"So, how long have you known?" Ahim asked calmly. But from the corner of his eyes, Joe can see that the princess was trying hard to maintain her regal pose. An effort to show that she was not intimidated by having her secret let out into the open.
Marvelous on the other hand was not even looking at the princess as he mull around the dead bodies, poking at them with the tip of his feet. Trying to make sure that all of them are indeed dead. "I had a hunch but when Joe told me about that-" he pointed to Ahim's messed up ponytail "-it sorta confirmed my suspicions."
Ahim's hands reached over to her ponytail, and her hand came into contact to the locket that apparently had gotten away from the wrapping of her pink ribbon. Immediately she pulled onto the ribbon, undoing her ponytail as well grabbing the locket.
There's no point of hiding it there anymore if it is obvious enough to be seen.
"So what now? You'll take me in as hostage and blackmail my country into giving you what you want?" she asked sarcastically with a frown still evident on her face. Gai on the other hand had soundlessly move to be next to his princess's side. His right hand resting firmly on the hilt of his sword.
"As intriguing as the idea might be princess, we're not that sort of crew. We may be hooligans as you might want to refer us as but we don't barter with people's lives just so we are clear." Luka piped up as she strode to Marvelous' side, her arms crossed over her chest. Her face clearly reflecting her distaste at the accusatory tone that was used by Ahim.
Marvelous reached over to grasp Luka's waist as he pulled her closer to him. His right arm softly patting her shoulders in an effort to quell her anger. "We did have a hand in saving your life princess. Maybe a simple gratitude would have suffice rather than accusing us of being lowlifes."
Stunned and mostly surprised of what she had done, Ahim was rendered speechless. "I'm- I'm sorry." was all that she said before taking a few steps backwards and dashed away from the scene.
Gai took a few seconds to recover and he directed a glare in Marvelous' direction before he too set forth to chase after her. "Princess!"
As the pair left the scene, silence engulfed the party of four. Luka was still grumbling as Marvelous tries to sooth her. Doc was muttering to himself of how wrong everything had turned out. Joe who had been leaning against a tree, his arms crossed and his eyes shut was the one who finally broke the silence. "That was a bit harsh Marvelous."
The man in the red coat simply shrugged. Joe let out a small sigh as he trudge away.
"Where's he going all of a sudden?" Luka asked to which neither Marvelous nor Doc provided an answer for.
"I'm fine Gai. I just need some time to recollect my thoughts." Ahim said dismissively to the knight who had been pestering her whether she was okay or not.
"But princess-"
"I was the one in the wrong Gai. Don't you dare tell me I wasn't at fault."
"Ahim."
"If I knew being sad is the easiest way to make you call my name casually like that, I should have been moping around from the very start." she said with a heartless chuckle.
Silence.
"Please Gai. I'm fine. Just leave me alone for a little while." Reluctantly the knight nodded before he left the princess on her own.
Hugging her knees, she rested her forehead onto them. Sighing. There was nothing else that she can even do at this point honestly. The rustling sound of the shrubs made her groaned. "Gai. I asked you to let me alone just now. Don't make me turn that into an order."
"Well, even if you did order me… since I don't work you, I don't think there is any need for me to abide." the response made Ahim jolted from her position to see that it wasn't her knight as she thought. Instead, it was the man that was cladded in a blue jacket.
Ahim instantly schooled her expressions and instead of a frown, a small smile was now decorating her face as she said. "I'm sorry I did not realize it was you just now Joe-san. But if you don't mind, I really need some time own my own right now."
Joe's eyes flickered at the sudden change. There was an evident frown on his face completely mirroring his distaste. But just as quickly, he schooled his expressions to the usual poker face. "You shouldn't take what Marvelous and Luka said to heart. Their tongue are sharper than most swords."
"Well, they we right. It was an injustice to all of you for me to come to my own conclusion when I have zero idea who you guys are. Especially when all of you literally saved my life."
Silence.
"Tell me Joe-san. Was what Marvelous said true?" Ahim asked. Her tone somber.
Joe did not need further explanation to understand what Ahim was referring to. "Yes. Those were Shion's soldiers. The elite team for assassination to be precise." Joe finished as he kept his watchful eyes onto the princess. It was only for a miniscule of second but Joe saw how her breath hitched when he confirmed the identity of the men.
"But why."
"You tell me princess."
