Destiny
Chapter 17
By Sakura aka Michelle
November 27, 2011
Walking with a painful limp was a tough challenge for Sakura and the fact that she has to keep a constant lookout for guards did nothing to improve the situation. She darted out of the physician's room when the coast was clear and hurriedly limped her way to the throne room, hoping to eavesdrop from the outside.
She was utterly dismayed when she spotted two guards at the door to the throne room, which made it impossible for her to eavesdrop at that same location. It would be disastrous for bother Syaoran and her should she be caught as a suspicious person within the castle wall. Who knew what would happen to her if she was captured? Sakura suppressed a shudder at the thought and retraced her steps while thinking of other alternatives.
She met no one else on her way back to the physician's room and she was rather surprised. She remembered that the whole castle was usually bustling with activities in every corner and there would always be people running about to fulfill their duties. So why wasn't there anyone around? The question kept swimming around in her mind but yet there was no answers.
Dropping back onto the bed that she had occupied earlier, Sakura began to ponder on the happenings within the castle. It really bothered her to learn that things were not the same as when she was young anymore. She was thinking so hard that she did not realize she was actually staring intently at one cupboard at the side of the wall. As if in trance, she hobbled towards the said cupboard and slid her palms over the surface and tried to remember something from her past that was reaching out to her.
In the next instant, Sakura was swinging the door of the cupboard wide open and staring at the contents inside; the huge cupboard was empty and wide enough for her to hide inside but that was not her intention. She reached into the musty cupboard and tested the back of it by knocking on the board. She was rewarded with a hollow sound which confirmed her suspicions.
Sakura took a step into the cupboard and tackled its back, rummaging the sides for some sort of mechanism and caught hold of small lever of some sort at the base of the interior. She gave it a mighty pull and the back of the cupboard creaked opened slightly. Sakura sneezed once as the accumulated dust for many years was blown out by a soft gust of wind from within. She then stood up and stepped into the back of the cupboard, which was wide enough for her to pass through, but not before she grabbed a lighted candle from the physician's room to guide her way in the dark tunnel that lay beyond the cupboard.
The special tunnel she was in at the moment was only known to members of the Royalty in the Kinomoto castle and the knowledge was not passed to any outsiders. It was to be used during emergencies and Sakura was taught the layout of the tunnel and where each tunnel was linked to when she was still young. She was glad the knowledge finally came in handy. The knight that had helped to save her when she was young did not know the existence of the tunnel; otherwise Sakura would have used it to escape safely.
Sakura turned melancholy at the thought of the past when the rebels had attacked the castle and caught everyone by surprise. She was picking some flowers alone in the garden outside when everything had begun. She still remembered the panic on the knight's face when he barged into the garden and whisked her away.
Is he still blaming himself for letting me go on my own? Sakura thought with a sad smile as she recalled Yoshiyuki saying that his father was grief-stricken. She made a decision to meet up with the older Yoshiyuki if she ever had the chance to do so and to thank him properly for trying so hard to save her life.
With the lit candle illuminating the tunnel, Sakura made her way slowly through the maze, carefully avoiding the numerous traps set in place to keep out any intruders. She then arrived at a forked road. From her memory, the one on her left would take her to the throne room while the one on her right would take her to the Prince's room. She recalled from Yukito's earlier words that Touya was alone in his room and trying to recover, Sakura made a last minute change to take a look at her brother first. And so, she took the right tunnel.
Sakura found the lever much faster this time round and gently pushed the concealed door open, making sure to minimize as much of the creaking sound as possible so that it would not alert the occupants in the room. This was just a precaution in case there were other people in the room. Yukito had actually said that the fake princess had really wanted to see her brother so she might actually be present.
She tested the door of the cupboard she was hiding and found that it could be opened relatively easily. Peeking at the inside of the room, she was astonished to see that Touya was not in the room as Yukito had said. The bloody uniform that his brother had worn earlier lay discarded on the ground beside the bed and Sakura's heart quickened at the sight of it. From the bloodstains, the wound was much more severe than she had initially thought. She began to worry about him even more.
The door to the room suddenly opened and Sakura hurriedly shrank further back in the cupboard. Her blood was pumping with adrenaline as she tried to calm her rising heartbeat. It was as if she had been caught at doing something bad. Taking a deep breath, she went forward to peep through the small opening again to see who the person was and visibly relaxed when it was Touya, who had his back facing her now.
She was about to step out of the cupboard and showed herself when Touya turned around. Sakura froze in her action as she openly stared at her brother's arms as he was wiping his forearms with a wet cloth.
Where is the wound?
Sakura blinked again and had to muffle her gasp of surprise with both hands. Then she had to hold on to the sides of the narrow cupboard to steady herself as onslaught on thoughts went buzzing in her mind.
He was cut! I saw it with my own eyes! And all those blood…
Touya 'nii-sama tricked me?
Physician Tsukishiro tricked me?
Why?
Doubts started to form within her mind and she was filled with dread; her conclusion was not a pleasant one. She hurriedly retreated back into the tunnel and broke out in cold sweat. She had to get to Syaoran and tell him about her newfound discovery and suspicion.
