The Hated Sin

Four: Her Proposal

The journey to the land of rice paddies was slow and relatively peaceful. There hadn't been any worthwhile trouble, and the only disturbances were the occasional bounty hunter that thought Tsumi might catch a good price; however, each one was easily taken care of by Tsumi herself, and without the notice of the carriage overseer, a young sensory nin.
"Tsumi-hime, we're entering bandit country, but once we pass through here we should only be about a mile or so away from the border of the land of rice paddies." The sensory nin, Yoko, informed her. Tsumi didn't respond, not that she ever did anyway. ~
"Ahh Tsumi-hime, it's nice to finally meet you! The rumors of your beauty do you no justice, and to think that you're only eight! I'll assume that the rumor mill was correct in assuming your genius also?" A boisterous voice spoke, and though he meant to come off as warm and kind, there was a sinister undertone beneath it all. There was always something deep and dark that people hid beneath a kind guise, but Tsumi never failed to see it.
"I do hope you enjoy your stay here at this small, humble palace of the land of rice paddies." The man's smiled, a hint of dark malic glinting deep within his carefully guarded eyes.
~
Tsumi was woken from her sleep by the sound of the door to her room opening. She sat up in bed, this wouldn't be the first time somebody's tried to kill her, but she didn't think her father would send assassins after her when she was being used as means to negotiate. Somebody else was targeting her.
She didn't make a sound as she slipped into the shadows, watching carefully with guarded eyes as a masked man creeped up to her now empty bed, cursing when he realized she was gone. She stepped out of the shadows, catching his attention. They locked eyes. Before he could blink, she was in front of him. Her hand had transformed and now instead of nails, she had sharp black claws held to his throat.
"Who sent you?" Her mouth didn't move, but her words were heard clear as the night sky.
"I came to kill you of my own volition." The masked man said. He looked into her eyes. His own despair ridden eyes staring into her emotionless orbs.
"You have no purpose." It wasn't a question, but a statement, a realization. He was silent before speaking, ignoring her previous statement.
"Will you kill me?" He asked. There wasn't a hint of fear to be detected from him, only the desire to know if he would die tonight.
"I will give you a purpose." Her voice whispered into his mind, not once did her lips move. She pressed her thumbs into his eyes, his screams were silenced at her command. Blood trailed down from his eyes, and when she removed her thumbs, his eyes glowed sapphire before returning to their original honey gold.
"Remove your mask."
And without his consent, he found that he was already obeying her command. She cupped his cheek, looking deep into his eyes for signs of the anger she knew would come; and yet, there was none.
"Will you sleep with me?"
And together they lied down, holding each other close as a familial bond formed between them in mere seconds.