The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Princess and the Assassin, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

Chapter 5 - "You'll soon forget her."

"Lord Shishio, I am leaving your service."

Shishio silently surveyed his chief assassin, who stood in a relaxed pose, though his expression was hard and determined. "Are you?" he finally said, very calmly.

"Yes. I will not kill for you anymore." Battousai half-turned to leave, then paused to say coldly, "Have no fear for your throne. I do not intend to claim it, I simply wish to be left in peace. You will not hear from me again."

Shishio smirked at this. "Is that so." Then he sighed and shrugged. "Very well. I won't stop you. Enjoy your life with my sister, Battousai."

Battousai's hard gaze rested on him for a minute longer. Then he closed his eyes, gave the slightest of bows, and walked away.

"Shishio-sama!" Houji burst out the moment the door had closed, unable to keep silent any longer. "You're letting him go?!"

Shishio grinned. "Of course. No sense keeping him here against his will, after all."

"But-!"

"Shut up, Houji." Shishio got to his feet, and gestured for a traveling cloak to be brought to him. "I'm going to Faerie. Houji, look after things here."

o.o.o.o.o

Tomoe wasn't in her room. By the time he finally tracked her down in the royal gardens, Battousai was in too much of a hurry to even kick the carnivorous flower that tried to take a bite out of him. "Tomoe, let's go," he said shortly, grabbing her wrist.

She pulled back, digging her feet in. "Wait, Kenshin."

"There's no time," he said urgently. "I just told Shishio I was leaving. We've got to get out of here now."

"You told him?" she exclaimed. "How could you do something so foolish?"

He paused long enough to glare, just a little. "I am not going to sneak away like a criminal who has something to be ashamed of."

"No," she said heavily. "You've simply traded our lives for pride."

"For honor," he corrected, "and our lives won't be on the line if we leave now."

"Kenshin, wait."

He was already pulling her away.

"Kenshin!" He didn't respond. So she narrowed her eyes and commanded, "Shinta, stop."

He jerked to a halt as if he had crashed into a wall. His face slowly turned to her, with a terrible expression on it.

"Don't look at me like that. You weren't listening to me."

"Tomoe," he said, visibly trying to keep calm. "We. Have. To. Leave."

"Kenshin," she said, "Enishi's not here yet."

He said nothing.

By this time, she was whispering, "Kenshin...I think he went somewhere with Shishio."

Battousai leaned over to put his face on her shoulder. Tomoe waited. Finally, he raised his head and said softly, "I'll look for him...but I must get you somewhere safe first. Do you understand?"

She swallowed nervously.

"Take this." He pressed a charm into her hand. "If the glamour's too much, this will dissolve whatever magic it touches."

"Kenshin..."

He kissed her cheek comfortingly. "Trust me. It will be all right."

o.o.o.o.o

It was not all right. Tomoe stood in the middle of the Seelie court like a hare trapped in a nest of snakes.

Titania laughed, from where she sat on her throne with handmaids draped lazily around the royal dais. "Don't be so nervous, dear. Come, sit by me."

There was almost nothing Tomoe would rather have done less, but Battousai pushed her forward, trying to be gentle. "It will be all right," he murmured again. "Wait here, I will return as soon as I can." When Tomoe was seated beside the queen, Battousai backed away from them, bowed, then turned and left the hall.

Musicians and other performers came to the center floor, taking turns at entertaining the queen. Titania laughed and clapped her hands to hear the songs she liked, frowned thunderously when a play displeased her, or made faces of delight or disgust when dishes of beautiful food were brought up for her to sample. Where her smiles fell, there was delight and profound relief; the merest creasing of her forehead struck terror into whatever poor soul was being tested.

Titania had been absently playing with a spring of hakubaikô in her hands. At one point, in order to taste a luscious-looking cake that was offered to her, she handed the blossoming little branch over to Tomoe. "Hold this for me a moment, will you, dear?"

