Daa! Daa! Daa! Fan Fiction ❯ The Princess ❯ The secret ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

A/N: Enjoy the story. Please review.
 
Disclaimer: I do not own Daa!Daa!Daa!
 
 
Recap: The King looked up at her and said solemnly, “Miyu, my child. I'm afraid we have some bad news for you.”
“H..uu..h?” Miyu whispered. She was scared….really scared. Never in all her life did she hear her father speak in such a serious tone. She knew that she was going to hear some really bad news…..
 
 
Chapter 2
The secret
 
 
Queen Miki said tearfully, “I'm so sorry, Miyu…..”
“Calm down, Mom. What happened? Is there going to be a war or something??” consoled Miyu.
“ I wish it was a war… but it's not! It's worse than that.” replied Miki. “I'm sorry to say that we have been hiding a big secret from you…. Remember those rumours that you heard about having an older brother……? Well, it's absolutely true!”
 
 
Miyu's eyes opened wide with shock. All these years, she had pleaded with them to tell her whether she did have an older brother, but they always said `no'. She still never believed them and kept on asking, hoping to hear a `yes'.
And now, when they finally agreed that they did have a son, this news came as more of a shock than she had expected. In fact, she wanted them to say that she didn't have any brother. She wasn't prepared to know of this secret.
 
 
 
“What do you mean? All these years, you told me that I was the only child….” whispered Miyu.
“ Seven years before you were born, we had a son. He was called Luu and we loved him dearly. But when he turned five, Durian warned us that our little boy was in mortal danger if he remained within the kingdom. She told us that we had to send him away to a distant land. We were terribly upset about the whole thing……” Said Yuu
 
 
 
Miyu interrupted, “ Tell me you didn't listen to that awful Durian! Tell me that my big brother is safe in our own castle or perhaps, somewhere in Princess Christine's kingdom…..or did you listen to that evil witch??”
“SILENCE!!” ordered Yuu. “I don't want to hear any more words against our astrologer. Durian was kind enough to personally take our son to a safe place. He is well and happy under her care and guidance.”
 
 
 
Miyu had to refrain herself from saying, “ How can you be sure?” She was really taken aback by her father's tone. So she just bowed her head and fought against the tears that were threatening to show any minute.  
Miki shifted her gaze sadly from the King to her daughter and said, “Well, after he was taken away to another place, we were all depressed. But then, two years later, you were born….. and all the happiness in the world came back to us…”
 
 
“ Why didn't you tell me all this before?” Miyu cut in.
 
 
Miki paused for a second and then said, “We were going to tell you all about Luu, but Durian stopped us and said that if you came to know about it, then you would be in danger as well.”
“What kind of danger?” asked Miyu.
“For some reason, Durian could see blurred visions of death in your future, if you were told the truth. We didn't want you to come to any harm, so we didn't tell you anything. All the maids and cooks of the palace were forbidden to tell you about it.”
 
 
 
“But why are you telling me this now?” asked Miyu, still upset and angry.
“The thing is, exactly one year from today, all the planets of the universe are going to align. According to Durian, this alignment is going to have an evil influence on the people. She fears that someone in the kingdom will go against you during this period and try to harm you. Meaning, you will be in danger for one year…. within the kingdom, that is. I'm afraid we have to send you away too.”
 
 
 
Within the kingdom? Why don't you understand? Durian is trying to get rid of all heirs to the throne. She wants me go away from the safety of the palace to someplace where I will die at any cost!” cried out Miyu.
 
It was Durian who spoke this time, “Calm down princess. I assure you that I have your best interest at heart. I will personally send you to a safe place…. In fact, the very same place where your brother is. On your eighteenth birthday, all the dangers will be erased forever. I will bring you back and you can marry Prince Nozomu and live happily for the rest of your life.”
 
“It's not like have a choice.” retorted Miyu.
“Are you ready to leave, then?”
“What? Now?”
“Of course. You have to leave at the earliest, my `Princess'.”
 
 
 
Just then, Miyu's two favourite maids, Aya and Nanami, entered the throne room, carrying a cloth bag. They handed it over to her.
 “What's this?” asked Miyu.
Miyu's mother replied, “I forgot to say `Happy Birthday', Miyu. That is you birthday present….. Why don't you open it?”
 Miyu opened it and found a beautiful white dress. It looked like it was made out of stars because it was studded with sparkling diamonds. There were also a matching pair of shoes, a crown and a bracelet to go with it.
 
 
“That's your wedding dress, Miyu. When you come back, you can straight away marry your Prince.”
 
 
 
Miyu smiled weakly. The dress was truly beautiful, but she didn't like the sound of marrying the prince as soon as she came back…. That is, `if' she came back.
She also found a shiny new sword inside the bag.
 “We thought you would like to practice your sword-fighting with Luu.” said Miki.
“But mother, I still think I would be better off here…” protested Miyu.
 
 
Durian cut in, “Now, prepare to leave. There's no time to waste.”
And with that she chanted some magic words and Miyu was engulfed by thick white smoke. She heard the cries of `goodbye' from her mother.
King Yuu, who was still rather angry, realized that it would be another whole year before he saw his beautiful daughter again and yelled, “GOODBYE MIYU. TAKE CARE!!”
 
