Author's Note: For the ones who never doubted for a moment that I would return from my hiatus to finish this story, this one is for you. Next chapter's the last one folks. Enjoy~! Constructive Criticism is always welcomed.
Ceteris Paribus
Chapter Eighteen: Living Nightmare
"Hurry Kotoha!" Mako dashed along the hallways, the sounds of screaming and weapons clashing creating a confusing cacophony of sound that bombarded them from every side.
A terrified woman's scream rent through the air and Kotoha froze, her head automatically searching for the sound. Feeling her sister's pause, Mako turned around and grasped her sister by the wrist, tugging her along at a clipped pace.
"We can't stop," Mako reminded her.
"But – Mako," Kotoha stuttered in protest.
Mako shook her head. "Remember what Ryunosuke told us? We have to keep our heads down." She glanced at the rough, homespun servants' wear the two had donned in an attempt at some anonymity. They would have stuck out too much in their jewel-colored clothing with its fine stitchery and golden adornments. Ryunosuke had obtained a few pairs of servants' clothing to help the girls blend in amongst the chaos.
Another scream came from behind a partially closed door as the sounds of porcelain breaking and furniture shattering joined it.
Kotoha bit her lip, her eyes laced with panic as they dodged around royals, servants and guards alike. Some of the rebels were easy to spot in their outlandish foreign clothing, but all too many were citizens of their own country looking to aid the insurgents or get their hands on the spoils of war. She was jerked back suddenly; her hand pulled from Mako's in an instant and let out a cry that had Mako spinning on the spot.
"Let her go!" Mako shouted frantically.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a couple of thieves," a guard sneered, his wrist clamped around Kotoha's tightly as he tossed the bag Kotoha had held to his fellow.
"Stealin' from the King in his own house," the other shook his head. "It's bad enough the rabble is taking advantage, but now even the servants? The King put a roof over your head and warm food in your bellies every night and this is how you thank him?" He shook the bag under Kotoha's nose in fury.
"Take it then," Mako spit. "Just let her go!"
The guard with his hands on Kotoha shook his head with a sudden leer. "Oh I don't know about that, seems like she should be punished for her ungratefulness." He bent down and inhaled Kotoha's scent from the veil covering her head. "Oooh, she's a sweet one alright."
"Probably one of the Lady's maids," the other guard grinned.
Kotoha squirmed, twisting her wrist every which way to try and get away.
Mako lunged forward, "Get your hands off her!"
The second guard caught Mako easily around the waist and pulled her in close until Mako was all but gagging at the foul stench coming from him. "Tut, tut sweetheart, no need to get jealous. There's two of us and two of you, plenty to share."
Mako wrenched herself back as far as she could in his grasp, fighting tooth and nail to break free.
"Oh, the kitten's a little tiger now is she?" The guard crooned. "I always like it when they fight," he grinned at his accomplice. "It stirs up the appetite, don't it?"
"Come on, sweetling," the man cajoled as he tried to get closer to Kotoha. "Give us a kiss and I promise we won't kill you once we're done. How's that sound?"
"Leave us alone," Mako snapped her glare promising painful retribution once she was free.
Kotoha was desperately putting up a fight against the man trying to press his lips upon hers. "Stop!" She screamed. "Leave me alone! I don't – stop – Chiaki!"
There was a sudden snarl as the man holding Kotoha was wrenched backwards, a howl of pain erupting from between his lips as a quick succession of blows found home on his nose, mouth and jaw. The guard stumbled back in agony, too blinded by tears of pain to see his attacker.
A foreign ordered shout filtered through the other yells and Mako's attacker too was thrown backwards.
Mako stumbled for a moment, unbalanced now that she wasn't in a constant tug-of-war with her assailant before immediately rushing to Kotoha's side and gathering her close, checking her over everywhere for any injuries.
"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Mako asked frantically as Kotoha shook her head, tears spilling out of her eyes.
"I'm okay, Mako," she assured her with a trembling voice, her body shaking in fear. "But who – Chiaki?!"
Mako turned sharply to see that their savoir had indeed been Chiaki, his fury palpable as he gave one last solid kick to the abdomen of the guard who had been forcing himself on Kotoha. The man was now huddled on the stone floor in an array of cuts and bruises, a black eye already starting to show above several broken teeth.
Chiaki's eyes burned with a black hatred, his fists shaking in anger as he forced himself to walk away from the beaten man. He snapped orders to the other men with him and they rushed to do his bidding.
Kotoha blinked, astonishment overriding her terror. "Chiaki?" She question, her confusion written all over her face. "What's going on? Who are these men? Why do you sound like Takeru? I thought – Aren't you from Aduro?"
The onslaught of questions halted Chiaki where he stood in his approach to check for himself that Kotoha was okay, tucked away as she was in Mako's arms.
