Always byYour Side: Chapter 4
An Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (Snow White with the Red Hair) Fanfic
Information gathering. That’s what Mukaze told Obi.He’s good at that—lurking in the shadows and teasing secrets from loose lips.And Shirayuki . . . well, she’s good at making people trust her.
But that plan had required invisibility, something which they no longer have, according to the men the prince caught in the garden.
He cleans under his fingernails with the tip of his knife as he listens to Mitsuhide and the prince discuss how best to protect Shirayuki, should the spies following her decide to take more direct action, and tries to pretend he isn’t silently fuming. He shouldn’t have left. Mukaze hadn’t necessarily needed news now.
He fights not to snort when the prince suggests giving her a bodyguard. She can protect herself better than any guard, if they could even keep up with her.
“What about you, Obi?”
He nearly drops his knife, but turns it into a flip at the last second. “What, me?”
It would make their sneaking around so much easier, but the suggestion bothers him. He raises his hands. “No, that’s impossible. I threatened her, remember?”
“I think it should be up to Shirayuki,” the prince says. “If she wants to send you away, she can.”
Right. Cause she certainly wouldn’t feel obligated to go along with the prince’s plans or anything.
“When I gave you permission to leave the castle on your own,” the prince continues, “I did consider the possibility that you might not come back.”His smile is kind, but his eyes say he knows exactly the weight the statement lays on Obi’s shoulders. “Forgive me.”
He stares. That’s the smartest thing he’s heard come out of the prince’s mouth yet. Maybe he did get some of his brother’s cunning.
He stands stiffly against the wall as Shirayuki stares out the window. He’s not entirely sure how a bodyguard is supposed to react in this situation. Of course, most bodyguards probably don’t have to worry about their charges getting intoxicated by accident.
Garrack feels bad for her prank, he knows, but there was no way for her to know how much of a lightweight Shirayuki is. It had freaked Obi out too. Mukaze still makes fun of him for running to find him the first time he convinced her to try a drink. He’d been terrified when she wouldn’t wake up, and couldn’t figure out why her father only laughed.
It’s boring being a bodyguard. No one ever told him that part. He’d considered taking those sorts of jobs when money ran low, but is glad he didn’t. At least the pharmacy is busy enough to keep him somewhat occupied.
His eyes start to fall closed, too used to dozing when he has to wait on jobs, so he almost doesn’t notice Shirayuki get up. Almost.
She doesn’t ask him to come with her, but she doesn’t try to sneak out either. Her flushed cheeks suggest she’s still drunk, so he expects her to head to bed. Instead she goes outside. Well, it’s a nice night for exercise, so he follows her as she wanders around the grounds, content to leave her alone with her thoughts, until he gets close enough to hear her muttering about stealing a horse.
“Homesick already?” It’s understandable. This is the furthest she’s ever been from either home.
She jumps when he speaks. She really must be drunk. She’s usually the only person he can’t sneak up on. She whirls around and points over his shoulder. “Marquis Haruka!” She waits, frozen, until she realizes he’s not going to turn around. Her hand slowly falls to her side, and her shoulders slump. “Why didn’t you turn around?”
He raises an eyebrow. She hasn’t tried to trick him into anything other than taking medicine in years. “There’s no way he’d be here now. What are you trying to do?”
She glances away, and he can just see her searching for a lie. Then she gives up and drops her head in her hands. “I don’t want to tell you. You’ll think I’m being stupid.”
“When have I ever called you stupid?”
Her head shoots up and she glares. “Lots of times. Like . . .” She frowns and bites her lip. “Like with Kaoru’s cat!”
Obi tries to hold back a laugh, but it’s hard. “In my defense, I didn’t say climbing the tree was stupid. I said it was stupid to do it in that long dress with no one around. You were lucky you didn’t break any bones when you fell.”
She slumps against the wall and nudges the grass with her toes. He leans beside her, tucking his arms behind his head. “So why are you trying to steal a horse?”
She huffs. “I’m not stealing a horse. I just want to . . . borrow one.”
“Surely the prince would let you borrow one if you asked.” He thought he said it casually, but given her glare, he doubts it.
“He doesn’t know I can ride.”
Right. “Well, if someone sees you “borrow” one, they’re going to know you can ride anyway.”
“Oh.” Her brow furrows as she frowns. He forgot how cute she gets when she’s drunk.
“Why do you need a horse anyway?”
She bites her lip and turns around, tipping her head forward to lean against the wall. He wonders if she’s just going to ignore him, but she suddenly bursts out, “It’s all my fault!”
“What?”
She sniffs. He hopes she isn’t crying. “The punishment at Laxdo . . . it’s because of me. I’ve been worried about them all this time, and I know Zen has too. I shouldn’t be worried about them because I have a job to do here, but . . .”
He takes her hand and tugs her closer so he can put his arm around her shoulders. She stays turned away, and now he knows she’s crying.
He understands her conflict. He’s only survived this long in his line of work by keeping emotions out of it. This job is already complicated enough, and they don’t need any more distractions, but . . . Shirayuki isn’t the only one who grew attached to Laxdo.
“I already went,” he admits. “I wanted to check on them too.”
