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A Castle of Silence and Bones
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013.
the gods are too far gone
('we are here to live and die' overstates the fact that there is no problem)
The emperor and empress come to the Akasaka Palace two weeks before the child is expected to be born. Kiku knows that normally - according to regulations and rules and the like - it is supposed to be the other way around. However, everything is changing and what hasn't changed will change. And therefore, it is alright to request the prescence of the Royal Family.
It is alright to make it so the Royal Family has no choice but to accept, and with a smile, of course.
The courtiers and maids and guards and entertainers are all alerted of the arrival. There is a celebration: banners and kimonos, games and laughter, and all of it is so so so beautifully faked, Kiku thinks with a smile. But that is alright as well, for reality is now able to be molded - reality is now nothing more than a man - one man's - vision. And each of those tells a friend, of a friend, of a friend, and eventually, anyone who is anyone in the whole of the two countries (soon to be one country) knows of the location of the Royal Family.
It is only entirely to be expected, then, of assassins and kidnappers, the lowest of the low, those people dressed in rags who have no morals.
(Either that - or they have the wrong ones.)
What was not expected, however, was for any intruders at all to confuse the two wings of the Akasake Palace. Which was, of course, actually a relatively easy error. The fact of the matter was, as luck would have it, Yao's quarters mirrored The Empress' quarters, in location alone. Take one wrong turn - one simple wrong turn - and the intruder would...
"Empress!" a lone voice calls in the dead of the night. "Empress WanRong!" He says, somewhat louder this time around. He knows that she must be in this place, must be somewhere in the vicinity. The agents have promised their souls that she and the 'wretched filth' do not sleep together, that the idea of a child is completely preposterous. And so he holds on to that belief, after having blindly found the switch to the lights.
A split-second for the power to run its due course, and the room is bathed in light.
"Nani?" A quiet voice calls out, from the bed-chambers. He does not know what causes him to relax - he's never heard nor seen The Empress, only knows that she is beautiful and that she is alive - what makes him take quick steps to the chamber. And there, before him, awake and alive and perfectly dressed, albert in one of their disgusting outfits, is The Empress. His Empress - his nation's empress.
"Your Majesty," he murmurs, dropping to a kneel and speaking the middle language - heaven's tongue. "Your Majesty, I've come to rescue you from these barbarians," he continues, not daring to look up. It is the final mistake he is able to make in the dead of the night.
"Who are you and what are your intentions," it is a statement, not a question, and the blade that is suddenly, swiftly, horribly, painfully cutting against the nape of his neck is no joke - is no dream. He had thought of glory, he had thought of his wife, his children - all of whom are still alive, still need the money, still need the country. The country which The Empress is holding up.
Yao knows, very well, of his state of powerlessness. He knows that he has no say, knows that Kiku will not listen - or regard - anything that he says and does. He knows all this, but never before has he felt the waves and tides of his own powerlessness come down and crash upon so hard. His mouth widens when the man - clearly Chinese - comes in. His hands grasp for a body that is no longer beside him (and here he knows that Kiku knows of the intruder). And he cannot say anything, do anything, to warn the man - the father, the brother, the husband, the son - because he's speaking Yao's language.
And it is rough and it is choppy with emotion - and it is beautiful.
(It's the first time in months that Yao has heard Chinese.)
He cannot do anything when Kiku is pressing the blade of his sword of the man's throat. Can only watch, with wide, wide eyes, as Kiku turns the man around. Yao is not stupid enough to think - to believe or even hope - that the man will get out alive. How many hours, how many days, his mind is racing, he cannot save this person - cannot save this man that wanted to save The Empress.
(You can't remember - you shouldn't remember.)
It becomes obvious that Kiku's reason for turning the man around was one of cruelty. The man takes one look at Kiku - who shows no emotion again, and is ever-so-shaded, even when in the bulblight - and the man screams. He kneels down, bowing lower than bower, prostrating himself and begging for forgiveness.
"Your intentions." Kiku states, and the man spills them all forth, begging and pleading for the other to spare his life. Yao's eyes are wide, he should be able to tear himself away from a scene like this. He should be able to - he must stop watching, because - because - because...? The man is screaming, crying, outrightedly sobbing, large tears, running down his cheeks (red, red cheeks). He's not even begging for life anymore, just begging for a quick death - begging, begging, sobbing, and more begging. And Yao cannot say anything, cannot do anything. Cannot.
Just watches.
Just watches as Kiku takes out a smaller knife and his military-issue gun. Just watches as the man begins to bleed, begins to scream, begins to stop crying and start emitting these wails that are not human anymore. Just watches as the blood is dripping across the floor, sinking itself near the sheets, on Kiku's once-white uniform. Just watches - the sun is rising now - as the man chokes, splutters (on his own blood - on his own blood) and then collapses.
Doesn't die - cannot die.
(He's been dead for seven hours - really.)
(You can't remember - you shouldn't remember.)
Yao feels himself breathing, feels himself watching Kiku, watching Kiku come closer, kneel by the bedsheets - dry off his bloodstained hands. Feels Kiku's hands - and they are clean (and he will not believe it, will not believe that there are no traces of blood) - press, tenderly, along Yao's cheeks. Feels Kiku wrap his arms about him, feels Kiku easily lift him up, up, and away.
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