"Kotoha, I – that is," he stumbled in his words, his hands brushing through his hair in a nervous gesture as he rapidly tried to figure out how he was going to explain this one. He hadn't been thinking, had only seen what the man was trying to do to her and had reacted instinctually. He stepped toward her tentatively, his arms held before him in a harmless gesture and felt his heart stop when she stepped back, hiding herself behind her sister's guarded stance.
He sighed before instructing some of his subordinates to lead the apprehended guards away. He turned back to the sisters with an apologetic wince. "I'm sorry," he started. "I didn't mean to lie to you –"
"Yes, you did," Mako interrupted and felt a twinge of remorse when his features fell.
"You're right," he admitted. "It was…necessary to lie to keep up the ruse."
Kotoha peered out from behind her sister's veil, her voice small. "You lied to me? This entire time it was a lie?"
"I had to Kotoha," he insisted, his voice pleading even as his eyes swept over the hallway continuously, wary of more trouble. "It was part of the mission I was tasked with."
"Where are you really from?"
Chiaki winced. "Ten no Michi." Kotoha's eyes widened in shock.
"I suppose it all makes sense," Mako sighed. "I should have seen that earlier; I couldn't see what was right under my nose – as with everything else lately apparently." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her gaze unreadable as she studied the young man before her. Ryunosuke had mentioned there were other spies in the palace, ones they would meet eventually. It had led her to wonder but it wasn't quite the same as being confronted with it so suddenly. She was actually a little amused that she could still be surprised by something after everything else that day.
Chiaki's eyes darted around the emptying hallway. "We need to get the two of you out of here," he muttered. "It's too open; others are sure to follow."
"Why should we trust you now?" Kotoha's voice was quiet but firm, the mistrust laced in her tone surprising both her sister and the young man before them.
"Kotoha?" Chiaki ventured shakily, obviously shocked at Kotoha's reaction.
Mako frowned slightly as her sister shied away from both his voice and his physical presence, all too aware of the feelings that had to be tumbling through her sister's heart at the moment. She turned to the young man before them, his features so forlorn as he withdrew his hand and studied her sister so intently, Kotoha all but refusing to meet his gaze.
Their heads all shot in the same direction as a weary shout came from down around a corner, the voice all too familiar.
"Chiaki!" Genta called, waving his arm to signal the attention of the young man as he and another rebel group quickly strode over. "What's taking so long? You were supposed to have joined us in the east hall already. We got worried and had split up to come looking for you!"
Chiaki jerked his head towards the two sisters. "We were on our way but saw that they were in trouble. Two guards were trying to force themselves upon them. I couldn't just walk by."
"That's very admirable," Genta scolded, "But you now seem to be having a nice chat instead. I don't think Kotoha would be too happy to see you looking at another young woman so intently."
Chiaki flushed scarlet, whether from embarrassment or shame, Mako wasn't sure. "Take a closer look," he bit out. "It is Kotoha."
Genta glanced back at the two young women beside him and did a double-take. "Well, well," he blinked rapidly. "Almost didn't recognize the two of you; clever idea." He eyed the pair of them in their servants' garb. "It'll definitely help you blend in. Ryunosuke's idea I presume?"
Mako nodded curtly. "Of course."
His grin grew. "Knew we kept him around for something." He eyed the idling group carefully. "What's with the hold up? The two of you should be scrambling for an exit as quickly as possible and you Chiaki have other places to be."
Mako felt a weary smile tinge her lips at Genta's comments, the dark-haired young man cementing what they had already confirmed.
"Like I said," Chiaki gritted out between clenched teeth. "They were being attacked. We stopped the men assaulting them."
Genta's grin widened. "And I'll bet they'll be regretting their actions tomorrow if they live long enough to see it, but that still doesn't explain why we're standing here having a chat instead of moving where we all need to be." He eyed the young man before him keenly. "Takeru needs us. We don't time for this, no offense, Princess." He slid his gaze over to Mako briefly.
"They found out about it – me – my role in this," Chiaki stumbled. "And now…" He trailed off as he glanced over to Kotoha, her head ducking behind Mako's, nearly getting caught staring back at him.
"Ah," Genta eyed the trio before sighing deeply. "Well, the way I see it," he started, turning fully to Mako for the first time, "we can apologize until we're blue in the face and dead from standing here, or you can see that it was necessary to do what we had to in order to carry out exactly what the two of you have always wanted – the overthrow of this bloody kingdom."
Kotoha inhaled sharply at the blunt delivery, shocked that someone would speak to them so brashly but Mako just heaved a tired sigh.
"I know," she murmured, brushing back a stray lock of hair that had escaped her veil in the earlier assault.
