*Anis*

My eyes fluttered open. I was back in my room.

I rubbed my head. When had I fallen asleep?

I looked up and saw Takeshi with his head against the edge of the bed. He was asleep.

Had he stayed here all this time?

His face was like that of a child without a concern in the world. I snickered.

Probably best not to wake him up.

I pushed myself up and climbed out of the bed from the left side.

"Hmm?" Takeshi said, opening one eye.

"Sorry," I whispered. I must've made too much noise while removing the covers.

His face flushed, and he quickly wiped away the dry drool on the left side of his mouth. "I should be the one who is sorry."

I chuckled. "I'll just have the covers cleaned later. Why are ya here, though? You should be training."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, but I got wanted to make sure ya'll be fine."

I smiled. "Ahh, that's so sweet. But as ya can see, I'm perfectly fine."

His lips curled upward as well. "Seems like it. Want to spar with me?"

"Sure!" I exclaimed.

The door suddenly clicked open and in came a pink blur. Next thing I knew, I was tackled into the bed.

"Sis!" a little girl with strawberry blond hair said, snuggling me.

"Sorry, I tried to stop her," a voice called out.

I raised my head. Standing by the door was a tall, raven-haired, muscular man dressed in a black suit.

"Pa!" I said, smiling.

He turned to look at Takeshi who froze as soon as they made eye contact.

"Why is a boy doing in your room?" he asked, making his way toward my fiancé.

"H-hello," Takeshi said, forcing a smile. "I- uh..."

"Speak," Pa said, continuing to glare at him.

I sighed. "Pa, ya're scaring him."

He grumbled. "Then do you care to explain?"

I nodded. "I fainted. Takeshi here was looking out for me."

His purple eyes widened. "Ya fainted?"

"So he's the one ya get ya accent from," Takeshi said, smiling.

Pa clicked his tongue. "So now he speaks."

Takeshi backed away and gulped.

My little sister giggled. "Ya boyfriend is cute but a scaredy cat."

"He is... Uh, but he's not my boyfriend. Though, he is my fiancé..."

Pa raised a hand toward his chin. "Fiancé?" he asked, his brow furrowed. "When did ya get engaged? I had been told that ya never left ya room by ya uncle Orlin. Don't tell me these visits to ya room are the norm?"

"No!" I lowered my head. "The king is actually the one who engaged us."

Pa turned around. "He did, did he? I better go ask ya Ma if she knows about this. Rene, stay with ya sister."

"I doubt Ma knows," I mumbled.

He clenched his hands into fists. "Would that guy really hide something that important from his own sister? If so, I'll give him a piece of my mind."

"Wait, calm... down, Pa!"

I sighed as Pa stomped out of the room.

"Ya pa is scary..." Takeshi mumbled.

"He's a nice guy once ya get to know him," I said, hugging my little sister. "Let's go Rene. Takeshi and I are gonna train. Ya can watch."

"Yay!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands.

Takeshi smiled. "Not sure how much fun it'll be."

"Though, first, we should probably stop Pa," I said, holding Rene's hand.

"Yeah, worried about uncle," Rene whispered.

Takeshi gulped. "W-would he really dare hurt the king? Better yet, can he?"

I chuckled. "Pa's scary strong, but I don't know uncle's strength, so I can't say."

*Rosemary*

The smell of roses waft the gazebo my brother had taken me to.  Two children ran across the emerald fields, giggling as they chased each other around like an ouroboros attempting to catch its tail.

The garden largely looked like it did when I was a little girl. Not too far from where we sat was the pond where we would play. Orlin would often make sure that I wouldn't fall into the water. I sorta had a habit of getting too close to the edge to admire the fish up close. If only, I had been born with a tougher constitution, I would've loved to swim for miles and miles in the lakes in the east, observing the wild-life up close.

"Rose, I got something to tell you," my brother said as he put down his cup of tea.

"What is it?" I asked, turning my attention back to him.

"It's about Anis," he said. His gaze remained on the cup.

