Subject: [FFML] Re: [Fanfic][Lime][Ranma] Prisoner of the Iron Mask - 2nd story chunk
From: rgorman@telusplanet.net
Date: 6/3/2005, 5:42 PM
To: Loki-L
CC: "ffml@anifics.com" <ffml@anifics.com>


Quoting Loki-L <loki.laufeyjarson.ffml@gmail.com>:


When he had come back home he had found Akane still asleep and
decided to
let sleeping tomboys lie while he prepared his next step a few
doors down
the corridor.

The next step would involve working on Akane's temper. Akane had to
be
made to realize that getting angry in a fight was a weakness.
Telling her
that it made her predictable and careless would be futile. Akane
would not
listen, she had to be shown.

That was why Ranma had brought his old training props. Cologne had
never
asked to get her harness back. The thing had admittedly gotten a

Delete "admittedly".  Expressions like that are verbal clutter.

bit
broken during his Soul-Of-Ice training, but Ranma had kept it
nonetheless.

Ranma was mostly interested in the cords that contracted when
exposed to
hot chi. They would react very well to Akane's hot temper. He had
unraveled one of them to gain some thinner threads and was now
sewing
those into the clothes he had made for her.

Telling her that anger was bad would not work, but wearing those
clothes
would hopefully drive the point home for Akane that anger equaled
being
exposed and vulnerable.

And if she could not stand showing a bit skin every time she failed

bit of skin


to
keep her calm, she could always give up and allow Ranma to rescue
her.


                             * **  ***  ** *



When Akane had finally woken, she had discovered that she had been
moved
to a new cell. It was larger and much more comfortable having an
actual
bed, an empty dresser, a chair, a desk and a small window from
which she
could see part of the courtyard. There even was a small niche
containing
a sink and toilet which was a great improvement over a chamber
pot.

Apparently Akane was going up in the world. All that she needed now
was
something to wear. Ashes who had been by with her breakfast earlier

Confuzzled timeline

When Ashes arrived with her breakfast she was a bit vague about

had
been a bit vague about what had happened to her clothes and when
Akane
would get them back, but had assured her that the tailor would come
visit
her later.

The sound of the door unlocking send Akane for the cover of her
bed
sheets.

"No need to hide from me, child," an old woman with a tape measure
and a
notebook informed her as she entered.

"You are the tailor?" Akane asked from the safety of her bed.

"I am Mrs. Brave the Tailor." The woman affirmed. "I have come to

tailor

Or possibly "Mistress of the Wardrobe" if Ranma wants to give her 
a title.

take
your measurements."

Mrs. Brave did not look like much of a threat to Akane. A small old
woman,
but not quiet as shrunken and old as Cologne. Like the other
Lichtenburger
women Akane had seen she was wearing a veil, but thankfully the
rest of
her clothes was far more modest. Long robes with several layers of
vests
and overcoats hid her body from view.

"Come on child I don't have all day. Come out and step on this
chair so I
can measure you." The old woman demanded impatiently.

Akane reluctantly let go of her cover and stepped on the chair.
What was
one more Lichtenburger to see her naked at this point?

"I see, you have already made friends with Severa," the old women
commented suggestively when she saw Akane's manacles and collar.

"Those are training aids!" Akane defended her bindings blushing
heavily. 

Akane blushed heavily as she defended her bindings


"And what nice 'training aids' they are," the tailor soothed, "You
have
every reason to be proud that Severa choose you to be bound with
them."

"It is really not like that at all. I am not like that," Akane
tried to
explain," Mistress Severa is just my trainer...."

"I am not passing judgement on you, Child. It is really nothing to

child

be
ashamed of. Just make sure that you don't 'train' to hard with
your
Mistress," Mrs. Brave told her with a knowing smirk.

mistress


Unlike Ranma Akane knew when to stop talking and make matters
worse.
Trying to correct the old woman's assumption would be futile now.
And what
did it matter what an old women thought about her and mistress

Mistress

Confused?  In the first case it wasn't being used as a title so it
shouldn't be capitalised.  Here it is being used like "Mister" or
"Lady" 

Severa,
anyway?

Still blushing heavily she silently stood on the stool as the
tailor
measured everything about her that was to measure. Lengths and
widths and
heights and circumferences of all of Akane's body parts. Akane
really
hoped that not all of these measurements would actually be used in
the
making of her new clothes as she could not picture some of them
being
useful for anything but really perverted clothes.

