Sanemi pulled Muzan from the saddle and threw him into Michikatsu.
Raising the lantern, the man held it close enough that Michikatsu could feel the heat of the flame. Sanemi was a big man, he saw, big and raw as a skinned ox. And he smelled like a ton of garlic.
"Not much of a catch--- two sparrows," Said Sanemi. "But aren't they trimmed up in fancy rags, Genya?"
"Aren't they!" echoed the man.
"Got any gold in your pockets, boys?"
"No business of yours!" snapped the prince.
"Ah, but so help me, it is my business," Sanemi said with a thunderclap of laughter. "Don't you know who I am?"
"A clod and a ruffian," declared the prince.
"Worse than that!" corrected the big man. "Aren't you never heard of Hold-Your-Nose-Nemi?"
"Famous, he is," put in Genya. "Put to song, is Nemi."
Michikatsu thought he remembered. Hadn't he heard ballad sellers fling that name about the streets? The exploits of Hold-Your-Nose Something-or-other in verses by the yard? "The highwayman, are you?"
"The same"
"The murderer?"
"Only in the line of duty," Hold-Your-Nose-Nemi chuckled. "So if you won't mind if we take your horse and empty your pockets."
"Not a copper between us," Said Michikatsu. A prince didn't carry money, for he had no use for it, and Michikatsu's accounts were kept on the books.
"What's in the basket?" piped up Genya.
"Hands off villian!" snapped Muzan. "Don't you know who I am?"
Michikatsu gave Muzan a sudden jab of his elbow to keep his mouth shut. Not a word!
But the heir to the throne raised himself to his full height. "Bow to your prince!"
Fog swirled around the lantern "Bow to what?" asked Genya.
"I am Prince Muzan!"
"And I'm the Grand Turnip of China!" Genya snickered.
"Dim-witted villians!" shouted Muzan. " I command you to turn us loose. Or father will hang the pair of you in chains!"
Hold your mouth! Michikatsu thought. Don't you have a thimbleful of brains? A prince would make a fine catch for these rogues. "My friend's muddle-headed," he declared. "His father's nothing but a rat-catcher. But he doesn't put on airs, though!"
"Got enough lip for two sets of teeth," chortled the big highwayman. "Genya, take the lantern and fetch the horse."
"What do you reckon's in the basket, Nemi?"
"Plenty of time to find out."
The lantern floated off. The evil-smelling Sanemi clutched each boy hard by the ear.
"Stir your legs. Walk! And don't let me catch you on our turf again. Do I make myself clear?"
"Clear as window glass," said Michikatsu with a sigh of relief. "If you'd be kind enough to point us toward the river, I'd be ever so much obliged."
"Nemi!" came a shout from Genya. "They aren't just common sparrows. Have a look at this saddle."
Sanemi hung onto the boys' ears. At the horse's side, Genya was holding the lantern close to the saddle.
"Skin me alive!" delcared the big man in awe. "That's the king's own crest."
"We stole it, horse and saddle!" Michikatsu put in desperately.
"Lies!" retorted Muzan scornfully. "Didn't I tell you who I was? Bow low, you fools, and be off!"
But the two men neither bowed nor fled. Sanemi threw a bushy-eyed glance at his fellow outlaw.
"Genya, what do you reckon a genuine prince on the hoof is worth?"
"His weight in gold at least, Nemi."
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I can't tell you how badly I wanted to put "(already gay huh?)" in the first sentence-
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The Whipping Boy || Kokuzan/Michizan Vers. ||
FanfictionSet in medieval times, The Whipping Boy tells the story of how a spoiled prince and his cunning whipping boy escape kidnappers and become allies.
