Born of Love

CHAPTER III

As he rode his horse back to the barracks within the walls, he felt the critical eyes of the people on him. Yuna's birth had caused more commotion than expected.

When she had gone into labor, they tried to stay calm, but the hours passed, her skin grew paler and paler, and her strength was no longer even enough to scream. He decided to take her out of the small house and take her to a matron who lived very close to the fortress (and his in-laws). As soon as the little girl was born, the old woman was very happy to receive what was demanded, and sent them away quickly, so that the people would not associate her with them anymore.

The journey from the old woman's house seemed to them much more exasperating than the previous hours. She was weak, so he put her on his horse along with the little girl and slowly led them through the central street of the village. It was noon and everyone was watching. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of the horse's hooves hitting the dirt of the road and the timbers of the bridge. It was noon, and Yarikawa had stopped his activity as the town observed the peculiar scene.

Peculiar indeed because any man who would like to be in the service of a man like Tokiasa Yarikawa would abandon even his own mother to be part of the chief's family. He had obtained that privilege and sullied it by taking care of a woman of far less value than the leader's cousin. That's how the world works. But he wasn't just any man, nor did he consider being forced to marry a privilege. He walked upright all the way, taking care that the horse's step was smooth and did not disturb her or their daughter.

He swore to himself that he would pass on to Yuna the stubbornness he had learned from the samurai. He wanted his little girl to always get her way and walk around with her head held high without having to answer to anyone. He had to focus his efforts on surviving and taking her away from this little hell called Tsushima. He would take her to Koryo; A place so big that you never bump into the same person more than twice in the same city.

The war intensified and suddenly the casual clashes on the roads turned into battles of more than fifty people planned to the millimeter by the most powerful men on the island. At least Yarikawa was winning...

Homely moments with his family began to become scarce, but he didn't waste any. He always made sure to clean himself thoroughly and take off his armor before going to see them. Once he even froze when, while hugging her, one of Yuna's little hands was stained with some blood from his neck wound.

He and his group faced the Adachi and the Kikuchi, defeating them with little effort. But despite being on the apparent winning side, he doubted the stability of the island if Tokiasa became Jitō. Their only argument was that the Shimura were trying to eliminate all the clans in Tsushima, but the evidence indicated that the opposite was true. In his opinion, the Shimura fostered good relations between the clans and correctly distributed the tasks of each on the island. Maybe they could be too arrogant, but they knew how to keep order.

The war came to a standstill, in part because of the particularly long winter. Not even Yuna's first birthday had been spared from the snow and cold, considering that a year ago the field was overflowing with flowers. Yarikawa's offensive was also affected due to the supply blockade. The Shimura had preferred to first cut off any possible support that Yarikawa might have on the outside and leave it completely isolated. Weapons and supplies were no longer arriving in the village to maintain the ones they already had. Food was becoming scarce. The conquered territory began to dwindle. Three more years passed and those living outside the walls had to leave their homes and besiege themselves inside them for safety.

Now he had to deal with having his real and fictional family huddled next to each other in such unsettling circumstances. Fortunately, the external conflict was too alarming for people, his "wife" or Tokiasa himself to stop and punish him for spending time with his real family.