Princess of Silver Sands - Chapter 27
Posted by: Kura in Writing, Princess of Silver SandsPrincess of Silver Sands
Book 01
Chapter - 27 - Journey Across the Middle Sea
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Journey Across the Middle Sea
Hitsumi wanders through the ship trying to find the rest of his group, he having somehow managing to find his way onto the deck, he is about to go back under when Li’s figure catches his attention the bandit clearly able to tell from where he stood that something was wrong.
He walks up next to her looking off into the docks instead of straight at her as he asked his question. “What are you up to? You’re not thinking of jumping off the ship are you?”
Li wipes her face dry before turning to Hitsumi, not at all surprised to find that he had managed to run into her while she was like this. She gives him a cold glare easily masking the feelings that were going through her. “What business is it of yours? Noisy moron…”
Hitsumi sighs as he shakes his head, he didn’t even have to look at Li to tell she was giving a him a look capable of turning water into ice. “Well I need to know if you’re going to try and escape or not. It will be good for me to know if I can leave you be or if I have to tie you up until we leave shore.”
Li turns away from him, crossing her arms in hopes that her unwelcoming mood would drive Hitsumi away. “Why are you always bothering me?”
Hitsumi frowns in annoyance. “Bothering you?” He looks back at Li to point something out. “I talk to you as much as I talk to everyone else. You just think it’s different because you don’t like talking to people.”
Li remains silent unwilling to confirm or deny Hitsumi’s accusation while Hitsumi pushes further. “You don’t seem like the anti social type though… so I don’t get it.”
Li smirks as she looks back at the docks. “What makes you think that?”
Hitsumi looks in the direction Li was looking in, as if staring at the same thing she was staring at would help him communicate better with her. “Well, you act so comfortable around others once we finally get you to talk, the only time you avoid talking is if it’s personal.” He pauses for a moment knowing that Li probably wouldn’t like to discuses or even hear what he had to say next. “You don’t want people to get close to you or know who you are for some reason.”
Li smiles slightly as she turns to Hitsumi, the bandit was stepping into unwelcome territory. “And what reason would that be?”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders. “If I knew the answer that I wouldn’t be bringing it up.” He lowers his head knowing it was probably better to stop now but still going further due to his curiosity. “It’s probably a personal reason.”
Li smirks to herself as she turns away from Hitsumi and begins walking along the edge of the ship, her hand sliding across the railing. “So you’re a physiologist now?”
Hitsumi frowns as he begins to follow her. “Yeah right I wish, it would be much easier living with that job then the one I have right now.”
“If you could call it a job.”
Hitsumi comes to a stop Li’s comment putting him in an annoyed mood. He turns back to the docks walking to the railing and leaning over it so that he could get a better look at the people over the side of the boat.
Li turns back to him lecturing him like a mother would her child. “Keep doing that and you’re going to fall.”
Hitsumi laughs to himself as he turns back to Li. “So, are you going to jump?”
Li looks a little confused by this comment. “What?”
Hitsumi pushes himself back up as he begins explaining the reason for his question. “It’ll be almost impossible for you to try and run away from me once we hit the West Continent, so this is your last chance to escape…” He looks back at Li a serious look on his face. “I’m sure you’ve realized that by now…”
Li stares at Hitsumi in silence, Hitsumi questioning her again as he tried to get an answer out of her. “Are you going to take it? Or have you decided to sick with us?”
Li turns away from him in no mood for playing games with him. “You wouldn’t let me leave even if I wanted to.”
Hitsumi shakes his head. “I won’t stop you anymore…” Li stands in silence, not saying a word or looking back at him, the bandit giving her the reason for his actions. “The closer we get to our destination the more uncomfortable you get… if you want to stop then stop…”
Li looks back out at the docks, the offer to stay behind and not continue getting more and more inventing with each second that ticked by. “I just may take your offer.”
Hitsumi looks a little disappointed to hear this. “So then you want to leave?”
