Flower of Bulann

Chapter 4

Vior had never felt so scared in all his life as he stood gazing into a reflecting pool, the koi fleeing from him to reveal his shimmering reflection in the moonlit waters. Vior found his nerves threatening to best him as he fidgeted out of habit. He touched his hair and wondered if he should have grown it out after noticing how Kinna had looked at Prince Kuan and Hassan, but he'd always had his hair short, ever since leaving the Hyenta household so long ago. The samurai and ronin had mercilessly made fun of his long silky hair and it had taken years to shake off his nickname of 'princess Vior.'

He straightened his Kimono in nervousness, the traditional black of the Faden clan a stark contrast to his pale skin. He brushed a petal off his chest, once again letting the emblem of the dragon be perfectly visible.

Vior took a deep breath, he had to make a good first impression, Kinna would hardly remember him after all, they had only been children when he had asked her lord father for her hand in marriage. He had refused him politely, but Vior had recognized that a man of his standing would never be worthy of her. Without a word to anyone he had departed the Hyenta lands to seek fame and renown, enough to one day be seen as worthy of her.

"Lord Vior?" Kinna asked shyly and startling him. Vior had been so nervous and lost in thought she'd approached him without notice.

"Lady Kinna, you look very beautiful tonight" he stammered, his almost unconquerable composure destroyed by the proximity of the woman he'd strived so hard for.

Kinna took his arm gently, leading him across a small wooden bridge, the lamplight giving the palace gardens an ethereal glow that only enhanced Kinna's already stunning beauty. She wore a pink dress in the western style, embroidered with the blossoms of their homeland, a white shawl covered her back and shoulders, keeping her appearance modest. Though growing up around men that made regular business with ladies of the night had almost made him forget about how a lady behaved.

"Your skill with the bow was mightily impressive, lord Vior" she complimented him and Vior couldn't help looking down at her pretty face.

"I... well, learned well... from my peers" he managed.

Trying not to stare he averted his gaze and noticed an older gentleman standing at a respectful distance, he seemed neither concerned nor angry at their closeness and he could only assume he was the chaperone. Kinna followed his gaze a moment later, giggling at his nervousness.

"Pay Jaefan no mind, lord Vior. He is a deaf-mute eunuch my father hired to make sure no ill befalls he, from over amorous suitors" she told him as the two of them passed underneath a blossom tree.

"Truly?" he asked, getting a playful nod from Kinna. Vior sighed, he had been terrified of saying something he should not.

"Then, may I ask if you remember me, lady Kinna, from when we were children?" he asked as Kinna gracefully sat upon a stone bench, the spot perfectly situated for the moon to bathe the area in light, Kinna's face seeming to sparkle in the moonlight.

"You mean from when you first made my heart aflutter?" she asked him, her eyes peering into him and shaking his very soul.

He nodded as he blushed horribly, how his comrades would mock this childish display if they saw him. Kinna, though, reached out her hand and turned his chin gently towards her.

"Please, lord Vior, use your words and speak to my face. Though there is a chance you may not win... should that not spur you on to let your feeling be known to me? what was it you could not say back then, that now you can?" she asked him and he noticed her eyes glistening in the white light of the moon.

Finding his courage, Vior preemptively wiped the tears gently from the corners of her eyes. Looking at her as he spoke the words he had held back for the last seven years.

"I love you, Kinna. Even as a child I knew there was no other woman I could be with. Staying chaste these years was not difficult for me, for never could any of them compare to you... when I was a boy with nothing your father rejected my offer of marriage. But now, when I win your hand he will have no recourse. Everything I have done since we parted has been to become worthy of you" he told her, the truth of his heart spilling out in words he didn't know he had within him.

Kinna sniffed, stifling a stream of tears that threatened to flow like a river. Vior cradled her to him, not caring about her chaperone, only in comforting his love.

"But, what if you are defeated?" she asked, her voice choked with tears.

"Then I will end my life, lady Kinna and we shall be together in the next. But fear that not" he said gently, Kinna's face staring up at him.

"It is God's will that I stand victorious" he stated, never more confident about anything more than this statement in his whole life.

Kinna's hands gripped his Kimono tightly, her face stretching up to his until she was only a few inches from his lips.

"I will hold you to such a promise, lord Vior. For a promise it is, under the heavens, I swear it to be one" she told him, her tears drying and her face becoming stern.

"Even if heaven were to mandate my love for you to stop, it would not," he said with total earnestness, his urge to kiss her overcoming all reason in him.

Vior felt a tap on his shoulder and the chaperone indicated a sand timer at his waist, taking the friendly hint he stood with Kinna, making sure she could stand without shaking before letting go of her.

"I bid you goodnight, lady Kinna. May you have pleasant dreams" he said with a bow, when he raised his head Vior saw Kinna smiling at him... the sweetest smile he had ever seen and one that pierced the darkness of night... it both terrified and excited him, that she could so easily capture his heart and soul.

"And you, lord Vior. I bid you luck in the tournament tomorrow" she told him, giving a reciprocal bow before allowing him to leave.

Vior followed the stone pathway out of the garden, his heart pounding in his chest so hard that the sounds of the night were drowned out. He steadied himself against a wooden pillar, taking deep breaths until he could walk normally once more.

'I must be calm' he commanded himself, to be so enslaved by love would make him desperate, and that would lead to his defeat. His many teachers had taught him such and several times had he seen invincible warriors slain in duels of passion.

Vior couldn't remember entering his room, nor undressing for bed, but he slept deeply this night... his dreams invaded and occupied by Kinna.