The Samurai That I Loved

第5章

Eliza wasn't sure when she had fallen asleep, but upon being woken with an abrupt shove, she found herself being lifted off the horse and carried inside a doorway. Tilting her chin up, she gasped at the sight of the man named Shojiro still wearing his mask before he set her down on the woven mat of the floor. He walked off into another room that was separated by a sliding wall of some sorts. She craned her neck to watch him out of curiosity.

Already coming to terms with how entirely helpless she was in her newly found situation, she could only hope for the best and keep her head ducked down until she could figure out how to get to Ernest. Although partly certain the man was taking her to the Echigo province, the fear thriving in the back of her mind whispered paranoid concerns that mayhaps she had simply been abducted. However, due to the frustrating language barrier, there was truly no way of being certain in anything.

With wide eyes of disbelief, she watched as he removed first his helmet, then proceeded to strip away the rest of his armor, leaving him standing in simple, baggy pants, a loose tunic shirt with a belt, and odd-looking toe socks. After carefully - almost reverently - putting away the armor in a chest, he turned back around. With a quick flick of his hand, he removed the pony tail from his hair, letting the black waves fall around his shoulders and lower.

And then those almond dark eyes landed back on her.

Eliza blushed at the close, private proximity in which she now found herself in with him. Hesitantly, she began to scootch away on the tatami floor until her backside hit the wall furthest from him. He walked towards her, uncaring of her frightened stance. Crouching down, he outstretched his hand and removed the cloak from her person. He took in the kinagashi she wore with a twist of his mouth in amusement. Narrowing his gaze on her hair, he dropped the cloak on the floor and reached out.

Eliza instantly flinched and cowered back. His hand froze mid-air.

Retracting it, he stood back to his feet as he muttered, "Obieta niwatori no yō ni..."

(Like a frightened chicken...)

All at once, the wall behind her slid open with a fast yank, sending her toppling backward. Her wild eyes stared up into the face of one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. The mirrored reflection of shock in the other woman's almond eyes did not slip past her attention. She was a graceful looking beauty with a willowy form and black-brown hair that was pinned up in a loosely-styled bun with two sticks keeping it in place. The kimono she wore was feminine and gave her the appearance of an enchanting fairy to Eliza's romantically driven brain. She nearly pursed her mouth in an "O" shape as she breathed out, "Oooh, my goodness."

The other woman blinked and snapped her gaze up to Shojiro. Her brows furrowed in anger to Eliza's alarm. Although, the expression was quickly replaced by a look of pained sadness. A single tear trailed down the woman's face before she ducked her head and quickly walked away down a dirt path.

Shojiro emitted a hissing sound before he instantly stepped over Eliza and took off after the woman. Eliza clambered to her feet and snaked back inside the darkness of the strange home, peering out the still opened doorway at the hushed interaction taking place between the man called Shojiro and the beautiful Japanese woman.

Although she had no idea what was going on, she had the slightest inclination that her presence had greatly upset the other woman, yet she knew not how or why. She decided to take the moment to look around at her new surroundings. It was nighttime, yet she could tell from the distant black peaks surrounding them that they were located somewhere nestled in a deep mountain valley.

Torches illuminated a village before her very eyes, where other thatched homes and buildings were scattered along the valley. Wooden fences trailed around some buildings, whereas a corral of some sorts stood on the outside of the village to her left, near an open field area where fighting dummies and archery planks were positioned