Author's Note: Twice as long as the last chapter and only a couple weeks worth of a wait for it to boot! ;D Hope you're ready for a wallop of a ride! Constructive Criticism is always welcomed.
Ceteris Paribus
Chapter Sixteen: Perils of Entanglement
Mako pulled away with a tremendous force of will, her forehead resting against Takeru's as they both tried to reclaim their breath. Her lips were swollen, her face flushed and her body all but hummed with an energy that raced through her veins. She all but clung to him for support, her knees shaking with the overwhelming force of emotions that had built up inside her during their latest show for the King's spy.
In the weeks that had followed their first "lesson," they had had ample opportunity to improve and expand upon their act. An act Mako had been positive fooled no one, but as the spy always took off like a shot as soon as feet could carry him and returned all too eagerly as often as he could, she supposed they were able to be at least somewhat convincing. Ryunosuke too had assured the pair, through gritted teeth and a supreme flush no less, that if he hadn't known better himself he too would believe the court gossip that was spreading like wildfire within the palace grounds and beyond.
Mako wasn't sure if she should be amused or appalled that everyone had taken such a keen interest in her most intimate and personal life. Though, as Ryunosuke had pointed out when she mentioned as much, Mako was the First Princess of the Court and a seemingly distant and untouchable one at that. It was as well-known that she did not have a single male concubine or lover as much as it was known how many the other women had. And as Mako was finally engaging in her family's long tradition, with an infamous slave no less, the gossipmongers were certain to let their tongues wag, whispering into any ear that would heed them.
How much those outside the palace walls believed, Mako wasn't sure and when she realized that those rumors would reach the battlefield as her father had intended she had paled considerably.
The situation was precarious, balanced on a knife's edge. In order to save Takeru she had to play the part the King insisted upon, but in doing so she risked the tenuous alliance she had made with Takeru's fellow countrymen and court.
For his part, Takeru had assured her that while it was possible the rumors would reach so far, it was also just as likely to be either disregarded as mere rumors or confirmation of what they had long suspected already when he had first been caught and presented to her at her Coming of Age ceremony.
It was with thoughts like these, ones that rushed unbidden into her mind, that always pulled her up short, crashing reality back down around her ears after the door was shut firmly behind them, no longer privy to an audience and yet seemingly unable to stop what had started.
Mako and Takeru had both been simultaneously alarmed and amazed at the rush of fire between the two of them that grew with each kiss, every caress.
Too afraid of their own feelings and even more so, a possible rejection should the other not feel it as strongly as they however, both kept their silences about the purposed "act" they put on display. Just as they refused to acknowledge that they were having a difficult time stopping just beyond the door now, their actions and ministrations continuing long past what would be considered appropriate for this staged theatre, each time headier than the last.
It was only by using all of the inner strength that they possessed that allowed them to break apart gently and continue their "alternate lessons" as Mako had deemed them.
Just as all their lessons before, Mako took a deep, steadying breath, her heart pounding in rhythm to the one beneath her fingertips as she pushed herself gently away from Takeru's embrace.
"Wh-where did we leave off?" She managed to stutter out, her mind torn between the rush of heat swirling through her body and the cool logic of her mind telling her to back off if she wanted to keep her head. Her arms wrapped around her middle as she strode over to the corner of her room, missing them warmth they had shared and unearthing the papers she had hidden in a locked ebony trunk. She forced her mind to concentrate on her feelings of the hunger and excitement for new knowledge instead of the pang of loss she felt at no longer being wrapped up in Takeru's arms. She needed to focus on her real lessons.
Takeru stood by the door for a moment longer, breathing in carefully to cool down the blaze heating him from the inside out, torn evenly between wanting nothing more than to continue where they had left off and resuming the alternate lessons they had designed. Though he knew he'd be lying if he said he wasn't currently more inclined toward the former, but eventually a small smile found its way across his lips as he watched Mako thumb through the papers before her, littered with black ink from their practice sessions.
He moved to sit beside her upon the cushioned floor, their proximity close enough to radiate heat. Takeru bit back a smile as he watched the flush rise on her cheeks, glad to know he affected her a little with his presence even as he knew she didn't have a clue as to how deeply she affected him.
