A few days later…

Hiko was pacing the halls of his study. It wasn't a usual thing for the mighty ruler to do but he was truly concerned. The kingdom was prosperous, on good terms with all its neighboring kingdoms, and its wealth was also prospering steadily, but of course, every rose must have its thorn, and Kenshin was his kingdom's thorn. Well not so much Kenshin, as his womanizing habits. Kenshin was a prince to be prized, he was his kingdoms most prized warrior, skilled in the swordsmanship that Hiko had taught, and he was valuable in his political stance and his genuine, unselfish concern for the kingdom's people but Kenshin had become trouble as of recently. Hiko had ignored the behavior when it first began, thinking this was Kenshin's way of grieving for his lost wife, Tomoe. However, as years passed Kenshin's grief worsened and with it his attitude toward any lady in the court he deemed as emotional distractions. He treated them like they were disposable, not that Hiko could say they acted very proper or challenged the prince's advantages. Hiko always considered Kenshin a noble and respectable man, and he was still so but he saw a change in his son's outlook on relations with women. Perhaps Kenshin was still in love with Tomoe; after all they never had enough time together, and her deceiving him from the start before she fell in love with him definitely influenced him. Perhaps he hated her too, after all she fooled all of them, and in the end Kenshin still suffered whether by her intentions or not. Hiko knew Kenshin no longer wanted to experience that kind of pain or experience that kind of love, not when it meant he would become susceptible to that grief again.

'Enough rambling to myself, what am I some kind of psycho analyst for Kenshin? ' Hiko scolded to himself. 'His actions to the ladies of my court are unacceptable, and beyond disrespectable he's had enough time to grieve its time I set him straight now. I solve both our problems.'

"Tae!" Hiko shouted out.

Moments later an older woman rushed into the king's study, she bowed and knelt down in a matter of respect but with not an automated gesture but out of sincere respect and a sense of intimacy. "Yes, your majesty?" Tae spoke clearly.

Hiko shook his head at her. "How many times must I remind you? Enough with the formalities those are only necessary with other royal company."

Tae straightened herself and smiled. "With all due respect your majesty I want to show my respect to you as my leader, as our king."

Hiko scoffed and waved his hand. "I have matters to discuss with the Kenshin." Hiko sat down at his desk and turned to Tae. "That will be all. You'll probably find him around the ladies courtship homes."

"Yes, sir." Tae mummured as she bowed to leave.

"One moment," Hiko halted her with another thought. "If you don't find him there, he may actually be around the North barracks."

Tae tilted her head. "The North barracks?..uh, yes, I'll search there if I don't find him at the courtship." And she left the room.

Hiko sat back down at his desk and prepared himself for the rough conversation he was about to give hid son, and with a sigh he closed his eyes in mediation as he waited.

'Kami help me.'

Tae searched around the lady courtship building. All the ladies turned their heads as she walked in through the doors.

'That's never a good sign.' Tae thought to herself. 'If the prince was here they would not be so eager to be looking at the door, they're probably looking to the door in hopes he shows up otherwise their eyes would be all over him.'

Tae shuffled through the quarters. The ladies all dressed their best, talked with each other in their own circle of friends. Tae tried to see if the prince was around without listening to too much of their gossip…most of which was about Kenshin, some things that should only be said behind closed doors Tae thought as she shuffled through.

'Kenshin sure seems to have his way with the ladies…or should I say he has had his way with these ladies?' Tae scolded to herself. 'As I thought, he's not here.'

She concluded her search. She left, headed toward the North Barracks, where she was advised to search next, for reasons should had no idea why.

Kaoru was sweating underneath the sun today. She was so grateful it was almost dusk and the sun would be setting soon. Her armor felt particularly heavy and stifling today. After the sun went down she was required to take her place at the North Position but she didn't mind as long as it would be cooler then the rest of the day had been. She had spent the majority of her day sparring and practicing her katas with Aoshi in the North Barracks, they weren't really need to guard the castle as much during the daytime because no real threat by any legitimate assassin would be foolish enough to attack at such a time. One glance at Aoshi told her even he thought the heat today had been unforgiving, she could tell because his usually stoic composure was even more so miserable then usual. She spun her sword languidly in her hand before sheathing it. Before guard duty she always had dinner, without she was cranky and moody, quite unladylike. She turned to her partner with a tired sigh.

