"Did the young Lord go for a ride?" The man had noticed the black gelding
was missing.
"Yes."
"He has good taste." The stable hand checked the other horses.
Hitomi left thinking about her son. She knew that he would return before dawn and she knew that he had to go. That didn't stop her from worrying about him. He didn't tell her as much as she would like at times. - - -
"Lord Van! Lady Hitomi just passed out in the garden." A servant came running into the throne room.
Van ran out of the room as fast as he could. 'This can't be happening now! I just got her back!' He couldn't run to her fast enough.
Millerna ran out of the room following the king. Before she left the room, she had told Dryden to get her medical bag. "I'm coming Hitomi." She whispered.
Merle was passing with her furry bunch just as the king and Millerna ran past them. 'What's going on?' She began to outrun Lord Van and Queen Millerna.
"Mama, Mama! What's going on?" Her little kittens had stamina that she used to have and out ran her before they skidded to a stop. "Mama! It's Lady Hitomi."
- - - Emeley- you know that it could be that she is still shocked over the likeness of the two men in the room besides her husband. You're right though. It usually is best to leave with a cliffhanger. I like to do it. It's just that the chapter doesn't always allow for it.
Twilight Hacker- I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to update recently. My internet was turned off for about a week because I had the bill to pay, during that time I also had sewing projects I was working on, a bathroom to decorate, a house to rearrange and to clean. I still haven't finished the cleaning part though. I spend more time at work than I do at home.
Tramie- Thank you so much for editing this story. I know that you have other things to do. I know that I haven't updated for a while. I tell you all of the reasons above. I'm sending your story at the same time that I send you mine. That way we can update around the same time. Well I think that I have kept people waiting long enough. Happy reading. I forgot to mention that even though I will finish the chapter tonight it might take me a little time because Sirmoundalai, my cat, likes to tell me when he is ready to play. He's doing it right now too. He will also try to tell me when it is time for me to go to bed. Usually he ends sleeping on the couch before I go to bed at night.
Krissiness- How could I possibly forget you! I have you on my favorites stories list! Your story is just so Catchy! I'm glad that you like the story. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 7
Hitomi awoke to find the gray ceiling of the castle staring down at her. "Hitomi, are you alright?"
She looked to where Van's voice was coming from. She shook her head when she saw Merle's three worried kittens licking themselves. Merle was batting at a ball of yarn. "Did I cause this much worry?"
Even Merle couldn't have controlled the kittens if she wanted to. "Lady Hitomi!" All three of them pounced on her and licked her happily.
Van started laughing when they were through. "What's so funny Van?"
He reached over and ruffled her hair. "You're bewildered look."
"Remind me not to have another vision. You guys worry too much." Hitomi sat up. She thought about Vanel being out on the streets of Fanelia without someone watching over him.
"Hitomi, it's alright. I sent a few soldiers out to look for him." Van tried to comfort her when he saw what she was thinking.
Her face quickly changed from worried to just a little on the upset side. "You did what?!" She managed to keep her voice down.
Just then Millerna entered the room with her medical bag. "Okay, everyone out! I need to examine her." Everyone seemed to scamper out of the room except for Van. "I think I said everyone. That includes you! You'll get to see her tonight." Millerna shooed him out of the room.
She shut the door but not before she heard him mutter. "I won't get to do what I want with her." She smirked when she closed the door. "So Hitomi, is he not getting his way since you've returned?"
The comment made Hitomi go pink. "Well..." She didn't finish before Millerna started laughing. "What?"
"Has he even kissed you since you came back?" Hitomi went even pinker with that one. "I'm going to have to have a talk with that young man of yours." She put on a motherly air before she began Hitomi's check up.
"Millerna..." she thought about telling the other queen about her vision.
"What is it Hitomi?"
"Nothing." She dismissed it.
They finished the exam thirty minutes later. The talked for another hour before they decided to open the door to a fuming Van.
"What do you think this is! I don't think it's ever taken you this long to take care of an exam before!"
Millerna sweat dropped when she saw steam coming out of his ears. Well, not literally. "You know we were talking about you and your wonderful performance in the bedroom here recently." Millerna was trying to hide the smirk on her lips.
If Van wasn't already red from anger he wouldn't have turned the color of beets. "You kept me waiting for two hours so you two could talk about me?!" Van seethed.
Millerna wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger at being kept waiting.
"Why Van, you'd think you swallowed a hot onion you're so red." Dryden appeared from around the corner.
Van gave an irritated growl, "Let me in my chambers, Queen Millerna." He ordered with a low threat evident in his voice.
