Light of the Dragon's Eye

Chapter Forty-Two

TA DAAA!!! NEW CHAPTER!!! No Halloween special, sorry. It's been a stressful time for me.

Also please vote and comment because it helps me find the motivation to keep writing.

KASUMI'S POV

Kai's muscles are stiff and tense the entire way back to Kiba. I keep my face pressed into his back to hide my tears, although my deep, shuddering sobs ring loud and clear, even as the wind roars past us.

What have I done?

Why did this have to happen to us?

Kai doesn't say a word, not of comfort or irritation, and for that, I'm grateful. I don't think I can handle listening to anything right now.

This sort of sadness...it's unfamiliar to me. When I had first learned of my father's betrayal, I was devastated. I could barely bring myself to speak to others.

But now, after seeing him for the first time since, after hearing his motivation...it makes the whole thing real.

Two sides of me battle, one of despair and sorrow, the other of fury and determination. Somehow, it hasn't taken long for me to move from grief to anger. Perhaps it's because a part of me knew it would come to this, or maybe because I have gotten...closure, if you can call it that.

I decide not to dwell on it too much, and clutch desperately at Kai's shirt as we ride back to Kiba.

If I loosen my grip even slightly, I feel I might fall, in more ways than one.

HAK'S POV

I pour myself a third cup of sake, my nerves hardly settling.

We're about to overthrow a king...

...I wonder if Soo-won felt this nervous the night before he...

I clench my fist, the ceramic in my hand trembling.

"Hak?"

I turn and see the princess in the doorway. "Princess, what are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you." She steps inside and takes a seat next to me.

"You didn't have to."

She smiles gently at me. "Well...this is a bit of a step up from fighting mercenaries."

I snort almost derisively. "Not really. A soldier is just a mercenary with a cause. They bleed the same color."

She flinches, and I realize that I'm projecting my anger onto her unfairly. "I'm sorry. It's just..."

I let out a sigh, setting the cup down. "I don't see my sister in years, and when I finally do reunite with her, I need to help her and her new...boyfriend," I spit the word out in disgust, "with getting their kingdom back. And after everything that's happened, I was just hoping that one part of my life, one person in my life, could be normal."

The princess listens silently to my rant, and once I finish, she gives me a set look. "Hak, ever since the day that we were chased out of the palace, every part of our lives was changed. And we believed that our future was set. If the unthinkable could happen to us, who's to say it couldn't happen to someone else?"

She takes the cup away and sets it down at the far end of the table. "But right now, Akira is counting on us to help her. She's starting something new, and it's our job to help her. It's natural to be nervous."

We sit in silence for a minute before I speak. "Here I thought I was the worldly one."

She gives me her usual enthusiastic smile. "I've been picking up a little."