Bound to Trust- Chapter 3

Sakura leapt into the air, propelling herself over a sword’s blade and landed lightly back on the ground behind her assailant. He whirled around to face her, but it wasn’t fast enough to save him from the return blow from her own weapon. Using both hands she swung her sword towards him, looking grimly satisfied as it sliced across his chest, clean through his armour and into the flesh beneath it. To confirm the hit, blood spurted from the gash and the crimson liquid splashed first on Sakura’s face, then began to flow at a steady pace over his silver armour. The sight of it sent another surge of adrenaline through her exhausted body and as the body of the warrior fell heavily to the ground, the threw aside the heavy sword and turned to watch the movements of the rest of her opponents. They were nervous. The man she had just taken down was her 5th. The rest of their comrades injured, but not dead bodies lay strewn across the floor of the training hall.

Suddenly, one soldier broke free of the group launched himself towards Sakura, thinking that she had lost her concentration for a second. Unfortunately for him, she hadn’t. Grinning, she danced out of reach of the blade, leading her lone attacker around the room. After a couple of seconds, he realised what she was doing; leading him on, playing with him.


“*bunny*!” he yelled, and surged towards her, sword poised above his head, ready to deliver an overhead blow. Sakura smirked confidently, and forced him backwards with a side kick to the breastplate as he neared her. He grunted and fell back, skidding across the floor until he came to an abrupt stop as he hit the wall on the other side of the arena. These lot were all the same; easy to anger, and so easy to beat.


“I really need more of a challenge than this.” Sakura murmured to herself as she turned to the 3 remaining soldiers. She closed her eyes and brought her hands together in a prayer-like gesture, and when she looked up again her irises were like glowing red embers, causing them to freeze in fear as they looked into them. It was at that moment that Sakura chose to strike. She pushed her palms together and threw them out towards her opponents, along with a river of flame which caused the air on front of it simmer as it made it’s way towards it’s targets. As the flames engulfed them, several ear-splitting screams wrenched their way out of the soldiers and then…silence. The room was deathly quiet, and Sakura let out her breath in a whoosh of air as the bodies of the soldiers and the blood splattered all over the floor and herself began to fade away. Behind her, a door opened and a woman with large biceps and rock-hard abs strode into the arena, looking somewhat pleased.


“Well done, Sakura, that was your fastest time yet! Your ‘kills’ were swift and clean-well, most of the time-, and you’ve lost precisely nil pints of blood. You could have been faster though. I don’t know what it is with you and toying with your opponents, but your objective is to take them down, not make them angry or have fun!” she chided, watching disdainfully as Sakura merely rolled her eyes.


“Yeah, thanks, Maxine.” She answered, pouring a bottle of water over her head to cool herself down, then picking up a discarded (but clean) white towel from beside it. Her instructor watched almost enviously as she pulled the hair band from her hair and ran the towel through her wet crimson locks. Almost automatically, Maxine ran one hand through her own short, boyish blonde spikes, sighing wistfully.


“Man, I wish I had long hair like yours. It’s such a great texture, and the colour! It’s to die for!”

Sakura’s back stiffened and she turned to face her, her eyes a swirling battle of emotion. Maxine took a step back. It was as if she couldn’t decide whether to be enraged and strike out at her, or just break down and cry! In the end, she settled for pushing her violently out the way and storming out into the hall. Back inside the arena, Maxine shook her head, completely and utterly lost.


“What did I say?” she asked out to the empty room, then turned off the lights and went to lie down. That girl gave her a headache.


* * *


When Sakura reached her bedroom, the limited amount of light filtering through her window alerted her to the late hour. Panicked, she dived for her clock on the deck and looked at the time.


“Ooooh *bunny*!” she cursed, at the realisation that in 15 minutes she was due to make an appearance at her father’s celebratory ball. Where the hell was Aine?


“Aine? Aine, get in here, now!” she hollered into the hall, already struggling out of her training clothes.


“Hmm?” Down the hall, Aine poked her head out from the stairwell to the servant’s quarters with her hair sticking up at all angles, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “Oh, Sakura! Sorry, I must have dropped off… what’s the time?”Sakura threw the clock at her face. “Oh, feck!” she gasped, and rushed down the hall into Sakura’s room. “Quick, get into the shower! I’ll go collect your dress! Go!”
And before Sakura could argue, she found herself in the bathroom, halfway to the shower, and Aine speeding off down the corridor. As quickly as possible she slipped of the remainder of her clothes and cleansed herself hurriedly before leaping out from under the water and grabbing a towel to dry with. She grabbed the first layer of clothing from the side (courtesy of Aine) and shoved it on, only just about decently clothed before she burst from the en-suite into her bedroom, where Aine waited for her with her a saucy-looking corset. Sakura didn’t protest this time as her maid slipped it over her head and tied it in record time with ease over her torso and bust.


