CAPTIVE AND CAPTIVATED
Chapter Three
Hikaru dozed fitfully on her feather pillow. She could hear the movements and sighs of the other slaves around her. It was quite quiet in the hall; perhaps it was a designated "nap-time" for the slaves. Though she had done nothing, she felt exhausted. However, though she was exhausted, she could not fall asleep.
The face of the tall, dark, imposing man to whom she'd been pledged burned into the back of her eyelids. His eyes, black as obsidian, had looked on her so disdainfully. He didn't want her. So, why did he take her? Perhaps to shut his brother and sister-in-law up. How dreadful that she would have to be taken by a man who didn't even want her…
After a time, she opened her eyes. The sun thrust its rays through the high windows, and from their flat, golden color, she could tell that it was late afternoon. She'd been there three days already and had yet to be summoned by her man. She'd been groomed by her Page and taken out of doors every once in a while to roam the vast fields and hedge mazes around the castle. Let outside, like a dog… Couldn't they give her something to do? Carry a tray, help in the kitchens? Something, anything? Anything was better than lying here, watching the other slaves come and go.
And she hadn't seen hide or hair of her two earth friends since they'd arrived. She assumed the blue-haired girl was with her small master, as she hadn't seen him either. But Fuu, the blonde… where could she be? Hikaru had seen brief glimpses of the Prince from afar as she roamed the grounds with her Page. He wasn't tending to her, so where was she?
Hikaru sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her hair had been carefully combed, rubbed through with a light oil to make it shine, and it spilled over her shoulders. She remembered that she was naked and tried to cover herself, but to no avail. Many of the other slaves were naked as well. But none of them seemed to mind. Occasionally, one of them would study her small, naked form, but most of the slaves seemed to fear eye-contact too much and so kept their eyes down. She'd studied them enough; she had no fear of being punished for making bold eye-contact. They were all quite beautiful. The boys looked very young, certainly not much older than her. The girls, too, looked quite young. She didn't see any who seemed to be from earth, and she hadn't heard a scrap of Japanese since she'd been there. Oh, so lonely for her, so lonely… if only someone other than the infernal Page who tended her would speak…
She yawned into her hand and was slightly startled to see her page standing behind her.
"Good," he said, "You're awake. Your master has not yet summoned you, but he's given permission to his second in command to enjoy the use of you for this evening."
Hikaru reddened angrily. So, he'd allowed someone to use her, did he?
"I'm nobody's plaything to be tossed about!" she said indignantly. She then blinked in confusion. "His second-in-command? What are you talking about?"
The Page frowned. "Prince Lantis is also the Kailu, the master of all the Mage Knights in the land. His second-in-command requested your company this evening. And you will go with him obediently."
She sniffed. "You may as well just pledge me to this new man instead. At least he wants to see me. I'm sick of this Prince already, and I've never even met him!"
The Page gave her a soft slap across the mouth. "Be silent, young one. The Prince shall call on you when he wishes. He usually does not take slaves and so you may see him only rarely."
Hikaru rubbed her mouth and looked at her folded legs. She opened her mouth to speak, then trembled, and closed it.
"You may speak," said the Page, "as long as you are respectful."
"I just…" Hikaru twisted her fingers together. "It's—It's humiliating. I just don't understand it…" The man raised an eyebrow at her and she fumbled for the words. It was humiliating to just sit there like that. She was pledged to a man who hadn't bothered to come and see her. He was letting his subordinates do what they wanted with her! How terrible! She wanted to scream, to cry, to go into a rage. Why was she brought there? Why was she stolen like that only to be shut away, undesired? Her life was ruined, it was over… she belonged to a cold, heartless man whom she may never see again… it was over! Tears slid down her cheeks. "I just don't know why."
The Page's hand on her head was gentle. "No tears, lovely one. You're to see the master at arms. You want to be beautiful for him, don't you?"
No, she thought, I don't care. Maybe if I'm ugly, they'll give up on me and send me back home…
And then the familiar pang wrenched at her heart. But I can't leave, not without the other two… I have to help them, too!
