The Faerie Chronicles of Kenshin & Kaoru: The Sleeping Prince, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 11 - In which the king and queen are at odds.
"'They'll turn me in your arms, lady,
Into an ask and adder,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I am your child's father."
Tam Lin
o.o.o
The two menservants, having asked one of the guards on night duty to wake them, crept through the corridors at about three o'clock in the morning. They reached the royal suite and were easily admitted by the sentries. In the front room, the men were startled to see only a male servant on duty (supposedly; the young man was fast asleep) until they remembered uneasily that the queen had chosen to sleep elsewhere this night.
Resolutely, they approached the bedchamber and turned the knob slowly, opening the door with utmost care so as not to make a sound. It took them a full five minutes. Then, nodding at each other, they lowered themselves to the ground and stole as stealthily as snakes across the carpet. When they reached the bed, they paused to listen. The king's deep, even breaths were just audible from behind the thick bed curtains.
In a sliver of moonlight, their teeth gleamed as they smiled at each other - for perhaps the first time ever, they had escaped detection. With extreme care, they rose and took their places, waiting for morning.
o.o.o.o.o
Titania leaned back against the luxurious mound of pillows at the head of her bed, her legs resting comfortably across Chou, who was snoring. She was tapping her knife gently against her lips as she sat thinking...
Kenji still had a heart, after all. Breaking one of the spells on him would rob him of it - but not breaking the other. Yes, it could very well work...the only trick was to find a way to do it without Kenshin or Enishi noticing.
o.o.o.o.o
The sensation of his head drooping down too far suddenly caused Fureddo to jerk awake, and his eyes flew open in horror. "Haari!" he cried, "Haari!"
The other manservant straightened at once, and noticed the early morning sunlight with dismay. "We fell asleep?!"
Cursing, Fureddo seized a handful of bed curtains and thrust them aside, to confirm that they had failed yet again. To his shock, a figure was revealed still lying face-down on the bed. At the intrusion of light and sound, the king, silently and without taking his face out of the pillows, reached for the curtains and yanked them closed again.
Fureddo and Haari gaped at each other. "What time is it?" Haari whispered finally.
His companion glanced at the clock. "Just past six." They stood quietly for a moment. Then their faces lit up with identical expressions of delight - At last! - and they nodded at each other. Together, they took hold of the bed curtains again and grandly flung them aside.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," Fureddo declared with relish.
"Go away," Kenshin mumbled.
"There is much to do today, Your Majesty," Haari said merrily, grasping him. Together, they hauled him upright, and he sat dully on the edge of the bed as Fureddo readied a set of fresh clothes and Haari brought a basin and towels for the king to wash his face and hands. Haari frowned when he saw Kenshin's expression, and some of the glee (at finally, finally, finally being allowed to do his job for once) died away. "Your Majesty?"
Kenshin sighed deeply and rubbed at his face. Then he stood. "You're right. There is much to do, that there is." He winced at the thought of all the work that must have piled up while he and Kaoru were gone.
He submitted quietly to being dressed, smiling a little at their obvious pleasure. At least someone was happy. They had been seeking to win at this game for years. At first, they had simply gazed with silent distress when they would enter his chambers, only to find him fully dressed and ready to go. However, after a while they made endeavors to get the better of him, waking up earlier and becoming more aggressive in their attempts; yet only very rarely had they managed to catch him long enough to ready him themselves. This was the first time any of them could recall getting through the process with no struggle.
"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Fureddo asked. Concern was beginning to sour the triumph, and he and Haari exchanged anxious looks as they worked.
"No," Kenshin said shortly, but offered no explanation.
Hesitantly, Haari asked, "Is it about the prince?"
Kenshin realized that he was going to have to draft an official announcement about that as soon as possible. Only those closest to him knew what had happened in detail. "Yes," he admitted.
"And," Haari added, even more cautiously, "the queen?"
For a minute, Kenshin didn't move. Then he slowly sank back down to sit on the bed, his head bowed. Would she have still hated him if he had told her truthfully, gently, in private? There was no way of knowing. He knew that what he had done to her in the past, what he had done to her now in Faerie, were unforgiveable.
"Your Majesty?" Fureddo ventured, his voice hushed.
Kenshin sighed. He was no longer in the Seelie court - he had work to do here. "Haari, send someone to see if Saitô's up yet; if not, send in one of the secretaries. It would be good to get today organized before-" He took a deep breath, thinking of having to face Kaoru again. "-before breakfast."
About an hour later, Kenshin, having discovered to his great puzzlement that the queen was taking breakfast in the grand dining hall for some reason, entered the echoing chamber and halted when he saw why.
