He shouldn't have been blinded by her beauty! Worried he patted his hair. No he couldn't marry this woman, he hated to give in, but his hair and reputation were more important!
Still shocked by this meeting with Hitomi he walked into his bathroom, trying to wash the sticky, red liquid out of his hair.
****
"And the harvest was ."
Van didn't listen to his advisor, it was the same like yesterday, the day before yesterday and the day before that day. Always the same advisor and the same topics.
Bored Van looked out of the window, the sun would be setting soon. He was about to doze in, when suddenly the door swung open with full force.
A man panting heavily stood in the doorway, "The-the. raiders", everyone in the room tensed up, "The raiders are .attacking a small. village in Asturia. near the Fanelian border. They ask for help, the Asturian troops. won't be able to go there in time."
The whole room was in tumult, they frantically shouted around. Van could only make out fragments of words.
"What if they attack Fanelia again?"
"We need to send troops!"
"We won't be there in time!"
"These barbarians!"
Van slowly got angry, he wanted to know what was wrong!
"QUIET!"
The room immediately went quiet, all eyes focused on the king.
"Now tell me what's wrong"
Three people began to talk at once, but Van raised his hand, "One at a time!"
Merle stepped up to him, "The raiders were here, attacking our villages."
"And you didn't informed me? What did you think, I'm the King-"
"Van, please calm down! We didn't informed you, because you would have attacked them head over heels, without thinking! They soon left our country and we thought they were gone, but now they are back in Asturia. The raiders are brutal, they don't spare women or children. We have to send help!"
A sudden panic washed over Van, a village near the Fanelian border?
He gripped the messenger by his collar, "Tell me which village", the man caught by surprise, didn't answer, "Tell me WHICH VILLAGE!" Van almost shouted into the man's face.
"Lorion Sire!" Van let go of the man, a numb feeling spread in his body and only one name came to his mind.
"Hitomi"
As if awakening from his trance he sprinted out of the room. Merle called his name, but he didn't hear, he was on the way to the stables. He needed to get to Hitomi, before something terrible would happen.
He jumped on his horse and rode as fast as lightning.
Behind him, Larian tried to mobilise the soldiers to save the village.
*****
A high scream echoed through the woods. Suddenly flames flared in the sky.
Green eyes widened, "What was happening?"
****
Even from far away Van could see the flames licking the sky. Although he was bathed in sweat and his horse was foaming, he spurred it harder, he needed to get to Hitomi!
The nearer he came, the louder were the screams and when he chased through the forest, into the village he stopped.
The whole village was on fire, people were running for their lives, children cried out for their parents, some corpses were already laying on the ground. He recognized a man, who he had drunk beer with at the feast.
Anger was rising within him, this beautiful, peaceful village was destroyed. The people, who had welcomed him as one of them, who he had laughed with were running for their lives.
Van gripped the hilt of his sword, unsheathing it. The hot flames were mirrored in his crimson eyes and with a battle cry he rode into the village, taking revenge.
*
"Where're you going, pretty, you can't escape me! Don't run away!", a tall man shouted. His face and clothes were covered in dirt, he held a heavy sword in one hand. A filthy smirk was on his lips as he followed a young woman.
She stumbled away from the ugly man, but it seemed to be in vain. She couldn't run with her injured leg. And suddenly she tipped over and fell into the dirt. Wincing she turned around. Her green eyes widened as she saw the man hovering over her.
"Didn't I say, you wouldn't escape me?", his eyes shamelessly travelled over her body, "We'll have some fun together."
In despair Hitomi searched the ground for something to defend herself. The man came nearer, she tried to back away until her back was pressed against a stone wall.
As the raider bent down, her hand found something round. With full force she through a stone into the man's face.
Crying out in pain the man held his forehead, a thin line of blood slowly trickling down.
Hitomi tried to crawl away, but the man seized her by the shoulder and threw her hard against the wall.
Crying out in pain she gripped her shoulder. The man towered over her, his blade over her head, ready for the final blow. The madness was clearly seen in his eyes and the sword came down.
But before it was able to touch its victim the sword cashed to the ground. The man still stood there, his eyes wide open, the madness was gone, replaced by an unfocused look. Without another word he sank to the ground, blood slowly oozing from a wound on his back.
Hitomi stared at the dead corpse beside her, not clearly recognizing what had just happened.
"Hitomi, are you hurt?"
She turned to the concerned voice and looked into Van's eyes. He kneeled beside her, a bloody sword lay next to him.
She couldn't believe that he was there, he had saved her! Crying she flung herself into his arms. Van encircled her waist, holding her tight.
How he had missed her! He inhaled her flowerlike fragrance, it was mixed with a smell of flames, but still there. He was so unbelievably relieved that he had come in time, two seconds later and she would have been.
