Author: Tevrah
Email: writergirl852@yahoo.com
***
Chapter Three
The man trembled. He was kneeled on the cold black floor with his head bowed down. Two soldiers stood guard beside him. The man's hands were tied behind his back, and the cords cut into his skin, making blood drip on the floor. He raised his eyes to find his worst nightmare in front of him.
Allen stared at the quivering man in contempt. His icy blue eyes were hardened. "You have disappointed me," Allen said coolly.
The man dropped his head again.
"I do not believe you are thankful to me for allowing you to work in my village," Allen continued. "Are you?"
"O-of c-c-course I am, your m-majesty," the man managed. Sweat poured off his face.
"No, I think not," Allen said. "For if you were, then you would not have let them escape. And what's more, you tried to run from me, knowing I would find you. I don't think you are grateful at all. And do you know what happens to ungrateful things such as yourself?"
The man began shaking even more if possible.
"You die."
"N-no! P-please, Sir!" the man begged. "P-please!"
Allen nodded his head to one of the soldiers standing next to the begging man and watched as the soldier removed his sword and brought it down, decapitating the man. "Remove him from my sight," Allen ordered, "and take his remains to the village. Let everyone see what happens when someone defies me."
"Yes, sir," the soldiers said and drug the man away.
Allen turned to the window and watched his orders being carried out.
"I see you had a party and didn't invite me," a voice said behind him.
"Dilandau," Allen said. "I have a job for you."
"Oh, goody," Dilandau said.
"A possession of mine has been stolen, and I want it back," Allen said. "I want it back alive."
"Is that all?" Dilandau whined. "I was hoping to kill someone."
"You will," Allen said. "I want you to kill the one who took it from me. It's a rebel. I believe it's the one that goes by the name Dragon."
"Ooh," Dilandau said. "Sounds frightening." He laughed. "When do I leave?"
"Immediately," Allen ordered.
Dilandau bowed with a smile on his face. "As you wish."
Allen never turned around as Dilandau disappeared. His hand tightened on his sword.
No matter what it took, whoever took his Hitomi would pay.
***
Hitomi swallowed hard and grimaced. It hurt. It hurt terribly. She felt like her throat was filled with sand from the Laranite Desert. The irritation was too much. She forced her eyes open.
Green met blue.
Her eyes snapped all the way open. She tried to rise up, panic beginning to set in. The movement proved to be too much and she fell back in exhaustion. She was panting.
"Hiya!" the blue eyes said. They belonged to a small boy around the age of six or seven. His hair was a golden yellow. He looked so much like…no, it couldn't be.
"Hello, there," a feminine voice said cheerfully.
Hitomi swung her head around and grimaced again. It hurt, just like the rest of her body. She opened her eyes when the pain subsided and looked at a young woman not much older than herself. The woman had blond hair and blue eyes. Her skin was pale…and she was dressed like a man. She had on a pair of brown pants and a white shirt. Hitomi blinked at her.
The woman walked over to her and began checking her eyes and pulse. "You had us worried," the woman continued. "For a while there we thought you weren't going to wake up."
"But mama took good care of you," the little boy said with a smile.
The woman spared a quick smile to her son, and then continued prodding Hitomi. "Well," she said. "You look a whole lot better."
Hitomi continued staring at them with wide eyes. Where was she? She tried to ask that very same question, but winced when she tried to speak.
"Here," the woman said. She was holding a glass of…something. The substance was a grayish-green color. "Drink this. It will help your throat."
Generally, Hitomi reached out and took the glass from the woman. She stared at it, then brought it to her nose and sniffed it. She immediately tried to give it back to the woman. That stuff smelled horrible!
The woman laughed at the look on Hitomi's face. "Don't worry, it may look and smell bad, but it will help your throat. I promise. Now drink up."
Hitomi let the woman win. She brought the foul smelling concoction to her lips and took a big swallow. She wanted to gag. The stuff had to have been made in the most odorous badland in the entire planet of Gaea! But, refusing to look like she couldn't handle it, Hitomi drank some more, until it was all gone. She gave the glass back and pursed her lips. She wasn't going to throw up. She wasn't going to throw up. She wasn't going—
The blond woman put a basket in front of Hitomi right when she threw up. The woman held back Hitomi's hair and wiped her face with a damp cloth. "That's good," the woman said soothingly. "You need to clean your system, and it was either up or down, but all of that stuff had to come out."
Hitomi groaned. Though her head felt a little better, her stomach just started feeling a whole lot worse. She took a deep breath.
"There," the woman beside her said. "You'll start feeling better soon. Promise."
Hitomi looked at the woman. "Who?" she croaked.
"My name is Millerna," the woman answered, "and this is my son, Chid."
"You feel better, lady?" the little boy asked. His brows were drawn together in the center of his forehead. He looked genuinely concerned.
Hitomi managed a nod.
"Chid," Millerna said, "go and tell your father that Hitomi is awake."
Chid nodded and slowly made his way to the door, dragging his feet. This green-eyed woman fascinated him.
Once he was gone and the door was closed, Millerna stood up. "Now then," she said. "Let's get you into some different clothes."
Hitomi looked down and blushed. She was wearing a thin gown that was bunched around her hips, and the straps were sliding off her shoulders.
Millerna laughed at Hitomi's embarrassment. "Don't worry," Millerna said, "no one has seen you in that gown except for me. Chid wasn't even supposed to come in here until you were better, but he managed to slip in unnoticed while I was talking to my husband. For some reason, he has taken a great liking to you."
Hitomi remained silent. Millerna took out a pair of breeches and a shirt identical to hers. She helped Hitomi to stand. Hitomi had to brace herself against the night table beside her bed. Her legs seemed to have forgotten how to work. "Where?" she managed to ask as Millerna began undressing and redressing her.
