Hi everyone, I hope I didn't leave anyone hanging for long :)
As usual I don't Own Snow white with the Red hair.
Ch 11: Revelations
Knotted old fingers plucked at a threadbare shawl, her small frame shuddering from the chill of the rain but none of the discomfort of old bones could crush the warmth that bloomed in her chest.
" My little seed." She whispered affectionately, memories long since past danced like leafs on the wind through her mind.
"Mama Zubani, she's here! She's here!" An excited male voice practically shrieked in her ears, the youth dancing on his toes. Hair like moonlight glittered as it swayed excitedly on his head, and sparkling ebony eyes smiled upon her.
" look here prince you are to refer to me as...Wait" Her mouth gaped opened as his words finally impacted her. " Lead me to her now Boy!"
His chuckle fueled her, her cane slapping against the marble as she propelled onward with an unsteady gait. 'She's here finally here!' She couldn't believe she lived long enough to not only watch the babes birthed for the crown grow into strong monarchs, but to see a grandchild. She sent a prayer to the heavens as the prince burst through the thick mahogany doors.
Light danced across the room, the hues of morning painting the scene pastel and soft. A women with thick locks of soft brown hair clutched a squirming bundle to her breast, light sounds of angry mewls filled the air.
" She has not stopped yelling dear." the beautiful woman giggled, her smile full of love and affection, eyes of deep cherry wood sparkling.
" My love, it is because you tried to sing to her." The prince teased as he sidled up to his exhausted mate, she scrunched her pert nose at him and cuddled the bundle closer to her body.
" Every child loves to hear their mothers sing for them!" Her false indignation coming off pouty.
He gave a hearty chuckled as he stroked her shoulder and pressed gentle kisses to her nape, his eyes swimming with powerful emotions. Zubani watched the pair with an amused smirk, ah to be young again.
" Let me take the babe so you lovebirds can have some privacy." She teased, waddling her body over to the large bed that the two lovers perched on.
" Grandma Zubani!" The women cried out, she waved her over with an excited air. " Please come see her!"
" That's precisely why I'm here girl." Zubani sniffed before looking down upon the most perfect cherub face of the babe. Cheeks puffed out before soft wails would pass through cute little lips, tiny fists tucked under a chubby chin and a small thatch of violet hair was swept across her forehead. To Zubani she was already a precious little gift, an answered prayer.
"What is her name/" The old women asked breathlessly tears brimming along her lashes as the babe looking up at her with fathomless brown eyes.
" Amane."
The precious memory distorted, crumbling as hot anger and bitter regret pulsed through the old woman's mind. 'She was the answer to my prayers, but my prayer cursed that child,'She adjusted her shawl as she made her way from the tavern, the cool drops of rain falling slower, the storm itself losing steam.
" My little seed, forces are at work here." She tipped her weathered face up, pleading to the night. "Will you bend to the wind, or stand firm like the mountain."
Zen could still feel the thrum of anger pounding through his veins, he was deceived by the wretch and yet felt whispers of doubt thread their way through his mind. He needed answers, an explanation from Naoki.
"I need to talk to Mitsuhide and Kiki about this." He grumbled as he made his way to his office, it was late and he didn't wish to inconvenience his companions but something spoke to him and willed him to find them. 'I need to calm down.' He could feel the dark turmoil of emotions still welling in him and how his fists refused to unfurl.'They probably left already.' Something whispered to him, telling him like a hushed secret that was not the case. A burning urge to find them propelled his movements and as he reached for the cool handle a feeling of cold dread slithered down his spine. He could sense it, like smoke billowing in the air that something wasn't right, with determination he shoved open the door.
" No." Hs stomach felt like it was going to drop out, as fear shook him to the core. The room was pristine not a single thing out of place, but something felt wrong, sinister even. Like a demon strolled through leaving a lingering presence, something happened and his only evidence was a gut feeling. " Kiki, Mitsuhide where are you?"
The wind shook the rafters and bounced along the windows in a violent volley, rain trickled in lazy streams as the storm lashed out with its final breath, the storm died with a howl. The older male perched himself along the sill of his window and smiled while fingers strummed through the thick braid, he watched the last pulses of light roll through the clouds with bated breath.
" Such a beautiful night." He whispered, his amethyst eyes sparkling with childish delight." Oh how I hoped that dear child of mine received the summons, would hate for her to lose her head now."
"She's not yours."
His manic laughs filled the room even as he painstakingly wrung the soaked fine hairs of his plait dry, pulling the rust colored hair tight for each coil. He the demon of Oroboria, enjoyed the events unfolding before him, like a stack of cards scattering across the table. 'Everything is going according to plan, my poor child never knew she had her strings being pulled from the beginning.' Oh, how he enjoyed the machinations of the crown, their little schemes always filled him with such joy. Each new plot meant he would be allowed to slaughter the pigs.
" Every single pig." He smiled maliciously " pigs to the slaughter!"
"She's not yours."
"Shut Up!" He screeched as he whirled around, nothing stood a miss, no one to whisper his guilt but even as he stared into the empty space his mind supplied him with apparitions. Dull translucent forms, with jack-o-lantern grins that seeped pools of blood from their twisted maws. Memories, thoughts, sins spun and echoed in his head like marbles bouncing in a bag. His grip on reality was slipping and even now ghosts of the past would whisper to him, remind him that he was a demon, he was death.
" She is not yours."
" Oh but she is, and so is her fate." He sneered a twisted smile splitting his face, a grin too wide and curled. Even as he felt swallowed by his own rampant illusions, he cackled finding pleasure in his warped reality. He was the demon tethered to the claw of Oroboria, and he would fulfill his master's will even if bits of his sanity was chipped away with each monstrous act.
