Chapter Fourteen: The Promotion
It was strange, how easily that name flowed off her tongue. Haru had always known that despite all the reasons her dear Humbert should be grateful for his given name, he had always despised it. 'Baron' suited him far more than 'Humbert' ever would.
She didn't mind. The man she loved was the man she loved, no matter his appearance or used name. It was his soul she had always adored.
Baron smiled at her thankfully for the adopted change of address, and continued his narrative. "Well, things remained more or less the same for five years. The most difficult part of my new education was adjusting to my shape-shifting body and learning magic, but I even managed that in the end. Now, it's a standard procedure for new recruits to meet the king once every five years, and as it so happened, that meeting happened two months before the end of my fifth year as a sky pirate. I had just missed the last meeting, so I had the most experience in the then current group."
At this point, Baron suddenly hesitated.
"Go on," Muta said slyly as he adjusted the sails slightly. "If you don't tell her what you did, you know we will."
Toto started cackling evilly as he started lighting lanterns around the deck. "Oh, I can't wait to hear him explain that."
Haru looked at her furry fiancé suspiciously. "All right, what did you break?" she asked in a resigned tone.
Baron steadfastly looked in front of him to avoid looking the slim brunette in the eye. "The tower was an accident, I want that to be understood right now," he said quickly, rubbing the handles of the helm nervously.
"Uh huh," Haru said, rubbing his arm encouragingly. "And how did the tower turn into an accident?"
"Well, there were five of us that were new," he continued, his muscles tensing underneath his black shirt.
"Just spit it out," she said firmly, nudging him as a grimace crossed her beloved's face.
He took a deep breath, and started talking again. "Well, near the middle of the king's welcoming speech, two of his children came running into the throne room, arguing over whether or not one of them did something that I can't remember right now, and the king had to sheepishly break off his speech in order to resolve it, since his wife was under the weather and the nursemaids were a little too far behind the children to make a difference. Turns out that the king's children interrupt his business an average of twice a month, despite all attempts to keep them away." Baron hesitated again as an embarrassed blush began to creep onto his furry cheeks.
"That does it! You're too modest, Baron!" Muta yelled, slamming one fist against the side of the boat. "It's plain and simple, Chicky. Baron spotted a corrupt ex-noble-turned-assassin while everyone else was distracted with the children, though he didn't know all that at the time. He stole a shield from one of the guards in time to deflect the arrow that would have hit the king in the heart. Then he gave chase to the rogue while everyone else was still shocked, and the chase eventually led to a tower that the king used to store explosives. Baron started fighting the assassin, one thing led to another, and next thing anyone knows… ka-boom! It's a miracle that both Baron and the assassin survived the blast, but now Baron can't turn back into a human anymore because the blast disrupted his body chemistry."
Haru slapped one hand to her forehead, and sighed tiredly. "Oh, Humbert," she groaned while shaking her head.
The tall feline glared at his old friend, and gently pulled his beloved in front of him, gripping her hands against the handles of the helm so that they were steering the ship together. "Thanks, Muta," he said sarcastically through gritted teeth.
"Anytime," the giant returned impudently with a grin, narrowing his eyes slightly as creamy fur began to cover his body, possibly to combat the night chill in the air. The only spot of color that remained on him was the bit of brown over his pointy left ear. He was now a giant cat, nearly twice as tall as Haru.
Toto also began changing, although he started growing feathers as black as his messy hair instead of fur. In a matter of seconds, he was a giant crow, although his human clothes still fit all right.
But even his approaching beak was curved into a slightly naughty smile. "You don't seem all that surprised, Haru."
"I grew up with Baron, remember? I knew he could cause chaos if he really wanted to," Haru replied dryly. She was the only one left without fur or feathers, which was probably why her beloved had drawn her in for a closer embrace. She leaned into his chest slightly, loving the feel of his hands on hers. "I'm guessing that's about when the king offered you a title, Baron?"
The tall feline nodded. "He wanted to give me a bigger one, but I managed to talk him down to a Baronetcy. I would have forsaken the title completely, if he had only allowed me to come back for you, but there were certain regulations to follow, no matter what kind of debt the king might owe someone. You see, Haru, only nobility are allowed to return to our native kingdom, and even then, they have to have not only a very good reason, but also serve the king for a year, which is why it took me until now to come back for you. On top of that, they aren't supposed to leave behind any proof that they had been around the world below."
"So how come these two could come back with you?" she asked curiously, looking at a feline Muta and a feathery Toto.
"I'm a Viscount, and Bird Brain here is a Marquis. His old man just made swords as a hobby before some masked stranger decided to kill him over that last one," Muta explained while pulling a face. "All nobility spend a few five-year cycles out in a sky ship, which was why we were the ones to fish Baron out of the sea, all those years ago."
"But one day," Toto cawed, fingering the hilt of his sword with a wing-like hand. "I'm going to find my father's murderer, and say-"
"Hello, my name is Toto Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die," Muta and Baron said in unison, although Muta's tone was more sarcastic than Baron's respectful one.
"That's my line!" the crow man yelled, pouncing on the big fat feline for yet another wrestling match.
Baron shook his head tiredly, and kissed Haru's hair tenderly. "The day I was finally able to approach King Valorous with my request was the same one that the king came for you in the village, love. He is most gifted with magic, and he didn't quite believe me when I described you, so he used a spy charm formed from my memories of you to nail your position down. The entire court was watching you when you told Machida to leave you alone because you still loved me, and they were watching when you took down all those guards when the king sent them after you. But you know what impressed the king the most?"
"Are you going to embarrass me again?" she asked with a blush.