Mistress Severa must have been this closely measured to get her
skintight
leathers, Akane imagined, while Little Ashes probably only rated a
one
size fits all uniform.

When told Akane wordlessly knelt down so that Mrs. Brave could
reach the
rest of her for measuring. Her blush increased as the tailor
frankly
appraised Akane's built and the suitability of her hips for

build

childbearing
or gave her words of comfort about still growing and late blooming
when
measuring her bust.

Finally after the tailor had scribbled several pages of her
notebook full
with throughout measurements of the various dimensions of Akane's
body she
was finished.

"That would be all for now," Mrs. Brave told her upon leaving,

leaving.

"your
clothes will be ready later today."

Your

Those are two different sentences.  


And with that she closed and locked the door and Akane was again
alone in
her cell.


                             * **  ***  ** *



Ranma was working herself ragged. She was trying to be too many
people at
once. Changing in and out of costumes all the time, it was a wonder
she
had not slipped up yet. Ashes as Akanes main contact was an easy

Ashes,

enough
roll to get into. The costume came on and off with just a few
moves. The
mistress Severa costume took a lot longer to get into. An entire

into, an entire body's worth

body
worth of skintight leather being harder to dress in than just a few
loose
wraps of sheer cloth.

The tailor had been overdoing it. 'Old Women' might be one of the
easiest
rolls to play, and the character had allowed Ranma to needle Akane

roles

in ways
that Little Ashes never could have, but it had taken a long time to
dress
and undress. Ranma likely would not use Mrs. Brave again after
Akane had
her clothes.

Going back to Akane as Ashes and asking if she perhaps wanted to
write a
letter to her family had been a stupid waste of time. Ranma's hopes
that
Akane might use the opportunity to call for help had been dashed.
The
tomboy had been too stubborn to write much more than that she was
fine
and that her family should not worry. Nothing at all in the letter
that
could be interpreted as a plea to be rescued by Ranma or anyone
else. If
Akane had not been still naked while she was writing the letter,
Ranma
would not have stayed and watched.

And while Little Ashes had patiently waited for Akane to finish
her
letter, nobody had cooked lunch.

Ranma had thought that she could save time, by not changing again
and
simply shrugged of her Ashes costume and cooked in the nude.

off


One hot grease splatter had taught Ranma the error of her ways and
the
importance of wearing aprons. Unfortunately while Ranma was having
her
'learning experience' -- jumping naked around the kitchen in pain
-- the
meal had burned.

Meals don't burn that fast.  


So much for cooking a genuine European meal for Akane. It had been
time
to call for takeout.

Finding a place that would deliver the right sort of food had been
a bit
difficult. Tokyo was a large City and you could get almost any kind

city

of
ethnic food delivered anwhere within the city. The trick was

anywhere

knowing who
to call. Halfway through the Tokyo business listings Ranma had
found no
less than fifteen different places that included kosher locust on
their
menu, but not a single one that advertised itself as making
Lichtenburger
food. Ranma had been almost ready to give up when she had come
across the
small entry of Light-Castle Restaurant that billed itself as

entry for

serving
traditional fatty Lichtenburgian cuisine.

After she had placed an order by phone Ranma had to bring Akane her

delete "by phone"  Covered by calling for takeout.  

new
clothes.

Ranma was so far behind on her schedule there was no way that she
would
dress as the tailor again. Ashes would have to do. She picked up
her
costume and the package for Akane and hurried off.

Running while she put on her clothes and veil Ranma made for
Akane's cell.


                             * **  ***  ** *


Akane was startled when a haggard looking Ashes burst into her
cell. The
poor dear looked out of breath and slightly panicked. It was hard
to tell
with her clothing, but it looked like she had the bottom of her
uniform on
inside out. And was that red spot on her left breast a bruise?

"I am sorry mistress Akane I am late with your clothes," the maid

Mistress Akana that I

offered
her a parcel of cloth as she said this, "You have to get dressed
fast or
you will be late for your meal with the prince."

Akane took the proffered item and unrolled it. There certainly was
more of
it than she had feared and it was not nearly as sheer and
see-through as
the maid's clothes. With the help of Ashes she put it on.

Akane observed herself in the mirror with relief. Her clothes were
modest,
loose, non-transparent and not nearly as perverted as those of
Ashes or
mistress Severa. Really not much worse than her school uniform.  A

Once again 

Mistress

skirt
that reached to her knees and a loose sleeveless top that covered
her
upper body down to her navel Even the color of light yellow

Even the light yellow color

appealed her
as it reminded her of her gi.