Tomoe took it into her hands. The queen never asked for it back, having seemed to have forgotten it, and Tomoe herself soon lost awareness that she was holding it.

A bard stepped up to perform a ballad. With a mischievous spark in his eyes, he began the story of Tam Lin. "Oh I forbid you, maidens all, that wear gold in your hair-"

"No!" the court shouted back.

"Yucky!"

"Boo!"

They threw pieces of food at him, and since most of them were eating dessert by that time, he grinningly caught a handful of pudding and slurped it up. "I thank you, my kind audience, for your 'sweet' opinion of my performance!" This made them laugh, but all the same, they were pleased when he began Thomas the Rhymer instead, which cast their queen in a better light.

At one point, Titania glanced over at Tomoe. "That hakubaikô is lovely, dear. Why don't you put it in your hair? I'm sure Kenshin will like it."

Dreamily, Tomoe obeyed.

A little while later, Titania sighed. "It'll be a shame to lose my dear Kenshin to this silly elopement business."

Tomoe blushed. "I'm sure he'll still visit you, my lady."

"Hm." Titania sounded unconvinced. "Perhaps he will...while he's still able to, that is."

Tomoe looked at her with wide eyes. "What do you mean, my lady?"

The queen laughed. "My dear, do you really expect to be able to hide from Shishio for long? He'll track you down, you know. And Kenshin, for all his skill, won't be able to kill his old master and any minions he might have brought along, and be able to keep you safe. Either he'll die defending you, or he'll be so grief-stricken at your loss that he'll become quite boring, and I won't want him back anyway. Either way, I'll lose him."

Tomoe clapped her hands to her mouth. "Oh, that's terrible! Please, is there anything we can do?"

"Do?" Titania scoffed. "You can call off the whole business, of course."

Tomoe looked down at her hands unhappily. She really, really did not want to part from the love of her life. "Does such a place exist?" she begged. "Where can we go where Shishio won't find us?"

"He'll be able to find you anywhere," Titania pointed out. "Whether you will be safe or not - that is the real question."

Tomoe thought a moment, and a wonderful idea came to her. "Do you think," she asked breathlessly, "we could stay here?"

"Here?" Titania repeated, as if that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. "Me, the Faerie Queen, allow an Unseelie wench to bed the man I've had my eye on, here in my own home?"

Tomoe shrank away. "I'm sorry...I only thought..." She looked around, at the handmaids who were suddenly sitting up to watch their exchange. A few merely looked curious, but most of them wore oddly sorrowful expressions. "What if I was to become a handmaid?" Tomoe suggested shyly. "Like...like Junko-san...didn't you say you needed someone to replace her?"

Titania tapped one finger against her lip. "A ridiculous idea," she repeated, though her tone belied the words.

"I can be a better handmaid than them," Tomoe said eagerly, gesturing to the other maids. "The silly creatures never do a thing for you unless you make them. But I'll serve you well, I promise."

The handmaids were looking more and more anxious. One of them actually grasped Tomoe's sleeve pleadingly, but Tomoe, barely noticing her, simply shook her off.

Titania sniffed. "You, serve me well? Don't make me laugh."

"I'll prove it," Tomoe said defensively. "Let me make up your hair, my lady, and if you like it, I can show you some Unseelie glamour spells you might find amusing."

"Hah," Titania said shortly. "Very well, then. I'll humor you, girl, but it's only because I'm bored."

"Yes, my lady," Tomoe said quickly, and fetched a comb and some hair pins before settling herself behind the queen. Of course, in that position, she was unable to see Titania's triumphant smile.

o.o.o.o.o

Shishio materialized in the nearly empty throne room just as Enishi was passing through it on his way out. "Niisan!" Delighted, Enishi ran to greet his brother. "I can't believe you're here!"

"I'd never miss an opportunity to pay my little brother a visit," Shishio grinned, ruffling the boy's hair. "Where's Tomoe?"

