Rei awoke slowly, groggily wondering where she was and what had happened. The unexpected touch of a warm, damp rag against her face abruptly brought her to full consciousness, as she winced and turned her head when the cloth touched the throbbing bruise on her temple. She lifted her hand to weakly grip the wrist of the one tending her as dark eyes fluttered open, the violet orbs unfocused and blurry as they met with a worried, amber gaze peering at her through strands of fire-colored hair. "Y-you. What’re you doing to me now?" she croaked through dry lips. "C-come to…kill me in my…sleep?"
"I came ta fix yer wounds, ya idiot," Tasuki growled, scowling at her as he wiped a trace of blood away from a pale cheek. "I couldn’t let ya sleep in that dungeon. They might’ve gotten infected. Now hold still an’ quit yippin’ at me."
"I don’t want your help," she mumbled, too tired to really put up a fight. It seemed the events of the past day had finally caught up with her, leaving her limbs feeling as though they’d been weighted in lead.
"Well, yer gettin’ it, so ya might as well quit whinin’ at me," the bandit huffed. "Hold still. Ya got a nice bruise on yer side from when that aho was kickin’ ya earlier. Heh. Lucky fer you yer tougher than ya look. Might’ve broken some ribs, otherwise."
For the first time, Rei realized that her shirt had been removed, and a fiery blush crept up her face. "How dare you! Where are my clothes?" she yelled. Well, tried to yell, anyway, although it didn’t come out as much more than a hoarse rasp.
"Calm down, Princess. I didn’t look at nothin’," Tasuki snorted. "Ya got those strips tied around yer…um…well, I didn’t see nothin’!" His face looked suspiciously pink, and he was scowling fiercely as he pressed a large, square patch of cloth to her side, over the bruise. The cloth was soaked in some strange-smelling liquid that burned like ice as soon as it touched her skin, and she yelped and tried to squirm away.
"Quit squirmin’, ya baby, or I’ll tie ya to the bed," the bandit threatened. "It’s just medicine ta help heal the wound!"
"It’s cold and it burns," she whimpered.
"Then ya know it’s doin’ its job," he grunted.
Rei frowned and leaned back against the pillows—How had she come to be in this bed, anyway?—as she watched the man work. The icy burn in her side faded into an almost-pleasant kind of tingling, and the pain slowly began to recede. "Why are you helping me?" she demanded suspiciously, her voice cracking from the dryness in her throat. "Why didn’t you just let me alone in that cell?"
"Women annoy me, but I ain’t gonna let one alone down there at the mercy of those aho’s Ayurhu’s got workin’ for ‘im," he snorted. "I ain’t that cold-hearted." He reached out for a cup, then slipped an arm beneath Rei’s shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, holding the cup to her lips. "Drink," he commanded shortly, and she obeyed meekly. The water was cold and clear and the painful dryness in her throat vanished. When he tried to take the cup away, two slender hands wrapped around his wrist to hold it still, and a smile touched his lips despite himself. "That’s enough, Princess. Ya drink too much you’ll make yerself sick," he warned, freeing himself from her grasp and lowering her back to the pillows again.
Her brow furrowed as she watched him through dark eyes. "Where did you learn to heal like this?" she demanded quietly, her voice much clearer now.
He shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "Just some things I picked up in life," he muttered, scratching his head. "Came in handy a time er two."
"And yet you choose to live the life of a thief."
"I didn’t choose ta do anything! I do what I haveta to survive an’ take care of the ones who depend on me!" he snapped. "It ain’t yer place ta tell me how ta live my life, Princess."
"It is when your choices put myself and my family in danger," she retorted. "They’ve no doubt discovered you’re missing by now. I’m sure it won’t be difficult to connect your disappearance with mine. If you show your face in Davinshire again, you’ll be executed as a traitor. I wonder…what will happen to the ones who depend on you then?"
He was silent as he threw the rags into the bowl of water and stood to leave. His bright hair shaded his eyes, so she couldn’t see his expression, but she could sense that she’d struck a nerve. Sleep was crowding her again, now that most of her pain had left due to his skillful care. She sighed and closed her eyes, opening them briefly again as she heard him begin to walk away. "Tasuki," she called softly, and the footsteps paused. "Thank you," she finished on a whisper, and closed her eyes once more.
For a few moments, Serena thought that she was dreaming again.
After all, it certainly couldn’t be anywhere but in her dreams that she’d find herself being wrapped in Endymion’s arms and kissed as though she was the very air he breathed. True, he’d kissed her before, several times in fact, but somehow this was different. The crown prince’s lips ravished hers with such intensity that she could do nothing but cling to him. He had never shown such passion in his other kisses. It was always there, kept under tight control, but he’d never unleashed it like this before, and she was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it. She wondered if the world would ever stop spinning around them, and she clutched at his shoulders tightly as though to keep from being flung away. It was ironic, really, that she found him to be the only stable thing to hold onto when it was he who wreaked so much havoc to her senses in the first place.
