Urgent (Lucian)

The humidity had been suffocating the residents of Hoshigakure all day, culminating into a storm that both priests and ninja alike predicted would either be very good for the city or leave it devastated. Not short on her own superstitious beliefs by far, Tehniyat had been preparing for something ill fated to occur all day. The library windows had been locked up as opposed to thrown open to tempt in the nonexistent breeze as they usually were. the princess dressed in auspicious finery, did not eat fish o drink milk that day and even made sure to send out servants to ensure no white cats roamed the palace grounds by night. 

So when Darkness Yuki came bursting into the library, Princess Tehniyat had all but resigned herself to an uneventful if stormy night. Everything changed with the young girl's testimony, Ser Atem already leaving his charge's side to validate the truth of the story. He returned a few minutes later to confirm that he could sense neither Ser Meryn nor Princess Kanzaki's chakra in the palace grounds.

Now, Darkness was sent to bed and Ser Atem on one of the most important errands he would ever run in his life - to fetch Lucian Nazar wherever the young monk may be. The task was important enough to leave even Tehniyat unguarded in his wake, in a palace with no trained Queensguards and the Captain now a traitor to the crown.

Turning her green eyes to the locked glass windows, Tehniyat crossed and then uncrossed her legs as she sat in her straight backed chair. The young woman tried to convince herself that this would be taken care of but the sky outside showed not a single star.

And that bothered her more than she could ever put into words.

Drying off the last plate and stacking it with the other fifty odd plates of varying size and questionable color, Lucian leaned against the suds filled sink looking at his work with a thin smile. For an assortment of forty-five children the patrons of the soup kitchen made the mess of a crowd double their size. Breaking his repose the Nazar boy turned to the sink and took a breath before plunging his arm into the suds.

"Lucian, someone is here to see you!!!" Acacia called from the dining room in the only way she knew, loudly.

"I'll be there in a minute!" He yelled back.

Groping blindly for the drain plug he was starting to lose hope; sometimes the drain became clogged with god only knew what and made locating it a bit difficult. Ah! With a twist and a triumphant tug the satisfying sound of draining water filled the room as Lucian removed his soapy arm from the deep sink.

Reaching for a towel the chuunin caught a figure in his periphery vision that did not quite look like the diminutive Acacia. Rightfully startled he turned around quickly sending water off his arm in smooth spiral and onto the checkerboard flooring. However, before the boy could speak the man was talking. Well, perhaps informing was a the better word.

"Lucian Nazar, Princess Tehniyat will see you now," Ser Atem stated plainly. There was no ambiguity with the order that came next. "Follow me."

A bit stunned Lucian quickly ran the towel over his arm and nodded once to the man. One does not turn down royalty lightly. That said the Nazar boy did rather wish he had been told what Tehniyat wished of him, but as Ser Atem led him through the streets of Hoshigakure it became apparent he would have to wait for an explanation.

The pair arrived at the doors Lucian had seen once before when he talked to Tehniyat. Why the library of all places? Pulling open the door the boy entered with slow and easy steps. In fact, it was only as the door closed soundlessly behind him that he began to feel out of place.

There was a different feel to the library that he could not quite place his finger on. However, he quickly gave up trying to pinpoint the reason and chalked it up to his attire. No, Lucian was not exactly well dressed. A food stained white T-shirt and brown pants accented by the black apron still wrapped around his body; Ser Atem had insisted that time was of the essence. So, with as much dignity as he could muster Lucian walked into the room stopping a respectful distance from where Tehniyat sat.

Bringing an arm across his waist he gave a deep bow.

"How may I help you, your grace?" Lucian asked rising from his bow.

This was all very odd; had he done something wrong?

Usually one to observe decorum in every situation - for what was a princes without the fanfare - tonight Tehniyat all but jumped off her chair as the door silently closed behind the young monk, only years of practiced courtesy allowing her to wait the few seconds it took for him to bow and address her appropriately. Despite his odd garb - something to do with his faith, she imagined - he seemed ready and alert. More importantly the chunin greeted her amicably, with no illusions to the fact that the last time they had spoken, he had been entasked to track down a murderer in her family. Nor did Lucian ever hold Good Uncle Mervyn's crime against his nieces - the main reason why it had to be him for this job.

