Silver Princess

4. Trouble at Laxdo

"We'll see you back at the castle," waved Aki as Shirayuki stood on the ground in front of them. "Don't catch a cold!"

"Don't make stops here and there on your way to town." Zen scolded.

"Where would I stop?" Shirayuki giggled, turning to start walking to town. "See you guys."

"Bye." Mitsuhide and Kiki waved as well.

Aki was the last to turn her horse to follow the other three and saw Shirayuki stop before turning around once more and raising her arm to wave at them.

"Take care!"

Aki looked as Zen twisted his body to see Shirayuki waving and a big smile grew on his face. Aki grinned and shared a look with the two aides. Aki snapped the reins and the horse quickened his pace, catching up to them.

They continued on their path for about another hour before reaching the fort. Aki's cloak was completely wrapped around her and she could feel her fingers going numb through her fingerless gloves, but she didn't complain. She brought herself into this situation, so she can't complain. Kiki ended up putting her cloak on in the middle, too. Mitsuhide kept making fun of her for it until she glared at him ten minutes later, making him shut up.

Zen didn't yield though, he kept his jacket on but didn't put a cloak over it. Aki silently wondered how thick his skin was as they jumped off their horses.

"We're finally here..." Aki sighed in relief.

"I don't see any guards," Zen observed, looking up at the roof.

"Heyyy!" Mitsuhide shouted. "Is anyone here? We're from the Imperial Guards!"

One of the windows of the fort opened and someone peeked out, surprised. "P-please wait!" He called, slamming the window shut.

They heard him slip, fall and stumble down the stairs to the gate. Aki wondered if he was alright looking after the fort by himself. The young man stumbled out and fell face down on the snow, laying there for a moment before raising his head.

"Mitsuhide-dono, Kiki-dono," he panted, dirt on his face from the falls he had inside. "Even your Highnesses are here...!"

"The messenger I sent didn't return," Zen smiled. "So I came to get him back."

The boy's eyes widened. "You can't!" Zen tilted his head in question.

The trees rustled and Obi came swinging in from the rooftop. "Master! Hime! We have a problem! All the soldiers in the fort are sleeping!" He landed in front of everyone, kneeling.

"Sleeping?" Aki wondered, trying to search her past memories for something similar to this situation but couldn't grasp anything. She shrugged, it's been a long while since she's tried to remember anything.

Zen interrupted her train of thought by walking straight to the gate and letting himself inside. Aki walked up to Obi and stuck her hand out.

"C'mon," she tilted her head to Zen. "You gotta follow your Master."

Obi smiled, took her hand and Aki tried to pull him up. Her chivalrous act was broken as Obi simply stood up and let go of her hand causing Aki to fall back onto the snow. She frowned and stood up, dusting the snow off of her cloak.

"You're ten years too early to be doing stuff like that," Obi grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets and strolling inside after Zen and Mitsuhide.

Someone patted Aki's back and she turned to see Kiki giving her an amused smile.

"I feel like Masaru and Obi would get along well," observed Kiki.

Aki pouted. She knew it but sighed after Kiki mentioned it. They walked inside the building, following the boys. "I'm dreading the day he comes back; don't blame me if I try to run away from him."