Chapter 8
In the room, gathered several individuals to witness the birth of the new members of the Lake Tribe. Kanae, Chiori, Erika, Ten, Magistrate Yamagutchi, the Records Scribe and one male, the mate and father.
"This is unheard of! A male cannot be allowed to attend this occasion!" The scribe insisted.
"He will attend or I will end all of those who prevent it!" Kyoko growled in pain. "No one will touch my little ones before me or I will kill them myself!" She was definitely allowing her emotion and pain to control her at the moment.
Erika turned to the offensive woman. "There is no law that states otherwise. If she chooses so, he is allowed. However, if you distress her further, I will remove you myself!" She told her while poking her with her sharp finger.
The scribe nodded nervously. "Y-Yes Mistress Healer Erika." And so, two beautiful, twin, blond-haired, green-eyed little boys were born, fully marked for the tribe, from the tips of their little toes, to their tiny fingertips. All in the room sighed in relief. None wanted the task of taking them from their mother after the warning she had given months ago.
Kuon placed each boy in her arms and sat on the bed next to her as Erika and Kanae cleaned and straightened the aftermath. Each person that had gathered for the occasion entered and congratulated the pair, all expressing their relief that the boys had been marked before birth. Not that the pack of wolves that surrounded the home would have allowed anyone to take the new cubs.
Chiori had opened the bedroom window and nodded to the white wolf that had been waiting for the news. After that, news spread far and wide from one forest to the next, that the two powerful cubs had survived their birth and they had been safely marked. The little ones were now counted among the elite and equally as protected. The only way they would go into slavery now is if their own mother gifted them or they were kidnapped and that wasn't very likely.
It had been a little over two years since their birth. Sora and Riku, it was discovered, were even more gifted than their parents. Spirit, Nightfang, Aki and Sho watched over them and closely protected them when they weren't near their parents.
During this two years Kyoko and Kuon grew as close as a pair can get without sharing blood. She told him of her years in the strict clutches of High Mistress Yayoi Fuwa and he told her of how his mother had gifted him to a pair of slavers by the names of Kimiko and Tina for a reward from their family, then imprisoned his own father for objecting. They both talked of how they had met as children and escaped to the forest for solitude and the company of the animals that didn't expect outrageous things from small children. It was those moments that they cherished the most.
During these years with Kyoko and their tribe, Kuon had learned much and earned the respect of a large portion of the community. Because of him and the now vocal opinions of Magistrate Yamagutchi, the women of their realm began to agree that the practices of slavery were barbaric. High Mistress Iizuka shocked all as she publicly released her slaves and offered them food, shelter and gold for their labors. Others soon followed. Soon the portion of the marketplace that housed the slave traders began to empty. Jewelers, Potters, Cobblers, Tailors, Butchers and a variety of other artisans replaced them.
Kuon and others like him were able to walk freely, buy and trade like never before. Unfortunately, this made male children ripe for the picking by foreign slavers and a close eye was kept to prevent the realm's precious treasures from most harm. A very high price would be paid for a healthy male child in the surrounding realms. Even more gold if they were unique in appearance and one couldn't be more unique that two healthy male toddlers with glistening blond hair and dazzling green eyes that matched the forest in the Spring.
The first to witness the travesty was Aki and Sho's daughter, Angelwing. She quickly flew to her parents with Dark One's screams still ringing in her tiny ears, to tell them of the travesty and spread the news throughout her forest and the surrounding areas. Magistrate Yamagutchi quickly spread the word and helped gather the founding members of the Lake Tribe, while Kuon comforted his mate and reminded her of the spells that their sons carried in their tattoos.
Aki and Sho gathered the flocks together to aid in the rescue of Dark One and Light One's hatchlings. They owed them much for the many times that their fellow flock members had been healed of broken wings and such. For a bird, a broken wing is equal to death and Sho himself, had kissed that cruel mistress many times and flew away unscathed, thanks to the Light One. He owed him much indeed.
Spirit climbed to the top of the waterfall and belted out the clarion call of her pack, gathering more than twenty and only taking the largest and the most powerful, leaving behind the rest to guard the cubs. She and her son Nightfang, would wait at the border where they felt the call of Dark One's cubs' runes and detected their freshest scent. If they were fortunate enough to catch them before they left the realm, they vowed that the cubs would be safe and the perpetrators, along with their horses would serve as a meal.
In the town center, High Mistress Iizuka offered to care for the children of the Lake Tribe. Magistrate Yamagutchi alerted High Mages Kanae and Yuki, High Summoners Chiori and Reino, Grand Healers Erika and Sayou, Grand Illusionists Ten and Lory and finally High Master Shaman Kuon with High Mistress Shaman Kyoko. A plan was formed and Kyoko's promise would soon come to fruition.
Stopped on the side of the road, two women on horseback, with a toddler tied to the saddle like a sack of grain before each, reached into a bag for a small dark bottle, a cloth and the intent to temporarily silence said screaming, squirming children. The restlessness of the small pair was upsetting the horses and their flight to the border had been a battle of wills. The resulting proof had been the deep lash marks on the hindquarters of each animal, showing that if they had to go any further, it would be through another heavy beating. It was suspected that somehow, these two infant males with their screams, were responsible for the animals' behavior. The decision was made to drug them for the duration of the trip to High Mistress Juliena's vast estate, several hours away. Fortunately, they calculated they would reach their destination by midday and hopefully leave with bags, heavily laden with gold as the reward.
High Mistress Juliena, there was a woman that was easily manipulated. She was a collector. She collected unique things, beginning with her first male servant that was no longer at her side for this past many years, to each and every thing that she took for herself. If it were a living being, she wanted it or them with fair hair and uniquely colored eyes. If were an animal, they would be white or as close as possible; however, she didn't care much for animals. She saw them as filthy, stupid creatures that only soiled her beautiful, pristinely white home.
At the age of 10, her son Kuon was given to a six year-old Kimiko as a gift to her family for the land the Juliena had coveted. At that same time, her servant Kuu was slapped in irons and locked in a dungeon she had made specifically for him, due to his protests on the gifting of his only talented son. She didn't care to know what talents father and son shared, they were males, the lowliest of low and had no voice. They would be used as currency.
Her attachment to Kuon had been superficial and only necessary to raise a healthy boy, as one would cultivate a garden of roses. Something to show off, then perhaps sell later for a higher price than most. She left both Kuu and Kuon uneducated. An educated male was a dangerous male. Harder to control. They were both kept from sight to prevent others from taking what was hers before she granted it to a worthy party, after that they could do as they wished. It was no longer her concern as long as she was paid properly. Never in all of her life did she suspect what had been unleashed in the neighboring realm when her finest slavers snatched two very unique little boys that were loved deeply by both of their parents and their community. A community of humans, fae, spirits and animals.