Treasure (2 page)

"Oh…" Koori said glumly, smile vanishing. He obediently moved away and packed up all his things, slinging the overlarge satchel over one shoulder.

"Come on," Kinni said. "The guards should be busy collecting all the riff-raff and stuff, and I can find a ship to sneak onto or something. I've been planning this for months." If 'run away and find a ship that would be willing to take him' counted as a plan.

Taking Koori's hand, not sure why he did, though from the way he clung tight it was obvious Koori didn't mind, Kinni weaved his way through the boxes and crates that filled the warehouse until they made it to the doors. Outside the sunlight was slowly fading, though it would still be a couple of hours before it was really dark. He dropped his hand and turned to look at Koori—then stopped.

Koori was… really pretty. He'd never known a boy could be so pretty. Filthy, but pretty. "You're a mess. How long have you been in the warehouse?"

"S-since yesterday," Koori said, cheeks flushing at the comment to his appearance. He knelt on the ground and opened his satchel, fumbling briefly to yank out a piece of cloth, Kinni assumed to try and clean his face or something. Koori frowned when it caught on something in the bag and gave a hard yank.

Kinni gawked when the dagger spilled free, fading sunlight catching on Highland silver and brilliant saphir. Flawless, he bet, though he didn't know jewels as well as he did silver. He knelt down and picked it up. "Koori, you could buy a ship with this."

"Really?" Koori asked doubtfully.

"A whole ship," Kinni repeated. "You'd never have to go home. You could take your sister too, if you're worried about her."

Koori frowned, then shook his head. "Sister wouldn't leave. 'Sides, mama said I have 'sponsibilities. I only meant to run away for a little while." He took the dagger as Kinni handed it to him then suddenly thrust it back. "You take it. Buy a ship."

"What?" Kinni said, mouth gaping.

"Buy a ship," Koori repeated. "Be a sailor." He smiled sadly. "You can find the ultimate treasure."

Kinni swallowed and looked at the dagger. What would his dad do? He always said never accept gifts.

"Maybe you can come and show it to me someday. Your ship too," Koori said wistfully, turning to look out over the harbor and the ocean beyond.

Then Kinni knew what to do. Fumbling for a moment, he pulled a heavy silver chain from beneath his tunic, unhooked the clasp, and shoved it into Koori's hands. "Here. That belonged to my dad. He gave it to me before—" He stopped as memories of that night tried to surface, but he stamped them down, refusing to be sad anymore. "Before he died. It's our family crest."

Koori turned the necklace over in his hands, examining the pendant attached to the chain:  a lighthouse from which emanated beams of light. "Pretty," he said softly.

"Dad always said never accept gifts. A man earns what he receives. This dagger is worth a lot, and I can't repay it. So… how about I make you a promise?"

Those wide eyes turned up to him, and Kinni wondered why they made him want to hug Koori again even though hugging was girly and stupid. "A promise?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Kinni said, wishing his heart would stop beating so fast, confused as to why it did. "You said you can't run away now, but if you ever can run away forever, then I'll help you. I'm not a Captain yet, but I will be one day. I'm going to call my ship the
Kumiko
. Ask for Captain Kinni and show me that pendant, and I'll take you wherever you want to go. Maybe… maybe you can even help me find the ultimate treasure. If you come soon enough."

A smile lit up Koori's face. Even the grime and drying tears couldn't dim the power of that smile. Then Kinni found his arms full again, Koori wrapped so tightly around him that he was practically choking. "It's a promise, then."

"Y-yeah," Kinni said, but didn't manage anything more as Koori suddenly kissed his cheek quickly, shyly, then turned and bolted away. He turned around briefly to wave, then vanished into the crowds of people leaving the harbor.

Kinni watched him go, shaking his head in confusion, then hid the dagger in his own bag before bolting away from the warehouse to find a ship that would take him.

Taka strode through the dark halls of the palace, fervently hoping he would run into no one else.  He did not want to have to devise an excuse as to why he was headed toward Nankyokukai's private quarters well after the curfew.

Candles flickered in the wall sconces, only half as many as he remembered being lit as a child. The carpet lining the halls was the same, but it was faded and worn. In another time, it would have long been replaced.