Genta nodded curtly. "I know it's in shorter supply than ever," he continued, "but we need the two of you to trust us." He caught sight of a few of his men and waved them over as they came bounding around the corner. "We'll do what we can to keep the two of you safe, but we have other pressing matters to attend to like –" He cut himself off, his face growing pale as the words his subordinates began shouting reached his ears the moment they were within hearing range.
Mako felt a thrill of alarm race through her as he shouted back in clipped, near frantic tones.
He turned back to her, his eyes wide and his body strung tight with fear. "Princess! Takeru is missing!"
Mako felt as if the breath had been from stolen from her lungs, her imagination running wild with the worst scenarios. "What?!"
"Chiaki and I were supposed to join up and go free Takeru from his cell, but when Chiaki failed to show I sent on a few men to steal in and do it for us as I went looking for Chiaki and his group, but they say he wasn't there."
Mako felt relief slam into her like a solid wall of sand. "He's gone," she started, her voice subdued and her eyes falling sadly, remembering the bittersweet departure. She looked up to see the identical stark white faces before her and realized her mistake. "He's alive," she hurriedly explained. "Or he was the last time I saw him – I let him go."
Chiaki's jaw all but dropped open. "You did? How?"
Mako crossed her arms across her chest with an enigmatic smile. "A few sashays of the hips did wonders towards enticing a few palace guards," she caught Kotoha's quiet amused smile and couldn't stop a small one of her own. "It's a good distraction to cover the placement of incense that causes its victims to become rather lethargic when caught unawares, especially when they are unused to the scent. Fortunately Ryunosuke has been acquainting both Kotoha and me with various scents and poisons since we were little to build up our immunities against them. It's come in handy more times than I care to admit." She quirked an eyebrow at their stares. "Is it really so hard to believe?"
"Not the plan," Chiaki began as he exchanged glances with Genta. "It's just…"
"We thought we'd completely lost your trust Princess," Genta finished. "That you'd no longer help us."
Mako's voice was quiet when she responded. "I still want to help my people. That has never changed. What I feel otherwise doesn't matter."
Genta studied the young woman in front of him before he replied with a quiet, honest voice. "Thank you, Princess."
Mako looked up, blinking in surprise. "For what?"
"Even though we've lost your trust, you still helped us. You saved Takeru more times than I can count, and even now, despite everything you've learned, you made sure he got away – returned to his people. I know how much that cost you." His sincerity made Mako flush as she heard what else he was implying in his words.
"We all have to make sacrifices," she murmured. "It's the bitter weight of responsibility."
He nodded solemnly. "Unfortunate but true." His eye caught Chiaki's and they nodded. "But hopefully we can ensure that you have to make one less sacrifice today."
Mako looked up at the pair questioningly as Genta waved a couple of his subordinates over and spoke to them in his foreign, rapid-fire tongue.
"Our men will do their best to get you out with the rest of the servants they come across," Genta explained. "I can't guarantee they'll succeed but they'll try their damnedest."
Mako smiled tightly in thanks. "I appreciate the help," she murmured quietly. "If it's possible –"
"We'll send more your way as we come across them," Genta grinned back, correctly guessing her train of thought. "The less innocent lives we lose in this nuthouse, the better, wouldn't you say?"
Mako's smile widened slightly. "That's one way of putting it."
He laughed before waving them forward as his men began to stalk further down the hall. "May we have the pleasure of meeting you again, Princess."
"Take care of yourselves," Mako called, her smile subdued as she watched them retreat back the way they had come.
Genta winked openly. "I have no intention of meeting my end here!"
She turned to Chiaki. "Thank you, for helping us."
He nodded back stiffly, glancing at Kotoha who looked away shyly before turning on his heel abruptly and making to catch up with his ally and friend.
"Chiaki?"
Kotoha's hesitant voice had the immediate effect of freezing him where he stood.
"Be – be careful, okay?" She watched his stiff posture relax minutely in tentative relief before, with a fleeting glance back, he nodded and strode away.
Kotoha grasped Mako's hand tightly in hers as her sister led her away, biting her lip to hold back not only her tears but the confusing desire to run after him as well.
On quiet nimble feet they followed Chiaki and Genta's men further into the palace, racing toward their intended exit as the sounds of chaos raged on around them, growing ever louder with each passing minute.
"Well, wasn't that fun?" Ryunosuke muttered sarcastically as he inspected the new holes and rips in his clothing, trying in vain to smack some of the accumulated dirt off the parts that somehow remained intact.
Takeru felt his lips lift in the tiniest hint of a grin, noting that his own appearance couldn't be much better. The two had been tossed and torn about in the melee out in the streets surrounding the palace as the war raged.
"I expected worse," Takeru shrugged.
"I'm glad one of us did," Ryunosuke scowled.
