Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Dangerous Alliance ❯ Shock ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9

Kaoru wasn't sure what Kenshin wanted to talk to her about…but she wasn't sure she wanted to discuss it. She remembered everything from last night. Everything. Sure, she'd kept her nightgown on, but that didn't keep their hands from roaming. Or her from tearing off his shirt. Who knew she was so….aggressive.

No one was in the garden so she was pacing there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here," a woman said. Kaoru turned. A stunningly beautiful woman was at the garden edge. She wore a very ornate court dress and had a rather elaborate coronet on her head. Kaoru remembered her very well.

"Queen Saitou, please come in. I was just…thinking."

"Queen Kamiya I presume?"

"Please, just call me Kaoru."

"Only if you call me Tokio." She had such a friendly smile. Kaoru immediately felt at ease. Tokio made her way to a bench and gracefully sat down. "Beautiful, isn't it? I always envied the gardens of Kyoto's palace. My husband never did care for gardens. We don't have any in Fujita."

"We have beautiful ones in Edo too. I always ran to one when I was troubled…or in trouble." Kaoru looked around her. The grass was a vibrant green and the fountain sparkled with clear water. Clouds overhead threatened rain though.

"You are here to reaffirm the treaty your father made, are you not?" Tokio asked after a long silence.

"Originally I was going to make my way to each kingdom but recent assassination attempts put a halt to those plans. King Hiko has been…most uncooperative."

"You've got to be kidding…" Tokio said. "My father uncooperative?" That got Kaoru's attention.

"Hiko is your father?"

"Why do you think Prince Himura went to war when I was kidnapped?"

"You were kidnapped?" Kaoru squeaked.

"What did they tell you about my marriage?"

"Just that you ended up in Fujita and married King Saitou." Tokio laughed.

"Well that's the abridged, shortened, abstract version! A few years before your father came for the treaty I was on a little trip. I decided I wanted to see all the kingdoms before my father told me which lord I would have to marry. He long decided Kenshin was too young for me and that I was not the ruler for Kyoto, but that I would make a wonderful political alliance tool. Well I sort of went on a vacation as a minstrel."

"You went as a musician?"

"Yep, full Bard garb and everything. I was playing in a group that went to all the kingdoms. I made it to about four, then we went to Saitou's palace. First, Saitou hates Bards. He likes music, but in certain doses and only traditional motifs. Second, he is not a dumb man. I was able to fool many kings, but not him. He knew exactly who I was. Third, the previous year certain….complications arose between him and Kenshin. Needless to say he was looking for a method of revenge. So, to make that story short he kidnapped me…or rather, would not let me come home."

"WHAT?" Kaoru squeaked. Scary thought.

"How I missed this garden," Tokio said.

"So why'd you marry him?"

"Oh….that," the older woman said with a blush. "I somehow got this idiotic idea in my head that if I won his favor he might be inclined to let me go after a few years."

"You seduced him?"

"Me? Gods no! I didn't even know what sex was! No, I played the flute for him, served him all his meals, polished his sword….which I later found out is a huge turn on, but I was naive. He then got it in his head to marry me. Not that I was willing to say yes, so he did it the old fashioned way. He seduced me and then informed my father of my compromise. Had I been anything other than a princess I could have just been disgraced, but the law of Kyoto demands that a daughter of the king marry the man who beds them, rape discluded. My father was none too happy to find out it was not rape. At that point I was way to ashamed to face him and agreed to marry Saitou formally…which my father managed to turn into a huge embarrassing fiasco. Now, here I am, two kids later and still attached to the devious man." For all that she complained, Tokio ended with a smile.

"Wow, and I thought my life was complicated."

"By the way, do you know who is getting married?" Tokio asked.

"Someone is getting married?"

"I take that as a no. Most curious. Sano didn't know either. That leaves Kenshin…unless my father decided to marry. Highly unlikely. He didn't even bother to marry my mother."