Millerna stepped aside. "My my. You sure have a lot of tension. Maybe Hitomi should give you a good massage." Millerna grinned when he slammed the door on her face.
Hitomi grinned at him. "You know she was only pulling your strings. She definitely still knows how to do it." She laughed as his red shaded face slowly went back to normal.
"What did you two really talk about?" He asked. His face was completely back to normal when he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Girl stuff." She scooted closer to him.
"Don't you ever worry me like that again." He warned her lightly. He was trying to ignore her finger running up and down his arm. It was slow and subtle.
"Like what?" She put on her best innocent look.
"How do you do that?" He whispered. His brain was slowly not able to function as her arms wrapped around him.
"Do what?" She kissed his cheek.
"I don't know what I was thinking...." He didn't finish when he couldn't resist kissing her any longer.
Just as they were getting into the heated kiss they heard a knock at the door. "Are you two done talking in there? You can do anything else later." Millerna said from behind the door.
Van groaned and laid his head on Hitomi's shoulder. "It's alright Van, she won't be at that door tonight." Hitomi smiled before she remembered something that he said earlier. "Why did you send soldiers after him?"
"I thought he would need some bodyguards." He answered.
She gave him a withering glance. "He has to do whatever it is he is doing by himself." She could barely keep her voice down.
"He can't just do it by himself! He's not on the Mystic Moon anymore. Here he is a prince. My only son." Van told her stepping back.
"He's my son too. You don't understand. Whatever he saw really scared him."
"Scared him? He's looks like he isn't afraid to take on my guards. Why would he be scared of a vision?" Van wasn't keeping his voice down when Millerna opened the door.
"You haven't spent the last sixteen years with him. Don't you get it? He's just like you! In every way almost." Hitomi said to him.
"How can he be just like me?" Hitomi was out of the bed.
"He's your son, you think about it." She stormed past Van. She stopped to look at Millerna. "How do you do it?" Millerna didn't get a chance to answer before Hitomi stormed past her.
Van looked at Dryden. "Tell me how they seduce you, make you realize how much you love them, and make you mad all in five minutes?"
Dryden went down the hall laughing. Up on the roof Merle could be heard howling with laughter. Van turned three different shades of red. "Is there no privacy around here?" To moot the point, Merle's kittens trampled in with a very out of breath Princess Najeh. They all seemed to trample him somehow.
-Vanel-
Vanel didn't stop until he arrived at the healer's house. The woman bowed as he entered. "Young Lord, you seem to be in haste. Has your mother fared well?"
"Yes, she is fine. Please don't do that. It makes me feel like royalty." He requested. The healer had only been the second or third person that had done that to him but, like his mother, he didn't think that he would get used to such treatment.
The woman chuckled before she handed him a drink. "You are royalty child. How can I help you?"
"Well I have some questions. The last time I was here you seemed to know a lot about what was going on." Vanel ran his hands through his hair.
"What do you need to know child?" The woman asked beside him.
"Do you know anything about anyone called 'The One'?" Vanel asked.
"What did you see child?" The woman now understood more about him than he probably wanted her to.
"Pardon?" He didn't know what he was expecting; he just wasn't expecting that.
"You have every trait of your father's and your mother's gift." The woman said to him.
"You mean her curse right?" He paced the floor.
"It depends on how you look at it."
"I think that splitting migraines and harrowing visions count as a curse." Vanel said, noting that his head had cleared up some.
She chuckled. "It just might be." She turned her back to him and started to make something.
Vanel gave her a withering glare that she felt peering through her back. "You think?" There was sarcasm that dripped from the two words.
She turned around revealing a cup with a foul odor. "Drink this. It will help with that headache of yours, child."
"I'm not a child." He protested before he took a sip of the concoction. He spit out the small sip that he had taken. "What did you put in here?"
"Tastes really bad but it's good for you. Now drink up and tell me about your vision." The woman nodded her head.
-Hitomi-
Hitomi had found her way to the training grounds for the next hour or two while she blew off steam with several of Van's soldiers. Most of them were not even challenging the upset queen now. She had beaten just about every one of them except for the one that she was currently fighting.
That was where Van found her. He watched her last match and after it was over he cockily glared at his men. "You know I think that you have become too lazy when you are beaten by a woman."
Hitomi, of course, since she was standing there had heard what he said. He didn't have time to do anything but step out of the way to keep the knife from slicing his ear. He looked from Hitomi to the knife. "Your aim has gotten pretty good in the last few years."
