Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Bound Through Space ❯ He Means nothing to me ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Prologue

"False Mask"

Graceful hands rose slowly towards the ceiling. Stretching leisurely the body beneath the mound of sheets and duvets gradually awoke to the fierce stomping of her mother. Sleepy eyes emerged from beneath their comfy cocoon of warmth to glare menacingly at the pacing woman. "What do you want Mother?" The last word fairly radiated aggravated sarcasm.

Two hasty deep breaths were made before the livid woman spoke. "Well first you can get your lazy ass out of bed, get dress, and then tell me what the hell you plan on doing today?" The pacing woman stopped so suddenly the fabric of her elegant dress billowed about her in a furious riot of motion.

"In a minute. I'm too comfy to get up. Besides there's nothing pressing to deal with and nothing important to do today." The princess in the bed rose to sit her voice creaking and squeaking around the words as she continued to stretch.

The woman standing across the room glowered heatedly at the occupant of the bed. "Nothing to do? What do you mean there's nothing to do?" Her voice questioning as she anticipated the next words from the lazy form in bed.

"Exactly that! I have nothing to do. There is nothing for me to attend to, nothing for me to concern myself with, and definitely NO ONE to bother with." The words had a definite bite to them, leaving little room for discord. This was not the discussion she wanted to have this morning, not to mention her mother being the last person she wanted to have this discussion with.

"I'm going to ask you calmly and kindly, what exactly do you mean by there is nothing and NO ONE to bother with?" Flashing eyes and heightened color in her cheeks easily gave indication as to the speaker's ire.

Having enough and knowing there was no escape from the ensuing battle, the princess rose from her bed. "He means nothing to me, so why should I concern myself with him?" The words were issued off-handedly.

"Nothing? How can you say that?" The elder of the two women in the grandly decorated bedchamber was flabbergasted. Watching as her daughter rose from bed, it seemed impossible that the flippant creature ambling about the room was the same girl that never ceased to worry over others. She exploded. "He sits in his cell searching for a way to find you and you say he means nothing? Do his journeys mean nothing to you? Do his sacrifices, his torments and scars mean so little?"

Exasperated she turned from her wardrobe to snap at her mother. "You cannot tell me that he has done more than he chose. Do you honestly believe that he made those sacrifices, as you call them, without expecting some reward? I am not his quest; his fair helpless addled maiden," hands clenched beneath her chin, wide eyes fluttered with mock innocence in cruel pantomime as she donned the image of the royal damsel in distress. "I don't intend to become some sanctimonious, self-righteous, narcissistic, pissant prince's heroic trial into the greatness of legend. I refuse to allow him to ride me into his destiny."

"But my lady," the sarcasm in the title was blatantly obvious even to the guards outside the room. "You cannot simply forsake him, after all he has done and all he has endured. I refuse to let you ignore all that he has done for you!" Her daughter was becoming no better than a pompous royal brat, and princess or not such an attitude would not be tolerated.

"Do not forget your station old woman!" The tone was fierce; the dismissive words were arrogantly flung across the room as cyan hair was glibly tossed over a naked shoulder. Calmly, with deliberate indolence the speaker gradually dressed for her day.

Caught to the quick, emerald eyes darkened to a lethal shade of forest green. Seething rage clenched her teeth, as heated words were nearly lost in a furious snarl. "Don't you EVER presume to remind me of my station. I am the king's concubine and your mother. If it were not for me your life, position as princess and royal heir would not exist. You of all people in existence should realize the precariousness of position and power." The elder yet seemingly ageless crimson haired woman replied as her mouth pressed into a hard unyielding line.

An answering anger rose in the princess, she would not be forced into accepting anyone, to include the man rotting away in one of the palace oubliettes. Snide cruelty focused ravenous spite and razor wit onto the elder woman. "Mother, you would do well to realize that as a concubine you are unfit to grace father's side and as a concubine you will never be more than an ornament."

With a sigh of contrived patience, restless hands smoothed the silky fabric of her dress as the concubine lifted cold eyes to look at her daughter. "Some days I find it amazing that someone raised in such privilege can have such a disgustingly cynical view of life."

Momentarily rattled by the coldness of her mother's gaze, the princess turned away to collect herself. Squaring her shoulders she easily voiced her malicious thoughts. "Blame your station MOTHER. If it weren't for the way I was raise, watching you play second class citizen to the Queen's whims, I may have been the perfect princess that you so lovingly wish for."

Nodding her head in resigned acceptance mother agreed with daughter. "Yes, I will accept that blame when the time comes, but know this I chose to become your father's concubine rather than his wife and queen. He needed an alliance that only marriage could provide and you my child will never be capable of that kind of sacrifice."

"Sacrifice is highly overrated." Gaining confidence, the princess finished dressing and turned her attentions to her hair. Easily tossing the spurious comment at her mother with all the afterthought given to a wasted tissue.

A faint sneering quirk of a smile lit the elder's face. "You, my child should have never had a whipping girl. Of all the royal brats scampering about this disgustingly ornate palace you are the most egotistical of the lot. I should have ensured that your tutors beat humility, compassion and understanding into your stupidly arrogant hide."

Affecting the blasé tone of superiority the princess drolly replied. "Tell me mother how exactly do you beat compassion into someone? Is it something that only royalty is capable of or can the simple folk partake?"