Li turns walking away from the railing, making her way back inside the ship. “I guess you’ll find out when we reach the West content if I decided to stay or go.”
Hitsumi watches her leave, Li again leaving him with one of her unclear answers. “I guess.”
There are calls from crew members from both on the ship and on the dock as they began the final preparation, the ship beginning to move as it starts to cast off, their journey over the sea finally beginning.
*******
Li is laying on the bed in Angel’s room already finished getting dressed up and prepared for the dinner they would be attending that night, she using the same outfit that Angel had bought for her to wear at the spring festival. Li right now waiting for the princess to finish getting ready, Angel of course the type of person that took hours to prepare. “I really don’t see why it should take you this long.”
Angel looks back at Li away from the mirror she was using to help fix herself up with. “Well sometimes I mess up you know, I have to keep trying until I get it just right you see.”
Li shakes her thinking that she would probably never come close to understanding. “No I really don’t see…”
Angel smiles at Li the princess having never imagined that she could possibly get along with someone so different from her. “You really aren’t used to stuff like this are you…?”
Li sits up to talk to the princess. “No… I’ve never really had to prepare for stuff like this on my own.”
Angel looks a little confused by Li’s response. “You’ve never been to stuff like this… or someone always prepared you so that you wouldn’t have to.”
Li thinks the question over before answering. “Both…”
Angel stares back at Li a little confused. “Both?” Angel smiles slightly getting a small idea of what Li might be talking about. “When I was younger I would have servants that would dress me… and prepare me for things like this… so I think I know what you mean… you’ve never been to things this fancy… but if you did have to go somewhere… someone else would prepare you.”
Angel looks down at her hands. “One day when I was little I decided that I wanted to do it on my own, and it’s been that way since then.”
Li looks back at her. “You’ve been doing things on your own for a long time now… and from what I understand you’ve had little help.”
Angel nods her head. “There were not that many people that were willing to help me. It was because they disliked being near me that I made the decision to do things on my own and allow them to leave my services.”
She turns to Li. “What about you? How long have you been alone? If you don’t mind me asking of course.”
Li closes her eyes the question making her a little uneasy. “I’ve only been alone… for near a year… all the time before that I’ve always been with someone.”
A look of realization fills Angel’s face when she hears this, remembering what Li had mentioned before. “That’s right… you traveled with your master before… but then ran away.”
“Yes…”
Angel looks Li over the concept of Li having a master unbelievably awkward. “It’s strange really… because you don’t seem like the type of person to take in anyone as your master… even if it was only for training… every time you say the word master… it just feels strange… because you seem so independent and strong…”
Li lays back down on the bed staring up at the ceiling above her. “I’m neither independent nor strong…”
Angel stares at Li in silence, haven never expected Li to say something like that. “What do you mean? That makes no sense, you’re obviously both.”
Li closes her eyes knowing the truth was far different from what Angel and the others thought it was. “When I left my Master I did not realize how useless I was without him… within days of leaving his side I found myself lost… when it rained I could never find shelter and I would get ill… when I was hungry I could not feed myself… when I was cold I could not keep myself warm…”
Angel seems a little confused, it wasn’t as if Li had been completely thrown into the situation, after all she said she had been traveling all her life. “But… you traveled with your master before haven’t you… why didn’t you do the same things he would do in that situation.”
Li shakes her head knowing that it would have been much easier if she had gone about it that way to begin with. “I didn’t want to… I didn’t want to ever accept that anything he has done or said has been right… ‘he can’t be right’ ‘he’s never right’ ‘he’s wrong’ I didn’t want to admit that he would ever have been correct… I would look for another way… a way he didn’t use… even if it made things harder on me, even now I’m just as stubborn…”
Li opens her eyes hardly able to believe she was babbling stuff like this after she had told herself that she had never wanted to speak to both wizards and humans again. “When you and Hitsumi found me he had probably realized it right away… that’s why he made me stay. He would tell me that I was too weak… that I would get killed if I continued on my own… yet at the same time reminds me that I’m a powerful ally to the group. He would not have added me if he did not have confidence that I would have a chance against a demon.”