"What would you like to continue today?" He asked quietly, watching in enraptured fascination as her eyes lit upon the pages in a fevered excitement, scanning over the pages with rapt attention.
Since their first "lesson" Mako and Takeru had begun to talk, for lack of a better use to fill their time while they wiled away enough hours to satisfy the King's spy to the claim they were pretending to make.
Mako had wanted to learn more about his country – the traditions, clothes, food, people, language – and he had eventually begun to teach her things, a little reluctantly at first, more from old habits than any reservations about the princess herself, and then with increasing enthusiasm as he realized the depth of her aptitude for both the written and spoken word of his home country.
She had been a very eager student and Takeru was all too happy to see her eyes light up in challenge and delight.
He watched with a careful eye as Mako intently studied the character he had drawn at the top of the page and she copied it with a careful, slightly shaky hand. With each round of practice at the character he admired how her initial hesitant strokes grew bolder as she grew in confidence.
Takeru wondered belatedly if there was some kind of irony that today the first character he taught her was "blaze," like that from a fire. His fingers touched his lips subconsciously. It definitely felt as if she'd scorched him from the inside out with her warm lips and strong, gentle fingers.
He glanced at Mako, studying the little lines of concentration that appeared on her forehead as she deftly completed the line of characters. When she looked up at him with an unreserved grin, content with the work she had done, he felt his heart skip a beat in his chest as the quiet, niggling feeling that had been gaining strength in the back of his mind leapt forward with its own powerful assertion.
He wanted to take her with him.
He wanted to take Mako back to his home country and have her experience it all first hand.
It wouldn't be easy, by any means. His country's rules, traditions and culture were completely different than everything she had ever grown up knowing, but somehow he knew she would rise to the challenge, defy everyone's expectations of her, even his own.
Takeru's heart fluttered in his chest. There was a part of him that was terrified to ask, afraid that maybe what he was feeling for her wasn't reciprocated nearly as strongly by her, but if there was a chance, even the smallest one, he needed to ask her now. He didn't have the time to wait any longer – they didn't have the time to wait any longer.
Things were in motion now that they were no longer able to stop.
He could feel the minutes ticking by; the hours counting down as the sun slowly inched its way toward the horizon.
It would come as a shock, he knew, but if he'd had the luxury of breaking this to her gently…
Takeru shook his head at his own naïve thoughts. Time was an extravagance they'd never had to begin with. It had always been borrowed time as they raced to whatever end.
But there was still a part of him that was afraid to ask, that caused him to hesitate.
There was still a war going on, one he wasn't sure he'd live through, let alone ask her to live in its aftermath with him.
His eyes wandered over to the elegant scroll she hung in a place of honor in her rooms, the words set upon it tumbling over and over in his head.
Taker wasn't sure if she had realized it yet, but as Mako's mother was from his country, then she would belong to his homeland as much as he. She would have a place there among his people, even if she thought herself as far removed from it as the physical distance between the two kingdoms. Mako was too wrapped up in being related to the King that she wasn't allowing herself to see that far. He knew she wanted nothing more than to reject her father's side of her but couldn't see what would be left in its wake if she did.
It was with this thought that he opened his mouth only to be halted with a quiet knock sounding on the door.
"Mako?" A soft, feminine voice inquired from the other side.
"Kotoha!" Mako all but leapt to her feet and rushed to the door, throwing it open and enveloping her sister in a warm embrace.
Takeru couldn't help but smile as he rose carefully to his own feet, mindful of the tangle of confining chains that all too readily tripped him up. The timing might now have been ideal but he knew that with the spy having fled to fill the king in on his report the two sisters would have a precious hour or two together. He could wait. There wasn't much time left but there was enough.
Takeru excused himself from the room as Ryunosuke slipped past him to join the two sisters in their private reunion, all too eager to exchange news and gossip, catching up as quickly as they could.
"Everyone is convinced that you're finally adhering to your lessons Mako," Kotoha teased her sister, her grin growing when Mako's face flushed prettily.
"It's mortifying," Mako confessed, her hands rising up to try and cover the blush on her cheeks. "I feel like I'm stumbling through the entire thing."