Sucking in a heated breath and rounding angrily on her daughter Washu refused to tolerate her daughter's insubordination any longer. "I hope that you end up having to endure what that boy prepare to rot in that cell had to go through to get here. I have no idea why or how but he cares for you. I cannot image any reason a young man as kind, and loving could ever have feelings for a heartless, cruel, unfeeling self-serving harpy such as yourself. He's too good for you!"

"Too good for ME! Too good for ME!" Ryoko angrily huffed out in surprised indignation. "How can you say that he's too good for me! He is nothing but a lowly pissant peasant. Where as I am the soon to be ruler of the greatest most powerful nation that has ever existed in the annul of time!!" Wounded pride quickly took heated flight flinging words into the tense silence.

Emerald eyes locked onto gold as Washu reasserted her dominance over her willful offspring. "One, you are not ruler yet. Two, he may be nothing but a poor dirt farmer from a remote lowly, little, third-class, backwater planet but he has more of the noble qualities of humanity than you will ever posses in your lifetime. And thirdly my dear child, there are other empires equal if not greater in power and wealth than ours."

Refusing to lose her stride Ryoko switched tactics. "Since we are in such a mood to begin inventorying each other's low points, lets discuss yours, shall we? Lets start off with your spineless simpering! Your constant kowtowing to that blithering dither brain we humble people of this realm generously call a queen! Lets not forget to mention the fact that father has now accepted a second woman as his wife." The princess's eyes flared as she watched her mother digest the new information.

"Ah.... I see by the look on your face you didn't know that!" Smug mirth easily lifted Ryoko's lips into a supercilious grin. "Well, he's got himself another wife and from what I understand she already has a brat in tow. That's is neither here nor there. I want you to perfectly understand the situation you are in Mother. You are simply and will always be a lowly, unkempt, servile, useless concubine... which as even the youngest of lowly commoners knows is simply the royal term for WHORE!"

Before the word left Ryoko's lips, Washu's hand was in the air and sailing towards the princess's mouth. As the word was spoken the loud crack of hand meeting face startled the guards outside the princess's living quarters. The shocked silence within the room was deafening as both mother and daughter were left to simply stare at each other.

"You Highness is anything the matter? Are you in need of our assistance?" Came the calm voice of the guard that usually stood to the left side of the door.

Shaken from her trance Ryoko was momentarily at a loss for words. Then raising her right hand to the glowing mark on her cheek, her left rose to cover her mouth in hopes of containing any more horrifically damning words. With a voice that sounded devastated, hollow and wooden the princess replied to the guard without removing her eyes from her mother's face. "No, no I'm fine. I simply dropped my hairbrush." Despite the interference of her hand the princess spoke loudly and clearly to the guards.

Startled fear blanched Ryoko's cheeks as she thought over the possible consequences of her mother's actions. Had the right words been spoken the guards would have rushed into the room and taken her mother away forever. It was considered high treason for anyone except for the emperor and his queens to lay a hand on a single one of the royal children. Had the princess wished she could have her mother put to death. Had she really said those words to her mother? Flabbergasted disgust flashed through her eyes as she struggled to stop her hands from trembling.

With cold emerald eyes Washu watched her daughter intently. Waiting for the princess to speak to her. Waiting for her possible death sentence. Waiting for the possible return of her darling girl with the bright smile, ready cheer, and troublesome mischievous nature. Waiting for her Little Ryoko to come to her senses.

Finally after the silence began to hang with a stifling thickness the princess dropped her hand and opened her mouth to speak. "I...I...I... I'm sorry." The stuttering apology was a timid whisper, its tentativeness made more pronounced by the distinct silence that engulfed the words. "I didn't mean what I said...It's just ... I'm scared...I haven't even met this guy." Emotions no longer hidden behind self-righteous ire, Ryoko trembled as she noticed the unsettling similarity between her future at the hands of the consulate and her father's current plight.

Washu nodded with maternal understanding and opened her arms to her daughter. Sympathetic realization blossomed in the mother's heart. `A mask, she was hiding behind a mask... She does care...she's just frightened.' Stepping forward mother slowly and cautiously folded her daughter in her protective embrace.

Shaking within her mother's arms Ryoko questioned her fate. "I don't know what he's like and I know that if he's done all the things that the advisors say he's done I WILL have to marry him. I don't want to get married yet; I'm too young to get married..."

Fear hovered at the edges of her voice as she quivered in her mother's arms. "I want to go into space and see the stars...I want see what life looks like for myself. I want to know just once before I'm permanently tied down what true freedom feels like... I don't think I hate him but how can he expect me to marry him if I don't even know him! HOW?"

Whispering comforting words into her daughter's hair Washu took this moment to formulate a plan. Washu had only briefly seen the young man in question and had noticed something familiar about him. It was that very familiarity that tickled at the back of her mind. Something about this young man was different. Different from the rest, different from anything she had ever seen.

With any luck that difference could be something that could be exploited. Something that could bring the young man and Ryoko together, intuitively something told her that this young man was exactly what the doctor ordered. And if he wasn't, then at least he would be a welcome distraction. In the end there was still a lot of planning to be done, and oh so much more machinations to undertake.

After all she wasn't the world's greatest...no, strike that, the empire's greatest...no... strike that too...the universe's greatest genius...yes, yes she liked the sound of that...stifling the temptation to begin laughing manically she finished her thought. After all she wasn't THE UNIVERSE'S GREATEST GENIUS for nothing.