She clenches her teeth Hitsumi’s actions always bothering her. “It wasn’t the demons he thought I would die from… it was the abilities I lacked to take care of myself that he’s been worried about…”
Angel shakes her head unable to believe that Hitsumi had only taken her in due to pity. “But… you didn’t seem like that at all… not even from the first moment I met you… how would he have known?”
Li answer the princess’s question, the truth simple if not painfully obvious. “He’s been on his own for a long time… he was able to realize because it was probably the same for him when he first started out on his own…”
Angel lowers her head, listing to what Li had to say this rather upsetting, if Li had continued to keep silent and hadn’t said anything Angel quite possibly would have never had considered. “There’s so much you hide from everyone…”
Li stares ahead of her as she continues to talk. “If I left the group right now… I would be able to survive on my own. I’ve learned enough while travelling with you by now to be able to take care of myself… even Hitsumi knows that and has told me that I’m free to leave if I choose too.”
Angel hangs her head closing her eyes, the thought of having Li leave was something she didn’t want to think about, and it even felt painful just hearing the ides. “Will you leave?”
“No…” Li pushes herself back into a sitting position facing the princess as she spoke to her. “If I leave I would be able to survive… but you would not. The West Continent is a fearful and dangerous place… I know you all too well by now to let you face such a trial on your own.”
Angel smiles at Li pleased to hear that she was concerned enough about their lives to risk her own to help them, something she believed Li really would never willingly do. “I’ve never… heard you be so open before…”
Li pushes herself off of the bed getting to her feet. “When you are closed you are alone… no mater how many people you are with… I don’t think I want to continue being alone anymore…”
Angel watches Li curiously. “So then… you’re not going to be as secretive with us… you’ll tell us all about yourself?”
Li shakes her head. “No… I may admit a few things but I will not say anything else. My life is still my own… and none of you have any business knowing about it.”
Angel chuckles as the comment Li starting to sound like herself once again. “You’ll always be stubborn wont you?”
Time passes and soon it is time for Hitsumi and Echo to start getting ready to join Angel and Li for dinner. The princess and Li outside the rooms in the halls as they wait for Hitsumi and Echo to finish getting ready, the princess trying to get the two of them to be a little faster. “Hurry up! We don’t want to miss the dinner entertainment! I love dinner entertainment! And I want you all to experience it! It’s truly something you’ll remember!”
Hitsumi’s muffled voice comes from his room as he responds to the princess’s comment. “Dinner entertainment? Isn’t that belching in between bites?”
The princess glares at the door slightly insulted. “NO!”
The door to Echo’s room open and the young wizard dressed in the human’s formal wear walks out holding his arms open to show them his suit. “Ready!”
Angel gasps in awe as she kneels down next to Echo to get a better look at him. “Kids always look so cute in formal wear.” She hugs him. “You’re so adorable! I should dress you up more often!”
Echo smiles weakly not sure if he should be flattered by Angel’s comments or frightened. “Th… thank you Princess…” Echo looks down at his outfit a little worried. “Am I still going to be able to drink…? Most bartenders can tell that I’m a wizard by my clothes… if I look like this though it may be difficult for them…”
Angel starts fixing his tie Echo not having done it quite right. “It should be fine.”
Li shrugs her shoulders unsure if that would even be an option for him. “Will they even have drinks there?”
A horrified look fills Echo’s face as he turns back to Li his voice slightly raised. “Li! Don’t say such evil things!!”
The door to Hitsumi’s room opens and the well dressed bandit walks out, uncomfortably playing with the collar of his suit. “This thing is so thick and heavy…”
Angel looks up from Echo to Hitsumi the princess almost falling over in shock. “Hitsumi!” She stands in front of him hardly able to believe that he had undergone such a change, Hitsumi hardly looking like a bandit at all. “Where did you find such a nice suit? You look so handsome!”
