Treasure (20 page)

Kin pushed away from Kyo, covering him with the blankets before standing up, naked and proud and beautiful. "I have broken no laws, and if you want to place me under arrest, you are certainly welcome to try. But whatever my status on my own ship, you are being rude to his highness and know it. Unless he bids you stay—"

"Captain! Captain! We found his highness!"

Two royal sailors came barging inside, dragging along a man— Kyo's heart dropped into his stomach when he saw himself. How was that possible? The man stared at him, and Kyo knew who he was just by that expression on his face. He would know that expression anywhere. "Taka," he said and sat up, casting aside his blankets and standing up beside Kin. "Unhand him at once," he ordered.

The two sailors dropped Taka immediately, and Taka's curse as he caught himself on hands and knees might have been a shout, the room became so quiet.

Captain Midori looked between them then finally said, "What in the dragons' names is going on here?"

"I should think that is obvious, Captain," Kyo said coolly. "You are interfering. Get out. I will address you and your presence here when I see fit. Whatever you have done to the others aboard this ship, undo it immediately. You will treat them as you would me, or you suffer for it. Send one of your men to fetch clothes from my trunk, the sailors can direct you. Now get out."

"Yes, highness," Midori said, and he jerked his head at the two gawking sailors. They fled, Midori close on their heels, leaving the three of them alone.

Kyo crossed the room and helped Taka to his feet, holding tightly to his hands, staring in disbelief. "What is going on?" he whispered. "What happened that I do not remember? Taka …"

Taka shook his head, trying to withdraw, and clearly he had spent more than a little bit of time crying to judge by the rawness of his eyes. Kyo jerked him close and held him tightly. "It's all right, Taka." Shuddering, Taka held him tightly and resumed crying again. Kyo could feel the tears on his skin, and they triggered his anger.

If he had not already resolved to destroy his family, what had been done to Taka—to
them
—would have firmed that resolve. He began trembling himself as he realized that he had a twin brother.  Right in front of his face the entire time, and he had never even noticed. Kyo prided himself on his magical ability, but he had never noticed that there had been a spell on Taka.

Drawing back, he cupped Taka's face and wiped his tears away. It was more than a little strange to be staring at his own reflection—even their hair was, at present, nearly the same length. A twin. His mind reeled with the knowledge. "How did the spell break?"

"It began to fracture when you turned into a dragon. At my bidding, Krasny finished the breaking with his own magic. He used a fire feather. You turned back when it happened, and then we passed out. Don't you remember?"

Kyo shook his head. "The last thing I remember is Kin being thrown overboard after the mermaids stabbed him. When did the royal navy—" He stopped when a familiar rapping came at the door. Kin went to answer it, and Raiden stepped inside holding a pile of clothes. He snorted in amusement when he saw Kin and Kyo still standing naked. "Should I strip?" he asked dryly. "I feel overdressed."

Rolling his eyes, Taka snatched the clothes away and laid them out neatly on the table, then began to help Kyo dress.  Raiden must have made the selection because a sailor would not have taken such care to ensure the ensemble went together—or known to pick one meant to intimidate. "Why are there two outfits?" Taka asked, puzzled.

"Because there are two princes needing to be dressed," Raiden replied.

"I'm not—"

Kyo covered Taka's hand, stopping him. "Yes, you are. We're twins, Taka. I could cheerfully murder my parents right now for not telling me about this—not telling
us
about this—but you are a prince, and you will be treated as is your due."

"I don't want to be a prince," Taka said softly.

"Neither do I," Kyo replied. "Come on, then. Help me change, and then I will help you."

Raiden had chosen well, choosing outfits there were nearly mirror opposites of one another. Kyo's robe was a deep sea-green trimmed in various shades of blue with a sash of blue embroidered with silver starfish. When they finally got Taka to change, he wore a robe of deep blue with a dark green sash embroidered with gold fish.

"You look stunning, highness," Raiden said, smiling crookedly at Taka.

Taka ignored him, sitting down at the table and looking as though he had been left adrift at sea and knew there was no hope of reaching land. Raiden went over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder, but Taka jerked back and turned away from him.