Kaoru sat at the foot of the vast table (which was usually only used for banquets), surrounded by her maids and guards, and with the girls eating on either side of her. All the way at the head, a place had been set for (he assumed) himself. The servants at both ends were looking rather distressed, exchanging anxious looks between the queen and king.
Kaoru ate on, determinedly not looking at him, but behind her, Sanosuke indicated the two of them with an expression that made his opinion clear. Yahiko raised an eyebrow, and Sôjirô shrugged apologetically. There was complete silence except for the clinking of tableware and the chatter of the little girls.
Suzume saw him first. "Daddy!"
Kaoru noticed and made a grab for her too late - the child had already slipped to the floor and was toddling over to her father. "Suzu-" Kaoru started, then, "Ayame-chan!"
Kenshin stooped to take up his youngest daughter, and affectionately put his arm around the elder. "Did you sleep well?" he asked them.
"Hai, sou de-gozaru!" they chanted together, then shrieked with laughter at the imitation of their father's unusual speech.
He smiled, leaning his head against Suzume's and breathing in her warm, powdery scent. He had missed them so much... 'Never go away again!' Ayame had commanded yesterday. Though he had very much wished he could comply, he'd had a feeling that it would be best not to promise such a thing.
"Come sit with us, Daddy!" Ayame insisted.
He glanced at Kaoru's thunderous face and saw at once that such a thing was out of the question. "Not today, sweetheart." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, and set Suzume back on her feet.
"Why not?" Ayame insisted, but Kaoru was calling her back, and the girls reluctantly returned to her. They watched in confusion as Kenshin paced down to the other end of the table, where his own cluster of attendants began to serve him. One of the guards, Takasugi, gave Kenshin a look almost identical to Sanosuke's, which Kenshin ignored. He could hear the girls whining down at the other end of the table, though their words were indistinct. Then Ayame's voice soared up eagerly. "I know, I know! I'll go sit with Daddy, and you can stay with Mommy, Suzume!"
"No," Kaoru said at once. "I want both of you here."
"But Mommy," Ayame protested, "he's lonely!"
"She's right, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin called. "This one is quite lonely all the way up here."
"See?" Ayame said triumphantly.
"Ayame-chan," Kaoru started, but then Kenshin called to her again. He said nothing other than her name, but when she raised her head and reluctantly met his eyes, she shivered a little at his expression. To this one, do what you please; but do not use the children as weapons.
Kaoru swallowed. "All right," she said in a low voice. Then she shoveled more food in her mouth to stop herself from having to fake a smile.
"Yay!" Ayame cheered. "I'm coming, Daddy!" She carefully maneuvered both herself and her bowl down to the ground; when a servant tried to assist her, she held the bowl away and said politely, "Thank you, but I can carry it myself."
"Neechan!" Suzume said in distress when she saw her sister walking away from her. She wriggled to get down, but Kaoru held her, attempting and failing to speak through the mouthful of food. "Neechan!" Suzume cried again.
Ayame turned back. "No, Suzume! You have to stay there!" she scolded. "We have to share, remember?" Suzume sniffled and nodded. She knew the rules, when there was a toy both of them wanted and could not play with at the same time.
Kaoru leaned her forehead wearily against Suzume's dark hair; Kenshin stared down at his food without seeing it. Ayame was approaching, though. It took him longer than usual, but he did manage to find his smile and get it back onto his face before she came near enough to see.
"I came to sit with you, Daddy!"
"Thank you, Ayame-chan." One of the servants moved to help her into a chair, but Kenshin shook his head and lifted her into his lap instead.
"Oops! I spilled soup on your eggs!"
"That's all right."
"Are you gonna eat it anyway?" she asked eagerly.
"Should this one eat it anyway?"
"Do it, do it!" She took her spoon and scooped up a bite of miso-soaked eggs, which she held invitingly to his face. As he accepted the morsel, chewing and swallowing without noticing the taste, he gazed at her beautiful, bright little face.
"Ew!" she shrieked in delight. "I can't believe you did that!"
He kissed the top of her head. "There is not much this one wouldn't do for you," he murmured.
"Daddy," she wanted to know, as she turned back to her breakfast, "When is Niisan gonna wake up?"
There was a sudden motion at the other end of the table. Kaoru was walking out, carrying a somewhat distraught Suzume.
Kenshin watched them go. "Soon," he prayed.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: "Fureddo" and "Haari" are what you get if you transliterate the names "Fred" and "Harry" into Japanese and then back into English (as close as I can figure, anyway; my katakana skills are not the best).