Chapter 5: Determination rising
Golden.
That's what Izaya felt like as he slowly came to his senses. It was funny, really, but that's what he felt.
Warmth radiated all around his skin. He felt light as a feather- free as a bird.
Prickling his skin in the most magnificent way, Izaya's nose twitched softly at the immersion of heat.
Red and gold mixed together as Izaya's eyes slowly fluttered open.
It was the sun that had tickled his skin. A huge window made from coloured glass casted an array of colorful lights in his direction. Red was immersing Izaya's eyes, golden trailed the shimmer down his collarbone and as red and blue mixed it was a slight hue of purple that coloured the rest.
It was a beautiful sight.
Mesmerizing.
Mairu and Kururi would love something like this. Izaya could feel a cushion beneath his head, softer than anything he felt in his life before. Finest silk created the purest white as the sheet covered Izaya's body.
It was so comfortable. Warm.
.
Not.
.
Home.
.
Eyes springing open in horror Izaya's body shot up from the bed-
The sheets were clenched as his knuckles turned white-
"You shouldn't get up."
Startled even worse than he already was, his head turned to the left.
The guy he had seen before, riding the ragged horse through beaten men. The king.
Eyes of chocolate honey focused on Izaya as if he were prey ready to be slain. The armor he had been wearing was gone. The blood washed off his hair.
With dread Izaya remembered the last few fragments of sight before he had passed out.
Instantly Izaya's eyes glanced down at the sheets as panic choked his throat.
Panic that someone might have undressed him. Panic that someone might have realized he was a man, that someone might have seen- but no.
He was still wearing the same gown he had earlier. All ribbons were in place, no jewel attached to his body had shifted in the slightest.
"I'm Shizuo," the king suddenly voiced, seemingly hesitating shortly before continuing as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Your husband I guess."
A lot of emotions flashed through Izaya's mind at that moment. Delight certainly was none of them.
His body tensed and his voice strained. He had to appear as feminine as possible - if the future king, Shizuo, realized he was a man, then it wouldn't be pretty.
His siblings would be doomed by either his own hand or that of his father's, Izaya himself would be beheaded if not worse.
"I'm Kururi," he mouthed slowly, bowing his head in an attempt to show his absolute and undeniable devotion.
An annoyed sigh, however, was all he received.
"Yeah, I know." Mind on alert, Izaya frowned.
Was he mad? Did he already realize he was a man? From his voice?
"Raise your head." It was no order and yet Izaya felt so as he met the king's eyes again.
Obvious disdain and a sign of rejection laid in the king's expression.
Hands folded in his lap and the king cleared his throat.
"Look, this marriage isn't something I wanted, and I doubt you did either," he started, sending Izaya's guts flying right off the bat. Was he going to cancel it? The marriage? "But since my old man decided he absolutely had to repay a debt before his death we are stuck like this now."
Relief replaced the fear clutching Izaya's throat. Thank god, the king was going to stick to the promise his father had made.
A slight hint of sympathy sprouted in his mind at the show of honesty.
So he didn't want to get married either.
No.
He might as well be telling him straight up lies. This was just an act. Everything was.
Izaya had heard a lot about the heir of the kingdom.
A bastard of a man, only living for the thrill of fight and a monster in the chambers where he abused women and men alike.
That was the impression every single person in the kingdom held.
A scary one and certainly none to be cast aside so quickly.
Grasping the bedsheets a bit tighter, Izaya's eyes narrowed. He was facing a monster wearing a sheep's coat. No matter how flawless the king's pretense was, he needed to stay on guard.
Opening his mouth he wanted to ask the king some questions, small talk really, but it seemed the strain on his body had been a bit harsher than he had thought. A set of coughs wrecked his body instead and the familiar pressure on his lungs returned with a warm greeting. The chair the king had set on screeched and for a second Izaya flinched.
He expected a hit, maybe to be backhanded across his face just as his father would whenever he showed a sign of weakness.
