Part Twelve:
Kurogane was ready to draw Ginryuu on Ran when Fai decided to disobey and make an appearance from their tent. Fai put on a cheery smile as he leaned on his magic staff. He said, "Hyuu, hyuu, Kuro-pu, is this some sort of surly relative of yours?"
The redheaded swordsman looked Fai up and down and gave a dismissive snort. "That's the foreign mage? This... vixen? What a joke!"
Fai was amazed when Kurogane let go of Ginryuu's hilt, threw back his head, and laughed. "Fine, cousin Ran! You're looking for a fight. Go ahead and attack my mage. I'd enjoy seeing the outcome."
Fai'd never seen Kurogane abdicate a fight to him, and he wondered why Kurogane would do so now. No matter, he was up to to the challenge, so he got into a defensive posture when the redhead turned the katana towards him.
Fai lofted his hand. "I was hoping to make a good impression on Kuro-wa's family, but if you insist on a..."
"Surrender, little vixen, before I spill your blood!"
"Last chance, you ill tempered man, before I show you Celes hospitality," Fai warned, lofting his hand and quickly tracing three glowing, pink runes in the air. He held his palm out, waiting to cast the hex only if he was attacked.
Ran gave a growl. Fai took a deep breath as the man launched himself at him with a lofted sword. Fai released the glowing hex and it knocked Ran several feet back into a tree. Fai gripped his staff as the other three men gasped and dismounted their horses.
"Oh, more fun!" Fai said, in false glee, tracing more spidery, Celes script in the air. They took a few steps, but Fai pointed at the trio and said, "Do you really want to be my playmates?"
"We want no fight with you," Mamuro said. "We'll be satisfied if you leave."
Fai glanced over his shoulder where Kurogane was doubled over in laughter at his dazed cousin. The redhead was only now getting to his feet, glaring hotly at Fai.
Kurogane shook his head and said, "We'll leave your territory and go to the next. Then you can keep fighting monsters and foreign mages. Come on, Fai. Let's break camp and go."
Fai dropped the hex and the glowing script dissolved. They walked towards their tent as the four men got on their horses. Ran said, "This isn't the last you or your vixen have heard of this."
Kurogane made a Nihongo hand gesture Fai had recently seen and knew it was very obscene. "It's the last I've heard from you. Don't come to me looking for help against those foreign mages after this. And one other thing, if I hear you call my mage that filthy insult again, you will face Ginryuu."
The four men road off, and Fai released his tense breath. "I didn't cause that trouble."
"I know," Kurogane said and shook his head. "I'm sorry for bringing you here without consulting them first. I thought they'd have better sense."
"You know, I don't care what he called me. What got you so upset about that?"
Kurogane's eyes narrowed. For a moment, Fai thought Kurogane was going to yell at him. Instead he answered softly, "He was calling you a beguiling whore."
"Oh," Fai said, and decided to drop it. But now he was clear why Kurogane let him fight Ran; it would be more humiliating that way because Kurogane was clearly a warrior, Fai didn't appear like much of a fighter. "Why are they so grumpy anyway?" Fai asked, as they started to pack their belongs on the ox cart.
"Because a few years back Mamuro Takatori's father brought three mages from another realm so that he could make war on his neighbors. They betrayed the man and started running amok. They even took in a local child with a very strong magic. Now they're unstoppable, according to rumors. My cousin isn't bad; he's just angry and bitter because those foreign mages killed his parents when Takatori ordered them to. This whole place is full of corruption. Ran and his companions are trying to clean it up as best they can."
"Well, those mages don't sound pleasant."
"You know, they don't practice magic like you," Kurogane said as he put the last of their things on the ox cart. "They only do specific things."
"Oh?" Fai asked after they mounted their horses and left. The oxen trailed after them with the cart.
"Yeah, their leader can see the future. Another one of them reads minds. Yet another feels no pain and has super human strength and speed. The local child can move objects with his mind."
"Then they're espers, not true mages," Fai said.
"Isn't all magic the same?"
