The Dragon's Flower Read online

  Isao immediately shot to his feet, assisting her carefully onto his most comfortable cushion. “Yes. We have apparently received a package from Shichiro, and Ichiro was insistent that you would want to see what it is.”

  “Really?” She murmured with a graceful arch of her brows. “How curious.”

  The next moment there was a tapping on the shoji, and Isao’s voice rang out. “Come in, Ichiro.”

  The door slid open, and in slid the shinobi, who closed the door behind him before bowing. His hands, however, were mysteriously empty.

  “Well?” Isao drawled. “Where’s the package?”

  Ichiro got to his feet and took ahold of the shoji. Aika and Isao exchanged looks of complete befuddlement.

  “My lord and lady, the ronin’s package.” Ichiro announced solemnly, and the slid the door open to reveal the kneeling form of a young woman. She was dressed in a pretty but plain yukata with her hair simply done up behind her.

  Isao and Aika stared, and the woman bowed deeply, doing her best to press her forehead to the floor, though there seemed to be some difficultly in completing the action.

  “Honored Prince Hamasaki, I bring you greetings from your honorable brother, Nishimura Shichiro, and on his behalf I relay his wishes that you grant asylum unto me.”

  Aika delicately lifted a fan to hide her expression.

  Isao stared.

  The woman remained bowing.

  “Who… exactly, are you?” Isao asked.

  The woman rose from her bow, folding her hands politely in her lap and keeping her gaze modestly fixed on his desk. “I am Princess Nishimura Hanako of the Dragons, formerly of the Fujioka clan and daughter of Princess Fujioka Katsumi.” One hand lifted slightly and pressed to the gently curve of her stomach, and she ducked her head to hide her immodest smile. “I am the wife of your honorable brother, my lord.”

  There was silence for a long, long moment.

  “Well.” Isao said.

  *****

  If Hanako had felt that Konami—with its bustling market and heavy smell of the sea and the river in the air—was busy and bustling, she was not prepared at all for the wonder that was Ginshi. It may have been a week’s travel inland and upstream from the shores of the sea, but the rivers and the roads made it the crowning jewel in the merchant kingdom of Nagisa.

  The city of Ginshi was fairly packed with people and bursting with loud, cheerful noise. It was a city that Hanako would have looked forward to examining and exploring, but the travel had gotten quite wearisome for her, now that she was steadily approaching the fourth month of her pregnancy. Hanako quickly found that she didn’t have the energy that morning to deal with the noise or the trek to the Shogun’s palace. Ichiro, however, was of the extremely observant type of person (as Hanako supposed he would have to be, to be a shinobi in service to a Shogun’s heir), and had noticed her discomfort and weariness, and had promptly ordered a palanquin. Hanako had then managed to travel to the palace in relative comfort, safely cordoned off from the suffocating hustle and bustle of the city.

  When the arrived at the palace and Akashi Keiji had carefully handed her out of the palanquin, she was once again astounded. Hanako had not truly thought there would be any buildings in the outside world more magnificent then her home—nay, not her home. She paused for a moment in bewilderment, trying to figure out the proper word—the one she immediately fixed on seemed too harsh, so she switched, less cruel noun. This palace was far more grand and beautiful than her pagoda had ever dreamed of being, or at least she thought so.

  “A nice place,” Akashi Keiji said, “I find I quite like it. Far more beautiful than that monstrosity of a palace back in Akiyama, I’m sad to say.”

  Hanako felt her eyes go wide. “Akashi-dono!” She exclaimed. “Do not be so harsh on your own pa—homeland’s palace! I’m sure it’s quite lovely.”

  A smile crossed the celestial’s face, but it seemed a rather sad one. “I suppose it is, the trappings and polish are rather pretty, but the core is rotten. This place here… it’s all light and health. No wonder my sister is so happy.”

  Hanako blinked at him in confusion, and grinned and tapped a finger to his nose. Ah. Celestial things. Yet more evidence to Hanako’s belief that celestials and mortals saw the world in very different ways.

  “Well, then!” The Clever One said cheerfully, shedding his earlier flitting sadness like a leaf falling from the tree. “Shall we go meet your estimable brother-in-law?”

