Progression of Evil

Chapter 4
Servant of Evil

"Arrgh! Where IS she?" Kaito exclaimed heatedly as he strode forcefully into the room, his servants scattering away in fear.

Luka sat quietly at a table by the window, her shapely legs crossed and a smirk on her face. She knew the routine: Kaito would storm in, shout for a bit, then reduce himself to muttering bitterly, and finally come and join her for tea as he calmly discussed what had happened that day. Her childhood friend was very predictable in his actions, and Luka was content to sit and sip her tea while she waited for him to cool off.

Sure enough, within a half hour Kaito was smoothing his hair back into place and pulling the chair out to seat himself across from his gorgeous friend. "Luka, she exasperates me."

"Oh?"

"She looks so much like Mikuo-san, I thought I could find her easily within the Palace. But there is no one there matching her description, and even when I put the word out, she seems to have vanished! Gone! Straight into thin air! I have visited all of the larger villages by now, and word has spread to the smaller ones. The whole country is on the lookout for this girl, and still she cannot be found!" Kaito sighed, absently picking up an empty teacup and playing with it. "I want so much to find her, to talk with her."

Luka rolled her eyes. "Kaito, you've only known her for barely three hours."

"So?"

Luka leaned forward earnestly, unaware of the way her dress revealed her womanly curves or the way Kaito's eyes darted down and then back up. "So there are other, far more accessible candidates, even within your very homeland."

Kaito scoffed. "Who? You?"

Luka laughed outright. "What, you think I want to sit on that chair and wait to be eaten alive?" She laughed again. "Not a chance, dear Kaito. I'd rather be the infamous aloof lady that I am." She waggled her eyebrows at him and winked. "But there are other young ladies, all of which attended your grand ball, all of which are eagerly waiting for the great, handsome Kaito-oujisama to appear on their doorstep to spirit them away."

Kaito rolled his eyes. "I'll take my chances with the girl with the dagger."

"No, no! Please don't! Rin-sama, please!"

Rin looked away, hiding her face in her hand. "Take her away."

The peasant woman began crying then, her eyes wide and fearful. "Please, Rin-sama! My family will starve! I have children at home! Little ones! Rin-sama, please!" She fought the guards as they unceremoniously began dragging her from the audience chamber. "Rin-sama!"

Rin's face was hidden, but her shoulders began shaking, and the woman collapsed in despair then; her queen was laughing, laughing, at the thought of her whole family starving to death. The queen really was as evil as the rumors told. She was laughing.

The woman was carried from the Palace, her sobs audible even once she was outside the huge audience chamber in which the elegantly dressed Yellow Queen sat.

Len, the servant, watched from the side chamber, just behind and left of the great throne. He watched every day as Rin dealt with the destiny for which she had been chosen long ago. The same destiny was killing her inside, he knew, because after turning away yet another peasant, Rin did not laugh.

She cried for the pain she was causing them.

She cried for the person she had become.

She cried for the loss of herself.

She never laughed anymore.

She cried.

Len waited until the guards were heard to return to their positions just outside the chamber doors before going to her. That woman was the last in a long line of requests, complaints, and downright tirades against the Queen and the way she was running things. Len held his sister close and thought, if only they knew.

If only they knew the reason Rin had to turn away so many. If only they knew the person Rin really was, the person she had been. If only they knew how much all of the stress was tearing her apart. If only they knew…

Len could do nothing more for her than comfort her in her agony, and even then only if she permitted him. He was the servant, and she was the princess. If she didn't want him near, he obeyed, even if his heart ached to see her crying and be unable to do anything.

He was the servant.

Nothing more.

One year ago
…

"Miku-chan!" the merchant man called down to the laundry room, where the two servant girls where chatting and folding the mistress' dresses. "Come here for a moment, please!"

Miku rose, as graceful as ever, and smiled at the white-haired Haku before ascending the steps to her awaiting destiny…though she didn't quite know that yet.

As soon as the sea-green-haired girl reached the top step and saw the person her Father was standing next to, she froze, her eyes widening in absolute shock.

The King of the Green Country was smiling genially at her, and in front of him was her mirror.

It had to be, because Miku had seen her reflection, and this person was the exact same as the image she saw in the mirror every morning, with the exception of the scowling expression and the short, messy hair on top of his head. His eyes were the same shade of green as hers, and they were within an inch of each other's heights. When he locked gazes with her, Miku blushed and looked away, but he continued staring impassively at her.

"Oh, Good Lord!" The Green King exclaimed on sight of her. "She is a carbon copy of Mikuo!" He turned to the merchant. "I see now what you meant about her being a perfect distraction."

The merchant nodded. "Kaito-oujisama will be too preoccupied trying to figure out who she is to notice what will be going on right under his nose. Miku-chan is perfect."