"Could've fooled me," Ryunosuke mumbled bitterly, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
"That just means Mako and Takeru are doing a good job," Kotoha assured their irritated caretaker. "If even you question it sometimes Ryunosuke then the spy has to believe it. No one would believe what's really going on in here." Her gaze skimmed around the room, landing on the pile of papers with their still drying ink. "Just what are you two doing in here Mako?"
Mako's flush deepened. "Studying," she admitted shyly. "Takeru's been teaching me about his country and its language."
Kotoha sighed in slight exasperation. "You need to read more of those novels I let you borrow Mako," she lamented. "Alone with a man in your rooms and all you can think to do is practice writing."
"Kotoha!" Mako's face turned completely scarlet as she all but gaped at her younger sister, unable to fight the quirk of her lips as Kotoha winked audaciously at her. They glanced over at Ryunosuke simultaneously to see him gulping at air like a fish out of water, for once unable to find the words to voice his admonish the girls as they burst out into a fit of laughter.
It was Ryunosuke's turn to feel the heat rise on his cheeks as he scowled in a perfect imitation of Chiaki, only setting the girls off into a fresh bout of mirth.
As they wiped the tears of laughter from their eyes Kotoha gave a start.
"Oh! Speaking of writing, I nearly forgot." She pulled a worn piece of paper from within the confines of her skirt. "I found this on the floor. It's one of your messages Mako, an old one." She unfolded the crinkled note and handed it to her sister. "I would have burned it for you, but I wasn't sure that you hadn't meant to keep it for something so I thought I'd wait to show it to you first."
Mako studied the note in her hand with a frown. "I could have sworn we'd burned them all; I don't remember needing to hang on to any one message in particular, but things have been such a blur since Takeru arrived…" She let out a frustrated sigh. "It must be an old code; I can only recognize a few characters."
She handed the note off to Ryunosuke. "Maybe you will have a better chance at remembering it than me."
Ryunosuke took the message in hand and began reading it easily, the characters as familiar to him as the back of his hand. "This woman who holds you captive has me intrigued. Get closer to her and –" Ryunosuke cut himself off, the blood draining from his face as he suddenly realized what he held in his hands.
Kotoha looked thoroughly confused but Mako, as quick as always, felt her heart begin to pound alarmingly in her chest.
"Finish it," she whispered, denial screaming loud in her ears as cool logic fought to hear what her heart refused to acknowledge.
Ryunosuke grimaced at the direct order, wishing with all his heart that he could bite his tongue and defy it. He glanced at the note again. This woman who holds you captive has me intrigued. Get closer to her and seek out the informant, if they should be one in the same the better. Rest assured she will be brought before me at my insistence. With a mouth as dry as the desert he repeated the words to the two young women before him.
Mako felt the blood drain from her face, her eyes staring wide, almost uncomprehendingly at her trusted companion. His own pale face, streaked with lines of anxiety gazed back at her as Kotoha's eyes darted between the two.
"What does this mean?" Kotoha's quiet voice sounded almost too loud in the stifling silence.
"It means," Mako responded with numb lips, her voice hollow as realization dawned. "That I've been a fool." She whirled on the spot, anger swift to replace the horror and betrayal she could feel welling up inside her. She welcomed the fury, used it to propel her through the door as she burst into the other room, startling its three occupants.
Takeru, Genta and Chiaki all glanced at each other in surprise at Mako's abrupt entrance, a far cry from the lady-like grace she embraced full-bodily in her usual movements. They're astonishment only deepened when they caught the look on her face, a mask as composed and perfect as to resemble the finest of porcelain – and just as delicate.
"Everything alright there, Princess?" Genta tried, his attempted grin faltering when the eyes that fell upon him were alight with an expression he had never seen on her face before. He felt as if he stood at the edge of a precipice, awaiting the inevitable earthquake that would rumble the ground beneath his feet and send him over the edge. He braced himself for the storm that was about to be unleashed, feeling that everything was about to go up in smoke before their eyes. Whatever had transpired on the other side of the door, it wasn't good.
Mako said nothing in response as she approached Takeru on quick, steady feet, marveling at what the rush of adrenaline could do to the body when just moments before she had felt like sinking into the floor and vanishing into its cold, unforgiving surface.
"Hime!" She could hear Ryunosuke calling for her, a slight desperation in his tone, but purposefully ignored his attempts to reach her.
"Is it true?" She demanded without preamble, stopping just short of standing in Takeru's personal space.
He watched her with an even mixture of bafflement and wariness. "Is what true?"
"This!" She brought out the note she had held scrunched in her shaking hand, unfolding the crumpled mess and thrusting it into his own.
Takeru didn't need to read it after he saw Genta tensing beside him. He'd recognized the all too familiar handwriting the instant she'd revealed the message, but he glanced over it quickly and couldn't hold back the wince that flashed across his face at what was written there.
Of all the notes to fall into her hands, it had to be this one, hadn't it? It couldn't have been one on war strategy or an inquiry into his health, no, that would have been asking for too much.
He sighed deeply, making no effort to hide what was blatantly screaming out at him from the palm of his hand, even as his stomach twisted sickly.
Was the world so dead-set against this damned war going as planned or were the heavens just feeling particularly vindictive and seeking out amusement against him purposefully?
"What do you want to know Princess?" He asked, his tone passive, almost resigned.
Mako felt the address of her title instead of her name like a physical slap across her face. That more than anything led her to believe it was all true, even when some naïve little corner of her heart had insisted that she had heard wrong.
Tears sprang to her eyes but she refused to let them fall, instead she embraced the anger once more, using it as a shield to parry back against the ever widening gap between her and Takeru even though they stood mere inches apart.
"Is what is contained in this note true?" She demanded, her arms crossing in front of her chest to keep them firmly at her sides instead of smoothing out the hard lines that had formed along Takeru's face. She could read the regret and sorrow in his eyes, but whether it was from getting caught or something else entirely she couldn't be sure – wasn't sure of anything at the moment – and so remained stubbornly within her own space.
Another deep sigh, this one seeming to step from some dark depths before he nodded and Mako felt her heart lurching in her chest, fissures beginning to form along its surface.
"Every word of it," he confirmed in a resigned voice. "After I was caught and brought under your care I was ordered to get close to you, seek out the one in contact with my country, and if you were one in the same, to bring you before the allies and council."
Mako simply stared back at him, Takeru either unwilling or unable to meet her eyes. A tense, charged silence followed their exchange and Mako felt like she would shatter under its pressure as it closed in on her from all sides. It took her several moments to realize that the pressure was because she had stopped breathing.
With a quiet gasp she sucked in a lungful of air, the tears she had been too stubborn to let fall began to spill over. She scrunched her eyes shut in a vain attempt to try and stem the onslaught and whirl of her emotions.
"Mako," Takeru breathed, the musical tinkling of metal moving filling the air as he reached out tentatively and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
With an almighty lurch she stepped back from the pacifying gesture, her wet eyes glaring in betrayal, anger and embarrassment. "Don't!" She snapped back, her features crumbling for a moment as she felt the full onslaught of her emotions threatening to drown her. She pushed back against the reeling storm inside her, reining it in piece by piece until she had most of her composure back, or at least enough to hide behind the court mask she had perfected years ago.
"I didn't want to play into my father's hands," she whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder she'd crack completely. "I didn't want to be the little puppet on his string, and all I ended up doing was dancing to the tune of another; nothing more than the dressed up doll I was always supposed to be." Her smile was humorless and all the more painful for the raw emotion it invoked in her eyes, contrasting sharply with the emotionless façade she carried on her face. "I was a fool to think I could change anything."
She met Takeru's eyes then, the emotions written so plainly in her eyes freezing him on the spot. "A fool all the more for trusting you in the first place."
Before anyone could stop her she flitted past Takeru's still form, threw open the doors and was racing down the hallway in the space between the blink of an eye.
"Mako!" Kotoha called out after her in desperation, her heart breaking for her older sister.
"Go after her," Ryunosuke instructed, his anger palpable from the strain in his stance.
It was a mark of how distraught Kotoha was over her sister that she didn't realize Ryunosuke was giving her an order. She simply nodded and shot out the door like a bird fleeing its cage.
"Stay here," Ryunosuke all but snapped when Chiaki made a move to follow.
The young guard scowled but made no move to argue, not even sure what he had been about to do, simply following the subconscious instinct to follow Kotoha wherever she went.