But he didn't.
A hand had reached out for the raven but was withdrawn as quickly as the frown appeared on the king's expression. Anger, disdain and a set of emotions Izaya couldn't quite point out swirled in the king's eyes as his hand curled into a tight fist.
"I know my father´s reputation, and I know mine." He started, the word father dripping with the deadliest venom as he spat it like an unwanted grain of dirt. "I want you to know that I won't ever lay a hand on you, you have my word."
And with that the king turned. A couple heavy steps were all that was needed for him to reach the door. And so he left.
Just like that.
Equally puzzled as he was out of breath, Izaya stared at the closed door. Breathing still proved to be a chore but not too hard to disrupt his mind.
Izaya didn't get to say a word.
Sure, he told the man his name, but apart from that-
It was certainly unusual for him, but in this situation the best case scenario.
No talking meant giving no chances to uncover the truth.
The less he said the better.
He certainly was surprised though.
This man acted awfully gentle.
Funny how a monster was capable of imitating such accurate impressions.
It was scary. The insane were often the most convincing. And knowing the king was just hiding his face until the marriage until he got what he wanted only caused his blood to boil.
Just like the duke.
All of them- did as they pleased, weaseled their way through people's minds to get what they wanted.
Disgusting.
Despicable.
A sudden burst of anger replaced the fear Izaya had felt. Determination crossed his face as his eyes narrowed. His cover hadn't been blown. Stupid as everyone seemed to be they wholeheartedly believed he was the duke's daughter. Funny how stupid a man ruling an entire kingdom could be.
But that made things easier.
There was no way he was going to be killed in a week.
He had been numbed by fear.
His body as well as his mind.
Were it the hits to his head or mere idiocy?
He wasn't smart for nothing- maybe now after getting a night's rest, maybe because he was gone from the palace he suddenly felt his confidence return.
He needed to think- this was nothing but a game of chess. And there always was a way to get to the king.
Blowing the bed's cover off his body, Izaya let his legs slip out of the bed.
He needed to get moving, set up a plan.
His body seemed to disagree as a flash of vertigo blinded his senses.
The frame of the wooden bed was grasped hard as the raven kept upright.
His body was not listening to his commands- usually it wasn't as bad, but this damned corset-
It was making it harder to breathe. Harder than it should be. Pressing in places where bruises were busy healing certainly didn't help either and Izaya stayed still as he forced a few deep breaths into his body.
He had to stay strong.
Think.
How was he going to ensure his sister's safety?
He couldn't protect what wasn't by his side. He needed to know about their whereabouts.
He had sent them off towards the south.
Two days had passed.
How far could they have gone?
Loberion?
Istal?
No they couldn't have passed the border.
Or did they? Kururi was smart. Smuggling themselves into one of the many mercenaries carts appeared as no great difficulty to Izaya.
A sudden knock to the door caused him to flinch as his head turned to the door.
"Lady Kururi, we have brought some tea."
Worst timing really.
Letting go of the bed frame Izaya did his best to keep his body upright as he moved to the nearby antique vanity table. It was beautiful really, an alignment of three mirrors had been embedded into oak wood and various patterns of superb craftsmanship decorated the frame. Not to mention the jewels embedded into every corner and curve. The small stool set by its side was a life saver as Izaya let himself rest upon it.
He wasn't going to show anyone any weakness. Not the king and certainly not the servants. And showing those very servants in bed like some easy to sway woman was something he was not about to let happen.
"Enter," he announced loudly, careful to not let his voice sound too low.
One after the other the maidservants streamed into his chambers. First they gazed towards the bed- not spotting their future queen they diverted their worried gaze.
Was the expression they wore also a facade?
"My lady! We were shocked when you fainted, how are you feeling now?" Carrying over what smelled like fine herbal tea they settled around Izaya.
So kind.
undoubtedly hiding their true nature.
Izaya had been stupid earlier.
