Prisoner of War
Part Six: Pity
"Keeping this human alive will only lead to trouble, Mukuro-sama, you must understand—"
"I'll agree that the girl is a pain in the ass," Mukuro said, motioning for her advisor to take a seat. "Probably more pain than she's worth. But she's surely not a threat to us."
A frown creased the advisor's face. "Perhaps not on her own. But what if she managed to rally other humans to her cause, convince the rest of the humans that an uprising would be a good idea? Yes, we could beat them easily, but is it really worth the fight when we can just kill her now and be done with it?"
"How can she rally the humans when she's in the dungeons? All her death would accomplish for us would be a rise in the humans' resentment for us. If anything, that will cause a riot."
"She's smart for a human, Mukuro-sama."
The tyrant closed her eyes in thought. "That's true," she muttered. "The last time I underestimated her she nearly got away from us."
"Quite a feat for a human."
"Yes… quite a feat indeed."
Mukuro's advisor leaned forward in his seat. "Should such a human be granted life? That's all I ask, Mukuro-sama. Can we afford to let this girl live?"
"Perhaps not," Mukuro sighed. "No," she said after a pause. "No, she'll have to be gotten rid of. Get Hiei for me."
The advisor rose, bowed and backed out of the throne room solemnly.
Moonlight gave the tree a silver outline and shed the slightest bit of light on its occupant, who otherwise would've been made invisible by the shadows. The advisor barely saw Hiei reclining in the upper bows of the massive tree, but the fire yokai seemed to make a habit of retreating to the courtyard trees in the evenings.
Before the advisor had reached the base of the tree, Hiei had sensed him. "What does she want?" he asked, closing his eyes.
"All do respect, sir, I believe Mukuro-sama wants to tell you that herself."
Hiei suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Fine," he said. "Can you tell me what this relates to, or do you think she wants to tell me that in person too?"
"Something about that human girl in the dungeons," the advisor replied.
The fire yokai cracked one eye open. "What about her?"
The advisor smiled but gave no response.
Sighing in frustration, Hiei leapt from the treetop, landing next to the advisor. "Fine, fine. I'm going."
With no further word to the advisor, Hiei ambled towards the fortress.
A creaking sound indicated Hiei's entrance to the throne room; Mukuro motioned for her attendants to go away as he approached.
"Did he tell you why I wanted to see you?" she asked as the last of the maids exited the room.
"No," he said. "Why?"
Mukuro ambled to a table on which sat a bottle of wine and a goblet; she poured herself a glass and took a swig before answering. "Calai."
Hiei nodded. "He did mention her."
"But he didn't say what this was about?"
"No. I think he just likes being vague."
"Maybe."
"So what do you want?"
"Do you think Calai has the potential to be a danger?"
"Maybe. 'Intelligent humans are dangerous,' right?"
"Yes. Yes. Here's what I want, Hiei. I want you to kill her."
Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Why not just execute her like you have the rest?"
"Too much trouble. I need her dead, and I need it to be discreet. Can you—will you—do that for me?"
The fire yokai studied Mukuro's face for a few moments before answering. "Yeah. I can do that."
This made his second time "visiting" the dungeons in less than a week.
Frankly, he didn't like that. But what could he do?
The guards weren't at their posts—probably off drinking again—that would make things easier; he didn't have to explain anything.
Hiei eased open the door to the cell.
She seemed to have gained a sense of caution since he had last come to her cell; instead of sleeping curled up in the middle of the floor, he saw her leaning into the corner opposite the door of the cell, her silver eyes watching him evenly.
"I must make for good entertainment. It hasn't even been a week yet." She narrowed her eyes. "You wanted to see some more of my memories?"
"No," he said truthfully.
Calai raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you want?"
Hiei drew his katana out of its sheath as he approached.
The girl's face showed no surprise. "She sent you to kill me?" A soft smile played across her lips. "I was wondering when this would happen."
Once again, the blade of the katana was resting at her throat, though this time there wasn't the slightest trace of fear on her face. If anything, she looked content.
"Just get it over with," she said, her eyes never leaving his.
Hiei pulled the sword back, preparing to skewer the girl on the cold steel. He sent the blade forward. Or tried.
"You don't even realize it, but it's true; I know it."
The tip of the blade barely pierced the brick of the wall scarcely an inch from Calai's neck. Her eyes drifted to the tip of the sword, then looked back to its wielder.
"Why?" she asked quietly. "Why didn't you just kill me?"
"Would you rather I had?" he snapped, pulling the sword from the wall and replacing it in its sheath.
"Well, no, not really."
"Then just consider yourself to be one very lucky human."
The girl stared at him, mouth open in shock. "What the hell is going on?" she asked.
Hiei had already begun walking to the door of the cell, trying not to think about how he had just betrayed Mukuro. "If you don't want to get caught, you need to get at least to the other end of the woods by morning," he said. "Don't expect for your luck to last if you stay here. I didn't kill you. Someone else might."
And so he was gone. Calai stood rooted to the spot, mouth still agape, staring after him before she realized what he had done.
The cell door was wide open.
There were no guards.
What the hell was she standing around for?
After peeking down the corridor to see if some trap had been laid, Calai broke into a run, not stopping or looking back until she was deep into the woods.
End Part Six
