Sakura was informed that her fiancé would be visiting and she knew what they expected of her. She was made to try on there or four different dresses until they settled for a light green dress that exalted her hair colour. It had a slightly low collar but it was not too revealing to be considered vulgar and it had some shades of darker green on the edges and obi. Her hair elegantly fell behind her shoulders and she did not wear too much jewellery or makeup. She still did not know the Prince that well as they had only met in official businesses and for very short amounts of time. The only time she had spent some time with him had been the day he had saved her life. Ever since then it seemed to her that he either wanted to move too fast for her or he simply had no interest in her at all. Sometimes she wondered if he was alike those who sought to exploit her abilities. Of course her father told her not to think ill of others, least of all Prince Gongming. But she could not avoid being suspicious and consider all possible scenarios, she was a strategist after all. She was looking out at the balcony and sighed, in reality she wanted her life to be a bit different, for her mother to still be alive and for her father not to be so demanding of her. Would this marriage truly bring power and stability to her kingdom? Was it really wise to marry someone you barely knew or spoke to? And if so, once married what would it be like to be with someone you did not love? What would moments of intimacy be like? How would they hold the reins of their respective countries? He would probably want her to live in his kingdom but she could not abandon her own. One day she would be a Queen, and so she could not let anyone tell her to give up a realm her parents fought to protect.

When they met, Prince Gongming was too eager to learn about her skills and abilities and he asked many questions about them, especially her visions. But since she did not know the man that well she decided to answer as plainly as possible pretending to be rather shy of talking about herself. In all honesty, she was not sure she could trust a stranger all that quickly. He did not seem to find out and for that she was glad. After so many years of coming up with strategies and tactics, she got used to plotting in order to get what she wanted or avoid pressing situations. She still remembered the day the Prince wanted her to show him the extent of her gift, not understanding why anyone would be so interested in just the external skills of a person, she simply looked away shyly and thought it was best he did not find out. Wasn’t it strange that she somehow wanted to protect herself form the man she would soon marry? How long would it be until he realised she was trying to fool him in order not to allow him to exploit her ability? Compared to everyone else, the King and her own people never sought that gift, they never tried to get to her nor did her father ever request t know what a vision was about. He did try to help her become stronger and handle the side effects, but other than that, it seemed the world but there was after her. She shivered lightly, for some reason just thinking that made her truly uneasy, it was terrifying.

She closed her eyes and placed a hand on her chest to try and regain composure. She could not let anyone see her like this, what would they think of a battle strategist that was scared out of her wits due to such thoughts? She took a deep breath and slowly released it while she opened her eyes again. She could hear the sound of a horn, so he was here already? Putting on her usual poker face she walked to the middle of the room and waited for a maid to come in and escort her to meet the Prince. Unfortunately another catch of being a Princess was that you could seldom go anywhere on your own, especially if already threatened to be kidnapped for murdered as she had been before. It was true that she now experienced a peaceful life, sort of, but she was a prisoner in her own castle. It was rather an unhappy notion. She then followed the maid while hiding all these thoughts and waited for her father to officially welcome the Prince. Once ceremonies were over, the Prince bowed deeply at her and took her hand to kiss the back of it. She was not completely sure why but she felt the urge to remove her hand from his grasp. However she managed a polite smile and accepted to walk with him in the gardens mainly because she truly wanted some fresh air and she was seldom allowed much time outside.

As they walked along the garden, the Prince looked down at her with a smile and came to a halt, “I hope you have been fairing well, Lady Sakura.” He placed a hand on her cheek and she felt her body stiffen but she did not show it. She only looked steadily into his eyes. She was not all that comfortable with small gestures such as these, would she ever get used to his touch? She slightly moved away to take in the fragrance of some of the nearby flowers and replied, “I’m afraid not much has changed here, I have few stories that might be worth of your ears.” He grinned, she was as shy and humble as always, “My lady, no story you could ever tell would be tedious for my ears.” Of course she could instantly feel he was mainly asking about her visions but she pretended to not take notice of the tone in his words and then kept walking around the fountain. They spoke of his kingdom and of what had been happening since they last met. Most of the times they met things were always like this, she was trying to create space between them without knowing why and he was trying to get closer to her. Maybe she was just weary of all those who tried to get to her because of her powers and that mad it hard for her to get close to anyone.

The Prince was rather persistent and he was clearly infatuated with her from the first day he say her. But she could not bring herself to feel the same even when he had actually rescued her from the very claws of death. The moment she stopped looking at the water and seemed lost in thought, the Prince moved being her and embraced her warmly, “Sakura…” She silently gasped and her body stiffened once more. She felt her ear tickle with the name he whispered and she found herself feeling pathetic really. Anyone in her circumstances would b so happy to be in the company of such a gentleman. He never did more than acceptable and he was ever so patient with her, he had looked after her when he mother died, it had taken her a few weeks to actually talk back. He had endless patience and he always sought to comfort her, and yet, and yet… There was something she could not describe. Could it be the fact that it was difficult for her to trust others? Was that the actual reason for her to be like this?

