The Samurai That I Loved

第13章

Elisa felt a strange fluttering in her stomach as she pressed against Shojiro's chest atop the horse. He had yet to speak to her since the incident at the river. She, herself, was also astonishingly silent for the first time since their journey.

Instead of having a mind filled with daydreams of Ernest, her thoughts kept bringing her back to the memory and feel of Shojiro's lips against hers, the glistening droplets of river water that made his black hair press to his face, the bare smooth expanse of his hairless chest when he had yanked her kimono down, melding her pale skin to his bronze.

She shuddered and turned her head partially to glance at his profile while he was focused on the mountain path. His dark eyes were narrowed, his chin proudly lifted, and his lips so perfectly sculpted.

"Shojiro-san?..." She asked quietly. Those black eyes that always made her feel incredibly small flitted to hers.

She swallowed before shyly saying, "I'm sorry for how...how reckless I've been. Thank you for saving me back there."

Although she knew he couldn't completely understand her, his eyes still flashed with recognition at her gratitude before drifting briefly down to her lips for a lingering second.

He tisked and muttered then while looking sharply away,

"Watashi ni nani ga okita no..."

(What's wrong with me?)

To his fortune, past the final bend through the mountain pass, the distant rooftops of the Imperial city appeared from the fog.

He nearly smiled in relief at the thought of eating a hot meal and finding a lovely mistress to warm his bed for the evening. After the last two weeks of being stuck with no one but Eliza-chan for company, he needed to focus on something, someone else.

Before they reached the main gates, he halted the steed and said in broken English,

"Eliza-chan, this city... Kyoto. Be quiet. Follow me, cover you. No thorny hana, okay?"

He cast her a look of deep seriousness while he spoke.

"Thorny hana? Thorny flower, like a rose? Don't act like a rose? Well, what the devil is that supposed to mean, Shojiro-San? Really, sometimes you speak in such riddles."

"Hai! Yes, see," He narrowed his eyes and put a finger to Eliza's mouth, silencing her instantly as she stared back at him with rounded eyes, "This no good. Do not be a thorny hana."

He lowered his finger from her soft lips before moving her hood over her head and holding her waist tighter as they began to canter towards the Imperial gates.

After giving and receiving greetings in Japanese, he was allowed entrance into the city. As instructed, Eliza stayed deathly quiet and still in his hold. All the while, her eyes drifted from one person to the next on the city streets. She gazed at the shop stalls and inhaled the bevy of tantalizing aromas that seemed to be drifting from everywhere. The beautiful foreign designs of the homes, shops, and other buildings were immaculately impressive.

A group of children dashed past the horse towards a musical play stand set up where actors were reciting stories using puppets. Musicians playing unique stringed instruments in their laps performed beside the Kabuki stand
While more children and adults alike gathered around to watch the presentation.

Eliza was both astonished and delighted by the sights and sounds of thriving life all around her. Kyoto was so unlike the dirty, wet, cold streets of London. Compared to the dark, damp brick and mortar of English design, the Imperial City of Japan was a colorful, vibrant, lush plateau of both art, design, and historic grandeur.