Hitsumi smiles back at the princess. “I ran into an old friend.”
Li looks Hitsumi over not easily believing that Hitsumi had any friends that would be able to afford such clothing. “He probably stole it.”
Hitsumi glares over at Li in annoyance. “Going to the casino on the ship, finding someone your size, then getting them drunk enough so that they’re dumb enough to bet really odd things including a tux in a game of poker, and then winning all their stuff is not stealing!!”
Li stares at Hitsumi. “What… the heck…?”
Hitsumi nods his head. “I won it all in a game of chance! No stealing involved! Sure I might have slightly increased my chances of winning by cheating a little bit BUT I did not steal!” He reaches into his pocket pulling out an odd looking object. “I also won this… no idea what it is though.”
Angel steps between the two not wanting them to fight when they were supposed to be having a good time. “Don’t bicker!! Let’s just go to dinner now!”
Hitsumi gives Li a frown before turning away and proceeding to try and ignore her for the rest of the night.
Angel walks ahead of the others as she begins leading them back to the dining room. “Come on! I already have a good table reserved for us!”
The four of them soon arrive in the dining room, a waitress bowing to them having been waiting for the group’s arrival. “Right this way please.” She leads them over to a table and seats them handing each of them a menu.
The group members begin looking through what was available while Angel looks around her still enchanted by her surroundings. “It’s so pretty! It looks even better now with so many dressed up people in it!! Oh!! Look at that woman’s dress!! I love it!”
Hitsumi and Li both let out tired sighs, they obviously not as excited as Angel was by everything, Echo completely blocking Angel’s chatter out as he looks up from the menu and begins looking around the room. “Where do you guys think they put the bar?”
The lights dim and the play that was to be performed during the dinner begins, Angel watching excitedly completely forgetting that they had come here to eat.
Li shakes her head. “She’s acting like a child.”
Hitsumi grins as he looks back towards Li. “Let her act like a kid, this boat is probably the closest she has gotten to something resembling her home in a while. So let her enjoy it while she can.”
Li looks up from her menu and over to Hitsumi, she recalling the figure whom she had seen and tried to follow shortly after she had boarded the ship. “Hey Hitsumi, you haven’t happened to see any familiar faces on this ship have you?”
Hitsumi looks back to her shaking his head. “No, why?”
“I thought that I had seen someone that I recognized.”
Hitsumi begins to question her about this. “A friend of yours?”
Li shakes her head no, that not the case at all. “No, not a friend at all, in fact they’re the opposite.”
Hitsumi thinks this over, one name coming to mind. “Fade?”
Li again shakes her head no. “No not Fade either.”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders. “Well then I have no idea of who else you hate, I mean it’s a pretty big list right? There’s bound to be a bunch I don’t know of I’m sure.”
Li frowns looking back to her menu and reading it over. “Rena.”
Hitsumi seems really surprised to hear this name, Rena having after all gone missing shortly after the competitions had ended. “Rena!?”
Li nods her head. “Yes… I thought that I had seen Rena, but when I went to confront her she disappeared… I had thought I had seen her again after but I lost her again. It was as if I was chasing a ghost.”
Angel takes a moment to look away from the stage and back to her group. “Are you guys watching this! It’s great!! This is one of my favourite stories growing up! It’s about a prince who is in love with a girl that steals bread.”
The others look up towards the stage at the play that is taking place. Li grumbling as she turns away. “I would rather sleep then have to sit through this.”
“Come on Li don’t turn away now!! One of my favourite parts is coming up.”
The group soon order their meals, and soon after finish eating them, there now not much else to do but watch the play that Angel was so enchanted with.
Echo frowns as he looks over to Angel. “You know I never liked this story. I mean think about it, it really makes no sense at all! Why would the prince of the land fall in love with a food thief of all things?”