Of course there was no underwear included in the outfit, but unlike
with
Ashes sheer or Mistress Severa's too tight clothing nobody would

Ashes'

notice
this fact unless she did a handstand or something similar
revealing. The
manacles she still wore were jarring the picture somewhat, but
there was
little that could be done about this. What should Akane do; ask
her
trainer to take the magic training devices of her because they

off

looked
unfashionable?

While Akane was admiring herself, Ashes came up behind her with a
small
extra cloth, some leather belts and some ribbons in the same light
yellow
color. When she put the small cloth over Akane's face and tied it
behind
her ears it turned out to be a veil like the other Lichtenburger
women she
had seen had worn. It was light and almost transparent. Akane had
no
trouble breathing through it and it even looked good on her in an
exotic
sort of way. But Ashes was not yet done.

With deft movements Ashes slipped a yellow leather belt though the
loops
of her skirt and matching smaller leather garters around Akane's
upper
arms and thighs.

"Mrs. Brave said that you were so proud of your bindings that she
decided
to incorporate them into your dress for you." Ashes explained.

Then she took the ribbons and used them to connect Akane's shackles
to the
leather bands on her arms and legs and the rest of her outfit.
There
seemed to be a compilicated sytem to it and Akane payed attention

complicated

and
tried to memorize it so that she would be able to correctly dress
herself
later Ashes started out in the small of her back and threaded one
ribbon
from the back of her belt to the wrist-manacles. From there the
ribbon
went up her arms and  through loops on the leather garters on her
upper
arms. Both ends of the ribbon finally met agin when Ashes secured

again

at the
half-ring on the back of her collar. The other shorter ribbon was
similarly secured on her ankle manacle and ran up the outside of
her leg
underneath her skirt were it was threaded through a loop in the
garter on
her upper thigh. From the garter it was connected to the side of
her belt
on the inside of the skirt an run around her back only to be
threaded back
down her other leg the way it had come.

Akane watched herself in the mirror. having the maid fasten the

Having

ribbon
inside her skirt had been a bit embarrassing, but now that she was
finished Akane could not believe the effect that a few ribbons of
colored
cloth had. They had transformed her manacles from bondage devices
to
fashion accessories. Akane almost looked like a magical girl with
them.
Akane would have to thank the tailor when she next saw her.

But Ashes was less satisfied instead of admiring Akane's new outfit

But Ashes seemed less satisfied.  Instead of admiring Akane's new
outfit, she was 

she
was uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other. Before Akane
had
time to adequately admire herself, Ashes took her hand and led her
from
her cell. She seemed to be in a hurry. In a big room that Akane
thought
might be some kind of banquet hall Ashes finally stopped.

Ashes told her to wait for the prince and or food and gave her a
strange
warning about keeping her calm around the prince. 

Ashes told her to wait for the prince and gave Akane a strange
warning about staying calm around him.

Then she left her
alone
in the empty room.

Then Akane was left alone in the empty room.



                             * **  ***  ** *

                     Part 10:  Controlling Anger


Ranma was running from the banquet hall where she had left Akane.
Having
already shrugged of her costume she streaked along the top of the

off

castle
wall to the room where she had left her Prince Wildpferd costume.

With haste and a glass of warm water Ranma changed into the role of
the
arrogant prince. Only when he was about to put on his mask did he
notice
that he still wore Little Ashes veil. He quickly stuffed it into a
pocket.

At that point Ranma glanced out the window to see the elevator
doors
opening up on the lawn in front of the castle. He cursed himself.
He had
planned to intercept the delivery boy in the lobby.

Running again through stairs and corridors this time 

He could probably save time by jumping out the window.  

Ranma managed
to
reach the youth as he arrived at the open drawbridge.

The youth was wearing a Light Castle t-shirt and a stunned
expression on
his face. His jaw was hanging open as he tried to come to grips
with the
idea of finding a medieval European Castle inside a modern Tokyo

castle

office
building.If you ignored the occasional girder, column or elevator
shaft
that was left of insides of the original building it looked very
much
like somebody had built a big glass house around the castle. It
must have
looked very impressive to someone not used to such extraordinary
sights.

Ranma quickly divested the boy of the food containers he was
carrying and
ushered him back to the elevator that would return him to the lobby
and
out of the building. The delivery boy gave little resistance and
did not
even notice that Ranma instead of tipping him with real Yen just
gave him
some of the strange play-money the previous owners of the castle
had left
behind.

