Chapter Twenty Three: The Sorrow
Sai glowered at the human girl, as an obvious blush crossed her cheeks from Baron's spontaneous gesture. The red haired feline started breathing faster in her fury, looking once more at the tawny lord in front of her. "You," she struggled to say. "You could have had your pick of any noble female in either of the kingdoms, and you bring a peasant?!"
Baron glared coolly at the autumn-colored cat, and tipped his hat curtly before guiding the human around the feline. "Fascinating preference, wouldn't you say, Countess? I wonder what could have possibly biased me against women with titles," the orange and cream feline said sarcastically, being sure to put a certain bite into the words before pointedly turning his back on her, and almost marching away with Haru in tow.
"Was… that the countess you think tried to bribe me?" Haru asked softly after a few moments of pacing the walls of the ballroom.
Baron sighed, and slowed down for her sake. "Yes. I think you can understand now why I've never cared much for her."
The bespectacled brunette was about to look over her shoulder to look for the red countess, but then decided at the last second not to. "It… explains a few things," Haru said carefully, not wishing to aggravate him needlessly. She bit her lip nervously, and smiled while patting his shoulder. "Hey Baron?"
"Yes, Haru?" he said distractedly.
"Not to be rude or anything, but I think you're bruising one of my ribs."
The feline lord stopped dead in his tracks, and looked at where his hand still was. He blushed deeply, and released her waist. "My apologies, Haru," he said quickly as she rubbed her waist, where he had been gripping her. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's all right, Baron," Haru said carefully, leaving her ribs alone for now. "She annoyed me too."
That made him feel a little better, but he was a bit hesitant about offering her his arm once more, despite the fact that the human girl took it without thinking much about it.
"So, what do you do at balls besides dancing again?" she asked curiously.
Baron large ears flicked once. "Usually mingle with the other guests, enjoy the refreshments, and relax. I wouldn't recommend consuming anything here, though. I know you're a vegetarian, and the sight of shaved mice might unhinge you."
Haru started gagging. "Thanks for the warning. Is there a place where we can sit for a while? You really know how to march when someone bugs you."
"Certainly," Baron said, privately berating himself for not thinking of that earlier. Gently, he led her to a lounging couch at one end of the ballroom, and let her ease herself into the seat.
"Ah, that's nice," Haru said dreamily as her escort sat down beside her.
"Is there anything else you need? A glass of water perhaps?" Baron asked worriedly.
"Oh no. My legs were just getting a little tired." She looked up at the dancing couples, and watched Lune smoothly pick up Yuki and swing her through the air before setting her gently on the ground again. The human girl smiled gently, thinking that the two looked good together.
Haru and Baron sat there in companionable silence for several minutes, watching the dancers swirl past them gracefully. More than once, the Countess Sai twirled past the two, always with a different partner. Her black eyes were filled with hatred for the human girl who was more or less indifferent to the feline's unspoken venom.
"Haru," Baron said after half an hour, almost driven insane by the desire for conversation.
His nanny looked over at him around her glasses, a little startled by the sudden sound of his voice. "Yes?"
The tawny cat bit his lip, and used one finger to trace the bottom rim of her glasses. "If you don't need these for sight, then what do you need them for?" he asked curiously.
Haru's hand almost flew to her face, pushing the masklike glasses further up her nose, just in case. "It's kind of personal," Haru said numbly, looking away from him.
Sighing softly, Baron reached over and covered her hand with his. "Please, Haru?" he asked in a soft tone. "You know you can trust me."
She sharply looked at him again, and down at his hand on hers between them.
"Please," Baron said simply, somehow sensing that the glasses were masking something bigger than those beautiful eyes of hers.
Haru bit her lip nervously. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" she whispered. Baron nodded, and squeezed her hand, making the girl sigh in defeat.
"Back in the village I grew up in, there was a boy. We were… sort of childhood sweethearts. He used to promise me all the time that when we were old enough, he'd build a house for us and marry me. That was a tradition in our village, you know. We didn't have money, but we had an extensive forest at our disposal."
Baron nodded, having visited such places before. "Did something happen to this boy?" he asked, concerned for her.
Haru laughed a little bitterly. "You could say that. When he was old enough to start building the house, Machida got right to work. It took him two years, but by the time he was done, our house was one of the most solid and beautiful homes in the entire valley. Everything was looking good, so everyone made ready to celebrate my wedding to Machida. It took three months to store up enough food for the party we were going to have afterward. Everything was going so good." Her voice cracked slightly as the pain began to resurface.
Dimly, she could feel Baron squeeze her hand again. "Did this Machida die?"
Haru gave another laugh, edged with something bitter. "I probably sound terrible for saying this, but I almost wish that he had. Things would have been a lot easier to handle, if he had died a nice clean death like my father had, like a tree falling on him wrong or meeting up with a wolf unarmed." Haru shook her head again.
