A/N; I've actually had this idea running through my head for years, but couldn't come up with the right way to write it until remembering Isolde of the White Hands.
Think of this as an A/U of Pure Hands if a certain someone decided to interfere with someone else's marriage, and Haru had received certain mail first.

Impure Hands

Jigo lazily sipped his wine as he watched the fire in front of him. The shadows danced merrily around the cave walls as his men sent echoes of their riotous laughter down the many caverns riddling his mountain.

His mountain. His large mouth split into a grin at the thought before taking another sip of wine. He'd been told all his life he'd never own so much as a cart, and he had an entire mountain. Even the king hadn't challenged his claim to it, and when the time came, Jigo was already more than prepared.

"Chief! Chief Jigo!" one of the newer recruits called out as he ran into the large cave, making the other members of the bandit tribe quiet down to hear the news. "There's a man here with gold!"

"Music to my ears," Jigo purred as he lazily moved about on his makeshift throne of furs. "Round up the boys."

"Not like that, Chief," the young man hastily corrected, realizing a bit late that his wording sounded too close to the normal alarm. "As in, he wants to give you gold to do something. But he wants to talk to you himself."

Jigo scratched at the handful of whiskers on his chin before deciding they could always rob the man if the favor was too much. "Send him in," he ordered, deciding not to bother with putting on a shirt that didn't half-expose his chest. As one disgraced noble had once told him, being a true master was about confidence and power. He knew full well that he had the advantage here.

After a while, the same recruit brought in three men wearing dark cloaks. The one standing before the others pulled off his hood with a disdainful sniff.

"Why, if it isn't the Marquis Yoshioka!" Jigo greeted the man broadly, since the nobleman's march ran along one side of his mountain. "I must say I'm surprised you knew where we lived."

"Oh, I've known for years," the man drawled lazily as his disdainful eyes took in everything. "But since you are careful about how you pick travelers to 'make transactions with' and your reputation means I don't have to worry about the county on the other side of your mountain, I didn't see a reason to evict you."

Jigo blinked, since there was little in the man's tone or posture to say otherwise. "I take it you didn't come here for that, anyway."

"No. I have a business transaction for you," the marquis informed him while stepping closer and eyeing the available sitting spots with distaste.

"Go get my wolfskin!" Jigo barked at one of his men, who immediately jumped and ran for the pelt, spreading it for the lord in under a minute. "So. What services could I provide for you, my lord?"

Seeing that the wolfskin was the best he could hope for, the marquis reluctantly sat on it. "I'm going to take it for granted that even though you are literally living under a giant rock, you know the situation between my daughter and her husband."

Jigo couldn't resist a laugh. "I think even the birds and fish know about that! So tell me, is your daughter really all that unfortunate that the great Baron von Gikkingen won't even spare her a glance?"

At that, the man stiffened with indignation. "I assure you that Haru is perfectly lovely, talented and demure. That's why the king chose her for the baron's bride; even if he's in love with his uncle's wife, my daughter will be able to make him forget about Queen Louise if he could be bothered to spend any time with her!" he fumed angrily, reaching for the fireplace so that he could begin breaking a branch between his hands. "But no! He never sends for her, and she doesn't assert herself enough to go to him! It's nearly been a year, I would have thought for sure he'd have manned up by now and started a family with her, but they literally haven't been in the same room since right after he took her to his castle after the wedding! I keep mentioning to her that alcohol would solve the problem, and she… well, she's a bit stubborn," he cut himself off, looking like a thundercloud at what she had probably responded to that with.

Jigo nodded while refilling his little cup with more wine. "Heaven knows alcohol solves a lot of my problems. But what does your daughter's marriage have to do with me?"

The marquis leaned forward with half-mad eyes. "You, my friend, have the power to change everything. I have met with the baron enough that I am willing to bet my soul that if that stubborn mule actually spends time with her, Haru will be able to make him fall in love with her instead, or at least make him content enough to stay in the kingdom, which is what the king wants as well." With that, he snapped his fingers at the two men standing directly behind him.

Both of the men undid their belts carefully and threw them to the floor in front of the bandit chief, revealing that there had been several discreet bags tied to them that jingled as the sacks hit the stone floor.

Jigo hungrily opened one of the bags to see bright gold spill into his greedy hands.

