He was to be wed to the princess accompanying them, Aoki had known. However, the Emperor had admitted, the terms to peace meant the young master had to wed her in that foreign nation, far from home. Not here, safe and sound. As many opposed the peace on both sides, the war having waged on for nearly a century, the journey would be dangerous every step of the way and without any true safety.
It was a challenge. A test of their resolve.
They were to make their way across the nation with a small procession to draw less attention from the raiding bandits that plagued the lands. Less finery also meant they were less likely to be attacked to be taken for ransom. The Emperor had a special carriage built that had the outward appearance of a normal merchant cart but was filled with the comfort the princess was accustomed to. They were to travel with a small guard, dressed as mercenary guards to protect a shipment of linens. The wedding gifts were to be sent separately and arrive before them.
As Aoki sat alone with the princess in the carriage, she could hear little but the clip-clop of hooves and the faint patter of rain. It was a bad omen, the clouds having come before they had even left their own home soil, but so far, it had been quiet.
"Is it true?" the princess' sultry voice began. "You've known him since childhood?" she asked, a mischievously vulpine smile upon her lips. Thus far, the two had few words - if any - between one another. But now, cooped up in the royal carriage and hidden from view, it seemed there was little choice but to. How else were they to survive the long journey, their sanity intact and sound in the face of monotony?
"Yes. I have been in his service for as long as I can remember... I don't remember a life before Yamato-sama took me into their household and I became Yamato-san's yojimbo, Sakakibara-san," Aoki politely replied in a low, gentle voice. "We used to spar with sticks we found in the gardens." She smiled at the memory. "I got in so much trouble for it but we did it every chance we could... we battled many a fierce bear dog and dragon lizard amongst the sunflowers."
"Such a curious arrangement," Tsumami observed with a polite smile. "Not everyone receives a guard as dedicated as yourself. Having served him for so long, what are your thoughts on him?" She asked. "This may be too much, but I ask you not to be modest - it is I who will be marrying him after all," the princess pointed out. Though the words were like a lance being driven into Aoki, she said it without malice. It was unspoken of course, but, it was only natural for her to worry before the wedding. "I simply wish to know him better, is all."
"Yamato-san is..." Momo pursed her lips together for a moment as she collected her thoughts. She cared too much for the master to speak ill of him out of jealously, for such is the fate of young lords - they marry princesses. Her role was ultimately to guard their chambers on their wedding night and until she was too weak to draw her katana. Her honey brown eyes searched the pale grey eyes of the princess for a moment. "Is brave, kind, strong, and passionate. I have never seen him raise his voice out of turn to anyone that had not deserved it." Her thoughts moved towards one moment in their childhood that they almost kissed but their chaperones had separated them and she was reprimanded for being too untoward. It was improper but he had wanted to try it and she was forbidden to deny him any request. Her life was his to claim.
"It would seem I am safe in his hands then," the princess replied, a sense of relief flowing over her delicate features. Her own eyes returned to Momo however, as she plied her with yet another question. "I am curious, I admit - how do you yourself feel about the young master?" The playful smile upon her lips immediately reminded the yojimbo of a particular cat at the imperial palace. One that was all too mischievous. "Unless my eye deceived me, you took on a rosy glow as you held him close, keeping him on his feet."
Watching Momo, that smile seemed to grow.
Momo's eyes widened is dismay and she blushed again. "I... he was appraising me so highly after I struck him, my Lady. It was improper of me... to grab him like that but I didn't want him to fall to the floor," her voice grew softer. "If he was an ordinary man, he would be my best friend but he is my Lord and I serve his will." She started toying with her hair, unaccustomed to it being free past her shoulders. She disliked being under able to protect Daichi under the pretense of being a proper lady's attendant. She disliked the fine clothing she wore and the fact that her katana was stowed under her seat. It was far too soft.
"My, my. A...friend?" Tsumami pondered, a glint in her eye. "I know well that your current position will not allow for even that, but, if things were different," she began to wonder. "Do you feel that would grow into something more?" The princess had many things on her mind, but at this moment, her curiosity was like a gnawing hunger. One that she had to sate. Staring at her with those grey eyes of hers, one could feel like falling into them. Tsumami wanted to know, and she wasn't even hiding it.
Momo felt the lance plunge deeper into her heart as the princess in her small talk made her reality that much more painful. She kept her voice and hands steady. "I dare not assume my Lord's feelings, my lady. He cares for you a great deal, and I am simply a servant to his house." She wanted to hate this woman but the peace of their kingdoms relied on this marriage working. "What of your feelings, Tsumami-san? How do you feel about Yamato-san?"
"Oh, forgive me - I do not ask of you to assume his feelings. Only, I wish to know yours," Tsumami replied, her sly smile seemingly growing all to knowingly. It quickly faded however. As though to offer the yojimbo some measure of comfort, the princess graced her with an answer to her own question, allowing for the change of topic. "My fear is that he - " Before she could finish, angry shouts and horses' screams pierced the air like a cold dagger. Without warning, the door to their carriage was yanked open unceremoniously, a hairy man in dirty brigandine hollering at the two at the top of his lungs.
Aoki moved in front of the princess, pushing the lady behind her. She needed her katana. It was on the carriage floor under her seat. She edged backwards with a girlish shrek. "Brother! Please hurry! There is a scary man here!" She let herself fall backwards to grab at the seat behind her to grasp her saya as she stared at the brute in horror. Pushing his way into the carriage, the brigand's dao clumsily battered against the katana's sheathe. Just as he pulled it back to stab however, the man himself was lanced in the side as a horseman came galloping by.