"The day of our wedding, we- that is, me, Machida, our families, and everyone in the village- were heading to the special grove where our local priest would conduct wedding ceremonies. As it so happened, that was the day that a newcomer came to town, on a gleaming white horse. She was very beautiful, with long golden hair, lavender-colored eyes and snow-like skin." Her hand became balled up into fists.
"She looked at Machida, he looked at her. She gave him a smile and a wink, and he was gone, just like that."
Baron blinked incredulously. "Surely there had to be more than that."
Haru shook her head sadly. "I was right there, Baron. I watched him invite her into the house he had made for me, the day we were supposed to be getting married. They lived with each other for weeks without benefit of clergy, and they didn't even give our priest the satisfaction of turning them down for a ceremony, for how they had humiliated me. Not even the death of my mother and my house getting burned down was enough to persuade Machida to look my direction." Her eyes became cast downward, and a few tears squeezed out from behind her glasses.
"That was the real reason Hashi and I left home. I couldn't stand to stay another day, and watch that girl live a life that should have been mine. All the other men in the village were able to resist her charms, so how come only Machida succumbed to her? Why was he the weak one?"
Baron snatched a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it into her hand. Gratefully, she dabbed her eyes with the offering, and blew her nose.
"What does all this have to do with your glasses?" the tawny cat asked gently making the girl sigh once more.
"Machida used to tell me all the time that his favorite thing about me, were my eyes. He could look at them for hours before Jani came to the village. I don't know, I guess I just want to avoid getting into another relationship where the guy just likes my eyes and then walks off with the first pretty girl that flirts with him."
Baron cocked his head, sensing just how pain the girl was still in, even though the terrible incident had happened years ago. Sadly, he reached out for her hand again, and held it tight.
"With all due respect, Haru," Baron said softly. "You should have known from the beginning that he wasn't the right one for you."
The bespectacled brunette looked over at him, a little stunned. "What do you mean?"
He smiled again at her, and rubbed her hand softly, comfortingly. "As pretty as your eyes are, your heart is much more beautiful. That should have been his favorite thing about you, and if it had been, then he wouldn't have given a care about any other girl."
Haru stared at him, completely stunned. Slowly, oh so slowly… she squeezed his hand back as a soft smile worked its way onto her lips. "Thanks, Baron," the brunette whispered. "Thank you so much."
The tawny lord smiled, sharply resisting the impulse to kiss the girl's hand. "My pleasure, Haru. If you ever need someone to listen, don't hesitate to tell me." Suddenly, his mind clicked. "Did you say that the girl's name was Jani?"
Haru nodded her head in confirmation, making her friend chuckle darkly.
"I thought she wouldn't be right for the job."
"You knew her?" the brunette asked, a little stunned that the name had meant something to him.
"She was one of the girls that wanted your position before we met. She didn't seem like the type to pay attention to anything except herself, so I turned her down."
"It was a good thing you did," Haru confided. "Back in the village, she'd make Machida do all the work around the house after he had been working all day in the fields. The only tools anyone ever saw her handle were a mirror and a fancy umbrella." The brunette leaned back, shaking her head in disbelief.
"They broke up?" she laughed sadly to herself. "How appropriate. Machida never would have left the village."
Baron wanted to say something to that, but nothing came to him.
After a few more minutes, the clock began to strike midnight. The musicians allowed the current waltz to fade into a sweet trill as the feline prince happily intertwined arms with the white cat that was still at his side, blushing happily.
"Attention, everyone," Lune announced proudly. "Thank you for attending my birthday celebration, for this lovely lady has graciously consented to give me the best gift of my life. May I present Yuki, my future wife and princess!"
Baron and Haru immediately jumped to their feet, and started clapping happily as the joyous news rippled throughout the room. The applause was almost deafening, despite the wails of disappointment that many of the female attendants felt were more appropriate to the occasion.
"I believe our work here is done," Baron whispered into Haru's slowly changing ear as the Cat King formally kissed Yuki's forehead to welcome her into the royal family, although his eyes were still dashing madly about the room, searching in vain for the girl that had gotten away from him.
"Why don't we head home before your change becomes permanent?" the tawny cat continued as toffee-colored fur began to coat the girl's face. She reached up with one hand to feel the silky stuff, and nodded while keeping a hand on her glasses, which were threatening to fall off her face thanks to her new ears.
For some strange reason, the slim brunette couldn't keep her eyes off of Baron's face as he carefully led her around the ballroom to the exit, and into the chilly autumn air outside.
Baron helped the girl onto Toto's back, and then climbed on so that they could fly home.
Haru firmly squeezed her escort's chest, and her eyes closed dreamily while pressing one fur-covered cheek against his back. Tantalizing thoughts about her handsome companion began to dance in her head, enough to make whiskers and a tail sprout from her body.
'Hey, knock that off, Haru! This is Baron¸ for crying out loud! We're just friends, remember? Remember?!'