She took a deep breath and exhaled softly while the Prince held her against his heart. She closed her eyes for a moment and yet she could not find any warmth in that embrace, it was rather as if it were cold as ice. He moved to stand in front of her and lifted her chin for their eyes to meet. “I still cannot describe how happy you make me by accepting my hand.” She managed a brief smile before she moved away, he was probably planning to kiss her but it was something she had yet to allow. She was growing wearier by the minute and decided to pretend to surprise him with playing her new melodies in the koto, surely that would make him feel privileged. She smiled up at him and said, “I have been practicing some new songs, I even composed one, would you like to hear it?” He smiled and nodded and moved to sit by the fountain.

She thanked some maids for bringing her instrument and she gently settled down next to it. She smiled up at him and then slowly began to caress the strings on the koto producing the loveliest melody she could conjure. It was a song she had been working on ever since she could remember, but it had been recently that she had managed to finish it and give it a special touch. Her hair shook with the wind and she was the happiest person whenever she could play melodies.

Kyouaku detested anything that could not be accomplished under the cover of darkness. He preferred working - quite literally - from the shadows, and he did not understand the humans’ fondness for the garish light of day. Perhaps it was his demonic nature, but he would always prefer the cold darkness of night.

Not to mention that it was harder to travel by the shadows when there were so blasted few of them, during the day. He’d been brokering a deal with a nobleman who wanted the power to control an animal spirit. He had fashioned a nasty little collar the spirit would wear, and as her master, the man would be able to give her literally any order. IT was a shame the man intended to use such a strong creature, and such a strong iten, for such carnal interests. Ah well, at least creating the collar had been interesting…

He had delivered the collar, and felt the weight of the bulging bag of coins in his cloak pocket, as well as the note promising that once his twin daughters reached fifteen, they would be given to him. If the man thought he had intimate intent for the girls… Well, he hadn’t seemed too bothered, at any rate. No, what he planned was kinder in his opinion than taking one or both as lovers. They would die either way, but at least as tools for his spells, they would remain innocent until the moment they died, and he always did his best to end them with as little pain as possible. Pain could taint the purity of the heart.

Unfortunately, he could not wait for the twins to mature.H e needed to find a new pure heart to keep on hand. It had been some time since a spell called for it, and he found that the last one had spoiled.Despite the fact that the women he bought to his island were given the finest clothing and accomodations, the best food, and quite a bit of room to wander about the island - boats would not survive the rocky reefs around his island, so the only way on or off was to travel by shadows as he did - it seemed that the last young lady had become disheartened. HE’d have to talk to Kurai. HE suspected she had been saying things to the lady to make her pure heart dim and lose hope.

He stopped for a moment outside a palace, melding with the shadows to take stock of his surroundings. Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out a flat round circle of clear glass set within a silver circle with engraved symbols. It was attached to his belt by a long silver chain. Holding it flat in the leather-clad palm of his hand, he muttered a few words, and instantly a light flared to life within the circle. A pure, glowing white light that nearly made him flinch. He had not seen a heart that pure since…

He swore softly. After all this time, did that human still have her grasp upon him? Shaking his head, he muttered a few more words, and the light faded, replaced with the image of a golden haired young lady sitting in a beautiful garden playing the koto for what was obviously a male admirer.

“I am sorry, good sir, but the lady will not be returning your affections…” He murmured to himself before he melded back into the shadows and began to slip here and there until he was within the gardens he had seen.

She was still playing the song, and now that he could hear it, it made his heart ache. He had missed music greatly, but he could no longer stand to hear it, as it made him think of Hinata, even after all this time. Still, he stood transfixed, invisible within the shadows of a large cherry blossom tree. It was not until the song ended that he was able to think clearly once more, and recalled what he had come here to do.

The thing Kyouaku liked most about traveling in shadows was that no matter how bright and sunny the day, there were always shadows near large objects, and people almost never noticed when they changed. Ths allowed him to stretch out, inching slowly toward the lady until at last he was near enough to strike. He materialized behind her , secure in the knowledge that his identity was completely hidden from the young man, even if he could manage to follow them. He stepped up behind the lady, and wrapped an arm around her, drawing her up out of her seat and against his chest in one fluid movement. His other arm moved to hold her as well, for extra stability, and he lowered his masked face to her ear. “I do not recommend you struggle, my little flower, as you would not survive if I dropped you while we traveled.”

With that warning given - it would be a waste for such a pure heart to die by leaving the protection he offered while traveling in shadows - he melded back into the shadows once more, intangible and able to flit here and there nearly at the speed of thought. HE didn’t even notice the dark mist that covered his vision when he traveled like this. He had become accustomed to the fact that his vision dimmed just a little in this shadow form. It was irrelevant, really, as his demon senses meant his eyes were more keen than a human’s anyway.

It was a fairly short trip to the shore, and across the turbulent water that surrounded his island. If a boat tried to follow, it would be a trip of at least a couple of days in fair weather…and he made sure the weather was never fair enough for that. Still, he covered the distance in under half an hour, holding the lady firm enough not to drop her, but careful enough not to harm her. At last, he came to a stop in the front hall of his castle, releasing the lady almost instantly, and turning to pull off his gloves and cloak, though he left the mask in place as he called out. “Kurai! We have a guest!” His maid appeared, curled horns poking out from her blonde locks, and a seductive smile in place that he never seemed to notice. “Take this and see that she is settled with any comfort she desires. Then send dinner to my study. I have work to do.”x