literature

One Piece: Storm of the Heart, Chpt. 7

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It was late evening by the time Zoya and the Straw Hats approached the castle through the forest just outside the castle stables.  There were no paths behind the barns and the forest was thickest here, enabling her to sneak them into the castle more easily.  In the meantime, however, she wanted to scope the castle out to see if Ebsom and his marines were still making themselves completely at home before bringing an entire crew of pirates inside.  She instructed the Straw Hats to wait in the stables with the cats, and ordered the cats to keep any would-be intruders away from them.

Zoya entered the castle through the stables’ door, near to the kitchen and servants’ quarters.  She strode down the hallway, nodding to a few a curious staff.  She realized that she had been absent for nearly two days; she silently chastised herself for not having considered the consequences of that.  If Ebsom is still here he most surely will question where I have been.  She prayed that the obnoxious captain had made himself scarce from her estate.

“Zoya!”

She whipped around at the sound of the woman’s voice, then sighed with relief to discover that it was only her sister Katya.  “Come here, sister, you have some explaining to do.  And I have some bad news for you,” she whispered, grabbing her by the arm and quickly leading her into an empty meeting hall, glancing around suspiciously before shutting the door behind them.  “Ebsom and his crew left this morning, and he was thoroughly annoyed that you weren’t here to see them off.  He was also very suspicious of your absence.  He said he would have stayed to give you a piece of his mind himself, but his scouts spotted debris along the shoreline indicating that pirates have been in our waters recently and felt the need to go investigate himself.  Where in the hell have you been?  And why would you take off without telling me?  How dare you leave me here to entertain that beast alone,” Katya interrogated.

Zoya felt her heart tighten; the navy now knew that there were most likely pirates on her island.  Katya studied her sister’s face long and hard, discerning the anxiety there.  “You ought to turn those two pirates over to him.  We have enough difficulties of our own right now without adding to our problems.  Did your extended absence have something to do with them?”

Zoya sighed.  “The less you know about them, the better.  There’s no need for both of us to incriminate ourselves,” she mumbled darkly.

“Did their ship crash in the waters around here?  Where did you stow them away?”

“What did I just say?  The less you know, the better.  So stop asking questions you and I both don’t want you to know the answer to.  I’ll worry about them,” Zoya grumbled.

“Dammit Zoya!  Why do you do this to me?  You run off chasing your own crazy ideas and ignore any help that’s right in front of your face.  Ebsom’s disgusting but he has the power to help our country.  He’s already caring for our citizens--”

“Caring?  You call that caring?  He tries to blackmail me with them every time he visits, you know that.  He couldn’t care less about the citizens, they’re only worth anything to him as hostages.  He would just as soon kill them if he thought that they wouldn’t be enough to sway my sympathies.  Don’t give me any of your faith in the navy, Katya.  I judge no person by the uniform they wear, only the nature of their heart, demonstrated by integrity, honesty, and resilience.  Ebsom has none of that,” Zoya ranted.  “If, and this is a large if, there are pirates on this island, I will show them the same courtesy as I do the navy, until they prove they are not worthy of it.”

“If you so strongly feel the navy isn’t worth your consideration, then why do you entertain Ebsom at all?” Katya challenged.

Zoya was silent; she did push aside her principles when it came to Ebsom, but only for practical reasons as much as it loathed her to do so.  “I play nice with Ebsom because he is our only access to the world.  And as long as I play nice with him, then our country remains a part of the world government and under the protection of the navy, although I use the term ‘protection’ loosely.  I have already caused enough damage to this island; I will not leave it vulnerable to attacks by more greedy people in the world, be they pirates or marines.  Now, if you don’t mind, I have business to attend to,” Zoya said coldly, wrenching her arm from Katya’s grasp.

“Fine.  Attend to your ‘business,’ which I know has something to do with those two pirates.  Meanwhile, I, the princess, will take care of your responsibilities and attend to the actual business of ruling this kingdom and maintaining our standing among our nearest allies and the navy,” Katya snapped back.

Zoya stormed out of the room, allowing her to have the last word.  She hated the diplomacy, the politics; it made her sick every time she had to plaster a demure smile on her face to show congeniality to arrogant, smug rulers in power.  Katya valued that aspect of governing much more, and was far better at it than she was.  Zoya would much rather take the blunt and honest approach when resolving conflicts, although that didn’t tend to sit well with the other members of the world government.  

Zoya saw some staff lingering in the hallway; she had to find something with which to occupy them while she brought the Straw Hats inside.  “I need you to head to the third floor and prepare the guest suites.  Captain Ebsom will be returning no doubt, as soon as he’s satisfied with his pointless investigation of our shores.  All of you, go quickly.  God only knows when he’ll return and what kind of mood he’ll be in,” she said, hiding her troubled thoughts with cynicism.  The staff nodded and briskly headed down the hallway to do as she asked.  After they disappeared around the corner, she opened the door to the stables at the end of the hallway and gestured for the Straw Hats to enter quickly and quietly.  Now, to get them to her own suite on the second floor.