  Hanako smiled and nodded, and allowed herself to be escorted by a ninja and a celestial in disguise. She… she was going to meet Prince Hamasaki Isao, Shichiro’s, her husband’s brother! He… was family. She had never had family before, just Mother. And Mother was lost to her now, lost and gone, and all pleasant memories tarnished and tattered forever.

  It would be very nice if Isao and his wife and their child (Shichiro had told her about them, again and again) would accept her, and let her be a part of their family, though Hanako knew that was almost too much to hope for.

  Still, she hoped for it.

  But what if they didn’t approve of her? Hanako’s heart seized in her breast in sudden anxiety, but she managed to rally her senses together before they completely deserted her in panic. She was Shichiro’s wife, and failing to give a good impression was not even remotely an option! It could not happen! Hanako refused to even contemplate the thought! (Or, at least, she desperately tried to).

  “Don’t worry yourself so, little empress.” Akashi Keiji whispered, and Hanako jerked. He chuckled, low and smooth and said, “My eldest brother, Tsuyoshi Hiro, was very fond of Isao when he dwelt in Masaki, and it’s been a couple hundred years or so since he has ever been fond of a member of the main branch of the Nishimura clan. And my sister Chiharu Rie is very pleased to have grafted him into her patronage. You have nothing to fear at all.”

  At that Hanako felt the anxiety drain out of her like water from a rainstorm running off down the road and into the grass, and she smiled.

  “Thank you, Akashi-dono,” She whispered, and he smiled back at her.

  “My pleasure as always, tatsu-chan,” he whispered back, and Hanako knew she had the strength to face her in-laws with courage.

  They were bit to wait several minutes while Ichiro gained an audience with his lord the Prince, and when the shinobi returned to fetch them at last, he gave Hanako several whispered instructions as to how he was to present her. So it was that she stayed out of sight until Ichiro had slid the shoji shut again, at which point she had knelt down (with Akashi Keiji’s assistance—kneeling was just starting to get the slightest tad difficult) in front of the doors and waited to be summoned.

  She heard Ichiro grab ahold of the frame and announce solemnly, “My lord and lady, the ronin’s package.”

  Then the shoji doors slid open and Hanako was face to face with her husband’s kin.

  She didn’t dare glance at their faces, so she quickly lowered herself into as deep a bow as the slight bulge in her stomach allowed. “Honored Prince Hamasaki, I bring you greetings from your honorable brother, Nishimura Shichiro, and on his behalf I relay his wishes that you grant asylum unto me.”

  She heard a man’s voice, low and smooth and drawn out into a drawl, ask who she was. Assuming this was her honored brother-in-law, she responded, rising “I am Princess Nishimura Hanako of the Dragons, formerly of the Fujioka clan and daughter of Princess Fujioka Katsumi.” Hanako’s hand lifted to press against the curve of her belly which currently sheltered her child, and she smiled down at it “I am the wife of your honorable brother, my lord.”

  There was a silence, thick with disbelief and confusion, that no one seemed brave enough to break. Finally, she heard the voice of the young Shogun-to-be.

  “Well.”

  She took that as permission to raise her gaze, and quickly took in the measure of her brother-in-law.

  Prince Hamasaki Isao’s face was much like Shichiro’s, but his was older, and slightly broader, and sharpe
r—but it was a sharpness of mischievous mirth and keen intelligence, and not of sly cruelty. Hanako looked at him, and knew he was dangerous indeed. But, she thought it was the good kind of dangerous—the brave and fierce and protective kind, and that set her heart greatly at ease.

  “I assume you have proof of your claims, my lady?” Isao said, calmly, and Hanako nodded.

  “Of course, Isao-sama. My honored husband instructed me to present this to you, once I find myself at your home.” She then set the wakizashi—Tenshi, the Fox had said, and he was usually right about these things—before her on the floor, and bowed low again, waiting. From the glimpse she had seen he seemed to be kind, and Shichiro had said his brother would take care of her, so in those Hanako would place her faith and have hope.

  Isao got to his feet and walked over to the wakizashi, holding it up and examining it closely. His jaw clenched at the familiar sight, and he shut his eyes tight for a moment, holding off old memories. “It is indeed the wakizashi my honored mother gave my unto my little brother, a long time ago. And I know for a fact my brother married a lady of Akiyama, though I was unaware it was the daughter of Princess Katsumi.” He was not aware that the old hag had even had a child, and had thought it a blessing. However… this girl (woman? She seemed awfully small and young) did not seem anything like what he would expect from a daughter of the Princess of Akiyama.

