Heaven's Will

Chapter 11

  There was a group of people standing outside of the palace's front gate. Most were already off of their horses, tugging at the reigns to get the horses to walk towards the stables. One member of the group was conversing with a couple of palace guards. The conversation was brief, lasting only a few minutes, before the guards agreed to open the palace gates. Mafumafu and Soraru watched the exchange from behind the garden hedges.

"So, they are guests," Mafumafu mumbled. "But I don't recognize the emblem they're wearing..."

He shook his head. Where those people were from didn't really matter. What was important right now was sneaking back into the palace without being seen.

"Let's go through the garden, Soraru-san. The hedges should keep anyone from seeing us," Mafumafu said.

"Alright. Lead the way," Soraru responded.

They pushed through a gap in the hedges as silently as they could. Mafumafu's heart had been pounding in his ears ever since they left the forest. It was impossible to tell how much noise he was making, because all he could hear was the roar of his heartbeat. Somehow, it was more nerve wracking sneaking back into the palace than it was sneaking out.

"Hey, are you alright?" Soraru asked quietly.

Mafumafu jumped slightly. "Huh? O-Oh, I'm fine."

"You seem really nervous," Soraru pointed out.

"You would be too if your freedom was on the line," Mafumafu retorted.

Soraru couldn't find any argument to this and shrugged. "Fair enough."

It wasn't long before they reached the vine hanging from Mafumafu's balcony. The albino sighed in relief at the sight of it. He didn't know what he would do if the vine disappeared again.

"Well, I guess this is as far as I'll go," Soraru said, coming to a stop near the vine.

"Will you be able to make it home okay?" Mafumafu asked.

"Don't worry about me. I have experience with getting around places unseen," Soraru replied.

"You sound more like a thief than a nomad," Mafumafu laughed.

Soraru chuckled softly as well. "Anyway, you'd better get up to your room now."

Mafumafu grabbed the vine and was about to start climbing up, but he hesitated. He looked back over at Soraru.

"Um, you know, Soraru-san, we don't always have to meet at night like this," Mafumafu started.

Soraru gave him a questioning look and waited for the albino to continue.

"You could always come to the garden sometime. My parents are generally fine with me meeting with people out there as long as a guard is around. If you're ever interested, just ask Sol-san about it. He meets me there every day."

Soraru smiled slightly. "Thanks, but I don't think Sol would agree to something like that."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mafumafu asked.

"You see, Sol and I are... How do I put this? Rivals? Is that the right word?" Soraru said, trying to figure out the best way to phrase their relationship. "Whatever the word is, we're not really seeing eye-to-eye right now. So, being in the same place together usually just ends up with us fighting."

"That sounds sad," Mafumafu said.

"Not really. This isn't the first time we've had disagreements," Soraru said airily.