When the Heart's Door
Opens
Take 2 - The Final Casting
Lady Mara of the Acoma - Keiko
Hokanu (Lady Mara's husband) - Yuusuke
Arakasi (the Acoma Spymaster) - Hiei
Arakasi's sister - Yukina
Kamlio (Woman of Reed Life) - Kurama
Kamini (Kamlio's twin also a Woman
of Reed Life) - Kuwabara
The Hamoi Obajan (head of the Hamoi
Tong) - Karasu
Lord Jiro of the Anasati - Yomi
~^~
Hiei waited for the change of guard
patiently in the rosebush. It was as regular as clockwork. The old merchant
had kept good guards but for someone who had more patience and resources
than the average thief, it was easy enough matter to find out how the routine
worked. He knew that all his agents had suspected that the Hamoi Tong's
headquarters was in Jamar or Yankora where their messages had found their
way to the hands of other members of that Bloody Brotherhood of Assassins.
He, however, suspected otherwise. It was far too simple and far too easy
to catch if this were so. The Bloody Brotherhood was an illicit guild after
all. And so here he was dallying at Kentosani for the chance to find information
to back his suspicions.
At last, the changing of the guards…
Hiei lightly jumped up into the second
story window and into a luxurious fortified room.
"Akari." Said the gorgeous redhead
on the bed of rare silks, wearing a short robe green silk embroidered with
precious metal thread. A sign of great favor from the latter's master,
metal was very rare, here in this world of Kalewan and very expensive.
Besides the guards that protected this one's virtue for the rich master.
Kurama was a highly valued Man of Reed Life, a paid courtesan whose contract
had been bought by the rich and powerful merchant for his exclusive pleasure.
"Kurama." Hiei said kissing the redhead's
fingertips while looking deep into the emerald green eyes.
The slim redhead drew him down to him
and for a time there were no words at all…
~^~
Hiei sighed as he looked upon the slumbering
prostitute. He was hesitant to leave now that he had what he had come from.
Lying in the redhead's arms, he had felt safe though he was technically
risking shameful death by hanging if he was found here with the master's
treasured possession. He had known from the start that he had to leave
and never see Kurama again, it was something he had to do to ensure that
Lady Keiko and the Acoma's security would not be jeopardized. Unexpectedly,
Hiei had found the something that would touch his heart in this man.
Red hair pooled over the light green
silk of the coverlets and pillows. Green eyes that held so much light and
devilry at the prospect of cuckolding the old man that owned him body and
soul. Well, body maybe but not soul never Kurama's soul. No one could own
that but the gods and even then Hiei would wager a goodly number of centuries
that Kurama might be free of that as well.
Hiei had never seen anyone else of
Reed Life who was free of the bitterness of being the least of folk only
above a slave in status. Counted as lower than the meanest servant, they
are often traded like slaves with but little choice in the matter if they
want to survive. Some courtesans may charm their way into luxurious life
and into being given more choice than their less fortunate brothers and
sisters but that was all. They lived on what their bodies brought them
and the living was hard and unsecured. Kurama's undaunted spirit touched
him in a way that he thought he was immune to. His heart beat painfully
in his chest while he hurriedly dressed. No matter what happened, he had
a vow to fulfill. He must destroy the Tong at whatever cost for his adopted
House's survival rested with the Brotherhood's destruction.
~^~
Kurama was one of a pair of twins,
the other of the two's contract was bought by an agent Hiei had suspected
to be of the Tong. The man was now coldly dead, as necessity demanded it.
Kurama had been known to be very close to his brother and had been sending
messages to each other. It had been riskier a game than both realized as
Hiei's suspicions were confirmed, Kurama's twin Kuwabara had been bought
as an addition to the Tong's private harem in a secluded estate near the
city of Ontoset. Kurama had thought only that he had given to Hiei a family
secret but in truth the redhead had given him the last link to pinpoint
vulnerable fortress of the Tong. And so here he was now perched in the
ceiling beams waiting for his target. It was at these times when he didn't
really mind his lack of height. A taller man would have had to hang suspended
flat upon the beams but not him!
There he was, sinuous, thin in black,
graceful and lethal like a knife, wearing the topknot of leadership, Karasu,
the Obajan of the Tong. Hiei had waited until Karasu was deep into his
pleasures half-torturing half-fucking the hapless girl he had chosen for
the night before acting. Swiftly, he dropped down from his perch and tossed
knife at the unsuspecting Obajan who died with only a grunt.
The screaming of the girls and boys
of the harem however brought a sentry running into the room, which Hiei
also tried to dispatch with a knife but missed because the man had dodged.
