Chapter 6 - The Bleeding Wound

"I believe in the immortality of the soul because I have within me immortal longings" - Helen Keller

...

The celebration was in full swing when he slipped from the hall and made his way to a small room he had staked out for his own use while they remained where they were. With the death of their leader, as well as the threat of following him to the grave, the remaining members of the Hino clan had sworn their allegiance to him and thus by to the Queen herself through his own oath. They would not swear their oaths directly to her because she was Ookami. Given the gravity of the situation, and with personal assurances from Tooru, the Queen did not challenge the decision. The victorious army had moved into the city and had started to celebrate once the wounded were tended to and the few that perished were given a proper burial, Hino-san among them. The Queen, now housed within the very home of the clan leader they had displaced previously that day, sat in attendance of the more sedate localized celebration within the great room of the structure. The fact that anyone could celebrate what had been done today disgusted him. While the former King knew he had done what was required for their cause, it still sat very heavily with him that he had killed one of his own kind without even giving him the chance to defend himself. It was a cowardly act! his own words echoed in his mind even as he saw again Hino-san's head falling to hit the dirt and roll beneath the horse upon which still sat the decapitated corpse. Angrily he shoved clothes into the leather satchel along with an assortment of other items he'd need.

As soon as the fighting was over the soldiers had descended upon the town to seek out taverns and inns that afforded better sleeping accommodations than the tents they were used to. In addition to rooms, drink was also much in need, as was food. The army had been surviving upon military cooking which though it filled your stomach, left a great deal to be desired. Many an inn keeper or tavern owner would find themselves suddenly hard pressed to meet the demands of their customers though they were certain to try rather than pass up the extra coin they would receive in return. Tooru had kept his own troops from the celebration and set them up into groups to act as a policing force within the city. Too much alcohol mixed with years of prejudice and hatred was sure to ignite more than one fight. He had left orders to break up any brawls before people were killed. Anyone who drew a weapon was to be detained for the remainder of the night and then released in the morning.

The Queen, along with her advisors, generals and the captains of her forces and those that remained of the Hino clan, had retired to the former lord's estate for a more subdued celebration. Entertainment had been brought in and the wine had flowed freely. The choicest and most succulent foods were served to those in attendance. Tooru had sat and listened, speaking only when spoken to but nothing else. As the celebration wore on it had begun to grate on his nerves till such time as he could no longer abide staying there whereupon he had slipped away to his room to pack and leave.

"Was not the party to your liking," a soft feminine voice asked from the doorway behind him, causing his hands to cease their rummaging within the leather satchel which sat resting upon his bed. In it were fresh clothes, bandages, as well as trail rations and other items he might need while traveling.

Tooru stood up from where he had been leaning over the leather satchel but didn't turn around when he answered. "I was pleased to see my Queen enjoying herself," his tone holding the slightest traces of rebuke. The room was draped in darkness as he had not lit a candle, wanting to draw as little attention to himself as possible. Not that anyone would care or be sober enough to even notice!

Miki laughed from the doorframe she leaned against, her brown eyes traveling the expanse of his large shoulders just barely visible in the moon light that filtered in through the one opened window. The Queen licked her dry lips, tasting the remnants of the wine she had been drinking a little excessively earlier. "Surely you cannot begrudge our army a celebration after today's victory?" she scoffed in disbelief that he would take offense at such a small thing.

"I do not begrudge your army anything, my Queen," he told her before leaning down and looking in the bag once more. "If you find the need to celebrate something so c…" he stopped himself before he could finish the word cowardly. The act was mine and not hers or anyone else, he reminded himself. "Who am I to argue?" he concluded with, anger at himself in his final words. Turning he picked up a shirt he had set aside to change into and instead shoved it into the waiting bag. The sooner I leave the better, he reasoned fearing he would say something to offend the Queen, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

Miki arched a brow in confusion upon hearing the emphasis upon the army being hers and the anger in his tone. Her eyes glanced upon the bed and noted the traveling cloak as well as the satchel Tooru was currently looking through as if checking the contents to insure he had everything. "Are you going someplace?" she enquired, the humor dropping from her tone to be replaced by hurt confusion.

