Part III, Chapter Fifteen: Maru Has the Last Laugh

Part III: Shiromori

"When the door closes on the last action, there still remains the last word." --Tasian general, c. 170

May 10, 1115 AE
Shiromori Castle, Ayumora, Shiromori

"Calm down?"

Figured. It figured that she'd barge in here understandably upset and the first thing he'd tell her was 'Calm down'. It figured that her life being turned upside-down would inspire little more than a dismissive roll of the eyes. It figured.

It figured that he would have been the one behind all this in the first place.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! My children are missing and apparently my husband fell off a cliff? How in the shit-stained, clusterfuck hell can you expect me to calm down?"

Grunting, her father crossed his arms. She would have clawed his eyes out if it didn't mean he was worth the trouble. "I'm sorry for your losses, but that hardly excuses the language."

"Language?" Here she was, rushed as she'd ever been--hair tangled, dressed in one of Aurius's shirts she'd picked up off the floor--and he thought she gave a flying fuck about language? "I'll use whatever language I want, you cunt-faced bastard! Now, where's my husband? And what the hell did you do to my children?"

"Oh, so you think this is my fault?"

Duh. "Oh for Kitasa's sake, did Ustelian let you keep even a tenth of your brain? It's obviously your fault, yours and his! You never got over my marriage and you never liked my husband and you never loved my children and you wanted them out of succession. You know how many guards this palace has; a kidnapping would have had to be an inside job. And my husband isn't clumsy enough to just fall off a cliff!"

"Wasn't clumsy enough!" Kohashi corrected her. "And clearly he was!"

"Liar!" She drove her bare foot into the floorboards with such force that her kneecap might have popped right off if not for the sheer rage holding her together. "You were there, weren't you? Damn it, you probably pushed him off yourself! Liar! Murderer!"

"Don't say things you can't take back!" He slapped her. She barely felt it.

"I'm not taking back anything." She wanted to spit, but the yelling had left her mouth dry. She'd save it for his supper. "I know you, and I know what that son of a bitch has made you. And I know you just want to keep the line pure--none of that filthy Tasian blood on the Shiromori throne, right?" She couldn't help it. She looked him in the eye and let out a dry, hollow last laugh.

Kohashi's nostrils flared. "What's so funny?"

"You--you tried so hard, and you failed." She stepped around the couch and opened the door. This conversation was over. She was done with him.

Almost. "I'm pregnant again--and I swear by every god there ever was and ever will be that I'll never even let you look at this baby until you're staring up from Hell and you see him sitting on your precious chair."


The End.

...not really.