Chapter 48

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"She's just scared."

"Tell that to the king-"

"Robin I plead on behalf of her mercy."

That was Dannis' voice begging for my release. He promised he could speak some sense into the princess and get me to change my spoiled mind. Dannis is one of a kind, not a kind I find I like—-desperate and foolish.

"No..." the guard, Robin, shuffled his steps parting from the chamber's double-doors. Dan was still there because his shadow was still large over the slit of light shining in 'neath the entrance. He eventually left, since the shadow shrank and disappeared. What a surprise, he didn't try to speak with me at all, nor did he utter a quick word of assurance or some arse-licking compliment.

Once they locked me in here, I immediately searched for an exit though the only tangible passage of egress were the two lonely windows paned in an arc across the room's cobble wall. Walking over to take a seat by the furthest most window, about as large as the ones in Komaji, I plopped down sensing a sudden, sharp pain shoot from the lower area of my back, up. My lips twisted with a quiet wince, rushing over the skin with my left hand I remembered the current state of my Kagune and groaned.

Could its absence be the aftermath of battling against Rize?

Sudden voices of panicking men and some few women blasted past my door. The bouncing armor of others who'd flashed straight across my door signaled to me that those were guards, also running. Their arguing amounted to yelling and cries, a chaotic storm spinning about the halls outside my bedchamber was fervent and serious.

I pulled my gaze from around the pillared bed laying center of the room to the window I'd been sitting idly by. My eyes grew wide with surprise. Warrior's clad in Komaji armor were storming over the castle's yard. Kavess militia stood their ground in an alliance, just as mettlesome as the next, but not nearly as strong as the ensuing men slashing about widely whilst a rainbow of Rc types mowed past any and every challenging Kavess soldier who'd charge forth.

"You came for me?" The words shambled through my teeth like mist; a whispering cry of joy.

Timorous yet harsh knocks echoed against the wood of my closed doors, Dannis yelled to me, "(Y/n), Princess, my lady we must go now!" What was there to wait for? I hurried to the doors once Dannis unlocked them. The lad's golden hair strands which looked so comely before were now strung back across disastrously, his face riled up and afraid.

"Come!" He beckoned, "come now, I'll get you out of here!"

The way he flapped all five coaxing fingers back then forth which such urgency but aggression, something seemed off about him. Foolishly, I went to take his hand. Dannis spun me around into his arms holding me tight against his chest, he locked my forearms across and over one another, whispering within the bed of my ear. "It's alright my lady, you'll succeed to the throne in due time once your father's dead and I'll be king. Yes, this is how it's going to work—-this is how it's going to be-"

The last word tore from his rambling mouth. A dull thud came from above me, vibrated and caused his chin to dig into my scalp after it smashed against my head once the crazy man collapsed. There he laid at my feet, unconscious. I wanted to thank whomever had stopped to help me but they grabbed my shoulders far too fast, tugged me in their direction, pulled me to their chest, embraced me.

"(Y/n)... thank god."

I would've mistaken his voice for angels humming. "Kaneki," a tear splashed over my growing smile, "you came for me." We faced each other, only then did I see the worry in his silver eyes, or his white hair tied back in a messy, long tail tangled in these dirty, blood-wet knots. But he smiled, showed his teeth a little, didn't hide the tears from his white lashes or the anguish on his face. And for that, he was still so beautiful.

"'Course I did." He squatted so I wouldn't have to stand high, grabbed around my waist and allowed me to fall into his lap. The moment arrived without fuss, we felt our skin meet first then our breaths second—-'fore we finally kissed.

I placed my thumb at the side of his lip, drawing back with a grin I couldn't contain nor hold or hide. "You came for me," my grin fell into a light frown, "did you cancel the wedding? Komaji will be Queen-less any longer than it already has been-"

"No it won't." He stopped me, gazing over my form I noticed his growing pupils bloom into a size so large his silver irises were merely rims of shining, blinding magnificence. "(Y/n), be my wife. My friend, my woman, my lover, my queen. Be Komaji's queen."

I smeared the grime over his forehead; I wanted to clean his skin, soothe his wounds. "How Kaneki? Look at me, look at who I am." He seemed confused by this reaction, my hands moved to grace the bottom of the man's tightening jaw so I could elaborate further. "Remember who I am majesty, (Y/n) (L/n), a thief and a murderer-"

"You're not a murderer!" Kaneki's deepened voice sent pulses through the veins in my wrists. "You didn't kill me that night-"

"I would've!" Tears fell from my face but he wiped them away, took my hands in his. "You believed me to be a tyrant (Y/n), an evil man who took everything from you, robbed you of your life and sanity."

"Now you know who I am... and I know who you are perfectly fine. My best friend."

A crooked smile fixed across my cheeks which rose quite low at those words; I had to rub it in his face. "I knew you didn't kill my parents... I knew it all along. Who did? Your mother and father were assassinated, and you were still too young."

"The castle's council. They made a mistake, punished the wrong people for someone else's crime. I'm sorry it had to have been your parents, I had no control over it or any idea of the event."

"So why'd you lie?" I asked.

He sighed, broke our gaze, "After the event with Rize—-with the Aogiri assassins, with the brigands, with Remora and the tomb. I realized I couldn't protect you. I let you down so many times, how could I keep my best friend indebted to a life that I wasn't even sure I could maintain?"

"Don't blame yourself like that. You came to save me when you had the chance and your life was at risk just as much as mine was-"

"No, not nearly as much as yours was..." his sharp glare shocked me, but his grip over my hands remained gentle. "For Christ sake, look at you now, captured by unknown foemen once again who want what with you?"

I pulled my hands from his, securing his jaw again, "Yes, look at me Kaneki. Now look at you, here with me in your arms safe and sound."

"You, can, protect me."

A sudden rumble across the halls shook some sediment to the ground in a rally of dust clouds. Kaneki held me close once we aroused back up to a stand. He pressed against my lips a few more times with his own, afraid of losing what he finally got back. "Follow me, we're getting out of here."




















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