"Defend the princess!" the mercenary rider shouted from behind his war mask, riding off with yari in hand to aid the other guards.
Aoki drew her katana and kicked the man out of the carriage, "Princess, stay back." She inwardly cursed. This disguise was not the best to fight in but it would do. Yamato had entrusted her with his bride but she worried about the lord. "Is the master okay?" She called after them. The carriage was not the best place to fight either but it gave her a way to defend from one side. Beset by multiple bandits, a trio of them slipped past the guards and set their sights on the lone yojimbo.
"Drop the sword girl! That's a man's tool you're holding, hahaha!" one of them cackled. Expecting an easy fight, he raised his chipped katana high and cleaved at her, expecting to simply batter the weapon out of her hands by sheer brute force. At the same time, the other two fanned out to either side, hemming her in, but the rushing sound of hooves heralded aid. Yari in hand, the rider impaled the one to Aoki's left and knocked over the one straight in front of her as he sped by.
As the brigand scrambled back to his feet, the other's eyes darted between Momo and the retreating rider before settling his gaze on her.
Aoki took the moment of distraction to glide forward and slash at the brigand with her blade, keeping her saya in her opposite hand to parry the man's dao. The sounds of fighting around her echoed loudly with her breathing. Protect the lady. The Master would want her to protect her and not go looking for him, she reminded herself. As she sliced apart his fingers before slitting his throat, being sure to step away from the crimson fan of blood, Aoki's blade came in like a glint of silver. Lopping off the head of the other bandit as he got up, the yojimbo turned, expecting more, but just as quickly as it had began, it ended.
"Are you both alright?" the mercenary horseman asked, his blood covered steed cantering over to them both. The young master's carriage, separate from their own, had suffered the worst of it all. However, before her feet could even carry her over to see his fate, Aoki's gaze looked past the ugly war mask to meet the rider's bright blue eyes. It was the young master, hiding amongst the mercenaries.
Aoki's mood brightened as she saw his eyes. Her gaze turned sharply towards the carriage to see if the princess was all right. "My lady?" She resheathed her katana, stepping carefully to return to the woman. "I am whole, my Lord. How do you fare?" The young master cleared his throat, gently admonishing her.
"The young master fares well, though the same cannot be said of his carriage,", the 'Mercenary' noted, pointing at the bloody mess. "I see both you and the princess are unharmed," he continued, looking past Aoki to set eyes on Tsumami. Perhaps it was the light, or the heat of the moment, but it looked as though his own eyes softened, if only for a moment. "As this appears to be a band of brigands troubling the area as of late, we will not stop, and simply ride until we are at the next town."
As the lead mercenary barked a few orders, the young master took his place in their formation, and soon enough, Aoki was back in the carriage with the princess.
"Well, that was quite a bit of excitement - very clever your part, though, a shorter blade may suit you better here," Tsumami cheerily observed, seemingly unbothered by the sudden turn of events. "Now...where were we?" she pondered. "I was about to say something before we were so rudely interrupted!"
Momo leaned down and picked up a discarded dao. "You are correct, my lady, this shorter blade would be better for inside the carriage. It was kind of them to so generously donate it to our cause." She smiled despite her jangled nerves. She was still tense from fighting. She picked up a rag and set to cleaning her blades. "Yes, my lady, you were very rudely interrupted," she agreed politely and softly. As the princess handed her a cloth to clean her blade, she remembered.
"Ah, yes. My fear?" she began as the carriage moved again. "My fear is that the young master will not want me - that I will only be a friend, and that our marriage will simply be one of duty," she explained to her. Despite being the one with the privilege of being wed to him, it was true. Tsumami did have her own fears and worries, the more she thought about it. Even back home, the affairs of lords and ladies were sometimes rather sordid. "If that is so however - " the princess noted, " - it cannot be helped. Having a consort is all too common, and I would enjoy the company," Tsumami smiled, all too mischievously. "What say you?"
Her grey eyes were settled firmly on Momo, and with a passionate hunger.
"M..me? Your consort?" Momo almost cut herself when Tsumami suggested that. She blushed crimson and set the blade carefully on her lap. "...when you marry my Lord, you would be my Lady and I...I.. would be unable to refuse you," She squeeked, clearing her throat and looking down at the scarlet sheen on the silver blade. "I...I'm sure that my Lord would fall in love with you, if he is not already... you are quite beautiful." She insisted as she looked back up at Tsumami's eyes, embarrassed as she met the woman's gaze.
She had never dreamed of being with a woman or being asked such a thing. The princess however, burst into merry laughter.
"I was asking your thoughts on my fears!" the young woman continued her royal laugh. "And yet, you let your guard melt away, your true feelings coming through!" Sighing as she wiped away a tear from her eye, Tsumami never did stop smiling."You well know that this is unacceptable," the young master's bride to be pointed out. It was, quite frankly grounds for dismissal. Leaning in close to Momo, face to face, the princess had one more thing to say. "You need to be more careful - otherwise, we won't be able to surprise the young lord, will we?"
Tsumami never stopped smiling.
"My lady," Momo still crimson, flinched at Tsumami's sudden closeness. "My apologies. I will do as you suggest and be more careful... my experience in matters of romance are sorely lacking. My training prevents me from engaging in such matters, so I am a poor choice for advice," her voice got softer. She would bow but she could not afford to head butt the princess, no matter how tempting the prospect might have been. "Perhaps, you would like to talk about your homeland, my Lady?"
"In due time," the princess began, slowly leaning closer, lips nearing lips. "In due time."