"This is why I didn't approve," Ryunosuke seethed at Genta who had the decency to look abashed for all his earlier teasing and pushing.
"It couldn't have come at a worse time either," Genta grimaced. "We still need her to –"
"Time?!" Ryunosuke burst out. "You're worried that this came out at an inconvenient time?! Were you not just witness to what happened?"
Genta frowned, all traces of his usual mirth gone. "I saw," he answered back testily. "And as I said before, this couldn't have happened at a more precarious time. It's happening tonight."
Ryunosuke stared at the young man before him, muscles clenching in his jaw before he whirled on the spot and punched at the wall in his frustration, a litany of curses falling past his lips as he did so.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Genta murmured darkly, his hand rubbing at his face briefly before he turned to his friend with an anxious glance. Takeru still hadn't moved an inch. "Takeru?"
Takeru's only response was to close his eyes, his hands fisting at his sides, shaking from the herculean effort it was taking to contain his own raging emotions.
"So what do we do now?" Chiaki asked to break the charged silence, leaning back against the wall as he did, the very picture of nonchalance even when his rigged posture suggested otherwise.
When Takeru opened his eyes, the lack of emotions there had Genta grimacing and cursing silently. "Everything continues as planned," he told them, his voice tight and controlled, devoid of any and all inner turmoil. "Genta," he addressed his longtime friend and comrade in arms. "Tell them to await our signal."
Genta's sigh was deep but silent, almost resigned as he regarded his closest friend with all the sympathy in the world. "Okay." He left at a quick, clipped pace, but not without a second glance back, the worry he felt for his friend near-tangible.
Ryunosuke made to follow the instant Genta was out the door.
"Where are you going?" Chiaki challenged. The glare the caretaker sent his way gave the young guard a trill of fear that he couldn't entirely hide behind his usual mulish defiance.
"Do you want this plan to work or not?" He asked, ice in his glare. "I'm going to go find Hime and see if we can't salvage the damage you lot have created here," he bit out when Chiaki didn't respond.
The door slammed behind him with so much force that Chiaki winced.
The silence left behind to echo in the wake of such a turbulent, emotional storm set Chiaki's teeth on edge as he contemplated the depth of the ramifications that had just occurred and how weeks, months, even years of planning could crumble to pieces because two people who were never even supposed to meet had fallen in love.
"Mako!" Kotoha called out, running for all she was worth as she scrambled to catch up with her sister as she dashed across the gardens. "Mako, wait!"
Whether Mako couldn't hear her sister's calls or was simply ignoring them, Kotoha wasn't sure but Mako didn't stop until she all but collapsed against the great magnolia tree in the tucked away little garden she likened to be her own private escape when the confines of her rooms threatened to suffocate her on days when it all became too much.
Days like today.
A strangled laugh that came out more as a sob escaped her lips at the thought. She had never had a day like this one before, would never have even dreamed of it possible to begin with.
To strike up a friendship with the slave her father had pushed into her room and arms? To begin to trust, respect and even fall for him? To then feel the bitter stab of betrayal when she discovered it had all just been a ruse to filch out her secrets and report them back to his allies? It was too much!
Silent tears coursed down her face as one arm wrapped around the solid support of the tree's trunk to keep her from falling over, the other hand clasped firmly around her mouth to suppress the sobs threatening to break free. She started suddenly when her own thoughts began to sink in.
Fall for him?When had that happened?
She felt a mirth bubble up inside her that came out sounding more like a choked gasp as she realized she had defied her father after all. Had fallen in love with one of his most hated enemies – the very slave he had pushed into her arms.
She bit back a moan as the thought was swiftly replaced with another – that it had all been a lie.
Memories assaulted her, shared laughter, kisses and embraces that were now horrifyingly embarrassing as she wondered at how inexperienced and dull-witted she must have seemed, to feel like she was floating from his affections only to realize he had been putting on a show the entire time.
How naïve and appallingly stupid could she be?
"Mako?" Kotoha's voice sounded from behind her, hesitant as she studied her sister's shaking figure. When she caught sight of her sister's tears she felt tears of her own well up in her eyes, moving immediately to embrace her closest friend and sibling in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh Mako! I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!" She held her sister for what felt like a long time.
"I feel so stupid Kotoha," Mako admitted after her initial wave of grief subsided and she had calmed down some. "I should have known better."