"In the garden. I was supposed to meet her, but some punk insulted me just before I left, so I had to re-arrange his face first..."

"That's my boy," Shishio chuckled, and Enishi beamed. "Oughtn't you to hurry on to sis, then? Don't want to keep her waiting, do we?"

"Aw, it's not important," Enishi said carelessly. "She wouldn't even tell me anything, I bet she just wants to look at the moon or something. Wanna come with us, Niisan?"

"Unfortunately, I've got some business to settle with Father," Shishio said smoothly. "Do you want to come with me?"

"And get to see one of your secret meetings?!" Enishi exclaimed, almost in raptures. "Boy, do I ever!"

"What about Tomoe?" Shishio asked slyly.

"Aw, she'll be fine, I'll give her some flowers or something later to make up for it." Enishi wrinkled his nose, having no clue why his sister liked those disgusting things so much.

The meeting turned out to be incredibly boring. Oberon and Shishio lounged around, smoking and laughing and occasionally talking about plans that sounded like code to Enishi. The boy was quite disgusted with himself to blink and realize he had been asleep. His father and brother were getting to their feet, shaking hands and acting as if they were about to leave.

"Niisan! Father! What did I miss?!"

"Oh, nothing important," Oberon said carelessly. "We were just negotiating over the payment of a new batch of admantine. You have a nice nap, son?"

"I was just resting my eyes," Enishi said hotly. "Hey, when do I get an admantine sword?"

"When you're a man," Shishio smirked. "At your genpuku, Enishi, I'll be watching."

Enishi gasped, his eyes widening. "I won't disappoint you, Niisan!" he cried enthusiastically.

"Mm." Shishio's eyes fixed on something behind Enishi, and he smirked. Then he returned his attention to the boy. "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to be off again, kid. Make me proud, all right?"

"I will, Niisan!"

Shishio turned and left, raising a hand in farewell without bothering to look behind him. Oberon stretched his arms over his head and yawned, then went his own way. Enishi, left alone in the council room, was startled when a figure stepped out of the shadows. "You!"

"Enishi," Battousai said quietly. "Tomoe was worried about you."

Enishi shrugged. "I'm not a baby. She doesn't have to be looking out for me all the time." He frowned. "Why're you here, anyway? I thought Neesan dumped you."

"Please come with me, Enishi. Your sister is waiting."

"Come where?" Enishi asked suspiciously.

Battousai hesitated. "Enishi...if there is anything you would like to bring with you, please fetch it now. We have no time for delay."

"First tell me where you want me to go," Enishi said stubbornly.

Battousai seemed reluctant. "I will tell you on the way."

Enishi planted his feet and crossed his arms. "Tell me now."

The assassin frowned. "Tomoe is at the Seelie court. She wants-"

"WHAT?!"

"Enishi-"

"YOU TOOK MY SISTER TO THE SEELIE COURT?!"

"It's all right-" Battousai could not finish, since he found himself having to defend against an enraged child. The boy's language was rough enough to take the skin off a weaker Seelie's ears.

"I'll kill you!"

Battousai finally knocked the bokutô out of the boy's hands and grabbed his arms. Enishi then resorted to kicking.

"Yukishiro Enishi!" Battousai cried in exasperation, "Will you just listen for a minute?"

The boy froze. It was not a command, and even if it was, he was not bound to obey since his secret name remained safe. However, the fact that someone outside the royal family knew their surname...

"Enishi, listen. I took your sister away - she is never coming back here again. But she is asking for you, so please come."

"What did you do to my sister?" Enishi asked in a low voice.

"Nothing," Battousai said quickly. He could not elaborate, however, because at that moment, Shishio came back.

Battousai quickly stepped away and watched with guarded eyes as his old master entered the room and strolled over to the table. "Forgot my pipe," he explained leisurely, picking up the item and tucking it into his robes.

