Chapter 11 - Scheme’s in the dark

"Lord, we cannot let this stand. We need to send our men to retaliate, it's the only way to avenge our fallen."

The leader of the Kizamaru clan sighed and shook his head.

"Not now, we can talk about it later. As you can see, these two have just lost their brother and are saddened by his death."

Hearing his lord speak, the man nodded his head and vanished from the spot he was kneeling.

"I'm sorry, we had no information that the Itaku clan has taken up that area. If I had known beforehand, I would have never sent him to retrieve a jade mineral."

The leader bowed his head to the girls, but they paid him no mind and just continued to weep.

"Although you've lost your brother, I too have lost a many great clansmen due to this event. However, my answer still stands with your clan. We can still move forward with the marriage alliance if your clan wants, nothing else needs to be done."

Ernie's cold blue eyes glared at the man.

"Move forward? You're suggesting that the Nakuhina clan continue on with this marriage alliance after the clan leader's son was killed? Who would take his place in the marriage? You should be thinking of ways to compensate for this loss."

Ernie was furious at this old man, trying to use this death to push forward a marriage. He could already see that the old man was eyeing both Hina and Himari. Given their grief stricken state, they probably would agree to the marriage if it meant avenging their brother.

However, they had no clan anymore. The alliance wouldn't even be an alliance, they'd just take the two girls once they learned of the news.

"And who might you be? Another sibling?"

The old man questioned Ernie.

Seeing the man was prying for information, Ernie wanted to spin a tale of how he was related to these two, but he did not know how much this old man knew. If he said something and this old man knew it to not be true, then who knows what could happen. Worst case, he'd run but then he'd feel bad for what would happen to Hina and Himari.

"No, but I am their fiance!"

Ernie told the man with a straight face.

The old man raised his eyebrows.

"Oh? You are both?"

"Yes."

"Your clan must be very prestigious for you to take both the ladies of the Nakuhina clan as your brides-to-be. What clan are you from?"

Ernie shook his head.

"You wouldn't know of them, we come from a far away place."

Ernie's head started spinning with all sorts of ideas.

"We came from the land of water, I don't know if you've heard of it before. But, there was too much bloodshed there so my clan decided we should head to a more distant land to start fresh. A land, where no one knows us and we did not have to compete over every single thing. Thus, we ended up here.

The Nakuhina clan leader was given treatment by my clans medical ninja's, and to offer his support to my clan he proposed an alliance between our two clans. But, you don't need to know of my clan."

The old man stroked his short beard and nodded his head.

"I understand young man. I did not mean that the marriage needs to be either one of those two, it could be someone else from the Nakuhina clan."

Ernie nodded his head.

"All is forgiven. However, we need to send word back to the Nakuhina clan as soon as possible, a person such as yourself must understand the urgency of this matter."

"Take your time, but I believe it best you stay here for the night and leave in the morning. The journey was long, so your bodies must be worn out and after this horrific news, your mind must be tired as well. A good night's sleep will do all three of you well."

The old man smiled as he spoke.

Ernie nodded his head and agreed. He found no harm in staying for a night.

The old man snapped his fingers and a woman appeared, she wore a white kimono and had a smile on her face.

"Take these three to get settled in, make sure they get the best treatment."

The woman bowed and nodded.

"Follow her, she will take you to your room."

After Ernie and the girls left, another figure appeared in the room.

The old man was still stroking his short beard but his mind was filled with thoughts.

"That kid is strange, very mysterious. He seems to be hiding something, but I cannot tell what it is, not to mention he's being overly protective of those girls. But, I find his story to be lacking, as the leader of the Nakuhina clan was bedridden for a while now, there's no way he could travel to seek help. Even if it was possible for him to get help, he would not marry away both of his daughters. One, I can see possible, but two? No way!"

The old man said to the figure.

"Lord, if it's about this matter then we spotted some ninja not too far away from here. It seems like they've been tracking these three for a while, seeing as to how they are hiding in the distance. Maybe they know something?"

The figure spoke up.

"Hmm… very well. Send someone out to capture them, if need be we only need one alive."

"Very well."

Aito and Yui were seated in a man made cave in a large mountain. They've maintained a decent distance from Ernie and the girls, but seeing as to how they went up that mountain they could no longer keep eyes on them.

"I don't have a good feeling about this."

Aito said as he looked out the cave.

"I told you it wasn't a good idea to follow them Aito, we should have just reported this back to the clan leader."