He engaged in a furious knife fight. The man, panicked about having their
leader killed on his watch, fought with a will.
Hiei managed to dispatch the man finally
but then several Tong Assassins was now pouring into the outer room of
the suite. He grabbed one of the warm bodies he could find in the room
to throw at them and delayed them. He could not afford to be caught. The
man he had gotten had orange hair and was babbling with fear.
Orange hair…Kurama's brother had
orange hair. Hiei hesitated a moment before letting the man go and
grabbed the next one and tossed the wretch at the incoming assassins who
were now in a frenzy of panic as well for failing to protect their leader.
The Tiranjan, Obajan's, who would inherit the Tong would likely have their
heads if they didn't get the intruder who had killed the Obajan. In the
ensuing furor, he jumped out through the window and disappeared from sight
as he grabbed the loop of rope he had kept on the roof for this instance
and threw a small tile off the roof for good measure. He needed the distraction
he wasn't finished yet…
~^~
The Tong poured out of the mansion
like hornets from a ruined hive. Many slashed at the bushes and trees in
desperation. When Hiei reentered the house and found the study just across
the harem door where he suspected that the records of the Tong were kept.
It was the Bloody Brotherhood's natami, the "blessed" symbol of their unlawful
House, without which they would fade away. Without the records, they would
have no means to know to whom they owed contracts to and losing their natami
would mean the loss of Favor from their patron god Turakamu the Red. Then,
and only then would, the Lady Keiko and the Acoma would be safe from the
Tong's unceasing hounding.
Hiei found an assassin at the door
of the study. They fought. The assassin did not want to budge from his
stand by the left side of the door. But finally Hiei had managed to kill
him. The last act of the assassin had been to push a wooden baton he had
been holding all this while into the brazier. Hiei froze to study the door.
Every instinct told him to hurry for surely someone would come soon to
check on the sentry. But hurrying meant folly in this case so he studied
the doorway carefully and was rewarded. He saw a peculiar indentation on
the side of it. Ah, now it was made clear, the room was booby-trapped and
the baton was the lynchpin that would disarm the traps. Hiei grabbed a
dagger from his boot and wedge it into the indentation feeling a satisfying
thrum as it pushed into place. It was now or never…
Hiei managed to get into the room,
now what. A heavy ledger stood on the desk but Hiei knew better than to
get it. He grabbed on of the stands on the room walls and bashed the desk
to find a small scroll wedged in between the ledger and a fine thin thread
that would spring a second trap.
That must be it.
With due care Hiei took the scroll
and put it into his vest. He sprinted out of the room and took his dagger
out. He was about to leave via one of the windows of the harem when he
heard the outraged pained cries of the Tong as they tried to enter the
confines of the trapped room to check on their natami. He didn't pause
but hurried on out.
In the garden, he had chanced upon
a patrol of assassins and marked with a dart before he had gotten away
into a mess of running servants. The death of the Obajan had spread quickly
and on an estate as secluded and closely guarded as this, there could only
be betrayal from the inside. Every servant decided to flee for his life
and in the confusion Hiei managed to get over the wall and into the cache
of drugs and antidotes, which he had made just in case he had manage to
get this far. The dart was certainly poisoned and it only remains to be
seen if he had managed to carry the right antidotes. But as he drank the
drugs that would sustain him till he could get the scroll to his mistress
or die in the attempt, he never even thought he'd get this far, he realized
something...
That orange-haired ugly man said something…yes
he did. He babbled "He knows Kuwabara..." over and over when Hiei had let
him go and chose another to delay the assassins. Hiei's heart grew cold
with fear. Kurama…
Kurama was in danger because of him.
Right now the assassins were in disarray but come morning the Tiranjan
would come and the search would start in earnest. Everyone in the estate
would be questioned. The significance would certainly be found out, Kuwabara
was one of a pair of courtesans, one sold to the Hamoi Tong the other an
old merchant's toy. Kurama would die…
And something else, Hiei had planned
only use his cover as a dissatisfied noble of a minor house in search of
amorous adventure but in a moment of weakness he had revealed to Kurama
that he served a great lady. There were very few Ruling Ladies in the Empire
and none as great as the Lady Keiko was. The fate of Acoma now hung in
the balance. For because of Kurama, Hiei knew he could be forced to talk,
if captured. Besides the only protection he could garner for Kurama would
be from the lady. So be it he could not die just yet, he will survive…
For Kurama who he held dear in his
heart and for the Lady that he held in great esteem, Hiei will survive…
~there is a 2nd part if there is R
& R~
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