Endymion eventually seemed to realize that he was nearly smothering the girl in his arms, feeling her trembling against him as her fingers dug into his flesh, and abruptly he tore his mouth from hers, taking a deep gasp of air to steady his pulsing heart. One hand unconsciously rose to cradle the back of Serena’s head, holding her close to him protectively as she fought to gain control of her own emotions. She felt more than a little embarrassed at his sudden ardor and even more so at her own response to it, and she pressed her face against the crook of his neck, unwilling to look him in the eye. His face pressed into her hair, breath heaving in soft gasps close to her ear.
No, this definitely wasn’t the same as his other kisses…
"Serenity?" she heard him whisper softly. He sounded…worried, she noted with some amusement. "Are you…okay?"
Unconsciously, her shoulders slumped a little. "I guess this isn’t a dream, or you would have said something completely different," she muttered, smiling grimly to herself. Something along the lines of ‘I love you’…
"Wh-what?" he stammered, and she shook her head, sighing a little.
"Nothing. Just…I’m fine," she replied. "Just a little…um…shocked, I guess would be an adequate term…"
He looked down at her, an expression of guilt entering his eyes. "I…I don’t know what I was thinking. I should never have…" He broke off and shook his head. "I just didn’t want…"
"Forget about it," she cut in quickly, yanking herself from his grasp. The spell was broken. Leave it to a man to go and completely ruin the moment. Idiot. If he apologized she would absolutely have to kill him then, for his own good. Because nobody that stupid deserved to live, in her current state of reasoning. "I’ve got…chores to do, and Miaka probably wants some company," she muttered, backing away from him as she stared at the floor, trying to keep the hurt tears from her eyes.
"Serenity!" His voice sounded almost panicked. "Y-you’ll remember what I said, right? Don’t even think of trying to sneak to Elithia."
Her eyes snapped up to meet his. So that’s all it was, huh? she thought bitterly. Yet another ruse for the crown prince to get his way. "Don’t worry, Your Highness," she bit out furiously, sweeping him a mocking bow. "I wouldn’t dream of disobeying my liege’s orders!" Endymion seemed taken aback at her sudden fury, but before he could think to reach out to her—keep her from leaving—she had turned and fled the room.
Serena furiously stuffed her clothes into her pack, not even bothering to fold them as she crammed her favorite white leather pack—the one with the beaded design sewn all along the seams—to the brim with supplies. "Take advantage of me, will he? Go and pull that high-and-mighty act on me, will he? Ha! We’ll just see about that!" she snarled, closing the pack with a huff. Ordering her to stay was one thing. Playing on her emotions to get his way was quite another, and she was not about to let him get away with it!
Yanking the ties tight, Serena slung the bag over her shoulder and headed for Rei’s chambers. She felt momentarily guilty for leaving without telling her sister, but Miaka was hurt, and Serena couldn’t chance that the older girl wouldn’t come after her to bring her back again. Better she go alone and leave Miaka behind where it was safe. Going into the bedroom, she opened Rei’s wardrobe and found the release to the secret door in the back wall. A panel slid silently aside, and she crept through into a dark, musty passageway, lighting a handy torch before reaching back to close the wardrobe door and slide the panel shut again.
Traveling the Labyrinth was easy enough; she knew the passages like she knew her own name. But everything was marked clearly with chalk; an easy trail to follow should anyone discover her plan and come after her. She hesitated, wondering if she should stop and erase the marks, to better disguise her trail. But that would take too much time, and she had none to spare. Besides, she didn’t want anyone to get lost on her account. A person could be trapped in there for hours, even days, at a time, and after awhile the darkness and the closeness of the tunnel walls could get to a person, especially one who wasn’t used to it. She’d just have to hurry her way though and hope that she made it out before anyone discovered she was gone.
"I can’t believe her! I just can’t believe her!" Miaka grumbled as she surveyed the wreckage that had once been Serena’s neat-and-tidy room. The clothes chest was open and discarded clothing was lying everywhere. Cabinet doors were flung wide, nearly bare of essentials (including Serena’s private stash of food for those late-night cravings), and the wardrobe was open, as well. Serena’s favorite traveling pack was gone.