That hit Kaoru like a ton of bricks. The entire previous night flashed before her eyes. If he was getting married then why had he stayed with her? Was that what he was going to talk to her about? About how he regretted what they had done because he was intended for another. Something reached out and suddenly grabbed her, leaving her completely immobile.

"Kaoru? Kaoru!" Tokio said sharply, shaking the girl. A few drops of rain began to fall. The girl looked like she'd just watched her best friend die…no, worse. Like her heart was broken into a million pieces.

"Kaoru?" another voice called out. Kenshin stepped into the clearing. "What happened?" he asked Tokio.

"I don't know. I was asking her if she knew anything about the marriage Hiko told us to come for, then she went like this."

"What was the last thing you said?"

"Something about Hiko never marrying my mother."

"Kaoru, speak to me," Kenshin begged, looking into her eyes. They did not see him. She was in shock. Rain began to fall harder.

<Kaoru's thoughts>

Was it Megumi? Or Lady Tae? Who was she? Kaoru wanted to rip her eyes out and cry all at the same time. But she couldn't move. She couldn't breath. Wait a second. This shouldn't be happening just because of hearing some news. This was magic.

Someone was attacking the barrier! Someone with a great deal of magic. A great deal of old old magic. Older than the magic holding up the barrier.

<End thoughts>

"What happened?" King Sagara asked when they brought Kaoru, catatonic, into the throne room. She was soaking wet and staring off into nothing.

"We were talking and she went like this," Tokio said. "Oh gods!" She turned and buried her head in her husband's chest.

"You're wet," he said calmly but put a hand around her just the same.

"Someone go get Lady Misao," Kenshin said. "And bring a blanket. Where the hell is Shishou?"

"Right here baka," he said and stepped out of the shadows. "No need to get the little warrior. She won't be able to do anything anyway. This is something Kaoru has to do on her own."

"What happened?"

"The Empire realized King Kamiya is dead and was waiting for her to be emotionally vulnerable."

"Translation?" Kenshin asked.

"The mage holding the barrier is only human," King Saitou said. Stupid redhead. Still didn't have much in the way of brains.

"So they are attacking the barrier?"

"It would appear so. Looks like they caught her just right too. We don't have a moment to lose," Hiko said, pulling a pen from somewhere. The treaty lay on the table next to Kaoru. He quickly signed his name and passed the pen to King Sagara.

"And I was hoping for some wedding cake," the older man said, but signed his name none the less. Then he handed it to Saitou. Saitou looked down at the pen and then at his wife.

"But I would much rather just go to war against the Empire." Tokio gave him a dirty glare. "You spoil all my fun woman." He signed his name. The treaty glowed a deep gold. The pact was done. They all backed away from the table.

"What about Kaoru?" Kenshin asked. No one answered. "What about Kaoru?!" he demanded, his eyes flashing deep amber.

"We can make her comfortable and hope she doesn't die," King Sagara said.

"WHAT?"

"Most mages do not recover from the mental strain of the attack. Even if she does recover, if she is strong enough, she will probably never be the same," Saitou said. "I guess that is the end of the Kamiya line."

Kenshin didn't have to hit him. Tokio already did. With her crown. And slapped him too. Then she walked over to stand by her father who looked very much amused.

"I want a divorce," she said coldly. "Take your damn consort crown and go home alone." Saitou did not look amused. In fact, he looked downright deadly.

"Of course if there was someone with a strong enough bond to her they might be able to bring her back," he said, crossing his arms across his chest. "But only if the bond is strong enough." He kicked the crown across to her. "Keep it as payment for the last sixteen years." With that he turned on his heel and left. Tears fell down Tokio's face.

"If you wanted an emotionally sensitive man you picked the wrong one," Hiko said, looking down at her. "Denshi, I doubt a cold throne room is the best place for a Queen. Why don't you take her to a room? Maybe that little sprite of a general can call her out of this."