 
The last thing they heard from her was, “I DON'T WANT TO GOOOO…..”
And then, she was gone….. gone to a safer place… or at least, that was what they thought.
 
 
*******************
 
 
“Where am I?” thought Miyu to herself.
She was standing in the middle of a beautiful garden, full of flowers. Was Durian actually a good person?
Just then, she heard the voice of a young man, “My little sister, is that you?”
 She slowly turned around and saw her big brother, for the very first time in her life.
“It is you….” he said happily and held his arms wide open.
 
Miyu smiled and ran towards him, with her hand held out. She was about to reach him when suddenly,
 
 
 
She opened her eyes. It was evening and she was lying on the ground. She gently sat up and looked around.
Her brother was nowhere in sight. Come to think of it, she couldn't even remember what he looked like. All the flowers had disappeared as well. Had it all been just a dream? She had not been taken to any sort of safe place. In fact, she was in a dangerous looking swamp.(Just as she expected from Durian.)
 
 
Miyu found that she still had her cloth bag with her. She picked up a stick and made her way, slowly and cautiously, across the swamp. There was no use just sitting there. She might as well try and go back to her castle.
Wading across the muddy swamp was harder than she thought. She was soon covered from head to toe in muck and slime. As she walked a bit further, she suddenly heard the cry of wolves from behind.
“Just great….wasn't this place bad enough without wolves in it as well?” Miyu said wearily.
 
 
 
She soon reached dry land and ran as far away from the wolves as possible. But quite a few wolves had caught up with her. Two of them lunged forward at her. She immediately took out her sword attacked them.
But more wolves kept on coming. She was rather tired after crossing the swamp and not to mention upset, after the whole episode with her parents.
Yet, she fought with fierce determination. She wanted to take revenge on that evil Durian. But as the fight continued, she became weaker. She had sustained a few minor scratches.
She slowly started edging away from them, but she tripped on a rock and dropped her sword.
The wolves took this chance to pounce on the defenseless princess.
 
Miyu shut her eyes and braced herself.
 
 
But the claws and the sharp teeth did not come.
It had been far too long…..and still, no wolf had attacked her. In fact, she could hear them yelping in pain. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw a young man, shielding her from the wolves.
 
He held a sword in one hand and a wooden shield in the other.
“Are you alright?” he asked softly, without taking his eyes off the wolves.
“Y..e..s.” muttered Miyu, weakly.
 
 
There were only a few more wolves left. They all were bearing their fangs, but kept their distance between the man.
“Didn't get enough of my sword yet?” he asked and took one step forward.
The wolves finally gave up and retreated into the woods.
 
 
The young man sheathed his sword, turned around and walked up to Miyu. That was when she saw his face. He was really handsome with intense brown eyes and brown hair. In fact, he looked like a knight. He held out his hand to her and helped her up.
“Are you alright?” he asked again.
“Yes, thank you.” Replied Miyu.
“I'm Kanata by the way and I'm a hunter. What's a girl like you doing in the woods?”
“I'm Miyu and I am a prin…. a cook. Yes, I'm an excellent cook and I was hoping to work somewhere. But I ended up in this swamp…”
 
 
She was about to say that she was a princess but she was not sure she could trust the man just yet. What if he had been hired by Durian? She thought it would be better if she lied about her identity. And as she noticed her disheveled appearance, she doubted whether he would believe her, if she told the truth anyway.
 
 
“The village is little bit south from here. Would you like to come there?” asked Kanata, climbing on to his white horse.
He's so kind and understanding. He knows I'm weak. So, he's going to take me with him…” thought Miyu.
 
 
 
Miyu retrieved her sword and stood there, waiting for him to pull her on to his horse. But Kanata was already moving away.
“Wait… What about me?” she asked.
He turned back and said, “What are you doing, just standing there? If you want to reach the village before sundown, you have to walk fast.”
“Walk? Aren't you taking me on your horse?” asked Miyu.
“What? Take you on my horse? I don't give `royal' treatment to muddy `girls'. You'll just dirty my beautiful horse.” He retorted.
 
“HOW DARE YOU? Take that back now...” yelled Miyu, angrily, instantly forgetting all his good qualities. What happened to that kind knight of a man who had just saved her?
He was not kind… He was a jerk, just like all the other men in her kingdom. Kanata had already gone a few paces forward and he showed no sign of coming back to get her.
 
“Once I get back to my castle, I'll show you what `royal' treatment is all about. You just wait till I become princess again….” muttered Miyu to herself, angrily.
Then, grumbling and mumbling to herself, she stomped off behind him.
 
 
The village turned out to be nearer than she thought. In fact, she had hardly walked for five minutes. The village was small and rather beautiful.
“That's the village of Heiomachi.” told Kanata. “There are only a few people living here. But, it's a friendly place.”
 
 Miyu slowly gazed up at Kanata. “Might as well forgive him….” she thought “After all, he saved my life back there, and it's not like I had to walk a lot or anything...” She sighed and slowly walked into the village
 
 
A/N: Sorry it's a bit short. But I've got exams coming up later next month. So, I'll not be able to update for a while. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review and tell me if I can improve in any way….See ya!!