"The Princess Kanzaki has been abducted," Tehniyat began without preamble, her usually graceful features contorted into a pale expression of worry tonight. Her hands, always calm and placed politely clenched each other tightly, turning her slender fingers and tiny knuckles varying shades of pink and white from the stress. Her golden hair, while still styled to accommodate her lucky gold circlet, had come loose over the course of the waiting period somewhat, escaped tendrils hanging over her frown lined forehead. "It was an inside job. The Captain of our Queensguard has made the executive decision to betray the crown." the information was given monotonously only because Tehniyat couldn't reveal how frightened she was. Ser Meryn was the man who's key job had been to protect her. Not a father figure exactly but the knight had been a source of comfort nonetheless.

And now he had turned on her in a way that would hurt if she could understand the emotion as such.

"I believe... I believe he intends to blame the disappearance of Her Grace, Kanzaki on myself as I have the most to gain. What with our Good Aunt now one with the stars, the throne remains contested among the two of us. He has decided to take advantage of this confusion to play his own hand."

Lucian played his part well. He nodded along with Tehniyat as she spoke his face betraying little emotion save for his brow. With each passing moment the furrows in his brow became deeper and deeper. On one hand Kanzaki was missing taken by none other than captain of the service meant to protect the royals and on the other hand Tehniyat seemed to be losing his grip. Concern for both Kanzaki and Tehniyat finally etched a frown on the monk's once stoic countenance.

For a moment after Tehniyat finished speaking silence took over the library as if all the world held its breath.

"I see," Lucian started as if to test the waters. "And what part am I to play in this?"

Direct questions were the best path at this point. Tehniyat did not seem in a mood to suffer through Lucian's normally rambling mannerisms. The Nazar boy was not guru of the human psyche, but Tehniyat would probably not be able to sustain her current state without a breakdown. She, like everyone, was only human. Unfortunately, Lucian found himself not in a position to comfort the woman, it was not his place. She had called him here for a reason and he had a sneaking suspicion that it was not to give him a FAQ on the affairs of the royal family. Yes, Lucian could see where this conversation was going and he did not much like the sound of it. Yet still he remained standing and waiting with a fast fading frown.

Now was not the time to feed into Tehniyat's apparent hysteria.

At his question, the young princess attempted to rise to her full height, attempted to make herself appear as regal as she normally did, all in vain as her frame gave up half way, making the princess sink back into her chair, her usually ramrod straight posture crooked as her hands gripped the armrests to keep the rest of her from shaking.

"I would command you." she began, only for her voice to quiver, making her start over. "I would beseech you to find my royal cousin. She is only nine summers old and does not understand the complexities of this political stage play. She has only recently lost her Lady Mother to illness and then our Aunt. I can't imagine how she must be feeling wherever that.. that abomination is keeping her."

The words left her mouth like an open wound, unrefined and politically incorrect though perhaps the truest form of speech she had expelled in a while. Being in charge of the shinobi administration required even more delicate communication than being the royal treasurer had and the work was finally taking its toll on the nineteen year old forced to grow up far too quickly. Tehniyat couldn't begin to fill the late Queen Shiera's shoes, she couldn't even keep her own family safe.

"At daybreak, the news of the abduction will go public. You will have to find her before dawn, Ser Lucian. I do not have any trained Queensguard at my disposal at the moment and even if I did, our foe knows how to deal with them. He trained them. He will not be suspecting you however, a man of the cloth easily mistakable for a commoner." If her words sounded offensive, they were not meant to.

"I personally think he would not have traveled beyond Haven - the city even, he would need to keep Her Grace close by and under guard while still keeping up appearances here until I am justly tried in the eyes of Gods and men and found guilty of her abduction. That is why she has to be found tonight so we can put a stop to his plans before they can see the light of day."

Just as she finished, a loud clap of thunder broke over the library, signalling the storm. Only a few seconds after, heavy raindrops began to fall from the skies, spattering against the glass windows and drowning the world outside in the first rain of autumn.

Starting forward as the princess fell back into her chair Lucian caught himself after his first step and brought a halt to his advance. It was clear Tehniyat needed someone to comfort her, someone to talk to, or maybe even a shoulder to cry on. However, Lucian would be none of those things. He could not even begin to imagine the stress Tehniyat was under; she, in all likelihood, feared for her life. All this, of course, begged the question in the back of Lucian's mind: should she really have a chance to be queen if she dealt with stressors like this? Sure, one might say this was an extreme stressor, but running a village was filled with such extremes.

Such thoughts were, of course, kept deep in the recesses of Lucian's mind and would probably not see the light of day. For now though he would listen. As Tehniyat spoke it became more and more clear to Lucian what had to be done. Perhaps were time not of the essence he would ask why him? Why not a jounin? Why not the Denkiteki himself? Questions, there were always questions. Unfortunately these questions and more would go unanswered.