“5 minutes to go, not bad. I think we can slow down a little now, you’re supposed to be fashionably late, aren’t you? Come on, lets get the final layer on you.” Aine smiled at Sakura, and reached for a dress which hung on a hanger on the door of her wardrobe. Sakura gazed on the dress in absolute adoration. The dying rays of the sun reflected off the diamonds embedded in the bodice of the beautiful piece, and the pure white embroidery made the gold silk shine like heaven itself. The sleeves were long and draped down medieval-style, nearly as long as the dress itself, which was hemmed with more white silk.


“Oh. My. God. Aine, this is… this is beautiful!” she gasped “You’ve certainly outdone yourself this time!” Aine smiled dryly.


“Not me, I’m afraid. It’s a present from your father” Immediately Sakura’s face fell and she blushed, looking away.


“Uh, I mean…it’s fine. It’ll do, I suppose.” her tone had shifted from excited to distant and dismissive. Silently she let Aine slide the dress on over her head, deliberately keeping her face devoid of emotion. She dried her own hair with the same uninterested disposition, and then kept her gaze determinedly fixed on the floor as Aine styled Sakura’s hair and twisted lengths of diamonds into the naturally-corkscrewing lengths of hair. She did have to look up, however, when Aine applied her make-up, which was mostly blue and glittery, and even then she looked away from her, to the side. As Sakura stood to leave, Aine grabbed onto her wrist.


“Wait! Before you go, two more things. One, this.” she said, and opened a small box which had gone unnoticed by Sakura on the bed. In it was nestled a sparkling silver tiara, which Aine sat proudly upon Sakura’s head.

“And two… I think your father may want for you to go in your half-form”


“…why would you think that, exactly?” Sakura asked suspiciously, as Aine merely raised one eyebrow.


“Well for one, there’s a gaping hole in the back of your dress in a very unfortunate place which would be very revealing if left unfilled, and it’s in just the right place for your tail, remarkably.” she commented, tilting her head to one side as she examined the back of Sakura’s dress. Eyes widening, she rushed to the mirror and turned around.


“*bunny*!” she cursed loudly on seeing that the hole was, in fact, positioned just right for a tail to go through. How dare he do this to her! She hardly ever made a public appearance in her half form…none of the Royal family did, it gave way too much information about their personalities! “…fine. Aine, turn around a minute.” The maid immediately obliged, wincing as she heard Sakura squeak in discomfort. The sound of bones moving, growing and breaking filled the air to add a tail, tiger ears, and silver stripes to Sakura’s body. When all was silent, Aine took it to be a sign that she could look again, and as she turned around she stood stock-still and gasped in surprise.


“Ah…Aine?” Sakura asked nervously.


“Oh! I-I’m sorry, miss, it’s just that… you look so beautiful!” Aine’s eyes never left Sakura as she talked, amazed at the aura of youth, beauty and strength which radiated from her. Her emerald green eyes were wonderfully enhanced by the black kohl eyeliner which shrouded her eyes, contrasting with the rest of the light blue make-up on her face, in swirling patterns which danced all the way up to her temples.
Suddenly, both girls spun around to look at the door as a loud knocking came from the other side of it.


“Excuse me, I’ve been sent to collect Her Royal Highness Princess Sakura and escort her downstairs to the ball” a male voice called through the door. Anxiety rushed through Sakura and she ran to Aine and embraced her.


“Oh Gods, Aine, what am I going to do? I’m so nervous! I know may girls my age are already married and have children, even, but I don’t feel ready yet!” she gasped into he servant’s hair, who pushed away and took both of Sakura’s hands firmly in her own and looked her in the eye.


“Hush now, and listen to me. You knew it was going to have to happen sometime, and you know you’re lucky to have had this much freedom so far. But it’s your duty to be wed, and soon! I know it’s making you unhappy, and believe me, it’s killing me to see you like this, but sometimes you’ve just got to put on a brave face and accept the inevitable, which I know you can do, because I’ve seen you do it so many times before! Now, off you go, and show them what you’re made of! I’ll be cheering you on from behind the scenes the whole time!” Aine finished her speech with a bright grin, and pushed Sakura gently towards the door, tears welling in her eyes.


