The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Useless Sword and the Enchanted Rose, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 4 - Master & Servant
Author's Note: Ô means "king" in Japanese.
o.o.o
"So the king recognized you."
"...Yes."
The sly mouth grinned. "No wonder, with that ugly thing plastered across your face."
It was late. The two men stood in the darkened, empty throne room, the last place anyone would have expected to find foreigners plotting treachery.
"Well!" Shishio laughed cruelly. "Looks like you'll have to kill the king after all, Battousai."
There was a stunned pause from the assassin. "What?" he finally managed.
"Surely it can't have escaped your notice that you're my rival now. Or would you rather die instead?"
Battousai took his time before answering. "I am no rival. I was not aware that the king knew me from before...but I have spoken with him. He knows now that Himura Kenshin is long dead."
Shishio rolled his eyes. "Right. That makes such a difference, doesn't it." Then his voice hardened. "Do it, Battousai. Either your life or his, I really don't care. This country will be mine in the end - whether I inherit it legitimately, or take it by force in the wake of its ruler's death."
After a moment of no response, Shishio laughed. "Perhaps you need time to think. I'll tell you what - see that rose over there, illuminating this black chamber with its rosy lustre?" The poetical turn of phrase dripped mockingly from his lips, so he was annoyed when Battousai appeared to take him seriously.
"A fey thing, that. The princess is fortunate that the attention of the Fair Ones is favorable."
Shishio made a contemptuous noise through his teeth. "Yes, that magic flower everyone here is so in awe of. You see how it's already wilting? You have until the last petal falls. Bring me the head of this land's king, or leave your corpse where I can find it."
Battousai closed his eyes. "What of the princess?"
"What about her?" Shishio said carelessly.
"Your...bride...will weep if she loses her father."
Shishio snorted dismissively. "What does that matter to me? Once I get a male heir out of her, you can screw her yourself for all I care. Is that what you're getting at?"
There was a slight rustling as Battousai reached for his side, forgetting that he had surrendered his weapons upon entering the castle. The empty gesture made Shishio laugh again.
"They're not there, Battousai - luckily for you. If you had drawn a blade on me, there would have been no need to wait for that last petal." He pushed away from where he had been leaning against the wall and left the room.
When the sound of his retreating footsteps had faded, there was silence for a long time. Then a whisper echoed through the darkness. "Kaoru-hime...forgive me."
o.o.o.o.o
The king looked up in surprise when Sôjirô and Sanosuke were bowed into his chambers. "What's this? Why aren't you performing your duties?"
Sôjirô inclined his head respectfully. "Forgive us, Kamiya-Ô, but we have something to inform you of, and neither of us trusted the other to tell it right."
Sanosuke folded his arms. "Hmph. What with you sticking up for that swordsman half the time, you'll be convincing the king to let him roam free or something."
"In any case," Sôjirô continued, ignoring him, "we left young Yahiko in our place, so the princess is not completely undefended."
The king gave him a severe look. "You left my daughter in the care of a kitchen-boy," he growled.
Sôjirô smiled. "He is young, but you have seen his passion, Kamiya-Ô. Already he has skill enough to impress even me."
"All the same," Sanosuke pointed out, "he wouldn't last two seconds against someone like that Battousai. Tell the king our news so we can get back."
When they had finished speaking, the king sat silently for a moment, his face grave. Then he sighed. "So young Himura is in the service of Shishio, who seems to have been plotting treachery." He shook his head. "I can't say I'm surprised. And I did wonder why it took so long for Kenshin to resurface, if he had been alive all this time."
Sanosuke grinned and pounded his fists together. "So we can take 'em out tonight, then?"
The king frowned, and for a long time did not answer. Sanosuke and Sôjirô exchanged glances.
Finally, their master spoke. "No. I can't believe that the Himura line would end like this...and now, having spoken with Kenshin himself, I am certain it would be a mistake to kill him." He smiled a little as he said again, "No. Keep your eyes open, certainly, for I can't deny that our lives are in danger. However, this is not a matter to be resolved by hasty measures." Then, almost to himself, "I shall try to speak to the enchantress again..." He nervously ran a hand through his hair, then realized that Sôjirô and Sanosuke were still standing there. "If you have nothing else to add, you may be dismissed."
The two young guards bowed and left the room, neither of them giving voice to their lingering dissatisfaction. They did not even bother to argue as they returned to the princess's suite, sending Yahiko back to the kitchens and resuming their places outside Kaoru's door.
They had not been there long when a figure approached through the dark hall, bearing no light. Sanosuke growled and clenched his fists when he saw who it was, and Sôjirô laid a hand on his sword-hilt.
"How'd you get up here?" Sanosuke demanded. "This is a private wing!"
"What do you want?" Sôjirô asked, a bit more usefully.
"I need to speak to the princess," Battousai said quietly. "Face to face, a message will not do. If you will not allow me to enter, at least ask her to come out."
"Not a chance," Sanosuke snapped.
Sôjirô concurred. "Battousai, you must admit that you no longer have any legitimate excuse to come near her."
"Then you are not letting me through?" Battousai confirmed. He looked at their hostile expressions and nodded. Then his eyes slid to the door, and a thoughtful look crossed his face.
o.o.o.o.o
"What a day," Kaoru grumbled, getting ready for bed later than usual. After supper, she had had to wait for her father to end his serious-looking conversation with Battousai, all the while fending off the unease she felt in the presence of her future husband. Then she had finally cornered her father to question him about the red-haired warrior, and what he had told her gave her quite a bit to think about.
Despite her unhappy preoccupation, it was nice to be able to relax in front of the fire, enjoying the feel of the brush young Tsubame was carefully running through her hair. One of the other maids, Tae, looked over from where she was preparing the bed. "I'm sure it must have been difficult, Kaoru-hime. Returning from your journey, and then having to face Lord Shishio again..."