The clock was ticking.

For maybe five or ten seconds all that broke the silence was the rain and roll of thunder as if nature wanted to weigh in on the conversation.

"I won't mince words with you," Lucian spoke with more confidence than he felt. "You want me to find your cousin? Done, I'll do it."

A pause as he ran a hand over his shaved head.

"But then there is the issue of the former captain. I doubt he will simply allow me to waltz out with his captive. Would you like me to capture him as well?"

That last bit was wishful thinking. Lucian was not so naive to think that the captain would allow himself to be captured. He would inevitably fight to the death, because capture meant death as well. No matter what path he took death waited for him. The only problem being that Lucian did not much like the idea of killing someone.

Could he do it?

Tehniyat allowed her grip on the armrest to relax as the monk agreed to assist her. Had she been in better control of her faculties, she would have thanked him more profusely. As it was, she merely nodded, sitting up straighter as though her posture - trained over years and years of etiquette lessons - would only allow so much disgrace to befall the royal heiress. Her green eyes however turned cold at the mention of the former Captain.

"Ser Meryn is a traitor to thE crown," she declared, each word laced with rage fueled by her fear. "He is actively scheming against both the remaining heirs to the throne and may be hurting one of them as we speak. Need I remind you what should befall such traitors?" The words were more bravado than command, and she doubted he couldn't see them for what they were. She had never given an order to kill before but there was always a first time.

"Exercise your best judgement Ser, i dare say you have plenty of it. Ser Meryn should not be a problem Hoshigakure has to deal with come morning."

How odd it was to see Tehniyat in such a state. One moment she appeared to be regaining her composure and the next she was blasting the former captain of the queensguard as an abomination. It was all quite distressing to behold. However, Lucian did not have time to read into each swing of Tehniyat's emotions at this point. Already his mind was whirring; where would Meryn go?

"Very well," Lucian said without need to pause this time. "Meryn will not be an issue for very much longer. What leads do we have thus far?"

Please have something...

Without anything to go on the task before Lucian was far too immense for one single night and doomed to failure from the onset. After all, a full sweep of the village would take days and attract far too much attention. In all likelihood though Meryn was hiding out with some sympathizing religious sect. At least, that was where Lucian would go especially given the weather. Meryn was holed up somewhere. It was just a matter of finding out where and going from there.

Oh dear.

Her left hand was already sliding open a desk drawer as he asked the question, a thin folder encased in a waterproof cover sliding on the table in answer. "This is a summary of all personal property Ser Meryn owns within the city and outside it, the small cluster of churches he attends and his remaining family and personal connection in the city. If he's holding the princess inside Hoshi's walls, it has to be somewhere within these places."

Passing him the file, the princess raised her hands to her throat this time, reaching for the gold chain that hung there. It was a testament to her training that Tehniyat was able to undo the clasp in one go despite her current state and without any assistance. Removing the chain and locket from her person, she handed it to the monk as well,

"The Royal seal of Haven in case anyone questions you tonight. As long as you hold this, you speak with the voice and authority of the crown. Use it to find my cousin... You may return this to me on the morrow."

If there were no further questions, the young Princess would bid him farewell and fair fortune. "I will await your return right here," she informed him, not planning to move from her spot until Kanzaki was safely home. "And I will pray for your and Princess Kanzaki's swift and safe return. Godspeed."

Stepping forward Lucian took the folder without glancing once at the pages. There would be time for strategy later; Tehniyat had more to say. The next item Lucian received, however, was a bit unexpected, the royal seal of Hoshigakure. Cupping the locket in his hand stopped himself from clutching it too hard in some vague fear it might break. Eventually the locket found its way to his pocket while the folder was clutched tightly to his side.

"Thank you," Lucian said with a bow before turning to leave.

With a busy mind fast beating heart and steady steps the boy made his way back to the door. Halfway through pushing the door Lucian found he could not help himself. he had to say something.

"And don't worry, Miss," He called back to Tehniyat, dropping formalities ever so slightly. "Everything will be fine, do get some rest. I'll have this all sorted out in no time."

And then, just like that, in a clap of thunder a flash of lightning Tehniyat would find herself alone and Lucian would find himself facing a coming deluge. Some said that the first rain was always the worst. Lucian wasn't sure if he believed that, but it did seem like a truly nasty storm was only just beginning. His first stop was home; he could not go hunting a princess in the garb of a dishwasher. It simply was not done.

This is going to be a long night...

[Exit. WC: 1,542]