Hitomi was too tired to make a comment on that. He saw the sweat pouring down her face. He motioned for a towel so that he could wipe her face. "You know it was only a compliment." He whispered.
Hitomi just stood there with the fire in her eyes dying each time that towel went across her face. It didn't help that he also had one hand keeping hers from going anywhere. "Van." She took a breath and stepped away.
Van looked around to find that most of his men had preoccupied themselves with shining their swords or having small battles. "Come on. They're in the gardens waiting for us." He led the way off of the training grounds.
Millerna was shocked at the sweating Hitomi. "What did you do?"
Hitomi grinned, "Sliced up some swords."
"I suppose you feel better now."
"Actually I do."
Van was still standing behind her and whispered something in her ear. Dryden laughed at her instantly pink face. "Van Fanel, you hentai!" She pushed him away.
"So Van, when will you stop flirting with her and just get on with it?" Dryden asked.
"Mama, what's wrong with Lady 'Tomi?" One of Merle's kittens asked.
Hitomi chuckled nervously while everyone else was laughing. Merle was able to control her laughter enough to talk to her baby. "I think that Lord Van wants to do something tonight."
The kitten looked at his mother confused. "What did you say to her?" The kitten looked at Van.
Lord Van turned a lovely shade of crimson red. "I told her I wanted to play chess with her tonight."
"We'll see about that later." Van wasn't sure that he knew what hentai meant but he would ask Hitomi after.
"Dryden I need to speak with you." Hitomi led the way into the castle. "I'll be right back."
"What is it Hitomi?" He followed her to where she was leading him.
"What do you know about disappearing children, invisible figures, and robed ones?"
"Hitomi, did you say disappearing children?" Dryden pulled her around to look at him.
"Yes I did. What do you know about it?" She asked again, surprised at the scared look on his face.
He motioned for one of the maids that were walking by to come over to them. "Go get Lord Van and Lady Millerna. We'll talk about this in the conference room. It's a lot quieter."
- - - -
Okay I'm going to end the chapter here. I think it's a good spot. Besides it's past time for me to head to the swimming pool. Just to note there will be no sex mentioned in the story. I do not believe in sex before marriage. Hitomi and Van are already married but that doesn't mean that I'm going to describe anything for you. I think that it will cheapen any story that you read.
"Yes."
"He has good taste." The stable hand checked the other horses.
Hitomi left thinking about her son. She knew that he would return before dawn and she knew that he had to go. That didn't stop her from worrying about him. He didn't tell her as much as she would like at times. - - -
"Lord Van! Lady Hitomi just passed out in the garden." A servant came running into the throne room.
Van ran out of the room as fast as he could. 'This can't be happening now! I just got her back!' He couldn't run to her fast enough.
Millerna ran out of the room following the king. Before she left the room, she had told Dryden to get her medical bag. "I'm coming Hitomi." She whispered.
Merle was passing with her furry bunch just as the king and Millerna ran past them. 'What's going on?' She began to outrun Lord Van and Queen Millerna.
"Mama, Mama! What's going on?" Her little kittens had stamina that she used to have and out ran her before they skidded to a stop. "Mama! It's Lady Hitomi."
- - - Emeley- you know that it could be that she is still shocked over the likeness of the two men in the room besides her husband. You're right though. It usually is best to leave with a cliffhanger. I like to do it. It's just that the chapter doesn't always allow for it.
Twilight Hacker- I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to update recently. My internet was turned off for about a week because I had the bill to pay, during that time I also had sewing projects I was working on, a bathroom to decorate, a house to rearrange and to clean. I still haven't finished the cleaning part though. I spend more time at work than I do at home.
Tramie- Thank you so much for editing this story. I know that you have other things to do. I know that I haven't updated for a while. I tell you all of the reasons above. I'm sending your story at the same time that I send you mine. That way we can update around the same time. Well I think that I have kept people waiting long enough. Happy reading. I forgot to mention that even though I will finish the chapter tonight it might take me a little time because Sirmoundalai, my cat, likes to tell me when he is ready to play. He's doing it right now too. He will also try to tell me when it is time for me to go to bed. Usually he ends sleeping on the couch before I go to bed at night.
Krissiness- How could I possibly forget you! I have you on my favorites stories list! Your story is just so Catchy! I'm glad that you like the story. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 7
Hitomi awoke to find the gray ceiling of the castle staring down at her. "Hitomi, are you alright?"
