The Country of Elwood

by Lady Torrent

Chapter 3

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Disclaimer:

Don't own the Ronins. You know how much fun I would have with those boys if I did? ^_^ ::Rubs hands together:: The possibilities...

Sorry I didn't get this chapter out as quick as I would have liked to. It has been written for awhile and I just never had time to get on the computer, and then our computer got screwed up, and then I went out of town. That's my excuse. ^_^o

Thanks for all the great reviews! I love you guys! Really, I do! And if you guys have anything you want to ask or something, don't be afraid to email me. I don't bite. Muchos gracias to all my reviewers... Hiruma, Gradual Decline, Axisor, WildfireFriendship, Midget, Sailor Moon, Jou-chan, Jenna, Anime Princess, Tasuki_No_Baka, Mage21, Djinn Hashiba-Maxwell, sinsense, TheWoodenSpoon, and satsuki kitsune. You guys are too cool!

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Sage yawned, his hand over his mouth as he watched in amusement as Kayura told Ryo he should be eating more food. He then looked across the room at the table the knights that accompanied Kayura were sitting at.

The three hadn't said much to anyone but each other or to Kayura since they arrived at the castle.

"I'm not hungry anymore." Ryo muttered, politely pushing Kayura's hand away from his mouth.

Sage somehow managed to keep himself from laughing. Now she was trying to feed him. He idly picked at the fruit that was left on his plate, having only eaten the pieces he actually liked. He looked up when a couple servants came in, picking up empty dishes, and other various things the king sent back to the kitchen. Sage yawned again, and motioned the auburn haired servant to take his plate away, and glanced at Ryo and Kayura once more.

Ryo was watching the servant take the dishes, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Sage's mouth dropped open and he looked back to the servant, catching him smile at the black haired prince before starting in the direction of the kitchen. Sage nudged Ryo with his elbow and nodded toward the retreating form.

Ryo gave him a lopsided smile and shrugged his shoulders slightly, picking up his glass of water, and sipping it, eyes scanning the room.

Sage gave him a 'you-better-tell-me-later' look and politely excused himself from the table.

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Ryo walked into his room, and picked up his sword that was leaning against the large dresser and buckled the belt around his hips.

"Where are you going, Ryo?" Kayura's inquiry, though quiet, startled him.

"Out. What are you doing in my room?" Ryo glanced at her, putting a hand on his hip, tilting his head slightly.

Kayura rose from the edge of the bed and walked over to him. "I was waiting for you. You disappeared rather quickly after breakfast." She replied, tracing Ryo's collar bone with her fingers.

"Hm. I went down to the servants' kitchen." Ryo replied, tossing his hair, trying to get his bangs out of his eyes.

Kayura looked somewhat surprised. "Why?" She asked, pushing his bangs out of the way herself.

"I had a servant sharpen my dagger, and went to pick it up." Ryo replied, gesturing to the small blade which could barely be spotted poking out of the top of his boot. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to meet Sage in front of the castle." Ryo took her hands from his shoulders and led her to the corridor, shutting his door behind him.

Kayura frowned, watching him leave her standing there. With a frustrated sigh, she turned and walked toward the throne room. She knew the king would talk to Ryo if she asked him to, because Ryo obviously wasn't paying much attention to her.

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Sage watched Ryo's overgrown house cat run ahead of them as they trudged along the underbrush of the forest. "So what was up with the servant at breakfast this morning?" He asked, glancing at his cousin.

Ryo looked at Sage, his eyes shining with laughter. "Cye?" He asked, his gaze switching back to his white tiger. "White Blaze! Get back here!" He shouted.

Sage sighed. "I'm not sure of his name. The one with the auburn hair. He always hangs around Touma, the girl Mia, and... the other guy... I can't think of his name at the moment either." He replied, chopping a low hanging branch with his sword.

"Cye." Ryo nodded, and scratched White Blaze's head as the tiger rubbed against him, growling. That was as close to a purr as the tiger got.

"Okay, so what was that little exchange between you two at breakfast?" Sage asked again, then paused, looking around.

Ryo stopped. "What?" He asked, watching the blonde carefully.

"I thought I heard something." Sage replied, his hand tightening on the hilt of his gleaming sword, his eyes scanning the forest around them.

Ryo laughed slightly. "Blaze would have heard it too, Sage. Don't worry about it. I just think you're hearing things. That and you're being paranoid." Ryo waved his hand at the blonde and continued walking, catching up with the tiger.

Sage sighed, catching up with Ryo after one last look around. "Yeah, you're right. I think it's because we haven't been back here in so long..." He admitted, and then glanced at Ryo out of the corner of his eyes. "And I'm still waiting for that explanation."

Ryo smiled at Sage's persistence. "There's nothing really to explain. He just... There's something about him... I don't know. He catches my eye. That's all." The dark haired prince shrugged, his hands going behind his head as he stretched.

"Yet you're engaged... Ah well. Can't help them all." Sage grinned as Ryo gave him a dirty look.

"Don't remind me. She follows me around like a stray dog. I just want to kick her... or something." Ryo muttered, and ran a hand through his hair.