He shivered as cool air wafted in through a window tucked into the place where three hallways intersected. Taka turned right and continued on his way, holding tightly to the roll of dark blue fabric bundled in one hand.

The sound of bells reached his ears, and he swore softly, looking around anxiously and finally ducking behind a large statue of King Taiseiyou the Second. He made himself as small as possible and tried to remember to breathe as the sound of bells drew closer.

Bells and far too many feet, he thought with a frown, but resisted the urge to look because really, the less he knew, the better for everyone.  He flinched when he heard Taiheiyou's unmistakable deep voice, nothing at all like his brother's smooth tenor.  Why, he though irritably, did he always wind up in the wrong place at the wrong time? 
Of course
he would cross paths with the crown prince in the middle of a midnight rendezvous.

Just please do not let it be with—

As though cued, an all too familiar giggle shattered what was left of Taka's calm, and he buried his face in his hands to stifle a groan. If he thought he could get away with it, he'd strangle Taiheiyou himself in that very moment.

Why the king favored his bed-hopping, empty-headed eldest son when he had Nankyokukai waiting in the wings, Taka would never know. Storms spare them the continued stupidity of the royal family. Taka scowled at the wall while he waited for Taiheiyou and Lady Etsuko to go on their way. He could not wait to see the maelstrom that erupted when her father caught her. That would be the end of the prosperous marriage to Lord Hamasaki that her father had been lusting after.

Taka was almost sad he would not be around to see the lightning strike when they invariably got caught. He wondered if angering Lord Hamasaki would finally be the wave that tipped the boat, and Taiheiyou would find himself shoved unceremoniously into the royal shark pool.

The thought almost made Taka snigger before he caught himself and held it back.

Several minutes later, the couple continued on—in the direction, Taka noted, of the royal quarters. Normally, he found it irritating that Nankyokukai, in his continuing efforts to see which son could drive their father to homicide first, had chosen to take rooms in the southernmost part of the palace. It gave him a beautiful view of the royal city, but put him well away from literally every place of importance in the palace.

Right then, Taka was grateful. If he'd had to wait until Taiheiyou and his flower actually made it into Taiheiyou's room, Taka would have spared the king having to kill him. Huffing out an irritated breath, he shoved back loose strands of his dark green hair and slipped from his hiding place, making his way more quickly through the halls.

When he at last reached the hall where Nankyokukai's rooms resided, Taka let out a sigh of relief. Reaching Nankyokukai's room, he did not bother to knock, simply opened the door and slipped inside. He closed the door quietly behind him and padded across the sitting room floor to the rightmost of three doors, sliding the door open and calling out, "Highness?"

"Here," Nankyokukai replied, stepping out of the shadows that had cloaked him. He looked unusual with his long hair braided and bound instead of loose as he normally wore it. "Really, Taka—your presence is not required."

Taka rolled his eyes. "Highness, I am not stupid enough to leave you to your own devices. If you insist upon gallivanting about, I insist on going with you, and I really think we may as well leave off discussing the matter further."

Nankyokukai laughed softly, and Taka was reminded all over again why the king was stupid for favoring Taiheiyou. If Taka had dared to speak so to Taiheiyou, he would have found himself cuffed at the very least and more likely publically humiliated the following day. "What has you so cranky, Taka?" Nankyokukai asked. "Do not tell me that delegate from Pozhar was attempting to win your favors again. I thought I took care of him."

"You did, Highness, and I believe his grace further addressed the matter, though he said nothing of it to me."

"No, he wouldn't," Nankyokukai said softly. "That is not his grace's way. So what, then, has you so irritated, hmm?" He drew up the length of fabric he'd been holding and wound it around his head and shoulders to make a hood, securing the fabric in place with a plain silver clasp in the shape of a dragon's head.

Taka snorted. Even when Nankyokukai took pains to look perfectly ordinary, he failed miserably. He was too beautiful, too royal, too
Nankyokukai,
to ever be ordinary. "I really wish you would tell me what all of this is about."

"I really wish you would tell me what has you angry," Nankyokukai replied. "As I am the prince, and you the secretary, speak."

