A/N: Okay, so we have another time skip, but you know, these types of courtships are total blah. It's like a year with nothing. I'm patient, but not that patient.
Enjoy!
It was another three months after the Crown Prince and his lady saw "For the Love of a Woman" before they approached the king in an appeal to marry. Well, of course they waited three months. They could simply not be married before at least half a year was gone—tradition and all that.
Formally, they would approach before the witness of the Court and Queen (and Princess, as Yoshiko never failed to remind her brother) but they would meet in private beforehand.
"Tell me that this has been thought upon for some time," said King Munehito, smiling at the two.
"For quite some time, noble father," said Prince Akihito, turning his own smile towards his lady for a moment. "But as tradition states, we had to wait until now."
"Very prompt. I give you my blessing." Michiko's smile grew and she held Akihito's hand just that much tighter, meeting his eyes in delight. "I suppose the formal approach will be by the end of the week?"
"Of course, father. I love Michiko so much, I simply cannot wait to marry her." Michiko met his eyes and they shared a smile.
"And then, naturally, you will visit the Temple of the Harp." Akihito closed his eyes, sighing in muted displeasure.
"Naturally, father."
"The Temple of the Harp?" asked Michiko guardedly, looking between the two.
"It is a secluded temple, one that only the brothers of the other monasteries and the royal family know about. They reside atop a cliff, hidden, with only a single way to get up it, being pulled up in a harness," explained Munehito. As he did, Akihito folded his lips, closing his eyes with a silent sigh.
The Temple of the Harp always irked Akihito. It was ridiculously difficult to get to, what with having to be pulled up the sheer cliff face by the monks above. And that was at the end of the journey. Apparently bridges just made too much sense to them so you had to venture down the canyon, cross the river at the bottom, call to the monks at the top, pray that they weren't praying, and continue calling to them until they threw the rope down. You tied it around your waist, and climbed up, being assisted by the monks, pulling you up one jarring hand over the other. He had visited the Temple at least six times in his life, and had highly disliked it every time. Of course, Yoshiko adored it and had even been allowed to play the Harp. Such was his fate.
"It sounds lovely," Michiko was saying. Akihito pulled himself back into the present.
"Your betrothed certainly does not hold the same opinion," laughed the king. Akihito smiled tightly at his father. "I must say, good lady, he much detests the climb up the cliff, even more so than his sister."
"If I may, father, I should very much appreciate a respite in stories told from my fair family to my good lady," said Akihito.
"Of course." But they all knew that the stories had only just begun. Especially from Yoshiko, even with her new heaviness.
"I have been taught the formal request of marriage, Michiko," assured Akihito. "I was taught in preparation of this day."
"Yes, but your sister has assured me that you do not," said the woman.
"Never listen to Yoshiko. Do not let her know I told you that, but honestly, you should refrain from taking her words to heart. Especially in regards to me." Michiko giggled, folding her pale arm through his. The two walked through the court, earning respectful bows. Princess Yoshiko smiled knowingly as her brother approached their father respectfully.
"My dear son," greeted King Munehito. "A fine day to see you."
"Ay, good father, a fine day indeed."
"What brings you before me, good son?"
"I come before you to ask a boon of you, noble father. I wish to marry the fine Lady Michiko Ran." And with that statement, the court erupted into whisperings behind fans and hands.
"You will take your fair lady away from her family who may need her support?"
"Kind king, my family is dead, they passed into the spirit world when the last plague came through our kingdom," said Michiko softly, bowing her head respectfully.
"I see. And so you beg my permission?"
"Yes father, I do," said Akihito. "I would consider it the finest boon you could grant me."
"And thine lady? Have she the same thoughts on that matter as you, my son, my heir?"
"I wish to marry your son so strong as he does me," said Michiko
King Munehito smiled and said, "Then I have no choice but to bestow my blessing upon you both. May the spirits smile upon this union." The prince bowed as deep as his lady curtsied, the court applauding politely on the engagement of the prince. Akihito met eyes with his sister, whose face was aglow in delight he had not seen in at least half a year. It made the glowing bubble of joy in his chest grow even larger, seeing his sister's eyes shine in happiness.