"North," he grunted out in way of response. "I need to scout out the next clan so that we can be ready for them." I can't remain here. Not after what I did. Not in his house! Even thinking about what he had done caused bile to rise in his throat. He, like all of his kind, was no stranger to death and killing. Over his long life he had lost count of how many men he had killed on the field of battle or even in single combat. Today had been the first time ever he had killed someone in the manner he had, and no matter the justification it did not sit well with his conscious.

"Send someone else," the Queen snapped at him matter-of-factly, suddenly not wanting him to go. The day's events had shown her just where his loyalties lie. She found that she was able to maintain a certain calmness when he was around her, and it was for this she told herself she didn't want him to go. The sudden tightness of her chest and the increased beating of her heart told her another story which she tried to ignore.

"There is no one else to send as they are all celebrating," he replied in a tense tone. "We were barely able to find enough sober men to set a watch this evening." With the majority of his own men working to ensure the safety of the citizens of the town itself he had to rely on her men to stand the watches around the perimeter of the town itself. "I fully expect half of them to have deserted their posts in favor of your celebration!" Tooru completed with, the anger clear in his voice. The touch of her hand upon the small of his back froze him in place. Even through the fabric of his shirt he could feel the coolness of her fingers as they hesitantly rested against him.

Emboldened by the wine perhaps, the Queen stepped into the room and crossed the short distance between then. Gently she reached out and laid a hand upon his back, feeling the warmth of his body through the shirt beneath her touch. "Must you go so soon?" she asked of him softly.

Tooru stood back up at her touch, his body shuddered as he bit his lips to keep from gasping in pain as the movement aggravated his injuries. "I cannot stay here, my Queen," he told her in a quiet voice. The former King's body trembled from the injuries as well as her touch, both igniting fires of a different sort within him.

"Does my company displease you so much that you run from it?" Miki could feel the muscles under her touch quiver at what she thought to be suppressed anger. The Queens mind, hampered by wine and the weariness that comes after the adrenalin expires after a battle, struggled to discern what she had done that would instill such anger and hostility within him. Stepping closer her placed her other hand upon his side and felt something warm and wet even as she smelt it, the sweet heady odor of blood. "You're still injured!" she stated more than asked as her eyes darkened in concern.

Tooru shrugged and then sucked in air sharply due to the pain the movement caused. "It's nothing," he tried to assure her, not wanting to cause her worry on his account. "I'll be fine." He knew he would be, in time. I'm sure riding horseback for the next five day won't help. "I was about to change the dressings when you walked in. As soon as that is done I'll be on my way."

"Sit," she told him pushing slightly upon his back in the direction of the only chair in the room to indicate where she wanted him to be seated. "Rei told me that the wounds would heal quickly. That you had informed her they would heal quickly," she stated in an accusing tone.

"I told Rei what she needed to hear," he replied with a careful sigh. "You needn't concern yourself with me, my Queen," he replied, finally turning to face her. "I'm sure your presence will soon be missed from the celebration. You should return to it and I will tend to my own needs."

Miki stepped to the small table in the room while he spoke and picked up a candle before walking out into the hallway to light it from the nearest burning torch. "Celebration be damned," Tooru heard the Queen's words echo back from the hallway moments before the woman herself entered the room shielding the flame attached to the candle with one hand. "I thought I told you to sit," she snapped at him, her brown eyes flashing in the flickering candle light upon seeing him still standing there.

"My Queen," he said as he watched her light several other candles about the room before turning to regard him. "I said I am well and you need not concern yourself with my likes. It is not proper for you to tend to one who is in your service."