"Not at all. Espers have additional abilities not related to magic. For example, Yuui can sense and influence emotions and I can move objects with my mind as well, but it's totally apart from us using actual magic. It's like being born with a talent for singing or creating art. Magic, on the other hand, can be used to bend reality and shape the physical world into what you want. This ability resides within a mage, usually related to a specific part of your body. Therefore, it can be lost."
"So you're ability to use magic is located in one spot in your body?"
"Actually, in mine and Yuui's case, two spots. But that I have to keep a secret," Fai said, giving Kurogane a bright smile.
"Good. Keep that to yourself. You never know who might use it against you," Kurogane said. "We only have one territory left. Then we can go back to Edo before the end of autumn."
Fai felt himself get dour at the idea of heading back to Nihongo's capital city. He wondered if Kurogane would rebuff him once they got back to court. Kurogane had explained that the type of relationship they were engaged in was rare in Nihongo and was only acceptable in certain situations.
Out in the country they could be free to do as they pleased, but he was afraid to ask Kurogane if he intended on changing this arrangement they had once they got to the city. Fai was having too good of a time to ruin with a potential confrontation. He decided to wait and see if Kurogane continued to approach him when they got to Edo.
Yuui pull back the reigns on his horse and dismounted, taking the saddlebag with him. He handed the reigns over to a groom and thanked the young boy. Yuui took a deep breath of cool spring air and smiled as the frost crunched under his boots.
This had been such a good week at the hunting lodge. He and Ashura had spent time hiking in the woods and collecting herbs for healing potions that Yuui still found a little tricky. They had also spent a fair amount of time playing cards and chess; it was nice to have Ashura's attention all to himself, for once.
He went inside the lodge still a little concerned. King Ashura and he were to take a ride in the woods this morning, but the King said he had a headache and needed some rest. Yuui then offered to go get the ingredients from the woods and make a headache remedy for Ashura. The ruler settled back on his bed with a serene smile, and said it would be fine so Yuui left.
Yuui could sense something wrong coming from upstairs. He dropped the saddlebag and ran to Ashura's room. He knocked on the door and said, "Father? Are you okay?"
"Come in," Ashura said softly. Yuui opened the door and stepped into the dark room. Ashura was still in his night clothes and a robe. This wasn't like Ashura at all, always taking great pride in appearance and punctuality. He turned to Yuui, his face was devoid of emotion. "Shall we go hunting, Fai? I miss the pursuit."
Yuui felt his jaw drop. Never once had the king ever confused the two. Even when they switched places as a joke, Ashura could sense the different natures of their magical talents. "It's me... Yuui... not Fai."
"Yuui? No, that can't be... Fai. You need to be Fai."
"No, I'm Yuui. Are you okay? You don't seem well," Yuui asked, stretching out his empathy towards the king. A rush of red hot rage slammed against Yuui and knocked him to the floor. The weight of the rage was painful and blinding. The healer was shocked when his nose started bleeding.
Ashura ran over and knelt by Yuui. He held a handkerchief to Yuui's nose and started rocking him back and forth as if he were a small child once again. "It'll be okay, Fai. Don't worry. You were very mischievous for spilling ink all over that book, but all is forgiven."
Yuui was stunned. He wrenched his empathy back as his mind tried to make sense of what Ashura was referring to. Could it be that the ruler was remembering when they were eight years old and Fai had spilled an ink well onto a very rare book in Ashura's collection?
Yuui calmed himself and wracked his brain for what to do. He finally said, "I'm sorry, Majesty. It won't happen again."
Ashura's arms loosened and Yuui stood up. He looked at Ashura's eyes. They appeared empty, but his empathy told him otherwise. There was a white hot rage boiling underneath the surface, not rage direct towards Fai or him, but something undefinable.
Ashura grimaced and collapse to the floor. Yuui knelt back down and started checking Ashura's vital signs. "Father! Please..."
Ashura moaned and his soft, brown eyes cracked open. He asked, "Yuui, what happened?"
"You fainted. For some reason you kept calling me Fai and seemed to be very confused. Are you feeling okay?"
"Help me to bed," he requested. Yuui helped Ashura; the ruler was certainly dizzy and Yuui could feel the man's head was in excruciating pain.