Only after the elevator doors closed behind the stunned boy did
Ranma
realize that he had worn his mask the entire time, something that
probably
had not helped lessen the shock for the Light Castle employee.



                             * **  ***  ** *



Meanwhile Akane was waiting in the banquette hall, she had

banquet

considered an
escape attempt, but there were probably guards outside and as long
as she
wore her weakening manacles she would be no match for them, besides
now
that she was again wearing clothing her captivity no longer seemed
like
such a bad thing. She was even getting trained by mistress Severa.

Mistress

Wouldn't Ranma be surprised how much she had improved once she had
trained up, properly beaten the arrogant prince and returned home?

And her new clothing really was not that bad. True it lacked
underwear,
but that was a minor thing. The skirt reached her knees and her top
came
down to her waste making it look far more modest than what Ashes
the maid
or Severa her trainer wore. Not even the veil that was part of the
outfit
and covered the lower part of her face spoiled the look.

The skirt was wide enough to allow Akane to do martial arts she
found out
as she did a few experimental kicks. Although she probably should
not do
any too extravagant maneuvers on account of her lack of panties.

The ribbons that the tailor had added as decorations were not
restricting
her in any way. The small strips of cloth running down the outside
of her
legs were short enough, so that Akane did not have to fear about
stumbling
over them. They were connecting her ankle shackles with her belt
and
fastened to her thighs with garters. There was just enough slack in
them
to allow Akane to move her legs however he wanted, but not much
more than
that so they would not easily catch on furniture and the like.

The ribbons running from her wrist-shackles to her collar were
similarly
fastened to her upper arms with garters, while the ones connecting
her
wrists to the back of her belt were loose. Akane thought that she
would
have to look out not to get caught on door handles with them. They
did
look fashionable though and allowed Akane her full range of
movements.

Just as Akane was getting ready to try some jumps to see if her
skirt
might billow up during aerial martial arts maneuvers, the door
opened and
Prince Wildpferd entered with a small cart full of food.

"I regret having to keep you waiting, my bride to be," The prince
excused
himself, "but the stupid little maid had an accident in the kitchen

but that stupid

and
delayed our meal."

"Little Ashes?" Akane wondered; she did not like the prince calling
her
that even if she had done the same in the privacy of her own
thoughts.

"Yes, Little Ashes," Prince Wildpferd confirmed," the girl has

For the right tone of arrogance I'd suggest:

"Is that her name?" Prince Wildpferd continued, "The girl has

already
been thought the error of her ways and will not make the same

been taught

mistake
again in a hurry."

Akane was beginning to get angry on the maid's behalf. What did the
prince
mean? Had he punished her? The girl had seemed a bit out of it when
she
had come to fetch her earlier. Was that from having been chastised
for her
oversight or dread for her upcoming punishment?

As she sat down Akane remembered Ashes warning and tried to calm
down. --
Was she imagining things or was her skirt getting shorter?

During the meal Akane tried to keep calm and enjoy the food. She
had to
keep her head bowed towards the prince so that her veil would hang
down
far enough from her mouth to allow her to eat. She was sure that
this
arrangement was by design and was sorely tempted to push the
offending
cloth to the side or take it off entirely, but did not want to
breach what
probably was Lichtenburgian etiquette. The Prince showed no such
regard
for table manners, but for all she knew you did eat all that greasy
stuff
with your bare hands. At least he was better than Ranma the way he
was
eating. Than again the hinged jaw on his mask just might be the
only thing
to slow him down in stuffing his face.

The noble still managed to finish his far larger portion before
Akane was
done with hers. He began some small-talk. Well 'small' for him on
anyone
less arrogant it would have qualified as grandiose.

Akane tried to ignore him and concentrate on her food, but her
limit was
reached when he came to talk on her future place in his harem.

"Don't be so sure about that, you might have won the last time, but
with
mistress Severa's help I am getting better and will have you beat

Mistress

in no
time," Akane told him.

It was getting a bit drafty she absentmindedly noticed.

drafty,


"Severa won't help you as much as you think. She is not a martial
artist
after all, just a girl who likes to play in the dungeons with other
girls
instead of properly submitting herself to a male," the prince
explained.

Akane really did not like the way he was talking about her trainer.
So
what if she was a bit -- well perverted Akane guessed -- there was
really
nothing much wrong with that was there?