She turns now, staring up at him. Her lips part slightly, and she looks so glad. Now if she just won’t think too hard about—
Far too soon, her expression falls and her lips press into a disapproving line. “That was fast.”
It was fast. The Tanbarun mountains were several days away, and he had been worried about how long the prince would tolerate his absence.
He clears his throat and glances up at the sky. “It’s rather late. You should probably go to bed.”
She’s quiet for a moment, and he feels her shift back. “Fine, but you have to too.”
He makes no promises. He steps away from the wall, letting his arm fall from her shoulders. She starts to follow him, but her legs shake as she takes another step.
He kneels in front of her. “Let me carry you.”
She must be exhausted, because she makes no protest. She wraps her arms loosely around his neck, and he picks her up. They don’t get far before he nearly collides with someone coming around the corner.
“Master!” He swallows. If the prince didn’t get his note, this will look . . . very bad.
The prince holds up his note, and he relaxes slightly. “Obi! Why would you leave a message like this?” Obi reads back over his note, but sees no problems with it. The prince leans closer, expression softening when his gaze falls on Shirayuki’s face, and Obi fights down the stab of annoyance.
“Is she still drunk?” The prince asks.
“Uh, well . . .”
“I’ll take her back to her room.”
Obi’s fingers press harder into her thighs. He isn’t ready to let go of her yet. Shirayuki shifts against him and her chin digs further into his shoulder. A soft snore leaves her lips.
“We probably shouldn’t wake her up.”
The prince takes a step back, nodding, though he looks disappointed.“You’re right.” He makes no move to leave.
“I’ll just take her back, then,” Obi says awkwardly as he tries to slide past the prince.
“I’ll come too.” The prince falls into step beside him, and Obi represses a wince. “I need to talk to you after.”
Well. That isn’t ominous at all.
Thankfully the prince doesn’t follow him into her room. He’s far too worried about propriety in Obi’s opinion, though he guesses that wouldn’t last if Obi lingers too long.
Obi sits her on the bed. “Excellent acting, Miss.”
She gives a small groan of complaint as she sprawls across the bed. “How’d you know?”
He grins as he pulls her shoes off. “I can’t give away all my secrets. Better be careful, though. I might start to think you like me.”
She doesn’t open her eyes, but her lips press into a pout. He pulls the blankets over her, then starts to leave, but she catches his sleeve before he can.
“Obi? Why won’t you kiss me?”
He stops and stares down at her hand, fisted in the fabric of his sleeve. He gently lifts each finger, then lays her hand on the bed. “Go to sleep, Miss.”
He shuts the door behind him and heads to the prince’s office.
The prince is sitting on the floor, waiting for him. Two glasses and a bottle of wine is in front of him. Oh good. Obi needs a drink after the night he’s had.
The prince has questions, of course. Obi gives as abbreviated an explanation as he can manage. The prince sighs, clearly unhappy, but he doesn’t blame Obi for any of it, and it seems his new position is secure.
The prince tosses him something, and, automatically, Obi’s hand flies up to catch it. It takes a second to realize what it is.
“Personal messenger of Clarines’s second prince,” the prince recites, echoing the words etched onto the small plate.
Obi can’t take his eyes off it.
He would have gotten one with the original plan too, whether stolen or given by the castle steward. It shouldn’t make much of a difference to be handed it by the second prince himself, but it does. The prince is offering him more than a job, and he thinks he knows it.
“Are you sure it’s alright to give me something like this so easily?” He asks.
“It’s not easily. I’m doing it because I have faith in you,” the prince says.
Obi jerks up to stare at him.
The prince trusts too easily. He’s thought so since the beginning, and it should bother him—
He’s having a hard time thinking, so he says the first thing he thinks of. “Your eyes are so pretty, Master.”
The prince’s cup clicks against the floor. “Stop joking around.”
Obi just grins and leans back on one hand. The other is fisted tight around his identification pendant.
Shirayuki dives headfirst into the library, as she does with every problem she encounters. Books lay scattered around her, scraps of paper and pens serving as makeshift bookmarks as she cross-references and rabbit trails.
This is her type of battle—one of wits and determination—and Obi has no doubts she will prevail. Lord Brekker has no idea what sort of enemy he’s made for himself.
Obi, however, feels lost just looking at the stacks of books she collects, so he waits in the window for her to tell him his job, sharpening his knives for whatever trouble comes their way next. With her, it’s always something.
Shhhick. Shhhick. He raises the knife to eye level and studies the edge.He nicked this one on Mister’s sword and it’s taking forever to even back out.
“What you said,” he begins, and out of the corner of his eye, he can see Shirayuki look up from her book. “About the prince . . .”
He doesn’t know why he’s bringing this up. He knows her opinions on him.He doesn’t need to listen to her extol his virtues, but—
Those words aren’t accurate to describe Prince Zen.
While she may be willing to risk herself, she’ll never risk her friends.
She hums. “Do you disagree?”
He knows better than to answer that. “It just surprised me.” He skims his knife over the stone a few more times. “Shouldn’t you talk to him before promising his help?”
“I didn’t promise anything, and he wants to help. He cares about his people.”
He cares about you, he wants to say, but he can’t quite get the words out when his eyes catch on the identification tag around his neck.