The boy stood outside the door, waiting patiently for her, and as Sakura emerged he took her arm and led her towards the stairs. It seemed to Sakura that the usually lengthy journey to the grand doors leading onto the main hall stairs was over in mere seconds, and before she know it she stood in front of them, waiting for her queue. As silence settled over the guests on the other side of the doors, the boy who had escorted her there gave her a shy smile of encouragement. Then, out of the blue, a single voice rang out amongst the silence.


“Presenting the Crown Princess, Her Royal Highness Sakura of Regna!” Two footmen pulled open the double doors, and light from the grand hall flooded the waiting room where Sakura stood, revealing her to an assembly of smartly dressed nobles. Sakura clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and then began her decent to the main level, walking down the marble staircase, painfully aware that every pair of eyes in the room were fixed on her. Or at least, it certainly felt that way. She floated gracefully down the steps, stopping respectfully at the bottom to curtsey to her father, who waited for her there. As she slid her arm into his, her gave a nod of dismissal to the crowd, who immediately erupted into a buzz of conversation against a backdrop of music.


“You’re late.” he stated emotionlessly, and Sakura peered at him, trying to figure out whether he was angry or not. As always, his face revealed nothing and he gave nothing else away. “ But, no matter. Come, I require for you to meet the visiting Queen, Artemil, and her daughter, Princess ElArtemis.”
The crowd parted and bowed out of the way as their king made his way towards a tall, slightly oriental-looking woman, engaged in light conversation with one of the young Lords. When Sakura and her father approached, the Lord hastily departed, and the woman was left looking expectantly at the new arrivals.


“Queen Artemil,” he greeted with a bow, “may I present my eldest daughter, Sakura.” Marco pushed Sakura forwards and she dipped elegantly into a light curtsey. As she looked up, she saw that Artemil had done the same, but a polite acknowledgement of her presence was just about all it was, and the Queen’s amber eyes shone with hatred and jealousy as she looked upon Sakura. Suddenly uncomfortable, she turned back to her father.


“If we are done with introductions here, father, I shall take my leave now-” she said, already looking towards a secluded corner that looked particularly appealing as a hiding place, but found a restraining hand on her shoulder.


“No, Sakura, we are not finished.” Marco reprimanded, glaring angrily down at her. “Now, for the Gods’ sakes be polite! I apologise most sincerely for my daughter’s behaviour, My Lady. She has never been very well acquainted with court manners.”


“She is forgiven, Your Majesty.” She gave Sakura a cold smile which blatantly implied that she had expected no less. “May I now introduce my own daughter, ElArtemis.”


From behind her, the regal form of a girl Sakura’s age emerged. She was of an average height, she obviously still had some growing to do so she could reach her mother’s height, and her slender body was covered in ivory skin. Her up tilted eyes looked strangely familiar to Sakura, a warm green colour, and she had long, obsidian hair which was tied up with a length of scarlet ribbon. When she noticed Sakura staring, ElArtemis jumped and started to bow, but halted at her mother’s disdainful glance and bent instead into a clumsy curtsey.


“Well, Artemil now our daughters are properly aqquainted, may I have the pleasure of this dance?” Marco asked, and at Artemil’s accepting inclination of the head, he pulled her into his arms and swept her onto the dance floor into the throng of dancers.


Sakura stood, forgotten where she had been left, glaring disgustedly at the couple. Looking back at ElArtemis, she saw that her eyes were glued on her tail. Moodily, she cleared her throat and stared at her, expectantly.


“Ah! Uh, forgive me…” she stuttered, then fell into an uncomfortable silence. As Sakura continued to stare at her in a hostile manner, she tried desperately to start up a conversation. “It’s very, very nice to meet you, may I say, Princess Sakura. Your palace, it is very beautiful.”


Sakura sighed. “Look, you and I both know that neither of us really wants to be here, so why don’t we just go our own separate ways now and say nothing more on the subject?” she said, turning away. That corner was calling to her stronger than ever now…


“Wait! Please, I know not of what you speak, I am not here because I have been forced to, I find myself somewhat inclined to enjoy your company! I like you!” ElArtemis proclaimed earnestly.