She led them through the large kitchen to a small stairway at the back that was typically only used by the staff.  Nami first had to pull Sanji away from the oven as his interest was caught by some sort of meat roasting, then her captain as he tried to sneak away into the pantry.  Zoya was alarmed at their lack of urgency or seriousness, and stopped them as soon as they were in single file on the hidden stairway to deliver some harsh criticism.  “The navy has left the castle, surely you’ve noticed that.  Do you know why I am still sneaking you into the castle rather than just letting you walk in the front door?” she asked, fury in her voice and her eyes, and was answered only with blank stares.  “I am the only one who can know you are here.  If my staff see you, or my sister, then they will be incriminated along with myself if the navy discovers you here.  Ebsom will take this kingdom from me by force, and the government will fully support his actions in doing so.  The mines will be harvested, the citizens will starve at his base, and the island will die.  I will not drag anyone else down with me, should it come to that.  Not a single soul in this castle knows you are here, and not a single soul will ever know you were here save for me.  Is that clearly understood?”

Blank stares dissipated into guilty expressions and frowns.  “Good.  Now follow me, quickly and quietly.  I am taking you to my personal suite, which none of the staff will dare enter without personally speaking to me first.  Only my sister would think to do so, and still only with my permission,” she said, leading them up the narrow spiral staircase to the second level.  She slowly cracked open the door to ensure the hall was clear, then led them down the hallway at a brisk pace.  She swung open a heavy door to her right and ushered them inside, then quickly shut it behind her.  Zoro and Sanji both noticed that this was the same room she had given them clothes and coats from before.  

“Shitty cook, see, it is her room,” Zoro muttered under his breath to Sanji.

“Shut up, stupid swordsman,” Sanji shot back louder, and they began to bicker back and forth, quickly elevating until Nami interrupted them, hitting both on the head.  Zoya watched on in exasperation; what had she gotten herself into?  She flopped into an armchair by the fireplace, which was cold at this point.  Luffy sat in another armchair across from her.

“I’m sorry, we don’t mean to be so much trouble to you.  We really only want to help,” he said earnestly.

“Quiet isn’t exactly our specialty,” Robin commented, leaning on the chair and standing behind him.  Nami looked out the windows above the wardrobes; the wind had picked up, and she could see streaks of lightning flashing in the sky.  She knew Zoya was upset, but sensed that it wasn’t just about the simplicity of her crew this time.

Zoya didn’t answer; only slouched further into the chair, rubbing her forehead.  Such kind people, but so foolish.  She was getting a headache and was having a hard time remembering why she had brought them here in the first place; oh, that’s right, because she liked them and she thought they might be able to help her figure out how to stop the eternal storm on this island.  Nami elbowed Zoro and nodded her head in the direction of the fireplace; Zoro took the hint and began to start a fire.  “Zoya,” she said, sitting on the arm of the queen’s chair, “you haven’t rested since you helped us all find each other again.  This is your suite and we’re in your debt.  Why don’t you sleep for now?  We’ll stay here.” Zoya looked skeptical at her assurance.  “Okay, I’ll make sure we all stay here,” Nami added, glowering at Luffy.  “You won’t be able to figure anything out exhausted like this.”

Zoya considered Nami’s words; it was true, the only rest she’d had in the last two days was a short and fitful nap that ended in a horrific flashback.  She couldn’t guarantee that wouldn’t happen again, but at least they were in the castle now; the lightning rods would be able to handle any elements that her subconscious could summon.  She sighed.  “You’re right, Nami.  I do need some sleep.  But first I will bring up something for us all to eat.  Stay here, I’ll be up shortly with a cart.”  Her first thought had been to have the staff bring it up, but that wouldn’t do.  How would she explain wanting enough food brought to her suite for ten people?

She returned soon with a cart carrying various dishes; a large elk roast, broiled fish, root vegetable stew, and several other hearty dishes that filled the Straw Hats.  Soon Zoya felt her eyes droop in earnest, and she did not bother changing out of her clothes or covering up with a blanket before falling asleep on her own bed.  The Straw Hats smiled to themselves; it was good to see their new friend finally relax and rest.  She had been carrying so much of their troubles on her shoulders for the past few days.  Each began to fall asleep themselves in turn; Franky and Robin leaning up against the wall next to the fire, Brook selecting a chest on the opposite wall of the wardrobes.  Usopp sprawled out in front of the fireplace; and Luffy invited Nami to join him in the chair, which she shyly accepted.  Soon the only ones left awake were Zoro and Sanji.

Sanji walked over to the queen and watched her sleep, taking the opportunity to cover her up with a heavy quilt folded at the foot of the king size bed.  He had not swooned over her once since he had met her; her air of authority indicating to him that if he had done so when they first met, she may very well not have given them the help that they had needed, or even turned them over to the navy.  Without her, it was quite possible that Zoro and Nami could have died.  He smoothed the hair out of her face and finally allowed himself to admire just how beautiful she was while resting peacefully, and he noticed that even asleep, she still looked incredibly lonely.  Zoro walked around the other side, and laid down on the empty spot next to her on the bed.

“Oi, moss-head, what do you think you’re doing?” he asked suspiciously.

“Gonna go to sleep, what does it look like?”

“On this bed?  Next to the queen?  I think not,” Sanji answered, anger growing quickly.

“Why not?  It’s a king size bed.  It’d be a shame to let the extra space go to waste,” he said nonchalantly, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.  Sanji gritted his teeth; he was fighting back the urge to full on tackle Zoro so that he wouldn’t wake Zoya up.  Instead he grabbed a spare chair and pulled it over to the side Zoro was sleeping on.  He sat down in it and dropped his legs in the swordsmans’s lap.

“If that’s where you’re going to sleep, then I’m going to make sure you don’t do a damn thing other than sleep,” he growled at him.  Zoro smirked and drifted off into a deep slumber; Sanji soon following suit.
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