The King of Kasai

Anna felt uneasy as she scanned her surroundings. Despite being tired after riding on horseback for almost the entire day, her vigilance did not wane at all. She was definite that there must have been some mistake when the white-haired friend of the servant boy announced their arrival at their destination. From the arch of the town bearing the name "Koichi", she can spot the majestic structure of a palace fortress rising among the bricked houses of the commoners. The Kaminari palace was situated on a mountain top overlooking the sea. Her unfamiliarity with the current surroundings may have been caused by their coming from another route but the absence of the salty air was evident. She recounted every meeting with her fiancé but cannot remember a single instance of him talking about some other palace in another town of the kingdom. This was probably a new structure built when Ren was away. Perhaps it was another surprise from his father. She wanted to confirm this with the servant boy but he was sitting behind Amidamaru and was keeping quiet throughout their journey.

She could have held on to her deductions had she not noticed the stone walls of the fortress when they passed through the main gate. They looked like they had already withstood the tests of time. Two strict royal guards drew out their spears and halted them. They particularly eyed her with great suspicion.

"Who is the girl with you Amidamaru? What is her business here?" asked one of the guards.

Anna noticed that they were wearing an armor engraved with an emblem of a six point star in the shape of a tree. It was an entirely different symbol from the Tao family's black-and-white circle crest engraved on the armor usually worn by the Kaminari royal army.

"She is to see the king. Let her in." She heard the white-haired man from behind her say with an air of authority.

"You cannot order us around even if you are the prince's bodyguard. You still have to follow the protocol. She cannot proceed if she doesn't have an appointment with the king. Who authorized you to bring her here, anyway?" the other royal guard pointed his spear threateningly at the blond girl. Anna returned his rudeness with a scowl.

"He did," Amidamaru nodded his head towards the direction of his other passenger.

Yoh peered from behind the white-haired man and grinned at the two royal guards who immediately bowed down.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience. You may enter the palace grounds."

Amidamaru smirked at them and proceeded inside.

In the Kasai palace throne room...

King Mikihisa watched as the sun began to set behind the window of the throne room. Aside from the king's guards, he was basically alone. His queen and his inlaws, the former rulers of Kasai were drinking tea in the royal garden. Somehow, he felt quite lonely being there on his own. He had given up several things since he was married into the Asakura family - things such as his freedom and his last name.

He was not really of noble blood but he belonged to one of the richest merchant clans in the kingdom. Being wealthy had its perks. He enjoyed sailing to foreign lands, making friends with strangers and immersing himself with their culture. He was bound to travel the whole world but his familial duties had prompted him to go back to Kasai. An arranged marriage with no other than the princess of the kingdom had welcomed him when he returned. The Asakura royals were strict with whom they would marry off their only heiress. He was judged as the rightful one out of a hundred bachelors who were mostly affluent commoners. It was not hard to love the comely Princess Keiko but after marrying her, he had to work extra hard to prove that he was a worthy monarch.

Their union had produced identical twin sons who had brought quite a dilemma to the royal family for only one will be appointed as the next heir. He had never truly seen this as a serious issue. He would gladly divide the kingdom into two if he could only have his way. He knew that he would be greatly reprimanded by the former king and queen just by suggesting this.

He missed those times when his sons were just little children. There was so much excitement in the palace. The difference in his life as a father today and seven years ago was noticeable. Right now, he felt like he was a childless parent. He did not get to spend as much time with his sons as he had spent with his bejeweled chair. He had sent one away after a fiery and heart-breaking incident while the other son seemed to be more interested in his travels than being the heir of Kasai.

He shouldn't have allowed Yoh to join the spy mission to the other two kingdoms. His son had used this opportunity to veer away from his meticulous royal training. Furthermore, the mission had only produced an unconvincing report from the group that came back without him. Just an engagement party, eh? There must be something more behind that move.

He recalled a particular incident when his men had caught two spies near the palace grounds. He did not have the chance to interrogate them for the spies had killed themselves in their prison cell. He was going to impose death penalty on them for trespassing anyway. It was ironic that he considered himself a well-travelled man yet he had not stepped foot on their neighboring kingdoms because of the unreasonable terms of a hundred-year-old peace treaty.

His musings were put to an end with the arrival of a palace guard stationed at the gates.