Later, in the gardens, Hikaru was ordered to kneel. She bent down to the grass, folding her thin, white dress beneath her feet. It was a dress similar to the one she always wore. Her hair still hung long and thick over her shoulders. The Page also hung decorative beaded earrings from her ears and bedecked her with shining jewelry. Though she was pale and shivering with misery, she did look quite lovely.
"Yes, yes, she'll do," said a soft voice from their left. Hikaru looked up into the face of a tall man with fair hair. She smiled at her, and it was a soft smile.
"Master Eagle," said the Page. "This is Prince Lantis' slave."
The blond man strode forward, his smile wide. He gazed down at Hikaru with bright, amber eyes. "I see! She's lovely. Lantis did well to choose this one!"
The Page shrugged. "I'm afraid it wasn't exactly a choice, my lord. The Prince was more or less pestered into taking her by the King and Queen."
"Pestered?" the man repeated. "Oh, no, Lantis is a fool, then, isn't he? Why, I'd love nothing more than to have a girl like this by my side." He knelt down at forced her to look up at him. "Yes, a lovely heart-shaped face with ruby eyes… a beauty, and so small!"
Hikaru gulped as she held his gaze. He was so different from Lantis or even the other Prince, whatever his name was. Lantis was so ominous, while the other was sarcastic and full of swagger. This man Eagle seemed bright as the day. A kind man. His eyes were gentle and she found she didn't mind so much when he glanced approvingly over her tiny frame.
"Eagle-sama," said the Page, "I shall entrust her to you for the day. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of what is and is not appropriate to do with her?"
The man laughed. "Yes, yes."
"Prince Lantis has not yet seen fit to send for her, and rather than have her isolated all the long day in the Slave Hall, I'm sure the company of another Lord would do her well. Please notify me, sir, when you have finished with her."
Hikaru felt herself bristle at the words. Finished with her?
Eagle bent down and scooped Hikaru up, nestling her into the crook of his arm as if she were a small lap dog. She squeaked in alarm.
"Have no fear, little one," he said kindly. "I'll not hurt you."
When he spoke, Hikaru felt somewhat soothed. He reminded her of the Queen, who had such a kind and gentle demeanor. Her trembling ceased and as she was taken away from her Page, she almost felt glad to be out and about with this new man. She'd feared him at first—the master at arms sounded quite forbidding—but he seemed unlike a soldier.
"So, girl, we're off. I think a stroll through the forest would be nice. What say you?"
Hikaru bit her lip and gave a small shrug.
Eagle chuckled. "You can speak. I'm not as strict as the rest of the castle-folk. I don't mind the idea of pleasure-slavery, but I like not how you and your fellows are treated, as if you're chattel."
"Um," she said weakly. "I—yes, a stroll sounds nice…"
The man nodded and cradled her against his chest. "It's a lovely day today. As long as we keep to the thinner part of the forest, we'll have a good time."
"The thinner part?" she asked. "Why is that—sir?"
"The woods surrounding the castle are safe enough, but if you go too deep, you venture into the realm of the monsters."
Hikaru gulped again. Monsters?
"My men and those of Captain Lafarga keep this country quite safe, but the wild lands, the forests and the wide, neglected fields of the plains where few people live have their fair share of dangerous creatures." He blinked down at her. "Didn't you know that? No? I see, then you're not from this world, are you?"
Hikaru shook her head. "I was kidnapped from the other world and brought here three days ago."
"Ah, I see that now! I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me. You look quite foreign, and I even heard Prince Lantis speak of a raid in the other world…" He smiled. "You're quite pretty, you know. Are all women in your world beautiful like you?"
Hikaru blushed, so charming he was. "I—well, there are lots of pretty girls, but we're not all pretty…"
"Well, lucky me," he joked.
Another brief bristling of anger. Lucky him, eh? What about poor, unfortunate, unlucky her? Her ire died away, though, at the sight of his warm smile. Oh, I wish he were the one I was pledged too, and not that cold, unfeeling, marble statue of a Prince!