Sage laughed slightly. "I don't think your father would be too keen on that." He pointed out, and then added as an afterthought, "Or the fact that you're having amorous affairs with a servant."

Ryo tossed Sage a look. "I am *not* having amorous affairs with Cye."

"Yet." Sage grinned, and took off running ahead of Ryo.

"Get back here you jerk!" Ryo ran after him, with White Blaze running along beside him.

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"Get my son in here. Now." The king ordered, pounding his fist on the arm of the throne.

The knight nodded curtly and exited the throne room in the direction of the dark haired prince's sleeping quarters. He knocked on the large door once before opening it.

Ryo jumped, pulling his towel around his waist. "Do ya mind? I'm changing, here!" He shouted, although he couldn't stop the slight blush from creeping to his cheeks.

"Sorry your Highness, but your father wishes to speak with you in the throne room." The knight informed, also blushing.

Ryo nervously gripped the towel around his waist tighter. "Good for him. Mind if I change first?" The ebony haired boy glared at the knight.

"The king demands your presence now, your Highness." The knight mumbled.

Ryo frowned deeply and twirled his finger, signaling the knight to turn around. He quickly pulled his red silk pajama pants on before following the knight back to the throne room.

"Thank you." The king nodded to the knight, who bowed, then left. His gaze switched to Ryo, and he raised an eyebrow slightly.

Ryo crossed his arms over his bare chest, pouting. "I was in the middle of changing." He muttered.

"Why, might I ask, were you changing?" The king questions, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Sage pushed me in the moat. And I had just gotten out of the shower." Ryo replied, running a hand through his still wet hair.

A slight smirk tugged at the corner of the king's mouth, and just as quickly faded. "I would like to understand why Princess Kayura says you're ignoring her. You do realize that you two are getting married in a little over a month. Ryo, I will *not* tolerate this kind of behavior from you." The king stated, his piercing green eyes locked onto Ryo's blue.

"I haven't been ignoring her! So I'm not around her for a few hours! Big deal! She doesn't have to have a spaz attack." Ryo exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration.

"Ryo, the thing you have to understand is that when you *do* get married, you *will* be around her all the time. You don't have a choice. I was always around your mother before she died. You best start getting used to it now." The king's tone was cold and uncaring as he glared at his son.

Ryo clenched his teeth. "I don't want to marry her! I want to marry someone that I actually care about and love. I don't want the stupid crown either. I want to be able to do what I want and go where I want when I want to!" Ryo shouted.

The king pursed his lips, giving Ryo an extremely uncaring gaze. "The only way you could possibly achieve what *you* want, is if you were killed." He growled.

Ryo clenched his fists before turning on his heel and storming out of the throne room. He brushed past Sage, despite the blonde's protests for him to stop.

Sage watched him go and decided not to follow him. He knew Ryo needed time to cool off. He didn't know what happened, but he knew Ryo wouldn't talk to him anyway, and needed time to himself.

Ryo quietly seethed, walking quickly toward the servants' kitchen. He pushed the door open, and was pleased to find the room empty.

The servants were more than likely out cleaning and other things along that nature. Lunch wasn't for another couple of hours.

Ryo shut the door behind him and took another look around the kitchen. He slowly walked over to the long counter and began going through the various cabinet drawers. As he found what he was looking for, he slowly pulled it out, the light making it glisten. Gripping the large knife tightly in his slightly clammy right hand, he positioned the blade over the many veins running along his left wrist. Ryo closed his eyes, taking a slow deep breath. He was about to push the blade into his skin and slice through the veins when he heard the door open. He dropped the knife out of surprise, and his eyes snapped open.

Cye watched Ryo drop the knife, and watched as it hit the ground with a 'clink'. He looked at it for a second before his gaze went back up to meet Ryo's.

"What are you doing in here?" Ryo suddenly asked, watching the auburn haired boy cautiously.

"Prince Ryo, newsflash. This is the *servants'* kitchen. What are *you* doing in here?" Cye started to the prince, and bent down to pick up the knife. He lightly ran his finger over it, before putting it back and closing the drawer.

Ryo sank to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to keep from crying, he really did. But it wasn't working. Ryo wiped his eyes, sniffling.

Cye dropped down next to him, and carefully pulled Ryo to him as the other boy cried. "Shhh. Ryo, it's okay." He tried to soothe the prince, but wasn't quite sure how, as he didn't know what was bugging the ebony haired one.

"It's not fair. I hate my life." Ryo muttered into Cye's chest, and wrapped his arms around the servant's waist.

Cye was slightly surprised when he felt Ryo's arms wrap around him, but shrugged it off. "Surely you don't hate it so much that you would have actually gone through with that." Cye murmured, rubbing the prince's back reassuringly. When Ryo didn't answer, Cye realized that Ryo would have if he hadn't walked in at the moment he had. "Ryo, I don't care what you think. Nothing in life is worth killing yourself over. Everything will bet better, believe me." He whispered.

Ryo nodded, closing his eyes. He looked up when he felt Cye's hand gently lift his chin.

"Life has its ups and downs, Ryo. There's not much you can do about it. You just have to ride it out and see what happens. Just do one thing, and promise me you won't try that again unless you have my permission." Cye murmured.