"Niisan!" Enishi burst out. "This guy...!"

Shishio glanced over at the assassin. "What are you still hanging around here for, Battousai? Had second thoughts about leaving my service?"

"No," Battousai said sharply.

"Mm. Get out, then. I'm sick of looking at you."

Battousai's eyes slid to the boy. "Enishi..."

Shishio's voice was soft and deadly. "Do not speak to my brother, or I will kill you. Which I might do anyway, if you're not out of my sight in five seconds."

For a moment, the room was still. Then Battousai bowed his head and melted back into the shadows.

"Niisan," Enishi said urgently, "he did something to her! He did something to Neesan!"

Shishio sighed heavily. "What an observant young man you are, Enishi. Even so, such a thing is not fit for a child's ears."

"I'm not a child!" Enishi shouted. "Don't coddle me! Do you know?! What'd he do to Neesan?! Where is she?!"

Shishio gazed at him for a while before answering. Every second was a torment to the boy. "Listen, then. I have something very unpleasant to tell you, Enishi."

"What? What?!"

"Well. It's about our sister. You've seen how unhappy she is, right?"

"She's always a drip. I try to make her smile - what, is it my fault that all she likes is flowers or that redhead or stupid stuff like that?" he said hotly.

"Haha...Enishi. What makes you think she likes Battousai?"

"Come on. They can't get enough of each other. They're together all the freaking time, they're lovers."

"They're lovers?"

"Are you blind or something?"

"Have you ever seen them in bed, Enishi?"

"Heheh...no. But Shigure said he has a plan to sneak around to-"

"Have you ever seen them kiss? Or even hold hands?"

"..."

"Tomoe doesn't look exactly happy when she's with him, does she."

"No...she never does."

"That's because she isn't. It's obvious she doesn't spend time with him willingly."

"She...she doesn't?"

"Grow up, Enishi. Tomoe is the only legitimate daughter of Oberon. Do you think she'd be stupid or carefree enough to fall for the grandson of Titania?"

"But...but then why-"

"Enishi. Why did Shigekura work so hard to win Tomoe's hand?"

"I dunno. Thought he was showing off."

"You really are young, aren't you. Figures you'd be so oblivious."

"No! I'm not, I'm old enough! It's because...it's because..."

"Tomoe is the princess of the Unseelie court. In the highly unlikely event that anything should happen to me, or in the much more likely event that something should happen to you, then Tomoe's husband would be heir to the throne. Now put two and two together, before I lose my patience."

"No, wait! I- You mean Shigekura was gonna kill me?!"

"Enishi, forget Shigekura, he's dead. The problem here is Battousai of the Seelie."

"He...he's gonna..."

...

"Are you finished cussing yet?"

"No!"

"*sigh*"

...

"...and he's just - using Neesan?"

"Enishi, do you think any man could seriously be interested in such a grim-faced, humorless woman? She may be beautiful on the outside, but - that's it. She is a princess; aside from that single fact, she has nothing to attract a man except her body."

"...N...Niisan..."

"Haha, why are you looking at me like that? I said they weren't lovers. Did I ever say he wasn't sleeping with her?"

o.o.o.o.o

It was no use. Tomoe was going to have to convince the boy herself, or they would be forced to leave him behind for good.

Battousai burst into the Seelie court, but his urgency was forgotten as he was greeted by the sight of Titania, her flowing golden hair done up in odango buns and long pigtails, holding something bright red in her hands. The queen looked up at Battousai, smiled, and let the object vanish away to some secret place. "So lovely to have you join us again, Kenshin."

Tomoe whirled at the sound of his name and joyfully ran to throw her arms around him. "Oh, Ken-chan!" she laughed. "It's so wonderful! I am to serve the queen as her handmaid, and we'll be safe here forever and ever!"

