Serving Jail Time

He thought it was the end. Blood dripped from his forearm as he pressed it down. But when there were that many arrows, how could one defend oneself?

Princess Hanahoshi stood in front of him. “STOP!”

The power of words. They are pretty strong, but Hisuki didn’t expect them to stop the arrows still in the air.

The arrows went back into the Guard's barrel as if they traversed through time.

“At this point, just end my life.” He muttered.

The sharp pain now hit him. The blood stopped flowing, but now it burned and ached. He couldn’t feel his hands anymore. The arrow pierced through more than half of his arm.

“Argh… ahhh!!” He fell down, groaning.

“Are you okay??” Princess Hanahoshi panicked.

“Oh yes, I am completely fine. No piece of metal had penetrated my forearm at all!” He expressed.

“I am serious!!” She looked around. “Guards! Help him! Get a doctor!!”

But she got no response, other than a blank stare from them.

They slowly closed the distance, but Hitsuki was too hurt to notice them.

But then, he felt a tension. The circle of guards soon started burrowing between him and Princess Hanahoshi, till both of them were separated.

“Wait!” She yelled. “What are you doing!! Let me go!”

She struggled through their thick armor, but they just resisted her pleas.

“Princess of Lizrab, we cannot let you be close to that man. For, he looks like a vampire. Besides, your guards have been killed. We need to check if you are okay or not.” One of the guards spoke. They slowly moved her away from Hitsuki.

“Forget about me-” she replied. “He needs more help than I! And he is not a vampire! He saved me! I am okay now let me go!”

The guards were calm, but Princess Hanahoshi wasn’t. Why is that?

“That I can see. If he were a lunaris vampire, he wouldn’t have been able to survive the sunlight.” The guard replied. “But we cannot be sure that he didn’t instigate all these. Though fret not, he will be given proper medical care.”

Slowly, the distance between them separated, until Hanahoshi moved out of Hitsuki’s sight. Still arguing, Hanahoshi hesitantly got on the royal carriage.

When the guards were sure Hanahoshi was not looking, they nodded at each other.

Hitsuki was too injured to realize any of it. Pain had dulled his hearing and eyesight.

Thats when it hit him, literally.

He felt a hard pain on his head. It tingled like a ringing bell, vibrating through his skull. All of a sudden he felt lightheaded. His eyes faded out, and he lost all sense of control.

All he saw were the guards glaring at him, but he could not think about it, or anything at all.

*****

It seems that by ‘proper medical attention,’ the guard meant ‘minimal survival requirement to keep a criminal alive.’

But what crime did he commit? Was saving the Princess a sin these days?

He wandered through the void. By the time he woke up, his head was covered with a rag, and he was dragged by the leg towards somewhere.

But it seems like they did treat his wounds.

“Argh!” He groaned as a bump on the ground reopened his wounds. But the guards kicked his face and poured hot water over his cut.

The pain boiled inside his body. He sensed a rising fever. The hot water soon turned shivering cold.

He was dragged down, naked with only the bare minimum. His book and his pocket watch were all confiscated. Now, he could not understand the guard's speech, just like before.

Hitsuki’s mind went blank.

*****

“So you finally decided to show up.” The voice of a female rang in his ears. But his face was still covered in a rag. “The most heinous criminal in the Kingdom of Lizrab.”

He didn’t answer, for he didn’t understand her speech.

“Certainly, your facial structure does represent someone who would do something like that, a vampire with a human skin.” She taunted, but got no reply.

“Tell me, vampire. How did you manage to survive under the sun?” Her voice went deep, intimidating. But Hitsuki still didn’t budge.

“@# #% %$#%@$…” he replied. But it sounded all gibberish to them.

[T/L: I am hungry…]

The woman laughed. In her years of working in the intimidation chamber, never once was there a person who was not scared. But this one was different. Maybe he was a vampire, after all.

She looked at the guards standing behind her, giving an order.

Hitsuki only felt the consequences. Ten lashes. He groaned in pain. Even speaking was a crime for him.

Blood spewed from the lash marks. It peeled off the top skin of his back.

The woman grabbed his injured arm, pressing it hard enough to break his bone. He writhed in pain.

“Tell me, criminal. Why do you plan on assassinating the royal bloodline?” She whispered in his ear. “I know you understand what I am saying. You managed to fool our beautiful Princess Hanahoshi as well…”

But how could he reply if he really didn’t know their speech?

Her efforts were futile. She clicked her tongue, ordering 20 more lashes. In the same place.

“He is gonna be executed tomorrow anyway…” she muttered, leaving the interrogation room.

“Be thankful.” She said to Hitsuki. “If it weren't for Princess Hanahoshi, you wouldn’t be taken to court. She pleaded for your trial, saying that you could prove yourself innocent.”

She laughed. “The chief justice was hesitant, but she did accept her pleas. And I will just watch from the high chair, enjoying the whole show! For I am the chief justice…”

She screamed, taunting and mocking him. “Let’s see how you defend yourself on court. All alone.”

She left, thinking he knew what she said, but he didn’t.

Tomorrow was his trial in court, and his life depended on it. But he himself didn’t know…