He and Michiko made their way to the gardens afterwards, accepting the congratulations of their friends in the court and even those they didn't care too deeply for. Oddly, Michiko's good friend Noriko was there, and she too offered her congratulations. The two women had embraced fondly, smiles spreading across their faces. Akihito had found only that women seemed capable of that breed of casual physical affection in a friendship. He and Kaito never hugged.
"May I ask as to why you are here?" asked the prince's new fiancée. The two fell into conversation, familiar and fond even with courtly manners (once again, something that only women seemed to be capable of) with Akihito listening. They spoke of Noriko's emerging courtship with the brother of the Vizir, Maro Fujiwara, of the new stargazer lilies in the garden, and other light things.
Eventually, he excused himself, and the two women curtsied before continuing on. The Crown Prince, on the other hand, returned to the palace, to find his sister. She had obviously wanted to speak to him. He wandered the palace, knowing every step but not knowing where his sister was. Eventually he asked her baton dancing teacher if she had seen him.
"Madam Tokushi?" he asked. She turned from where she was admiring a painting of his sister and himself. He hated that portrait, because he had had to stand there for hours, his hand held just so while his sister got to sit, hands folded. And the clothes had been far too heavy for the heat that day. "Have you seen my sister?"
"Last I saw her, she was sitting with your parents when you formally asked to marry Michiko," she replied. "She looked happy."
"Yes, she did seem to be so. It is a delight to see that missing light in her eyes once more." Madam Tokushi nodded, smiling herself. Life had grown hard for her relatives in the south. There were whisperings of skirmishes, small fights with small groups of soldiers from KÀ. The only thing at eased Madam Tokushi was the occasional burst of joy in the eyes and visage of her pupil, the princess.
"Perhaps you could see if she has gone to her chambers? I know she enjoys reading poetry in the sun window of her closet." Akihito bowed, and strode to her chambers, going to find his sister. After speaking to her he would have to notify Kaito of his engagement. The man would be so grateful to be notified.
And Akihito did find his sister in her closet, reading the poetry of the time of their great-great-grandfather. He had never had a fondness for the older poetry, but Yoshiko adored it and could not stand his love of modern poetry.
He knocked on the doorframe, catching his sister's attention. She looked up and smiled, going to him and hugging him. "I will have a sister!" laughed the girl, her cheek against the silks on his chest. "Have I ever told you that I wish you were my sister?"
"Many times," laughed Akihito, embracing his sister back. "But, alas, I am one and twenty years old. It is a bit late for me to suddenly become your sister."
"Unfortunately, I doubt it would have happened at all. Such is my lot in life. Will you be going to the Temple of the Harp soon?"
"Soon as I am able. And I take it you want to come?"
"I would love to, but you know I cannot. I must stay here. Madam Tokushi says that I have finally become a master at baton dancing, though."
"Took you long enough," he teased, before Yoshiko flicked his nose with a laugh. "I have not seen you this happy in ages."
"I have not had reason to be this happy in ages," retorted the princess, letting her brother go. "But now I will have a sister and that is reason enough." Akihito smiled at her. "Did you come here simply so that you could speak to me? Or is there something that calls for my attention?"
"I merely wished to speak to you, sweet sister." She smiled softly.
They spent the rest of the day there, drinking tea and talking, Yoshiko teasing her brother and Akihito's new fiancée joining them in the later afternoon. It seemed to the Crown Prince to be just a pocket of joy, something to be enjoyed but there was still the nagging feeling that something would go wrong, and that this moment would be eternally bittersweet to him. But for that moment, that afternoon, he would ignore it, and just be glad his sister was laughing again.
Michiko was moved into the Palace with little to no fuss, and she settled easily, already having friends at court and not entirely floundering. She spent most of her time with her fiancée, but also spent time with her friends, Noriko when she came, Princess Yoshiko, Lady Mulan Hua, and Duchess Tsubaki Honda. The betrothed couple did go the Temple of the Harp, which Michiko found to be a terrifying trek and never wanted to make again.
As it went, it went smoothly, autumn passing into winter seamlessly, and Michiko and Akihito were married in early spring, when the bluebells were blanketing the ground.
