Star-crossed Royals

Chapter Ten

Akiko was taken aback. While the world had moved forward regarding male and female roles, especially in relationships, her family had most certainly failed to do so. They lived by strictly traditional, albeit ancient, customs where the women were expected to be subservient to their mates. Being asked permission to do something wasn’t something she had much experience with. She’d also never seen many public displays of affection in Japan. Even in modern times, displays were usually kept to maybe holding hands, but nothing more. She’d never seen her father openly be affectionate with her mother, ever. In watching American movies and media when she was younger, she’d always imagined the perfect whirlwind romance for herself. Still, Akiko never imagined that in her life, she’d genuinely be allowed to experience it. Duty demanded more from her than a selfish desire to be loved fully. She’d been in a room with all of the various kitsune family lines and never had an inkling of the beginning of Kaen. So, she knew that her bond would be an arranged one, not one of real love.

Here she was in the middle of America with this boy earnestly looking down at her with his grey eyes, like liquid steel, that creased just slightly around the corners as he smiled. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as all these thoughts and the overwhelming urge to touch him flowed through her.

“Please,” she said in return, reaching towards his outstretched hand to take it.

Just like the first time he touched her, she felt the electricity spread through her body, starting where his hand met hers. It was different now, though. She was just as attracted to him, but now that they’d bonded, she didn’t feel like she’d die until he was inside her. They began walking quietly, both seemingly occupied with the thoughts in their head but enjoying the proximity to each other.

“So, how bad did Yuri freak out?” Jamie said, breaking the silence.

“Pretty badly,” she answered with a sigh. “He’s pretty terrified of my parents.”

Jamie stopped, then pulled her towards a bench placed in a small semiprivate alcove surrounded by trees and a small duck pond behind it. Never letting go of her hand, he sat down, pulling her beside him. He looked at her suddenly, very seriously, “Akiko, who are your parents?”

Akiko stayed silent a moment, trying to figure out the right words to convey who her parents were and how to explain to an outsider who and what she was.

Seeing Akiko pause, Jamie continued impatiently, “Your ability to disappear, Leif says that it’s the mark of a royal kitsune. Is that true? Are you part of the kitsune royal line? Are you… like me?”

“What do you mean like you?” she fired back, suddenly shocked at the thought that there was anyone who could understand her role within the kitsune hierarchy.

“I’m the Prionnsa of the race of Lycans. I’m the sole heir and part of our royal line. It’s why my eyes are purple when I use my powers. You seemed to know about us, so I thought you at least knew that.”

Akiko had felt alone all her life. Her uncles were killed in the m******e that decimated her people, but her father grew up with siblings, as did her mother. While her mother’s family wasn’t considered royalty, she wasn’t alone. Within kitsune society, there was no one in a station similar to hers, and even though Yuri had known her since birth, he would still never know what it felt like to be her. The weight of her parent's expectations and her entire race possibly looking to her for their continued survival was a burden that she sometimes felt would crush her under its weight. Now, this beautiful and unexpected boy was telling her that he was like her. He was the only heir to his race like she was to hers. The thought of her father’s siblings and the mention of purple eyes reminded her that there were things outside the bubble of their new love. Her desire to be close to him all but evaporated.

Withdrawing her hand from his, Akiko’s voice became suddenly cold, “Prionnsa?”

Jamie was confused why she took her hand from his, and the sudden rejection cut through him like a knife.

“It’s Gaelic for ‘prince,’” he said softly. “Our people originate in Scotland. Most of Lycan terminology is in Gaelic because of that.”

Looking at his face, she could see that he’d noticed her change in demeanor, and it hurt him a bit. But she didn’t care about that right now. There was so much they didn't know about these wolves or why they came to Japan. If there were a chance for her parents and the rest of the kitsune to accept her bond with Jamie, she had to find out everything she could about him and his role, or lack thereof, in the decimation of her people.

“You said you didn’t know about kitsune,” she said bluntly. “How is that? As a prince, were you not prepared for your duties as the eventual king, or whatever you call it?”

“Rígh,” Jamie replied, starting to get frustrated at Akiko’s change in demeanor. “My father is called the Rígh. Yes, I have been prepared all my life to one day ascend, to take his role, not that I even know if I want it. I can tell you all about the Selkies of Scotland, the Nagual in South America, and plenty of other things like vampires. But, never have I been told about anything about kitsune or anything related to any supernatural races in Japan.”

“Then they lied to you,” she said, now even more annoyed. “They know about us, but they don’t want you to know what they’ve done.”

“Who are they? My parents?” he asked, a bit exasperated at Akiko continuing to be indirect with what was bothering her.

“Let me tell you the large piece of history that your parents have kept from you,” she spat, angry that this had been seemingly kept from him, like the death of her people didn’t even matter enough to remember.

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t the only tragedies that fell upon innocent civilians in Japan during World War II,” she said before taking a breath, preparing herself to drop a bomb of her own on Jamie.

Jamie looked at this small girl sitting next to him intently. It amazed him that she was so small, but he could feel the power emanating from her. He’d only ever felt this from his father and Leif’s family. He turned towards her, honestly desperate to know what this big secret was and why Akiko seemed so intent on punishing him for this apparently negative encounter between the Lycan and kitsune in the past.

“In 1942, a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, our family began receiving reports of kitsune disappearing within Japan. One or two we could understand, but when it approached a dozen, my father sent out scouts from Yuri’s family to try to find them. They also never returned. At this time, there were thirteen clans. Each clan had its own unique element or power, with twelve of them serving my family. My father sent emissaries to each clan, asking them to come to our estate where we could band together against whatever was taking our brothers and sisters away from us. We only received word back from ten clans. The other two… our emissaries could barely speak of the horrors they encountered when they arrived in their lands. Thus, two entire clans of kitsune were lost to the world forever. Among them, my uncles. One was visiting his mate's family and the other who went with him.”

Tears welled in Akiko’s eyes, but Jamie resisted the urge to wipe them from her face. He knew it was essential to give her the time she needed to tell this story. He was shocked, and he wasn’t sure where he would come into this, but he could see she was in pain.

Wiping her eyes quickly, she continued, “This spanned about a year as World War II raged around the globe, and Japan was in chaos. Finally, in February 1943, all the clans that remained gathered together, hoping they would be protected in close proximity and with my father watching over them. Over a few weeks, our quiet estate became a small village. My father ordered Hattori and Yuri’s family to start training the other clan’s warriors to form a guard, and they started patrolling the village twenty-four-seven. Life went back to normal for a few months, and everyone started to form a routine, hopeful that the danger within Japan was behind them.”

“I assume it wasn’t?”

Akiko shook her head silently, “One summer evening, the invisible force causing our people to disappear was no longer hiding. A man tall, physically imposing, and with blazing purple eyes lead a pack of wolves into our midst. Orange- and red-eyed wolves joined this berserker of a man. They moved methodically through any opposition thrown at them. Our elemental powers affected the orange- and red-eyed wolves, but he shrugged it off like it didn’t phase him. At one point, the man seemed to be overwhelmed by a sea of kitsune warriors, but he cut them all down, a huge two-handed sword appearing from nowhere that could be seen.”

Jamie instinctively reached for the small, stone moon charm hanging around his neck, realization starting to set in as she told the story. His necklace was special, and many Lycan warriors carried one, including Leif. They used an enchantment to allow the wearer to draw their sword from it in battle. Jamie’s was handed down to him by his father. It contained his father’s claymore, a large two-handed sword.