"You couldn't have known any of it," Kotoha soothed, her fingers trailing through her sister's long hair in a calming motion.
"What gave me the right of mind to believe he could fall for me too?" Her voice was broken and small.
Kotoha frowned. "Mako," she scolded. "You had every right to believe Takeru cared for you. He'd be an idiot not to." She bit her lip and asked in a quiet, timid voice. "You love Takeru?"
"Yes – no – maybe – I thought I did," Mako sat up straighter, dashing away her remaining tears with her fingers. She sighed shakily after a quiet moment. "I'm not sure of much of anything at the moment," she admitted.
"Hime?" Ryunosuke's quiet, wary voice caused both girls to start; having not have even heard him in his approach.
Mako's gaze fell, unable to meet her friend's sympathetic eyes and worried frown. "I'm sorry Ryunosuke," she apologized, her voice quiet.
"Don't ever apologize for how you feel," he told her firmly and she looked up, startled. He opened his mouth, looking ready to speak his mind and voice a few rather choice opinions, but something in her expression had him changing tracks with a sigh of resignation. "You should talk to him," he bit out between clenched teeth.
Mako blinked rapidly at her caretaker and friend, uncomprehending. "What?"
"You didn't give him a chance to explain," he told her, sounding as if he was forcing the words out against his will.
"I found the note a long time ago," Kotoha admitted quietly. "Things could have changed by now."
Ryunosuke nodded curtly. "You should talk to him, Hime. Let him explain."
Mako stared openly at Ryunosuke, her mind a jumbled mess before one thought centered in her mind. "I thought you despised Takeru," her voice came out as bewildered as the expression on her face. "And after what just transpired – why on earth would you try to convince me to give him a second chance?"
Ryunosuke studied his charge silently for a long, long time. "Because I am as much his ally as I am yours, Hime."
"Ryunosuke?" Kotoha questioned in confusion even as Mako watched him steadily, waiting for the explanation she knew would follow and not entirely sure she was ready to hear it.
"You know our mothers were friends," he began, continuing when she nodded. "After your mother died… My mother had already hated the King from the moment we set foot in this place, but once she discovered what had truly transpired in that room, had found out exactly how and why her friend had died…" Ryunosuke sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair.
"She helped construct an inner resistance within the King's own walls, coordinating the help of those both inside the palace and out, and working tirelessly to maintain contact with our homeland and allies so as to bring the King down from the inside as well as without. She knew that the people of Aduro had begun to hold a simmering hatred for their rulers, and well knew too that Pluvia was looking to reunite the kingdoms as one once more." He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, meeting the girls' wide eyes with steady ones of his own. "She began passing on the duties to me when she first became ill, transferring all responsibility to me just before she died."
Kotoha stared openly at the young man she thought she had known, all but gaping openly at the revelations. For her part, Mako simply sat as quietly and patiently as ever, as she waited for him to finish.
"I've maintained contact with Ten no Michi," he admitted. "I knew exactly who Takeru and Genta were when they arrived." He kicked at the dirt for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. "Takeru wasn't supposed to be caught. He was supposed to direct the troops from outside as others like Genta were brought in to strength the spy network and garner more allies from the inside."
"So Genta was always meant to come here?" Kotoha asked, curious. "Who else is spying for Pluvia?" She continued when Ryunosuke nodded.
Ryunosuke bit back a grimace as he gazed at his youngest charge. "I'm sure you'll find out sooner rather than later."
Mako closed her eyes from the gut feeling she felt surging inside her.
Kotoha looked as confused as ever. "I don't understand," she admitted. "Are we going to meet them then? How are we –"
"What do you want us to do?" Mako interrupted, her tone carefully empty.
Ryunosuke sighed heavily. "I would like you to talk to him Hime. He's still our ally, despite…" He trailed off, searching for the right word and coming up with a blank.
"Okay." Mako's voice was small, almost a whisper. Ryunosuke's revelations, while a bit stunning in their magnitude, weren't as shocking as she supposed they should be. It all began to makes sense now; the pieces of the puzzle finally pulling together. And while there was a part of her that was screaming out to stop trusting everyone who seemed so intent on hiding their true selves from her, she knew in heart that Ryunosuke was as trustworthy as ever. He'd looked after her and Kotoha since they were all children together, and loved them as much as if they were his family by blood. She would have to trust that.