"This is what I want you to do," the marquis informed him matter of factly. "In three days, my daughter will receive the message that I am summoning her home for a visit. In five days, that will put her at the Sage Pass at about noon. That's far enough from your front door that it won't cause too much trouble for you to hide out somewhere close by without jeopardizing your own home."

Jigo's eyes lit up with understanding. "Ah, I see. A rescue romance. Make him fight for her."

"Baron will have no choice but to come after her," the marquis smirked wickedly. "Regardless of anything he might feel at the moment, my niece is the queen, and she is fond of Haru even if she doesn't have as much time for her as before her own marriage. Baron knows the king will have his head if he does literally anything other than come to her rescue after getting a ransom note. That would put them at two days together before they reach his castle, and there is no chance whatsoever that they won't talk about their predicament on the way back. I know that's all they'll need to start patching things up, but I don't want my daughter harmed in any way," he suddenly remembered to add with a dark look.

"Feel free to scare her a bit, but if any of your brutes lays a finger on her, I'll crack your mountain open and pour boiling pitch down your throat myself. But if she is unharmed, I'll fill the carriage she'll arrive in with enough gold and jewels for you to live like a lord the rest of your days. These," he added while gesturing at the belt bags, "are to make sure you know I will deliver if you do."

Jigo thought while weighing the coins in his hands. "Let's say my men jump her carriage," he mused out loud. "But we lock her in the carriage, only opening it for food and a chamber pot when needed. My men won't have any trouble talking about 'what we could do to her if the Baron doesn't pay up' within earshot of the carriage, and we take off the horses to keep the Baron from taking the carriage back as well, since she's the only thing he'll want out of the fight. I will only agree if you board up the windows of the carriage before you start filling it, because it's no secret how dangerous this man is when provoked. Even if he doesn't like her, his temper concerning the treatment of ladies is legendary."

"Done," the marquis agreed without hesitation. "Five days. The Sage Pass. Don't be late."

ooOoo

It was late in the day when the carriage came to the pass. Although not fond of his wife, the Baron had still sent ten soldiers on horseback to escort the Lady Haru back to her family estate.

"Leave at least one of the soldiers alive," Jigo commanded in a low tone as he raised his hand. "If he hears from one of his own men what happened, I won't need to bother with a ransom note." He slashed the air to cut the peaceful atmosphere.

Some of his men unleashed arrows on the soldiers while more rose up from bushes to tackle the ones closest to the carriage. The driver pulled out a dagger to defend himself, but was pushed off the seat before he had a chance to use it.

His man gave a hard flick of the reins to send the horses into a wild run, even running over one of the Baron's own men in the process.

"Easy as pie," Jigo gloated with pride, turning away to get onto his own horse.

But then he heard a carriage door fly wide open. He turned around to remind his men that the lady was to be left alone, but his outrage died in his throat as he saw what was happening.

The road along the pass was bordered on one side by such a steep hill that his men didn't bother hiding on it since there was no way to hide other than the bushes far below.

Even as the carriage turned to go around a bend, he distinctly saw a dark-haired woman in a long blue dress launch herself out of the carriage and down the hill. What followed was the distinctly female yelps of pain as she tumbled downward.

"Stop her!" he screamed in a panic. "Go find her and bring her back!"

Despite his wishes, his men were a lot slower and more careful about how they climbed down the steep hill since they'd already had a few 'adventures' that they would rather not repeat.

Feeling sick to his stomach, Jigo hurriedly mounted his horse and rode as close as he dared to the edge to see what was happening far below.

Despite her noble upbringing, Baroness Haru von Gikkingen had already gotten back on her feet and was running deeper into the woods while his own men were still trying to take the slope safely.

"Go after her, you numbskulls!" Jigo roared at the top of his lungs, since it was likely that the marquis would have their heads for just this much.

If they could just catch her and lock her back in the carriage, everything would be right back on track.

"They'll catch her," he consoled himself while nervously biting at his thumbnail as his men finally began running after the noblewoman one by one. "No one knows these woods like my men. There is no place she can run or hide where they won't find her."

That made him feel a little better, though not a lot. He took in a long deep breath before slowly letting it out and encouraging his own mount to the mountain path that had a safer trail to the bottom of the hill.

"There is no chance that little waif has enough grit to survive out here on her own."