Takeru sighed at the comments thrown from the prickly young caretaker. He knew Ryunosuke was all but worried sick about Mako and Kotoha, and that after the sequence of events that day he had every reason to be abrasive toward Takeru, but it had started to grate a little, if only because it seemed like it was one step forward and two steps back with the man.
"Come on," he said instead, letting the matter go. "We'd better announce ourselves."
Ryunosuke nodded sharply, falling in step behind Takeru as he led the way.
As soon as they were within hailing distance of the makeshift camp just outside the city's walls Takeru hailed a guard.
The guard approached carefully, wary of the two disheveled and dirty strangers, but a few clipped commands from Takeru had the guard all but falling over his feet in his haste to both give Takeru the appropriate greeting and heed his request to be led toward Ten no Michi's command tent.
Takeru and Ryunosuke followed behind the man at a quick pace, simply nodding in greeting to others who recognized them either by face or deed, but refusing to stop for even a moment.
At last, at the top of a sizeable dusty hill, Takeru spotted a petite, short figure and felt his first real smile of the day break out on his face. As their guard called out Takeru and Ryunosuke's presence, the figure who had been keenly observing the ensuing battle from her vantage point turned around sharply.
The shocked face was all the encouragement Takeru needed before quickening his stride and making a beeline for her.
"Takeru!?" Was all she could manage to sputter out, her eyes wide but her smile growing larger with every passing second as he came closer and she could make out his features.
Takeru already had his arms out to embrace her tightly. She immediately hugged him fiercely back, her limbs shaking just the tiniest bit as her emotions overcame her. "I'm back, Kaoru," he smiled.
She let out a choked bout of laughter before pulling back and studying him intensely, her brows furrowed as she caught every nick, scratch, bruise, scar, rip and tear and scowled. "I see they treated you with their infamous hospitality."
He shrugged. "It could have been a lot worse. You know that."
Kaoru's dark eyes softened as she realized he was alone save for a lone strange man. "Where's – ?"
"Still inside," Takeru cut in quietly, his heart clenching painfully as his mind shied away from the thoughts of what was currently taking place inside the walls of the palace. It couldn't be much better than his personal encounters with the outside. He gestured to the man standing next to him to divert his mind from venturing too far down that road. "This is Ikenmai Ryunosuke," he introduced as the young man bowed in respect, his features carefully blank and guarded. "Ryunosuke, this is Shiba Kaoru, princess and –"
Kaoru waved away the rest of Takeru's explanation. "We'll deal with formal titles and that nonsense after this is over."
Takeru bit back a smile at the return of her abrupt and cool mannerisms. He had only managed to break through her usual façade out of sheer shock but he had known it wouldn't last.
"I've heard a lot about you," Kaoru continued. "Remind me to thank you properly for your role in all of this when it is over. For now I wish to simply express my gratitude in keeping Takeru alive and largely out of trouble for the duration of his…tenure within your kingdom."
Ryunosuke bowed deeply before her. "Thank you Kaoru-hime," he spoke with stiff formality. "But it was not by my hand alone."
Kaoru nodded in acknowledgement, a small smile alighting upon her face. "I have heard equally as much about your own princess. I admit I am eager to meet her."
"I can only hope that it is soon, Kaoru-hime," Ryunosuke replied tightly, pushing back the feelings of anxiety he was all but positive he wasn't able to completely keep off his face.
"I as well," Kaoru's voice softened before she signaled to a nearby guard. "Please, allow us to give you fresh clothing and a moment of rest. I know it has not been easy." Her words sounded like a suggestion but her tone held enough of a command to let him know it wasn't a request.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Ryunosuke rose from his bow and following his guide away from the pair.
Kaoru nodded in response, turning to Takeru with a scowl the instant the man was gone, her fist rushing out to punch Takeru lightly on the arm. "Don't ever do that to me again!"
Takeru rubbed at the area more out of reflex than any actual pain. "I didn't try to caught, you know."
Kaoru's eyes narrowed but her flash of anger eased minutely. "You had me worried sick."
"I'm sorry," Takeru apologized, knowing it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but as neither could go back and change what had happened he tried to appease in her if only a little bit.
Kaoru's hands fluttered over his body, the anxiety in her eyes all too real. "I still can't believe you're standing in front of me."
Takeru caught his hands in hers, causing the young monarch to meet his soft, assuring gaze. "I was in good hands."
She smiled quietly in return. "Yes, this First Princess you've written to me about. I –" She paused, frowning at something behind him that caught her eye. She studied it with a look of confusion that quickly turned to horror as realization dawned on her. Takeru turned, puzzled by her reaction, until the sight that met his eyes stopped his heart short.
The palace was on fire.
Kotoha fanned herself with her hand. "It's getting warm in here," she muttered, trying to keep her voice low so as not to invoke anymore glares from the men instructed to watch over their group.