"Miku, your name is, then?" The King asked Miku directly.

She blushed and hurriedly dropped into a curtsy. "If you please, Your Majesty, my best friend Haku-chan gave me the name when she nursed me back to health almost a year ago." She smiled.

"Good…good…" the king said absently, considering something. "Well, then, sir, now that I've seen her, I'm more than willing to hear this plan of yours…"

The merchant nodded. "Miku-chan, thank you. You may go back to your duties." He didn't spare her a second glance, and instead led the King away, towards the sitting room. Mikuo, though, gave her a considering glance. When he met her shy eyes, there was a tiny nod and a ghost of a smile, and then he was gone.

One year later…

"Rin, will you be alright by yourself?" Len asked as he watched his sister primp and prepare herself for the strain of another day.

Rin looked back and smiled. "Of course! You'll only be gone for a few days. I'll be alright with Neru-san for that amount of time." Her grin slipped for a second, though, and in that instant Len had crossed the room and held her in his arms.

"Are you sure?" Len whispered. "I don't want to leave you to their wrath for even a second."

Rin sighed. "I won't see as many as I usually do, Len. I'll hold myself together." She turned and hugged him. "Be swift, be safe."

Len backed away, worry still clouding his blue eyes. "I'll hurry back to you." He turned and swiftly walked towards the stables, where his horse would be waiting for him, saddled and ready for the long journey to the Green Country. Len was to deliver a message to the Green King warning against his military buildup; it was a mission Rin could entrust only to Len, the only person she truly trusted in the world.

Len was afraid of leaving her. He was her closest servant, her twin, her support pillar. Without him, she could hardly keep up her act. She might let the evil inside get out, consume her, transform her into something horrible.

In only three days, Rin could become a monster.

Len broke into a run. The faster he left, the faster he could return, and the less time Rin would have by herself. She was strong, she could push through three days. He took his horse from the stablemaster, mounted it, and rode swiftly down the road.

Rin watched him go from her bedroom window, one hand holding the curtains aside, the other clenching so tightly on the folds of her dress that her knuckles turned white. "Come back soon, Len," she whispered. "I'm not sure I can do this."

It took Len half a day to reach the border of the Green Country, and the other half of the day to reach the capital city, where the Palace lay. He was quite tired by then of the constant riding, but he wearily dragged himself up to the Palace doors and requested shelter for the night and an audience with the Green King first thing in the morning.

"Sorry, my lord," the young servant said with a tiny bow. "The King is out visiting the border villages with Mikuo-oujisama right now, and their return is not anticipated soon."

Len nodded. "Then shall I leave my message with you? Please do be sure the King sees it; it is from my lady the Yellow Queen."

"The Yellow Queen?" The servant's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "You come from the Yellow Country?"

Len sighed. He was ready for this reaction. "Yes, I am the Queen's servant there."

"Come with me to your rooms, sir. I'd like to ask you something," the servant began walking down one of the four hallways that adjourned in the Palace entrance hall, and Len willingly followed. Once they had reached the room where Len was to stay for the night, the servant glanced to the left and right before leaning in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Sir, is the Yellow Queen as evil as they say?"

Len shook his head violently. "She is nothing like the rumors. I say this not out of loyalty, but out of truth. It hurts her to cause so much pain to others."

"Then why…?"

Len sighed. "It's a really long story, hardly believable, and classified information besides. But she's not evil. She's wonderful." Len ducked inside his room. "Good night, sir." And he shut the door before the servant had a chance to protest Len's rudeness.

The blond servant sighed and flopped onto the plush bed he was provided. It was the same every time. Someone recognized him, or asked where he came from, or saw the device on his cloak, and suddenly he became a mine of information about Rin. Len punched the pillow. They didn't even listen to what he had to say half the time! They took his words and twisted them and pitied him and created more and more rumors of Rin's wickedness, and they had no idea of anything regarding her character! They didn't know Rin!

Len slept fitfully that night, plagued by his annoyance and the lingering knowledge of his separation from Rin. When he woke, early, he didn't feel at all rested, but knew he'd be fighting a losing battle by trying to sleep again, so instead he rose, washed, and proceeded to roam the Palace for the servant who had shown him in last night. His roaming carried him outside the Palace doors and out into the marketplace, where people were just beginning to arrive and set up shop. He sighed. Perhaps he could just wander about here and perhaps find a pretty gift to bring back to Rin.

He was ambling towards an old woman selling homemade ceramics when her spotted…her.

"Miku-chan, Miku-chan!" Haku said excitedly, pulling on her friend's sleeve. "Come on! Father said we can go to market today!"

Miku smiled. "What are we taking to sell?"

"Nothing! That's the greatest part!" Haku was excited, and her voice grew less whispery. "Mistress wanted to take the cloth bolts herself, and Father is staying home with the boys, so he said we can go by ourselves!"

