(TRC) Rhyme and reason-4
6.The train ride to the border was comfortable enough, thought Kurogane. The carriage was not the third-class cargo container Kurogane and his lot was used to, but rather a proper first-class car complete with gas lamps and velvet upholstery. He wondered if it was a mocking parting gift of pity by the leader to the king-the leader had certainly shown enough theatrics in the drawing room to be capable of it. Then, never one to think much about malicious-useless, he snorted to himself-behavior of others, he redirected his attention to his duty.
Kurogane had expected blood and violent uprisings, not this ridiculously peaceful coup. Certainly he hadn’t expected being entrusted with the care of the prince. As it was, Kurogane was bored out of his mind, furious at being degraded to play nanny to the thin boy despite having been reassured by the leader that it was an “honorable” duty.
“Bullshit,” muttered the man as he glared at the back of his charge, who was occupied with the flickering view of the snowy wasteland outside the window. As he sulked, stare growing harder and unvoiced swearwords growing more colorful, the prince finally turned around to gaze back at him.
Both stared at each other for a moment, Fai’s blue stare unwavering as it met Kurogane’s angry one.
“What’s your name?” Kurogane started at the small voice. The prince’s thin lips had barely moved.
“Kurogane,” he grudgingly muttered, unsettled by his calmness. He bit back a “your Highness” that rose to his mouth out of habit, and tried to remind himself to stop referring to his charge as a prince.
As if reading his mind, the prince-boy, Kurogane swore at himself-spoke up again. “I’m Fai.” The older man relaxed then.
“Fine, Fai.” He shrugged. With titles firmly shoved aside, Kurogane found himself more at ease. “You know, you’re taking this awfully well. Your mother really lost it back there.” He jerked a callused thumb to the rattling carriages behind them.
“Of course.” It was the boy’s turn to shrug. “She’s always been like this.” He smiled a small, tight smile at the man. “I’ve always known something like this would happen, and besides-with such a fun traveling companion like Kuro-pii, what’s there to be worried about?” As he finished, the grin grew wider.
“…What did you call me?” growled Kurogane, registering the terrible mangling of his name a few seconds late.
Fai looked surprised. “Kuro-pii. Or do you think ‘Kuro-tan’ sounds nicer?” He tilted his head to scrutinize Kurogane thoughtfully.
Kurogane forced himself to take deep breaths, reminding himself that his charge was to ‘reach the border unscathed and unharmed’. “Unscathed and unharmed, unscathed and unharmed…” he chanted to himself, before taking a last deep breath and bellowing, “IT’S KUROGANE, YOU IDIOT!”
7.The journey to the border was estimated to take a week and a half, twice the usual time taken as the tracks were damaged and rusted up, the train itself also running at half steam at best.
After their interesting introduction, Fai had been much more outspoken. That is, thought Kurogane sourly, if ‘outspoken’ meant prattling nonsense non-stop. The exiled prince liked to talk about random things; he’d go on for hours musing aloud about why snow was white, with Kurogane occasionally grunting grumpily in reply, or lie on his back by the window trying to play ‘I Spy’ with him, thin finger pointing out to objects in the wintry landscape outside that both knew the other could not see.
It was only on the fourth day of the journey, after a very substantial breakfast of watered-down wine and bread with cream, did Fai look seriously at Kurogane. The conversation started out innocently enough:
“Why did you join the rebellion, Kuro-grump?”
Kurogane had long since given up trying to ‘correct’ him, deciding that it was more beneficial for both their health if he ignored the issue altogether. Nevertheless, his spoon clinked harder than necessary against his glass as he stirred the wine inside. “What do you mean,” he huffed crossly. “Everyone’s rebelling against the king. No offence.”
Fai smiled to show none taken. “I meant, why did you directly participate in overthrowing my father?”
The spoon clattered to a stop.
The boy looked quietly at Kurogane. “Your family died because of my father, didn’t they?” His voice was steady.
The guard finally found his voice. “Yes,” he rasped, twisting the linen tablecloth in his hands. “Your father killed them, along with half the country.” He reached for his glass and downed its contents in one angry gulp. “That’s a stupid question.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Fai seemed unperturbed by Kurogane’s anger. As usual. “I just thought that perhaps it was a more patriotic reason than revenge.”
“Yeah. Well, you thought wrong. This is a patriotic and good enough reason as any other,” hissed Kurogane as he poured himself a fifth glass of wine.
“But everyone has to know death sometime in their life,” said Fai reasonably.
“What would you know about death?” Kurogane turned around and spat at Fai, wine slopping out of his glass. “You don’t know anything-you’ve never seen your entire village charred to ashes and seen your parents die around you. What would you know about death?”
Fai just looked back at him. “I have a dead brother. What do you know that I don’t?”
Kurogane choked, liquid going down the wrong way. “You’re lying,” he spluttered, coughing furiously. “You don’t have a brother; you said so yourself.”
“I lied,” said Fai easily, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Yeah, you’re lying now,” muttered Kurogane, calming down.
8.A week into the journey found the group of rebel guards and royal hostages stopped at an empty station, the snow falling too heavily for them to proceed. Wrapped in coats and scarves thicker in comparison to his frame, Fai loped off the carriage, gleeful at the unexpected chance to stretch his legs.
“Slow down,” yelled Kurogane, hurrying to catch up. “Don’t run out of my sight!”
Ignoring the bigger man, Fai proceeded to slide down a snow-covered slope, the white mound effectively shielding him from view. He hadn’t had this much fun since…before. It was almost dizzying to have this much freedom.
Or not, amended the boy as a huge black shadow loomed over him, blocking out the sun. Kurogane looked furious, lips pressed together as if he couldn’t decide what he wanted to rage about first. Fai decided to help him out of his conundrum.
“You’re such a slowpoke, Kuro-snail,” he said critically, reaching up a gloved hand to poke the man’s nose.
“I told you,” Kurogane snarled, swatting the offending finger away, “to stay in my sight!” He bent down and easily heaved Fai to his feet, shaking him a little. “And I mean it.”
“Spoilsport.” Fai pouted, deliberately slumping in Kurogane’s grip. “Kuro-bore’s a grouchy old man.”
“Shut up.” But he let go of the boy anyway.
Delighted, Fai scooped up a handful of snow, wincing as the cold seeped through his wet gloves, and dumped the lot down the back of Kurogane’s coat, making sure to get some in the older man’s ears. Kurogane bellowed inarticulately, breaking out into a queer little dance in an attempt to dislodge the offending ice, and tried to grab at the prince. Fai wisely stepped out of reach.
“You IDIOT!” the man yelled, striding towards Fai, his face spelling terrible pain in the near future for the thin boy. Fai just smiled inanely at him, enjoying himself immensely. He danced towards the top of the slope, teasing Kurogane by blowing raspberries and pulling at his ears, feet jumping lightly on the slippery ice and-
The world was suddenly a jumble of white, white and white, the earth becoming the sky and the sun becoming part of the ground. When Fai tumbled to a stop, he was several feet away from the slope, the offending sun spinning dizzily above him as he lay out of breath on his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kurogane half sliding, half jogging down the same slope towards him.
“Are you hurt?” growled the man, pulling Fai upright, patting him down for broken bones, shaking the boy’s head, trying to look for a concussion. Fai winced, too dazed to response.
“I’m fine,” he croaked, knowing he wasn’t. His ribs hurt, and his hipbone felt wrong. He wiped away blood dripping from his lower lip; a perfunctory gesture because he knew the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
Kurogane took him at his word, until their return to the train revealed huge blue-black bruises covering his body and his collapse in the following minutes.