He grinned, and kissed her flaming cheek. "He could tell that you weren't really going to marry the king when he blackmailed you, but what got him was when you mouthed to the sky, 'Humbert, where are you?'"
She wiggled her hands out from underneath his in order to turn around and wrap her beloved in a rib-crushing embrace. "I was scared, Baron. I thought the only way out of that mess was to kill the king and get executed before you could come back."
"Aren't you glad you were proven wrong, love?" he whispered tenderly, stealing yet another kiss from her. "Well, after watching that, King Valorous had no choice but to let me come back for you, but he wanted to see if I could get you to come to the Sky Kingdom if you didn't know who I was, which was why I was wearing that mask."
"I see," Haru said softly, cuddling deep into his warm arms. "Well, technically, you did get me to agree before your tongue slipped. You shouldn't be in trouble." Suddenly, she stiffened with horror. "Baron, you don't think he's been watching all this, do you?" she whispered, looking around nervously.
He kissed her tenderly, and adjusted their course slightly. "I was more or less expecting him to."
She flushed deeply with embarrassment. "He must have been laughing his head off the whole time," she muttered under her breath, turning around to slip her hands underneath his.
"Well, maybe not the whole time," he replied soothingly, trying to soften the blow. "It was probably closer to three-quarters of the time, if you were up to your usual antics after getting kidnapped, which I'm certain you were."
"Thanks," she said sarcastically as she leaned into his warmth. "I feel so much better."
Baron chuckled warmly, making his chest reverberate pleasantly against her back. He kissed her soft hair again. "Darling, it's been a long day. There's a small room down the stairs at the end of the hall underneath the deck, if you wish to rest."
"What about you? Aren't you tired?" she asked with concern.
"I'll be all right, Haru. Sailors are used to taking shifts at the helm. Go on, dear. I know you haven't slept in over a day."
The slim brunette smiled lovingly at him, and kissed him goodnight before walking around the short flight of stairs past Muta, who opened the door for the lower part of the ship for her with a grin.
She grinned back at him, and held onto the walls as the ship heaved underneath her feet while climbing down the stairs.
The hallway wasn't all that long, and the small bed in the last room was soft and inviting.
Haru slipped off her boots, crawled between the soft sheets, and immediately surrendered to peaceful slumber, content in knowing she would never lose her Humbert again.
ooOoo
The old king glared at Natoru, who was still bent backward from Haru's restraints, and bent forward enough to savagely rip the gag off of the fool's face. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," the king snarled angrily, kicking Natoru in his protruding stomach savagely. "Thanks to you, a cathas run off with my bride, and there's no way I'll be able to get her back! Idiot! Incompetent! Fool!"
With every insult, the king kicked his ex-servant again, and again as he cried out with pain.
"It's Humbert!" Natoru screamed, praying that the beating would stop. "Humbert Gikkingen took her away!"
"Why should his name matter?!" the king demanded with a sneer.
"It's her old fiancé," the beaten and bound man wept as blood began flowing from his abnormally big mouth. "Haru went with him willingly… because… she promised to marry him years ago. She even kissed him," he gagged as more blood spewed from his mouth and nostrils. "He's a cat now… and she still wants… him."
"That was her old sweetheart?!" the king howled in fury as Natoru panted and wept with pain.
Then… she had to have been faking unconsciousness in the monster's arms. She willingly left him, so that he could return to the capital in humiliation. He would become the laughingstock of the civilized world, after word of this got out.
The king took out his sword, and began hacking savagely at the tree Natoru had been leaning against. The weapon he chose was not suited to chopping wood, but the crazy monarch kept chopping, until the tree finally shuddered, and fell down the hill as several startled birds took to the sky.
Panting heavily, the king looked down at he who had once been one of his advisors with furious mismatched eyes of fire and ice as he raised his now-blunted sword one final time.
"STOP!" Natori cried out as his nerve broke, hopping off his horse in order to run up and cover his brother's body with his own. "Please, sire… don't kill him," the head advisor sobbed.
"Stand back!" the king roared, still holding his weapon high over his head.
Natori's face stiffened, as he raised it to meet his ruler's. "I have been, your majesty," he struggled to say with an even voice. "I've kept silent, through all of my years of serving you. I stood behind you as you took what you wanted by force, be it gold, property, or even a girl that was just waiting for her sweetheart to come back for her. I watched you maim my little brother twice, but I'm done!" the grey-haired man suddenly roared like a lion. "I'm done watching you hurt innocent people over your stupid whims! Leave my brother alone!"
The king stared at his favorite advisor, and slowly lowered his sword. "That's the first time in thirty years of service that you've disagreed with me, Natori," he said in an almost pleasant voice.
The grey-haired advisor nodded as tears streamed down his face, and splashed onto his brother's. Natoru stared at his big brother, the one he had loved and followed ever since he was born. Natori had been only ten years older, but he had always seemed so much wiser than that, as he trained passionately to enter the king's service, Natoru following his brother's footsteps eagerly.
But in that moment, just before the king swung his sword anyway, Natori was able to look down into his little brother's eyes, and see the love and forgiveness he had been secretly dying for.
The king, however, was unmoved by this display of brotherly love, since he had secretly murdered his older brother in order to gain the throne. With all the emotion of playing a round of golf, he first beheaded Natori, and then Natoru.
He leaned down casually, and wiped his sword clean on the back of Natori's purple robe before sliding the blade into its sheathe.
"General Nashi!" the king barked, making his oldest officer salute fearfully. "Let's head back to the capital. There's a quaint little fishing village that needs to be wiped off of the map of my kingdom, and I'm going to need more soldiers to do that. Start marching the troops, or I'll send you into death after my incompetent advisors!"