Part Sixty-Six:
It didn't even go half as well as Lord Suwa was hoping. Most of the lords looked as if he'd announced his son decided to lead an open rebellion on Edo. After he dropped Fei-Wang off with Empress Ameterasu, he sent out word that he needed to talk to the lords.
Several of them gathered right away in Suwa. They were worried Lord Suwa needed their help and were ready to lend support, that was until he announced that Kurogane had chosen the mage of Celes as his permanent mate. He then asked that they would vow not to attack Suwa if Kurogane chose to adopt an heir to Suwa.
It was Mamoru Takatori that spoke first. "I thank you for the mercy you showed Ran. In my appreciation, you have my vow I'll make no moves to usurp Suwa from Kurogane and any child he may raise."
"I thank you," Lord Suwa said.
"Why don't you disown him? Is his mother resisting that?" Lord Kita asked, looking perplexed.
"I asked her, but it would have put such a hardship on her," Lord Suwa admitted. "Besides, I talked it over with Kurogane in great detail. He and the mage know what they're facing. They wish to defend Kurogane's claim on Suwa and to pass it on to a child they'll choose and raise. Besides, the mage has done great things for all of Nihongo. How many of you, besides Lord Takatori, still have to fight off demons and other monsters anymore since the ice king's gift to Nihongo? The mage of Celes worked very hard to drive back the things that troubled our country most. I ask that you show him respect for that reason."
"Respect? To a vixen? Never! How filthy. I don't care what he did around my coast! He's revolting and needs to be sent back to his realm!" Lord Ueda snarled, looking angry. "I'll not promise I won't move in. We're competitors for rice production, after all, and all that divides us is a low mountain range, not to mention all those very valuable medicinal herbs grown in Suwa for medicine. My son, unlike yours, knows women are for bedding."
"Can't you control your son? Make him take a bride? It's ridiculous you're letting your son tell you who he's going to mate with. Really, for you to come to us with this is disgusting news, and then you expecting us to sit by is very bizarre. What about the people of Suwa that you have an obligation to?" Lord Takenaka asked. "My wheat production could be expanded by adding rice, so no. Lord Ueda also has a point, the medicine from your herbal fields could turn a pretty penny. So no, I won't make that vow."
"I make the vow, Lord Suwa. Have no fear of me," Lord Yukimura said, with a gentle smile that matched his unassuming personality. The problem was the man was located far north and couldn't support him quickly. Still, he was grateful.
"Thank you, I appreciate your support," Lord Suwa said.
"Really? I agree with Lord Takenaka. Why aren't you making your son choose a woman? It's a very simple and expected request we make of our children. Your son is showing the utmost contempt for his ancestors," Lord Watanabe said. "He should put aside this sort of thing off the battlefield and do his duty to you and your wife. I mean, if he wants to have something on the side, in private, that's one thing, but to carry on this type of thing in public is disgraceful. I mean, aren't you ashamed of him in the least? At the very least, make him take a concubine."
Lord Suwa got irritated. They didn't know Kurogane like he did. Kurogane was extremely loyal and full of integrity. "He can't and he won't live a lie. That's the end of it. He's prepared to devote his life to Suwa, whether or not he's my heir. He won't waver or bend from that. He also won't waver or bend from his affection towards the mage of Celes. I can't break off their relationship and I've tried very hard. And, to tell the truth," Lord Suwa took a deep breath and admitted, "at this point I don't choose to make him break it off with Fai. The mage has become a very important part of Kurogane's life.
"Fai has made positive changes to my son. Kurogane's temper is no longer as quick and he's more humble. He's more willing to give of himself. He's learned to value traits in others he may not possess in large amounts. He's learned to rely on others rather than just rely his own strength.
"This was something I didn't choose. Would I change it? A large part of me would love nothing better than for Fai to be a woman, but he's not. I have to ask myself if my son's happiness and competency at leadership is something I should throw away or find a way to accept his choice. I still struggle with his choice of Fai as a mate, and it's very difficult for me to come before you today. But it would be more difficult to crush my son's heart."