Soon, Eagle had crossed the sloping lawns of the palace and entered the treeline of the forest. It was still bright and warm there, with the sun filtering down through the trees. Everything was so green and beautiful. Birds chirped in the leaves, and the wind was warm against her bare shoulders.
Eagle sighed contentedly and pressed on.
"Um… Eagle, sir… I can walk, you know… if you want me to."
"Unnecessary, pretty one," he said. "You have no shoes. I don't think the Prince would be happy with me if I allowed you to walk about and step on a thorn, marring your cute little feet."
"I don't think the Prince would care," she said bitterly. She covered her mouth—how bold of her!
Eagle frowned. "Why do you say that?"
Hikaru considered her words carefully. Eagle seemed kind, but she didn't want to anger him by speaking ill of his Prince. "Well, since I was given to him, he hasn't sent for me at all. I haven't seen him." She leaned her forehead against Eagle's shoulder and sighed. "I don't think he likes me very much. I don't think he wanted me to begin with, but was pestered into taking me, like the Page said."
Eagle switched her around to his other arm, pausing for a moment to take her head in his hand and press a kiss to her forehead. Hikaru blushed to the roots of her red hair. "Well then, Lantis is a fool. Pay him no mind. I regret you were given to one so cold and unloving. Lantis never really had a penchant for admiring a pleasure slave. He's far too closed off." His smiling mouth moved over her cheek, the grazed her lips. She trembled. "This may be all I could get away with, you know," he said quietly, kissing her lips again. "Would that Lantis allowed me just a single hour alone with you…" Then he chuckled. "Well, I suppose he has."
Hikaru bit her lip against tears. That had been her first kiss!
"What is your name?" he asked her.
"Hikaru," she sighed. "Shidou Hikaru."
"An odd name," he remarked. He tried the name out on his tongue, savoring it.
The redhead shrank against him, worried that he would attempt to kiss her again. While he talked, she noted that he spoke with a strange dialect. His accent was slightly different from the ones used by the other people of this world. Was he a foreigner as well?
"Excuse me, sir," she began timidly, "Are you from this world? You have… a little bit of an accent."
Eagle shook his head. "I'm from the neighboring country of Autozam. I was born and raised there. But, as fate would have it, I became indebted to Prince Lantis for life, and so I serve him here." He sighed. "It's quite a change, since I was a Prince in my old world."
"You were a Prince?"
"You could say that. My father is the country's leader. As well as being a Prince, I was a great commander of many legions… great ships that flew in the sky."
"Ships? Like, battleships?"
"Yes."
"I see, you're a pilot."
He smiled. "Yes, I am. You know what piloting is?"
"I do. In my world, we have airplanes and fighter jets and all those things. Even space stations! We have machinery and technology; things I haven't seen yet in this world."
"This country has little technology, it's true. Cephiro is a magical realm, and Cephrans use their magic to get by. We Autozam natives have no magic and therefore rely on computers and things like that. I assume your people do the same."
She nodded. "We have no magic in Tokyo."
"Tokyo," he repeated. "That's an odd name as well. I don't know much about your world, only that you come from 'Earth' and that your people are 'Earthlings'."
Hikaru gazed up through the trees, squinting as the sun winked in and out at her. The forest was growing denser around them as Eagle kept to well-worn footpaths, passing small groves with fountains and stone benches.
"It's beautiful here," she sighed.
"Yes, it is. My home country is not nearly so beautiful. We have very little flora."
"We don't have much of it in Tokyo, either. I don't get to go to the countryside much, so I rarely get to see pretty trees like these."
"Hm." Eagle took to stroking her long hair, occasionally craning his neck to lightly kiss her temple. "Would you like to see something interesting?" he asked.
She shivered in his embrace. His kisses burned like fire on her skin. "Y-yes."
"Good. It's only a little father through these trees…" He strode away from the path and walked through the dense brush. Hikaru grew anxious. Weren't they traveling into the thicker part of the forest? The part with monsters?
"Eagle—" she began.
