A/N: I have recently updated my profile on Please go see.

Bad Dreams

By angelwings1

Chapter 12

The heavy double doors slammed shut on the angry cries outside, leaving a hollow silence in the throne room. The seer knelt in the center of the cold floor with Dilandau and three other slayers at guard standing around her. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and they stared defeated at the white marble. More than anything in, she wished she could disappear into a beam of blue light and escape her trial. Another sob sought to escape her, but she bit down on her bottom lip. She wouldn't cry. She knew there was always a chance this could happen. She would face these consequences with dignity.

Over forty faces circled her with expressions of disbelief, anger, and disgust. There were only fifteen of those faces that would determine her fate, but she could already guess what their decision would be.

"Explain yourself, King Fanel," a voice demanded loudly. "Who is this woman?"

Hitomi could feel him exhale a deep breath of air, "Her name is Hitomi Kazanki. She's a Mystic from the valley to the east."

"You brought a Mystic to our meetings!" General Jorgus exclaimed as he whirled on the king.

"She is from a country not involved in this treaty!" the duke of Freid added, "She could be a spy!"

"I'm not a spy!" Hitomi's face snapped up as she shouted over the growing cries. Almost instantly, a powerful blow knocked her face to the side. Surreal silence followed the slap and the seer blinked dumbly at the floor.

"Shut up, witch!" Dilandau spat.

"Watch yourself, captain!" Van thundered, leaping from the platform and storming across the floor towards him. "Lady Kanzaki is my guest and I will not have you mistreating her."

Dilandau leveled a dark look on the king, silently daring him to lash out at him. Staring straight into the snake's eyes, the king wanted to throw aside the confines of politics and pound the smug soldier for laying a hand on her. He knew Dilandau struck her in payment for the past week of frustration that she had given him when he had tried to interrogate her. He probably had been thrilled to have the opportunity to expose her.

"Maybe it would be best, King Fanel, if you explained her presence here," Dornkirk commented. The red slayer's lips turned upwards.

Van slowly faced the jury of royals. His eyes scanned the faces and knew they had every right to be furious with him. If it had been another ruler standing where he was, he would have demanded answers. The king opened his mouth to speak, but the seer's gentle voice hastily spoke over him, "I'm a new advisor."

Heads swiveled towards her. Dornkirk's frown told her he wasn't pleased to hear the lie, but he was in a position to call her out on it. If he did, he would have to explain why he didn't reveal her before the signing. Wincing lightly at the pain throbbing in the left side of her face, Hitomi's green eyes lit up at his expression and she pressed on to say, "His majesty feared of secret treachery in this union. He requested aid and I heard his call."

Van looked over his shoulder with her and gave the tiniest shake of the head. Hitomi didn't glance towards him. "He feared my origin might cause unnecessary friction in the proceedings so I was presented as lower family."

"Friction?" King Aston rumbled softly, "I seriously doubt this treaty would have suffered with your presence, Kanzaki."

"Yes, lord," she nodded. "We didn't believe my presence would spark anything either, but shortly before your coming, a mishap happened in the market. I was wrongfully beaten for my origin. After that, I demanded to be concealed for my safety."

Van's eyes clenched shut. Hitomi instinctively knew lying to the crowd was going against Van, but she couldn't let Dornkirk know about the truth. Something in her screamed at her not let it out. Even though Van was nearly healed from the illness, she was almost crippled and she needed to hide that from the Zaibach emperor as long as possible. If he was from the Mystic Valley, she was the only one who had a chance at stopping his unknown magic. She lifted her chin and waited for the rulers' response.

Their hard eyes studied her, but they didn't lean over towards one another. Each ruler had to make their own decision for the good of the country. Speaking openly on the subject might dig them deeper into the deception.

Abruptly, Duke Freid stepped forward, "If what you say is a lie, than my advisor will discover it. I demand a special inquiry by my monk, Plactu."

Several heads nodded in agreement.

Hitomi sighed and leaned her head against the stone wall of her cell as she stared out through the bars. The temperature had dropped dramatically at sunset and because she was given only a small blanket for warmth besides the pair of torches hanging off the outside walls of the cell, she hadn't been able to sleep. Course, she wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. The moment her eyes would close another vision would have her jerking awake. Unable to concentrate her meditations while sitting on an ice cold bench, she had begun to pace her small ten-foot-long room.

"The moon is beautiful tonight," she mumbled, smiling sadly at the full orb. 'Will I be able to watch you tomorrow? Or will this Plactu destroy my chances?'

Her shoulders began to shake as another tremor pass through her. The seer hunched over as she coughed. The cold weather wasn't helping her health. She normally would have passed through the last four nights with a simple cold, but her body was beginning to shut down. The spasms were becoming violent and her stomach was no longer able to hold down any food. After the first couple of messes she left on the floor, she had given up eating. She had already begun to loose weight before the imprisonment, but now it was very evident. Her robes were beginning to slide off and exposing sickly colored skin that had bones jutting out.

She wished she could call on Millernia for herbs, but visits were forbidden. The only face she saw was a random guard who brought her meals. She could only guess what was going on elsewhere in the castle or out in the village. She surely had stirred up the citizens.

Finally, her coughing subsided and the seer leaned weakly against her wall again and slid weakly to the cold floor. She feared tomorrow. Plactu supposedly was due to arrive in the morning and her interrogation would begin as soon as possible. There was a chance he could be delayed, but without any communication outside her cell all she had was the Duke's comment from the throne room stating the monk would arrive in four days. She had never heard of the monk, but he had no have some special ability to be called upon so specifically. She just hoped she could pass the man's test without taking Van down with her.