"Of course," Prince Wildpferd continued condensingly, "the girl has
her
uses. She can for example help get your strength and endurance up
to a
level where you might actually be ready to receive some proper
instructions in the art. Perhaps I might even lower myself to
personally
give you some lessons, once you are capable of actually benefiting
from
them."

Akane tried to keep her calm as she listened to the prince. She
continued
eating and did not give him the satisfaction of hurling her plate
at him
in response to his arrogance. As she tried to reach for a salt
shaker she
found that she had to slightly bend forward as her ribbons did not
allow
her to stretch out her arm entirely. Akane could have sworn that it
had
been longer when she had sat down.

"But before that," The prince kept talking as Akane wondered over
the
mystery of her suddenly restricted reach, "in addition to building
up your
strength and endurance you need to learn discipline and control.
And since
I know that Severa enjoys her work far to much to teach you the
last two
quickly I have asked Mrs. Brave to include some learning aids into
your
new clothes. You might have noticed that they react to your
emotional
state."

That cleared it up! The prince was responsible for Akane's problem
she got
up from her chair to tell him just what she thought of people who
would
use a girls wardrobe against her.

She almost stumbled when she tried to stand. The ribbons that
connected
her thighs to her ankles had gotten shorter, so that she now had
to
slightly bend her knees to stand. Her outfit, that had been so
modest was
now only barley decent. Her skirt had become a mini that threatened

barely

to
uncover vital parts of her anatomy with every step she made and her
top
only barely reached to the bottom of her breasts. 

That would mean her breasts are totally exposed.  

barely covered the bottom of her breasts

And the ribbons
on her
arms severely restricted her movements.

That must have been what Ashes had warned her about when she told
her to
keep calm. The dirty pervert had somehow manipulated her wonderful
clothing to turn into this. She stalked towards him as best as she
could
to give the prince a piece of her mind.

When she got close enough she noticed a piece of cloth hanging out
of
Prince Wildpferd pocket. A familiar piece of cloth.

The prince had Little Ashes veil stuffed in the pocket of his

Ashes'

pants!

Akane jumped to the only logical conclusion.

Ashes never took of her veil! Not even in when the two of them had

off

been in
the showers together. It must be very important to the girl. Akane
doubted
that she would take it of in the presence of somebody else without

off

being
forced.

Ashes had looked haggard and slightly panicked when she fetched
Akane to
the meal.

The prince had called her stupid little maid and said that she had
been
taught the error of her ways.

He must have ripped the veil of her and done terrible things to her
Akane
concluded her mind rapidly clouding with anger.

"I suggest that you calm down," the prince broke into her thoughts,
"not
that I mind seeing a willful girl exposed and bound in kneeling in
front
of me, but..."

Akane's imagination supplied the image of a naked and bound Ashes
kneeling
in front of the prince begging for forgiveness.

Akane saw red and could not hold herself any longer. With a scream
of
inarticulated rage she launched herself towards the prince.

Her charge was cut short and her scream suddenly muffled as her
clothes
further changed.

With every step she did the ribbons along her legs contracted
further
forcing her to bend her knees more and more until her heels were
touching
her buttocks and she was forced to rob along on her knees and
toes.

When the prince was finally within reach she tried to hit him, but
found
that her arms would not move forward. Instead they were slowly
forced by
the contracting ribbons onto her back. Her wrists crossed in the
small of
her back as they were drawn towards her belt and her elbows were
drawn to
the back of her collar and almost touching behind her back.

When she tried to bite him instead she found that not only did the
bondage
she was in keep her from leaning forward, but also that her veil,
that had
just hung loosely over her face before somehow had changed and
contracted
into a very effective gag.

The prince stood before her, mocking Akane's immobilized form:
"Don't say
you were not warned. You still have a lot to learn about
controlling your
emotions. But you don't have to hurry on my account I am certain
that I
will enjoy the view your lack of self control will offer me."

self-control


Akane suddenly realized that her skirt and top had also further
shrunk.
Her breast where now totally uncovered as her top had become

were.  

bunched up
on her sternum and her skirt was now no broader than her belt as it
had
contracted around her waist.

The realization that she was not only bound, but also naked in
front of
this pervert caused Akane to heat up further in anger,
embarrassment and
emotions she did not want to identify.

Her bindings reacted to her shame and contracted one last time. She
could
not move her heels and haunches closer together so she had no
choice but
to spread her thighs as the ribbons on the outside of her legs
further
contracted towards the back of her belt. Her elbows where also

were

You need to be more careful of these homonym errors.  

forced
together since they were the only place where she had still slack
to give
to her bindings.