From there it went downhill. There were lots of vicious insults thrown at Kurogane, and those wounded Lord Suwa a great deal. He was extremely proud of the young man Kurogane had become. His son was everything he'd dreamed and hoped he'd be. And yes, Fai had wormed himself into Lord Suwa's heart. He found himself getting angry when they just started referring to Fai as the "foreign vixen." If there were only a way they could produce a blood child, it might go a long way to mollify them.
It was Lord Akiyama, the head of their gathering, that finally said, "None of us will march on Suwa while you're alive, Hondo. That we can all agree on, because we respect you too much, and you've assisted us in times of famine and war. Plus, you've always been quick to help out in times of crisis with those special medicinal herbs that only Suwa produces.
"We all owe you gratitude and us not marching on Suwa while you're alive is the return of the favors we owe you. But if you choose to leave your province to be looked after by your son that has chosen a foreign vixen for his mate, the minute you pass away, Suwa will no longer be guaranteed safe."
Lord Suwa rose at the threat and opened the door to his sitting room. "Then I believe we have no more to say except this. When the mage of Celes comes back, I'll order him to take up the fluorite magic wards of any province that will attack Suwa, even after my death. He will do it, too, because of his great love for my son and the harsh, vindictive culture he comes from. He'll also do it to defend any child he may be raising with my son in the future.
"You may call him a foreign vixen, but he is a very dangerous, young man with a very powerful father that owes Suwa a great deal. You'd do well to remember that King Ashura has a huge army of mages at his command, and we won't hesitate to call on him. Any of you that so much plans on marching on Suwa, you'll find yourself plagued with monsters once again and no help or mercy from Suwa or any of her descendants. Count on that."
Most of the lords left in a snit, horrified Lord Suwa made such a dire threat towards them. They had all gotten accustomed to those fluorite wards; the wards had made life more pleasant. Only Takatori and Yukimura stayed behind. "I'm sorry about that. I can imagine that was very unpleasant," Yukimura said. His face grew grave. "In spite of their judgment on your parenting skills, I believe you to be a good father. Love your son and support him."
Lord Suwa remembered Yukimura's son had committed suppuku just last winter. The man's outfit of a mofuku reminded him the man was still in deep grief. Yukimura said, "I miss my son a great deal. I wish I would have had more time with him. Now that he's gone, all I have are my memories of him. At least you didn't cast away Kurogane, and you still have time with him. The situation may not be perfect, but he's alive and you won't live with the regret of disinheriting him. I regret to this day disinheriting Fumio. It was a great pressure on him he couldn't endure. His mother is still not the same."
"Neither Kurogane's mother nor I could have lived with casting him aside. We put all of our dreams into Kurogane. Not everything turned out how we pictured it to be, but he's a man of character, one worthy of respect. In the end, Kurogane is a person that has to make his own choices. His happiness is important to us, and the mage, whether we like it or not, makes him happy."
"Good, Hondo. Don't waver from that. I know I'm far away from Suwa, but I'll do what I can to be an ally," Yukimura said.
"We're still allies, as well," Takatori said. "You've been incredibly tolerant towards Ran's odd behavior."
"It was Fai's twin that encouraged that. He's not like other Celians, from what I gather. He has a very merciful heart. Anyway, I'm sure Fai will take up wards if I ordered it, and that threat should make them think twice. At least, I hope so," Lord Suwa said, trying to imagine how he was going to break this to Kurogane.
Boris appeared in the throne room of Frem Lumma Castle on Valeria and smirked at the grizzled, old judge. "I'm back," he announced, leaning on his staff.
"Oh thank the goddess!" Vlad said, tossing a whip aside. "I've had my fill of these assholes. They're all yours now, right?"
"Right," Boris said. "You can go back to Celes and terrorize criminals there."
"Look, it's bad when my favorite, foreign bitch is embarrassing our regulars," Vlad said, pointing to Ran, who had three Valerians on the ground, tied up and ready for a trial. "He's already broken up a ring of saboteurs trying to poison our soldiers, and he caught the person stealing my pastries!"
