Thank you for your review, hiatus x hiatus! Thank you EmeraldRuby101 for your follow! Thank you Akumarayne for beta-ing this chapter!
I'm sorry that I took quite a while with this chapter, but a part of this chapter had been really hard to write ;w; We never saw Koumei and Hakuryuu talking face to face in canon after all… so I hope that their interaction here does not seem too unnatural ^^;;;
Also, White Ridge Palace is the name of the Kou Empire's palace according to Sense-Scans translation of chapter 243, page 6, and Ithnan's hair is blond in the manga.
Chapter 5: As Shadows Begin to Move
Echoes of footsteps rang in a rhyme through the large, elaborated halls of the royal palace. Besides the empress - who was on her way to the throne room where the current emperor, Koutoku Ren, always spent his evenings - the hallway was empty. With each step Gyokuen took, however, came a non-described whisper of juicy information, poured into her ears by the dark rukh of Al-Thamen. Ever since Judal had told Gyokuen about the interesting addition to their palace, the empress had ordered Ithnan and the others to scout around. The find was easy. While there was no increase in the flow of Solomon's rukh, there was an abnormally large amount of black rukh inside one of the infirmaries. Thinking that her god had finally sent an messenger to help their cause, tender tears escaped the confine of her eyelids. They fell softly into her sleeves, but stopped as she began to wonder why such a messenger appear before her son, not her? Even among her comrades in Al-Thamen, she was his most faithful follower...
The empress lost her smile, but it returned with a extra dose of sweetness as she thought, even if it has a will of its own, we just have to tame it… like Judal. As the empress pushed open the doors, she caught a glimpse of familiar blond hair. Like she had instructed a few months ago, Ithnan had just finished giving Koutoku his daily bottle of alcohol, poisoned for their convenience. While passing each other without a glance, Gyokuen murmured, "Go keep an eye on Hakuryuu."
"As you wish." he whispered back.
/vvv/
No matter how hard Hakuryuu trained, no matter how much he pushed himself, it just wasn't enough. He aimed a right blow at his instructor, while keeping guard on his left- where they had been focusing on since about a week ago, when Hakuryuu was told that he tended to expose his left side to attacks. He suffered quite a lot of injuries then, and still quite a bit now. It wasn't his fault that everything turned blurry on that side, but such excuse would never be uttered by him or his teachers.
The regimen consisted of thirty minutes of sparring, then a five minutes break, followed by another thirty minutes of sparring. Repeated over the course of four hours, after which all three of his instructors must attend to other tasks, and he would be left to practice on his own - which wasn't a bad thing. He preferred that his flaws be kept secret, but it would be hard to make much improvements without criticism. That's why he must make the most of this time, since they could never train him all day.
Caught in his worries, Hakuryuu did not notice his mentors' strategy until they had him surrounded. Two of his teachers charged at him, coming from opposite directions. The last cut off his attempt to back away toward more optimal ground. Hakuryuu was cornered, but he was not giving up. His guan dao pointing forward, the prince tried to force his way through the right. Although he overwhelmed the older man in strength, his techniques were still inferior.
A blow to his forehead threw him away from combat, while a hand attempted to take away his weapon. Still, Hakuryuu would not yield, and managed to keep a firm hold of it as he tumbled onto the ground. His instructors towered over him, wordlessly taunting him to stand up. If he could not even defeat them, he would never accomplish his duty. Gritting his teeth, Hakuryuu stabbed the end of his pole into the earth- using it to support his weight as he rose to his feet.
"Prince Hakuryuu!" shouted a vaguely familiar voice. "I greatly apologize for interrupting, but Prince Koumei wishes to have a word with you."
It was only when she stopped in front of him, saluting, that Hakuryuu remembered she was the one he had asked to show Kei around. "I understand," said the prince with a polite smile. Hakuryuu turned to his instructors, meeting each pair of eyes although not really seeing them. "Thank you for today's lessons."
The three men bowed without a word in reply, then waited until Hakuryuu was gone before dismissing themselves. On their way to the soldiers' training ground, one of the three veterans looked up at the dark sky. Like the veil that covered those priests' faces, heavy clouds shrouded everything above- making it impossible to tell even the time. Maybe it was still evening, or maybe it was night. Prince Hakuryuu did not work like a clock as usual, so he could not be rely on. "He was tardy today." mused the instructor, causing his peers to turn toward him. "Maybe we should report to Lord Kouen?"
"That would be best," replied another veteran, "but we must be discreet."
/vvv/
In the fourth library of the White Ridge Palace, the second prince and Kei awaited the arrival of Hakuryuu. Only twenty minutes had gone by since they last spoken in the hallways, but the tension was thick enough to cut with a dull blade - at least in Kei's mind. The assistant sat cross-legged on the floor as he pretended to read the book on his lap. Although some parts seemed like Kanji, such as the one that means white, the others were incomprehensible to him. Stealing another glance toward the table where Koumei was sitting, Kei's cheeks puffed up. He was trying real hard to keep his retorts in, but everything was proving to be more bizarre than a goat robbing a bank.
Oblivious to the suffering of the person beside him, the second prince carefully rubbed his palm on the fabric of clothing he had confiscated from two housemaids. It felt strange, made of neither silk nor cotton, or any other fabric he knew. It had also been sewed using an unconventional method. Everything about it was foreign, but what captured his interest most was the teeth-like metal blended into it. While it could be an emblem of sorts, Koumei could not recognize it. Not even the dungeons have these things, thought the prince as he flipped to the next page of the record book - which contained the list of things they have discovered in their expeditions. Most carpets found and brought back by their soldiers had been made of high quality fabric, woven with technology similar to theirs. In comparison...