"She went after Rei," Miaka muttered. "That…that idiot! What was she thinking?! Ayurhu will murder her if he gets his hands on her!" That is…if Endymion didn’t get to her, first. Miaka shuddered, not wanting to think about the crown prince’s reaction should he discover that Serena was missing. "I should have known she’d pull something like this," the girl muttered as she surveyed the room with narrowed eyes. Her gaze fell upon a candle sitting beside the bed; it’s flame was out, but after an experimental poke, she realized that the pool of wax around the blackened wick had yet to fully harden again. So she hadn’t been gone that long, it seemed. There was still time to catch up.
With a muttered oath, Miaka turned to her own bedroom and began to yank open drawers and chests and fling clothes onto her bed, planning all the while the kinds of things she’d do to her foolish little sister when she caught up with her. So absorbed in her task was she that she didn’t even notice when her door creaked slowly open.
"And what, dare I ask, are you doing?"
Miaka squealed in surprise, managed to trip over the rug, stumbled onto and over her bed, and fell off the other side in an undignified heap. Her heart was pounding erratically as she scrambled to her feet again to face the intruders, cheeks flushed bright red. She couldn’t quite erase the expression of guilt from her face as she smoothed her rumpled skirts, attempting to regain whatever remaining dignity she possessed.
Nuriko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Caught you red-handed, didn’t I?" he asked slyly.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Miaka replied, deciding to go for innocence as she turned back to the now-scattered piles of clothing on her bed.
"Of course you don’t. So what kind of trouble are you not getting into this time?" the minstrel teased, his purple eyes sparkling with great amusement.
Miaka glared at him and tossed a pair of pantaloons at his head. "Can’t I do a little straightening up without being accused of criminal activities?" she huffed.
Nuriko chuckled and pulled the article of clothing from his hair. "Considering the fact that you’re taking all your clothes out of the chest…"
"Oh, be quiet," Miaka sniffed, although a smile twitched at her mouth.
"So what are you doing, then?" Nuriko asked curiously, picking up a large traveling pack. "Looks like you’re going on a trip or something…"
Miaka’s eyes widened slightly. "O-of course not," she stammered. "Where in the world would I go? It isn’t exactly safe out there anymore, you know."
Nuriko regarded the girl through narrowed eyes, lips pursed in suspicion. "You wouldn’t happen to be contemplating going to Elithia, would you?" he nearly growled.
Miaka regarded him through wide, guileless eyes. "What makes you say that?" she asked innocently.
"Don’t play games with me, Sweetling. I know all about games," Nuriko replied amiably. "So…do Endymion and Hotohori know about this?"
"No. And you aren’t going to tell them, are you?" Miaka’s voice was hard.
Nuriko pursed his lips in thought, then grinned widely. "Well, what about your sister, then? I doubt she’d be happy to know you were leaving…"
"She’s the reason I’m leaving in the first place!" Miaka exploded, suddenly angry all over again as she stuffed another shirt into her pack.
"Oh?" Nuriko looked casually interested. "Do explain."
Miaka blew a strand of hair out of her eyes in irritation. "The little idiot decided to play hero and sneaked out of the castle. So now I’ve got to go bring her back again," she muttered.
"And…why do you need to pack a bag just to do that?" Nuriko asked, poking at the overflowing pack.
Miaka paused and blinked, then blushed a little. "I…um…well…the thing is I…" she began to explain, then stopped when she realized that she didn’t have an explanation to give.
"Could be that you’re not planning on coming back with her so much as going with her, eh?" Nuriko suggested slyly.
"Serena is very stubborn," Miaka muttered. "And she’s sneaky, too. I don’t even know if I’ll catch up to her before she makes it out of the castle, and after that it could be days before I find her. I’m just being prepared."
"And what if you do catch her then?" Nuriko asked.
"I’ll drag her back by her ear, of course!" Miaka replied cheerfully.
"And if she doesn’t come back willingly? She’s pretty stubborn when she sets her mind onto something."
Miaka sighed and sank down onto the bed. "I’ll cross that river when I come to it," she muttered. "I certainly don’t want to let her go, but if I can’t convince her to go back I won’t let her go on by herself."
"But didn’t Rei get taken because you didn’t convince her to come back, either?" Nuriko asked calmly, and Miaka sucked in a sharp breath and regarded the minstrel with pained eyes. "I see that’s a delicate subject with you," he added. "So possibly your guilt is making you act irrationally, eh? Why not just let her go, if she’s so determined? She’s capable of making her own decisions, after all. No need to put yourself in danger."
"How can you even suggest such a thing?" Miaka yelled, horrified. "I don’t care if I am acting irrationally! I lost my best friend to that…that beast, and I’m not about to lose the only family I have left to him, too!" She took a deep, steadying breath and fought down her anger. "I hold no illusions as to what Ayurhu will do to Serena if he gets his hands on her, and I won’t let that happen," she continued intently. "No matter what else happens."