Sakura retraced her steps back to the forked road and took the left tunnel this time round which would lead her to a hidden door within the throne room. She was hoping she could get a chance to signal to Syaoran so that she could talk to him and relay what she saw.
In a matter of minutes, Sakura reached her destination. She pressed her ear against the door and frowned intently, trying to hear what was being said in the throne room. She was not disappointed; Syaoran's voice could be heard, as well as a woman's voice she could not recognize. However, it was definitely not her mother's voice as the one she was hearing right now had a shrill ring to it. Just hearing the sound of it irritated Sakura immensely, especially when she knew the lady was trying to get close to Syaoran. A spurt of jealously erupted from within her and she had to control herself from hurling herself into the throne room and drag Syaoran as far away as possible.
There were no other voices from within the throne room and Sakura assumed that they were the only two occupants. Therefore, she picked up the courage to open the door to take a quick peek. True to her assumption, Syaoran and a long haired lady were sitting on the throne but she could only see their backs since the door was right behind the throne. She noted with annoyance that the lady was clinging to his arm and sitting much too close to him to her liking. She decided that she disliked the lady immediately, not caring whoever she was.
Setting her annoyance aside, she needed to get Syaoran's attention. She could not help but overhear what they were talking about.
"My prince," the princess drawled out as she leaned her head against Syaoran's muscled arm. "What do you think about hastening our wedding ceremony? I want to fulfill Otou-sama's wishes as soon as possible."
"It is an honour," Syaoran replied after a momentary hesitation.
The princess pulled away from Syaoran with a squeal of delight. She gave Syaoran a tight hug and told him, "I will let Oka-sama know of this great news right away! She has been waiting for this day for so long!"
Syaoran let out a sigh of relief and visibly sagged in his seat. He almost jumped out of his own skin when he was suddenly tackled from his back and gagged when a manacle arm wound around his neck and tightened on his throat. "You agreed to marry her?" Sakura asked tearfully, choking back on her sobs that she could not hold back. "How could you do this to me?"
"What?" Syaoran exclaimed and paled when he realized Sakura had overheard their exchange. He hurriedly tried to explain the situation to her, lest she misunderstood his actions any further than this. "I was just trying to delay some time! In any case, I am engaged to Princess Kinomoto, who happens to be you! There is nothing going on between me and her!"
Syaoran had stood up and moved away from the throne and Sakura was still hanging onto his back. Her hold on him relaxed upon his declaration but a pout still remain upon her face, casting just a little bit of doubt on his words. "Nothing?" Sakura tested.
"Nothing! I swear!"
Sakura sighed and let her hands drop to circle his waist from the back. She leaned forward to touch her forehead to the middle of his back. "Promise me, don't let other girls get close to you…"
Syaoran blinked and a sly grin formed on his lips as she pulled Sakura to his front so that he could hug her back. "Are you jealous?" Syaoran whispered into her ear, sending little tremors coursing through her body.
The blush was instantaneous as Sakura tried to deny the truth. When it failed, she tried to change the topic and that was when she remembered the reason for her rush to see Syaoran. "Syaoran! I think Touya 'nii-sama is a fake too!"
Syaoran was taken aback and he frowned. "What made you say so? He seems genuine to me. Just look at the wound he suffered to bring you back here."
Sakura shook her head frantically and her grip on Syaoran's arm tightened in respond to her increasing panic level. "No! There is no wound! I saw it with my own eyes! If he is the real onii-sama, why did he have to pretend to be wounded right in front of me? I was pushed down the ledge. Did he order the attacker to do that just to get rid of me? Did he think that I am the fake princess instead? Why did he lie? Why did Physician Tsukishiro lie to me too?"
Syaoran could feel an impending headache washing over him as Sakura shot questions after questions at him. He had to take some time to digest all the questions that she had asked. "Sakura," he called and Sakura stopped talking immediately to look up at him. "Relax; it wouldn't be good to be thinking about so many things at once. Let's take this one step at a time shall we?"
"There is no time!" Sakura almost wailed, her hands fisted on his chest. "If this is delayed any further, you will be married to that princess in no time!"
"I will not marry her," Syaoran assured and tried to pull her into his arms again.
"How?" Sakura asked and tried to push Syaoran away. "She is the legal princess now while I am still a nobody. How can you be so sure of something that has yet to happen? Moreover, I have no proof to dispute that she is a fake princess while I am, in fact, the real one?"
"There will somehow be a way out of this mess," Syaoran said.
"The only proof of being Princess Kinomoto was the book…" Sakura started to explain but broke off mid-sentence when she heard footsteps outside the throne room. Her eyes widened in fear.
"It must be the princess," Syaoran guessed aloud as he sought for some place to hide Sakura away. He was surprised when Sakura pulled him towards the back of the throne and even more so when the hidden door opened under her nimble fingers. A second later, the both of them were safely hidden within the secret garden.
Chapter was released according to the schedule found at my site! You can check out the release schedule there! And... it would make me really happy to see some reviews. ^o^ Hope you enjoyed the chapter!