Self-Inflicted Wounds
Chapter 1: Birth Right
The princess stood on the terrace, her piercing blue eyes examining the sweeping landscape of Ginoukoku. Many people said that this country was the most beautiful of them all. But now as she looked out at the endless expanse of rolling hills, the breath taking mountain scene off in the distance, and the crashing waves on the far south coast, she felt that this country was ugly. For as long as she could remember she had only known the hate that her country felt for their neighbor to the north, Kinmoku. That hate had turned her country into a place of sadness, fear, and hatred, not a place of peaceful loving like she had once been foolish enough to imagine her country to be.
It made her want to scream, and rip out her golden hair in frustration. She couldn't even understand what lead the two countries to fight so ferociously. They had been fighting for so long that hardly anyone remembered the true reason for the fight anymore. The only thing that mattered anymore was once upon a time someone's great grandfather did wrong to someone else's great grandfather, which had caused fighting to break out, and then a three generation war which showed no signs of stopping.
The wind blew her hair around her face. She hadn't bothered to tie it up in the usual fashion, two buns on the top of her head from which the long ends of her hair had been left free. It was a style that was unique to her, the princess, because no one in the empire dared copy her. This life as a princess could be so dull at times. It was also irritating to have people never want to cross her. People just smiled and agreed with her all the time. They always told her she was beautiful and right, and there wasn't anything that she could do wrong. She wanted someone to tell her no. She wanted to be insulted just once. She let out a sign, and leaned on the banister, watching the last of the sun's rays disappear behind the mountains. A Tear ran down the princess' face as she thought about the war that she couldn't stop and as she thought of her loneliness as the princess of a grand Empire.
However, somewhere deep inside, she knew that she had to be alone. Her only friends were the princesses of the kingdoms her father, the Emperor, controlled. The only problem was, it was rare for her to see them often because they had duties to see to as the princesses of their kingdoms, much like she had. She couldn't befriend commoners because they were like everyone else, treating her as if she was perfect. She couldn't even be friends with the upper class people, like the countesses and the dutchesses, because they were the same again. Worst of all, she knew she could never fall in love because it would only end up breaking her heart in the end.
"Usagi!" a voice called from somewhere behind her. The princess turned around to see Rei, a princess of one of the eight kingdoms her father controlled. The princess leading the pack was a slender woman with black hair that fell to her knees and dark eyes which revealed a great and terrible knowing that no one dared contest. She wore a red velvet dress that showed off her slender figure, but exposed only her collar bones. "Usagi!" she called again, "What are you doing out here, you'll catch your death out here."
Usagi hadn't noticed, but as the sun had begun setting, the pleasant spring warmth had dissipated, and the air around her was chilled. She rubbed her arms to fend off the sudden appearance of goose bumps. Usagi wiped away the tear, trying to hide it from the other princess.
"Rei, I wasn't expecting you to be here," She replied as she turned to face Rei.
"The eight princesses are all here. The Emperor called us all in for some special announcement. I have no idea what it is," Rei explained, then shyly asked, "are you okay?"
"Ye..yeah…" Usagi stumbled over the word. Rei once again showed that she had amazing insight, particularly into Usagi. The lie didn't fool Rei for one moment. She raised an eyebrow in skepticism, and asked again.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm lonely that's all," Usagi confessed, steeping towards Rei. Rei held out her arms, inviting Usagi in for a hug. Usagi let a small smile dance across her lips and she moved into Rei's arms.
"Know that no matter how many mile lie between us, I'm always there for you," Rei whispered.
"I know," Usagi whispered back. Rei pulled the princess inside her quarters and shut the heavy oak doors that lead to the terrace. Despite it being spring, there was a small fire roaring in the fire place in the corner of the room. Once the doors were closed, the room started to feel noticeably warmer and Usagi could feel her fingers start prickling uncomfortably as warmth flooded back into her extremities. Rei directed the princess to the vanity that was tucked in one of the corners, and forced her down into the seat. Usagi did as she was directed, sat with her back straight and her hand folded in her lap.
"I met this handsome man the other day. He was the son of a Count in Kasei," Rei started to tell the princess as she ran a brush through her hair. "He is wonderful. He is so kind." Rei pulled Usagi's hair into its usual style as Usagi responded.
"That's wonderful, Rei," only Usagi didn't sound like she believed that Rei's news about this wonderful, handsome man. Rei picked up on the tone of Usagi's voice and dropped the strand of hair.
"Usagi…" she whispered.
"I'm fine," Usagi replied. It had long been known that Usagi's father planned on one day marrying his daughter off to strengthen diplomatic ties. With the alliance with Kessho in its final stages, Usagi knew that her time was probably up. Usagi could feel the tears rising in her eyes and she tried to hold them back.
"No you're not!" Rei insisted. Usagi turned and looked at her friend. A tear rolled out of her eye and fell into the palm of her hand.
"Rei, I will never know true love," she whispered, mortified. More tears escaped.