"Why does no one ever call him 'King' Shishio?" Tsubame asked curiously.
"Because he's not really a king, even if he has ruled that country for over twenty years," Kaoru explained darkly. She noticed with disgust that she had spoken in a mutter, as if she had been afraid Shishio could hear her through the thick stone walls. So she added in a louder voice, "He's a usurper - some nobody who raised an army of thugs and conquered his own country. He just killed the royal family and took over."
Before she could say more, she was distracted by a sound from outside. It was a sort of desperate wailing, muffled but unmistakable.
"What's that?" Tsubame asked fearfully.
"It sounds like a child crying," Tae said in puzzlement. "Perhaps one of the servants' children has gotten lost."
"Or maybe Sanosuke's picking on the poor kid," Kaoru growled. She stood up and went to the outer door of her suite, flinging it open to reveal the source of the noise.
For a minute, she could not make sense of what she was seeing. That...that couldn't be Battousai curled up on the ground, sobbing his heart out...could it?
At the sound of the door opening, Battousai quickly rose, wiped his eyes in a businesslike manner, and said before anyone could stop him, "Kaoru-hime, I beg an audience with you."
Kaoru gaped at him.
Realization hit her bodyguards at the same time. One of them burst into a string of profanity, the other into sincere laughter. "Clever, Battousai, to lure her out like that," Sôjirô remarked admiringly.
"Kaoru-hime," Battousai said again, those eyes of his fixed so intently on her face that she couldn't breathe for a minute.
"Um...er...fine. Come on." She went back inside, leaving the door open for the men to follow. She sat herself among her curious maids, her mind wildly casting back to the things her father had told her about the Himuras.
Sanosuke and Sôjirô planted themselves strategically, leaving Battousai standing alone in the middle of the room. He seemed tranquil enough, his hands loose at his sides. It was only his expression that was troubled, presumably from whatever he wanted so urgently to tell her.
"I'm listening," Kaoru prompted. By this time, she knew him well enough to add, "And if this is some abject apology you mean to give before trying to kill my father again, I swear I'll sic Sanosuke and Sôjirô-kun on you-"
"You could choose to marry me instead of Shishio."
They all stared at him, not sure they had heard right.
Well, at least the hardest part was over with. "Please understand, Kaoru-hime, that you are perfectly free to refuse. I have no right to such boldness...I simply wanted to offer you another option."
He could not look at her. His skin crawled at the thought of what he was doing, yet...he could not keep silent, either. His dignity was worth nothing; it was much more important that the princess realize she was not bound to a single course. He forced himself to continue. "Out of necessity you must marry to bring peace to your country. I would have kept silent if your suitor was an ordinary man. However...my master..." His voice shook with indignation, so that he abruptly fell silent.
For a moment, the room was still. Then, just as Sanosuke was opening his mouth to expel a disgusted tirade, Kaoru spoke. "There is another woman," she said softly. "I've seen her." Fury suddenly flooded her face. "A common prostitute, dogging his heels in my own father's castle! He'll get an heir from me and then go off to her bed every night, while I endure the knowing looks of strangers." Her own people were now staring at her in shock. Kaoru swallowed hard, turning frightened eyes to Battousai. "And...I heard screaming once, at night. The next morning, that scummy manservant of his appeared with bandaged hands. If he's...the kind of man who would..."
'Ah,' Battousai realized. 'That time...Houji's punishment for failure did not go unnoticed.' He blinked when Kaoru suddenly rose and came right up to him. "I would rather marry a nogitsune than Lord Shishio," she declared.
Then her expression changed. She gazed into his face for such a long time that he shifted uncomfortably. To his surprise, her hand came up to gently trace the blazing mark on his cheek. It was completely smooth, neither her fingers nor her eyes, now that she was so close to him, detected any unnatural puckering. "So it isn't a scar after all."
"A birthmark," he admitted softly. "The sign of my family's direct male bloodline."
"The Himuras," Kaoru finished. Her hand dropped. "And you are their long-lost prince, thought to have been slaughtered along with the rest of the royal family when Shishio Makoto rose up in rebellion."
"You have got to be kidding me," Sanosuke sputtered. "This guy is a prince? No way! No way, he's lying, any fool can see that!"
"Any fool," Sôjirô murmured thoughtfully. "Any fool like our king, perhaps? He had been on good terms with the Himuras, and would have recognized the mark of their heir."
The hope that had been struggling in Kaoru's heart suddenly burst free. She would not have to marry Shishio after all! Instead, she could choose to marry...her father's would-be murderer.
Her eyes narrowed. "So...what. I can marry a monster, who plots treachery even as he speaks peace. Or I can marry his slave, whose hands are stained with blood." She could not quite bring herself to speak of the coldness in Battousai's eyes, betraying a frozen heart underneath the polite surface. She did not want to think about what must have happened to turn Battousai into such a man, so carefully shielded behind the bloodshed.
"What exactly were you planning to do after the wedding, 'Prince Kenshin'? Lead our battered, exhausted troops in a renewed war against your master, a man whom your own people are too terrified to cross? Or did you just mean to get rid of my father as per the original plan, using me as your foothold in this country while you act as Shishio's puppet-ruler? What a wonderful choice, my fate has improved such a lot."
He inclined his head in acknowledgement of her words. "I realize how little I have to offer you, princess. Either way, your people will suffer; it's your own suffering that is at stake. You implied that you would rather marry anyone than Shishio - perhaps even a blood-stained slave like myself. The decision, such as it is, is entirely up to you." He bowed and showed himself out.
To be continued...