Battousai stared at her in the utmost horror. With shaking fingers, he reached for the sprig of hakubaikô in her hair and gently pulled it away. His hand suddenly tightened, crushing it, but that only raised the scent even stronger. Sick at heart, he flung it away from him.

For a long time, there was no sound. Titania and the court were watching him, listening to each pained breath he drew, waiting for the moment when his shadowed eyes would gleam with fury. Tomoe herself stood utterly still, clinging to him, face hidden as her clouded mind began to clear. She could remember no specifics, but was fully aware that something terrible had happened in Battousai's absence.

"Tomoe," he finally said. His voice was low, chilling in its grief. "You have already...undertaken the ceremony?"

"Yes," she whispered. She stood there rigidly, all her willpower focused in keeping the tears in check. "K...Kenshin...what...?" She couldn't ask, because she almost didn't want to know.

Battousai finally lifted his face, and at the sight of that mask of rage, the fae began to shriek in terror. Most of them fled; only the most formidable warriors closed in around their queen, grim-faced as they readied to battle their own prince if need be. Titania alone remained calm, even smiling a little curiously as she looked at her grandson. "Aren't you pleased? Your precious Tomoe is safe now. I won't ever let an Unseelie lay a hand on one of my maids."

Tomoe thought of Junko, and knew that such a promise was worth nothing.

"How...could you..." Battousai whispered. Then he flew at her, tossing her guards aside like they were rag dolls. His hands had seized her by the throat; he nearly shook her, the fury was so strong. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!"

The game was over. Her eyes blazed in outrage, and she cast him away from her with such force that when he hit the opposing wall, it cracked instantly into a web-like pattern. "You dare to treat me so, Shinta?" she hissed. At the sound of his secret name, though spoken so that no one else heard, he gasped; for with it came a shock of pain, burning his throat and shooting throughout his body in fierce waves. He gagged and clawed at his own neck, unable to breathe, but there was nothing to pull away.

"I am queen here. This is my realm. You of all people should know well what happens to those who fall out of my favor," she hissed.

He cried out as his birthmark throbbed fiercely, then dropped to the floor, suddenly released.

Tomoe ran to help him up, but he pulled away from her as if he could not even bear the nearness of her presence. Her voice was shaking as she tried to say, "Kenshin...what does it mean? What does it mean that...that she - took my heart?"

His voice was hoarse as he answered, "It means we can never be together." As soon as the words were spoken, he raised anguished eyes to hers and reached to envelop her tightly in his arms. "Tomoe...Titania is a jealous queen. She cannot bear the thought of rivalry, especially among her own maids. Tomoe, you were- are loved by the same man she also desired..." He turned furious eyes to Titania. "Did you laugh, Your Majesty, when you saw the opportunity to trap such a woman under your power?"

"No," the queen replied coolly. "That would have given it away."

"I don't...understand," Tomoe said softly.

Titania was laughing again, though fury still burned hotly in her expression. "That's because you are stupid, little Unseelie wench. Listen, then - what my grandson so charmingly cannot bring himself to say is that my handmaids, once they have given over their fleshly hearts and are bound to me, cannot lie with a man." Then she giggled. "Or, well, they can, if they are willing for that bed to be their dying-place. But don't worry, Tomoe-chan! You may without fear take your pick from the women of my court, should you have the inclination!" She was laughing, but she was the only one. The soldiers were watching Kenshin warily; the handmaids who remained looked tired and depressed.

Tomoe felt sick. She suddenly knew that Junko had not died from the violence of the crime against her...she had died from the enchantment laid on her by her own queen. "You would do such a thing to me..." she whispered, unable to finish.

There was no mirth about Titania now. "I hate you. I've hated you from the moment you set your filthy sorceress eyes on my beloved, from the moment I realized you meant to ensnare him."