"Oh, Usagi!" Rei threw her arms around Usagi as she lost control of her emotion and her tears ran freely.
"I know it is my duty as the princess of this empire, but that doesn't make it any easier," Usagi sobbed.
"It's okay," Rei cooed, trying to calm down the distraught princess.
"… and now, my father has called in all of the princesses for a special announcement. I just know that he's marrying me off…" her words were spilling out, everything she had been holding back since finding out about the meeting earlier that morning.
"Usagi…?" three women had let themselves in the room. Standing in the middle was a tall, lean woman with brown hair pulled haphazardly into a ponytail. She had large green eyes which were filled with confusion and sadness. On her right was a shorter girl with long blond hair that was pulled out of her face and tied back with a red bow. A similar concern was echoed in her bright blue eyes. Finally, the girl on the left was the shortest, with short dark blue hair. For all of her intelligence, her eyes were never hard or spiteful, but as always, kind and soft.
"Makoto, Minako, Ami," Rei muttered. "Usagi is…" Minako pushed the dark hair princess out of her way, and swooped down on Usagi, holding her in her arms, trying to absorb all of the sorrow that Usagi was feeling.
"It's okay, Minako, I am the princess, it's my duty, my birth right as it were. I accepted my fate long ago," Usagi tried to convince Minako, and herself. Minako straightened up, staring down at Usagi with sad confused eyes.
"Usagi…"
"Please, I'm fine," Usagi repeated and stood up, whipping the tears from her eyes. "I have to be strong. We have a meeting to attend." Usagi swept out of the room, her four ladies close on her tail. Usagi held her head up high as she marched through the castle to the throne room, proving to herself, and others, that she was strong enough, and had accepted her fate.
They were almost at the throne room when a voice drifted towards the princess from around a corner. She paused, indicating for the others to do the same. One voice she knew was her fathers, the deep, gentle velvety voice that would lull anyone into a false sense of security, even those who knew better. The other was a voice she had heard only once or twice before, a reedy voice that could belong to only one person.
"Zoisite, I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," the emperor growled in response to something the ambassador had said.
"I'm talking about Kunzite. He died the night we forged our deal," Zoistie hissed.
"Kunzite?" the emperor asked, his voiced filled with shock.
"Yes, Kunzite. Come to think of it, wasn't he the one that you had convinced enough to convince our king that this alliance was best. It seems you didn't really want this alliance. I think we should just call the whole thing off," Zoisite replied, venom filling his words. Usagi was sure that if they could see his face, an ugly sneer would have formed, making him extremely unappealing.
"I don't understand what you mean!" The emperor snapped, "I didn't have him killed if that's what you're implying."
"You're catching on," Zoisite said with a falsely cheery voice.
"What gives you the audacity to come here and accuse me and my people of murder? Ginoukoku needs this alliance as much as Kessho does," the emperor snarled.
"Do you know what this is?" Zoisite asked. He had obviously pulled something out to show the emperor. Obviously the emperor had answered no, because Zoisite continued, "It's Kusuri. We found this sample in a bottle left in his room. He was obviously poisoned. And correct me if I'm wrong, but this particular drug is unique to your empire, isn't it?"
"It's true that Kusuri is unique to my empire, but who's to say that someone isn't selling it in Kinmoku?"
"That's a very good question. We looked into that. The only place to get Kusuri this pure is inside this city. Nowhere else in your empire can purify it to this level of toxicity. All the counterfeit samples we took would kill in such a small dosage," Zoisite explained.
"Are you suggesting that I planned his assignation? Let me remind you that before Ginoukoku came to Kessho's aide, you were about to be annihilated by Kinmoku. If we pull out now, your country will be reduced to rubble before the year is up," Usagi could hear the vemon in her father's voice as he warned Zoisite. Usagi knew this was no empty threat. It was true that Ginoukoku withdrew their support from Kessho, then the country would be destroyed or invaded by Kinmoku. Kessho's best bet at survival was making an alliance with Ginoukoku.
"Ha! For all I know all of these negotiations we've been having have just been a ploy to get us on your good side, and then you will attack us when we think we are safe," Zoisite commented.
"Why would I agree to have my daughter marry your prince if my plan was to eventually destroy your country?" the emperor snapped. Usagi lost her balance and leaned against a wall. She knew that the reason for this meeting was most likely to announce that she was being married off, but the confirmation didn't make her feel any better about the situation.
"I don't know what kind of relationship you have with you daughter," hissed Zoistie.
"Know this, my daughter is the most important thing to me. It breaks my heart to send her into a loveless marriage, but for the sake of this empire I have no choice!" Usagi felt her heart lift a bit. Her father had never wanted this for her. Standing up straight, Usagi started walking again towards the meeting.
