xxxxx

Fearful
Moon Kitty 2005
Chapter Nine (Giving & Receiving)

June 13th, 2008

xxxxx

Things felt so sluggish when she slowly cracked her eyes open. She could hardly feel her body, it felt like she had just participated in a brutal street fight. She could faintly make out voices to her right, but she couldn't recognize them. Suddenly her vision of the ceiling was blocked by shimmering emerald hair.

"Minto! Are you okay? Are you better now? The doctor here took good care of you. How are you feeling?"

Minto could hear Keiichiro chuckle and Retasu looked over at him. "Give her a rest, she's been through a lot." She saw Keiichiro lean over her cot and smile. "We're glad that you're okay. If you need more time to rest, we'll take our leave."

Minto shook her head and whispered, "I'm fine. How long have I been asleep for?"

Retasu frowned. "Around 5 days. Keiichiro and I had collapsed from exhaustion and we didn't wake up until last night."

"What time is it now?"

"Midday," Keiichiro replied, slipping an arm under her shoulders to prop her up against the pillows in the infirmary. He handed her a glass of water and helped her to sip from it. "I saw that you were stirring a little while ago, so I asked if it was at all possible for a maid to bring some food."

"Maid?" She set the glass of water down and glanced at her surroundings inquiringly. She had just now noticed where she was. "Who's castle is this? Don't tell me…" She looked at Retasu with an expression of fear.

Retasu simply smiled and shook her head. "No, Ichigo didn't find us. We're in Prince Ryou's castle."

Prince Ryou? She looked down at her hands and folded them in her lap. "Do you think… we're going to become his slaves as soon as we're well enough?"

Retasu and Keiichiro honestly had no answer. They both looked down as well. They had both been contemplating that since they had woken, and were fearing that that was exactly what was going to happen.

The door opened and a shy plump woman entered, placing the tray on a small table by the bed and bowing to the three of them. "The King has requested that the three of you report to the throne room once the young lady is finished with her meal. There should be some crutches in the closet over there that she can use to transport herself until her wounds healed."

She was about to leave, but Retasu stopped her. "Is there any way you would know why the King would want to request to speak to us? Surely he must've said something…"

The girl shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. He doesn't discuss private matters with the servants."

Nodding to the three respectfully, she took her leave from the room, leaving them to wonder why the King was so urgent to speak to them.

A few minutes later, the door opened again and in stepped a tall boy with sandy blonde hair and turquoise eyes. He looked straight at Minto, and she shivered. Something about his eyes felt like a feline waiting for its prey. "So I see you're awake now. How are you feeling?"

She nodded a bit and looked down at her hands. "A little better, thank you."

He looked over at Retasu and she blushed. It seemed whenever they made eye contact she could barely keep her heart under control. "We had a deal, hand the pendant over. My father's about to speak to me and if I don't have the pendant on, who knows what he'll do?"

Retasu nodded and handed the pendant over to him, making sure to avoid touching hands. She knew that if she did, he would definitely notice how red her face was getting every moment that he was in the room.

Leaving the room after a slight nod in Retasu's direction, the three turned to each other and decided that they should probably start making their way to the front of the castle to speak to the King. None of them wanted to have this discussion, for they knew it was very possible that the King would send them back to their home kingdom.

They had no idea what kind of ruler Ryou's father was, but if he was anything like his son, the chances that they were to be sent back were more than likely.

Keiichiro grabbed the crutches from the closet and helped Minto out of bed, the three of them trudging slowly to the throne room.

xxxxx

"So, I noticed the three of you have traveled to great lengths to get here. Dehydration and infection plagued the three of you. Tell me, where did you come from?"

Keiichiro spoke first. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, we would rather not tell you from whence we came. Think of us as simply travelers that came across your kingdom and were in desperate need of help."

"Our kingdom doesn't just give away medical service for free. What do you plan to do to return all the hard work and effort our doctor gave?"

The three looked at each other, unsure what to say. They knew that this was the moment they had been dreading.

"I say we make them our slaves," Ryou stated from the sidelines, eyeing Retasu warily with his arms folded in front of him. "After all, it's the least they could do for all the medicine and time we had to put into them."

Retasu looked down at her feet and felt her stomach plummet. They had been free for such a short time, and now they were already being forced back into slavery. What had she done to deserve this?

The King glanced at his son before looking at the three before him. "That does sound like a good idea, but I have a feeling that there's more to this traveler story than you're letting on. Don't worry. In our kingdom, slaves actually have a voice, and I don't believe in abuse. You'll be safe here," he said, winking at Retasu. "You're free to move about the castle as you please, unless there's a task that needs to be completed. What are your names?"

"I'm Retasu, this is Keiichiro, and Minto."

"Well, Keiichiro, what are your favorite things to do?"

He looked surprised that someone of higher class than him was actually taking an interest in what he enjoyed to do. "Um, well, Your Majesty, I really like to brush and saddle horses. They're such majestic creatures."

The King smiled and said, "Very well then. Your main duties will be to lather down the horses when they come in from their daily runs, and to brush them, make sure their hooves are kept in top shape, so on and so forth."

Keiichiro let out the faintest hint of a smile. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"And you, Minto?"

She blushed and looked down. "I really like to cook and take care of animals."

"All right. Your job will be to help Purin in the kitchen with preparation of meals and to make sure the livestock are fed every night, once you're well enough to walk, of course," he stated, earning a small nod from the midnight blue-haired girl.

"Yourself, Retasu?"

"I like to sew and to clean. Cooking is fun as well, but it's not exactly my forte."

"Then I guess that decides what we're going to do with you. Ryou is extremely messy and is always tearing his clothes during riding and other activities. You'll be his personal maid, and your duties are to make sure that his wing stays clean and his clothes stay mended. After all, it wouldn't do for him to go out in public and have holes in his shirt, now would it?"

Even though she nodded, she was far from happy with her assignment. That meant that she would be around Ryou far more than she intended. With the way he had been looking at her lately, she didn't doubt that it was very possible he would treat her the same way as Ichigo had. She shivered slightly.

"Well, that's all for now. Zakuro will show you to your quarters and give you your new outfits. There's no way I would let you stay in those haphazard sacks. You are dismissed."

The three bowed slightly and turned, making their way from the room, following the purple-haired girl from the throne room.

And the entire time she walked, Retasu could feel a pair of aquamarine eyes boring into the back of her head.

xxxxx

Authoress Notes

It took me almost a whole day to write this because I kept getting distracted. I don't have a very good attention span. :x Let me know what you thought.