Chapter Text
She sat with her hands on her lap and sat with a knot in her stomach. She was the daughter of a daimyo. And this wedding succession was her role to play in her father and brother’s lives. The only thing she was good for. She could feel the cart rock on the dirt road. They were leaving the oceans she grew up near and going up the mountain. On the other side was the daimyo she would be wedded to, Daimyo Toki, and she was from the clan Satake. Though both lords were daimyos, Lord Toki was more influential. More land. More power. Her parade had a party of paid well samurai to ensure the dowry and she were in good condition come their arrival at his residence. She swallowed, looking at her nails. She was to be one of his concubines. She believed his fifth one. But if she could bear him a son, she could raise her family in rank. Her mind wandered to her mother, who bore a son and two daughters. She was older. She recalled her mother’s childbirth. It was not kind, and she would lie to say she was not nervous at the thought of being under a man with a reputation of Lord Toki but also to bore a child into this world. Daughters to be sold, men to be trained to kill. She sighed, perhaps it would be just once a fortnight. At least till she bore him a child. Or perhaps she is barren. But she shook her head at the thought, he would disown her, send her to her family, shamed if she could not become pregnant. There was a sudden jostle, and she gave a gasp, holding her hands up to brace herself, “My lady!” she turned to the paper that separated her from the men outside. Her hand maiden perked up at the commotion,
“What is wrong?” Yuri asked for her, she wasn’t supposed to talk to the samurai.
“We have come to a large impasse. We will have to make camp for the night and work to remove it.” one spoke, one she knew the name of Masaharu. Yuri looked up at her,
“My lady, I will leave to see it for myself,” and Lady Yo nodded her head. With that, Yuri left the carriage, and she heard her feet on the hard ground. It was the end of winter, so it warmed in the afternoon but then froze when the temperature fell. She heard hush tones and speaking before Yuri came to to window,
“It is as he stated my lady, we will have to make camp for the night for the men to clear the path.”
“What is the path blocked by?” she asked,
“A few large trees have fallen, my lady. The men will cut a path to take the carriage through. We think the frost broke them.” Yo gave a hum,
“Very well. We will send a messenger ahead to notify the clan of our late arrival.” she ordered, and she saw Yuri nod and bow, before the carriage was moved off the path and the parade set up camp. She was not allowed to be seen by the men. And so, Yuri and a few men set up large sheet-like curtains to block her from the eyes of men as to allow her to stretch her legs. She was grateful for the small fire they made and the small amount of food they prepared for her to eat but did not feel like eating and offered it all to Yuri. Finding only drinking some miso to calm her stomach,
“You must eat my lady!” she protested, but Yo only shook her head,
“I must look well for my husband. I do not feel like eating and so I will not.” she stated, “either you eat it, or i will feed the men it.” Yuri shook her head but gratefully ate the portion given. Yo looked around the small area she had and saw old pine trees reach high, moss blanketing the surfaces around them, and kudzu draped like a blanket. It was an old forest. She wasn’t surprised a tree or two fell over, but it was a fairly common path, it was odd they did not get word of the fallen tree. She thought back and recalled a storm only a fortnight ago and assumed it to be from that. She could hear the men at work. Axes creating a ‘thunking’ noise in the wood. She would have to re-call to bring some of it for their journey if it was good wood. Perhaps it would make high quality incense and she could burn it? Pine had a nice smell. After Yuri was done, she washed out the bowls and set them back into the carriage, before pulling out a comb and started working on Yo’s long hair. It reached to her waist and was kept cut at the sides of her face. Her eyebrows were shaved into small circles on top of her eyes. Thankfully she fought to not have her teeth blackened, though that was the trend especially for married women. Her kimono layers were heavy, and she did not enjoy the weight on her body to carry it but she enjoyed the warmth it gave as the temperatures dropped. They were expensive and high-quality kimonos, she was thankful for them, but would be happy to remove them to a more comfortable robe.
Yo woke up to a bad feeling. She was in the carriage, and she sat up looking for Yuri and seeing she was not by her. The smell of iron filled her nose. Suddenly there was a yell of a man, and then hundreds of yells and screams. She kept quiet as she heard swords meet and death cries. Yo crawled to the window and tried to see through the paper but the sheets blocked out any shadows of their fire, and her fire had long gone low or out. She gave a gasp as the carriage rocked, and she braced herself as the carriage itself was tipped over. Boxes of the dowry fell around her, and she held her arms to her face to try and protect herself as the carriage rolled a few times, likely falling down a hill but she didn’t move when it came to a stop. She kept under the boxes that have spilled over her; her skin likely bruised but she was unharmed otherwise. She picked up a hair pin and gripped it tightly as she laid like she was dead. She heard the screams and then the cracking of fire but she also heard laughter. She didn’t think her samurai made it. Why would they be laughing? They would be calling her name. How would her parade of soldiers and samurai not make it? They were given free passage from her father’s land to Daimyo Toki’s land. Were these not his own people? It couldn’t have been animals. She heard some words and chatting. The carriage shifted, as if someone put weight on it. She didn’t move, covered partly in boxes and objects and fabrics.
“Guyki, take what you can and move to camp.” she heard a faint male voice speak, “I will catch up.”
“Are you sure my lord?” Then it was quiet. She didn’t move.
“I know you’re alive. I know you’re awake. Might as well sit up.” she heard that same masculine voice speak, the lord. But she didn’t, she thought about it for a few moments, before she lifted her head up and saw the man who knelt by the door, holding the curtain and door open, he gave a smile at her,
“See…I knew it.”