Chapter 3: Paladin of Suzushiro

Shizuru had so many questions she wanted answered, she wasn't sure where to start. Where was she? Who were they? Why was she rescued? What had happened after she passed out from her injury? And most importantly, what was the “linking” they spoke of? However, before she could ask any of them, the raven-haired girl spoke first.

“Eat.” Natsuki said simply, as if giving the princess a direct order.

Shizuru tilted her head slightly to give the still-blushing girl a quizzical look. Natsuki pointed at the bowl of soup sitting on top of a small table next to the daybed. “Food.” she said, and picked the bowl up to take a small sip herself before passing it to Shizuru's hands. “See? Not poisoned.”

“Ookini.” Shizuru thanked her and smiled brightly at the raven-haired girl. “I trust you wouldn't do that, um, how may I address you?”

“Natsuki Kruger.”

“Ookini, Miss Kruger.”

“Just Natsuki is fine,” Natsuki said with a tone of finality. “Now eat. You've been sleeping for three days. You must be starving.”

Shizuru knew she had been passed out for a while, but she didn't think it would have been three days already. It's not too late. I still have a chance to stop Nagi, however slim the chance may be. “Thank you very much for everything you've done for me. I am forever in your debt; however, I must go back as soon as possible. May I trouble you to guide me back to Windbloom?”

“You are either very stupid or suicidal. Maybe both,” Nao said when she finally recovered from her giggle fit. She sat down next to the princess and poked at her cheek with a finger, ignoring the cold glare from her boss. “Do you have any idea what situation you're in, princess? You got shot in the gut in your own castle! Don't be so eager to rush to your own death. There's a hefty bounty on your head now.”

Natsuki swatted away Nao's hand and added, “Apparently, you were kidnapped by a rebel group 'Aries' right before the coronation. The Grand Duke of Artai put up five thousand gold coins to whoever finds you. Dead or alive.”

Something is not right, Shizuru thought to herself. Nagi clearly wanted me dead when he took over the castle. Why would he put a bounty on my head now? Wouldn't it be easier for him to claim that I have died from a sudden illness and then instruct his men to kill me on sight? There are more to Nagi's schemes than just killing me and taking over Windbloom...

Natsuki continued, interrupting Shizuru's thoughts, “If you value your life, forget about Windbloom. There's nothing you can do.”

“No.” Shizuru shook her head slowly. “As the Princess of Windbloom, I have the obligation to my people. I can never abandon them. Besides, there is something I can do.”

Nao scoffed. “What can you do? You are but one helpless human. Do you intend to throw your life away fighting Nagi's army all by yourself? Aha! Here's the proof: you're both stupid and suicidal. I was right.”

“Shut up, Nao,” Natsuki ordered flatly. The redhead pouted. “What are you planning to do?” the level-headed leader of Garderobe asked the princess.

Shizuru weighed her options for a minute and answered, “The most plausible way to stop Nagi would be exposing his scheme to the World Council. The Council won't let him get away with high treason and armed invasion. And to do so, I'll need to get in contact with someone in the Council and who is not in league with Nagi.” The princess smiled confidently at Natsuki, who was looking at her with an unreadable expression, “Anh Lu, the Wise Queen of Annam.”

Letting the princess escape had proved to be the biggest mistake Nagi had ever made. Years of preparations would be for naught if Shizuru died in the middle of nowhere. He needed her corpse! It would be great if he could find the princess alive and kicking, but a fresh corpse would do just fine.

The Grand Duke stood in front of the massive stone gate hidden in an underground cavern below Windbloom Castle, his coral pink eyes fixed on the sinister-looking eight-headed serpent relief carved on the gate. The Guardian of the Gate of Valhalla, Yamata no Orochi, demanded a sacrifice of Windbloom's royal blood. What he desired lay beyond that damn gate!

And to think I was careless enough to let the only chance slip through my fingers!

Nagi so wanted to cry.

No matter. He had always been a very lucky man. If Fortune was on his side this time too, the princess would turn up sooner or later. Knowing that self-righteous princess, if she was not dead, it was only a matter of time before she showed her face in Windbloom.

One might have once described Haruka Armitage's feeling toward the Princess of Windbloom to be one-sided disdain, but it had now plummeted to a deep sense of loathing after the supposed “kidnapping” charade. Just what exactly was wrong with that woman? She bet that wishy-washy rich brat was only missing because she ran away from her responsibilities to have fun in gods know where. It was true that the rebel group she belonged to had attempted to assassinate the princess a dozen times before, but still, it was down right disgusting that the Court of Windbloom would blame them for the kidnapping that never happened.

“We're almost there.” Haruka said to the figure clad in a thick moss-green winter cloak who was trailing slightly behind her. The hood of the cloak covered most of the person's face, but Haruka could make out a small nod from that person. Trekking on foot in snow-covered mountain trails in the dead of winter was not the most pleasant mode of transportation. “Hang in there, Yukino. I can see the checkpoint already.” the blonde said, and she offered an arm for her companion to hold onto.

Yukino couldn't help but wince when her gloved hand grabbed onto Haruka's arm. The metal plating on her bodyguard's gauntlet was sucking away the little warmth her fingers still retained. She didn't expect it to be so cold in the mountainous region of Windbloom.

The large reward money put on the missing princess had caused them a whole lot of grief because it was stated on the bounty posters, which had been plastered all over Windbloom, that Aries was responsible for the kidnapping. During the few days since the princess had gone missing, their group had been assaulted numerous times by bounty hunters. That was why they were travelling in such foul weather – they couldn't afford to be arrested now, not yet, not while they were so close to completing their mission.