Needed to trust that. Or else what scattered remains of the world she thought she still held would shatter apart.
"Are you sure?" Kotoha asked, her arms still around her sister in comfort.
Mako nodded reluctantly. "Personal feelings can't get in the way. This is too important. Right, Ryunosuke?" She looked up at him then and he read everything that she couldn't or wouldn't say, wincing internally to hear his own words tossed back at him. His heart sank somewhere down around the location of his stomach as he realized that she had finally taken his words to heart, too late to protect her from the damage that had already been done.
"Lead the way," she waved him on, not giving him a chance to reply though he knew she hadn't been looking for one. With no small amount of effort Mako stood and followed Ryunosuke's lead back to her quarters, her sister at her side.
Mako's mind whirled with all the revelations and information she had received already, not entirely sure she could handle much more in one night, but some stubborn, insistent part her heart was just about jumping for joy that Mako's logic was leading them all right where her heart still wanted to be.
Fool heart that it was.
She came to full stop outside her own doors, a sense of trepidation and uncertainty filling up inside her. She hadn't felt like this since the morning her mother died; waiting on one side of the door, not knowing what had transpired on the other in her absence. Mako wasn't certain what she would face on the other side of the doors, but she knew the knowledge would change her life forever, just like it had that morning so long ago.
"It'll work out, Mako," Kotoha encouraged her. "One way or another, you'll have your answers, right?"
Mako nodded absently before turning to her sister with a slight frown. "You're not coming?"
Kotoha shook her head, her curls bouncing beneath the midnight blue veil she wore to cover her hair, a small, quiet smile alighting on her face. "I think Takeru will have an easier time talking to you without an audience." She nodded toward the young man who had turned out to be more than he had seemed. "I'm sure Ryunosuke can fill me in; you need to hear it from Takeru directly."
"I'll escort her back and stay there until you can send someone to fetch us when you're ready, Hime," Ryunosuke assured her.
Mako felt a thrill of nerves travel through her when she realized she'd have to face Takeru alone, but then straightened her spine with steel and nodded brusquely. "I'll hear what he has to say and then meet with you both once I have made my decision."
Ryunosuke felt a thread of pride settle inside as he watched the last remnants of the lost, almost haunted expression vanish from her face, her determination and assurance making a brave attempt to firmly replace it. "Yes, Hime," he bowed to her with fond familiarity and respect, meeting her small smile with one of his own before escorting Kotoha down the hallway.
Mako breathed in deeply, letting the air rush out slowly to settle her nerves before knocking firmly to announce herself so as not to startle the occupants on the other side, and let herself in without further preamble.
"Mako," Takeru breathed her name like a question and an exclamation, more than stunned to see her, though a little voice in the back of his mind reminded him that these were her rooms.
"I'm willing to listen," she overrode whatever else he had been planning to say, keeping her distance in the center of the room, her arms going up around her middle once more to brace herself for whatever came next. "I can't promise that I'll like or agree to any of it," she warned, "but I'll listen."
Takeru nodded as Chiaki, sensing the tension in the room, informed the pair that he would wait outside and keep an eye out for intruders. They didn't hear him leave, both too focused on the eyes of the other.
"Mako," Takeru started, making to move toward her and halting abruptly with a sharp pang in his chest when she flinched away. His eyes fell. "I'm sorry."
Mako bit her lip, her body even now trying desperately to reach out to him as she saw the pain flash across his face. "I understand," she whispered, her own eyes falling to the ground, studying the pattern of the rug beneath her feet.
A sudden desperate hope flared in her chest and her eyes rushed up to meet his. "Just tell me if –"
But what she was going to ask never got voiced out loud as a sudden frantic knock sounded at her door. Mako and Takeru spun toward it as Chiaki's head appeared, his face streaked with alarm.
"The King is coming!"
Mako felt her world tilt sideways. What else is the world going to throw at me today!?
She felt Takeru's hands on her shoulders, steadying her as she swayed slightly from her already overwhelmed emotional state. Hadn't they enough to handle already?
"Get ready!" Chiaki hissed before disappearing behind the door once more.
