The Princess and the Shadow

Chapter 4: The mission

Ina noticed Masayasu's earnest gaze and followed the path with him. Her room was downstairs while his was downstairs, but she could talk to him as she went downstairs, and that's what she did. She quickly stepped up to him and took hold of his arm.

"Masayasu-sama, I'm seeing concern in your eyes, even though your eyes often do not show me anything, I see that there is a concern. What are you thinking? If you do not share with me I can not help you."

She spoke, then paused in the middle of the stairs. Masayasu glances at her hand on his arm and then on her face and grabs her hand and begins to descend the stairs quickly. Ina was surprised and confused. But then she understood when he headed toward her room and entered with her, closing the doors behind him.

Masayasu was very serious, he turned to look at Ina studying those violet eyes full of confusion and mixed feelings to that. He would be frank with her, he needed to be in that moment.

"This mission is risky for you and me, I'm sure your father is testing my skills and yours, maybe testing something else." he said in a serious, almost hoarse voice.

"Anything else?" Ina repeated frowning. What did he mean by anything else?

"What do you mean by that?"

Ina asked to perceive Masayasu to begin to walk by her room and running the hand in the own fringe. She had already seen him make a similar gesture when he was thinking and worried. She wanted to understand what he was thinking.

"Share with me what you're thinking. Let's think together."

She spoke and Masayasu stopped in the middle of the room and turned his face to look at Ina. She was right, thinking alone would bring more and more ideas. She knew Ieyasu better than he did, maybe she could give an answer to his questions.

"I need answers, Inahime. You said you never made long journeys, but you've been on other missions, tell me about it."

Ina nodded quickly and approached Masayasu as she looked into his blue eyes.

"I've done trips, but not long, when they were long I was with my father, when we need to visit some other province I went with him. He used me as a spy in the castle, who will distrust the princess, right?"

Masayasu agreed with her words and put his hand under his chin. "So ... does not everyone know that you fight in battles?"

"No, some do not know me. On the battlefield I am always in armor, I may be mistaken for some samurai, some nobleman serving my father, or one of his sons."

"So let's take it easy, no Sanada knows you, even when Masayuki Sanada came here he did not see you?"

Masayasu looked into Ina's eyes, he wanted to see if this was really true, if he was not engaging in a suicide mission.

"No, my father did not allow me to take part in the meeting, I might have planned something, only some of his allies know me, not all of them."

Ina can see a little concern dissipate from the eyes of that shinobi, but something still bothered him.

"Masayasu-sama, my father would not send me on a suicide mission, if that's what you're thinking. If something goes wrong I know how to handle it, but I've never made mistakes in my missions, I will not commit now. I know that he is very clever clan, Masayuki-sama is an intelligent man, like my father, I just need to be careful. "

She smiled up at him. Her eyes loaded with kindness, Masayasu could see that. She seemed so confident, if she relied so much on her own abilities as a spy, then he would give her that vote of trust in her.