“How can you say something like that? You hardly even know me, how can you say that you like me?” she asked dismissively.


“I know not! But I feel as if I know you, please! I sense some level of bitterness in your tone, have I done something wrong to make you angry?”


“GODS! No, Princess, you have not done anything. Not yet, anyway, now just leave me alone!” she yelled, and stormed off to her corner.
That corner was where Sakura spent the next half hour, sipping from a glass of red wine and growling a negative response to any man who came to ask her to dance., all too aware that any of them could be seeking her hand in marriage.


“Hey heeey, beautiful!” a familiar voice called from behind her. She whirled around to see V emerging from the crowd, sauntering his way over to her, dressed in a black suit and tie. Behind him were the rest of the band, grinning widely. “What’s this? Our little Sakura wearing a dress? What is the world coming to? And a crown, too! Honey can I just say that you have never looked better!”


Kane snickered, and Fran and Neo started to just laugh outright.


“Oh, grow up, all of you!” Sakura scolded, but the smile creeping across her face betrayed her harsh words.


“Why are you hiding in this corner? I’m sure a lot more people would ask you to dance if you were out there, instead of here!”


“I think that’s the point, idiot.” Neo commented, hitting V upside the head. He winced and cowered away from him.


“What are you lot doing here anyway?” Sakura asked, glancing around her to make sure that they hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention.


“Well, you know how we’ve been getting pretty famous lately? Well, just the other day we got an invitation from the king asking us to come to this engagement ball thing for some noble, because of our talent and dashing good looks! Isn’t it just so cool?” V replied, grinning cockily at her.


“Where is your father anyways?” asked Kane, his expression darkening


“Right here.” From nowhere, Marco appeared with one hand on Sakura’s shoulder and the other on her waist. She jumped violently, looking nervously at the band as they tried to contain their hateful expressions. Even V’s light demeanour and Fran’s placid expression were being replaced by anger, all knowing what the man before them had put their friend through. “I’m so glad you boys could make it. May I formally introduce to you my heir, Sakura.” At this point, Sakura curtseyed, as she knew was expected from her, keeping her face free of any emotion. “ Daughter, these are the members of the band I was telling you about the other day remember? When we were discussing the potential suitors that who would be attending the ball. These boys in particular I feel have the potential to be your fiancée.” At the boy’s astonished and shell-shocked expressions, he smirked, and amused glint in his eyes. “What, you thought I’d go through all this trouble for anyone else but my most promising daughter? Hah, you amuse me. Sakura, if you would please join me at the food table, I think ElArtemis may be yearning for some company…” He lead Sakura firmly away from the band, leaving only enough time for her to cast an apologetic grimace over her shoulder as she disappeared into the crowd.


“She… she never told us she was getting MARRIED!” Fran exclaimed into the stunned silence.


“Or that we were suitors…”Kane added, looking slightly horrified and more than a little disgusted. “Incest!”


Neo and V remained quiet, though for completely different reasons. V was daydreaming about how incredibly sexy Sakura had looked in her dress, with accentuated curves and an incredibly squeezable *bunny*, along with their prospective marriage and the benefits which would come with it… Neo However, gazed at Sakura’s retreating figure with not lust in his eyes, but a strong feeling of admiration for his long-time friend, and maybe even something more. Though he would never had known he felt it at that moment, because he was too afraid to explore his feelings any further than that. Nevertheless, it would always be there waiting for when he stumbled upon it at the right moment.


Across the hall, Sakura’s head was spinning as well, but not from shock. It was more from the boredom induced by spending this much time with unwanted company.


“What is this, Sakura? I haven’t seen anything so long and green before…”ElArtemis asked, carefully examining one of the vegetables on her plate.


“That, my dear, is a leek. A fine specimen which has been grown in the ground and then farmed at just the right time to make it the most tasteful of it’s kind.” Sakura drawled sarcastically by way of response. She was really struggling to find ways to amuse herself, here! “ You may also be interested to know that-”she bit down hard on her lip to suppress a yelp of pain and surprise, as her father shot a small bolt of electricity at her side under the table. ElArtemis saw this, but wisely made no comment, instead choosing to try and start a more interesting conversation with her fellow monarch which would be less likely to get her into trouble.


“Um, are those two girls over there your sisters?” she enquired, indicating to where Melanie and Gwen stood, just as stunningly dressed, at the other end of the hall. For the first time that night, Sakura’s expression softened and she smiled at ElArtemis.