  Maybe this marriage wasn’t such a bad thing after all—but it was too early to be certain of anything yet. Still, he sighed, and said, “If it was the wish of my brother that I grant you asylum, there is no other recourse for me but to grant it, my lady. Welcome to the palace of Ginshi.”

  With that, Hanako sat up again and bowed even deeper, before finally straightening and looking thankfully at her brother-in-law. “Thank you, Isao-sama. My husband and I are greatly in your debt.”

  Prince Isao quirked an eyebrow at that, before gesturing to the woman sitting at his side. “May I introduce my own wife, Princess Hamasaki Aika?”

  For the first time, Hanako took a good look at the Princess, and found that Prince Isao’s wife was elegantly beautiful in a way that Hanako knew she had no hope of emulating. Her dark brown hair was gracefully pulled up and her dark eyes were watching her with a keen gaze. She was surprised, however, to notice the large circumference of the Princess’ belly, for it was not in fashion for ladies of the court to put on such weight, but Hanako admitted she knew less than she thought of the outside world. However, it definitely looked strange—she’d never realized that one could gain so much weight in the middle and have it hardly affect anywhere else on their body. She brushed the strange occurrence from her mind and bowed again. “Honored sister, if it is not to much to ask, I seek your wisdom. I am carrying my lord’s child, but I have no experience with childbirth. I know from my honored husband that you have born your own lord a son, and your experience and knowledge is something I greatly seek.”

  The princess’ voice was sweet and cultured, as she said, “Of course, Hanako-dono. It would be my pleasure.”

  Hanako glanced over at Aika’s husband, wondering what he thought of the news.

  Prince Isao blinked and stared at Hanako in amazement, before laughing and running a hand through his dark hair. “Well, well, well! It seems as if he went and started creating little hellions in his image after al---” He bit off the last word as his mouth snapped shut with a click.

  Apparently Princess Aika’s glaring abilities were truly as fearsome as Shichiro had said.

  Isao cleared his throat, coughed uneasily, and got back to the matter at hand. “Congratulations, little sister, however, I have one question I must ask you—where exactly is my baby brother? I can’t believe that he would leave his pregnant wife to wander the world alone?”

  He saw the flinch in her bearing, and the deep sadness in her wide, exotic but strangely familiar, blue eyes. He felt a heavy, sick twisting in his gut, as if all his innards had been turned to soft, weighty, malleable lead. “Where is Shichiro?” He asked softly, and Isao was pleased to notice he had only let the faintest rasp of pain slip through his tone.

  “I’m… I’m not sure.” Hanako said, and her voice was small and pained, and it made the ache in Isao’s gut to burn fiercer. “But, I could ask my guardian, and see what he knows.”

  “Your… guardian?” Isao asked curiously, and he caught the nod from his shinobi crouched in the corner. Apparently this guardian could be trusted to an extent, so he nodded to his position, and blinked at the sudden brilliance of her smile as she thanked him and bowed low.

  Then she scurried to the door and called out into the hall, “Akashi? You can come in now.”

  She returned to her seat, and Isao rested a chin in his palm, curious as to what this guardian would look like.

  He was not expecting a fox to walk in through the shoji doors and into his office.

  “My lord and lady of the Hamasaki,” his little sister-in-law intoned formally, “Allow me to introduce you to my guardian.”

  Aika and Isao exchanged a glance, and Ichiro in the corner seemed to be giving the fox a very strange look.

  “Ah,” Isao said, “A trained fox? Rather impressive.”

  The fox leveled his snout in Isao’s direction, and his golden eyes gleamed brightly.

  "Yes, a fox. Haven't you ever seen one before? Admittedly, I am a very special specimen, or at least that's what my celestial mother always told me."

  There was a horrible moment of silence where the two future heads of the Hamasaki clan and their own personal shinobi gaped in shock, but then the silence was horribly broken when Isao jerked and knocked his inkwell over, Aika emitted a tiny, startled shriek, and Ichiro’s eyes widened marginally as he twitched.

  “O-oh!” Hanako stuttered in sudden panic, her hands fluttering in her discomfiture. “Ohh, I’m s-so sorry, I didn’t think, I’ve gotten so used to him that I had forgotten how surprising—oh, I’m such a—I’m sorry, my lord, my lady.”