Mako turned to Takeru, her face pale. "What are we going to do?!" No matter how confused and upset she was with him, the thought of the King getting his hands on Takeru through her own failure overrode any and all other misgivings.
Takeru continued to hold her steady, dropping a quick kiss at her temple, wondering vaguely if he would ever get the chance again if things didn't flow smoothly for them now.
"Just like we've practiced," he whispered in her ear, taking her hand and leading her over to her favorite settee and settling her down before carefully kneeling down on the ground below her feet. He placed his hands gently on either side of her face. Steeling himself for a rejection he captured her lips with his own.
Mako froze beneath the kiss for a moment, before surprising them both by relaxing into it and returning it with an urgency she hadn't known she felt, her hands fluttering to rest on his shoulders before trailing quickly into his hairline, threading her fingers along his scalp, causing him to shiver at her touch.
Mako and Takeru missed the first knock that came at the door, but when the second was followed by an amused, "I hope you're making yourself decent, oh daughter of mine," reality snapped back in around them just in time for the door to open, the King tired of waiting for a permission he didn't need to enter her rooms.
The King halted in his steps as he caught the tail end of the passionate kiss, a look of shock filling his face for a moment, swiftly followed on its heels by disgust and finally settling into a smug amusement.
Mako had jumped to her feet, her fingers scrambling to straighten her veil and ensure she looked proper even as she flushed scarlet.
"It appears the rumors were true after all," the King's leer was all too obvious as he stepped further into Mako's rooms, his men falling in behind them, Chiaki sliding along the wall after them, his face carefully blank but his eyes watchful and tense.
"Rumors?" Mako repeated, trying desperately to collect her scattered thoughts when all she could do was feel her skin tingling from where Takeru's hands had been.
"Word has reached my ears that you have been most diligent in your lessons, daughter," his humorless smile was cruel. "I came to verify this for myself."
"You needn't have troubled yourself Father," Mako's tone was hard in response.
The King chuckled in amusement. "No need to be embarrassed, daughter. I have caught some of your siblings in far more revealing and compromising positions than yours tonight." He had the audacity to wink at her. "It's a father's duty to make sure his offspring are following down the correct paths."
"The correct paths," Mako echoed, her blush of embarrassment blossoming into one of anger.
The King nodded conspiratorially. "I expect my sons to follow in my footsteps and my daughters to be obedient, and all of you have done splendid jobs in this. Especially now that you have finally seen the error of your ways and are taking your training seriously." He eyed her with what Mako was sure he thought was pride but looked more like he was sizing up her value to sell at a market.
"Now," he continued. "You are doing a remarkable job, my daughter, and as a reward I will personally gift you with a new slave, one that I will even allow you to select yourself, fresh from the stocks – untouched by any other man or woman before. How does that sound?"
"A new slave?" Mako parroted, trying and failing to get her mind to understand what her father was offering. "One I can select myself?"
"Yes, yes," the King continued impatiently with a flourish of his hand. He gave her a pitying look. "Though I would understand if you would rather not wade among the filth and rabble yourself in order to take a look. Perhaps you would like me to pick one out for you instead?"
Mako's head was still trying to process the new direction her father seemed all too eager to take. She heard the tinkle of metal as Takeru rose beside her, already having long cottoned on to the King's implications and tensing himself in anticipation of the fallout. "What about Ta – him?" Mako caught herself in time and waved weakly at the young man standing next to her.
The King's smile soured. "His reason for being here is done. My men will be taking him shortly to his brief stay in his new accommodations."
Mako felt a growing horror begin to race through her veins as her mind finally understood what her ears had been refusing to hear. She had performed exactly as her father had wanted her to, but it hadn't mattered. Takeru was going to be ripped from her side, thrown into the prisons below and executed without further delay. The timing of his death would only depend on the mood of the King, how particularly vindictive he was feeling by giving Takeru a slow, agonized torture in his anger or a swift beheading from his elation.
She studied her father with a fear that was slowly choking her lungs. The King was beaming away ecstatically, all but humming under his breath, and it was this absolute joy that had Mako's legs nearly giving out on her.
Takeru would be dead by dawn.
"Why?!" Mako's strangled voice filled the silence and the king frowned.