"Not to worry. We're not too deep yet. This area is safe."
With his free arm, he withdrew his sword and slashed at the surrounding brambles. The trees here grew closer together and the sun was becoming dimmer. Hikaru peered around nervously, expecting to see some horrible thing leap out at them from the shadows.
After a time, they emerged into a wide glen. Tall grass grew there, spotted with wildflowers. Hikaru gasped—it was beautiful! Before them loomed a massive stone structure. It looked ancient, crumbling in a few areas. A ruined fort, perhaps?
Eagle spoke as if he'd read her thoughts. "The Forge," he offered. "Here dwells Presea, the Master Smith. This is where the great weapons store is located. Long ago, this was the Castle Cephiro, but that was millennia ago."
Hikaru stared up at the building in awe. It was enormous! Though not nearly as tall as the Castle Cephiro (indeed, she doubted that there were any buildings in Tokyo that could rival its height), it stood high, menacing against the blue sky. It was surrounded by a thick wall. There looked to be no door leading inside.
Eagle set her down gently. "You may walk about now. The grass is soft and there's nothing on which to step."
Hikaru stood nervously at his side for a few moments. She stared around her in awe; at the dark trees and bright wildflowers, the tall grass and the looming Forge. Would this Presea person come out and speak to them? Hikaru supposed she wouldn't be in any trouble, not if she was with the Master at Arms.
She knelt down and sat in the soft tufts of grass. They were cool beneath her legs. She reached out to finger one of the blossoms that grew near her. "Pretty," she said.
Eagle sat down beside her. "Yes. I come here often when I seek solitude. It is quiet and peaceful."
"I can see that," she replied. With the sun warming her face and the breeze gentle tickling her hair, she could very well imagine herself staying in that place forever. All thoughts of fear and dread left her, and she even forgot for a little while that she was a grieving slave imprisoned in that world.
Eagle spread his cloak out over the grass. "Come, lie down if you want to."
"I'm not tired," she said. "I've been doing nothing but lying around for days, now. I'm glad to be out of doors."
"Then walk around," Eagle replied. "Feel free to explore. I trust you won't be running off. If you wander too far off, you'll be in danger. This is the Forest of Silence."
"The Forest of Silence?"
"Yes. It's a place full of monsters."
Hikaru froze. "Monsters? But I thought you said—"
"I know the safe paths, and so we never run into one. But if you went back into those woods, I'm sure you'd be food for some creature in no time." He laughed and lay on his back. "Just keep to the clearing."
Hikaru stared around at the trees, wondering if something wasn't staring back at her, hidden in the thick brush. She leaned close to Eagle and said, "No, I'm fine sitting here…"
"Well, that's good, too," he said softly and pulled her down against him. She went rigid with her cheek resting near his collarbone. No, surely this was improper, lying like this in a field with a man other than her… master.
Master, Hikaru thought, reviled. I hate that word!
But the bitter thoughts of the Prince were soon pushed to the back of her mind as Eagle began to lightly kiss her cheeks and forehead again. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Would Eagle pay no heed to the words of warning given to him by the Page? Would he defile her, here in this field that was so far from the eyes of the castle? Who would find out, after all, if he did? He would of course deny that such a thing happened, and no one alive would believe a tale of ravishment!
She shook violently when his hands circled her tiny wrists. Oh no, oh no, no, this would be bad, she may be punished…
But… this will happen soon anyway, and better with this kind man than with the Prince, who doesn't even want me anyway…
He kissed her lips and she found herself returning the kiss in full. His fingers ran through her hair, coming around to cup the back of her head. It was a frightening feeling, so new to her, but little tingly bits of pleasure grew in her stomach, and her toes curled with those same sensations. She'd never been kissed before, never could have imagined that it would be like this… His lips were very soft, and his teeth biting gently at her bottom lip was delightful.
She gave a tiny mewl of pleasure against his mouth, and Eagle sighed. "Forgive me," he whispered, tasting the sweet flesh of her neck. "I can trespass no further. Gods, would that Lantis would give you to me. You're so beautiful."