Mako's brows furrowed. "And getting warmer by the minute." She shifted her stance casually to try and peek down the hallway but to no avail. They were too tucked into a corner to view down either hallway. One of the nearby women hastily covered a cough as one of the guards gave a hiss of disapproval. When the woman's coughing only increased another guard roughly thrust a small leather bag at her and mimed that she should drink it, hoping the liquid inside would quiet her noise.
Kotoha rubbed her eyes.
"Tired?" Mako whispered in concern. How much longer were they expected to wait here? Was Chiaki or Genta coming back? She pushed down the little voice in the back of her mind that told her they might never be coming back, that they had been cut down far beyond their help. Mako bit her lip to keep her frustrations bottled inside. She refused to think of where Takeru might be or what he was doing, her stomach was tied into knots as it was – she couldn't afford a nervous breakdown in the middle of a war.
Kotoha shook her head. "My eyes feel all scratchy, like I have sand in my eyes."
This time Mako frowned. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, trying to sort out the different scents that floated past – incense, perfumes, sweat, smoke – smoke! Mako's eyes burst open with a gasp. "Fire."
Kotoha looked at her sister in confusion. "What?"
"Fire," Mako whirled on the spot, her eyes darting in every direction, trying to determine the source. "I think the palace is on fire."
The serving ladies around the pair immediately began to break out into tattered whispers and gasps of alarm, panic beginning to take hold.
Takeru felt rooted to the ground, unaware of anything else around him except the vision of fire as it licked at the roof and from the windows with maddening haste.
"Mako," her name fell from his lips in fear and desperation, instinct shoving at his brain to start moving, to start doing something to save her, even as it warred with long-honed instinct to follow orders, to stay right where he was by Kaoru's side to finish what had been started. The war between his two dominant feelings caused him to trip as he both moved to start forward and yet stay in place.
Kaoru's eyes were on him in an instant, her hand restraining him firmly but gently. "Don't Takeru," she insisted with a quiet urgency, determined to keep her voice down and away from others' ears. "There's nothing you can do for her. It's too late," her gaze flicked back to the palace, its rooftop all but engulfed in flames. "Even if you did manage to get back inside, you wouldn't find her through all the smoke, fire and chaos rampaging inside."
She felt Takeru's muscles tighten underneath her grip as if preparing to jerk from her grasp though he made no other move. "Please Takeru," she urged. "You are needed more here." She grimaced at her next words. "If she is anything like you told me she was then she would want you to finish your mission – she would want you to save her country and its peoples' lives, even at the cost of her own."
Takeru went completely still under her hands and turned to meet her eyes. Kaoru internally winced at the look on his face – the pain of loss and regret, the shadows that had already begun to fill his gaze, eternally haunted by the sight of a blaze that swallowed his memories of cunning eyes and a soft smile.
Kaoru grasped both of his shoulders and turned him to face her completely, away from the horrifying sight. "I'm so sorry Takeru," her eyes held all the sympathy in the world as she let down her fierce persona, completely unguarded even amidst the battles surrounding them. "I ordered our citizens to leave those inside unharmed. I wanted the people they found inside brought before me – to hold those accountable so that this country could know peace but spare the innocent of unjust vengeance where they had done no wrong."
She sighed heavily, the sound coming deep from within her soul. She met Takeru's closed-off gaze with her own world-weary ones. "But I can't control Pluvia nor Aduro's people. They were oppressed and torn apart for too long...I underestimated their anger, their thirst for revenge."
"Chiaki and Genta were still inside too," Takeru spoke for the first time since his own personal nightmare had begun. Kaoru paled, her eyes widening at the implications…the loss.
"Takeru," she started, her voice wavering slightly. "I –"
"Take-chan!"
Takeru and Kaoru's heads instantly whipped to the side, their eyes automatically scanning every face, every shadow, trying to locate the voice, hoping almost desperately that their ears weren't lying to them.
"Take-chan!" The voice sounded again and Kaoru's swift gaze pinpointed the direction.
"There!" She pointed and Takeru turned to watch with an intense relief that threatened to knock his legs out from underneath him as a small, ash-covered group struggled its way towards them.
Kaoru's face had automatically hardened at the presence of others, but her eyes were soft as she signaled to her guards to allow the bedraggled group to approach her. She counted only six – all males and felt a part of her heart sadden at the loss even as her spirits rose at the sight of the sooty faces that greeted her.
"We were just beginning to wonder if you had made it out of the palace alive," she commented off-handedly.
Mischievous eyes and a quick grin greeted her from his bent double position as they all worked to catch their breaths. "It'll take more than a little fire to get rid of us."
Kaoru allowed the smallest of smiles to grace her face even as Takeru immediately stepped forward to embrace his friends.
"What happened?" Takeru's voice was quiet, reserved but tinged with slight desperation to receive any news that he could.