"I meant no such thing," Tomoe said tightly. "If you think I planned to fall in love-"

"Love!" Titania cried. "Love! It means nothing! A human invention to soothe their crazed, frightened hearts! The way of a woman with a man is to desire his body, to make use of it while her passion is hot. You thwarted me, Kenshin - over and over you turned away from me, and my desire grew all the more; but then to fix your eyes on another woman! An Unseelie! To spread your seed, I could understand; a dalliance here and there, I could forgive. But Kenshin! You were going to marry her!"

The queen was practically screaming now. "The fae do not marry! The fae are not fools to bind themselves so! If you were a fickle man whom I could trust to come back to me, even then it would have been allowed; but I knew-"

"You knew what?" His voice was deadly. "You knew that if I pledged myself so, I would hold to my word? Yes. That is true. However..." He gently took his arms away from Tomoe and nudged her behind him. The look on his face nearly sent chills down Titania's spine. "It doesn't matter."

Titania sucked in a breath.

"My fidelity to Tomoe would have made no difference in this regard, Grandmother." The last word he spoke with such careful emphasis that Titania cringed, knowingly exactly what he was going to say.

"Kenshin," she said quickly. "Don't you understand? Perhaps mortals have silly taboos for their own good; their world is so different, it is only to be expected. But we of the fae, Kenshin! We of the immortals, the Fair Race - we come not under the same authority, we have no one to answer to for our acts of 'good' or 'evil' - we cannot sin, for there is no sin for us; what we do, we do."

"Who are you," he said quietly, "to declare such a thing?"

Her temper flared again. He closed his eyes against the heat of her reactive magic, lifting an arm to shield Tomoe from it as well.

"I AM THE FAERIE QUEEN, INSOLENT BOY!"

He said nothing, until her rage died down enough for his voice, soft as it was, to be clear. "So?"

One word. A single word, yet it threatened to shatter the very ground Titania stood on. "I am-!" she cried out in terror.

Very deliberately, he bowed. "You are my honored grandmother. As such, the thought of relations with you has always been...sickening."

She would have killed him then. She would have regretted it later, but in that moment, she very well would have killed him, if her people hadn't come running back into the hall.

"My Lady!"

"Your Majesty!"

The returning handmaids flung themselves at her feet and clung to her skirts. The little skittish fae danced about as if they were mad, and the more dignified members of the court held out their hands beseechingly to the queen.

"We thought he was only a child, but already he has cut down four of the guards-!"

Titania swept into the outer courtyard, where a blood-spattered boy with silver hair stood above a handful of silent bodies. His feet were firmly planted, his knuckles white with the force of gripping the handle of an admantine sword that was much too heavy for him. His breath came harshly, and his eyes were wild; Unseelie magic crackled dangerously around him.

"Enishi!" Tomoe cried.

His eyes snapped to her at once. "Neesan," he sobbed in relief. Then he caught sight of Battousai, and his eyes went huge. "YOU!" he screamed, and charged straight at the assassin.

It took two strokes to disarm him, and then Battousai, eyes glittering, held a sword pressed hard against the boy's throat, since it was the only effective way to keep him still in such a rage.

"Kenshin," Tomoe said in alarm, but fell silent when he raised his free hand.

"Have you finally come to join us?" Battousai asked coldly. "The situation has changed...quite dramatically, but it is no fault of yours. I will guarantee your safety here until-"

"GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!"

"Enishi!" Tomoe cried, horrified at the sight of the blood spilling down her little brother's throat from the pressure of his voice against the blade. If Battousai fought with mythril rather than steel, the boy would be dead.

Startled, Battousai withdrew his sword slightly, and without hesitation, Enishi snatched the second blade from Battousai's waist and attacked. The assassin was too surprised to do more than instinctively defend, but in the next moment, the court was upon them. Furious, vengeful fae dragged Enishi off their prince and ripped the weapon from his hands; blows rained down as he was thrown against the wall, and blades more deadly than Battousai's were unsheathed.

"Enishi!" Tomoe screamed. "Kenshin, please!"

