To Dance By Moonlight

Chapter Twenty Six

"I don't like this," Tendo said to Washijo. "We should leave now, while we still can."
"Hmmm," the older man murmured, thinking. "What of our... guest?"
"He's not really eating. Just enough to stay alive, but nothing like his usual appetite. But he's still keeping his own watch. Clearly, he thinks he can escape."
"Who do we have guarding him?"
"Soekawa, Umeda, and Suzuki. Yunohama is on door duty; Sagae and Akakura are on surveillance around the building and the alleys surrounding it. Shibata is keeping an eye on the palace for anything suspicious."
"So then, even if he did manage to escape, he wouldn't get far." The old man stood up and went to the door. "We'll leave tomorrow. Early. Be ready."
"Yes, sir."
"Send one of the men back home with this message: 'Golden Dove caged and will arrive soon.' Inform Ushijima to finalize our deal with the buyer and collect half the expected funds."
"Done. Anything else?"
Pulling open the door, Washijo stopped and stood with his back to Tendo, and then turned to look over his shoulder.
"Find Semi and Kawanishi. They've been gone long enough. Time to return to the fold."
"But sir!"
"I won't listen to your outlandish guessing on this one, Tendo. They're good men; just misguided. Plus, it would help our Dove if he had a friendly face, right?"
Tendo gritted his teeth and spoke through thinned lips. "Yes, sir."
"I think I'll go visit our Dove. See how he's doing for myself."

He was gone after that, leaving Tendo to seethe in silence. He just knew Taichi and Eita had made their own escape and found their way into the Sheikh's ranks. Probably even told them everything they knew. It was a wonder they hadn't been killed, bodies left behind in the desert somewhere. It's what he would have done, given the chance, had the situation been reversed. Like they did for the two spies they sent in before Taichi and Eita.

But old man Washijo was convinced the two were just taking the opportunity to collect information, although on what, Tendo wasn't sure. At the very least, they could tell them about their next target, Keiji-chan. Their dark-haired angel was playing elusive, but they'd get him back. Eventually.

That was the plan, anyway.

~*~

Walking nonchalantly down the narrow alleyway, Taichi made his way toward the building where they found Tsuki's shoes. Nekomata wanted confirmation, wanted to know if the Eagle Clan was truly there. If at all possible, he wanted to know if Tsuki was truly in that building.

At the end of the alley, he looked one way and then the other, hoping his act was somewhat believable. He was dressed as a local; robes of varying colors of brown, tan, and the only other colors were a light blue sash around his waist and a white turban to hide his reddish hair. He wore a veil across his face, ostensibly to keep sand out of his nose and mouth, but also to hide his face from anyone that would recognize him. He was only here to gather information.

Turning to the right, his eyes took in everything. He recognized Sagae, who was also walking around the building. They passed each other with just a nod, but he knew when Sagae stopped and looked back for a few moments, as if he recognized him. Taichi kept moving, turning right at the corner of the building and merging into the market crowd.

He doubled back, and entered an adjacent building, nodding to the guard who was doubling as a shopkeeper, and went into the back. Finding the stairs, he practically ran up them to the second floor. From the corner window, he stood far enough back to not be seen, but close enough to see what was going on.

There was Sagae again. A few minutes later, another familiar face passed by: Akakura. Those two alone should've been enough to report back to Nekomata. But if those two were on patrol, then that meant there'd be two more. Taichi raised his eyes to scan windows. It took a few minutes, but he knew what to look for.

There! Movement caught his eye, and he focused on a window in the upper floor of the building housing the Eagle Clan. Shibata had stepped too close, probably trying to see him. Taichi remained motionless. Once Shibata stepped back and seemingly melted out of view, Taichi moved. He was back downstairs in moments, and in one of the back rooms. A runner was waiting for him there, and Taichi told him everything. Once he finished, the runner was gone, headed back to the palace with his intel.

And a message to both Nekomata and Eita.
He was going to "return" to the Eagle Clan.

~*~

"Well, my Dove, it appears your disappearance is creating more of a disturbance than we thought."
Kei peered at the old man from where he sat in his corner. He neither spoke, nor moved, just stared. The only discernible thing that happened was the lift of a single eyebrow.

"We knew you and your troupe were with the sheikh, but I suppose we didn't realize how much you two entrenched yourselves. So, how did you manage it? How did you two lowly dancers manage to ingratiate yourselves with the sheikh?"

Kei snorted. "Calling us 'lowly' when we were trained by the best? Please."

His voice was rusty from disuse. He only spoke when directly asked a question, and even then, it was a short answer. Kei didn't ask any questions, either, but did find out his food and drink weren't drugged like he thought. Still, he only ate enough to keep his stomach from rumbling. Another day and night had passed. He held onto hope that he'd be rescued soon; that Tetsuro and Bokuto were doing everything they could to find him and bring him home.

Home. He so desperately wanted to call the palace home. Inside that enormous building were so many things that captured his interest. Things he wanted to know more about. How everything worked. But, most of all, the single most important person in the world to him was inside, and waiting for him to return.

"You're right. You both were two of our best dancers. Still, that doesn't explain how..." the old man's voice drifted away. "Ah. So that's it."
"That's what?"
"Don't play stupid with me. I can see your face."
"Oh good. Then you can see my confusion."
"Yes, now I see confusion. But before, when I mentioned the sheikh, your face took on this, how to put it? There was a glow, I suppose. You were calmer than I've seen you, and there was a tiny ghost of a smile."
"He's a kind man. Why wouldn't I smile?"
"Tsk. No use in deflecting me, my Dove. You fell in love with him, didn't you?"

Kei stayed silent. What use was there to deny it, anyway? Their last night together, they'd confessed what they'd felt all along. It's how Kei was able to hold so tightly to his hope that Tetsu would rescue him. And with that little tidbit of information Washijo gave him when he arrived...

"We'll be leaving in the morning."
"What?!"
"We have a two day journey ahead of us. Be prepared." Washijo was almost out the door before he turned back. "Oh, yes. You'll have new shoes later. Can't have you shoeless in the desert, now can we?"
"Why do you even care?"
"I don't, if I'm being honest. Your buyer wants you unharmed, with everything that word entails. You're worth to me is simply in the money I'm getting from him... for you. Now, if you please, try to prepare yourself."
"I HATE YOU!!"
"Yes, yes, I know."

He was gone, and the door was locked behind him, before Kei could even launch an attack. Which wouldn't have been much but throwing something at him. He had nothing to throw, not since the morning after his capture, and he had thrown nearly every dish of food, the tray, and cutlery after Washijo's unwanted visit. If he got in a hit, no one let on. However, now they brought his food, waited a couple hours for him to eat, then came back for everything and searched the room thoroughly in case he hid anything.

To top it all off, now he couldn't be sure his shoes even made it back to the palace. He knew there were a trio of guards outside his cell. There was no telling how many were outside.

Kei curled himself up as much as he could and refused to cry. Instead, he kept hope burning as high as the bonfires at each oasis they visited.