“Yeah…yes, they are” she said, looking tenderly at them both as they engaged in conversations with young men.


“Are they… special to you? Do you talk to each other, and argue about pointless things, and have secret sleepovers?” Sakura’s smile grew.


“Well, I wouldn’t go as far to say that we had secret sleepovers, not anymore, anyway, but we do talk all the time, and we definitely argue about absolutely pointless things.” she confided. ElArtemis looked down at the floor.


“You are very lucky, you know. It is the thing I wish for most. A sibling, I mean. Of course, the maids will talk to me, but only to an extent, and my mother will sometimes engage in polite conversation with me, but no-one ever talks to me because they want to and enjoy it. Talking to the stuck-up ditz of a Princess is a chore to everyone, even yourself.” she finished miserably, tears welling up I her eyes.


“That’s stupid!” Sakura said forcefully, making ElArtemis look up in surprise. “I don’t not want to talk to you, it’s just… I’m feeling kind of tense and, well, irritable at the moment, that’s all. Listen, if you want, I’ll be your sister for the whole time you stay here.” she promised. She hated herself. She had got herself all psyched up to rebel against what her father had told her to do, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for ElArtemis, and besides, she felt a strange connection to the girl, that she just couldn’t place. I any case, her face lit up when the promise was made, and that was just about enough to settle Sakura’s qualms about doing this.


“Oh! Thank you, thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words. It is a very welcome change from the bitter tongue you used to have!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Sakura’s shoulders.


“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome.” Sakura mumbled embarrassedly, glancing around to make sure no-one she knew had seen, and pushing ElArtemis gently off her.


“Sakura! It is time for you to meet the full list of your suitors.” Marco announced, taking her arm and leading her away from ElArtemis and across to the bottom of the grand staircase, where Sakura knew he would expect her to stand and greet the many men already beginning to crowd.
The first person she recognised was V, not very far from the front at all, with a massive, perverse grin on his face. Sakura rolled her eyes and was as polite as possible in getting him to mover along. The way he was looking at her was really starting to freak her out. A little way behind him was Kane, looking very, very uncomfortable and wondering how he had let V persuade him that it would look less suspicious if he too greeted Sakura. As fast as possible, he took his niece’s hand, kissed it, the ran away, leaving Sakura to wonder if he had actually been there at all. Right behind him was Fran, who was very polite, but unusually distant, as he was all to aware that he might slip up and act too familiar with her. When Neo stepped up a few minutes later, his cheeks reddened, as did Sakura’s, and he unconsciously reached out for her hand and held it while they talked. When he reluctantly stepped away, both parties felt as if something was missing without the other’s hand held in their own. Sakura scolded herself for feeling so empty without him there. It wasn’t Neo she was in love with… it was Callum! To her joy, at the end of the receiving line she could see a pair of rabbit ears sticking out above the heads of the other men. As he reached her, Sakura’s heart began to beat that little bit faster, and she looked upon him adoringly. He looked amazingly attractive in a fitted suit which suited his lean frame and fairly narrow shoulders. The long brown hair which Sakura found so beautiful was tied back in an aristocratic way, and the look on his face was impatient…had he seen her intimacy with Neo? To her, it didn’t mean anything, but to an onlooker…


Finally it was his turn, and Sakura greeted him eagerly, trying not too look guilty, or like she had something to hide.


“So… care to tell me how you managed to bust you way in here?” she asked, glad she didn’t have to act cold or distant, as her father was aware that they had met before. Callum blushed.


“Well actually…I got an invitation. I guess that means your dad likes me then, huh?” He glanced over his shoulder with a shy smile on his face, and on seeing that he was last in line, bowed deeply to Sakura and took her hand. “Now, Princess, may I have the honour of this dance?” Grinning, Sakura nodded and allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor, drowning in the depths of her partner’s eyes. There was so much emotion there….desire, admiration, adoration and…love? She hoped so.


They danced together far into the evening, slowly getting closer and closer together until finally they danced with their bodies pressed firmly against each other from the hip all the way up to the shoulder, heads resting on each other. They were so focused on each other that both failed to notice the way that one pair of golden eyes followed their every move. Neo gazed at the female partner in confusion and longing, unable to comprehend what it was he was feeling. Was it love? Hate? Jealousy? With a sigh, he slipped silently out the servant’s exit, to find somewhere quiet where he could sort out the turmoil of his feelings.