"Let's get some grub." She smiled at him.

Just as the sun finally begun to set, the shadows casted from the walls swept over them like a cold river, Kaoru felt the cool relief instantly and she imagined Aoshi did too by the relaxation of his shoulders. In response to her earlier reply, he nodded and the both headed off toward town.

Before they reached the gate, however, a maid came through. Kaoru recognized her immediately.

"Miss Tae?"

Tae squinted her eyes at the two figures and quickly realized who the speaker was. "Oh! Kaoru!"

Tae peered around the barracks curiously; she had never really visited the castle's barracks. Kaoru looked at her suspiciously.

"Looking for some soldiers to ogle at?" Kaoru jested to Tae.

Tae turned to Kaoru with a frown. "Hmph, I'm looking for the prince."

"Oh so you are looking for someone to ogle at…" Kaoru teased.

In a very childish manner, Tae turned to Karou and stomped her foot down. "That's enough young lady. I'm only looking for the prince on the King's orders."

Kaoru turned to leave with Aoshi. "Well don't waste your time, you won't find him here, no one practices in the North Barracks during this time except for me and Aoshi. The other soldiers are only here mid-mornings."

Tae paused. "Oh, well then I guess I'll have to recheck the courtship again."

"Guess so." Kaoru waved over her shoulder as her and Aoshi began walking out.

Tae stood there overlooking the North Barracks, it was nothing special, so why would the King send her here? Especially if the only usual visitors were only Aoshi and Kaoru….Aoshi and Kaoru…Aos….Kaoru…

Tae whipped her head back in the direction of the pair disappearing in the distance, she stared at Kaoru's back. "Not in a million years…"

Kenshin stretched his arms to the ceiling and with a sigh began buttoning up his shirt.

"Are you sure there isn'tanything I can do to persuade you to stay?" A sultry brunette drawled. "You only just got here…."

Kenshin turned to face her, uninterested. "I'll be going now, Miss Yamara."

She frowned but just before she could object, Kenshin took her hand.

"Forgive me for my impatience to leave but tonight I must be at the castle." He murmured as he kissed her knuckles.

She giggled, almost innocently, Kenshin thought as she pulled her hand to her side. "Until next time, my prince." She winked as he turned to leave.

With his back to her Kenshin rolled his eyes, he didn't like the way she had said my prince, too possessive. He was no one's not after…. He shook his heads to rid the thoughts from his mind.

He was not coming back here again. He was glad he looked around before anything had happened. He saw a roll of coins stashed in her bedside drawer and gold wedding band ring. A roll of coins was not something easily earned. As for the ring, Kenshin didn't want to think of whether it was hers, or if it was some kind of payment from some disloyal husband. Kenshin might not be the best example to follow but he'd never be a cheating man. Kenshin disregarded it for now, who was he to judge, but he vowed not to come back to here.

Hiko waited patiently in his study, it had been a few hours since he had seen Tae. He wondered what was taking so long, but he kept in mind this was Kenshin, he was dealing with, his son, and if Kenshin had inherited anything from his father it was his stubbornness.

"Your majesty?" A quiet feminine voice spoke from the slightly opened door.

Hiko turned to the source of the voice, a small girl of a maid. "Ah, Tsubane-chan."

"I've come to clear your dishes, sir." She muttered under her breath shyly as she ran over to the cart besides his desk. Hiko had eaten in his study expecting his son to have arrived sooner.

Hiko nodded as she rushed out of the room pushing the cart.

Tsubane struggled to push the cart down the rest of the hall; it was really too heavy for her. She refused to ask the other maids for help though, since they teased her enough as is. She sucked in a breath and prepared to push the cart. To her surprise it moved with ease. She blinked. Too easy. She looked over the cart.