Raiden sighed softly and left him alone, turning to face Kyo. "I arranged for wine and food to be brought."

"I am astonished they let you in here."

"They had no choice after you issued orders the ship was to be treated as they would treat you."

Kyo nodded. "At least they are listening to me, for the time being anyway. When did they arrive, and why did none of us notice?"

"There's heavy fog, and we're dead in the water. What remains of the crew was exhausted from burying the other half at sea. They snuck up in a longboat. No one saw them until too late."

"Dead in the water?" Kyo repeated, frowning. "That is my fault. I will get us moving again once we are rid of the navy."  He had hoped he would be able to control his magic better; the fog and lack of wind were definitely because of him. He did not dare contemplate what would happen if he could not control the magic.

Which reminded him he needed his necklace back around his throat. Of course, thinking of the necklace reminded him it was under his pillow, which in turn reminded him of what had just been happening in Kin's bunk.

His cheeks flushed, and he shoved the thoughts aside. "Tell me everything that happened after the mermaids boarded. I recall nothing and need to know it."

A knock came at the door, and two sailors brought in trays of food, trying and failing not to stare between Kyo and Taka. When they finally left, Kin followed them out, muttering something about checking on his men. Taking the opportunity, Kyo moved to the bed and retrieved his necklace. Pulling it over his head, he stuffed it beneath his robe, feeling as though a weight had lifted off his chest.

Returning to the table, Kyo poured wine and passed the pitcher off to Raiden. "Tell me what I have forgotten," he ordered again.

Raiden did so, and Kyo winced when he realized that once the magic had gotten control of him he had gone straight to being overprotective of Kin. It only made sense, of course, given how much he wished …

But he'd had his stolen moment, however too brief it had been. Memories of the recent kisses, of Kin pressing him down into the bed, tried to well up, but he ruthlessly shoved them back down again. He could not afford to think about it. He'd had his moment, and his moment was over. At least he would have something to think about as he lay dying.

For the present, his problem was Midori and how to get rid of him. Mortification clawed at him, recalling the way Midori had burst in to see him rolling shamelessly in the sheets with Kin. He wished the bastard had shown up several minutes later, or better still, not at all.

"What a mess this storm has left behind," he said with a sigh. "I never did come up with a good reason for running away."

"I think you should be more concerned with explaining why you stole the Eye, highness," Raiden said.

Kyo conceded the point with a grimace. "One problem at a time. How are Krasny and Culebra?"

"Fine," Raiden said. "Captain Midori ascertained why they were on the ship and promptly withdrew, promising his assistance to them. I think if we can manage it, leaving them with Captain Midori would be a good idea. I just do not know how we will get away from them. Midori has not explicitly said so, but from what he has said, highness, my impression is that his orders are to take you by whatever means necessary and force you to carry out the duty you are avoiding."

"That sounds about on par," Kyo said, stifling a sigh.  He looked up when Kin entered, heart giving a lurch. Finally dressed, Kin was beautiful in that rough, raw way of his. He looked like a storm come to life, dressed in gray and black, a sash of silver with thin, wavy bands of blue, black, and gray threaded through it. His black pearl earring gleamed, and his skin looked whiter than ever.

It reminded Kyo like a fist to the gut of their recent activities. Kin caught his eye, and Kyo jerked away, fumbling briefly with his wine cup before he managed to grasp it properly and lift it. "Have Captain Midori brought in to join us, then. Let us see what can be done to clean up this mess." His gaze flicked to Taka. "After we are rid of the royal navy, we will focus on larger problems."

Raiden nodded and rose. Kin eyed them a moment, then followed Raiden back out.

"Taka," Kyo said softly.

"I don't want to be a prince!" Taka said, slamming his wine down, and would it ever stop being strange to watch himself throw Taka's fits? The entire thing left Kyo feeling as though he were in a dream. "I'm not a prince—I'm your secretary! No, I'm not that either." Taka gave a sad, bitter laugh. "I don't know what I am, anymore."