Hitsumi gives a grunts of disbelief, he looking back to Echo and explaining. “Obviously because she’s awesome, have you not been paying attention to the pure awesomeness of the thief type character?”
Echo frowns as he looks back to Hitsumi. “You only like her because she’s pretty much in the same league as you.”
Hitsumi holds his hand out to the actress that was right now playing the character in question. “And because the actress playing her has nice boobies.”
Li frowns as she looks over at the actress. “I don’t see what so great about them… they look like any other pair, they’re just more openly displayed then most.”
Hitsumi nods his head. “Yeah, you know I think more woman should wear shirts like that actor. It would make Fynta a much happier place I guarantee it.”
Echo frowns as he looks over to Hitsumi. “Who cares about her breasts? I’m talking about the situation! There’s no way that a member of royalty would ever fall in love with someone like that. It’s just impossible! Sure it makes for good storytelling but how often do you think that happens in real life? In the royalties history it has NEVER happened.”
Angel glares over at Echo. “Quiet! I’m trying to watch!!”
Li sighs as he looks away, from both her companions and the play, she not really wanting to put up with either right now, the dreary look on her face turning serious when someone that is sitting at one of the tables in the dining room catches her attention.
Alone at a table eating by himself is a man with long black hair tied back in a braid. Though he was right now dressed in formal wear Li could still clearly tell that this person was not a normal human guest.
The wizard who usually dressed in black robes looks away from the stage when he feel eyes upon him, he looking over towards Li, his gaze staying upon her. He smiles when he realizes that Li is looking towards him, lifting his hand and smiling at her almost sinisterly as he waves a greeting to her.
Li clenches her teeth as she glares back at him, mumbling lowly to herself. “The Black Demon Hunter…”
*******
Applause fill the air once the play comes to an end, the guests now beginning to leave their seats, gathering in groups to discuss the play or the meal or taking their leave. The princess and her group doing the later and retreating to their rooms, calling it a day, much to Li’s enjoyment.
Hitsumi sighs as he looks the group that is making their way back to their rooms over. “I don’t know if I like dinner and a play so much… I mean, the food was great, and the play was pretty entertaining, but while watching the play I got really hungry again and wanted to eat more.”
Echo laughs at the comment. “Well I think you ate too much, do you have any idea how much cake you ended up eating?”
Hitsumi frowns as he glances down toward him. “It was really tasty alright? It’s really not often that I get to eat dessert like that.”
Angel looks back toward Hitsumi. “You would absolutely love living in the castle then. We get to eat delicious desserts like that every day! And plays like the one we just saw almost all the time as well!”
Hitsumi grins at the information. “You know that does sound appealing.”
Echo chuckles to himself. “Well if you eat as much sugar filled food as you did today every day, you’re very quickly going to make yourself very fat.”
Li joins into the conversation. “Then you’ll look just like your father.”
Hitsumi glares back at Li. “That extent of obesity will never happen to me!”
The four come to a stop when they reach their rooms, Li wasting no time in entering her room and going straight to sleep. She not bothering to give the others a good night. Hitsumi of course offended by the cold gesture. “And a good night to you too Li.”
Echo looks away from Li’s door and over to Hitsumi. “Maybe she’s looking forward to having a room to herself that Hitsumi can’t get into that she forgot to say goodnight.” Hitsumi grumbles to himself, Echo waving to him and the princess before also retreating to his room. “I’ll see you both in the morning. Good night!”
Hitsumi watches Echo enter his room and close the door behind him, he turning back towards Angel to speak with her. “Well then, I guess I should go to bed too.”
Angel seems disappointed with this news. “You too Hitsumi? But I’m not sleepy at all, how can I be? This place is just so exciting!” She smiles at him inviting Hitsumi to her room. “Can’t you stay up and talk with me for just a little bit longer?”
*******
It late at night within the port town the princess’s ship had left, the fishing birds that right now covered it’s dock in rest waking suddenly and flying away when angered yelling suddenly fills the air. “What do you mean I missed my ship!?”