More so, tomorrow would reveal her sickness. Without the herbs for the last days, she wouldn't be able to last long in interrogation, and even if she did by some miracle, there was no way she could hide from Van's eyes. He would definitely notice her thinness and with her past occurrences he would put two and two together.

The door creaked opened, but the seer didn't look up, figuring it was another meal being delivered. The light steps that conflicted with a man heavy set got the seer to slowly turn, "Merle?"

With a guard standing against the wall behind her, the cat-girl leaned against the bars with eyes as wide as saucers, "Hitomi, you look horrible!"

The seer chuckled hoarsely, "Thanks, Merle. Normally, I would smack you for such a comment, but I'm too happy to see you to do it."

"Have they been feeding you!" Merle hissed, her claws scrapping the bars noisily. She snapped her fiery eyes to the Austurian soldier behind her. "I'm gunna make some soldiers blind!"

Too exhausted to rise, the seer carefully crawled across the floor as the cat-girl knelt. "Don't worry about it. They've been given me three meals a day."

"It doesn't look like it!" Merle exclaimed with her tail expanding in anger. "You're practically a skeleton!"

Hitomi hurried to change subjects, "You didn't answer me. How did you get in here? I thought no one was allowed to see me."

Merle eyed her suspiciously, but after a short hesitation answered softly, "Van-sama wanted to make sure you were being treated well. He kept requesting to visit you, but they refused fearing he might find a way to fowl up the interrogation by visiting you."

Hitomi rolled her eyes, "I don't see how. If this Plactu guy is so good at his job, then he'll figure everything out regardless of Van speaking with me."

The cat shrugged, "That's what he said, but they still wouldn't let him see you. So I asked if I could see you. It took two days before I was able to wear them down. They couldn't deny me when I told them they could have a soldier present."

"Tell me about this Plactu?" Hitomi requested gently. "Who is he exactly? Why is he so important?"

Cat ears twitched, "I don't know much about him. I heard he can cast spells like a hypnotic trance. He puts the people he questions under spells."

Hitomi nodded thoughtfully, 'I heard of monks being able to perform spells and enchantments. Must be a type of truth revealer spell he uses in his interrogations. If that's true, than I won't make it through the questioning.'

Merle's ears drooped, "You need a healer."

There was no point left in hiding the truth. Tomorrow he would know. Hitomi shook her head weakly, "There is nothing Millernia or another healer could do."

"Hitomi?"

"Besides, tomorrow everything will unravel and they have to decide what to do with me," she commented dryly. "They might execute me for all I know."

"Van-sama, would never allow that!" Merle cried.

Eyes closed, the seer whispered, "There will be nothing he can do. Sustaining this treaty, especially with the likelihood of Zaibach attacking, is more important. I refuse to let him sacrifice the treaty for me."

"Hitomi, you can't be serious…" Merle choked, tears filling her eyes. "You're life is more important to us than some dumb treaty."

Hitomi weakly pressed her back to the bars, hiding her face from the young cat's view. She exhaled deeply and clutched her small blanket, "Merle, even if I survive this inquiry, I would never forgive myself."

When she didn't hear a response, she continued, "When I left the valley months ago, I was considered an exile. I have no home, no family, and no people. What I have been living for day by day is this kingdom. My life would be broken if Fanelia fell after all I've sacrificed."

A small hand unexpectedly wrapped around her and gripped her thin hand tightly. Hitomi feebly twisted her face towards the girl and felt a swell of sadness surge up into her chest when she witnessed the sparkle of tears in her small eyes.

"Please, don't say that," Merle's chin trembled with barely controlled emotions. "You're scaring me."

Hitomi was shock to feel her own tears slip down her face. For the first time, since she had arrived in Fanelia she was crying for someone who wasn't far away in the valley. With a heavy heart, the seer steadily turn towards the girl and slipped her arms through the bars to wrap her into a frail hug. Tucking the girl as close to her as physically possible, the seer drank in the girl's deep devotion.

"I'm sorry, Merle," she mumbled softly as she tightened her hold, "So very sorry."

She heard the tell-tale creak when the sun was barely peeking through her small window. She was lying on the cold floor, but she was asleep. She had been too sick and wound up to try. The key clicked loudly in the silent room, and the woman ideally wondered if a key always sounded loud in a prison.

"It's time," a gruff voice stated.

"I know." Hitomi slowly lifted from the floor, vividly aware that her hands were shaking again. Reaching her full height, she took a deep breath to steady her weakened limbs. Reluctantly, she exited her cell and entered the hallway where several guards from different countries waited. A soldier of Freid stepped forward and wrapped a tight cord of rope around her wrists. Her eyes were distant as she waited for the knot to be pulled. 'I'm ready, Lord.'

The walk to the throne was lost on her as she was guided up from the dungeons to the awaiting crowd in the throne room. All she could think about was what would happen once the doors opened. She knew everything would be over once she was set before the monk. She would have to plead with the jury of rulers to take all the blame. Otherwise, they would eat Van as if he was dinner and rip Fanelia from the treaty.

Her face jerked up in realization, 'That's exactly what Dornkirk planned! He's going to rip everything apart with me as the catalyst!'

The world disappeared from her feet as she suddenly found her and the guards standing outside the doors. She tried to swallow and push down the painful lump, but her mouth was dry as a desert. As a result of mounting fear, she began to tremble as the doors were pulled open. 'Dear God in Heaven, save him.'

A/N: Short chapter, but the next one is going to be massive in action, and hopefully, I can get it out by the middle of next week. I think me trying for the end of the weekend is a bit much.