"Eagle," she breathed.
"Ah, I could not defile one as young as you…" He pressed desperate kisses against her jaw and over the hair that cascaded down her shoulders. "I hardly know you, and yet, I'm so bold."
No, she thought, no, I hardly know you either, but this is the first thing that feels even remotely right since I was brought here!
She twined her arm around his neck and pressed herself close to him, not wanted to be let go. She buried her burning face against him. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice full of sorrow, "But I'm pledged to the Prince."
"I know it!" Eagle replied fiercely. "I will beseech him—yes. You said yourself that he seemed not to care for you. If he truly doesn't, then I shall ask that he give you to me. If he doesn't care for you, then he won't hesitate, right?" He seemed to be convincing himself more than anybody else. "I must be crazy, begging for a slave like this." He blushed like a child. "I've never done such a thing in all my years in Cephiro!" He laid his cheek against hers. "Would you like that, little one? I know I'm not as endowed as a Prince, but I would be good to you, I swear it."
Hikaru only shivered against him. She couldn't bring herself to reply. But yes—yes, she would enjoy that.
He sat up quickly, urging her to rise. "Go on," he said, thrusting her forward. "Go and have a look around. Begone from me, so that I don't defile you further."
She stumbled forward in the grass, looking at him over her shoulder. His smile was warm. She wanted nothing more than to lie back against him, and when she made a move towards him, he held up a hand.
"Go on," he said again.
She stood there for a moment, looking forlornly at him. Finally, she turned and walked slowly towards the Forge. She wasn't sure what she was doing, but as long as she was walking somewhere, it was all right. Those little tingly feelings were still coursing through her fingers and toes, making her stomach do flips. How foreign to her, the touch of a man! The lips of a man! She touched her lips, bruised with his kisses and thought, I couldn't imagine a better place to lose my virginity… here, in such a beautiful place…
She reached out aimlessly to touch the thick stone of the wall. It felt ancient, as if it had been there since time began. All within the wall was silent. She heard no movement. She turned and walked slowly along the wall, fingering the stones with her hand.
He wants me, she thought with a thrill of pleasure. He wants me enough to ask Lantis if he could have me instead! Would Lantis agree to that? Surely me must… he would be so cruel if he said no. Why not give me to someone who actually desires me? Cold bitterness swept through her. I'll hate him so much if he denies me this…
She paused and knocked on the thick stone. When she looked down, she saw that the flowers here were more beautiful and grew closer together than out in the open field. Perhaps this had been a garden once, a garden that traced the entire length of the Forge. It may have been well kept once but, like the building, it had been allowed to ruin.
Her knuckles fell through open air and she glanced up. The wall had disappeared. Hikaru blinked. Yes, there was an opening here. Hadn't the wall been solid before? When she stepped back to look at it, she saw that there was now an opening only slightly taller than herself. She would have taken an oath that that opening had not been there before. She looked through it, curious. What could be inside? She wondered. Probably an old ruined courtyard, with dusty fountains and scraggly bushes…
She turned to ask Eagle about the wall and paused when she observed his expression. His jaw hung limp. He stared at her as if he'd never seen her before.
She frowned. "Eagle? Sir—"
"Come away," he said quickly. He leapt to his feet and ran to her. "Come away," he said again. He took her hand and pulled her away from the wall.
Hikaru was shocked. "But why? Is it dangerous? Are there monsters in there?"
He didn't answer her. He took up his cloak and pulled her through the open glen. The two plowed back through the thick underbrush. After a moment, Eagle took her up again into his arms, slashing at the brambles that reached out to snag at them.
"What is it?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?"
Eagle was muttering to himself. Hikaru couldn't quite make out his words, but he said something to the effect of only one person in all of Cephiro being able to open that door.
She clutched at him, growing angry. What was his problem? Why did they have to run away like this? And why wouldn't he answer her?
After ten minutes of silence, they finally broke through the thick brush and stood in the thin smattering of trees on the outskirts of the castle. Hikaru blinked in the sunlight. Were there figures standing there against the hills, or was it a trick of the light?