Nuriko sighed and shook his head. "Well, who am I to argue with that?" he replied with a light shrug. "Fine. If you’re so insistent on leaving, then go. I just hope you know what you’re doing."
Miaka blinked at him, startled at his sudden change of attitude. Nuriko truly was a puzzle at times, as unpredictable as a fairy. "Y-you won’t tell anyone, will you? Especially Endymion or Hotohori?" she asked suspiciously.
He regarded her slyly. "Well…I don’t know. If they should ask if I’ve seen you…lying to the royal family could get me into a lot of trouble, you know." The minstrel tilted his head to one side and grinned, his eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Oh, come on!" Miaka whined, stamping her foot. "Can’t you just…distract them or something? I’ll pay you, fifty gold coins! If they don’t think to ask questions then you don’t even need to worry about lying to them, do you?"
He looked insulted. "Do I look like the kind of man that can be bought, Sweetling?" he pouted. "I doubt you have fifty gold coins, anyway."
"All right." Miaka thought for a moment, then grinned slyly. "So how about I bring you a tin of chocolate instead? Imported from a very far-distant kingdom, and a very rare delicacy among the royal family," she bribed.
A slender eyebrow rose with obvious interest. "So…exactly what kind of distraction did you have in mind?"
"I knew you’d see it my way." She grinned and headed from the room, only to be stopped by Nuriko’s hand gripping her sleeve.
"And just where are you going to come up with something like that, anyway?" the minstrel asked suspiciously.
"From Rei’s hoard," Miaka replied innocently.
"What?" Nuriko yelped. "Are you talking about stealing it from the princess?"
"Well, of course. Where else would I get it?" Miaka replied cheerfully as she loosed her sleeve from Nuriko’s grasp and skipped to the princess’s chambers.
Nuriko sighed and shook his head, a grin twitching at his lips. "Methinks that girl should have been born a bandit."
Serena reached the end of the tunnel in no time, heaving a sigh of relief as she adjusted the pack on her shoulders once again. "So far, so good," she muttered. Nobody had come after her, and freedom was just a few short meters away…
"Thought you’d get away from me, did you?"
Serena squealed and whirled around in fright, only to be confronted with the smugly grinning face of her sister. "Miaka! Don’t do that!" she yelped, whacking her across the head. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I came to keep you out of trouble, dummy. What do you think?" Miaka snorted. "Really, though, you had me worried there for awhile. I thought you’d have already made it out of the castle before I got this far. I guess luckily for me you don’t walk very fast."
"Very funny. I’m not going back. I’m going to save Rei," Serena growled.
"I kinda figured that, which is why I’m going with you," Miaka replied sweetly.
"What? You can’t!" Serena cried. "You’re hurt!"
"What, this? Please. I hardly know it’s there." Miaka gave her shoulder a light pat, then grunted and winced. "Besides, if you think a little hole in my body is gonna stop me…"
"I want you to go back now," Serena told her, her voice very slow and steady.
"Sure! But you’re coming with me," Miaka replied cheerfully.
"Arrrgh!" Serena yanked on her hair in frustration. "You are impossible!"
Suddenly Miaka looked serious. "Look. It’s my fault that Rei got taken. The last thing I’m going to do is to let my little sister go off by herself, as well. It’s just what Ayurhu wants. I want you to go back," she said softly.
"No," Serena replied, equally as softly.
Miaka pursed her lips. "I could always go back and tell Endymion," she stated.
"But you won’t," Serena replied seriously. "Not if you expect me to ever talk to you again. Rei needs help, and if I can provide it, then it’s only fair. It’s just as much my fault as yours that she’s in this mess. Like you said, it’s me Ayurhu’s after."
"I don’t want you to get taken," Miaka whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "I can’t lose you, as well."
"You won’t! I won’t let Ayurhu have his way!" Serena promised earnestly. "But I have to go! Don’t you see, I’m going crazy sitting around the castle and…and waiting! It doesn’t matter how many plans the king comes up with. None of them will work, because Ayurhu has magic on his side that we can’t fight against! And the entire country is at risk ‘cause of me! I have to do something!"
Miaka bowed her head. "Then I’m coming with you," she stated determinedly. "If I can’t convince you to come back, I have to go with. I won’t let what happened to Rei happen to you, as well. Either I go with you, or I go to Endymion and have him bring you back, even if you never speak to me again."
Serena looked like she was about to protest, but the determination on Miaka’s face stilled her words. She sighed. "Fine," she replied. "Come with me. I wouldn’t mind company, to be honest, and maybe with the two of us there we might actually stand some kind of chance of getting Rei back again." She shot her sister a weak smile, which was returned to her wholeheartedly. "Well, let’s get going then, Big Sister. It’s been awhile, and we’ll be discovered missing at least when we don’t show up for chores. I’d at least like to be in the forest before that happens. It’s harder to follow on horseback that way."
