Feathers of Love
Chapitre Three: The Arrival
Somewhere out there, further away that you could imagine, in another land, a young man and an old woman were preparing for an important event. There was nothing special about this event, except that it was different from the ones that they had went to before. What they were doing was to steal something of great importance to that country...
Of course, it was not the first time both of them had tried to steal things, but it was one of the most important things they were trying to steal. The young man was doing all the dirty work, but without the old woman, he could not even enter the place where he was supposed to be stealing the thing.
"Haku! Come here!" the old woman commanded.
Haku went over and asked, "Yes, Yubaba?"
"Go get your hidden weapons ready; and have a change in clothes! Why are you still wearing this? Get something nicer!"
"Yes Yubaba."
Just at that moment, loud wails could be heard from another room. It was ear splitting and Yubaba immediately went into the curtained off room, and coaxed the child to quiet down. Of course, it took a long time and no doubt the being did not want Yubaba to leave and leave him alone with Yubaba's three heads to entertain him.
Finally, Yubaba came out of the room, and Haku, who had spent the time waiting to change into new clothes, was waiting quietly for Yubaba, who was putting on some make up before they left.
"Come. Let's go to the roof. You better remember to follow me, or you will have to find your own way!"
"Yes, Yubaba." Haku said as he went to the roof with her. There, she changed into her flying form, the form of a bird and flew out into the afternoon sun. Haku followed behind by turning into a white dragon. They set out for the palace of Queen Debonair...
Meanwhile, while waiting, Nadeshiko and Sakura were given something to eat by the Cook, who had some leftover food that would not be served to the guests. It was the ends of raw carrots and turnips. There was not much, but it still tasted better than the watery broth that they had to eat everyday. Even though there was still mud on them, they gently pried it away and hid them in their skirts, for if they dirtied the floor, they would be punished later on. Both of them ate their food slowly, savoring the taste of raw vegetables, which they had not the chance of eating after four years.
When they were done with their dinner, the ball had not started yet, so the two of them sat down in one corner of the servants' and slaves' staircase and waited. They would be entering to the Dining Hall through the staircase and at that moment, it was very busy, with people carrying hot water and other things up to their masters' and mistresses' rooms. They were attending the ball too, and they wanted to be on their best, since they were, after all, receiving very important people to the palace.
Nadeshiko took the harp as they sat down on their old clothes, which were slightly cleaner now after washing it when they were taking their baths, when people were not looking. Though it may still be wet, but it was better than standing up and waiting for their turn. They were not given these clothes and they would have to don their slaves' rags when the ball was over, for the clothes they had on were only lent to them. If they did not return the clothes the way they were, that was clean, they would be flogged and more work would be piled on their shoulders. She began tuning the harp, which seemed to be a bit old and forgotten. When they had gotten this harp, on loan too, there were layers of dust on it and they had to use their clothes to wipe away the dust. However, it was worth it, for they had seen that this harp was not simple. It was beautiful, in its own way.
"Mother, how long do you think we have to wait?" Sakura asked as she watched her mother tuning the harp.
"I don't know, but I believe that it would be well after their dinner, after they had danced to their hearts' contents. After that, we would sing for them. I assume that by then, it would be very late and we will probably not sleep tonight and just have to work as usual tomorrow.
"Yeah...I think that you are right. Hmm?" Nadeshiko had finished tuning the harp and something seemed to be making the two of them disturbed. "Mother...why is it that this harp has magical powers? Is it enchanted with evil magic or only magic used to amplify the music we would be playing?" Sakura whispered, trying to hide the aura with the tiny bit of magic that she had out of her control but not more than the amount for people to start noticing her and throw them into the dungeons.
"I...I don't know. I have never seen something like this before. Unless this is a treasure but the inhabitants in the palace does not know. We better hide this until we perform, or else people with the slight bit of magic would notice what we are having. As we have already returned Princess Nova's token to her, so we cannot change another harp. Even if we still have her token, we cannot change the harp. The people there would not even look at us."
"You are right, mother." Sakura said. Just at that moment, she heard something, something like applause. It seemed as if the guests had arrived. "Mother, I guess we better stop talking then."
"Yes."
The applause seemed to have become even louder and it was possible that the guests had entered the Dining Hall. Involuntarily, both Sakura and Nadeshiko started to gasp. The guests were not ordinary people! They had magic in them!
Yubaba and Haku had reached the palace of Queen Debonair and they entered it through the gates itself after changing back into their human forms. The guards had recognized them and bowed low as the two of them entered the palace. One of the guards brought them to the door of the palace, where another person, who was probably the steward of the palace, brought them to the Dining Hall after greeting them formally. Both Yubaba and Haku were silent, for they were observing the grounds of the palace. They had wanted to steal that something and they could sense that it was in the palace, somewhere.
"Here is the Dining Hall. May the two of you enjoy your stay at the palace." The steward said before he left them at the doors, where two knights were there, waiting for the arrival of the two of them so that they could announce the arrival of Yubaba and Haku.
"Yubaba and Haku have arrived!" Both of the knights announced as they threw open the doors. Applause sounded as the people seated saw them. Both Yubaba and Haku ignored the laughter and walked towards the highest table, where there were two empty seats waiting for them on the right of Queen Debonair.
Debonair and Nova stood up. "Welcome to my country! Please be seated and food will be served to you soon." Debonair greeted the two of them.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Yubaba said as they walked to their seats, Haku first helping Yubaba into hers before sitting down on the other chair himself. The moment they were seated, food was served and everyone started eating.
Nova, who thought that Haku was very handsome and wanted to toy with him tried to chat with him. It was to no avail, for Haku kept silent the moment he saw Yubaba look at him with a glance. Thus, Nova was a bit sulky and kept silent the whole dinner too.
After that, the dancing started but nobody at the high table wanted to dance, so they watched the other people dance while trying unsuccessfully to converse with each other.
At the same time, both Nadeshiko and Sakura were waiting nervously for their cue to enter the Dining Hall, for they were afraid that people would notice that they had a magical harp with them.
"Let's hope nothing will happen when we sing." Nadeshiko said as she heard the last faint tunes of the dance die away. "We will be called any moment."
"Now mother," Nova proclaimed in a loud voice. "I have found two slaves who could sing very well and I have asked them to sing for us tonight. Can I call them in?"
"Why yes. If there is no singing, how can our day end?" Debonair smiled.
"All right then! Nadeshiko! Sakura! Come in and do your singing!"
Both Sakura and Nadeshiko scrambled up the remaining steps and carried the harp with them too. Both of them entered the Dining Hall and walked towards the center of the room. They curtsied and greeted them, "Good evening, masters', mistresses', Yubaba and Haku. Your slaves would be singing some songs for all of you to enjoy."
Nadeshiko knelt on the ground as she started to play the harp, for there was not chair for her to sit on. She sneaked a look at Yubaba and Haku. Haku seemed familiar like the young boy she had known some years back...
Sakura remained standing and felt peoples' eyes staring at her. She felt an stare that made her feel uncomfortable. She dared not look up for fear of being flogged.
Haku stared at the two slaves in front of him. They seemed so familiar. It was as if he knew them before...
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Clamp or any other people who created the stories that they had drawn! I only own the story plot! Please bear in mind with that. :)
Yeah! Finished Chapitre Three! Wow! Took quite a short time too! Please do read Angelic Destiny, will you all? Remember to review! Thanks to those who did! Ja!
