51. Kizoshi

Chapter 51

Kizoshi

K izoshi led Vanra to her sitting room, then gestured for him to make himself comfortable in the chair in front of the fireplace she activated with her dragon fire. Her furniture was white with red piping trim.

She sat on the chaise opposite of him. The scent of his fear was overpowering, so she tried to set him at ease. "You do not need to be so nervous, Vanra. I mean you no harm."

"I definitely never want to get on your bad side." He bowed his head. "Thank you for saving me from Nasume."

"You did not really need my help, though." It was curious that someone so powerful hadn't taken advantage of his natural defenses. "You could free yourself, but you chose not to. Why?"

"Because it would require me using my powers against Nasume. The last thing I want is to be responsible for a diplomatic incident."

"You might think differently if he had kissed you as he clearly intended. Or perhaps maybe do even more." The shame emanating from Vanra made her take pity on him. "On the other hand, it allowed me the privilege of putting him in his place twice in one day, so it is hardly worth being upset about."

Vanra laughed. "Does it make me a bad person I really enjoyed watching you do that? You're so good at it."

"It is such great fun watching him storm off in a hissy fit. I dare say I almost missed doing that."

Vanra studied her with curiosity. "I can only imagine what he did to make you hate him so much."

Some of her amusement subsided. "Nasume is the worst kind of persistent. His continued interest in my brother after repeated rejections has grown old over the century. Since he refuses to desist in his outlandish behavior, I take great joy in making him suffer for his foolishness."

The human fidgeted as the scent of his nervousness returned. "Can I ask a question?"

"You may."

"Why didn't your father turn down his proposal earlier?"

"It was neither the time nor the place to do so. Most of the attendees were so drunk they will have no memory of Nasume's foolishness by morning. I suspect Father will pointedly ignore it, which sends its own message. Although Nasume is probably too thick to understand the implied rejection."

Vanra frowned. "I'd feel a lot better if he rejected him outright."

"Regardless of Father's inaction, you have nothing to fear from Nasume," Kizoshi assured him. "Kitaro is forced to treat Nasume politely because of their positions as princes. He has no love for the unruly pup. Your position is not under threat from the likes of him or anyone else."

"My position? What do you mean?"

Her lips turned up into a slight smirk. "I may not be around very often, but I understand things all too well—perhaps even better than yourselves."

"I don't follow."

She gestured between herself and Vanra. "You and I are a great deal more alike than you might think. I would be surprised the others have yet to notice that fact, but people are blind to brilliance they don't understand."

"How can they understand it when I don't even know?" Vanra asked with a laugh.

It was too early to give him the answers he sought. "You will come to understand my meaning one day."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"You will learn in time."

Vanra seemed unconvinced. "If you say so."

There were other important things that they needed to take care of first. Kizoshi summoned her red fire to her hand. "Here, hold out your hand with your palm up."

His hand shook with nerves as he obeyed.

With a flick of her wrist, the red flame shot over to Vanra. It hovered above his hand without touching it. "Use your powers on it."

"How?" The human studied it with curiosity.

She gestured for him to begin. "Do whatever you wish with it."

After a few moments, he focused his aura, allowing him to poke at the ball of flame. Instead of extinguishing it, the flame changed from red to a bright purple as their energies merged. It bent and flickered wildly.

Vanra began pushing at it from all sides with his power. At first, he could only manage abstract shapes. But as he continued to engage with the fire, it slowly morphed into a small dragon. The human made a triumphant noise at his accomplishment.

He had done exactly as she had hoped. Kizoshi summoned the purple fire dragon. As it jumped from Vanra's hand to her shoulder, it tripled in size. She reached up and stroked the dragon's head, which leaned into the touch. "One day, you will understand why you are so remarkable. I promise we will have a proper talk then, Vanra."

"Something tells me I'll be as lost then as I am now." He watched as the fire dragon swished its tail. "That's amazing!"

She gave the dragon a final loving scratch behind the ears, then held out her hand. It jumped off her shoulder, disappearing in a whisper of purple-gray smoke. All that remained was a silver ring etched with markings like Kitaro's. At the center was an amethyst stone that glowed with a flickering light.

Kizoshi held the ring out to Vanra. "This is yours."

"Mine?" Vanra asked in confusion.

"Yes, yours."

Vanra accepted the beautiful piece of jewelry with a word of thanks. He studied it for several moments before sliding it on his right middle finger. "Wow, it fits perfectly."

"You must promise me one thing."

"Anything."

She held his gaze to convey her seriousness. "Swear to me you will wear that ring at all times. Do not take it off, not even to bathe. Do you understand?"

He tilted his head with a puzzled look. "Why?"

"Because it is of the utmost importance that you always wear it. There are no exceptions. Promise me."

He touched the ring. "You have my word. I will never take it off."

"Good." Kizoshi smiled when there was a knock on the door. "How kind of my brother to be right on time."

A deeply concerned Kitaro entered the room. He glanced between his sister and Vanra. "So, this is where you disappeared to. I was worried when you did not return to the banquet."

"Do not blame Vanra. The delay was my fault. We had more important things to discuss than him suffering through more drunken brothers-in-arms, serenading each other off-key as they got even deeper in their cups."

Her answer didn't seem to put him at ease. "Is everything okay? Anytime you get involved, it inevitably leads to complications."

"All is well now, dear brother. You are free to take Vanra and leave."

Vanra stood up and bowed to her. "Thank you for tonight."

"It has been my pleasure. Perhaps I shall see you at breakfast tomorrow morning if Kitaro can drag himself out of bed early enough. I promise to put on a show if you do." They turned to leave. When they reached the door, Kizoshi added, "Kitaro, take good care of Vanra."

She smiled to herself in private satisfaction once they left. Her meeting with Vanra had gone even better than she had expected. Many interesting things were afoot because of him coming to their time. She couldn't wait to see how everything turned out in the future.