Eagle brought her towards them and when she squinted, she saw that a small group of soldiers was standing in the clearing. They looked different from the other soldiers she'd seen. They wore bright cloaks and had little armor on. Standing among them was the tall, imposing figure of the Prince.
"Lantis!" Eagle called, waving to his comrade. The Prince turned and nodded curtly at them.
"Eagle," he said quietly as they drew nearer. "I thought I might find you here. Taking a stroll through the Forest of Silence?"
Eagle smiled at his Prince, placing Hikaru gently on the ground beside him. "Yes. On such a lovely day as this, what do you expect?"
Lantis glanced briefly at Hikaru's shivering frame. "Thank you for attending my girl today," he said.
Eagle gestured dismissal. "I'm always honored to care for the pretty palace slaves. Especially yours, Highness." Hikaru studied his face, seeing that the anxiety which had been present there only moments before was completely gone. What had happened?
Hikaru looked up at her Prince. He was looking back at her with an unreadable expression. She blushed darkly and stared at her feet, feeling great misery steal upon her. So ended her wonderful day out on the grounds with this kind new man… now she would go back to the castle, hidden away in the Slave Halls, never to be attended by her Prince… She felt she could cry with despair and hatred.
Eagle nodded at the soldiers standing around them. "Your Mage Knights in training?"
"Yes. I'm sending them out to hunt monsters today. They're all too idle as of late." He gave his men a sharp look and they all stood stiffly at attention, scolded like children. "Go," he said to them. "Do not come back without the head of a monster in your hands."
"Hai, Kailu-sama!" they chorused, and turned and trotted off into the woods.
Kailu, Hikaru thought. So, then, he's a general of sorts, as well as being a Prince? A trainer of… Mage Knights?
Again, as if he'd read her thoughts, Eagle said, "Your Prince here is the foremost Mage Knight in the land."
Lantis shrugged as if it were of no great significance to him. He motioned to Eagle. "I hate to interrupt your frolic, but I'd like you to go see Captain Lafarga, if you don't mind. He's with my other men now, and he has need of you."
Eagle, for a brief moment, looked torn. He gave Hikaru the smallest of glances. "Yes sir. If it's all right with you, I… well, there's something I'd like to speak to you of later."
Lantis frowned. "Can't you talk with me now?"
"No... It's something I'd prefer to divulge in private."
"Very well. Go and attend Lafarga, and I'll send for you later."
"What of the girl?"
"I'll take her home, now. I may retire for the day."
Hikaru watched her pale Prince walk away with a sad look on her face. All sunlight seemed to go out of the day. Everything now seemed dull and wan. Lantis was looking at her now, and she couldn't bring herself to stretch her mouth into something even resembling a smile. She rubbed her bare shoulders and wondered miserably whether or not the Prince would banish her back to the Slave Hall.
"Did you have an enjoyable afternoon?" Lantis asked suddenly.
Hikaru blinked. Did he only feign interest in her activities or was he genuinely interested in whether or not she'd had fun? "Y-yes… Highness…"
The Prince was squinting at the castle in the distance. "I thought you might like a reprieve from the close confines of the Slave Hall."
You thought right, she thought bitterly.
The large man stepped towards her, and she shrank back a bit. "Come," he said. "You must return to the castle, but you need not go back with the other slaves. I have the time to attend you today, and so I shall." In one swift motion, Lantis picked her up as if she were light as a flower and placed her on one of his wide shoulders. She sat upon his armor like a small bird and swayed slightly from dizziness. She blinked down at his hair.
"Do people in this world think I can't walk?" she asked, irritated. "Why does everyone insist on carrying me everywhere?"
Lantis gave her a curious look. "Well, you're bare of foot…"
The redhead colored slightly, realizing she'd been impertinent. "I—well, the grass is soft, and I was raised like a boy anyway, so I always went everywhere barefoot..." The Prince only looked at her as if she'd spoken in another language. She sighed. "Never mind."