"Amazing," Miaka teased as the two girls started off again. "You actually have a brain in that head of yours! I never would have guessed."
A smart whack across the head was Serena’s response.
"Well, that was a little too easy, don’t you think?" Serena muttered an hour later as she and Miaka hurried along the path leading into the forest, heading in the general direction of Elithia. "I keep expecting Endymion to come flying up on our heels with murder in his eyes. Are you sure Nuriko will keep his part of the deal and keep them occupied while we escape?" Miaka had filled her in on the minstrel’s untimely arrival and the bargain they had struck. "By the way," she added mischievously, "Rei is absolutely going to murder you when she finds out you’ve been into her chocolate stash. She nearly tore my head off when I took one little piece, and you gave Nuriko an entire tin of it? You truly have courage."
"You worry too much," Miaka replied cheerfully. "This is all for Rei’s benefit, anyway, so she can’t really complain. As for Nuriko, he won’t say anything. I almost get the impression that he doesn’t even care. It’s our fool necks we’re risking, according to him. He’ll distract Their Royal Highnesses enough to help us get away, and you know how good he is at keeping people occupied. By the time they even realize we’ve left the castle, we’ll be long gone!"
"We should have taken horses, at least," Serena stated.
"Oh, and that wouldn’t be obvious? Considering we had to sneak out of the castle through the Labyrinth, I don’t see how we could have shoved a pair of horses through those narrow tunnels! It’s a good thing nobody’s gotten around to showing anyone where all the passages are yet, so it wasn’t hard to get out."
"Well, after this, they’ll probably close off the whole thing."
"Maybe," Miaka agreed, "but this isn’t exactly the time to worry about it."
Serena grunted a reply and hefted her bag over her shoulder, then frowned as she noticed something. "Oh! Look what happened to my pack," she complained, holding it out to her sister. There was a gap in the brightly-colored design where some of the glass beads had been torn from the seams. "Curse it! When did that happen?"
"Probably when you tripped over that stone in the passageway," Miaka teased. "You landed on the bag. That’s why you didn’t crack your head open, remember?"
"Very funny," Serena pouted as she opened the pack and pulled out a crumpled map. "This is my favorite pack, too!" She carefully unfolded the map and examined it. Brow furrowing, she turned it this way and that, trying to make sense of it.
With a long-suffering sigh, Miaka took the map and flipped it over, shooting her younger sister a smirk. "It helps when you read it right-side up," she offered.
"I knew that. I was just trying to follow the lines on the page better," Serena huffed, sticking her nose in the air. "How old is this thing, anyway? It lists the village of Vasharra on it, but that village was wiped out when the river flooded over almost ten years ago."
"Well, you’re the one that picked it out! Don’t blame me!" Miaka protested laughingly.
"Well, it wasn’t like I had time to look through the entire library for a decent map," Serena grumbled. "I was lucky to find this one before Tamahome walked in on me."
Miaka looked alarmed. "He didn’t notice, did he?"
"No. I managed to shove it down the front of my bodice before then. I don’t think he noticed," Serena replied sheepishly, a slight blush staining her cheeks. "Anyway, I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t think the land changed that much in ten years that we can’t find an entire kingdom. All we have to do is get through the mountains and Elithia is just on the other side. We’ll be fine!"
"What about the bandits?" Miaka asked nervously.
Serena pursed her lips. "Hopefully they won’t notice us," she replied slowly. "And it isn’t like we have much money to give them or anything…"
"Unless it isn’t money they want from us," the older girl pointed out.
Serena shuddered. "Don’t be so negative! It won’t happen if we’re careful!" she snapped. "Now come on. We have to at least reach the forest before anyone realizes we’re missing and comes after us."
"Couldn’t we have at least taken the trade route?" Miaka whined. She had never been much of a hiker.
Serena smacked her. "You’re the one who insisted on coming along, don’t forget," she scolded. "We’ll go through the woods until we reach this area here." She pointed to a spot on the map. "The trade route crosses over several times here. We can maybe hitch a ride to the mountains from a merchant or a farmer that lives near there or something. Until then we’d better stick to the woods."
Miaka nodded silently and adjusted the heavy bag that was slung over her good shoulder. Her other shoulder was beginning to pain her, and she felt tired already, although they’d been walking for less than an hour. Maybe not talking Serena out of going hadn’t been such a good idea, after all. Miaka wasn’t really in any condition for a trip like this, but she couldn’t very well have left Serena to go by herself, and there was no way her sister would have changed her mind about going, threats or no. She was even more stubborn than Rei was. Really, when it came down to it, Miaka hadn’t had a choice. It was the only thing she could do to help her sister, and Rei, and there was no way she was backing down from her decision now.