To which, Vlad went over to the wall where the thieving soldier was chained and smacked him across the face. "That'll teach you to steal a man's cream cheese danish!"
Boris smirked as Vlad came up to him. The hexing judge glared at him before saying, "Look! You let these assholes get out of control again, I'll personally come and kick your ass all the way from here to Celes. It took me too damn long to straighten out your mess. Keep in mind, you're only here because you scare the shit out of people. Use it already!"
"Don't worry. I've learned so much on my hiatus. I'm not the same man they know," Boris said.
"Good. I'm off, but... do you want me to take the foreign bitch with me and have him serve out his sentence with me? Or do you want him?"
Boris gave Ran's grave, stony expression a bright smile. "No, he's my bitch now. He's not even allowed in the same realm as Prince Yuui." Then Boris felt himself grow icy. He said with a heavy tone, "Not ever is he allowed anywhere near Prince Yuui."
"Good enough for me. Just the regular rabble rousing and things, nothing too big. Pastry stealing boy has another three hours to go and you can punish those saboteurs as you wish," Vlad said. "And now I'm off from this lunatic asylum. Sorry if that offends."
"None taken. I'm used to the idea that lunatic asylums are my future. Why not start here?" Boris said.
"Goodbye, and good luck," Vlad said, lofting his staff and leaving in a flurry of pink runes.
Boris turned to the huge statue of Yuui's grandfather. Before he had just teased about chipping it away. He lofted his staff in a fury and traced eight runes. He sent them flying with a rapid swing of his topper towards the statue. It pulverized into no more than dust.
He unchained the pastry thief and said, "Consider your punishment paid for if you bring every likeness and ever possession of the last king of Valeria here. I will purge that man's memory come hell or high water. Now! Get to it!"
The man nodded and scrambled to do as Boris ordered. He looked over to Ran, who was guarding the three tied up saboteurs. "Well, do you have any problems serving me? Speak now, and we'll make other arrangements."
"No. I'll do as you say," Ran said.
"Good. Do you wish to make up for what you did to Yuui in a real way?"
Ran's face grew tense, cold, and determined. "I'd do anything to make the healer of Celes whole again. Name it, I'll do it."
"Tomorrow morning I'll take you to an atrocity exhibition known as the pit. You'll see why what you did to Yuui was especially egregious and why every Celian will detest you if they know what you did to him." Boris flopped on the throne and draped a leg over the arm as he admired the ring on his right hand. "I think I'll need you to assist me. You're not a mage and you're not from Valeria, so maybe you have a chance at crossing the barrier. Of course," He gave Ran a devious smirk, "testing that could cost you your life."
"If it serves the healer of Celes in anyway, I'll do it without question," Ran answered without hesitation and with a slight bow. Boris was stunned Ran would cast away his life for Yuui without a second though. He admitted to himself he was a little jealous of the younger man, but he wasn't childish. He knew Ran wouldn't stand a chance if he was allowed near Yuui again. Therefore, he'd use Ran like the borrowed mule he was and banish him back to Nihongo for Kurogane and Fai to deal with.
He felt a sinister twist of his lips. "Fine. We'll test the veracity of that statement tomorrow. Get some rest, and I'll deal with these three."
Ran bowed and left quietly as Boris walked over to the rebels. The three bound men looked up at him with terror. "Please! Mercy! Governor Gustave wouldn't have executed us."
"My father sired me, but there is not one thing I have in common with him. Especially the ability to feel pity for those trying to commit murder." Boris sighed, resting his staff on his shoulder. "King Ashura expects me to keep the peace here, and I intend on doing that. I won't let things like what you did pass by without punishment because of the apathy I had before. Still, I'll honor my father and show you a little mercy, since I'm feeling rather generous tonight.
"Go home to your families. If I catch you trying to do this again, I'll send the undead after you. I'll let them gnaw on your bones without pity." The men shuddered in wide-eyed terror. He gave them a bright smile. "It's so nice you Valerians don't burn your dead. As a matter of fact, from this day forward, any type of cremation is illegal on Valeria. I just want to make sure you understand who's in control."