"We were out in the courtyard when we realized the place was on fire," Genta shook his head. "The entire palace went up like a tinderbox – the climate here is too hot and dry. We barely managed to find our way out one of the back gates before the flames engulfed it whole."
"Who started this inferno?" Kaoru's demand was sharp.
"Nobody from our side, Hime-sama," Chiaki informed her swiftly. "They knew their orders and were following them to the letter." He exchanged quick glances with Genta before continuing. "Our best guess is that it was one of this country's own citizens, possibly a group of them for the flames in the palace to spread as quickly as they did."
Genta nodded. "The fire had to have been set in multiple locations – it was everywhere before anyone knew it had even started."
"Were there any others inside?" Kaoru continued.
"We were the last ones out in our area," Genta told her quietly, his voice subdued. "We checked as far as we could but the heat and smoke were too intense to get very far."
"What about…," she glanced at Takeru and Genta quickly caught her meaning.
He shook his head. "We don't know." He turned to his childhood friend. "We went searching for them when the battled started, looking for you. We found them being assaulted by some of the palace guards, but they were quickly disposed of." He sighed deeply. "We left the two with a group of captive servant girls, guarded by our own men." He shook his head. "That was the last time we saw them."
"You promised they'd be safe."
All four turned to meet Ryunosuke's blazing eyes, every inch of his frame shaking with rage and grief. He wrenched his arm away as Genta made a move toward him, rounding on Takeru. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go."
"Ryunosuke," Kaoru cautioned, recognizing the warning signs of someone too close to the edge.
"How could you let this happen?" He yelled, heedless of his carrying voice. "How could you escape even as they remained behind? They trusted you!" His body jerked forward and he grasped fistfuls of Takeru's tunic, pulling him closer to get in his face, disregarding the look of loss already present in the once-captive prince's face. "She trusted you!" Hands reached out to restrain him but not before he got a good solid punch into Takeru's façade, knocking him down to the ground.
"Enough!" Kaoru's commanding voice all but echoed above the tumult, freezing everyone in their struggle. "This is a war Ryunosuke!" She reminded him sharply. "We all knew the risks, your princess included. Was she not ready to sacrifice her life for her country? To give her citizens a chance at a better life?" Her short stature seemed to tower over the tall man as her words began to sink in. "I am truly sorry for the course of events that have taken place tonight but none of my men were responsible! And that includes Takeru!
"Your princess was ready and willing to bet everything, including her life, on this! If she truly holds your loyalty as you claim then do honor to her by allying with us. Fight with us; use that bond to fuel you on the battlefield even when you feel you have nothing else left to give. Starting a fight right now in your grief and anger will only serve to create more conflict where it is not needed. You are only delaying and distracting us from where our help is most wanted." She stood her ground, hands on her hips.
Kaoru watched, torn between anger at herself for going too far and the other part of her that was determined to keep everything and everyone in as much of a working order as possible. She kept her gaze firm even as she saw her words finally break through to the man before her, his knees giving out beneath him and falling to the solid ground, his eyes welling up in grief. She waved her men back to give Ryunosuke some space, the fight having left him for the moment.
She gritted her teeth against the agonized cry of "HIME!" that sent shock waves of pain even through her own heart.
"Damn it!"
Her eyes flitted to the side to see Chiaki punch the ground, trying and failing to keep a grip on the rage and grief from his own loss, hope fading fast under the onslaught of stark reality.
Genta half-dragged Takeru back to his feet, any traces of mirth erased from his features. "Kaoru-hime-sama is right. They knew what they were doing; they knew what they were prepared to do." His voice lowered as it increased in intensity, forcing Takeru to look at him. "She's smart Take-chan. As good as if not more cunning than most of our own generals – than both you and me. She didn't have a death wish." He turned to ensure that Chiaki heard his next words too. "She'll do anything she can to save her sister. That means that there's a very good chance that they'll both make it out of there alive. You have to believe that."
He waited until Takeru nodded, the tiniest flame of hope sparking in his eyes, even if it was only a fool's hope.
"I need you to keep it together Takeru," Kaoru demanded, her order softened by the sympathy in her eyes. "All of you. We can't fail now. We've come too far to falter here."
Takeru took a deep steadying breath, strengthening his resolve and hardening his heart – determined to focus on grief only when the fighting finished and every rock and stone, every grain of sand, had been overturned in searching for the missing sisters once this mess was over. "Okay."
Kaoru gave Takeru a weak smile even as she waved them all inside her tent to return to their maps and strategies, quietly excusing Genta from the meeting for a few minutes as he began to try and help Ryunosuke get back on his feet.
"Damn it," Mako cursed, startling the ladies nearby. "We need to move and we need to move now."
"But you've already tried," Kotoha cut in, trying to keep the panic from showing on her face even as the temperature inside had increased to uncomfortable levels and ominous sounds reached them from above. "They don't speak our language Mako! And they don't understand your hand movements."
