The Lady Of The Rain(Naruto Fanfiction)

Castle of St Mizuki, Oga, Spring 1433 PT.1

After a few months with my uncle Junzo, and then a year-long visit to our Bisai kinsfolk, my mother regards me as sufficiently polished to return home while they plan my marriage, and so I am living at our castle in St Mizuki when we hear the news that Atsuko Duchess of Konohagakure has died and the duke is lost without her. Then a letter from my uncle Ryuu, the duke’s chancellor.

“Hibiki, this concerns you.” My mother summons me to her rooms where I find her seated, my father standing behind her chair. They both look at me sternly and I make a rapid review of my day's doing. I have not completed the many tasks that I am supposed to do, and I skipped attendance at church this morning, my room is untidy and I am behind with my sewing, but surely my father would not come to my mother's apartment to reprimand me for this?

“Yes, Lady Mother?”

My mother hesitates, glances up at my father and then presses on. “Of course your father and I have been considering a husband for you and we have been looking at who might be suitable - we hoped that … but it does not matter, for you are lucky, we have had a mist advantageous offer. In short, your uncle Ryuu has suggested you as a wife for the Duke of Konohagakure. “

I am so surprised that I say nothing.

“A great honour,” my father says shortly. “A great position for you. You will be an Fire Land duchess, the first lady after the king's mother in the Land of Fire, the first lady in the Land of Rivers. You should go down on your knees and thank God for this opportunity.”

“What?”

My mother nods, confirming this. They both stare at me, expecting a response.

“But his wife has only just died,” I say weakly.

“Yes indeed, your uncle Ryuu has done very well for you, to get your name put forwards this early.”

“I would have thought he would have wanted to wait a little while.”

“Didn't the duke see you in Iwate?” my mother asks. “And then again in Tanigakure?”

“Yes, but he was married,” I say foolishly. “He saw me …” I remember that dark predatory look, when I was more than a girl, and my stepping behind my aunt to hide from it. I remember the shadowy hall and the man who whispered in my ear and then went out to order the burning of the Maid. “ And the duchess was there. I knew her too. We saw her more than we saw him.”

My father shrugs. “At any rate, he liked the look of you and your uncle has put your name in his ear and you are to be his wife.”

“He's very old,” I say quietly, directing this at my mother.

“Not very. A little over forty,” she says.

“And I thought you told me he was ill,” I say to my father.

“All the better for you,” my mother says. Clearly she means that an elderly husband may be less demanding than a young one, and if he dies then I shall be a widow duchess at seventeen.

“I had not looked for such an honour,” I say feebly to them both. “May I be excused? I fear I am not worthy.”

“We are the greatest family in Country,” my father says grandly. “Kin to the Holy Emperor. How would you not be worthy?”

“You cannot be excused,” my mother says. “Indeed, you would be a fool to be anything but delighted. Any girl in the Land of Rivers and Fire would give her right hand for such a match.” she pauses and clears her throat. “He is the greatest man in Rivers and Fire after the King of The Land of Fire. And if the king were to die …”

“Which God forbid,” my father says hastily.

“God forbid indeed; but if the king were to die then the duke would be heir to the throne of The Land of Fire and you would be Queen of the Land of Fire. What d’you think about that?”

“I have not thought of marriage to such a man as the duke.”

“Think now then,” my father says briskly. “For he is coming here in April, to marry you.”