Chapter Two

She sat mutely, almost meekly, next to her father, that same fake smile plastered on her face. Her father spared her a sideways glance- he must still be angry about their argument earlier, but her mother just squeezed her hand comfortingly as Mika took her assigned position behind Akane's chair. She saw her bodyguards dotted around the room, with some of her father's guard, and spied Ginoza in a green yukata- she had to tell him how good he looked later.

Her mother leant in and admired Mika's handiwork, with her hair and make-up, before nodding at the girl. In her mother's eyes, all Mika was a hostage from a distant raid, who had been far too compliant with them. She'd been assigned as Akane's personal servant (or rather, slave), and she had been far too happy to do that until the day she died. Akane simply felt sorry for her. Not that she would ever admit that to Mika. Her mother brought her down to reality with a squeeze of her hand. "I know that you must be nervous, Akane, dear," she smiled thinly. "But feel lucky- at least you are meeting them before the wedding. The first time I saw your father in person was at the altar! And I am sure they are all wonderful people. Your father has made wonderful choices."

Him, again?! She didn't even get to pick herself? Still, she smiled as if to comfort her mother and show her just how mature she was being. She looked ahead as some servant she didn't know the name of announced the arrival of her first suitor. "Kozaburo Toma!" The first man entered with his entourage, which consisted of several men, and oddly enough a yellow-clad girl about four years younger than Akane. The entourage stopped about halfway through the chamber, but Toma kept walking towards the royals, the girl loyally following him, carrying a large bundle of items too large for her. He bowed deeply, and the girl lowered herself clumsily, earning a glare from Toma. Akane frowned at that, but smoothed her face out when he went to face them again.

"Princess," the way he said it made her skin crawl, but she contained her disgust for now. "To even enter your consideration would mean so very much to me." Akane barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Kagari. "As a token of my immense gratitude, I present to you these gifts: my latest work of art, and my best serving girl, Kirino Toko. Please accept them, if you will."

"I will, good sir," Akane stood up and bowed respectfully. "I thank you humbly." She supposed that Mika could use an assistant- Toko was young yet, and she couldn't bear the idea of her being stuck in a lowly position her entire life. Toma bowed as she seated herself and beckoned Toko forward, who nervously did so. "It's okay." She whispered quietly to the young girl. "Mika, could you-?" Akane took a sense of pride at the relief spilling across the girl's features, or at the sense of glee displayed on Mika's freckled face. The girl handed her the framed painting, which was off an array of colourful flowers. Loudly, so the rest of the hall could hear, she said: "Your artwork is beautiful, Toma-sama. I am indeed grateful for having looked at it." From that point on, her father took charge of questioning, and she only half-listened, taking effort to smile at the worried Toko. The man was a lover of nature and art, she found out, and was a scholarly man. She still didn't like him that much. He was at least ten years older than her, which was kind of weird. He left with the remainder of his entourage about half an hour later.

"Well, Akane?" her mother beamed at her.

"No," she whispered back, and her mother could only sigh. "He made me feel very uneasy."

"He makes everyone feel uneasy," Toko mumbled, not loud enough so Akane's mother heard, but Akane herself heard. She glanced at Toko who immediately apologised, but Akane simply stroked the younger girl's hand comfortingly.

"Mika, could you find some lodgings for our new arrival?" she smiled. "And hurry back here once she's settled in! Feel free to hang that painting up anywhere in the castle you wish."

"Yes, my lady," Mika nodded quickly and practically dragged Toko and the picture out. Akane returned her attention to the yelling servant, whose next arrival seemed to be 'Nicholas Wong'. She'd heard about the Wong family- bloodthirsty and corrupt. Just what was her father even thinking by picking him?! And when he entered, her heart plummeted even further. He was twice her age at most! She glanced coolly over at her father, who noted her distaste. This one was even worse than the last. He gave her a beautiful silver bow, as if mocking her- princesses were not meant to fight, so this was like a huge slap in the face to the royal family. He was bloodthirsty, and talked keenly about his army- Akane didn't care much for an army! Not at all! The only fighters she needed were her personal bodyguards and Kogami-san. How she needed him here right now.

Once he had left, all of the royals glanced at each other and mouthed the word, "No."

"He was twice my age! Had you taken leave of your senses?" Akane snapped almost silently at her father, in a formal tone she was loathe to using.

"A bad mistake on my part," her father responded flatly. "I do think the next one is a good choice though."

"I hope so," Akane mumbled bitterly as she felt Mika's presence at her side return.

"Not a good one?" Mika asked.

"God, don't even talk about it." Akane complained. Mika nodded before standing behind her like a pretty little statue.

The next to come in was announced to be 'Makishima Shogo.' He entered with an entourage, as Toma had done, but there was no terrified teenager accompanying him this time. He approached Akane as the other two had done, and she stood up hastily as he got closer and bowed in time with him. Unlike the other two, he got onto his knee and kissed her hand. "Forgive my forwardness, Akane-sama. It is just a custom in my land to kiss the hand of a beautiful lady."

When Kogami had first done that, he had said to her: "Did that surprise you? Sorry. It's just what they did in the land I've just been to. You're supposed to kiss the hand of a lovely little lady like yourself. Emphasis here being little. And lovely."

Akane allowed a small blush to creep on her cheeks and she thanked him for his compliment, and he quickly presented her with a stack of leather-bound books- a rarity and different from the scrolls she had grown used to. "I heard from across the land that my lady enjoyed reading and tales of faraway lands, so I travelled far and wide to get these for you."

It reminded her strongly of Kogami's presents. "Hey, I got you some books this time. And some scrolls. They're all fiction, trust me. And as always, a retelling of my escapades in foreign lands."

Again, she thanked him. Even so, as nice as he seemed, and not as creepy as the other two, she couldn't stop picturing Kogami's face whenever he spoke, and she blushed. He briefly mentioned a strong army, but wasn't willing to go on about as Wong was. Instead, he expressed a desire to want to know Akane better, if not as a husband then as a friend, all while wearing a soft smile.

Once he had left, Akane was escorted out too, her parents left to make the decision. Mika made Toko get her ready for an informal family meal, and Akane chatted about the land where Toko was from. She said it had an impressive garden filled with statutes which were so lifelike she often thought they would start walking around. Once she was in less formal clothes, she was chaperoned down to the dining room where her parents were, and she could tell they had already tell they had made her choice. She felt a slight sense of security that it definitely would not be Wong. They began talking about each one to her, and weighing them up like objects to Akane, and she felt like screaming, "I don't care! Just tell me already!"

After about an agonising hour of dancing around the topic, they finally told her who it was she would be forced to spend the rest of her life with. "We think Shogo-sama is a wonderful choice for you!" Her mother announced. For a brief moment, Akane pictured Kogami's face, ever-so-briefly, before it flickered onto Makishima's smiling face, eyes like molten gold and hair like swirling silver.

"I respect your decision, Mother, Father. If you may excuse me, today has tired me out, so I will go to bed."

Once Toko and Mika got her ready for bed and left, she curled up into a small ball and cried. She was only eighteen. She didn't want this. She used her pillow to muffle her sobs, and silenced herself when she could sense Mika approaching the door again. It had been an hour since she first hid under the sheets.

The door creaked open- Mika wasn't going to comfort her, was she?! The younger girl shook the Princess's shoulder a little too hard.

"Wake up, you. Your dog is here."