The feathers disappear eventually, after which she regains her vision and the use of her limbs. Once she's able to see, Ochako finds herself with a mouth full of hay and various body pains from being thrown about the back of a wagon.
"Hey, you're awake. Finally."
She bolts upright and glances around wildly. The inside of the cart is dark, with pinpricks of light from the gaps in the wood. She sees the owner of the voice seated quite comfortably at the other side.
Even though he's changed into commoner's clothes and has gotten rid of his red-and-silver pin, she recognizes him: golden hair and red eyes rimmed with dark edges like a bird of prey. The sharp look in his eyes contrasts with the friendly, open-mouthed smile he gives her as a greeting, as if he didn't just kidnap her or anything awful like that.
She had planned to respond to his greeting with a displeased grunt, but the carriage keeps rocking and she feels herself turning green instead.
"Sorry about the rough ride, your grace," he says after a particularly violent bump in the road. "It'll be at least another day of this. I suppose we can stop and buy herbs for travel sickness if we must, but..."
It's a challenge to move at all without her spilling all the contents of her stomach, but she manages. She pulls herself against the opposite wall and stares at her kidnapper dangerously. "Who are you, and where are you taking me?"
"Secret. And... secret." The smile on his face is lazy and amused and very infuriating.
She instinctively reaches out for the short sword attached to her hip, surprised that it's still there at all. She aims the point of it at the level of his face. "You... I shoulda known that you were just a rogue pretending to be a noble! I demand you answer me right now!"
He raises both hands as if to appease a child throwing a tantrum. Annoying how he isn't threatened at all by her blade. "You might be right about me being a rogue pretending to be a noble, your highness. But I have to tell you, it's not the best time to answer your questions."
"And why not?!"
He shrugs. "Because none of what I have to say will make sense. It's the sort of thing you have to see to believe."
Losing her temper, she throws the sword, aiming it right at the center of his chest. But right before it makes contact, the sword stops in mid-air, pulled and blocked by two red feathers. The weapon floats harmlessly to the man's right hand, dropping its handle onto his open palm.
Darn these obnoxious magicians from Shizuoka!
"Now that was unwise, Princess," he drawls lazily, twirling the sword in his hand. "If I were an actual rogue, you'd have given me the perfect pretense and an efficient weapon to kill you. Or maim you. Or worse."
She glares at him, despite the fear making her heart thud. He looks like he contemplates on throwing the sword back at her, but instead stabs it on the floor.
"Fortunately for you, I need to keep you alive and well until we reach our destination. My employer and I are counting on you for many important things, so it'll be both in our best interests to keep you free of any unseemly stab wounds or other similar ailments."
Counting on her? This man seems to be joking about everything and it's hard to take him on his word. She puffs her cheeks in annoyance. "You wanna keep things vague? Fine. It won't matter once my general finds out that I'm missing. Not only will our army look for you, but Kanagawa's as well."
He tilts his head in amusement. "Kanagawa? I didn't know that you were already officially engaged to Prince Neito."
She stammers. "W... well, not yet, but..."
"Oh! That's interesting." The lazy smile on his face grows ever more cloying and annoying. "You think the prince will scour the entire country to find you, even if he hasn't officially laid claim to you yet?"
She hates that she has to admit that Monoma's political schemes might be her only chance to get out of this situation. "He is promised my hand, and he told me that he will get it no matter what."
The man raises two blonde, feathery eyebrows in interest. "You do know how that boy thinks, right? How scheming and calculating he is? Because I do. If it's too much of a burden to get you back, he might decide that saving you is too troublesome."
She knows he's just riling her up, but why does he have to make so much sense?
"Besides... there is also the matter of calling for a missing persons search," he says with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "In that, they generally don't happen unless the person is declared missing. Which in this case, you don't have to worry about that happening, your majesty."
"What are you talking about?"
The man shrugs. "Good question! Truth be told, I've forgotten the main point of contention in our conversation! Sometimes I talk so much that I don't know what comes out of my mouth. I just like talking in general. So perhaps--"
What is it with these blondes and their nonstop mouths?! Ochako spits out, "No, what do you mean they won't notice that I'm missing?"
But before the man can say anything more, the cart screeches to a sudden halt. Ochako loses balance and falls on the pile of hay, making the man chortle.
"Oh, we're at our first border checkpoint," the man says brightly. "Means we're closer to your new home. Isn't that great?"
She gives him a dark look.
"Now now, as much as I deserve that look, we have to deal with our first obstacle: the Check Point! There are two ways we can go about this, Ryoko dear ," he tells her as he pulls her out of the pile of hay and pulls out the straw from her hair and face. "First is you cooperate with us while the patrolmen check us out. Which means you pretend to be my daughter, travelling with me and my sister out in the front."
She hears a woman's voice from outside, abrasive and fierce. She must have been the one driving the cart then. "And if I refuse? If I tell them who I really am and tell them that you kidnapped the princess of..."
She falters when she wiggles her toes and doesn't feel her royal seal in her boot. How did they--when did they...
The man hums and looks at her paling face with interest. A feather floats around her face and disappears, but she feels it tickling her chin. "We do the second thing. It might not be as enjoyable for you, though."
She scowls, but says nothing more. He grins victoriously.
He takes her arm and carefully lets her off the cart. Outside, she sees the guard-post bearing the seal of Mie. A silver-haired woman with strong arms and white rabbit ears are speaking to a couple of guards, who seem very amused.
