Through Fire and Water

Chapter 12 - Opposing Tides

Ichirou pov:

"How is it possible for her to have known that you were following her? Surely you couldn't have been so noticeable!" I hollered at Fourteen as he sat on one knee in front of me and His Highness.

"I have no excuses, Shogun." He said with his head down.

"No excuses?! You fool!" I bellowed making him cringe slightly. "Is this how you serve His Highness? Is this how you show your dedication to the Blood Emperor?! How could you be so careless?!"

"I apologize for speaking out of line, Shogun, but I was not careless. I have never been so on any mission you have ordered me to fulfil. And I remain loyal to His Highness, the Blood Emperor. I am his humble servant and I have sworn to never change my alliance."

"Humble servant?! If you were all you boast you are, you would not be here in front of us with your head down in shame for being spotted by a mere child!"

"She is not a child, Shogun, and she is much better than what I expected her to be."

"Much better than what you expected? Are you trying to make a fool of yourself even more than what you've already been made of by her?" I seethed.

"She is quite skilled, isn't she, Ichirou? Unexpectedly quite skilled." His Highness interrupted in a low voice. He sounded amused though – amused and not in the least concerned about the matter.

"Your Highness...." I spoke bowing my head, not happy that he seemed to be taking this so easily. "What do you propose we do about it? We can't just leave her be....not when we do not know what she can to do and perhaps what she can try to do as well. This is not a matter we can be careless about."

"Are you saying that I'm being careless in this matter?" His Highness asked challengingly. I cringed and bowed lower.

"I-I did not mean that, Your Highness. I apologize if I said something out of line."

The Blood Emperor was silent for a minute, perhaps thinking. I looked up at him confused when he chuckled. There was amuse and excitement swirling in his eyes – expressions that I didn't understand and felt wary of. He stood up and walked towards us and I once again gave a shallow bow with my head in deep respect.

"I will look into this matter on my own, Ichirou. I have already made a deal with her – quite an interesting deal too, I have to say. It's been a very long time since I have felt this eager and entertained by someone in the palace and I don't plan on losing out on the opportunity to lessen my boredom of the monotonous palace life." He mused with another chuckle.

"A deal, Your Highness? So....I can assume that you have met her in person?" I asked, hoping that I would be let in on a few details.

"Yes, that's right. And I must say that she is much more charming than what you described her to be, Ichirou. She will be very useful to the Elite Division and also in that matter."

I resisted from reacting when His Highness mentioned using her in a matter that was confidential and known only to me, Haji and Asahi. It was a matter of the Royal Family after all and any information about the Blood Emperor, the Royal Family and the governance of Nihon was not spoken about unnecessarily. Secrecy was at the highest level in the palace, especially in His Highness's plans and strategies to maintain order in his Empire.

As much as I knew well not to refuse an Imperial Order, I couldn't help but feel mildly concerned for Izumi. His Highness was a ruthless man, merciless enough to use anyone he found useful as a pawn to success and discard those he thought as unnecessary to him. He was seeing Izumi as a pawn now – a pawn to use in his plans to secure his place on the throne even more than before. He was interested in her because she was foolishly brave and impulsive – quick to snap at people who annoyed her even in the least. I had heard about her encounter with Prince Araishi and it was definitely a dangerous move. If the Blood Emperor was fond of Prince Araishi like he was of Prince Shichiro, Izumi would not have been spared from dire punishment.