Kyo stood up and moved around the table, then slid an arm across Taka's shoulders. "You're my only friend, Taka. The only person I ever wanted to call friend. More family to me than those who are blood related. If I was going to wind up with a surprise twin, I cannot think of anyone better. You're still Taka, whatever else you might be. Now, stop sulking and help me scare off Captain Midori. It pains me to admit it, but I never did come up with a good excuse."

The door opened again, and Raiden and Kin returned. "Midori is aboard his own ship, which just arrived. He will be here momentarily and begs your highnesses' forgiveness for being late to answer your summons."

Shrugging the words off, Kyo said, "That will give us more time to come up with a reason for my running away." He grimaced. "Something I should have devised some time ago."

"We took care of that," Taka said.

Kyo frowned. "What do you mean?"

Taka looked up, sharing a look with Raiden, who strode to the desk and pulled out a bundle of papers. "Do not pitch us overboard for it," he said with a smirk as he handed the papers over. Kyo took them, jaw dropping when he realized what they'd done. "You forged a marriage between Kin and me?"

"What!" Kin bellowed.

If the situation were not so serious, Raiden would have burst out laughing at the expression on Kin's face.

"I cannot believe you married us," Kyo said, reading through the documents again. "I knew Taka's talent for forging would be a problem, eventually. Taka—"

"It was only meant to be a precaution," Taka said, ducking his head to bury it in one hand. "I swear that it was just a last resort."

Kyo sighed and set the papers down on the table. "Well, I cannot see what else this could be."

"I cannot believe you!" Kin snarled, stalking toward Raiden, violent intent in every line of his body. "Shima, I will—"

He broke off when someone knocked on the door. Raiden slipped around the far side of the table, putting it between him and Kin as the door opened. "Captain."

Midori stepped into the room, turned to the table, and dropped to one knee. "Prince Nankyokukai, Prince Takara. I apologize for my unseemly arrival. The orders given to me by your father led me to believe I would be facing quite a different situation. While that does not excuse my conduct—"

"Forget it, Captain," Kyo said and gestured. "Come and have dinner, and let us discuss this matter and decide what is to be done. I will not be returning home," he added as Midori sat down.

Raiden joined them, sitting down and lifting the pitcher of wine to fill all the cups at the table. When he was finished, he picked up his own cup and settled back in his seat, sipping slowly at the potent white wine while he observed the proceedings.

"Highness, your father gave me explicit orders to see to it you carried out your duty—"

"I am carrying out my duty," Kyo interrupted. "However, I have no intention in doing it my father's way. I also had plans of my own that were upset by his abrupt assigning of my duty. I am merely combining my own plans with those of my father. You may return and assure him that I will do as I am bid."

Midori frowned at him. "With all due respect and abject apologies, highness, I have no way of believing that, howsoever much I would like. I am afraid that I am not to leave your side until your duty is fulfilled. I admit it would be a good deal less frustrating if I knew what you were about, but of course, I understand that you may not divulge such information to me."

"I cannot divulge it to anyone," Kyo replied.

Raiden suspected that had not stopped him from divulging it to Krasny, and the sour look on Taka's face indicated he likely agreed with Raiden, but they both remained silent. They were all fish in a dark sea, so close they almost touched, but unable to see one another. He wondered when the sun would finally come out; he was long weary of the dark.

Midori frowned into his wine, then set it aside and leaned forward with shockingly open earnestness. "Highness, I am happy to help you in whatever way you desire. My orders were to see to it you carry out your duty. How that is accomplished your father left to me. If you desire to do so in your own unique fashion, I will happily cooperate. Anyway, you cannot continue on this ship with it in this state—"

"My ship will be fit to sail in a matter of days," Kin said coldly, drawing Midori's full attention. Raiden quirked a brow at the unabashed loathing in Midori's eyes, wondering what had caused it. "He will not be sailing on any ship but mine,
Captain."

"That is not for you to decide," Midori said coldly. "You were no doubt paid for this journey, and I am amenable to further compensation for your trouble, but not if you persist in your crass behavior,
Captain."

Kin sneered. "What crass behavior bothers you more—my lack of manners or that you interrupted us—"