"The seedling dances on the wind but stays silent as a tree." He whispered a maniacal giggle bursting from his lips.
Her eyes felt swollen and heavy, they burned from the river of tears she shed but just a taste of iron could make more blossom. She was bone tired and weary, sleep constantly danced past her fingertips eluding her in taunting glimpses. When sleep wouldn't embrace her, Naoki choose to lay there like a corpse waiting for the first rays of dawn to caress her skin. Even that didn't last long, she was restless as she shifted her body to perch on the corner of her luxurious bed eyes feeling crusty. She scrubbed at them flinching at the burn, she knew they were puffy and red 'Tears solve nothing.' Her imaginary shackles felt like they were dragging her down, yanking her arms at the sockets. She knew Oroboria would catch her, she was their disciple to uphold the mantle of Naoki but she hoped against hope that being welcomed to a new land she would shulk that title.
" My plan felt so perfect." She whispered, her hands cradled her face, elbows braced against her knees as she mused over her 'perfect plan.'
The roar of the crowds erupted from the stadium, shaking the very land with it's cry. Cheers and shouts melted into a single voice as the denizens called for their favorites to claim victory. Naoki stood in the shadows watching with blank eyes, as her quarter capes' hood basked her face in shadows, only the dull glint of her brown eyes could be seen. The coliseum was bursting to the brink with the townspeople, giving her ample time to finish her dealings. Her mission, simple procure schematics of borders and weaponry-anything to give Oroboria an advantage; a weakness to exploit. Even as her lifeless eyes scanned the wandering guards leaving posts and abandoning barracks to witness a historic brawl, she felt whispers of hope. An idea began to form in her mind while she bathed herself in shadows to complete her task, easily slipping into the captain's quarters unbeknownst to the remaining guards. Stealth was always her strength, hiding herself in plain sight, blending in with the shadows as though she was easily forgotten and she liked it that way. Her nimble fingers picked locks in the abandoned room, taking the documents leaving everything else in neat order. Still the rumble of the crowd echoed through the room deafening her ears, if it wasn't for a loud click she wouldn't have slipped into the shadows of the balcony concealing herself in time.
"To think that one gent with the beard fainted so quickly, I put almost a month's pay on him." A deep male's voice grumbled clearly irritated.
" You betted on brawn sir, that doesn't always determine the outcome." A shrewd voice chastised the other.
"Hmph" Was the returned grunt, the groan of the chair pricked her ears as she waited patiently.
" To think that farm-boy won the gambet, I highly doubt the Prince would want a handsome vertile male like him protecting the Princess." The sore-loser replied, if she was to stay long she might as well assign names to the voices she is being forced to eavesdrop upon.
"You think the Prince to be so petty." Snotty-man replied, Naoki would bet a year's pay that the owner of that shrill voice had a long hooked nose and would look down its bridges at others.
"The fool actually begged the runner up to take his place." Sore-loser snorted completely dismissing Snotty-man's quipp.
Naoki, rolled her eyes as the two bickered, but that last comment caught her attention. It sparked her interest. 'He doesn't want the honor of being a princess's bodyguard?' She licked her lips, hungry for more information on this individual. Her original concept of competing thrown into the dump of all her other failed machinations to escape her dismal fate.
" Leave it to a peasant to insult such a position ." Disgust evident in the Snotty-man's voice.
"That farm boy is probably dragging his heels at the tavern." The chuckle that sore-loser belched grated on her nerves, she wanted them to leave but the air felt as though they would talk themselves into circles over the winner of today's gambit. She braced her hand against the crevice of the sill, a small creak protested against her fingers, she held her breath. It felt like the sound screamed in the dim of the room, even the two males voices fell silent.
" Oy that balcony window has been groaning nonstop lately." Sore-loser growled
" Our weather is due for some harsh winds this time of the year." Snotty-man intoned giving a loud sniff before both males fell back into their quibbling.
'Are they ignorant or just stupid?' Naoki thought idly as she resigned herself to the hours that followed, till both males finally wore the conversations to bare bones. As they departed, Naoki sent up prayers upon prayers of thanks, she was barely able to restrain herself from announcing her presence to silence the fools. Her muscles screamed as she moved, she felt stiff each muscle taunt from the being still for so long.
" I should be thin from all this work!" She grumbled patting the dust from her clothes, she looked up to darkening sky with a feral grin her brown eyes brimming with newfound life. " Now to find me a farm-boy."
A glint of metal caught her eye pulling her out of the memory, she looked curiously at the cylinder that hung in an almost obvious fashion along the handle of her large window. Her curiosity peaked as she ambled over, fingers wrapping around the cool metal as she unlatched the top with ease. Dread and complete fear boiled through her in hot streaks, a single item tumbled out of the cylinder into her palm and glared at her with accusation. A single dagger drenched in rust glittered in the bursting dawns early light, but it was crest on the pummel that had her heart galloping like Lillybell's hooves, it was the royal crest of Oroboria.
" Father why are you here." She visibly paled, fingertips trembling like her voice as she gingerly traced the symbol. "And Grandma Zubani, what in the world is going to happen?" The cold fear coiled in her stomach, resting there like rot. A single sound echoed in her ears, a sound she couldn't pinpoint but she suspected it was coming from her own mouth, a low tormenting scream that was muffled between fingers she didn't remember cupping her lips with.
And here is chapter 11, whew this chapter took me longer than normal. I know how I want to connect all the dots but once my fingers touch the keyboard its like 'whoosh' gone all thoughts.
But I hope everyone enjoyed this please read and reveiw I want to make this an awesome fic for all who read it so let me know what I can improve