She looked to where Van's voice was coming from. She shook her head when she saw Merle's three worried kittens licking themselves. Merle was batting at a ball of yarn. "Did I cause this much worry?"
Even Merle couldn't have controlled the kittens if she wanted to. "Lady Hitomi!" All three of them pounced on her and licked her happily.
Van started laughing when they were through. "What's so funny Van?"
He reached over and ruffled her hair. "You're bewildered look."
"Remind me not to have another vision. You guys worry too much." Hitomi sat up. She thought about Vanel being out on the streets of Fanelia without someone watching over him.
"Hitomi, it's alright. I sent a few soldiers out to look for him." Van tried to comfort her when he saw what she was thinking.
Her face quickly changed from worried to just a little on the upset side. "You did what?!" She managed to keep her voice down.
Just then Millerna entered the room with her medical bag. "Okay, everyone out! I need to examine her." Everyone seemed to scamper out of the room except for Van. "I think I said everyone. That includes you! You'll get to see her tonight." Millerna shooed him out of the room.
She shut the door but not before she heard him mutter. "I won't get to do what I want with her." She smirked when she closed the door. "So Hitomi, is he not getting his way since you've returned?"
The comment made Hitomi go pink. "Well..." She didn't finish before Millerna started laughing. "What?"
"Has he even kissed you since you came back?" Hitomi went even pinker with that one. "I'm going to have to have a talk with that young man of yours." She put on a motherly air before she began Hitomi's check up.
"Millerna..." she thought about telling the other queen about her vision.
"What is it Hitomi?"
"Nothing." She dismissed it.
They finished the exam thirty minutes later. The talked for another hour before they decided to open the door to a fuming Van.
"What do you think this is! I don't think it's ever taken you this long to take care of an exam before!"
Millerna sweat dropped when she saw steam coming out of his ears. Well, not literally. "You know we were talking about you and your wonderful performance in the bedroom here recently." Millerna was trying to hide the smirk on her lips.
If Van wasn't already red from anger he wouldn't have turned the color of beets. "You kept me waiting for two hours so you two could talk about me?!" Van seethed.
Millerna wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment or anger at being kept waiting.
"Why Van, you'd think you swallowed a hot onion you're so red." Dryden appeared from around the corner.
Van gave an irritated growl, "Let me in my chambers, Queen Millerna." He ordered with a low threat evident in his voice.
Millerna stepped aside. "My my. You sure have a lot of tension. Maybe Hitomi should give you a good massage." Millerna grinned when he slammed the door on her face.
Hitomi grinned at him. "You know she was only pulling your strings. She definitely still knows how to do it." She laughed as his red shaded face slowly went back to normal.
"What did you two really talk about?" He asked. His face was completely back to normal when he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Girl stuff." She scooted closer to him.
"Don't you ever worry me like that again." He warned her lightly. He was trying to ignore her finger running up and down his arm. It was slow and subtle.
"Like what?" She put on her best innocent look.
"How do you do that?" He whispered. His brain was slowly not able to function as her arms wrapped around him.
"Do what?" She kissed his cheek.
"I don't know what I was thinking...." He didn't finish when he couldn't resist kissing her any longer.
Just as they were getting into the heated kiss they heard a knock at the door. "Are you two done talking in there? You can do anything else later." Millerna said from behind the door.
Van groaned and laid his head on Hitomi's shoulder. "It's alright Van, she won't be at that door tonight." Hitomi smiled before she remembered something that he said earlier. "Why did you send soldiers after him?"
"I thought he would need some bodyguards." He answered.
She gave him a withering glance. "He has to do whatever it is he is doing by himself." She could barely keep her voice down.
"He can't just do it by himself! He's not on the Mystic Moon anymore. Here he is a prince. My only son." Van told her stepping back.
"He's my son too. You don't understand. Whatever he saw really scared him."
"Scared him? He's looks like he isn't afraid to take on my guards. Why would he be scared of a vision?" Van wasn't keeping his voice down when Millerna opened the door.
"You haven't spent the last sixteen years with him. Don't you get it? He's just like you! In every way almost." Hitomi said to him.
"How can he be just like me?" Hitomi was out of the bed.
"He's your son, you think about it." She stormed past Van. She stopped to look at Millerna. "How do you do it?" Millerna didn't get a chance to answer before Hitomi stormed past her.
Van looked at Dryden. "Tell me how they seduce you, make you realize how much you love them, and make you mad all in five minutes?"
Dryden went down the hall laughing. Up on the roof Merle could be heard howling with laughter. Van turned three different shades of red. "Is there no privacy around here?" To moot the point, Merle's kittens trampled in with a very out of breath Princess Najeh. They all seemed to trample him somehow.