Ahim looked at the man. Her eyes carefully analyzing him yet Joe didn't even flinch. Probably finally deciding it was for the best, she began "I was promised to the crown prince of Shion, Muzan. That was what had been agreed on between our 2 nations. The crown princess in exchange for ceasefire and protection from Shion."
"Promised." Joe snickered at the use of word. "You were sold and was used as a bargaining chip." He said as it was a matter of fact. Ahim glared at the man.
Displeased at how he phrased the whole thing.
"I was upholding my end of the agreement."
"Bargain you mean."
"It is a duty of mine. I don't expect you to understand that part of my life Joe-san."
"I am just saying things from how I perceive it princess. You were sold to the country and in turn, they sent assassins to kill you off. And from the looks of it, this was their second attempt."
"How did you-"
"I am rather observant princess. You looked rather taken aback when Marvelous told you that they were Shion's. And also I heard Gai muttered something along the lines of 'them again?' when we were being ambushed."
"But why…" then there was a sound of rustling coming from the right side.
"Well, something tells me that we'll be getting an answer for that soon enough."
"What do you-" but before she could even finish her sentence, Joe pulled her to lay flat on the earth floor, shushing her in the process as the rustling sound was getting closer.
It wasn't long before 2 men dressed in the same uniform as the assassins popped out of the shrubs. Fortunately it seems as if they didn't realize Ahim and Joe's presence. They two men were at a bush that was a few feet away from where Joe and Ahim were hiding. Relieving themselves apparently.
"Where's Fuji and his team? We haven't heard from them in a while now." the first man asked.
"Who knows. Either they are already out of the forest or they're all dead getting mauled by a bear." the second male said with a hearty laugh.
"You know, it is such a pity that we had to kill off the little princess. She was quite a looker."
"She did put up a good fight though. The old knight that she had with her was trouble. We just manage to fight him off because he was outnumbered." Joe notice at how Ahim blanched at the mention of the knight and the princess being killed. Joe was certain that the princess the male were talking about was a decoy due to the fact that the real one is basically sitting next to him right now.
"I still don't get it why our crown prince gave the kill order though. I thought the princess was to be his bride."
"You idiot. Didn't you hear? Having the princess eliminated and blaming it onto the Famille not adhering to their part of the bargain enables us to start a war with them."
"I thought the Famille and Shion had agreed on a ceasefire?"
"We did. But as Prince Muzan would put it; what's the point of a ceasefire when we can just conquer the whole nation?"
"We have one hell of a crown prince."
"You tell me." he finished with another laugh. "Come on, let's go back to the others and get out of here. We accomplished our mission already."
And soon enough, the two walked away to the direction that they came from.
Joe peered over to Ahim who was trembling. Her nails digging hard into her hands, blood oozing from the small crescent holes. Her face completely pale as she continues to bite on her lower lip and he was sure her lips too was bleeding.
A long moment of silence transpired between the pair. Ahim was left on her own to delve in her own thoughts while Joe simply sat there. Not uttering a single word. Giving Ahim the space and time that she needed.
It was when she finally raise her head up that Joe finally looked at her. Her eyes had changed. It was as if a fire was lit within her. Instinctively, Joe grinned in pleasure. Things are about to get more exciting from now on.
"Joe-san. From my personal observation, the 4 of you are not some travelling merchants."
A nod.
"Is it safe for me to assume that you people are hired help of a sort?"
Joe smirked. "Of a sort." was his simple answer. Ahim grinned meekly. At least that is one thing that she was able to confirm and that itself is helping her plan formulation.
"Would you accept a request?" she asked.
"For the right price."
Gai was still pacing around the campsite taking no pause as he paces from one end to the other. Doc was simply watching from the side. Unable, or precisely having no idea on what to say. Marvelous and Luka on the other hand were huddled on the other side, trying to scavenge some weapons from the assassins.
"Stop pacing will you? You're making my head ache." Luka groaned in annoyance. Gai shot her a glare in which she brushed off.
"Where's Joe? We should get out of here soon enough. It's not safe to be hanging around here and the dead bodies being our companions here is not something that I am comfortable with." Luka voiced out loud.
"Here." Instantly all of them looked over to see Joe and Ahim who trailed after him. Marvelous grinned at the sight of Ahim.
"So, what now princess?" he asked.
"Name your price."
Marvelous chuckled. "Now you're speaking my language."
A/N: Whew, that took a while but here you are, a new fresh chapter out of the oven! Hope you enjoyed it and do leave comments to so I'd know if you guys like how the story is progressing. See you with another new chapter soon!Love,Nana.