Did he really think those people were serving the gruesome king with such happiness and gratitude?
He had to be blind.
They were acting and like a fool he had let himself be swayed by appearance.
"Why did the king summon me a week prior?" he questioned, disregarding their acted worries entirely as he cut them off right there.
He had no time nor the will to deal with false flattery and concern.
A bit taken aback, the maids hesitated before speaking up.
"My lady, it was the late king's wish that his son were to marry as soon as time allowed. Initially the wedding was planned to take place the very same day your honor arrived, but things have been a bit unstable." The oldest of the maids was the first to gather her courage as she answered the question.
She was tall, wearing her long black hair in a ponytail and a pair of round glasses hid a couple of freckles around her nose.
"Unstable?" Izaya inquired, addressing the maid directly as he signed for her to come closer.
"Attackers. War. With the king gone others saw an opportunity to take over new lands. The new king had and still has to stand his ground before the common folk before the marriage."
Another of the maidservants quickly sprung to her side supporting the words spoken.
"It wasn't the late king's wish but our new lord insisted," she insisted, clarifying that they were not trying to gossip but simply telling the facts.
Izaya hummed.
So that's why there had been so many corpses.
He had been defending the land from attackers. Possibly gone too far as well and tried to claim new land for himself in the process.
The maids hadn't implied a thing but wasn't it clear that a greedy king was going to try and expand his lands?
"He goes to the battlefield himself?"
Izaya asked, faking a healthy dose of surprise. It wouldn't hurt to act innocent and uneducated, that way people would fill in the gaps they thought he didn't know.
It certainly proved interesting to see what those fillings tended to be.
"Always has." The freckled maid spoke.
"At any chance he got, yeah."
Ah, there it was.
Receiving a soft glare from the other maids, the cheerful servant Izaya had met in the hall had raised her voice.
She was a fantastic opportunity.
Her mouth ran faster than her mind seemed to catch up. Wonderful to gather information.
The king fled the castle.
Why? Because he was a battle maniac? Did he enjoy the thrill of killing?
A stern frown appeared on Izaya's expression.
Of course, that was more fitting to the rumors he had heard.
He almost fell for his earlier endeavor but the maids seemed to know fairly well what kind of monster they were serving.
Letting his eyes trail to the window, Izaya glanced towards the entrance of the castle. His room provided quite the view.
Located in one of the tallest towers he had vision on nearly everything down below.
The gates, the fighting grounds, the small streets filling the inside of the gate's walls with the bustling life of people privileged to live on the castle's grounds.
It was then that Izaya spotted a mercenary. Not only one a couple actually, busily building up their slots to sell what they had brought.
"Who are they?" He questioned curtly and the freckled maid scurried to the window to answer the question.
"Mercenaries from Istal. Seeing as spring is coming they returned for the first time to sell their people have been eagerly waiting for them."
Mercenaries from Istal?
Perfect.
"I haven't quite gotten a chance to look at their goods either, I'm afraid. I take it there would be no issue in calling one of them to me?"
Glances were exchanged.
The maids hesitated.
"...of course not my lady, we will see it done."
Izaya knew he was being a little rude, throwing the personnel off like that.
A lady already looking out for purchasing expensive goods upon arrival was going to stir up rumors.
But he couldn't care less right now. Because he finally thought of what to do.
His sisters were undoubtedly bound to hear of his fate. Hearing that a certain Kururi, daughter of the duke was actually being married to the king, they had to draw suspicions.
Surely they weren't expecting their brother as his wife but maybe it would cause them to slow down in their run.
Istal. Loberion.
That were their most likely locations.
That's where he was going to find them.
to be continued~
Well, Izaya is not the most trusting in this one xD Ahh so much missconception so much dramaaa i smell it already xDDD Be prepared hahah
Also! I will be updating every Friday from now on xD Forgive me if I fail for a week but I should be able to pull it off haha
Well with that being said I hope you liked the chapter and see you next week 3 :3