"You are, sir," one of the men replied, trembling.
"So you value your skins?" They all nodded to Boris' question. He swiped his staff at the ropes and loosed them. "Go and tell anyone else that I'll not give a warning or ignore things any more. I'll just unleash the dead. I'm sick of dealing with you people. My father was kind and you spit in his face, time and time again. That didn't work, so maybe the threat of facing the undead will make you more pliant."
The three men scrambled out of the throne room as if the undead were chasing them. The pastry thief came in with a large painting of Yuui's grandfather and a bust of him. There were several other soldiers who toted in all sorts of relics related to Yuui's grandfather. "Where do you want these, sir?"
"Middle of the floor. You better stand clear after you drop them. I'm going to treat them with the respect they deserve," Boris said lofting his staff, bile raising in his throat at seeing the man's likeness on canvas. He'd give anything if the actual man were here right now. He'd commit murder gleefully.
Instead, he satisfied himself with destroying every image and possession the vainglorious man had with purple hexes. After a smoldering heap lay in the middle of the room, he flopped on the elaborate throne and smirked after draping a leg over the arm of the chair. "You may not rule over Valeria, but I'll always be your proxy here, Yuui. Never doubt my animus towards you."
"...and so, I'm petitioning a special session where you'd test my sons for their D titles," King Ashura said to the table of eight other assembled mages. "Mayor Tayna will support Yuui's petition and Mayor Dayken has agreed to stand in for Captain Demetri and support Fai's petition."
Ivan D Gamo looked over at the twins with his heterochromatic eyes. "We've only had time to skim your applications. All the paperwork seems to be in order, though. Let's see, Duke Fai. Your practical has to do with ley lines? In Nihongo Country?"
"Yes, it seems I populated ley lines similar to the ones here. I created a set of fluorite wards to keep demons away from the land and it seems I pack a little too much power into them." Fai gave them a charming smile and slight chuckle.
"Well, it looks like I'll take a trip to Nihongo Country and examine them," Ivan D Gamo said. "So your practical has to do with blood curses, Prince Yuui?"
Yuui's face flushed and he looked down at his feet. He said, barely above a whisper, "Yes. I think I've discovered a formula that will reverse a blood curse."
"Ambitious," Maxim D Udom said. "Highness, I'll have to find someone with a blood curse. It may take some time to get your final results."
"So what are your intentions to do with your magic, Duke?" Ivan asked.
"To go back to Nihongo and protect it with all my might. I love the land and the people there. I want to support Kurogane and his parents. I want to keep Nihongo monsters at bay and make sure justice is maintained. That's it, plain and simple," Fai answered, his smile growing dreamy.
"Nothing with you is plain and simple, Fai," King Ashura said, smiling back at his son.
"Besides being the future ruler of Celes, is there anything else you wish to do with your magic?" Ivan asked to Yuui.
"Yes. I wish to open a healing center that would specialize in magical maladies, especially related to mental illness. I want some of the best healers to have a place to do research and cure people suffering from blood curses and other similar mental illnesses related to magic," Yuui said, getting a little less bashful. "It's a subject dear to me for two reasons."
"A very wise and noble pursuit. One worthy of a prince," Maxim said.
"I'm very proud of both of your pursuits. Both of you are devoting yourselves to protecting and serving humanity. I see I was a successful father after all," King Ashura said, beaming with pride.
"All those in favor of letting Duke Fai Fluorite test so he can rejoin the people of Nihongo, raise your hands," Ivan called for the vote. It was unanimous. "All those in favor of letting Prince Yuui Fluorite test so he can have his formal coronation, raise your hands." Again, it was unanimous.
Maxim said, "Duke Fai, Ivan will proctor you the whole time. Prince Yuui, I'll be your proctor for the duration. We'll proceed tomorrow. Any special request?"
"My sons now possess my dream-seer gift, so, Ivan, you'll have to construct a barrier between them tomorrow morning."
"I'll do that," Ivan confirmed.
"I'll need an apothecary table and my staff for the practical," Yuui said.