"Brat," Taka muttered, then gave up. "I saw your brother taking Lady Etsuko off to his room. Nearly ran into them, which would have been decidedly awkward."

Anger flickered on Nankyokukai's face, but he almost immediately smoothed it out and flapped one hand dismissively. "Tai will get his comeuppance. Even a crown prince does not get away with everything forever. His day is fading and will shortly turn to night."

"I wish that sounded less like a certainty and am glad I do not know why you are so certain," Taka said with a sigh and stepped out of his palace slippers to pull on the town boots he had tucked into the fabric roll. When his boots were in place, he mimicked Nankyokukai in wrapping the fabric about his head and shoulders, though his silver pin was of much simpler quality and a plain square in shape. "Come on, then, Highness. Let us get this over with."

"We will not get far if you continue to call me that," Nankyokukai pointed out.

Taka did not bother to reply, simply led the way to the balcony and swung neatly over the railing, then out onto the rough stone of the palace wall, making short, easy work of climbing down it to the ground below.

Nankyokukai was only moments behind, leaping neatly down beside him and brushing dirt from his loose, dark pants. "We have become rather skilled at that, haven't we, Taka?"

"I prefer not to think about it,
Kyo
," Taka replied. "Where are we going?"

"The warehouse district, the half-moon quadrant," Kyo replied and led the way away from the palace and down into the city.

The royal city smelled like the sea and the last fragrant traces of flowers fading away as summer turned to autumn. He shivered in the cold, but the chill would vanish after a few more minutes of brisk walking. Down in the city, it was less strange to see people walking about well after curfew. The moon was fat and pale in the sky, gleaming here and there on the streets. Taka walked alongside Kyo, something he would never do by the light of day, where propriety dictated he walk two paces behind.

He resisted an urge to touch the dagger tucked away at the small of his back, not wanting to alert anyone who might be watching as to where he kept his weapon. It was rare someone bothered them—Kyo just had that sort of presence—but it paid to be cautious all the same.

"I wish you would tell me what we are about."

"I am going on a journey, and I am looking to secure passage," Kyo replied, and the undertone in his voice made Taka wince. That particular hint of frost only ever came from one source:  Kyo's father. Taka stifled a sigh and looked at Kyo out of the corner of his eye.

He was the image of his mother, and the only person as highly regarded for beauty was the Princess Umiko.  Taiheiyou was a loud, obnoxious, spoiled brat who would ruin his handsome figure long before age did it for him.  He lacked everything that Kyo possessed: discipline, refinement, a sense of responsibility, and the knowledge and acumen suitable to ruling a kingdom. It infuriated Taka that Kyo would never have the throne despite the fact he deserved it.

No, it was the flamboyant buffoon who would sit on the throne and wear the Eye of the Storm until he passed it on to an heir—and Kyo would rot, neglected, never given a fair chance to sail.

Storms spare him bratty, spoiled, flamboyant men who did not care who they hurt in pursuit of their own selfish wants. Kyo might have been ruthless and cunning, but he wasn't malicious. Taka blew out an irritated breath. "We are going on a journey, you mean," he said.

"No," Kyo replied, employing a sharp tone of voice that Taka rarely heard—and even more rarely heard directed at him. "I am going; you are remaining here. That is final."

Taka did not deign to reply because they both knew he was going to ignore that order. Everyone else might think Kyo was best ignored and left to his own devices, but Taka knew him far too well to do that. "So with whom are we meeting tonight?"

"A merchant," Kyo murmured as they entered the warehouse district at the southeast edge of the city where it circled the main harbor.  The bulk of Kundou's money was made in trade, for nobody traveled the seas even half as well as the people of Kundou. For goods to go from country to country, they nearly always went by way of Kundou ships.

Taka fell silent as they wended their way through the mazelike warehouse district until they reached the half-moon quadrant. He frowned, wondering why Kyo needed such a high-end merchant. Rent in the half-moon quadrant was nigh on obscene, though he knew it was little more than a drop to those who could afford it:  the wealthiest and most powerful merchants in the city, and all the lords and ladies who had shares in the various ships.