Feathers of Love
Chapitre Eight: The Rebels
"How can you let them escape??? They are already so weak and are not able to run so far, and yet you all let them escape? I have given you all these steeds so that you can catch them, and this is what I get!" Queen Debonair ranted loudly as she stared venomously at the cowering soldiers at her feet.
"Your...Your Majesty...I...it," the captain of them soldiers cleared his throat before continuing, "it was not your servants' fault that they escape, Your Majesty, for the brown haired slave escaped into the tunnel that people would not enter...for fear of the Gods' wrath and the black haired slave disappeared into thin air. Perhaps she was whisked off by some sort of monster or..."
"Or what?" Debonair narrowed her eyes into thin slits at this.
"Or...she could have escaped!" The soldier answered fearfully.
"Why did you all not chase after them? Even if they are gone, you should scour the whole place again instead of coming back to report to me!"
The captain had no choice but to answer the queen's endless questions, while he thought, "This is going to take a long time, but will I lose my life this time? I hope not."
Meanwhile, Nadeshiko had arrived, finally, into her own country, Clow. It was not easy now, even though she was already there, for there were sentries posted at the gates to keep the people of Clow out of the city. As there were not many people going into the city, it was hard for Nadeshiko to enter, for there were no crowds to mingle into and sneak her way in.
"Now, what shall I do?" Nadeshiko thought as she hid in some bushes. "How about making myself invisible and sneak in? It is a good one, though I may not be able to do a good one, since I am already tired out and I am not very good at this. Let's just hope that I can find my way back, and hope that the city was not changed from the last time I was here, so that I can go to one of my people's home and hide there." Then, she remembered something. "Alas, Fujitaka is not here with me now, or I would know where to wait for him and tell him what happened...but it is my job to protect this country, even if Fujitaka is dead, for I am still the lawful queen, a beloved one at that. Let's just hope that they do not think that I am already dead. If not, I will have a hard time convincing my people."
With that, Nadeshiko used the small reserves of magic she had left and whispered softly as she drew symbols on her clothes. The symbols were weird and Nadeshiko almost forgot how to draw them, for it was a long time since she had last drew them, for years, in fact. With the spell done, she stepped out of the bushes and looked for shadows to hide. Nope, there were none, for the country was in the desert and had only small prickly bushes like the one she had hidden in and no shadows at all. Though there were no shadows to hide her better, she was lucky enough that there was wind blowing, which meant that her footsteps she had made would be blown away very quickly, and if people were to search for her, it would not be as easily.
Nadeshiko walked quietly and slowly, always on the alert in case something would disrupt her when she was walking. Sometimes, mice would scamper across the desert and she had to stop moving abruptly and move a step back. If not, the mice would perhaps start to go over to her and look for food that may have dropped out of her pocket, which she had none at all. While waiting for the mice to move to its destination, she noticed that the mice had been thinner than usual, which meant that her people were probably not as well too. The mice had always been a sign when the people were suffering, for the food would be guarded more closely by the people and the mice would have a harder time getting enough to eat. It was always this way, for this was the way of the desert, you either survive or you die.
It took her a long time to reach the gates and when she did, she realized that the sun was going to set soon, which meant she had to get into the city fast and find a place to hide lest the sentries caught her when she was too tired to be able to maintain the spell. Besides, she was starting to feel a bit worn out and she needed food and water- fast.
Nadeshiko checked the environment around her. It was this crucial moment and if the sentries found out that she was nearby, she would be dead soon. She realized that the wind was not as strong and there was barely sand for her to walk. Which meant that she was going to walk on cobbles that were hot with the heat of the sun. She was already tired out after running and walking and her bare feet were starting to bleed after the whole journey. She had to be careful. However, Nadeshiko realized that the cobbles were in one way or another, a bit red with what looked like blood, so she was able to walk like she could. Nadeshiko also noticed that the sentries had no magical powers too. With that in mind, she carefully walked past the gates and into the city of Clow. She walked and walked, until she was in front of one of her most trusted people's home. It was the home of her friend, a general who looked after the matters of war for here country before it fell. She knew that it was his home, for she saw his sign, his small sign so complicated she no one could draw, except him.
With a trembling hand, Nadeshiko knocked on the door in a manner. A tap and a slam on the door three times, their secret signal that they had used when Clow was under attack. She waited patiently for the door to be opened. It did, and the person she saw was a young man, taller than her, with dark hair, who was frowning at the apparently empty street.
"Who's there?" he barked.
"It's me, Touya, your mother." Nadeshiko whispered as she snuck into the house before removing her invisibility. The inhabitants looked shocked to see her. One person especially.
"Nadeshiko?" he asked as he stepped out of the shadows. Upon hearing his voice, Nadeshiko's eyes filled with tears as she ran towards him, hands outstretched, crying out softly. "Fujitaka! My love!"
"I thought that you had died after such a long time!"
"Me too! And look at you, all worn out! So do Touya!"
"Yes, we are so, and so do you."
"I have to tell you things, things that are very important, and I think that it will take some time." Nadeshiko had stopped crying as she wiped away her tears.
"Where is Sakura, mother dear?" Touya asked, finally out of his shock.
At this, Nadeshiko started crying. "Please, do not interrupt me as I am going to tell you this story. And you will have to tell me yours too."
"Yes, we will. However, we have to be silent for people will be patrolling about the moment the gate closes." The general, now looking quite old said.
"Yes, I will."
With that, they talked about what happened and what they were going to do so that they could stage a revolt and save Clow, for Fujitaka, Touya and the general were already rebels, and so were other people. They would revolt and save their countries and after that, they would help to save the other countries under Debonair's control and together, they would Debonair, and Nova...
The soldiers sent to find back Sakura and Nadeshiko were to be killed for not completing their jobs efficiently and another group was to be sent out to search for them, and the only problem was who to lead the whole group...
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the story plot!
Yeah! I have finished this chapitre! How is it? Hopw you enjoyed it! I am very sorry for not updating after a few days for I have some holiday homework that took my attention away from typing this fanfic. I'll try to update as soon as possible! However, please do not think that I am going to give up on this fanfiction just because I did not update for a long time- it is because exams are coming soon. I will update as much as I can the moment exams are over, all right? Please do wait patiently for new updates, all right? Also, read Angelic Destiny too!