"I'm sorry to disturb your peace, my king but Prince Yoh has returned. His company was last seen entering the main gates and moving towards the direction of the stables."

"I see. Thank you for the news."

"Shall we prepare to salute him by the front door, sire?"

"That is not necessary. He won't be entering the palace there. I think I'll go and meet him personally."

In the Kaminari prince's room...

The three-day extended search for the missing princess of Kouku had formally ended today. With a heavy heart, both the Kouku and Kaminari royal armies headed home to their respective kingdoms. Tomorrow the dead would be buried along with their anguish and frustrations.

Prince Ren had locked himself in his room as soon as he arrived from his fruitless mission. The palace servants had tried coaxing him to let them in so that he could at least eat dinner in his room but he was yelling at them to leave him alone. Even his father did not succeed in making him open the door. It was the queen who had broken the rule of privacy governing in their household by entering the room without her son's permission. Unlike earlier, the prince was not replying to her calls and this had made her worried sick.

She found him sprawled on the floor by the foot of his bed with several empty bottles of what appeared to be strong liquor. Just how her son had gotten hold of this type of drink, she had no clue. There was no doubt that the prince had drunk himself to sleep.

"Ren, Ren… " the queen gently shook him. Her son responded with a grunt. She made him sit up and laid his head on the bed's wooden leg. "Let's get you dress for bed."

"I did not find her…" the prince whispered repeatedly as his mother knelt down to gather and put the empty bottles aside. Tears were streaming down his face. Queen Ran gave him a pitiful look and softly caressed his cheek.

"She's not dead. Tell me she's not dead, Mother." The boy's breath smelled heavily of alcohol.

"She isn't, Ren. She's always alive here," the queen pointed at his son's chest.

"I don't want to… leave tomorrow…. I need… to find her… She's not dead…" The prince almost choked on the words. His agony was inconsolable.

The queen felt her chest tightening. It was her first time to witness her son in his most vulnerable state. She covered him in a tight embrace while the prince wailed piteously.

"Maybe leaving can help you move on, Ren. You need to let go of her now…"

In front of the Kasai palace stables...

Upon Yoh's instructions, the swordsman proceeded to a large wooden house where they were keeping the horses. Anna took the opportunity to talk with the servant boy as soon as Amidamaru left them to return the horse he had borrowed inside.

"Tell me the truth, Yoh," the blond girl furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest. "Where are we exactly?"

"I'm sorry, Anna!" The boy lowered his head. "I was confused when you told me that you wanted to meet my king so I brought you here. I only realized later on that you were talking about the king of… Kaminari," Yoh checked if the other servants in the stable were listening before he whispered the last word.

Anna stared at him in disbelief. So I am not in Kaminari. Is that what he is implying? Is this boy hiding his true identity and working for two different kings as a palace servant?

"Are you telling me that I am in -"

"Welcome to the Kasai Palace, Anna," Amidamaru smiled as he approached the two. He had just finished his task in the stable and was oblivious of their current argument. "You can now meet King Mikihisa."

Anna's heart raced. I am in a forbidden territory. I should have run off when I noticed the difference in the crests. If her identity will be exposed, she's done for.

She wanted to scream at Yoh for his deception but before she can react violently, an authoritative voice spoke from behind her. "Who would want to see me, Amidamaru?"

All the servants in the stable including the white-haired man bowed down low as the king of Kasai appeared with two royal guards trailing him.

"You," he pointed at Yoh who seemed to be trembling all over, "are going to clean the stables the entire night ALONE. As a punishment for your long-time absence, you will not have any dinner. Leave my presence and start on your task."

The boy gave an apologetic look to Anna before he ran inside the barn to do the king's bidding.

The king turned his attention to the blond girl who stood firmly but looked slightly alarmed. "Young lady, I presumed you are the person who would want to speak to me. How could I be of service to you?" King Mikihisa asked her kindly.

Anna remained speechless for a few minutes as she stared at the royal's creepy bird mask. The body of a man but with the head of a bird, huh. Ren, your stories are too exaggerated.

She scolded herself for thinking of other less important things instead of finding her way out of this grim situation. She breathed deeply and calmly collected herself as a plan began to form quickly in her head.

"Dear king… I came here to… apply as a… palace servant."