"I'm fine," Fai said, "but, Father, could you lighten up my phoenix binding a smidgen? It might smart when I show Ivan D Gamo around Nihongo."
"Oh, yes! I'm so sorry, I forgot to do that! I'll do that before dinner tonight. We have a lot of guests, so I want you to be worry free." Neither Fai nor Ashura went into details about why Fai was being "punished" again, and no one asked; after all, that was a parent-child issue and everyone knew how spirited Fai could be. "Well, I guess while you two are locked away, I'll get to know Kurogane a little better during your testing," King Ashura said. "I think I'll take him skiing."
"Me miss Kuro-min on the slopes for the first time? Not fair!" Fai howled and then sank into a pout.
Yuui then sighed and said, "Haven't you already terrorized enough people on the slopes?"
Fai's smirk grew devious. "Aww, Zellen is surely over it now. Maybe..."
Boris walked to the edge of the pit and pointed. Ran's single eye popped open in horror; he gripped the hilt of his katana. "What is that evil?"
"It's the pit. It's were those with a death sentence on Valeria are cast. It has an oppressive, magic barrier that makes it virtually impossible for mages to leave. Also, people born in Valeria, mage or not, seem to get trapped in it."
"It's nothing but corpses and bones as far as the eye can see," Ran hissed in in ill concealed disgust. No doubt the ninja was repulsed by the odor of death roiling off the sunken area of ground.
"Yes, and the old king, the twins' grandfather, cast Yuui and Fai in here when they were only five-years-old. You see, here they have the tradition of killing the youngest twin born, because twins are consider a high order of evil that bring bad luck and destruction. From what I understand, their mother couldn't bring herself to kill Yuui, so the story goes. Soon after she killed herself, the king of Valeria gave Fai a choice, he could let Yuui be killed by beheading, or he could join Yuui in the pit. Fai chose the pit, and so both were cast in.
"They were trapped in here for who knows how long. They were starved and suffering from abuse by their own grandfather's hand. They were on death's door when King Ashura rescued them by a miracle. He then brought them to Celes, healed them, and adopted them. Now you see why you'd be a very despised person in Celes and why if you mention Fai or Yuui's name here, they'll spit at the ground and curse at you."
Ran's eye narrowed. "They'd even put children in here?"
"Routinely. That's why it has to be guarded. King Ashura made it a crime to put anyone in here, but they still do it behind our backs. Once someone is in there, it's virtually impossible to retrieve them. Yuui still has nightmares about this place. This is what I want to get rid of. You game?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't want to see this gone? These people here, in Valeria, are sick for using it," Ran said. "What's that tower in the center?"
"No one knows. It was built a long time ago. I'm thinking the key is the tower, and I've made a discovery on Celes that could help us destroy this thing."
"You want me to try to walk to the tower and see what I can find?" Ran asked.
"Not yet. We'll go slowly. I don't want to make any mistakes and strand you in there," Boris said. Ran gave Boris a baffled expression. "Kurogane let me know that you weren't in your right mind and you would have never harmed Yuui if you'd had your senses about you. I believe that and Yuui forgives you, so it's all behind us. That is, unless you're holding a grudge against me for your eye? I'd understand that. I'm sure you're going through a lot of readjustment to use a sword."
"I'm readjusting more and more each day. My vision will fail sooner now, but I've accepted that. I don't hold a grudge against you in the least; the blame for losing my eye is with Fei-Wang and his assistants, not you. It was a just punishment that I embrace. I'm grateful you stopped me from harming Yu... the healer."
"Good. Now that that's out of the way..."
"Governor Boris!" A man in Celes' army came running up to Boris with a panicked expression. "That pub... The Two Boars! Some men were plotting there and it turned into a brawl! It's spilled into the streets! We have it contained within an eight block radius, but they're harming other innocent town folks!"
Boris sighed and nodded. "We'll work on this project when we can. For now we have to attend to this. They turn on their own women and children if left unchecked."
Ran narrowed his eye. "These filthy barbarians need taming. They disgust me."
"Now that's the spirit," Boris said with a smirk as they left to go tamp down the riot.
To be continued.