No, he didn't want to think about it!
Slowly he loosened his embrace, "Hitomi, are you hurt?"
She looked into his eyes, nodding, "My leg, but."
Before she could finish her sentence Van examined her leg, a deep gash was on her thigh. The wound would soon need medical treatment, or there would be an infection, "Hitomi you need medical treatment I'll."
"No, it's alright! Do you know where my family is, are they ok? And what about the raiders? We need to stop them!" She tried to get up, but Van held her down.
"Your family is o.k. I met Gaddes and he told me they are safe and concerning the raiders, Fanelian soldiers are here, they'll defeat the raiders!"
Hitomi nodded, but suddenly a question popped up in her mind again, "Van, w- why did you leave?"
He looked at the ground ashamed or frightened, she couldn't tell. Van wanted to answer, but he couldn't. A soldier from Fanelia came running up to them, bowing in front of Van, "My Lord, the raiders have been defeated, some could flee, but we sent troops after them."
Hitomi looked at Van in confusion, "My Lord? What?"
"Little girl, you can feel honoured, the King of Fanelia was your saviour!" The soldier spoke with respect for his master.
In panic Van watched Hitomi's face. This went wrong! He saw the pain in her eyes, "W-What? I-I don't understand, you-you are a King? W-why didn't you.", tears were falling from her eyes.
"Hitomi, please, I-I can explain!"
"You don't need to explain!" She saw Gaddes coming up to them, "Gaddes, please bring me away from here!"
"Hitomi what- Van"
"Gaddes, just bring me away!" As he saw her tear- stained face and scooped her up into his arms.
"Hitomi, don't go! I can explain everything, please don't go!" Van stood up despaired.
"No Van! I don't want to see you ever again!"
Gaddes was a bit confused, but carried Hitomi away.
Van watched her go, he couldn't follow her, he didn't know what to say. What had he done? He destroyed everything.
He watched them go, Hitomi had buried her head in Gaddes's shoulder.
Van felt like crying too, the only woman he had ever loved, was leaving him, probably for forever!
_________________________________________________
A/N: *dodges* Don't be mad at me for the ending! Next chapter will explain Tomi's reaction! I'm really sorry, but the next and probably last chapter, won't be out very soon, I'm moving tomorrow! So excited! But please review, they will fasten the update! ^_______^ Oh, and I'm sorry for the badness of this chapter! Personally I think there is too much of a rush, but I wanted to get this chapter out and I didn't have very much time to write. Maybe I'll work it over one day. Hope you liked it a bit in spite of that!
So till next update, whenever it will be! Have a GREAT week,
Little Fairy
Love Witch: *lol* My best wishes for your wedding! I'm glad you like this story! And who wouldn't want Van's babies He,he ^_____^
Ryuu Angel: *lol* I know, sometimes I could kill ff.net too *glares at ff.net* But thank you that you reviewed a second time! Just love getting nice reviews!
KNIGHTMARE&Carpenter&Mr.Jack: Yes, Yes I know, I curse a lot too ^__^. Thank you for reviewing and soooooooooooooooooooo happy you like it!
TBPeppy: WOW! Thank you! Hope that I updated fast enough for you! Loved this review!
Van lover: Hehe, another cliffy! Thank you for reviewing!
Snow blossoms: Sorry, I don't know what 'vatta' means. Hope it was ok how Hitomi reacted, not too mopey! Thank you for the nice review!
Rowan Silverfox: He,he thank you for the review!
SabineballZ: I know I'm mean *begins to laugh like crazy* *falls from chair* Outch Ok, I'm not really mean, the last chap will be all fluffy and romantic! Thank you for the nice review!
Lady Luna: Thank you for the review, and I could NEVER pair Hitomi up with Allen! (sorry to all Allen fans) ^__^
Dark fearie 2: Hope you still liked it after reading this chap! ^__^ Till then, thank you!
Dragontamer9741: Thanks for waiting and of course for reviewing! ^__^
Farhancharizard: *lol* But the vacation was fun! I even wrote at while eating, but I had to stop that, because my parents got angry ;__; And more fluff will come soon! ^__^
Freelancer47: Hope the Allen bashing was fun. And thanks for the nice review!
Kat-Tastrophe: Yes Van was stupid! ^___^ I'll try to update soon!
MysticalDreamer32: I'm sorry that I didn't put your idea in, it was really sweet. But I had wrote a long part of the chapter before. Sorry! But thank you for the review and that you liked it this way too!
Jossi-31: Thanks for reviewing! ^_______^
Crystel: Could you maybe mail me when you posted you fic, I won't be able to visit ff.net very often, but I'd love to read your story! And thank you for reviewing and telling me your opinion, it always makes me happy and the story going! ^__^
Night of the Raven: Thank the review! And Hitomi will be a little upset! ^___^