She could only hope that the feeling of foreboding that had been following her ever since they left the castle was nothing more than that, a feeling.
Tamahome wore an absolutely murderous expression as he charged down the hallway from Miaka’s room, intent on finding the one person who was supposed to be in charge of her well-being. He found him, all right, engaged in a rather lively game of blackjack in a large study, along with the two princes of Davinshire. All three men looked up, startled, as the door of the study suddenly burst open and the agitated young man strode into the room, glaring at the healer. "Well? Where is she?" he demanded.
Mitsukake blinked. "Where is…who?" he questioned back cautiously.
"Miaka!" Tamahome exploded. "Where is Miaka? Isn’t she supposed to be in bed or something? She’s been wounded, for Cripe’s sake!"
"She isn’t there?" Mitsukake looked alarmed as he rose to his feet. "She must have gotten bored and decided to go for a walk or something…"
"She isn’t anywhere! I’ve looked all over the castle! Nobody has seen her for hours," Tamahome snapped, jamming his fingers through his hair. "And incidentally, Serena seems to be missing, as well. Why do you suppose that is, I wonder?" Sarcasm dripped from his tongue with every word.
Now the two princes began to look alarmed, as well. "You don’t suppose that…" Hotohori began.
"No!" Endymion cut in furiously. "I told her not to do anything stupid!"
"And since when has Serena ever listened to anything you tell her to do?" Tamahome asked his friend wryly. "You didn’t think to have someone watch her?"
"I was watching her," Endymion muttered, wanting to kick himself for not having a guard tail her, as well.
"So where is Miaka?" Hotohori put in worriedly.
"It’s obvious! The little fool probably went off with her sister!" Tamahome growled. "She blames herself for Rei getting kidnapped, and Serena blames herself for Ayurhu wanting to kidnap anyone in the first place to get at her! Of course those noble idiots teamed up and went off to try to get Rei back again, promises or no promises!"
"I’ll kill her!" Endymion swore. "I’ll kill them both! How did they even manage to sneak out of here?"
The four men looked at each other. Then, as one, they all replied, "The Labyrinth."
"I should have had it sealed as soon as we discovered it was there," Endymion swore, slamming his fist on the table. "Perhaps I’m the idiot, for trusting Serena to act rationally!"
"She is acting out of love for her friend and for her country," Mitsukake told him quietly. "Would you do any less were it you they wanted in exchange?"
Endymion didn’t reply, although his shoulders slumped. "I was watching her so carefully, though," he whispered. "How did she manage to…" He paused, and his head shot up as he focused narrowed eyes on a point on the wall. "Nuriko!" he hissed.
"The minstrel?" Tamahome asked in surprise.
"He was rather insistent that we play a game of cards with him," Hotohori murmured. "He can be very…persuasive. It’s almost uncanny how he manages to bend everyone to his will without them even realizing it." He tilted his head to one side thoughtfully.
"So he probably knows if they’ve gone for sure," Tamahome stated hopefully. "Maybe he knows which direction they went in. There are several roads to follow, after all…"
"Halfway through the game, Nuriko said he had something important to do, and then he left," Hotohori replied. "I have no idea where he might be though."
"The coward probably wanted to make his escape while he still had his head attached to his neck!" Endymion growled. "That conniving little…When I get my hands on him…"
"There is no time to worry about Nuriko now," Hotohori replied grimly, standing up. "I am going after them myself and drag them back here."
"Not alone, you’re not!" Endymion snapped.
"Think about what you’re saying," Mitsukake advised in alarm. "If you leave without telling anyone, your parents will go insane wondering what had happened to you!"
"Then you tell them," Endymion replied, "and you." He pointed to Tamahome. "Go with him and inform my father that Miaka and Serena have left and we’ve gone to retrieve them. I doubt they’ve taken any horses. Too many people would have noticed them leaving on horseback. We probably could easily catch up with them if we hurry."
Before either Tamahome or Mitsukake could protest, the brothers hurried out of the room. The two remaining men stood there for a moment before a grim expression passed across Tamahome’s face. "It only takes one person to inform His Majesty of this," he stated determinedly. "As for me, I’m going after those two fool girls, myself. I have as much to lose as anyone, after all."
Mitsukake shook his head in resignation as he watched the younger man tromp out of the study, and he couldn’t help but wonder how it was that he always manage to end up with the really difficult jobs.
Endymion and Hotohori were riding out of the stables when they abruptly found themselves being confronted by a troop of the king’s guards, heavily armed. Frowning, Endymion attempted to go around them, but they moved to block him. "Please forgive us, Highnesses, but we have orders under His Majesty not to allow either of you to leave the castle grounds. We’re to escort the both of you to the throne room," one of the guards stated nervously.