"This feels cheap." concluded the prince.
"I'm sorry I'm poor!" snapped Kei, unable to retrain himself once his sore spot had been pushed. "I mean, I understand that modern technology is very alien-like here but is synthetic fabric that interesting? And why have you been stroking it like it's a precious kitten, as its owner I'm totally creeped out!"
"This is yours?" said Koumei, setting the jacket down onto the table. The prince stood and walked toward the growingly suspicious boy. Maybe I should call Hakuei-dono here as well, although she is busy preparing for her dungeon conquest.
Before Koumei could say anything else, the door creaked open. A navy-haired teen stepped in warily, his scarred face scrunched up in a way that reminded Kei of Inaba whenever Ogata came to visit their agency. As he closed the door behind him, however, the look on Hakuryuu's face changed. A tranquil mask had slipped on, although his shoulders were stiff as he saluted Koumei. The youngest prince could not drop his act, even after seeing that only his cousin and Kei were in the room.
"How may I be of assistance?" asked Hakuryuu, his voice full of politeness and none of his feelings. Confusion, suspicion, interest, astonishment… Hakuryuu wasn't sure what to feel. They hadn't spoken to each other since the Fire happened, so the youngest prince could not understand why his cousin would call him now, of all times. As he walked further into the library though, a new thought entered his mind. Just what did his new retainer do?
"Hakuryuu," said Koumei in his usual disinterested tone, "I want you to leave your assistant in my care. He is not fit to be your retainer."
Seeing the instant change in Hakuryuu's eyes, Koumei added. "Don't get me wrong. This man is not a member of our empire, so it is simply illogical to entrust him with the tasks expected of a royal retainer. It is best for us to keep him under surveillance as a prisoner."
"What if I prefer to keep him as my retainer?" said Hakuryuu. Although he did not truly want Kei around, being demanded to give him up to Koumei irked him. Besides, having to retainers who are primarily loyal to his cousins would be more than irritating. It would be troublesome.
"Let's discuss this rationally, Hakuryuu," said Koumei, staring down at the shorter prince. "If you want retainers, there are many qualified people in our palace and army, including people you have known since childhood. There is no need to appoint someone from another country, who we know nothing about. It is too reckless."
Kouha takes in questionable people into his army all the time. There's no difference between them and Kei. Despite his thoughts, Hakuryuu said, "In that case, isn't it more logical to leave him under my surveillance? Since you also have duties to attend to as a general of the army."
As the two royals were busy discussing his fate, without any regard to his presence, Kei slowly distanced himself from Koumei. Given his words about treating him as a prisoner, the crimson-haired prince now seemed much more dangerous - especially to a commoner like him. Although he ended up finding himself closer to Hakuryuu by chance, something about the scarred prince disarmed his fear. The boy did not feel like a threat, even with that frown and furrowed brows.
The discussion was getting heated, evidenced by the increase in volume. Out of habit, Kei's hand reached down to feel the phone inside his pants' pocket - his subconscious urging him to call Ogino. His action must have alarmed the princes as they stopped and turned toward him with widen eyes. Instantly, and despite the irony, Kei raised his hands like a suspect caught by the cops. It was suddenly hard to breathe. Everything was cold, and so he began to wonder if this could be how Don Valentino feels every time he runs into them.
"Your assistant is weird Hakuryuu." said a familiar, flamboyant voice.
Suddenly, something cold slid down the back of Kei's back, making him recoiled in fright - only to collide into a ladder. A few scrolls rained down on him, followed by laughter. Still dazed by the sudden chill seeping into his skin, Kei could barely register the jeweled wand pointed at him as he looked up into glinting red eyes. There was now a block of ice, about the size of a person, where Kei had been standing. A flash of light shined into his eyes, making him freeze as jingles of gold bracelets rang in his ears.
"Judal, stop it." said Hakuryuu as water began to condense in the air. His voice brought Kei back to his senses. Springing to his feet, Kei found himself looking back and forth between his attacker and the princes, unable to muster any retort.
The magi pouted. "But your conversation was so boring." said Judal, throwing his arms up as though it would illustrate his point. "I took the trouble of tracking you down only to find you arguing with Pimples about him - seriously, it's such a waste of time. Just let Hakuryuu have whoever he wants as his retainer - it's not like one or two is going to hurt." As Judal removed his wand from Kei's face, his gaze fell upon the second prince.
"What is it, High Priest?" asked Koumei.
Shrugging, the magi replied, "I ran into Kouen on the way here, and he said that he needs you for a meeting or something."
Realizing that he had missed one of his important duties, Koumei sighed. Exhaustion from pulling an all-nighter returned to him, but he shook a part of it away while turning toward Hakuryuu. There was now a dullness in his posture, as though he had lost interest in everything but sleep. "Well, he is in your hands then, Hakuryuu," said the prince as he scratched his head. "On the condition that you inform me of any strange behavior, and things like this." To show what he meant, Koumei walked over to the table to lift up Kei's jacket. He then spread it out, holding it at the sleeves, in order to see Hakuryuu's reaction. Recognition flashed in the mismatched eyes, and that was all Koumei needed.
"All right," said Hakuryuu. "If he proves himself to be suspicious, I'll tell you."