-Vanel-
Vanel didn't stop until he arrived at the healer's house. The woman bowed as he entered. "Young Lord, you seem to be in haste. Has your mother fared well?"
"Yes, she is fine. Please don't do that. It makes me feel like royalty." He requested. The healer had only been the second or third person that had done that to him but, like his mother, he didn't think that he would get used to such treatment.
The woman chuckled before she handed him a drink. "You are royalty child. How can I help you?"
"Well I have some questions. The last time I was here you seemed to know a lot about what was going on." Vanel ran his hands through his hair.
"What do you need to know child?" The woman asked beside him.
"Do you know anything about anyone called 'The One'?" Vanel asked.
"What did you see child?" The woman now understood more about him than he probably wanted her to.
"Pardon?" He didn't know what he was expecting; he just wasn't expecting that.
"You have every trait of your father's and your mother's gift." The woman said to him.
"You mean her curse right?" He paced the floor.
"It depends on how you look at it."
"I think that splitting migraines and harrowing visions count as a curse." Vanel said, noting that his head had cleared up some.
She chuckled. "It just might be." She turned her back to him and started to make something.
Vanel gave her a withering glare that she felt peering through her back. "You think?" There was sarcasm that dripped from the two words.
She turned around revealing a cup with a foul odor. "Drink this. It will help with that headache of yours, child."
"I'm not a child." He protested before he took a sip of the concoction. He spit out the small sip that he had taken. "What did you put in here?"
"Tastes really bad but it's good for you. Now drink up and tell me about your vision." The woman nodded her head.
-Hitomi-
Hitomi had found her way to the training grounds for the next hour or two while she blew off steam with several of Van's soldiers. Most of them were not even challenging the upset queen now. She had beaten just about every one of them except for the one that she was currently fighting.
That was where Van found her. He watched her last match and after it was over he cockily glared at his men. "You know I think that you have become too lazy when you are beaten by a woman."
Hitomi, of course, since she was standing there had heard what he said. He didn't have time to do anything but step out of the way to keep the knife from slicing his ear. He looked from Hitomi to the knife. "Your aim has gotten pretty good in the last few years."
Hitomi was too tired to make a comment on that. He saw the sweat pouring down her face. He motioned for a towel so that he could wipe her face. "You know it was only a compliment." He whispered.
Hitomi just stood there with the fire in her eyes dying each time that towel went across her face. It didn't help that he also had one hand keeping hers from going anywhere. "Van." She took a breath and stepped away.
Van looked around to find that most of his men had preoccupied themselves with shining their swords or having small battles. "Come on. They're in the gardens waiting for us." He led the way off of the training grounds.
Millerna was shocked at the sweating Hitomi. "What did you do?"
Hitomi grinned, "Sliced up some swords."
"I suppose you feel better now."
"Actually I do."
Van was still standing behind her and whispered something in her ear. Dryden laughed at her instantly pink face. "Van Fanel, you hentai!" She pushed him away.
"So Van, when will you stop flirting with her and just get on with it?" Dryden asked.
"Mama, what's wrong with Lady 'Tomi?" One of Merle's kittens asked.
Hitomi chuckled nervously while everyone else was laughing. Merle was able to control her laughter enough to talk to her baby. "I think that Lord Van wants to do something tonight."
The kitten looked at his mother confused. "What did you say to her?" The kitten looked at Van.
Lord Van turned a lovely shade of crimson red. "I told her I wanted to play chess with her tonight."
"We'll see about that later." Van wasn't sure that he knew what hentai meant but he would ask Hitomi after.
"Dryden I need to speak with you." Hitomi led the way into the castle. "I'll be right back."
"What is it Hitomi?" He followed her to where she was leading him.
"What do you know about disappearing children, invisible figures, and robed ones?"
"Hitomi, did you say disappearing children?" Dryden pulled her around to look at him.
"Yes I did. What do you know about it?" She asked again, surprised at the scared look on his face.
He motioned for one of the maids that were walking by to come over to them. "Go get Lord Van and Lady Millerna. We'll talk about this in the conference room. It's a lot quieter."
- - - -
Okay I'm going to end the chapter here. I think it's a good spot. Besides it's past time for me to head to the swimming pool. Just to note there will be no sex mentioned in the story. I do not believe in sex before marriage. Hitomi and Van are already married but that doesn't mean that I'm going to describe anything for you. I think that it will cheapen any story that you read.