The older man that works at the docks gives a sigh as he looks toward Clor, the right now very angered Zimiko Knight. “You’re ship left this morning, on schedule when it was supposed to. You not being on it when it left is no one’s fault but your own.”
Clor give an annoyed grunt. “I was otherwise preoccupied!” He smiles to himself as he thinks back, a found look on his face. “I tell ya, she didn’t have much of a chest but boy did she ever know what she was doing.”
The man stares at him, Clor looking back at to the docks at the other ships right now tied there. “When does the next ship leave?”
“It will be a little over a week before a ship meant for carrying passengers to the West continent is here.”
Clor frowns at the information. “What? But there are so many boats here.”
“Those boats are not meant for passengers, they’re meant for fishing and delivering cargo only.”
Clor lifts his hand pointing towards a passenger ship that is right now tied to the docks. “What about that one?”
“That one isn’t scheduled to got the continent of West, it’s meant to go to the Continent of North.”
Clor grins as he looks back towards the ship. “Well now it’s going to the Continent of West.”
*******
Angel and Hitsumi are in the princesses room, talking and laughing with each other, the princess talking about the dinner play that she had become so enchanted with. “I think my favourite part of the play was when, she took off his mask and discovered that the masked figure that had been helping her was actually the prince!”
Hitsumi seems surprised to hear this. “Really? That was so predictable! I totally saw that coming from pretty much the beginning of the story.”
Angel shrugs her shoulders. “Hitsumi, it’s not the fact that it’s predictable, it’s romantic!”
“Whatever, it was still predictable!”
Angel smiles back at him. “Don’t make fun now Hitsumi, this was one of my favorite plays growing up.”
“Why?”
Angel begins to smooth out the creases in her dress. “It’s an old story about a prince about to be married to a woman whom he had never met, but the prince not wanting to have his destiny written for him, went out and made his own, and ended up falling in love with someone even he didn’t expect. It’s romantic… even if it IS impossible like Echo claims.”
Hitsumi sighs to himself, really not getting it. “I don’t know… it seems pretty unbelievable that anyone would marry someone they don’t even know.”
Angel looks back to Hitsumi. “Actually Hitsumi, that’s exactly how things used to be in the royalty. A long time ago members of the royalty would be engaged to marry people they hardly or did not know. Most of the time everything was arranged and set up sometimes even before the prince or princess in question was born.”
Hitsumi stares at Angel in disbelief. “That’s insane! How could someone’s entire future be decided for them like that!?”
Angel places her hands down on her lap, lowering her gaze towards them. “Things are not handled in quiet the same manner anymore, though the general idea is still there. Now the Prince or Princess is able to pick a suitor of their own, but only from a select group of people had picked for them by other members within the royalty.” She beings to explain the process a little further to Hitsumi. “The week before the prince or princess’s birthday the people that had been handpicked that year are presented to them. If none are chosen then the royalty will find more suitors, and the same thing would happen again the next year, until of course a suitor is chosen.”
Angel smiles to herself. “You know, none of the princess or princes of my generation of royalty have chosen a suitor yet. I hear the worst one to find a suitor for is my cousin Shana, the Princess of North. When it comes time for her to choose all she does is insult all of her candidates, pointing out every single thing wrong with them before declining them. Saying things ‘This one’s too skinny’ ‘this one’s too fat.’ ‘He’s much too pale for my taste’ ‘His hair is to curly’ ‘his hair is too long’ and ‘Why did you even bring this one here? Have you seen his teeth?”
Hitsumi laughs at the information. “She sounds like a pretty hard girl to please.”
Angel nods her head yes. “She is. My cousin Isha is the same, though less vocal about it. She’ll look each of them over, then turn her back and leave without saying anything at all.” Angel grins to herself. “The only one to ever pick a suitor was the late Prince of South.”
Hitsumi looks surprised to hear this. “What? Really!?”