"I promise." Ryo smiled and wrapped his arms around Cye's neck, his chin resting on Cye's shoulder as he hugged him.

Cye smiled and ran his fingers through Ryo's still wet raven locks.

Ryo pulled away slightly and looked at Cye, his bottom lip caught between even white teeth. Slowly, he pressed his lips to Cye's, surprising the other boy at first.

When they finally pulled apart, Ryo smiled at the auburn haired servant and received a smile in return. So maybe Sage was right after all.

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Rowen and Kento exchanged looks as Cye told them what happened. It took Rowen awhile, but he finally got Cye to tell them why he had been spacing out so much. They rounded the corner and were met by Ryo's growling white tiger.

"Heh. Good kitty. Don't eat me." Kento laughed nervously, watching the tiger. "Eat Rowen, not me."

Rowen shot him a look. "Don't tell me you're scared of a cat." He stated, and reached a hand out to pet the tiger.

White Blaze barely missed taking the elf's hand off.

Rowen jerked his hand away, extremely thankful for his quick elf reflexes. He moved so he was standing behind the other two. "Eat Cye. Elves taste bad."

The tiger growled again, and both Kento and Rowen jumped, involuntarily taking a step back, getting farther away from the tiger.

Cye tilted his head to the side and carefully held his hand out, and smiled as White Blaze looked at it, and after a small pause, rubbed against it. He dropped to his knees and started petting the overly large house cat.

"How did you... no one is able to touch that thing other than Prince Ryo. It doesn't even let Prince Sage touch him!" Kento exclaimed, awestruck.

"Shouldn't you three be doing work, and not playing with the tiger?" The green haired knight that had accompanied Princess Kayura asked, a hand on his hip.

"Yeah, thanks dad, I'll get right on it." Rowen scowled.

The knight drew his sword, pressing the tip of it to Rowen's neck. "Watch your tongue, elf."

"Sekhmet, what are you doing?" Ryo's question caught all of their attention. Ryo watched the knight lower his sword ever so slightly. "If I find out that you so much as lay a *finger* on one of them, I'll have your head cut off and stored in a jar." He threatened, a dangerous smirk crossing his features as he drew his sword.

"Ryo!" Kayura looked at the boy she was latched onto in surprise.

"Yes your Highness." Sekhmet muttered, and stepped away from the three. He re-sheathed his sword, scowling slightly.

Rowen, Kento, and Cye were watching Ryo with open mouths and wide eyes.

Kayura smiled as Kale and Dais made their way to them from the opposite end of the corridor, having seen the ordeal between Ryo and Sekhmet.

"That goes for you two as well." Ryo stated, putting his sword away. He glanced to the tiger, and watched on in interest as he continued to rub against Cye. Ryo tapped the tiger's back as he started walking again, smiling at the three still watching him. He had to get White Blaze out of the castle before the king had *his* head.

Rowen immediately turned to Cye as soon as the group of five and the tiger disappeared. "That was..."

Kento grinned slightly. "That's pretty freakin' awesome, if you ask me." He nodded, his hands on his hips.

Rowen nodded in agreement, and they continued toward the kitchen to help prepare lunch. "There's just something about those three knights that I don't like. But I don't know what it is." Rowen stretched, his hands behind his head.

"Do you guys know where Ryo went?" Sage stopped them, running a hand through his hair.

Cye smiled. "Yes, they went that way." He pointed over his shoulder.

"Okay. Thanks." Sage smiled and jogged on down the corridor.

Rowen watched him go, before starting to walk again, shaking his head. "What a nice ass."

Kento and Cye burst out laughing.

"What?!" Rowen threw his hands in the air.

"Hm. Hate to ruin the mood and everything... but, you know if you get caught, you'd be killed, right?" Kento glanced at Cye out of the corner of his eyes.

Cye frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I can't help it." He murmured, as they walked into the kitchen.

"I never said you had to help it. Just be careful." Kento stated, then looked at Rowen. "You too."

Rowen smirked. "Aren't I always?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Kento asked, scratching the back of his head, and hoisting himself onto the counter.

Mia gave them a confused look. "How about I don't ask, and you guys help make salad and sandwiches?" She asked, licking mustard off of her fingers.

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Naya carried the large salad bowl over to Kale, Dais and Sekhmet's table and forced a smile as she did so. She picked up some empty plates and turned to go back to the kitchen when a hand stopped her.

"Excuse me... I was wondering, do you know how the princes feel about the servants here?" Kale asked, smiling politely.

Naya's mouth twitched. "Neither of them gives a damn about any of us." She replied, watching the blue haired knight. "Why?"

Dais shrugged, smiling slightly.

Kale smirked. "We think servants as pretty as yourself should get more respect than you do."

Naya smiled slightly. "Thank you." She bowed her head to them, then turned and walked back toward the kitchen.

Sekhmet smirked, his gaze switching to Ryo at the royal table. "Doesn't give a damn, does he?"

Kale grinned maliciously, eyes watching the ebony haired prince. "Very interesting."

To be continued ....

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