"Stand aside," Endymion commanded coldly, and the soldiers shifted and shot each other nervous glances.
"Please don’t make this difficult for us," the one who had spoken pleaded quietly. "We’re to take you there by force, if we must. Failure to comply will result in punishment for myself and my men."
Endymion swore softly. "Leave it to our father to use such underhanded tactics to get his way," he growled.
"And now we know where his eldest son gets it from," Hotohori teased gently. Endymion stiffened haughtily at that and glared at his brother, then let out an exasperated breath and slumped, dismounting the roan-colored stallion that had come to replace the Ghost and stalking into the castle, muttering all the way. Hotohori sighed as well and followed suit. He wasn’t any happier about this than Endymion was, but he knew the only way either of them would be of any use to the girls would be to convince the king that sending his sons after them was the right thing to do. Unfortunately for them, Reagan was even more stubborn than both Endymion and Hotohori put together when his mind was set on something. Hotohori could only hope that by the time they managed to convince the king to let them go, it wouldn’t already be too late.
Reagan looked up sharply as his two sons came bursting into the throne room, wearing identical expressions of fury on their faces, and sighed, knowing just what was coming next. He wasn’t disappointed.
"I am going after Serenity," Endymion almost snarled as he glared challengingly at the king.
"And I am going after Miaka," Hotohori put in—albeit more calmly—as he crossed his arms over his chest and took a stubborn stance beside his brother.
Reagan massaged his temple with his fingers and heaved a sigh, wondering why he couldn’t have been given more docile children to deal with. Ones who actually listened when their father told them to do something! "I am afraid I cannot allow that," he stated as calmly as possible. "To let you to go off by yourselves would be to let you risk your lives, and I will not let that happen."
"I don’t see how you can stop us," Endymion retorted snidely.
All right. That was going just a bit too far! Reagan’s head snapped up as he fixed a piercing stare on his eldest son. "As your father and your king, I forbid you to leave the castle grounds," he declared in the most threatening tone he could muster. "Elithia has enough of an advantage over us as it is; need we give them even more gain by sending you straight into their hands? You are not thinking wisely, my sons."
"What about Miaka?" Hotohori protested. "She’s been injured!"
"And Serena! And Rei!" Endymion added. "Would you leave your daughter in that lunatic’s hands? And do you really believe that he’ll give her up when he gets ahold of Serenity?"
Reagan felt infinitely weary. Julietta had taken to her bed shortly after Rei’s capture, and he suddenly wished he could join his dear queen and forget about the fact that he was king. Unfortunately, Endymion was not yet ready to take over the throne, as this brash, unthinking behavior of his was proving at the moment. Reagan heaved a heavy sigh and sank down into his throne, suddenly feeling a hundred times his age. "I am sorry," he murmured. "I do not expect you to understand, but I cannot allow you to leave the castle. I have lost my only daughter. Would you ask me to give up both of my sons, as well? No. This is final. I’ll send soldiers after Serena and Miaka, but you must remain here."
Endymion stood staring at his father for another moment before abruptly turning on his heel and striding angrily from the room, his saddened brother following behind.
"I won’t accept it!" the crown prince ranted once he’d reached the privacy of his chambers. "He’s treating us like children!"
"He’s treating us like his children," Hotohori reminded his brother gently. "Can you blame him for wanting to keep us safe?"
"We are grown men!" Endymion snapped.
"We are also the only heirs to Davinshire’s throne," Hotohori replied.
Endymion turned on him furiously. "How can you be so calm about this?!" he snarled, his hands clenching into fists. "Don’t you care that the love of your life is out there? Unprotected? Alone?"
"Of course I care!" Now Hotohori was angry. "You haven’t any conceivable idea as to how deeply my feelings for Miaka run! If anything ever happened to her I would…I would cease to exist!"
Endymion smirked a little. His brother always did enjoy melodrama…but in this case, he was inclined to agree with him. "Do you love her so much that you’d go against Father’s wishes to be with her?" he questioned softly.
Hotohori froze, his golden-brown gaze darkening at the memory of his upcoming marriage to the foreign princess. "If I get Miaka back alive and well," he stated grimly, "I will take her away from this castle, and I will marry her. I would give up my life of wealth and power and live in a mere peasant’s hut if it meant we could be together."
"Are you sure she feels the same? If you gave it up, would she really want to marry you then?" Endymion asked mockingly. "How can you know that she loves you for you, and not because you’re a prince?"