Miki turned to regard him in the now well lit room, the blood from his wounds clearly visible where it had seeped through the shirt he wore. The Queen crossed her arms under her ample bosom, straining the deep blue fabric of the long form fitting dress she wore. Tooru swallowed heavily and forced his eyes away from the bare expanse of cleavage her action presented to him. "So now you presume to tell your Queen what she can and cannot do?" In a manner much akin to a man approaching the executioners block, Tooru pulled the chair form the table, turned it around, and sat upon it backward with his arms folded across the top of the back of the chair. Though he complied with her demands it was clear from his actions that he did so only with great reluctance. The Queen retrieved a rag and a basin of water from a shelf set by the window and then placed them on the table next to Tooru. "Please remove your shirt," she instructed in a very businesslike tone of voice from behind him which made it clear that she would broach no objections from her patient.

Tooru grimaced as he gingerly pulled the shirt up and over his head. A soft cool touch upon his bare back as the Queen laid her hand upon his person was more akin to a cool balm to his frazzled emotions than he cared to admit or was willing to show in present company. "The fault is mine," he told her over his shoulder. "I had to cross a river which was running high and lost my horse. While swimming the wounds were submerged in river water and grew infected." Miki slipped a thin bladed dagger from her sleeve and used it to cut away the soiled compresses and bandages holding them in place. "Still, given a few more days they will be fully healed." It took all his considerable control not to gasp from the pain as the compress over the wounds was pulled away.

The Queen turned and wet the rag and then gently began cleaning around the wound in his side. "It would seem the wiser course of action then is to remain here till such time as they are properly healed." The injury, though infected once, now showed the more healthy pinkness of healing. They have a similar healing ability as we do, she thought to herself as she continued to clean around the injury. Receiving no response from the man she tended to, she pressed on. "So what is it really that you're running away from?" she asked as she continued her ministrations to his person.

Tooru closed his eyes as she cleaned the wound, fearful of allowing her to see the turmoil within his grey orbs. Miki, finished with cleaning the front of the lowest wound, moved behind the man and knelt upon the floor to better see what she was doing. "I am a fool," he finally said bitterly. "A fool as well as a coward!" Miki, sensing that this was something he needed to get off his chest didn't interrupt but continued with her task at hand. "A fool for thinking that I was better than they were just because I had loftier goals, a purpose for the greater good." Tooru snorted at his words in utter disgust. "In the end I am just as blood thirsty as they are. I took a man's life today without even giving him the chance to defend himself. I crawled into his house under the pretense of friendship, of kinship, and he welcomed me with open arms! He took me in like a brother and cared for me and gave me food and shelter!" The man's angry voice rose with each word of his rant about himself till he finally fell silent for several long moments. When Tooru continued his voice dripped with contempt and self-loathing. "How did I repay him?" he asked as once again he could see the look of surprise upon the Hino-san's face just before the blade separated his head from his torso. "I callously reached over and took his head as if I was doing no more than plucking some flower from a field to admire!"

Miki leaned her head forward till her forehead rested upon the bar expanse of his back which was moist from the washing she had given it just moments before. "Then it is I you should hate. I gave the order. It was my decision," she told him softly. "As the leader and your Queen the guilt is ultimately mine." She felt remorse for having thrust such a duty upon him, even knowing that he was an honorable man. I should have known what this would do to him! She couldn't lie and somewhere within her she had known. She had known it to be a dirty and vile act and yet she had still required it of him even knowing what it might cause him. "War makes us do things we would rather not. It's a price we as leaders often pay that others do not realize. We kill as many good men as the enemy simply by ordering them into the fray. Making them do what any normal sane person would not. Hino-san's death, just as all the deaths of those killed by those that follow my orders, are my burden to bear. I pray, though I doubt my prayers shall be heard, that this will be the last such act we shall have to commit before this is all over with."