Angel looks over to Hitsumi. “Every year, the young Prince of South would pick the same person, after looking over each of the girls the over the prince would turn away from them and face the person standing next to him.”
A young Ashton looks at the group of girls that were lined up in front of him. “Why would I want to marry an icky girl! That’s disgusting! They have germs and they smell funny!” He turns around pointing to the figure standing next to him. “I would rather marry a boy!”
Clor glares at the finger being pointed towards him. “What!?” He yells back at Ashton annoyed with the choice. “Will you stop doing this already!! Every year it’s the same! Why do you keep trying to choose me!?”
Ashton stares at him as if the answer should be obvious. “You don’t have gross germs on you like the girls do.”
“What!” Clor holds his hands out to either side of him. “Look at me! I’m full of sweat and dirt from training all day! How could I not have germs on me!?”
Ashton frowns the answer to that being simple. “You’re germs are normal germs, girl germs are disgusting.”
Angel shrugs her shoulders. “Of course his request was obviously denied every year.”
Hitsumi is laughing loudly at the information, this of course a very amusing thing for him to learn about Ashton.
Angel stares at him a little shocked, sure most people found this amusing when she told them but not THIS amusing. “You have to understand Hitsumi, the Prince was still very, very young back then, still at the stage when little boys think that little girls are their enemies.”
Hitsumi manages to calm himself down from his laughter, looking back towards the princess. “What about you? How did you handle the situation?”
Angel lowers her head, an upset look on her face. “No suitors ever came to mine. The boys the royalty would choose for me, were always too afraid to show up. Afraid to be near the person who’s destiny it was too be killed by demons.”
A young Angel stands in wait, dressed in her finest dress. She staring ahead of her where not a single person stood. She turns her head over to the window, it now beginning to get dark, she having been standing here and waiting for hours.
Angel closes her eyes. “Every year it was the same… until I was fourteen years old. When I was delivered a message that I would no longer have suitors… the royalty gave up on me… and had just stopped choosing people…”
Hitsumi stares at her, unsure of what to say. “That’s-”
Angel interrupts him before he is able to say anything. “It true that it was heartbreaking for me at first… but now I realize, that it may very well be a good thing, as I now have an option that no other member of the royal family has ever had before me. The task of finding a suitor, finding the person that I will be spending the rest of my life with, that task is my own. I can choose whoever I want to be my husband.”
Angel folds her hand in front of her, not wanting to talk about this subject any longer, she leaning towards Hitsumi as if about to tell him a secret. “Do you want to know what I think the worst part about the play was?”
“What?”
A serious look fills Angel’s face. “The armour the actors had on. It’s looked so cheap and terrible! Nothing like the real thing the knights of the Royalty wear.”
Hitsumi chuckles at her response. “I guess you would know all about that wouldn’t you? You being a royal figure head and all.”
Angel nods her head yes, she having been around royalty long enough to know exactly what every uniform in the royal army looked like. “I sure do!”
Hitsumi is not surprised by this information. “If you ask me, everything about how the actors looked was fake, their hair and faces were always perfect, and no matter what battle they got in they would always look the same afterwards. Even their clothes would remain untouched.”
Angel smiles at Hitsumi’s observation, that simply part of what made a play a play. Well they have to perform the play again right? So they can’t get the costumes torn or anything like that, as for their faces all it takes is some make up, you can hide a lot of blemishes with stage makeup!”
Hitsumi points to his face. “Oh yeah? Bet you it wouldn’t cover up the scar on my face.”
Angel grins at him, something like that easy to cover. “Of course it would! You would be amazed by what they can hide with that stuff. Why if we covered up your scar I bet you would look-”
The princess smiles up at him placing her hand on his face and covering his scar to help prove her point, a surprised look filling her face. Hitsumi indeed looked different, Hitsumi’s scar always stood out so much, with it gone she was able to concentrate and see exactly how his face looked. “You would look… you would look… so different…”
Hitsumi looks down at the princess in silence, unsure of how he was supposed to respond to her comment.