"Need some help there?" Kenshin asked with a smile.

Tsubane gasped. "Ah-I , ano…I can handle this your highness-"

"Nonsense!" Kenshin said shaking his head as he tugged the cart. "I can't just leave you here all night to be pushing a cart that is twice your weight." He said as he looked at the petite girl. She really did look fragile and childish.

"But sir I-" Tsubane chirped. She prayed he didn't recognize her from the morning she came into his bath.

"What's your name?" Kenshin asked tilting his head to the side as he pulled the cart along. "We are going to the kitchen with this right? Are you even old enough to work? Why of all the maids are you pushing this cart which is too much for you?"

"You sure talk a lot…" Tsubane muttered as she kept pushing the cart, trying to keep up with the prince. "Uh, um yes, the kitchen, I'm Tsubane..I'm guess I'm old enough to work here since his Majesty allows me to? Ah…the other maids were going to take on this task but I…uh…nevermind, I'm just silly."

Tsubane hit the unmoving cart. She looked up. The prince had stopped pulling and without his help the cart wasn't going to move. "Your highness..?"

Kenshin came to her side. "Why do you think are you foolish?" He bent down to meet her face.

Tsubane blushed at the proximity and back stepped a few. "I, um, I..uh" she sighed. "The other maids know I can't do much, I'm too small, too weak, they tease me…I guess I just wanted to prove them wrong…but I failed." Tsubane pouted gloomily.

Kenshin smiled. "Tsubane-chan, you're going to be very strong one day."

Tsubane looked up at him in surprise. "How do you know?"

"With determination and will like that how can you not be?" Kenshin asked with a smile.

Tsubane blushed. "Thank-thankyou for saying so, your highness."

"Call me, Kenshin." He winked at her as continued to pull her cart along. Tsubane ran to catch up.

They reached the kitchen in a few minutes. Tsubane bowed. "Thankyou, your highness."

"Kenshin." He smiled.

"Right…Ken-san" Tsubane smiled.

"You're not going to only just say it when its just me and you around are you?" Kenshin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…I think I need to get the cart back in now…" Tsubane said as she pushed with all her might the cart through the swinging doors.

"It's Kenshin to you Tsubane-chan he called after her."

Tae smiled from where she was behind Kenshin. 'Like father like son. Always with the need to destroy formalities.'

"Prince." Tae called out.

Kenshin turned around to meet her gaze, already recognizing the owner of the voice. "Yes, Miss Tae?"

Tae smiled. "I'm hardly young enough to be called a miss."

"You'll always be a miss to me" Kenhsin winked. He knew Tae was self-conscious of her age.

Tae blushed, not because she felt flirted with, she was practically Kenshin's nanny, but because he always made her smile. "That'll be enough out of you, I can see why the ladies act the way they do around you, your highness."

Kenshin laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about, Miss Tae."

Tae gave him a level look and crossed her arms. "Right…" she cleared her voice. "Anyway your father is waiting in his study to speak to you."

Kenshin looked at her serious posture. "I'll go meet him now." And he headed off in the direction of Hiko's study.

Kenshin reached his father's study shortly. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." came his father's bellowing voice.

Kenshin walked in and took a seat in front of Hiko's desk. He could feel the seriousness in the atmosphere like it was tangilble. He waited for Hiko to speak.

"I'm sorry to have to hold this against you Kenshin but I'm going to have to make you keep that promise." Hiko said gravely.

And with surprise Kenshin immediately knew what he was referring to.

"I understand."

And he did.

[UNdead] Author's notes:

I know, I'm alive! Been kind of busy but I'm really hoping to at least get this one story done then conquering my favorite (Of Love an Lies) but we shall see...Anyway please read and review to tell me what you think, next chapter will be up soon I swear and it will defintely reveal more and it will continue Hiko and Kenshin's conversation. Until next time Happy Writing!