The Last Moment Before Dawn...
The night had been calm, everything was alright and Shau Jun wished for them to stay the same. The corridors near her room were empty and cold making her feel a sweet touch of the freezing air. She still wore her night clothes, loose hair and no shoes. On the other side of the bambu wall, the sky had grey clouds but the morning sun was shining bright. The birds were singing, the atmosphere was peaceful and there weren´t dead bodies unlike the previous day. Shao Jun had participed in the war not caring if she was a woman or not. The Emperor Miko had sent all of his guards to the battlefield but the victory was not even close. Seeying no other choice, people started to volunteer-farmers, teenagers, old men and a woman. On the entire country only she had the courage to fight the enemy. She knew some of them had children to take care and work to be done but wasn´t their Master and country important to them as well? The war began when she was seventeen years old. She started as a novice defending lands and homes but as her knowledge grew so too did her abilities. Now, at twenty-three, a grown up woman and a warrior, she defended the fortress and the Emperator´s Daughter- Shinjy. The young girl was a legend all over the world because of her beauty: dark eyes, long black hair, pale skin and rosy lips. Princes came from different continents but until now there wasn´t any she felt attracted. Her Master was desperate to see his child married, afterall, she had eighteen years.
Over time Shau Jun and Shinjy became good friends, a relationship the Queen did not approve. Shau Jun was a soldier: she had already killed hundreds of men, she tortured another hundred and few survived. Not only the Queen but also the population of the whole kingdom. Men didn´t court her, woman were afraid of her and children tought she was a demon. Sometimes she would wonder how her life could have worked if she never became a soldier. Maybe she would already be married or perhaps she would be still working with her mother- cooking and serving the nobles who lived in the palace. Her life back then wasn´t bad but the rebelious side of her wanted to show the others how strong a woman could be if she tried hard enough. No man dared to fight against her- they knew they would lost. Years of training made her the best soldier and the Emperor trusted her his life and secrets. She liked what she had become: she enjoyed the solitude but also the pretty things fame and glory could bring her. Everyone knew a hard destiny always carried a bag full of surprises. Shau Jun didn´t like very much her job, the killing, she was simply good at doing it.
Sighing, she walked away form the bambu wall of her bedroom and stared at the mirror made of gold and white metal, a present form the princess. Many could think there wasn´t any femininity in her but Shau Jun was not only a dangerous woman when she had a weapon on her hands, she could kill with a seductive look. Of course she tought otherwise. Dark ,short and curly hair, a skin darker than most of the chinese people,black eyes just like the night sky and a muscular stature. Most of the time she didn´t care what others felt about her but she was lying if she didn´t admit to herself she didn´t mind being just like her friend Shinjy. But, there was no time for herself: first the Kingdom, then her masters, her family and finally her private life. Not that she had much to hide. Being a forward person she hadn´t any shame in loosing her tongue. And sometimes, she would find herself in awkward situations. Moving to her bed, she picked up her soldier uniform and dressed them as quickly as she could. Only then she remembred that day she would have some time for herself: the English were coming.
A month ago the Emperor made some contracts with the English King. They offered their help to fight against the rebels. The rebels were from the East Side of China and the only thing they wished was to see the Emperor Miko dead. They could try...Shau Jun would make sure they suffered. That day the English King and some men of his army were visiting the kingdom. For Shau Jun discontentment, she wasn´t accepted in the military reunion. Heading out of her room she walked into the kitchen where she ate some fruit as breakfast. Two guards were there as well, eyeing her as if she was some kind of mysterios creature. Their vests were similiar to her´s, the only thing that changed was the color. While the guards robes were red, indicating they were still novices, Shau Jun robes were black and grey which made her a Samurai, or most know as a Ninja-the higher rank. It was really hard to become a Samurai, but after killing a certain number of rebels, so many she wasn´t able to count, she turned one of the Emperor´s best men. Smirking, she turned around, tied her hair and went to the garden.
Shinjy was there, singing soft melodies of a dragon who fallen in love with a human. When she saw the Samurai, she got up of the grass, mended her kimono imported from Japan, and hugged her friend. "My friend! Why are you up so early?" Shau Jun asked Shinjy with a suspicious tone on her voice. Shinjy enjoyed her sleep, she only woke up when the rays bothered her sleep. Shau Jun was exactly like the princess before the war, the samurais, before Emperor Miko...
"For no reason. Is just that I´ve never seen an English man before." The princess pale cheeks turned red and she looked to a flower trying to avoid Shau Jun gaze. The older woman wanted to laugh: what was the difference between Chinese and English men? They were all the same to her. "Do you think they look like gods?"
"They are just men, humans. What made you think they would be gods?" the only Gods Shau Jun worshiped were Cai Shen, the God who rode a black tiger, Chun Kwan, the God of war, Jum Sun, the Goddess of dreams and nightmares and YuanshiTianzun, the God who created the Earth and the Sky. She would pray to these Gods every night. The Europeans had no Gods, no beliefs. They made war against each other, they would steal land in continents that didn´t belong to them, they would attack ships and call themselves pirates and enslave innocent. Shau Jun hated the Europeans-they wanted to be superior and rule the world. Such ideology should be destroyed.
"One of the maids said she saw one of them, the one commanding the army. She told me he looked like the God of the sun. I think she was right. We all know people from those kingdoms have a strange beauty" she sighed, like a woman whose finished falling in love, and observed the lake. On the other side of the lake was the room Emperor Miko was having the reunion with the English King. The bambu walls were dark and thick-Shau Jun couldn´t see a thing from the outside.
"Are you looking for husband?" Shinjy startled and glanced at Shau Jun. She didn´t want to marry, at least not now, but she was a young girl searching for romance. She was young, yes, truth be told she acted like a child sometimes, but also the heir. Unlike any other father, Emperor Miko had given her all the time in the world. But those days, he too was getting tired. She shaked her head, from one side to the other. Shau Jun didn´t fully trust the princess´s answer. As the time went by, Shau Jun was forced to understand what laid behind the surface-many had lyed to her. The two women were facing the lake when a short woman, a maid, called them. "What do you need?"
"The Emperor asked for you. He´s waiting for you in the reunion room" when the short maid left, Shau Jun bowed and waved a good-bye. Not wanting to be alone, Shinjy searched for her mother. Shau Jun was facing the reunion room door not knowing what to do: they were in the middle of something important; should she knock or wait to be called? After all this time working for Miko, there were situations Shau Jun had no idea what to do.
Closing her eyes for a few seconds, she inspired, opened her eyes, breathed out and knocked.
************************************************** ************************************************** ********Notes...
Samurai existed in China too but only for a few years. Some time later they called themselves Ninjas, that way they would be different from the Japanese Samurais. In China it´s Bambu not Bamboo. Woman in Asia had more oportunities than the European women. The english pirates attacked some chinese commercial ships. The contract between England and China never existed. All characters are fictional!