"You're with the traveling road show of Gaea," Millerna answered from behind her.
Hitomi detected a smile in Millerna's voice. So she shook her head, saying that she didn't understand. Millerna didn't answer until she had finished dressing her. She tucked Hitomi's shirt in.
"Do you really want to know?" Millerna asked seriously.
Hitomi nodded slowly.
"You're with the Abaharaki," Millerna answered quietly.
Hitomi's eyes widened. No, she couldn't be! The Abaharaki were the most notorious rebels on Gaea. They were very powerful, made up of survivors of the cleansing of Gaea. If they knew who she was, then they would surely kill her.
Millerna grabbed her wrist and began dragging her to the open window. Hitomi began to struggle in fright. "No!"
Millerna placed her at the windowsill. "Look," she instructed.
Hitomi looked out the window and found herself looking at rows and rows of trees. They were moving by at a slow rate, but they were moving. Hitomi watched in fascination. She had never been in anything that moved. She had never been outside of the castle.
Millerna observed Hitomi quietly. She had seen the girls eyes fill with fear as she had dragged her to the window. Then the look changed to amazement as Hitomi watched everything go by. Millerna was convinced. Hitomi wasn't a threat to them.
When Van had brought Hitomi to the base over a week ago, she had been rapidly shutting down. Millerna had drained the poison as best she could, then stood back and waited. Hitomi had been in a terrible fever. When Van had told them who Hitomi was and what she had done, everyone had been speechless. Even Merle, who always had something to say about everything, was silent.
Millerna formed the idea right then and there that maybe, just maybe, Hitomi wasn't in league with Allen. Allen. That name brought bile to the back of her throat. He—
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. If she weren't careful memories that she had buried would come to the front of her mind and begin to torment her again.
Turning her thoughts back to Hitomi, Millerna smiled. The girl looked completely innocent and child-like with her eyes wide like that. It was as though she were trying to take everything in at once. Hitomi wasn't evil, anyone could see that if they truly looked at her. Millerna just hoped that her husband and the others would come to the same conclusion.
***
Dryden propped his foot up and placed his forearm on his knee. His long brown hair was tied back with a string. He stared at the others in the room. There were four of them in all. Koji, Ryuan, Toru, and Van. They were all standing together, except for Van who was leaning against the wall, looking at Dryden. They were discussing the same thing they had been meeting about for the past week. Lady Hitomi. All the information that Van had come with was that Hitomi was Allen's fiancée, and that he was very possessive of her. Other than that, they had nothing. Even their digging had come up with nothing. Who was Lady Hitomi? More importantly, what were they going to do with her?
"You never should have brought her here in the first place, Van," Koji said. "You've only brought more trouble on us."
"She saved Chid's life," Dryden interrupted in a firm voice. "Van was honor-bound to try and save hers by bringing her here."
"I agree," Toru said in his deep voice, "but we still have a big problem on our hands. What are we going to do?"
"I've been giving that some thought," Dryden started, then stopped. He followed Van's eyes to the door of the control room. Chid stood there. Dryden gave him a big smile and motioned for him to come in. Chid smiled and did as he was told. He climbed up on Dryden's knee.
"Mama said to tell you that the lady was awake," Chid said.
"How is she?" Dryden asked.
"Mama said that she was gonna be okay, and gave her something to drink, but then the lady threw up," Chid said. "She got really green."
Dryden smiled. "That means that she's going to be just fine."
Chid nodded.
"That's what mama said." Then in
the next breath asked, "Papa, can I go play with Sano and the others? Please?"
Dryden looked at him. "Are you feeling
all right?"
Chid nodded his head quickly.
"And you'll come to your mother or me if you start to feel bad or anything goes wrong, right?" Dryden asked in a firm but gentle voice.
Chid nodded. "I will. Now can I go play?"
Dryden nodded his permission. Chid smiled and gave him a hug, then hoped off of his father's lap and raced out the door.
"It's a miracle to see him running again," Ryuan said quietly.
"And it's all thanks to Van and Lady Hitomi," Dryden said. "They both helped to get my son back. The least we could do is hear Hitomi's side of the story as to why she is engaged to Allen anyway."
Ryuan and Toru nodded. Dryden looked at Koji.
"Fine," Koji said, "but don't be disappointed if she turns out to be just like all of the other humans."
"Not all humans are bad," came Van's voice.
"The son of a human would say that," Koji sneered.
Van's hand tightened on his sword. "If you wish to say something, Koji, then say it. And although my father was human, my mother was draconian, which makes me just as much an outcast as you or anyone else here." The two men stared at one another until Koji finally looked away. Van returned his gaze to Dryden.
"Before we talk to the Lady Hitomi," Dryden said to Van, "there is still the question of what we are going to do with her, no matter if she is innocent in all of this or not."
"I personally don't relish the idea of killing her, but what other option would we have?" Van said.
"There is still the fact that you haven't completed you bond to her," Dryden reminded. A bond had been formed when Hitomi had saved Chid's life when Van couldn't. As Chid's Champion, it was Van's duty to protect the boy, but when some else does that duty because the Champion couldn't, then the Champion becomes bonded to the other person. That meant that Van owed Hitomi a great debt.
"I know that," Van snapped irritably. Dryden had been reminding him that fact for the past week. "But what would you have me do, Dryden? Marry her?"
Van's eyes narrowed as Dryden slowly grinned. "Exactly."
Hey! I'm so happy I finished this chapter! It only took me about an hour and a half! Whoo! Well, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far! That's what keeps me writing!
Oh, and to all of you romance buffs (like me!) there will be plenty of romance, I promise, just please be patient!
Thanks! Tevrah^_^