They rounded the corner to see her father, a muscular man with white hair which flowed freely around his square jawed face and sapphire eyes that were narrowed in rage. It was difficult for Usagi to see the rage that contorted her father's face; usually his features were kind and gentle. He was dressed in a white robe that was trimmed with blue. Perched on his head was his crown, which indicated his status as emperor. Around his waist was a golden belt, and hanging at his hip on the belt was a hand and a half sword with a gold wire wrapped hilt and a large sapphire embedded in the pommel. Standing in front of her father was a somewhat shorter man with wavy blonde hair that fell a past his shoulders and was pulled back into a loose pony tail. He was dressed in the common fashion for the high ranking military officials in his country, which included a grey tunic and grey leggings trimmed in green. The green matched the colour of his eyes, which were narrowed in distaste, but Usagi knew that the green was not on his uniform to bring out the colour of his eyes, but to indicate his status as a general and ambassador. He wore knee high black leather boots and a leather belt around his waist that held up an unadorned cutlass.
"Usagi!" her father called as she rounded the corner. Immediately his feature became the normal soft and gentle she was used too. Usagi smiled at her father as she stopped and made a quick curtsy to both him and Zoisite.
"Father, Zoisite, how nice to see you again," she said in her most formal voice.
"It is a pleasure," Zoisite replied, bowing to her and her ladies.
"Is it time already for the meeting?" the emperor asked, walking towards his daughter, and wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Yes, sir," Usagi answered. Her father applied some pressure to her shoulder, indicating that he wanted her to move forward. She did so with heavy steps. He brought his face down to her ear and whispered quietly so only she could hear.
"I'm sorry," then straightened up and said in his booming voice, "Right let's go then." He lead the party down the remainder of the corridor in to the throne room where already eight people waited.
In the chairs that had been spaced around the room sat the other four princess of the empire, Haruka, a tall, muscular woman with short cropped blonde hair and dark eyes that betrayed a dark past, Michiru, a beautiful woman who let her blue hair flow freely down her back, her ocean blue eyes scanning the room for any sign of trouble, Setsuna, the princess from the southernmost kingdom in the country had tanned skin and maroon eyes which were hidden under the fringe of her long green hair, and Hotaru, the youngest of the princesses had a round, kind face that was filled mostly by her innocent purple eyes and was framed by her shoulder length, jet black hair.
Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna were all older than Usagi by a few years, and lived in the southern kingdoms of the empire. They rarely came to the castle to visit the emperor on duty, so it was a rare occasion to see any of them. Usagi believed that the three were kind and pure hearted, but she hadn't had much chance to converse with them. She knew their kingdoms faced a number of trails the northern kingdoms did not, such as pirate attacks, and she knew that the three of them had seen battle before, which made them hard and difficult to relate to. Hotaru was the youngest, only thirteen years old, and hadn't come to the capital much. She was still very young and didn't completely understand her role as a princess yet. Usagi had only spoken to her on a few occasions, but felt that somewhere deep inside this young princess was a powerful woman that would lead her kingdom to salvation.
Usagi could see that in the room there were five other chairs, one was positioned directly beside her father's throne presumably it was hers, and the other four were spaced around the room for the other four princesses. Standing behind her chair were three men Usagi had never seen before, but they were all clad in grey tunics, grey leggings, and black knee high boots. Although their uniforms were trimmed with black, which indicated that they were only foot soldiers, they appeared to be more professional than most of the generals Usagi had met over her life. The three men all had the same unadorned cutlass on their hips as Zoisite, and all three of them had ponytails that fell well past the small of their back. The one in the center of the formation was slender but strong looking. He appeared to be the most athletic out of the three. His jet black hair, although tied back, still looked messy on top, were it was cut shorter. He was standing perfectly still, his cold cerulean eyes watching her carefully. Usagi blushed as she felt his eyes sizing her up. He caught her eye and smiled gently, which made her heart start beating widly. Who was this man?
On his left was a shorter man, his green eyes scanning the new arrivals, lingering only for a moment on each face, as if he was memorizing them. His silver hair was also loose on top where strands had been cut shorter than the ponytail that hung down his back. On the right was the tallest of the men, his ebony hair pulled back so none of it escaped the ribbon that held back his hair. His face was slender, but with high cheek bones that gave him a noble look. Two purple eyes were narrowed as he scanned the room like his companion was.
On the left of her father's throne was Artemis, one of her father's advisors and the ambassador to Kessho. He was a short man with long white hair. He was dressed entirely in white. The only colour on his was his dark blue eyes.
Usagi's father sat down in his throne and indicated for Usagi to sit in the chair next to him. As she turned around to sit, she could still feel the man with the dark hair's eyes staring at her. The feeling left her uncomfortable. Who was he and what was he doing here?
They sat in the throne room as they wait for important nobles to arrive. Usagi's father was going to announce in front of everyone her fate, and what that meant for their empire. This meant that she would have to remain composed the entire time. That would be difficult with the strange man behind her, his cold eyes watching her like a hawk.
A/N: WOW! That was a long chapter for me… sorry it was so boring… =( I hope it gets better… Chapter 2 will be up by tonight. Hopefully =) please review =)