Hotohori started forward, his hand upraised to strike his brother for daring to suggest such a thing. Only Endymion’s hand darting forward to grasp his brother’s wrist saved him from a bruised jaw. "Miaka is not like that!" Hotohori snarled. "She loves me! Even though she thinks we can’t be together, she still loves me! And I will never stop loving her! But you! What would you know about love? When have you loved anyone besides yourself?"
Endymion stiffened and his eyes went nearly black as he thrust his brother away from him. "I know more of love than you’d ever believe," he replied, his voice little more than a hoarse, strained whisper.
Hotohori’s anger faded as he regarded Endymion carefully. "You are in love with Serena, aren’t you?" he questioned softly. The crown prince’s only reply was a tightening of his jaw. "Have you ever admitted it to anyone?" Hotohori pressed. "Have you ever admitted it to her?"
"No." The word had to be forced out. Endymion refused to look at him.
"Why not?"
"What is there to say?" Endymion snapped, glaring at him. "What good would it do? Very soon I’ll find myself in the same situation that you’re in right now! I am the crown prince! It’s inevitable! And I cannot love a mere servant, whether she was born a princess or not!"
"But you do, anyway," Hotohori replied quietly.
Endymion struggled for a moment before slumping in defeat. "More than life itself," he admitted sadly. "And now I am thinking back to all the wasted moments when I could have said something…anything…to her, and chose not to simply because I was afraid."
"She loves you, you know."
"Yes. I know. It doesn’t make a difference. Seeing how hurt you and Miaka have been…I was only trying to spare her and myself that same pain."
"Not admitting your feelings only causes pain. You need to tell her."
"Well, it’s a little late now, isn’t it?" Endymion said sarcastically.
"It’s never too late," Hotohori replied. "All we have to do is get out of the castle and bring them back again."
"And how are we supposed to do that? Just waltz on out through the gates?"
Hotohori cocked his head to one side, a smile twitching his lips. "Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the girls’ hidden labyrinth," he replied playfully.
Endymion paused, then shook his head. "It would never work. They’re the only ones who know the way through it, remember? We’d get lost if we attempted to travel through. We don’t even know how to get in."
"Miaka mentioned that there’s an entrance in Rei’s room. In the wardrobe, I believe she said," Hotohori reminded him. "Besides," he added teasingly, "if a trio of scatterbrains like our sister and her friends can make it through, we certainly should be able to do so. Miaka said that everything’s marked. So how hard could it be?"
"Famous last words," was Endymion’s muttered reply.
"OW!"
Hotohori rubbed the back of his head where Endymion had smartly whacked it and gave him a menacing glare. "Are you quite finished?"
"Everything’s marked! How hard can it be?" Endymion mimicked as he gestured wildly around the dark, musty, unmarked corridor they stood in, from which several darkened entrances branched off into shadowy tunnels. "So what do we do now, O-Sagacious-One?" he asked sarcastically. "This doesn’t look all that well-marked to me!"
"I’m thinking! I’m thinking!" Hotohori snapped.
"Not hard enough, apparently," the elder prince retorted. "It didn’t even occur to you that they might try to cover their tracks now that we know about the Labyrinth, did it?"
"Well, it didn’t occur to you, either!" Hotohori huffed.
"You’re supposed to be the smart one."
"And what’s that supposed to mean?!"
Endymion let loose a frustrated growl. "We don’t have time for this," he stated. "The longer we stand here and argue the further away those two little troublemakers are getting, and the greater danger they’ll be in. I’ve got a bad feeling. We need to find them before Ayurhu does."
Hotohori nodded in mute agreement as he turned to regard the entryways. "One of them must lead out," he stated. "We made it this far. It’s only here that the chalk markings were rubbed out, so we must be close to the end."
"But if we choose the wrong one we could end up right back where we started from," Endymion replied. "Which tunnel do we take?"
Hotohori sighed and held up the torch he carried, peering down one, and then another. When he passed the third tunnel, he abruptly stopped and turned back as the light from his torch glinted off something lying in the dust. Curiously, he stepped in closer for a better look, and realized that he was looking at a handful of glass beads of various colors of blue, white, and gold. "Look at this!" he called excitedly.
Endymion hurried over and picked up a pale blue bead. He frowned, examining it. "This came from one of Serena’s bags," he stated. "This is the way they went."
Hotohori shot him an incredulous look. "How can you know that?"
"She uses that bag whenever she goes into the city to shop," Endymion murmured thoughtfully, his eyes lidded as he picked up every last bead and deposited them in a small pouch tied to his belt. "It’s her favorite pack. She’ll probably be upset when she realizes it’s torn."
"Well. This proves it then. Only a man in love would pay attention to and care about unimportant little details like that," his brother teased.
"Everything is important where she is concerned," Endymion replied quietly, before rising to his feet to continue down the tunnel.