Akane could only imagine how she must look to the prince. Kneeling
in
front of him bound, gagged and naked. Her legs obscenely spread to
expose
her most private of places and the arms behind her back pushing out
her
breasts towards him.

Against her will she was made to submit and offer herself to him.
And
neither the heat she was feeling nor the tightness of her bindings
showed
any sign of weakening.

"I suggest,"The prince told her, "that you use this moment to
reflect on
your position and the usefulness of your temper. The maid will
escort you
back to your cell once you have calmed down a bit."

With that he turned around and left the room not even bothering to
further
stare at Akane's exposed body.


                             * **  ***  ** *
                         Part 11: Tips and Symbols


"I tell you, I know what I saw," insisted Ichiro Ryo unappreciated
delivery boy and son of the proprietor of the Light Castle
Restaurant.

His father did not even brother to answer to that as he continued
to work
in the kitchen, but his older sister -- bless her cynical heart --
at
least saw it fit not to let his tale go completely unremarked: "You
went
though a magic portal and saw a European castle in downtown Tokyo?
Sure we
belive you. It happens all the time. If it didn't, where would the
people
who make all those anime get their ideas?"

"Not a magic portal -- like a magic portal, I said," Ichiro
corrected her
exasperatedly.

Why would no one belive him or at least pay proper attention while
they
disbelieved him?

"I was delivering to this office building in Nerima and there was
no one
there," he began his tale from the beginning again, "so I went up
the
elevator. The first few stops where empty or it would not open, but
then
on the fourth floor the elevator doors opened and it was *like*
stepping
through a magic portal. I was still in the building. But someone
had
removed all the walls and floors above the fourth floor to make
room for
this big castle."

His family looked at him doubtfully, but he continued on: "It was
just
like in the old pictures that Grandpa always shows us. There were
guards
in royal uniform standing to attention all over the place. And
there were
the flags and banners and everything."

Ichiro picked up a small Lichtenburgian flag that was part of the
restaurant's decoration from the wall and waved it to underscore
his
point.

"And there also was that naked girl running along the battlements,"
his
sister added showing that she had at least paid attention to that
part of
his story.

The timing is wrong.  Ranma has already changed into his prince costume
by the time the elevator doors open.  


"Yes! But she isn't important." Ichiro tried to move beyond the
question
of him seeing naked girls under incredible circumstances.

Although he had to admit that seeing her sprint over the parapets
wearing
nothing but a veil had taken up a considerable portion of his
attention at
the time.

"What is important is who came next," he explained.

"Louis XIV's twin-brother," offered his sister irrelevantly.

"No," he corrected, "It was this guy and he was wearing an iron
mask. And
he was wearing a cape with the Lichtenburgian crest and dressed
gilded
armor and everything. And he was just looking at me without
talking. Like
he was measuring me up or something. I must have passed because
after a
few moments he led me back to the elevators and send me away."

"And what about that makes you think that you passed his test?"
Ichiro's
sister asked contemptuously, unwilling to belive that her brother
had
managed to actually impress anyone, even a character that she did
not
even believe existed outside his imagination.

"This!" Ichiro exclaimed triumphantly.

He had been waiting for that question and now he showed his family
the
token he had received.

"A coin," his sister dismissed his prize, "and it's not even real
Yen.
It's an Euro or something. That's not worth much more then a
hundered
Yen."

With a flipped the coin around in his hand and promptly earned a
gasps not
just from his sister but also from his mother and father who had
come
closer to take a look at their son's treasure.

"A Lichtenbugian coin," his father recognized, "there are not
supposed to
be many of them outside the old country on account of all these
collectors."

But his mother was the first to recognized the true significance of
the
coin. "That is the royal crest of Lichtenburg -- a  rearing horse
of war
at its center."

"Exactly like the one on the cape he wore. A horse gules forcene on
a
sable shield on sanguine ground. Not just anybody would dare to
wear
that."

"And he gave you this coin as a symbol." His father was slowly
catching on
in wonder.

Ichiro smiled.

"...I mean we have always hoped that one day... ever since the
pretender
took the throne... us loyalist have kept hoping, but I just can't

Minor problem here.  If the family running Light Castle are expatriate
Lichtenburgese, then shouldn't they be European?  It's not like they
even appear to be a mixed marriage  



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