The shock of it hit Miku suddenly. Going to market and not selling? Going to market…just to roam? It was unheard of for the servant girl. "Haku-chan," she whispered. "Go get some of our money. We'll get a present for father and Mistress while we're out."

"And something for us, too!" Haku smiled and ran to their secret stash of money, hidden underneath a loose floorboard beneath Haku's bed. When she returned, the chink of coins was faintly heard from the money pouch the white-haired girl had tied around her waist.

"Let's go, Miku-chan!" Haku said in an almost-shout. The pale girl dragged her friend out of the doors and down the road, Miku laughing all the way.

"Haku-chan, easy! It's still early. People won't be there yet."

Haku grinned. "I don't care! I haven't been to market by myself since…since my mom and dad were still around."

Miku smiled. She hadn't seen Haku this happy ever before, though there was a marked increase to the quiet girl's smiles and giggles since they had become the servant's of the merchant man the girls called Father. Here, Haku was free to be herself, without fearing anyone looking down on her; even at market, there were all sorts of different people around, so that the merchants didn't give Haku's white hair and red eyes a second thought. Miku blended in as well, but then, she always had.

"Miku-chan, look! Ceramics!" Haku pointed, tugging on her best friend's sleeve again. "Let's go check them out!"

"Good morning, Miku-chan, Haku-chan," the old woman said kindly when the girls approached.

Bowing hurriedly, Miku and Haku chorused, "Good morning!"

"Not selling anything today?"

"No, ma'am," Miku said. "Mistress gave us the day off and said she would bring the bolts herself."

The old woman smiled. "Well, perhaps I'll check them out. You know I prefer your cloth to anyone else in this Kingdom's."

Miku smiled. "Mistress will be happy."

"Go ahead and look over my things, girls. Perhaps something here will be pretty enough for your mistress?"

Miku nodded and turned towards the wares, stumbling slightly when someone bumped into her. "Oh, sorry," she said, smiling at the unknown person.

A blond boy in a fancy servant's uniform stopped and stared at her for a moment. "Um, no, it was my fault. Pardon me."

The old woman smiled. "Here to see the ceramics, deary?"

The boy nodded. "Do you have anything with horses? My mistress…she loves horses."

"Oh, here," Miku interjected. She held up a perfect statuette of a gleaming white mare. "It's glazed to perfection, too. Is this something she would like?"

The boy drew closer to the statuette and examined it closely, his blue eyes intense in their scrutiny. "She would love this! Thank you," his lips turned slightly upward at her, and he reached for the little thing. She handed it to them, and when their fingers brushed, Miku felt like she had been electrically shocked. She drew back immediately, blushing furiously as the boy paid for the statuette, his eyes continuously darting toward her.

"I feel like I've seen you before," the boy said, cocking his head at her.

Miku blinked and studied him, wondering where he might have seen her before. "I come to market often with Haku-chan…"

The boy shook his head. "This is my first time in this market. It wasn't here. But I've seen you before. What is your name?"

Miku looked down, her blush still coloring her face. "Miku."

"I'm Len."

The girl nodded, her sea-green ponytails bobbing. "Len."

Len suddenly took her hand then, bringing it to his lips for a moment. "Maybe I'll see you again?"

Miku was startled. "Y-Yes."

Len kissed her hand and then turned to the old woman. "Thank you, lady."

The old woman cackled as Len walked away, delighted at the show she had just seen.

"And stay out!" a voice called out as an afterthought, right before the palace doors slammed behind them. Meiko rose slowly and spit out the dirt she'd accidentally ingested when she hit the ground. She stood and dusted herself off, glaring at the Palace, whose doors were now ominously shut.

This was the seventh time she'd been to the Queen, asking for money to feed her family. She'd come in seven different guises, including twice as a male, and still she had nothing to help her family get through the winter.

Meiko sighed. Her family had lived in the Yellow Country for centuries, millennia, even. They'd lived through three Children of Evil and even the purging of the Yellow Country of all blonde-haired folk. Thankfully, the dominant color in Meiko's family was the reddish-brown she sported. Slowly she untied the scarf that had been holding back her waist-length tresses and shook her head, feeling the weight of her hair settle where it was supposed to be.

Her family had survived everything, and now this fourteen-year-old brat was going to ruin them. Meiko started down the dusty path towards her forgotten village. Her father would be disappointed in her and angry at the Queen. Meiko was prepared for the look of despair that would pull at his wrinkles and the way his eyes would dart at their dwindling supplies.

Meiko glared one more time at the grand Yellow Palace. It just wasn't fair. Why should she and her family suffer while that outsider brat got everything she ever dreamed about? It wasn't fair, and Meiko was tired of taking it lying down.

It was time to stand up for her beliefs.

It was time to gather an army.

It was time for revenge.