Chapter 12: To meet a god
(Chi)
"He's in here!" one of the many guards yelled, as his silhouette hovered in front of the closed door.
I bent down and scooped up the journal quickly before the door slid horridly back and the guardsmen had their swords drawn, aimed at my throat and abdomen. Were they going to kill me right here? Instead, they stepped aside to let the general pass. He wore a smirk, broad sword drawn and ready at his side.
"The king demands your presence."
With no retort I followed the guards surrounding me down
the hall to the great room where the king took all his formal meetings.
Two guards stepped to either side of the wide doors and pulled them back, revealing my pacing king. His hands were rung together and sweat beaded his forehead. When he set his eyes on me, they were wild, and panic stricken.
I bowed low, my forehead touching the ground beneath my feet.
"What happened to my daughter?" his voice was cold and dripping malice.
"I am still investigating your highness. A servant informed me that she saw the princess headed towards the prayer room."
"And?"
I shook my head keeping my eyes cast low.
"There were no signs that she'd been there."
"And why were you not accompanying her? I allowed you into my home. I gave you the responsibility of guarding my daughter and you've lost her?!"
I squared my jaw, trying to find the right words but there were none to give. I pulled the journal from the inside of my robe and lay it in front of me, fingertips resting along the edges.
'Your majesty, last week I found Misaki in a state of distress within her rooms. She must have had a bad dream that clearly left her fearful. She did not wish to speak about it no matter how persistent I became. As I was searching her things, I found a keepsake. In it she describes how bothered she truly was-"
"The ramblings of a princess!" The general raged.
The king raised his hand to silence him before returning his hard gaze to me. "Proceed."
"Her dream carried her to the edge of a Tatami mat, bathed in darkness. She describes being unable to move."
The general took a step forward, shaking his head. "Your highness, you cannot possibly find merit in his words!"
"YOU FORGET YOUR PLACE GENERAL! I TOLD YOU TO
REMAIN SILENT!"
Never had I heard the king raise his voice in such a manner. But I was glad he did. I took that brief opportunity to open the journal to the last page, turning and sliding it to him.
His hands gripped it hard as he looked upon the frantic hard-pressed scribbles and the word she had written in the center. She had gone over it so many times that I felt the bends and curves of the lines she dug into the paper.
"Follow me," the king responded in finality. His voice had grown grave and cracked with the same fear swimming around in my chest.
I rose quickly and followed behind him to a private room beyond the great hall. As he shut the doors behind me, I turned. "your majesty, I know that this may not sound of reason, but I believe this dream had something to do with Misaki's disappearance."
His hands tightened around the journal as he snapped it abruptly closed.
"Allow me to find someone the decipher her words, your majesty."
His eyes closed as he tried to hold himself together. His sigh came before his words. "There is a Shaman in town…start there."
He laid his open hand on the cover of the journal before reluctantly handing it back to me.
I rose to my feet and was taken aback by his abrupt decision to let me pursue this. As I studied him, I saw that there was something the king himself was not saying. But before I could ask, he nodded my dismissal.
"You best get moving Samurai. If you intend on finding my daughter. Inform the Shaman that I sent you."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone