Chương 9: Winds of change
The next morning, Norman came to the palace and gave his proposition to Mira.
- How about I become your consultant?
- No.
- Well that was quick. Won't you even consi-
- I said no.
- Hmmm. Well what do you say Shade?
Shade answers.
- I don't have the authority to approve or disapprove.
- You are about to become the young lady's hubby so you have little leeway.
- You say that, but…
Shade looks at Mira and asks.
- Why don't you give him a chance?
- How can you be so trusting of him? He came here to kill us yesterday.
Norman responds.
- Correction. I came here to kill Shade, not you. You just became a target of interest after your little show there.
- That doesn't make it any better.
- But we are cool now, right? No one is going to kill anybody here.
- We are not "cool" or whatever it means.
Norman shrugs and then says to Shade.
- You got a tight personality to work with here Shade. No room to negotiate.
- I mean, she has a point on not trusting you.
- What?! You too?! Oh, how will I ever recover from this?
He then thinks for a moment and then says.
- Look. All I need is one meal a day, some liquor and a roof on my head and that's all it takes for me to be here.
- But I don't want you.
- Tough crowd. Well if you change your mind, I will be staying in the woods for a while.
- Oh do you think you have permission to stay in the valley? I want you to leave as soon as possible.
- Oh come on. Even though you two were almost at each other's throats when you first met, you still let the other one be right. I mean look at poor Shade here. His trust for demons was slim ever since a demon killed his brother brutally.
- What?
Shade asks.
- How do you know about this?
- When we shook hands, I got to know a few things about you. One of them is your past trauma.
Mira asks Shade.
- You didn't trust demons?
- Well, when I first got a look at you, I only thought how your kind killed my brother. It never truly goes away, but I have come in terms of it over time. And look at me now. I'm in love with a demon myself.
- Are… Are you sure it's okay?
- Don't worry about it.
- If… If you say so.
Then Norman asks.
- So can I stay or… ?
- No.
- Damn. Well, at least take this.
He throws something at Mira. It was a stone with what resembled a rune.
- Once you pour magic on it, I know that you want to be in contact with me.
- We don't need it.
- Just keep it just in case. Oh, and before I leave I'll give you a word of advice. Try to make friends with other means than gold and military might. Especially with the kid of the current emperor of Hokori.
- What do you…?
- Bye.
Then Norman leaves and even though Mira tried to put Amy to see where he was going, Amy lost track of him really fast.
Couple of months later, Mira received three letters. One of them was from a person who was coming to visit Kogane valley soon. I heard that Mira's family has a long standing feud with that clan so she doesn't look forward to it. The second letter mentioned that the second sun emperor's only child Fou has been kidnaped and a widespread search has been issued. The third letter appears to be from Norman and it says that he will bring a person with him when he gets here.
All of these letters cause headache to Mira but Shade can't do much about it. He helps when he can, but he can't do much in these cases.
Morning before the visit from the other clan comes, Mira and Shade are sharing breakfast. During that breakfast Mira says to Shade who is planning on drinking tonight.
- Remember. We have an important person coming tomorrow so don't drink too much tonight.
- I get it. I get it. I don't plan to get blackout drunk anyways, but are you sure you won't join even a little? People in the village want to see you loosen up a little.
- I'm sorry, but I can't afford tomorrow being not to that person's liking. They hold major roles in politics and the military so there is no room for slacking. Personally I don't want you to drink tonight, but if you insist on going, I won't stop you. Just make sure you don't cause trouble tomorrow.
- Got it. After this, I will go hunting with Iris so I will be out for the rest of the day.
- Just stay safe.
- So do you.
After he finishes his food, he goes to hunt with Iris. He spends time hunting for most of the day and when they are done they notice that it's getting late.
Then Shade goes to a place where people come to loosen up. There he sees an unfamiliar face. They have three horns on their head, mostly blue arms, probably mostly blue legs too and sky blue eyes. The man is wearing common clothes you see anywhere and is sitting enjoying his drink. Shade decides to join him and share a drink. Shade asks first.
- "Can I join you?"
- "Of course. Others don't seem too friendly so I don't mind the company."
- "Oh don't worry about them. They were like this at first when I came here."
- "Is that so. But it's still a bit rude."
- "Maybe a bit. A drink please. What's your name?"
- "Koyama, but you can call me Koya. You?"
- "People call me Shade."
Shade receives a drink as well and starts drinking.
- "So, what brings you here in the valley?"
- "Got some old faces to see. I need to make some changes to how my family has done things, so I have to make the first step."
- "That must be tough."
- "It is a bit and I hear from people around me that I should just follow my family's footsteps."
- "That's how most people do anyways."
- "And what does a human do here so far away from your homeland."
- "Had some people turn me down in many places until I found this place."
- "Did it have to be this place?"
- "I don't know, but I'm still glad I came here."
- "Why though?"
- "Well… I met the love of my life here."
- "Oooh, so that's how it is. Got a girl here to make you stay."
- "Well, I owe her a lot. People say that I earned my way with my deeds, but I still feel a bit like an outsider."
- "If the people think you have earned it, then don't think too much about it. Two more in my tab!"
They get more drinks.
- "As for me, my whole family thinks that traditions are the best way to handle things. But I say screw those! I use them if they are useful! Not as a damn guideline!"
- "That's how it's supposed to be! More please."
They get more drinks.
- "Do you have a girl in your sights, my guy?"
- "No… I've been too busy reforming my family's stuff. I had a crush on someone once, but they are already married with a kid."
- "That's a shame. You sound like a good man."
- "Hells yeah I'm a good man! I wouldn't do the things I do if I wasn't!"
- "Let's drink for that."
- "Let's." *Drinks the rest of the mug* "Another two! On me!"
And so they both drank a whole while. Shade even got so drunk, he started singing songs of his homeland and Koya just clapped his hands while cheering. All in all, both had fun and became friends.
With some trouble, Shade helped Koya get to an inn where he could sleep the night and somehow Shade managed to get back safely to the palace without getting lost or tripping. Mira saw the state he was in when he came back and helped him to bed.
Obviously the next morning Shade had a little hangover. He made some potion that could battle this beforehand, so he wasn't in for too much trouble. It tasted very bad though.
Then it was time for Mira to meet the person coming that day. Shade was going to watch what's going to happen on the side. With a couple people who came before him, a man entered the palace and got to the meeting room. What Shade saw was a surprise. He saw that the man he was drinking last night was the person in question. Koya waved at Shade who then smirked back.
Then the meeting began. In the room were Mira, Aisha, Shade, Koya and his two assistants named Rugu and Kouta. There everyone discussed the current state of their "relationship". Koya started talking to Mira.
- "As the new head of the Aoikami clan, I have come here to discuss collaboration between the two clans."
- "As previously discussed with the previous head of your clan, we will not see peace until the Aoikami clan apologizes for their transgressions 5264 years ago."
- "You sure have kept track."
- "How would we since your clan attacked the Kogane clan's home and drove us out of our spiritual homeland."
- "That was because of the Kogane clan's insistence of not sharing the holy spring."
- "That's because it was given to us by our beloved dragon lord of fire Fontiá."
- "Lord Fontiá didn't give your clan the right to hold the holy spring to yourselves."
- "It was agreed upon that the stone tablet was stolen by your clan."
- "And as of now, we have not ever seen that tablet anywhere."
- "Maybe it was hidden or destroyed by your clan."
- "But even though it would have existed, Lord Fontiá would have intervened when our clan freed it from your clan's grasp."
- "Dragon lord Fontiá would not intervene with a squabble between two clans."
- "She would have if it threatened the peace between Hokori's people."
- "But this was just a conflict between two minor clans at the time."
- "That doesn't mean it changes anything." *Sigh* "But we aren't here to argue whether or not the Aoikami clan took the holy spring from the Kogane clan's control. We are here to make peace between two clans. And while me and my predecessor still think that it was a justified thing to do, I'm here to let bygones be bygones and apologize about this matter. Kouta."
Then Kouta shows a scroll that had the official apology of the Aoikami clan to Mira, who reads it carefully. She had a bit of a surprised look on her face, but after reading it thoroughly she concluded that it was genuine and had Aoikami clan's signature and stamp on it. Then Mira says.
- "Apology accepted. Now what?"
- "Now, as you know,my clan controls territory that contains many cultural treasures, has a famous blacksmith clan working under the Aoikami clan and two famous sword clans under our wing. Not to mention our huge military might. To sustain our operation, we need money, which we mostly get from tax. But to further increase our might, we would like a donation from the Kogane clan. To attract more talented people to our midst."
- "And how would that benefit me?"
- "If we write a document saying that you give us x amount of gold each year for x amount of time, we promise to write on that document that we will start an alliance between our two clans. And that would mean that should the Kogane clan find themselves in some trouble, our clan will assist you with everything they have."
- "Need I remind you that we just had to pay much of our personal gold reserves a few months ago? Also I can't divide the already existing gold that is being distributed to other clans as of the degree signed by our late first sun emperor."
- "We understand your position for now. But I need you to see this as an investment."
- "Investment?"
- "Yes. I heard that your territory has to rely on food exports from other territories to sustain itself. We can make that matter become easier to handle with our territory's bountiful harvests."
Aisha whispers in Mira's ear.
- "Those aren't bad deals depending on how much gold we would have to export to the Aoikami clan. We haven't exactly gained many allies from the current generation of clan heads. If we sign on to this, we might gain a very valuable ally. Still I understand your hesitation given who is giving you this opportunity."
- Hmmm…
Then I say.
- Forget about the past. I drank with this guy last night and I can tell that he means well. Give him a chance and he will make sure you won't be surrounded by other clans. Remember what Norman said. We need more friends not bought by gold. This isn't exactly a prime example for that, but still. Well, that's what I think anyway.
