The Princess and The Paige
By: The Dreaming Fangirl
Chapter Eighteen: Into the Sanctum
Time passed, and as the stars continued to sway in their dance, it took a few mere moments before the princess and the paige returned to the palace's inner sanctum. The horses trotted past the gates, and as the princess began to see the light of the torches, the princess let out a sigh of relief. She looked towards the squire.
The squire's eyes squinted as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The princess leaned forward before she asked, "How are you doing, Miyuki?"
The squire took in a small breath before he said, "I'm hanging in there. What about you?"
"I'm doing okay. Is the wound still giving you trouble?"
"No, not as much as it could be. Mostly, I'm just sore."
"That's good." She turned her head towards the knight as she asked, "Ser Sagara, how long do you think it will be before we are able to see the physician here?"
"It should take no more than five minutes, your grace."
"That's good to hear." The princess leaned back into the saddle once more, allowing for a long breath of air to escape her lungs once more. She closed her eyes for a moment before she heard Yukimasa begin to speak once more.
"Hibiki, please inform her highness of our arrival. Sato, take Miyuki to see old man Souta. He'll have him fixed up in no time."
"Right away sir." And with those words uttered, the two men went to attend to their assigned tasks.
The princess and the knight continued to move forward, and a moment had passed before the princess asked, "So, where are we going?"
"We are going to go see Lord Takaeyomi. From what I have been told, your grandfather has done nothing but worry since he caught wind of your disappearance. I figured the least we could do was to let him know that you're all right. Don't you agree?"
"Oh." she took in a breath of air before she said, "Absolutely."
"Then, let's be on our way."
Chapter Nineteen: A Warm Embrace
The doors to the palace shuttered open, and it did not take long before the princess to rest eyes upon her grandfather. His eyes were quick to find her; however, upon closer examination, she could see the beginnings of bags form under his eyes. At his side stood Sawa, her hair disheveled and her eyes betraying just a bit of puffiness. Sawa glanced up at her, and as soon as the two made eye-contact, the nurse's face lit up into one big smile.
"Izumiko?"
"Princess?"
The princess waved as she answered them, "Hello."
"Izumiko!"
Both the nurse and the former emperor were quick to rush to the princess's side. Of the two of them, it was Sawa that was the fastest, and as the nurse got to the princess, she pulled her into a quick hug.
The princess released a sigh as she said, "I'm sorry for worrying you."
"I'm so glad you're safe, dear." She stepped back for a moment before she asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, I'm fine."
The nurse pulled her back into her arms again as she said, "That's good. I wouldn't know what I would do if something happened to you." She released the princess before she said, "You must've been so scared."
"I was, but I had Miyuki there with me, so it wasn't so bad."
"That's good."
The former emperor let out a small cough as he said, "Excuse me." He lifted his arms up to the princess before he asked, "Don't I get one too?"
"Of course, grandfather." And with those words, the princess was quick to give him a hug too.
The embrace was short, and as the former emperor released the princess, he said, "I'm so glad you're safe. When we found out that your bodyguard was killed, and your mother had been ambushed, - "
"Mother was ambushed?!"
"Yes. Thankfully, the threat was dealt with quickly; however, it has become painfully obvious that we have become too lax in our security detail. To think that a mole could have managed to get so deep into our midst," he lifted a hand to his arm as he continued talking, "Clearly, the whole system needs to be scrubbed down."
"Where is Mother now?"
"She's currently in the council room, but she'll be out soon. You'll see."
The princess turned around to face Ser Sagara. He had placed himself so that his body was close to the door; his arms were folded and, as the princess looked at him, she saw his smile soften into something more genuine. He stepped forward and just as he was about to speak, he was cut off by the sound of rushing footsteps and a scream.
"Izumiko?! Izumiko!"
The princess's eyes caught a glimpse of a mass of red silk, and as the body rushed towards her, the princess's feet staggered as she tried to not to fall from the tackling bear-hug. She looked up at the body, and she sighed as she leaned into her mother's embrace. The empress kissed the top of the princess's head, and as they stood there, the princess closed her eyes before being released again.
The princess opened her eyes. Her mother moved her hands towards the princess's shoulders, and she smiled as she said, "I'm so glad you're safe. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No. I'm fine."
"That's good." She turned her head towards the knight as she said, "Yukimasa?"
"Yes, my lady?"
"Thank you for bringing my daughter home."
"It was no trouble, your highness."
The empress let out an exhale as she continued, "Even so, thank you." She turned her head back towards the princess once again. She paused for a moment, taking in a breath of air before she yelled, "Where in the hell were you?!"
The princess turned her head from side to side as she said, "What?"
"I was at the rendezvous point for over thirty minutes and you never showed. Where were you?"
"Excuse me?!"
"Where were you?"
"I was waiting for you at the coordinates you put in your letter." The princess fished her pockets for the document, "See. Right here, 3 Sakura Lane."
"Let me see that." The empress took the document, and she was quick to beckon one of the servants into the room.
A young woman dressed in a dark green kimono approached the empress. The servant bowed deeply before speaking, "Is there something I can help you with, your grace?"
"Yes, there is." the empress bade the girl to rise as she said, "Aoi, light. Now."
"Of course, your grace." The servant girl bowed once again, and just as quickly as she had taken her leave, she returned with a lantern in hand. She bowed again as she said, "Would your grace prefer that I carry this, or would you care to handle this yourself?"
"I think I handle the lantern. Thank you, Aoi." The empress stretched out her hand.
The servant passed the lantern to the empress, securing the handle around the palm of the woman's hand as she said, "It was no trouble, your grace. Will your highness be needing anything else?"
"'I'm afraid not. Thank you for the offer though. Dismissed."
The servant bowed again as she said, "I shall take my leave then." And with those words, she left as quickly as she had arrived.
The empress became quiet, and after a moment of silence, the empress's eyes were wide as she said, "This is impossible."
"What's wrong, Mother?"
"I know for a fact that I wrote 32 Magnolia Street."
This time, it was the former emperor who spoke, "Magnolia Street?! But that is on the other side of the capital!"
"I know! Lord Takaeyomi, Izumiko, come with me. I'm afraid the walls have ears all over here."
The former emperor nodded his head as he said, "Very well. Izumiko, come with us."
"Of course."
The empress's form moved deeper into the palace, and within a manner of moments, she was quickly joined by the nurse and the former emperor. The princess was slower, and as she moved to close the door behind her, she paused.
She took a brief look behind her and she said, "Hmm."
Ser Sagara was gone.
Chapter Twenty: The Physician's Den
"What the hell were you thinking?!"
The squire's eyes squinted as he raised his head from the physician's chair, "Nice to see you too, Yukimasa. How have you been?"
"Don't you give me that attitude, you arrogant little brat! What the hell were you thinking? Letting the princess walk into the capital unescorted!"
"She wasn't unescorted; I was walking right along with her."
"We both know that you are not qualified to serve as any sort of protection. You can barely even protect yourself!"
"Wasn't her bodyguard supposed to be following us? Where the hell was he? I had to fight that bearded bastard all by myself."
"We found her body along the Natsu River. We were lucky; If we had gotten there any later, the rats would've had themselves quite the snack."
"How did she die?"
"She had two arrows, one in her right shoulder and the other in her heel. That said, I believe the gash in her neck was ultimately what killed her. Poor kid, she was only fourteen."
Yukimasa had managed to sit himself down, his hand covering the scrunch of his eyebrows. The squire could only stare at his father as he thought, since when could he ever show this level of emotion before?
The squire took in a breath; however, just as he was about to speak, a voice interrupted him.
"Wow. Rare to see the great Yukimasa get so upset."
The squire turned his body to the sound, and the voice revealed a person he would've called more of a giant than a man. He was as tall as a mountain bear, and as the man entered the physician's room, he tapped one of his hands onto the ceiling.
Yukimasa stood up from his chair and bowed. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Satou."
The man returned the bow before saying, "It's no trouble, Sir Sagara. Now then," his eyes turned to the squire, "Let's look at that wound."
The squire removed the top half of his kimono, exposing the bandaged wound to the physician.
"Hmm. You did well in making sure that the wound was covered. That said, I need to be able to see it to know its full extent." Without even batting an eye, he extended his hand as he said, "Boy, scissors, now."
Yukimasa raised his eyebrows at the address. He pointed at himself. The squire held back a snort.
The physician paused for a moment at the silence, and as he turned his head to face the room, his eyes widened as he realized his mistake. He said, "Oh. I'm sorry. I guess I've gotten too used to having my assistant around. Ser Sagara, would you please pass me the scissors? They're located in the top drawer to your left."
The man pointed towards an oak cabinet. The lacquer shone marvelously; however, as the squire looked closer, he noticed that the cabinet was lined with tiny scars. Lining the top of the cabinet, there consisted a multitude of toys and various knick-knacks, each with their own unique colors and shapes.
The squire's eyes continued to move along the room, and sitting right next to the entrance, he smiled as he saw a jar labelled 'Candy' standing atop of a night-stand. The physician's room was clean, and Miyuki marveled at the various jars that hung from the physician's walls. That said, the squire's attention was best captured by the objects near the window. In one corner of the window, there was a bowl lined with various sea-shells and in the other, there stood a bonsai oak tree.
"Ah, finally." The physician took the scissors from Yukimasa as he said, "Thanks for the help."
The knight responded, "It was no trouble."
"Now then, let's see what we're looking at here." The physician lifted the squire's bandages and, as he began to cut the binding away, he said, "This might hurt a little bit."
The last of the bandages' length was snipped away, and as the draping was removed, the squire could feel the goosebumps forming as the cold air touched his skin. He looked down towards his wound, and he could only stare in awe at what he saw. He should have a wound that, by all accounts, would have taken him weeks to heal; however, what beheld his eyes was not that of a wound, but rather that of a tender scar.
The physician looked up to the boy, and his eyebrow was raised as he said, "You said you got this today?"
"Yes! I got this while I was defending the princess today."
"Well, I hate to break to you, son, but wounds do not heal that fast. For now, my advice is that you try not to move that side of your body too much." He moved towards the wall of jars, and he was quick to grab a small handful of tiny paper packets. He placed the parcels into the squire's hands as he said, "Take one of these packets every morning and another every night before you go to bed for the next few days. These will help with the pain."
"Thank you, doctor."
"You can just call me, Mr. Satou."
The squire was quick to put the top-half of his kimono back on, and as the young man was about to leave, he took a quick glance at the candy jar once again. He shook his head, cursing himself for indulging his inner sweet tooth, and turned towards the door again. He was about to leave before the voice of the physician broke in.
"You can have one of those if you want one."
The knight was the one to answer him, "Mr. Satou, I don't think that's-"
"Oh, come on, Yukimasa! Your boy's been through a long day. I don't think one sweet is going to do him any harm."
"That's kind of you, Mr. Satou, but my son doesn't need to be fed candies-"
"Who doesn't like candy?!"
The two went back and forth like this for a short while, and within the matter of a moment, the squire asked, "What type of candy is in here?"
"Caramels."
"And you're sure it's okay for me to have one?"
"Of course."
The squire opened the container and pulled out a caramel from the jar. He bowed his head before he said, "Thank you, Mr. Satou."
"Your welcome. Have a nice day, kid."
With those words, the knight and his squire left the physician's room. The squire put the caramel into his mouth.
He said, "Hmm."
Sweet.