When she looked down at him, his lips were pursed and he was casting his eyes about nervously, as if trying to think of something to say. She was almost surprised. Did he feel awkward? Well, it was no wonder, with how little he was rumored to coerce with females. She suddenly felt angry. After all the time he'd left her alone, he could at least apologize for it or something!
She set her jaw and took to studying the field. If he insisted on perching her on his shoulder as if she were a parakeet, so be it. It may have felt awkward walking by his side anyway. He began the slow climb over the hills to the castle, keeping one arm securely on her hip. He said nothing to her. When she grew weary of staring at the fields, she chanced a glance down at his head. Sitting there on his shoulder, she felt so incredibly tiny! Her hips fit easily on his wide shoulder and she was sure, if he wanted to, that he could toss her over his head like a baseball and send her flying for leagues. Perhaps she hadn't noticed until just now just how immense he was. Tall, yes, but also very broad. She cautiously rested her elbow on his head for balance, and when he did nothing in response to it, she relaxed a bit. Her fingers rested in his hair. She observed its sharp darkness, like obsidian, and fine and shining like a black stallion's mane. Yes, he was very different from Eagle, whom she thought of as very beautiful. Lantis didn't have a beautiful face like Eagle's, or pretty eyes, but his jaw was strong and his face aquiline. She shivered suddenly; no need to look on this man any more than was necessary. She was his… pleasure slave. Soon, he would take what he wanted from her, if he wanted it at all.
Kami, is that where he's taking me? She worried. Is he bringing me to his rooms to…?
She was suddenly aware that he was peering round at her and straightened up a bit. "Are you hungry?" he asked. She gulped and shook her head. "Well, I plan on retiring for the day and will take dinner in my rooms. You may accompany me, if you'd like."
Hikaru felt her heart tighten in her chest. Rooms. Accompany.
"Oh," was all she managed to say.
He looked directly into her eyes. "What is your name?"
"Hikaru…"
"Hikaru? I am Prince Lantis, if you didn't know."
"I—I knew."
He nodded curtly. "I'm sure you could tell this when we first met, but I don't agree with the slave system in this land. My brother and his wife enjoy it, as does most of my court, but I rarely partake. I took you because I would have hated to see you go to a lesser man." He frowned. "Beauties from the other world, like you, don't deserve this treatment."
Hikaru didn't know what to say. Was he trying to engage her on conversation, to inquire as to what she thought of the situation, or was he only thinking out loud, or trying to justify his actions?
"I see," she said finally.
He tightened his hold on her as they ascended the castle steps and said, "Have no fear; I shall treat you with courtesy, as a woman, and not as a slave. Though you're pledged in service to me, I will treat you as an equal. Keep in mind, however, that before my court, you must be obedient and docile, as a slave should be." The frown deepened. "It's expected, and I can do nothing about it." When she was silent, he looked at her and said, "You may speak."
Hikaru sighed. She'd speak her mind, punishment or no. "If you're the Prince and you don't agree with the system, then send me back. Send us back. We should be in our own world, not slaves in this one!"
He shook his head. "There is nothing I can do about that."
Hikaru bit her lip and did not reply. So there really was not hope of leaving this world. If the Prince himself would not help her, who would?
Tears welled in her bright eyes and she squeezed them shut, banishing them. She didn't want him to see her cry. But the tears came anyway, and as they rolled down her round cheeks, she sobbed quietly.
Lantis paused suddenly. A tear had fallen on his cheek. He lifted a hand to wipe it away and looked up at her. His eyes, for the first time, reflected wonder. Hikaru turned away.
"Come now," he said softly. He slipped her from his shoulder and held her away from him as if she were a doll. "None of that. No tears."
She shook her head violently, closing her eyes. "Forget it; just leave me alone, please."
"I won't do that today. Not today. I want you to accompany me." After a moment of staring into her tear-stained face, Lantis cradled her against him and continued on towards the castle. "This is the festival season," he said as they passed through the gates. "There will be shows and fairs, mock-duels and merriment. You may watch, if you'd like. In fact, I insist that you do. Come, to my chambers."