Soldiers from Omorfia were there, too.

Reality came crashing down. Their mental sanctuary had burned away, and the altar reappeared. He was surrounded by his brothers, Sunako an arm's length away. Her eyes bore into him with a sort of heated passion. Not the good kind of passion. She was waiting for him to respond. He broke away from all of worried faces, and questions, and sat down with his head in his hands. He felt Sunako's stare even when she was a few feet away.

He tuned everything and everyone out. And her words rose to the boggy and wet surface of his troubled marsh-like brain.

Soldiers from Omorfia were there, too.

He could blame it on the personal vendettas of a few Omorfian soldiers, and tell himself that his father had them drawn and quartered for their crimes against the northern innocents of Pawan. He could. But Kyouhei was no fool. Sunako's village had been raided, pillaged, and raped of all its goods. Most had been sold either into slavery for labor or into the homes of the rich and perverted. The fact that Sunako had managed to fight off every psycho that recognized her lineage through her striking and rare eye color was a miracle in itself.

He could still try to make his father look good, even at a point as dark as this. Maybe he had been tricked into helping by the king of Stulte. Maybe the old snake had convinced him that Pawan was full of liars and murderers, and his father's skyscraper morals couldn't just stand by. But Kyouhei could not bring himself to ignore the facts, especially since it revolved around Sunako. Pawan had been attacked eleven years ago, when Sunako was twelve. Other twelve year olds would have a testimony that couldn't be trusted because most pre-adolescents exaggerate what they see and hear; fear does tend to make everything bigger and more dangerous. Except Sunako wasn't like most. She had been perceptive and cunning from the first moment they spoke to each other. The truth was always in her eyes.

She had seen what lied on the dark side of Omorfia's moon, and Kyouhei believed her with all of his heart and soul.

Soldiers from Omorfia were there, too. And his father had most likely sent them. Even admitting it only to himself, hurt. The man that he had idolized, a man that had been like a Messiah to him…was just as selfish and greedy as the next guy.

He sighed into his hands.

"Kyouhei?" She quietly called. Sunako now sat next to him; her white dress spilled around her and even covered half of his lap. This, for some reason, lightened his mood a tad.

"We'd better watch our backs, huh?" He whispered.

Sunako grimaced at the familiar sentence, her eyes locked onto Machiko who looked away…like she was trying to hide that she had been intensely staring at the two of them.

"I wouldn't want anyone else…" she started, love in her eyes, "to watch my back."

He smirked; everything's going to be alright, isn't it?

Whoever tries to say otherwise is due for a proper beating, she inwardly growled.

He laughed before kissing her, his eyes open as they watched his father stalk from the room…his stride tense. He squinted before gently breaking away. Sunako turned to look as the king rounded a corner and was gone from view.

She squeezed his hand, We don't know that he had anything to do with it…

Kyouhei cracked his neck; He's the heart of it.

What makes you think so?

I don't know, but something in my gut tells me that he hides behind an elaborate mask.

Just because I told you that there were Omorfian soldiers in Pawan that day?

Kyouhei sighed, the feeling only intensifying when his father re-rounded the corner with a big smile…three keys in his hand. But this time, he looked at his father's eyes closely. And he watched as they zeroed in on Sunako before flicking back to everyone else. It was quick, almost reflexive. But Kyouhei wasn't stupid.

Because he can't stop looking at you.