Musuko (Book Two of the Kakureta Hana series)

IV: Shi

I give Amaya until the end of the week as we agreed.  I refuse to let myself wonder about why she wanted such a thing, choosing instead to focus on the fact that she even agreed to marry me.

At the end of the time that Lord Motome had given me to win his daughter's hand, I meet Amaya outside the room where her father is waiting to hear whether or not I had managed to accomplish what I had set out to do.  She manages a tight smile when she sees me, and gently I brush my fingers against her trembling ones.

"Everything will be all right," I whisper before I take a deep breath and push the door open.

Amaya hesitates a step behind me when she sees her father waiting for us.  Lord Motome acts uninterested in the fact that we have entered the room, fiddling with one of the stones on the table in front of him.

"The week we have agreed to has come to its conclusion," I say, voice concealing how much I am shaking inside.  "Your daughter has made her decision as to whether or not she will marry me."

He inclines his head, setting the stone down with a sharp thud.  "Very well, Kazuhiko.  What have you decided, my daughter?  Will you marry this man?"

Amaya's gait sounds more uneven than usual as she steps past me to face her father.  She halts a ways from the table, eyes turned to the ground for a brief moment.

"I have agreed to marry Lord Amachi, Father," she whispers, raising her gaze.  "I believe that my marriage has been delayed long enough and that I will find difficulties in locating another willing to wed me."

Lord Motome is silent even as he looks into his daughter's eyes, not even a glimpse of his thoughts written on his face.  At long last, a smile slides slowly across his face, and I feel a chill run down my spine at the sight of it.

"You have chosen wisely, Amaya.  This marriage will bring great honor to our family," he says.  "When do you plan for this marriage to take place, Kazuhiko?"

I rearrange my perception of the man before me, wondering how many years he had spent planning this moment.  "Two weeks, Lord Motome.  I see no reason to delay as Amaya and I have known each other all our lives, and I fear that our great battle may not linger too far into the future."

The older man nods slightly.  "Very well.  We shall have a wedding in two weeks, and then we will likely make our way to battle once more."

I bow towards him before placing a gentle hand against Amaya's back.  "Let's go tell your mother," I whisper in her ear as I steer her towards the door.  "She is likely more than ready to hear the news confirmed."

Her trembling does not cease until we have made it far beyond where her father is.  I feel her back relax against my hand at the same time that she releases a deep breath.

"Did you find the reaction that you were looking for, Amaya?" I ask, reaching down to capture her fingers in mine.

"He planned this," she says as her wide-eyed gaze turns to me.  "He planned every single step of this.  He hoped that by bringing other men, other clan leaders, here to vie for my hand, you would eventually grow frustrated and make a claim on me."

Her words startle me enough that I forget to keep walking.  "What do you mean?  He planned all of this, all of this elaborateness, just to ensure that I would want to marry you?"

She nods, tremors shaking her body again.

"I would have married you regardless of how much effort your father put into trying to wed you into one family or another.  No one else knows me quite as well as you, and there is no one I trust more to stand at my side while I lead the clan.  Your father is a fool."