Battousai plunged into their midst, trying to fight his way to the boy, but to his frustration, his legs seemed to be moving as if he was in a dream rather than in the waking world. "Let go of him!" Battousai thundered. "Do not lay a hand on the boy!" They didn't seem to hear, and Battousai suddenly realized that it was an enchantment making his limbs sluggish and his voice unheard.

He looked over his shoulder to see Titania watching calmly, smiling a little when she caught his look, her fingers working lazily to weave the binding spell around him. "Rrrraagghh!" He shouted, drawing on his magic, but it could not break the power of the Faerie Queen herself.

Tomoe had not waited passively by. She herself was shoving her way through the seething crowd around her brother, and she reached him only just in time.

"N...Neesan," he whispered. He reached up his arms to her, heedless of the blood running down his face and smearing his shoulders.

"Enishi," she cried, wrapping her arms around him protectively.

The first of the mythril blades descended. Enishi nearly choked on his own horror; he burst free of his sister's arms and charged wildly at the soldier who had done it, but the man simply back-handed him across the face. The boy crashed into the wall, his head knocking against it with a sickening crack, and slumped unconscious next to his sister's fallen body.

"TOMOE!" Battousai screamed. His shout broke through the madness for just a moment, and the fae turned to him in surprise.

"Kenshin?"

"Sorry..."

"She got in the way!"

"She's only an Unseelie, Ken-kun."

His magic was practically burning, raging so hotly that even his own people flinched away from it. His savage cry tore the air, mingling with the shattering sound of Titania's spell as it broke. He threw himself down beside Tomoe, his fingers shaking as he touched her. The mythril poison was making its way swiftly through her body; she would be dead within minutes. If only she were Seelie, or even human...

Battousai whirled to face the queen. "Grandmother! Give her my mortality!"

"No," Titania said flatly.

"Grandmother! She's dying."

"Yes. That's the point, Kenshin."

"Grandmother! I beg you!" He rose and held out his hands beseechingly. Something glowed between them: a ball of white light, in which swirled threads of gold. It was the essence of his mortality, the mix of his human and Seelie blood.

The Faerie Queen looked into the face of her grandson and, perhaps for the first time, she saw past the handsome features to the person he was beneath. She saw his heart...his love...his compassion. She also saw the loneliness and betrayal and desperation. It was so difficult to look into that face and refuse such an appeal - but she hardened her fey heart and did so. "I care nothing for the girl's life. Let her die. You'll soon forget her."

His eyes narrowed. Titania's blood ran cold. In a hard voice that only the two of them could hear, he said quietly, "Elizabeth. Do it."

They shared a long look.

"I will never forgive you," Titania told him, equally quietly. Then she raised her arms and began the words of the spell.

To be continued...

Author's Notes: Let me point out that I personally do not agree with Titania at all, but as an author, you do not make your characters conform to your own beliefs, you let them tell their own story, and condone or disapprove of their words or actions elsewhere. This should be obvious (for example, it's crazy to think that any author would approve of the stuff that Shishio or Enishi do), but somehow it gets more delicate depending on the subject matter.

By the way, Shishio is lying about some things, of course. No one, Seelie or Unseelie, really understands Kenshin & Tomoe's relationship, or even cares; they all think what they want to think.

While planning this story, I was trying to figure out how things would work between Kenshin, Kaoru, & Tomoe. Sword/Rose didn't leave me a lot of elbow room; Kenshin and Kaoru had to marry with no hindrance from Tomoe, who also had a relationship with Kenshin in the past, but K&T somehow broke up and yet are still on good terms. Complicated - but the problem was solved when I remembered something I had watched about ancient Rome, how the virgin priestesses of Vesta were buried alive if they were caught with a man; I decided to adapt that idea. Which then left me with another problem, but you'll see the solution I came up with later.

I chose Elizabeth for Titania's secret name because the title character of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene is supposed to be modeled after Queen Elizabeth I of England.