"Nay, my Queen," he countered with quickly. "Do not soil your hands with such thoughts and offer me solace so generously from lips I would not have utter such words as death and killing. As the plan, as well as the actions, were my own then so too is the blame for them." Tooru hung his head in shame at his deeds of earlier that day. When he spoke once again it was in a tone filled with regret and tinged by sorrow. "You should go. Return to the celebration as I can attend to this myself. I am no more worthy to be in your presence then they who we fight against are. I am no better than they are, my Queen."

Miki sighed heavily upon hearing his words and feeling them resound within his body upon which her head rested against. "It is that very thought that shows me beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are better than they who we fight," she told him earnestly. "The fact that you fight for a cause that is not for yourself but the betterment of others, belies the very words you utter now. The fact that you feel remorse and even revulsion at having to kill shows that you are different, that you are better." The Queen rinsed the rag and set it aside while she took up a fresh bandage and positioned it over the wound and then using strips of cloth tied it in place. "I would not have you with me if I deemed you no better than they are. We would not even be here now if it were not for the fact that yourself, at great risk to your own life, set your foot upon a different course of action from that which history had placed you. You would not be the man I have come to respect if you were the same as they are," she told him as she tied the dressing in place.

Tooru sat and pondered her words as she stood and tended to the wound in his shoulder, first washing the back and then moving around to his front. The queen's eyes glanced up from her work several times to see him regarding her thoughtfully. Finally her hands paused as their eye met and held each other's gaze. "I could never grow weary of your presence, my Queen. Nor could gazing upon your countenance ever be displeasing to me," he told her in a deep and caring voice as he answered her question from previously. The Queen's cheeks blushed in a manner he was quickly coming to find most enchanting.

Miki could feel her cheek burning and hence knew that she was blushing. Damn him! Why does he have this effect on me? The Queen's mind raced for a suitable reply and several times her lips parted as if to speak only to close again without a word passing their soft pinkness. In the end she said nothing at all however the soft smile upon her lips and the blushing of her cheeks perhaps said far more than any words could have.

"Thank you, my Queen," Tooru said once she had finished and he was allowed to rise to his feet once again. Stepping to the leather satchel he extracted a clean shirt and carefully put it on taking special care not to aggravate the freshly tended injuries. Tooru turned around only to bump into the Queen who was cleaning up the mess that they had made. Suddenly the too small room seemed even smaller than it had been as he felt the warmth her body exuded keenly due to her nearness.

Miki teetered as she turned towards him and was bumped by his nearness. Tilting her head back slightly she found herself looking up into his handsome face. "You're still going?" she asked as she laid one hand upon his strong chest to steady herself. She could feel the well sculptured muscles shift as he reached out and took her elbow in hand to assist her till her balance was once more obtained. The heat of his touch set her heart to racing within her chest.

Tooru's breath caught in his throat at the touch of her hand upon his chest, the brown eyes that held him in place, her soft pink lips so close he need only lean in and capture them with his own. Swallowing heavily he nodded slightly, not trusting himself at the moment to speak.

"See that you do come back to me," she instructed him as she turned away, the fingertips of the hand upon his chest trailing downwards along his shirt for a moment before the hand dropped to come to rest within its matching one, held before her waist as she stepped to the door. "Oh," she said, drawing his eyes to her face from where they had been admiring her figure as she walked away. "Do try and remain in the saddle this time," she said with a playful grin before slipping from the room.

"As my Queen commands," he whispered with a humorous grin that was more akin to his normal visage.


Author's Note:

A little more Miki & Tooru. I have to admit that I really like the dynamics between these two that the Muse is exploring. Next chapter will take us back to the present and will be the "educational" chapter I had promised previously. You'll also get a little peek at the Gigantea house of the Yamayurikai. Time to "Pimp The Student Out" as a dear friend of mine called it.

Kind Regards,

EJ Daniels

All characters within this story, unless otherwise stated are the sole property of Oyuki Konno the original writer of the Maria-sama ga Miteru light novel series.