"What about her? Is she alright?" I asked, reaching my hands out to him. "Please, tell me she's fine."

"She fainted from exhaustion after a sparring match."

I gasped. "Orlin, you should've told me sooner!" I exclaimed.

He nodded. "But don't worry, she's fine now."

I sighed. "That's good, but please let me know immediately next time. You know she's frail." I stared back at my kids. "I want her to at least live up to be my age, to have children of her own."

Orlin took a hold of one of my hands. "I'm sure that'll be the case. On that topic, what I truly wish to speak to you about is her engagement."

I sighed. "Brother, I've told you that I am against it. Anis deserves to marry who she wishes. You do recall what happened with mine, right?"

"Not all end up badly. Father simply had bad judgment on that front."

I snickered. "It wasn't the only one. He left you with a mess to clean up."

"A mess I've cleaned up rather well if I do say so myself. Kuroriku stands at the forefront of a renaissance of technological advancement. Soon, the Kasai no Ki will be no more..."

"Stop, Orlin. Please. I don't see why the Kasai no Ki must be eliminated."

"Have you forgotten our history? We've lost countless of people throughout the ages because of them. If we knock them out now then there will be little to stop our upcoming golden age."

"You truly believe they bear all the blame? I thought you were better than that. We share as much blame as they do. Don't forget that most of the time we're the aggressors. Plus, Kasai no Ki is currently divided."

"That's why we must attack now. A house divided cannot stand."

I sighed. "True, but Kuroriku might present them with something to unite around. Both sides in the civil war hate us more than they hate each other. If you wish to eradicate them then allow them to do it themselves."

He leaned his back against his seat. "Perhaps you have a point. It would have been wiser to have spoken of this prior to the war. Alas, we are already too deep into this. To pull back now might motivate them to attack us in turn. Plus, ending the war at its current state would be a dire mistake. I am not sure if you've kept up to date with current events."

"I have. Kuroriku is our kingdom, how could its affairs not affect me? Makkuroyama's Kaze has betrayed us..."

He nodded. "Indeed. Currently, we're checking to see which of the lesser nobles stand with them and who are the ones that stand with us. All who stand with us will be given sanctuary. All who stand against us will perish along with their leader."

"Must they perish? Wouldn't unconditional surrender be a wise choice too?"

"No. All rebels are to be eradicated. No stone must be left un-turned, dear sister. If we give them clemency, they will merely use it to buy time for another attack. It's best to burn the chopped heads of the hydra while we can."

"I do not think that will burn their chopped necks. It might instead cause those heads to multiply further. Kasai no Ki and Kuroriku's shared history thus far has been built on our inability to get over their bloody past. Our Makkuroyama and their Shinku no Mori province have had to endure the blunt of those various wars. We need to end this cycle-"

"That's exactly what my aim is. By destroying Kasai no Ki, the cycle will be broken."

"The people will resist the destruction of their nation. Or do you plan to kill them off?"

My brother glanced back at his tea.

"You hadn't thought this far, have you?"

"Good to see you together," a voice called out.

I turned and saw my husband. He was frowning.

"What's wrong, dear?" I asked.

"Did you know that your brother here engaged Anis to a stranger?" he asked, glaring at my brother.

"He just told me."

"Relax, Saffron. Takeshi is a nice guy," my brother said, raising his cup of tea. "I told them that if they don't like one another, then I'll call off their engagement." He smiled. "I'm positive there'll be no need to call for that. Trust me. If you like, I can introduce you to him."

My husband crossed his arms over his chest. "No need. We already met."

"You did? Then I take it you got a bit of a sense of the kind of person he is?"

"Only that he gets easily scared."

I snickered. "Honey,  no offense, but you can be rather intimidating."

His face reddened a little. "I guess." He sighed. "Well, I know he stayed in Anis' room to watch over her, according to her."

I smiled. "Sounds like a nice guy so far." I pushed my wheelchair back. "Dear, mind introducing me to this 'Takeshi' fellow?"

He walked toward me. "I don't, but you should take it easy. It took a long time to get here, and you're tired. It would be best if you took a nap."