Shizuru Viola must die.

“You haven't answered my questions yet,” Shizuru said to the stoic leader of Garderobe, who was riding on a black stallion a few paced ahead of her white mare. The thick layer of snow underneath their mounts' hooves together with her aloof companion made their journey through the woodland a rather silent one. Not getting a reply from Natsuki, Shizuru urged the mare forward and asked again. “What was the 'linking' you spoke of?”

“I thought I told you already,” Natsuki said without looking in the princess's direction. “It doesn't concern you.”

Shizuru feigned a hurt look and pouted. “Natsuki is so cold. Hmm, since you won't answer this question, answer my other question: was it your wolf that saved me in Windbloom?”

Natsuki's eyebrows twitched, forming a small frown on her face. “You could say that.” she said, unwilling to waste one more breath on correcting the princess' false assumption.

The princess pressed on. “And why would you do that?”

Natsuki thought for a moment before giving the princess a sideway glance, “Because I felt like it.” she replied simply. It wasn't so far from the truth.

“Ara, I see.” Shizuru chuckled lightly at the younger girl's answer. “Was that also the reason why you offered to escort me to Annam? Because you 'felt like it'?”

“Exactly.” Natsuki answered with a half grin on her face. “You know, you sure ask a lot of questions.”

“Only because you've managed to dodge most of them. You've never really answered...”

“Whoa!” Natsuki suddenly halted her horse's gait from a trot to a full stop. The white mare Shizuru was riding followed Natsuki's command and stopped as well. “Shhh... Quiet.” Shizuru watched as the leader of Garderobe closed her eyes with her head tilted, as if she was listening intently for something.

“Battle.” Natsuki opened her eyes. The small frown between her brows had grown into a tight knot. “I can smell blood too. Sit tight. I'll be right back.” Having said that, she nimbly dismounted from her horse and bolted into the thicket before Shizuru could do anything to stop her.

“Gutless cowards! Eat this!” Haruka hurled a massive chained mace made of pure steel over her head and whipped it around violently while holding onto the chain with both hands. The dead weight of her clumsy weapon crushed through her opponent's armoured torso as if it were made of paper. Letting out a furious roar, the blonde yanked hard on the chain and the mace flew off like a bolt of lightning and smashed apart another opponent's full helmet. “You don't mess with a Paladin of Suzushiro!”

Black standard. Natsuki sat on a high branch and observed the battle between a mace-wielding blonde and a group of soldiers in black armour from afar. And with the purple seal of Schwartz. They are Nagi Dai Artai's men. Why are they fighting that paladin? she thought.

“Paladin of Suzushiro? Ha! What a big joke.” The leader of the soldiers, a man clad in black cape and tanned leather armour, said with a sneer. “All shall kneel before a Battle Mage of Schwartz! Fire Ball!” He shouted as he threw the ball of flame in Haruka's direction.

The blonde easily neutralized the attack with a backhand slap. The fireball didn't even leave a scorch mark on her metal gauntlet before it was extinguished by the snow matting the forest floor. “Battle Mage my ass! Prepared to be whipped, Nagi's dog.” she yelled, twirling the chain mace around before letting her weapon fly at her opponent's face.

“What a simpleton. You charge like a bull.” The mage dodged the attack and grabbed on to the chain. With a sadistic smile on his face, he chanted, “Lightning Bolt!”

Blue arches of energy travelled through the metal chain and shocked the paladin with a series of ominous crackling sounds. The mage laughed as smoke rose from the blonde's body. “Fool!” he said. “That should teach you not to look down on a Battle Mage of Schwartz, woman. We are strong now, and we shall be invincible once Grand Duke obtain the power of the Cursed Obsidian.”

“You are strong?” The paladin slowly raised her head, her hair was curlier than usual because of the electric shock. “What was that? It didn't even tickle.” She grinned at the mage's horror stricken face and taunted, “Was that the best you can do?”

“Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! LIGHTNING BOLT!” The mage grabbed on to the chain with both hands and invoked the attack spell a few more times. Unfortunately for him, they didn't seem to faze the blonde at all. “What y'all waiting for? Attack! Attack!” he ordered his men in panic. To his horror, he then realized that he was the last man standing. All his underlings had either been put down by the paladin, or had run away.

“That's why I said they were gutless cowards. And you, you talk too much. Didn't Nagi warn you not to babble about the Cursed Obsidian? It's supposed to be a secret worth more than the Princess of Windbloom's life, you know. Hmph, it doesn't matter. Either way, your life is forgery now.” Haruka shook her head and retrieved her weapon with one hard yank. She caught the chain mace easily with a hand.

Not too far away from where the battle took place, Yukino poked her head out from behind a tree and yelled, “It's 'forfeit', not 'forgery'.”

Haruka yelled back with a dark blush, “It's not safe yet. Don't come out until I say so!” She glared at the mage and declared with a booming voice, “Your life is FORFEIT, you hear me? Forfeit! Now die! Dynamite Crusher!” Her mace once again flew out at the mage. However, this time her opponent wasn't blown away when the dust and snow settled after the loud bang.

Standing between the paladin and the battle mage was a raven-haired girl, who caught the deadly mace in one hand and the mage's neck in another. “You are going to tell me everything you know about the Cursed Obsidian,” Natsuki demanded coolly. “Or, I can kill you both. That includes the girl hiding behind that tree. Someone had better start talking now before I lose my patience.”

TBC

Author's Notes:

1. Yamata no Orochi (八俣大蛇) is an eight-headed serpent from Japanese mythology.

2. I finally finished outlining this story. Took me forever. :D Round of applause to Dr. Leebot for his wonderful beta job!