After Ashura was tucked back into bed, Yuui went back downstairs and got his saddlebag. "Good thing I went foraging. I'll have this made in no time."
Yuui went to the apothecary table in Ashura's room and started mixing the headache remedy very cautiously. Once the mixing was done, he held his finger in the air and traced five glowing, blue runes. He sent them towards the remedy and was pleased when it turned from a dark red to a blue-green.
He walked over to Ashura and helped him sit up and drink the remedy. Yuui set aside the flask and helped Ashura settle back down.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better. Thanks, Yu," Ashura said, patting the young man's shoulder. "Let me rest a while."
"As you wish. I'll check on you later."
"Yu, there is a book I want you to read in my personal study downstairs. It has cordovan leather binding and a brass tree on the front. I think it's time to test how good of a healer you've become. If you fail, I'm afraid Fai will be tested on how good of a hex caster he's become."
Before Yuui could question him about the strange statement, the king drifted into a fitful slumber. Yuui ran downstairs and went right to the study. He found the book after some searching. It was kept high on a shelf and had a spell cast around it. Yuui found the spell tricky to break, but he got around it and took the book with him to the den. He lit the fireplace with a rune set and settled on Ashura's chaise close by.
He opened the book and a sense of dread hit him. "This is the history of the royal house of Celes? But why? And why was it protected? There must be a secret he's been keeping from me."
The breath got knocked out of him after the first chapter. It would seem Ashura's distant ancestor, Lothin, that originally conquered the different magic tribes in Celes was actually blood thirsty and mad, not the shining warrior-statesman type he was portrayed to be in the histories he'd learned. Yuui's heart grew more and more troubled as he read more tales of both madness and greatness in Ashura's family tree.
By the afternoon, Yuui had finished a fourth of the thick book. He shut it, feeling overwhelmed. Alongside the history was detailed records of all the magical attempts to heal various male ancestors of Ashura. None were successful. It seemed there was a very deep rooted curse placed on Ashura's male bloodline because Lothin had slain a tribal chieftain's daughter when she refused to marry him. The chieftain unleashed a powerful curse, even sacrificing his own life to bind the spell to Lothin and all of his descendants. That's what made it so deep rooted.
Now it made sense why Ashura didn't want his bloodline to continue. Yuui started out of his gloom. Ashura was afraid he was going to descend into madness. Yuui clenched the book to his chest and vowed that wouldn't happen. He'd find a way to heal Ashura. He opened the book after getting paper and ink. He started making notes and studying. After all, there was one thing Ashura always said that gave Yuui faith he could break this. There was no magic that was forever.
"He did what?" Lord Suwa snapped at Kentaro's newest report on Kurogane.
"It would seem he let the foreign mage fight with Lady Suwa's Fujiyama second cousin."
"What the hell was he thinking?"
"According to Lord Fujiyama, he was trying to take the mage into custody, but your son almost drew on him. Instead, he let the mage and Lord Fujiyama settle their differences."
"Great! Now I'll have to smooth things over with what's left of the Takatori clan. When Kurogane gets back, he'll have to answer for this. He should have handled the dispute between him and his cousin, and not let a stranger get in the way."
Kentaro nodded and let out a deep sigh. The one-eyed man glanced around to insure there were no eavesdroppers. "Also, Lord Fujiyama reports that the foreign mage is... a vixen."
Lord Suwa inhaled sharply and glared. It was certainly a degrading thing to call a woman a cunning prostitute, but when applied to a man it took on a whole new, vile meaning. "Send a message back to Ran Fujiyama. Tell him if he doesn't stop his rumor mongering about my son's companion, I will personally ride to the Tsukiyono Provence and straighten out his lying tongue. Under no circumstances are you to let Lady Suwa hear that."
"Yes, sir. I would never dream of saying something so foul in front of such a delicate and noble lady."
"Good. Hopefully he'll get back to Princess Tomoyo's court soon, so no more nonsense occurs."
"He'll be back by next week."
"Good. Get him to send a written account of this foreign mage when he gets back to Edo. I'm tired of hearing rumors. No, better yet, I'm sending you to Shirosagi Castle to find out the truth."
"Yes, sir. I'll be on my way."
To be continued.