I pressed my head against his right arm. "I'm fine. I already took my medicine. Plus, I had some nice gyokuro tea." I pointed at the empty cup on my side of the table.

"Alright, but if I notice ya feeling ill, I won't hesitate to make you take a nap."

"Okay, Mr. Worry-wart," I said, snickering.

He averted his gaze. He probably was glad he had long bangs to cover some of his blush.

"I can't help it..." he muttered.

Warmth spread across my cheeks.  "Thanks for being here for me, Saffy."

"D-don't call me that. I'm not a little kid," he muttered.

My brother snickered. "You two really are cute."

I hugged my husband's arm and smiled.

Saffron smiled a bit too. He had a really pretty one, but sadly he rarely showed it. The kids and I were probably the only ones he showed that side of his.

"They sure are!" a voice blurted out behind some bushes.

My kids came to a stop and turned to see their big sister appear from behind a bush.

"Anis?" I said.

"Ya were spying on us, Missy?" Saffron asked, leering at her.

She averted her gaze. "Uh... I didn't want ya to blow up on uncle."

"I'm not a barbarian, ya know?"

"Sometimes your anger does get the best of you," I said, looking up at him.

"I..." He sighed. "I wouldn't hurt Orlin in front of ya."

"Only in front of her? Guess I'm lucky that she was here," my brother said, snickering as he stood up. 

Saffron ignored him. "Hey, you two hiding behind that bush, come out!"

"Pa knew we were here?" Rene said, emerging from behind the bush. My little girl ran over to us. I spread my arms out and gave her a big hug.

"Your pa has great senses."

"Woah!" Rene said, mouth spread out like a big o.

Saffron patted her head. "Considering my line of work, it's a necessary skill to sense one's opponent." He glanced back at the bush. "Come out, Takeshi. My wife wishes to meet you."

"Takeshi?"

A golden-eyed boy with dark purple, nearly black, hair poked his head out of the bush.

"Come on," Anis said. "Ma won't bite."

"She's not the one I'm afraid of," he murmured.

"See what I meant?" Saffron asked.

I snickered. "Yeah."

"H-hello! I'm Takeshi," he said, waving at us.

"Nice to meet you," I said. "I'm Rosemary Kuroriku, Anis's mother. Hmm, looking at you, you sorta resemble my cousin."

"That's because he is Tulia's son," my brother said, snickering.

"Ahh, so you are the famous Takeshi! Tulia told me a lot about you in her letters." I smiled. "Her little kitten, if I'm not mistaken."

He blushed. "Y-ya're close with my mom?"

"Yeah. Sadly, I haven't been able to visit her due to my health. I did meet you here when you were a little boy, this tall," I said, raising my hand three feet off the ground. "You have grown a lot since."

He smiled. "I have! To be honest, I thought I wouldn't be taller than five feet as I had stopped growing after turning thirteen," he said, putting a hand on his head.

I smiled. Orlin was right. He did seem like a nice kid.

"Anis and Takeshi are about to spar!" Rene blurted out. "Wanna go see?"

"I do!"

"A match?" my only son said, running over. He looked like a friendlier and smaller version of his father.

"I want to see it too!" my other daughter said, rushing after her brother.

My husband smirked slightly. "Same. I want to see what kind of warrior my potential son-in-law is."

Takeshi gulped.

"Saffron, Rose, can we talk later?" Orlin asked, walking over to us. "There's something I wish to ask of you."

I nodded.

"Sure, I still got more to say to you about that engagement," Saffron said, closing his eyes.

My brother smiled. "Alright. Well, I best be going. I got a lot of work to do. Enjoy the rest of your evening!" he said, waving.

"Bye, Orlin! Let me know if you need help with some of that work!"

"I appreciate it, but I can take care of it!" he yelled before running off.

That brother of mine... He sure took on a lot of work. Even when we were kids, he would often take up my tasks which weren't his. Still, he always seemed to have fun doing it.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^_^! Thoughts?**