  The fox tilted his gleaming red head to one side, and said, “Because your panicking is making my sweet little charge panic, I suppose I might as well change to forms if it will make it easier.”

  And with that, the Fox was a Man.

  This time, it was Isao who made a rather loud, strangled noise, Aika gasped, and Ichiro twitched again. Hanako made a quiet squeak of dismay, and the man twitched his fingers unhappily at her discomfort, and Isao thought he saw a flash of a white-tipped tail where there were none.

  “Since my charge is rather occupied with her nerves at the moment, I shall introduce myself.” He gave a little bow and a flick of his fingers, and said, “I am Akashi Keiji the Fox, the Clever One, son of the illustrious Tamotsu Eiji and his celestial wife Momoe Chiyo, the guardian of Akiyama and protector of Nishimura Hanako-hime.” He smiled at them, raising one eyebrow and waited for their response.

  “Well.” Isao said again, “This is unexpected.”

  Aika stirred and managed to gather herself together and said gently, “Please, Akashi Keiji-sama, take a seat. I am sure my husband is very curious as to why a Celestial Guardian is watching over my sister-in-law.”

  “Oh, that’s an easy question,” Akashi Keiji said, plopping down onto the offered cushion. “it’s because she’s the empress.”

  Isao’s, Aika’s, and Ichiro’s gazes snapped to Hanako’s face in surprise, and Hanako lowered her face under the sudden scrutiny, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

  “Well. That’s a bit of a surprise.” Isao said. “Are you sure?”

  “Very sure.” The Clever One said. “I was there for her birth, and she bears the Mark of the Dragon upon her back.”

  Isao mulled over this, rubbing his chin, before speaking again.

  “And how can we be certain you’re telling the truth?” Isao said, folding his arms and narrowing his gaze at the Fox.

  The Fox looked back at him calmly, and slowly lifted one elegant, dark red eyebrow. “Are you really going to question the word of the shapeshifti
ng, immortal, heaven-sent Celestial?”

  Isao thought about this statement. After a moment, he cleared his throat. “Well, when you put it that way… no.”

  “I thought so.” Akashi Keiji said calmly. “You seem to be a wise, intelligent man, after all.” He twitched his fingers again and said, “I suppose you’re wondering about all of this?”

  “An explanation would be greatly appreciated, yes,” Isao said, his voice as dry as he thought he could make it without irritating the immensely powerful celestial spirit.

  “Well, it’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll do my best to do it justice.” He clapped his hands, and a cup of tea was sitting before him. He grinned happily at the sight of it and lifted it in his hands, taking an appreciative deep breath of the steam. “Ahh, sister Izumi Miwa’s chrysanthemum tea. She always makes the best.” He sipped it, sighed, and closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts.

  “To do the story justice, it properly started over three hundred years ago, before the fall of the Emperors. You see, the last emperor was Emperor Hanshin, whose father was Emperor Masataro, who was greedy and self-absorbed and weak. He died young, and so his son, Emperor Hanshin, came onto the throne when he was young himself. He was a good emperor, but somewhat naïve, and like vultures gathering around a corpse, the seven realms sensed weakness, and some struck.

  Akiyama, Yamazaki, Taura betrayed Hanshin, and they slaughtered him and his wife, the gentle Empress Nohime. However, Hanshin guessed that there was something amiss, and had warned his faithful shinobi Hara Giri, that if anything were to happen to either the emperor of his empress, Giri was to take the young heir, Hansuke, and run with him.

  So it was that when Hanshin was betrayed, Hara Giri took the young prince and fled with him far away, guided and shielded by my illustrious father, Tamotsu Eiji the dragon. However, the seven realms had already descended into war, and peace was lost for years. When peace was finally restored after thirty-five years, the emperor’s heir was nowhere to be found.

  It was then my father appeared before the council of the Shoguns and announced the will of the Heavenly Emperor—that only one bearing the Mark of the Emperor could inherit the throne, and that because the seven realms decided they did not need the Heavenly Anointed One, they would get their wish. Only when the need grew dire would an Heir to the imperial throne appear, bearing the Dragon’s Mark.” Akashi Keiji took a solemn sip of his tip.