Mira thinks for a moment. She decides to trust Aisha and Shade. Then they write an agreement that states that Mira would give fourth of what she personally gets every year for 99 years. They couldn't do any more than that, since the agreements that pass over 100 years have to be signed by the sun emperor. Though it is bending the rules a bit, the alliance would last as long as each of the signers stayed alive, or just the 99 years if one of them dies. They both put their names on it and their clan's stamps. So an alliance was made.
Koya excuses his attendants and starts to chat with Shade in a friendly manner.
- "So my hunch was correct. You were the husband to be to the lord Kogane."
He smacks Shade on the back. Then Shade says.
- "Well I didn't expect you to be the one we are going to meet today."
- "Well, I was staying low when I went drinking last night. I came to see what the Kogane valley is like. If I felt an awful atmosphere, then I would have canceled the alliance part and agreed on a one time military assistance. I'm glad to know that you are nice people. Remember to invite me to the wedding when the day comes."
- "We sure will."
Mira then says in a bit annoyed way.
- "You two sure get along."
Koya says.
- "Of course we do! We are like brothers in my book. What do you say my brother?"
- "Sure. I like you as well. Brother."
Both smiled in a way that annoyed Mira. To her, her future husband gets along with her family's sworn enemy. Even though they had signed the papers, she still felt uneasy. To her, something like that can't be solved in one day.
Then a child's voice can be heard from across the meeting room. The child said.
- "Can we finally do something interesting uncle? The people have had their "important discussions" and are now having fun.
All of them looked at the source of the voice. There they saw Norman with a dragonoid girl with a red tail, red horns coming from the back of her head, red hair and flamy red eyes. Then Shade innocently asked.
- "So this is the person you were talking about. Who is she?"
Koya and Mira were speechless at the sight of the child. Then Aisha managed to get her words out and said.
- "Isn't that Fon, the second sun emperor's only kid that went missing?"
Norman is scratching his head, thinking what to say. Then Fon says.
- "I'm bored. Let's do something. Uncle, can I ask those people to do something for me? Can I?"
- "Ye- Yes! Grab the blue guy."
- "Got it. Hey! Blue guy! Come here! I want you to do stuff for me!"
Koya is surprised and still a bit speechless. Then Fon shouts.
- "Now! That's an order!"
- "Ye- Yes mam!"
Then Koya went to play with Fou and she made him do weird things. Norman shouted to Fon.
- "Make sure to stay on the palace grounds!"
- "Yes uncle!"
Then Norman got to chat with Mira, Aisha and Shade. He starts.
- So I need you all to not get angry.
Mira shouts.
- Angry?! You brought a child that has been kidnaped?! So it was you?!
While holding his hands on his ears, Norman says.
- I told you not to get angry.
- How could I not be?! You kidnap a child and bring her to my house! What do you want from me?!
Norman takes his hands out of his ears and says.
- I need you all to watch this kid for a while.
- And why would we do that?
- There is… A bit of a situation at the capital at the moment. The emperor trusted me to take his kid anywhere I deemed safe for her, so I brought her here. Here's a letter confirming his wish.
Norman gives an unopened letter to Mira. The letter had a seal of the emperor so Mira knew that it was legitimate. She reads it and understands the situation.
- So you want us to keep her highness here for a while?
- Yes.
- But won't there be an issue.
- Why… Oh… that guy… Yes… Well poop.
Then Koya comes from behind the door with Fou on his back saying.
- I got the gist of it. I won't say a word to anyone.
Fou just looks at the adults with confusion. Then Norman says.
- So now that the job is done. I better leave. "Bye Fou!"
- "Huh? Uncle, where Are you going?"
- "I got the job done so I have some other things to do."
- "But it's going to get so boring out here if you aren't around. Please stay."
- "I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly welcome in this house."
- "Well if I say that you are welcome, then you are."
- "That's not how it works Fon. Now then…"
Norman pats her head a bit and says.
- "Listen to these adults and be nice. And most importantly…"
- "Stay safe. I know."
- "Good."
Then Norman leaves and now it's just the five of them. Fon tells Koya to drop her down and he does so. Then she speaks with a much politer tone.
- "Thank you all so much for taking care of me."
Mira says.
- "It's no problem, your highness."
- "Good. And I gather that the blue guy isn't part of this house, no?"
- "Yes, he is an outsider."
- "Then, blue guy. Promise to visit me every now and then while I'm here."
Koya states.
- "But your highness, I live quite far from here so coming back would…"
- "Then call for the thunder of Kogane valley to grab you and bring you here. I heard that he is quite a fast guy."
- "I…"
- "Are we clear?"
- "Ye- Yes."
- "And what's your name?"
- "Koyama Aoikami."
- "Fon Ryujin."
And so Koya left. But he would return every now and then thanks to Shade's abilities every so often.
Fon wasn't an easy kid to please. She demanded many things to be done exactly to her liking. She however was reminded multiple times what Norman said to her and sometimes that would calm her down and be more lenient.
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