Mako's eyes lit up. "Aduro!"
Kotoha blinked rapidly. "What?"
Mako turned to her sister excitedly. "Our country's name means something like 'flame' or 'fire' in their language!"
"How will that help? If you just start yelling our country's name they might think you're signaling for palace guards to come rescue you." She dropped her voice to a tight whisper even though she was completely certain by now that the soldiers watching over them could not understand a word of her own language. "Genta and Chiaki told us to keep our heads down; we don't want to attract any trouble."
"I'm not worried about human trouble," Mako countered. "That fire will be upon us soon if we don't run now." She bit her lip. "And we can only pray that the exits haven't all been sealed off by it yet."
Kotoha's face paled at the thought. "Did Takeru ever tell you how to say 'Aduro' in his language?"
Mako's eyes glinted in triumph even as she turned to the guards and caught their attention once more. "Honō!" She yelled, her eyes pleading as she pointed down the hallway that had begun to brighten without lanterns and then the ceiling with its creaking and moaning. She fanned herself to indicate how hot it was again while repeating the same word over and over.
The men left in charge started at first upon recognizing the word even as it fell from the young woman's lips with a foreign lilt. They watched her, fixated for a moment as she attempted to mime with them again and realization finally dawned. Immediately the soldiers burst into action, shifting formations as they corralled all the women together and began herding them off down the hall in the opposite direction of the brightening light.
"Thank you Princess," came whispered voices of relief from around them as the female servants followed their captors' movements. Mako shook her head tightly, dissuading them from using her title. They nodded quickly in understanding, always keeping pace with the men around them.
"Do you think we'll make it?" Kotoha breathed over the sound of hurried feet.
Mako's lips tightened into a thin line. "We can only hope."
As they moved swiftly through the halls more servants were added to the group as they were roused from their hiding places by the noise and rabble. News began to filter in as the new additions told tales of the royals being killed where they stood by their own countrymen. Mako winced, feeling sorrow at the loss of life but not grief – there was no love lost between her and her family. She didn't wish death upon them save perhaps one, but she was also all too aware of her citizens' hatred for her family. Trying to stop the revenge-seeking people caught in this battle was like trying to stop a sandstorm in its path.
With the new servants came new soldiers – rebel stragglers who had been lost in the unfamiliar palace, each with their own stories to tell, whether of the murders or the spreading fire. Between them and the servants they managed to locate a tucked away exit out a servant's door, one of the last ones and furthest from the blaze.
The ungainly group made their exit even as ash rained down on them from above and soot and smoke began to clog their lungs and stick in their eyes. By the time they reached a distance of relative safety, the men and women were hardly distinguishable from each other in their nearly identical gray coloring, and most outfits were singed from the hot ashes. As they stood in the darkness, their faces awash in the glow of reds and oranges from the flames of the blazing palace they paused to cough the smoke from their lungs and take stock of their new surroundings and situations.
Mako and Kotoha held onto each other tightly as they watched their home begin to collapse from the roof downward, the burnt structure no longer able to support the weight above.
How many times had Mako wished that a sandstorm would come and bury the place forever? Or that the earth would open up beneath the palace and swallow it whole? Now, she could only watch in a mixture of shock and horror as the home of her nightmares ceased to exist, the roar of flames almost but not quite able to drown out the sounds of screams and cries around her. She knew with a sickening twist in her belly that more than one voice was sounding from within the raging inferno rather than the grounds surrounding it.
Kotoha turned her eyes away from the sight, burying her head in her sister's shoulder, tears from soot and anguish tracing down her face.
But Mako couldn't turn her head away. She may not have started the fires, but she had had an equal hand in bringing about the hands that had. This too was her responsibility – to face the truth and horror of war, even if its outcome would help to ensure peace and stability for generations to come. Or so she could only hope as the hungry roar of the fire eventually consumed the last human cries from inside.
The group was silent with stricken grief and horror as Mako, Kotoha and the others followed their guards at an unhurried pace outside the city's walls. The raging inferno that had once been the palace had led everyone to run as far from the fighting as possible to escape the scorching heat and stinging ashes as the entire structure went up in smoke and flames.
Those who had escaped couldn't find the heart to cheer with the others who had taken part in the battle outside the palace's walls. Rebels and innocents alike had all lost someone in the depths of the burning hell, had barely escaped the jaws of it themselves as evidenced by their singed hair and clothing, an even coating of gray ash coating every available orifice of remaining skin and garb.
With the loss of the palace, the war was swiftly heading toward its now inevitable conclusion and the men watching over their little group were eager to place the women inside the makeshift prisoner's camp to be dealt with later as they sought out new orders or even just a brief respite.
Kotoha glanced about nervously as they were led into a hastily built and crowded fenced-in area. "What's going to happen to us now, Mako?"
Mako gazed about with tired eyes as the first rays of the sun spread its golden fingertips across the sand dunes, the long night finally at its end. The sky slowly turned a deep, angry red and she couldn't help but wonder if it was reflecting the crimson stains that now littered the streets of the kingdom, soaked in the life's blood of fighter and innocent alike.
"I'm not sure," Mako sighed quietly. She glanced at the men and women around her, all their faces identical in their wondering anxiety, compounded by the worried glances they were throwing at their foreign guards who kept a sharp eye on the group. "They'll have to let most of us go eventually."
"They won't try to kill us?"
Mako hushed her sister, not wanting to provoke any further panic from the already tight nerves of those around them. "No," she soothed, her hands traveling automatically to pull her sister in for a gentle embrace to calm her fears. "There would be no point in doing so; it would only provoke justified anger in the citizens of both Aduro and Pluvia alike." She was quiet for a long moment as her eyes regarded the varied array of solemn faces around them. "There has been enough blood spilt over this fight."
"But what will we do Mako?" Kotoha's voice was quiet and strained. "Once they let us go, where will we go?"
"We'll need to keep ourselves hidden for a little while as we travel somewhere new," Mako whispered softly. "We'll make a brand new start for ourselves, a new life."
"What about Ryunosuke?"
Mako hugged her sister tightly as her heart clenched. "We'll have to leave him behind for now, he won't be able to follow us just yet. He'll be watched too closely by the allies. But don't worry," she assured her, "he'll find us eventually when everything has calmed down." A small smile tugged at her face. "He always does."
"Where will we go?" Kotoha asked after a quiet minute or two.
"Somewhere safe," Mako replied with a wistful sigh. "Somewhere where we won't be the 'Princesses of Aduro'." She spotted a small, uncrowded section of fence line toward the back and nudged her sister toward it. They sunk down into the dusty ground beside it, grateful to be off their weary feet.
Kotoha rested her head on Mako's shoulder, leading Mako to rest her head on top of her sister's and let their minds wander as their conversation drifted to a quiet, each tangled up in memories of the not-so-distant past.
Both were transfixed by their fresh rounds of goodbyes to a certain group of people who had managed to wriggle their way into their lives, for better or worse. And it was those last goodbyes that consumed their thoughts now, wondering if, had they known it was going to be their final separations, they would have changed what was said. Or rather what had not been said.
They knew it was too late now to be regretting their words and actions but it didn't stop the taunting 'what ifs' from surfacing, didn't cease the play of memories before their eyes of shared, special moments nor the daydreams of what might have been had circumstances been different.
Mako's head perked up at the sound of flurried voices. She nudged Kotoha who sat-up straighter, her eyes blinking away sleep.
"What's going on?" She yawned, still too exhausted from the night's events.
Mako shook her head. "I don't know yet." She gently extracted herself from her sister and stood up, dusting her skirts off more out of habit than from the thought that it might actually do them any good. She traveled closer to the group of excited chatter and slid in unnoticed.
"Can you believe it?"
"I didn't think it was possible!"
"Who did it? Was it Caelestis Via's ruler?"
"No, I heard it was Pluvia's!"
"Pluvia? I heard it was one of the palace guards, one of them spies! You know the ones, they looked kinda foreign but no one questioned it?"
"That's absurd! How could spies infiltrate the royal guard? The King had 'em all on a tight leash!"
"That didn't stop that foreign prince from escaping, did it? That's his army out there, you know."
"Do you think it was that prince who did it then?"
"After what he went through, the shame of being a slave to one of the princesses and all? I would cut off the king's head to reclaim my honor too."
"It doesn't matter who did it, king's dead all the same."
Mako felt her breath still in her lungs, a creeping numbness stealing through her limbs. The King is dead? She listened to the voices around her in detachment. She could hear the excited almost exuberant tones but couldn't muster up any feelings of her own.
She just felt…empty.
She had been preparing for this moment for years. In many ways she had been preparing to escape her father's clutches since the day she awoke to find her mother gone, but now that it was here she was no longer sure what to do.
She returned to Kotoha's side and relayed the news, watching as her sister's eyes went wide.
"So it's finally over," she let out a deep breath and glanced their fellow prisoners of war. "What now?"
Mako shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think there's anything we can do but wait."
Kotoha was quiet for so long that Mako thought she had fallen asleep again before her quiet voice broke their contemplative silence. "Do you think Chiaki made it?"
Mako glanced over at her sister to see Kotoha biting her lip, her features all but palpable with worry and she sighed, pulling her close. "I hope so." Her mind automatically flitted to another face in her memories, and she prayed fervently that through some miracle graced by the heavens they had survived.
Even if we never meet again…