“Hitsumi… I never realized…” Angel runs her thumb over the scar on this face that she had for a moment hidden. “What happened to your face? You were so beautiful…”
Hitsumi smiles down at her giving her an indirect answer. “It’s just from a fight, you know how I am.”
Angel smiles at him as she leans into his arms nuzzling against him. “You should have known better…”
Hitsumi laughs at her comment surprised that the princess would actually think he was capable of making a smart decision. “Since when did I ever do the smart thing?”
Angel chuckles to herself. “I guess I should know that by now shouldn’t I?” She lifts her hand from his face reaching up and running her hands through his hair.
Angel leans towards to kiss him. “Hitsumi…”
Hitsumi places his hand on Angel’s shoulder stopping her from kissing him. “Princess…” Angel stares up at him a little confused, Hitsumi staring down at her with a sad look on his face. “This… can’t happen…”
An upset look fills Angels face when she hears this having never expected something like this from him. “Why not… you must have known that I’ve had feelings for you before now… so-”
Hitsumi lowers his gaze away from her eyes. “I thought you would have figured it out by now… but I can’t stay with you once the journey is done.”
Angel shakes her head not believing that anything could possibly stop them from being together. “What are you talking about? I can talk to my uncle I’m sure he won’t mind after hearing everything you’ve done for me, you’re a really good person after all. There’s really not a single person that’s ever been kinder to me than you!”
Hitsumi shakes his head, there being an issue that Angel was obviously not aware of. “I can’t be accepted by royalty, it’s impossible when I’m labeled with a crime that involves me harming a member of the royal family.”
The princess’s eyes widen, Angel having never heard this fact about him before. “What happened? Who did you harm?”
Hitsumi looks back at her. “I didn’t harm anyone… I just…” He sighs not wanting to really get into it. “Even if I was somehow was accepted by royalty… once this journey is done I’ll be starting another one right after.”
Angel looks disappointed to hear this. “Another journey…? What do you mean?”
“Exactly as it sounds. I have another task and journey to attend to as soon as this one has finished.”
Angel doesn’t understand why something like that should get in the way. “It doesn’t matter… when you come back from your second journey… we can just pick up from there! My feelings for you aren’t going to change while you’re gone!”
Hitsumi smiles down at her a little surprised that the princess wasn’t considering that he may not live through the journey. “What if I’m unable to come back…?”
“Not come back!?” Angel leans against him not even wanting to conceder such an idea. “Idiot… you can’t think like that! If you do then you’re not going to come back…”
“It’s better this way.”
Angel shakes her head refusing to let herself or Hitsumi believe such a thing. “No it’s not…” She looks back up at Hitsumi. “Why are you so scared of me…? I thought that you were the one person that wasn’t afraid of me!”
Hitsumi looks the side not answering her comment. Angel shakes her head as she just leans against him, holding onto him tightly, unsure of what she was supposed to do now.
There is a small pause of silence, Hitsumi’s voice finally speaking up. “I’m sorry…”
Angel stares silently at him as Hitsumi continues. “I’m saying all this for a reason… you’re a close friend to me, and I didn’t want to end up hurting you in the long run… but I guess it doesn’t work very well cause this hurts you too… so I’m sorry.”
Angel lifts her hand grabbing onto Hitsumi’s shirt and pulling herself up to him. “Don’t you at least want to try?” Hitsumi falls silent as the princess continues to speak to him barely above a whisper. “Aren’t you just a little curious about what it is that could exist between the two of us…?”
Hitsumi nods his head. “Angel…”
Angel looks back towards his face. “You said that after this journey you would be going on another… and you didn’t know if you would be able to make it back to me…” She pulls him down towards him closing her eyes and kissing his lips as her hands moved towards the button on his shirt. “I want to give you something to look forward to, something that you will want to come back to.”