The ceremony took all day, starting in the early morning and ending late that night with a magnificent pageant of martial arts. Michiko and Akihito didn't leave each other's side until the ceremony required them to step away from the other or something. After the pageant there was the wedding procession through town back to the palace for the wedding night. Akihito was secretly (very, very secretly) giddy about it, but had to remain in the strict disciplined mould of the bridegroom. Though Kaito, who had been on his left the whole day, knew right well his excitement. Michiko too, though she would be loath to admit it, was excited.
Once the bed had been blessed and they were left alone and the candles blown out…well we should let them alone, shouldn't we?
The day after the wedding they emerged as equals, as Crown Prince and Princess, heirs to the kingdom. Michiko had near wept when her one day husband was called to an urgent war meeting, and she spent the rest of the day blushing heavily over what her friends giggled about-namely, her wedding night. But blessing of blessings, Yoshiko was equally disturbed and put an end to it soon as she could saying, "If I have to acknowledge that my brother is doing…such things, I would like it to be a fleeting disgust rather than the centerpiece of a day's conversation. And we are ladies of polite society and it is unbecoming of our statuses, bearing, and lineages to giggle over such things that village wives do." And she primly unfolded her parasol and continued on.
No matter what Akihito had to say about his sister, she knew how to put an end to embarrassing conversations. Michiko had a feeling she would either be forever in her debt for that or would have to do the same for the princess when she was wed.
It was lunch when Michiko finally saw her husband, a cordial kiss pressed to her hand. She smiled at how easily he fell into procedure, especially after the kisses he gave her the night before.
"Esteemed husband," she said, relishing in the word, "was this meeting so urgent as to rush you away from me?"
"Alas, sweet wife, it is," sighed the Crown Prince. The sadness of the news he carried didn't tarnish the delight of calling Michiko wife. "The Kingdom of KÀ has declared war upon us. They have amassed a fair sized army and there have been whispers of a navy along the coasts. I am sorry." Michiko's innards had frozen. She was the new Crown Princess, it should have been a happy day spent in the gardens with her husband or possibly taking tea with his parents. Instead the worst reality she had been dreading for over a year had come to pass.
She realized she had let out a choked gasp/whine and clutched the arm of her husband, who was running his thumb over her knuckles soothingly. "Did they wait until our wedding to declare war? Did they know it would destroy me?"
"Oh sweet heart. We can match them. We have matched almost all of our foes in the past and we can do it again. You mustn't fear." Michiko nodded, completely unconvinced, but listened to her husband and followed him to lunch.
After, he returned to the war meeting with all haste, following his father and the generals into the room that women were never to enter. With the exception of those women who made it extremely far in their military careers.
"There is little to worry about," General Toyozawa Fujiwara (cousin of the Vizir). "Our army has always managed to put attempts at war like this to rest."
"On the contrary," General Takara Kōgyoku said, clenching her fists against the table. "We have much to worry about. In the past our opponents were set out to defeat us with minimal support. This time, they have most of the southern kingdoms allied with them. They have equal soldiers as us and though a smaller navy, a highly agile one that has yet to be sunk even by our own."
As the Generals continued to bicker over a course of action, King Munehito turned to his son, making them quiet, and asked, "Son, you have been most recently fighting the Pechenegs and the freshest from battle of us all. What say you?"
"I say," said the Crown Prince, "that we should exercise defense. Protect the harbors and canals and focus primarily on securing our southern border. Six months ago the border patrols from KÀ began to approach our border though we have never been a threat to them. Three months ago they began passing into our lands. We paid them no mind and now they shall feel the brunt of our armies. If they persist, I suggest we advance into their kingdom until we occupy it completely."
"Well said," murmured King Munehito. He raised his voice and said, "Generals? What are your opinions on my son's proposition?"
"I believe that his highness speaks wisely," said General Mihito Shōkō, folding his hands. "It seems to me that our main thought should be to protect our citizens. Their troops are mainly recruited peasants and aren't well trained. If we secure the southern border, they will likely realize the futility and begin to negotiate peace." And so, the plan was brought into action, figuring battalions to send to outposts and battle strategies for when the time called for them.
When the meeting was finished, General Toyozawa Fujiwara immediately set out with his troops to the outposts to the south, sending messenger birds ahead to alert of his approach. Munehito had suggested he go down and defend them, especially if he was so confident in their military. No one had missed General Takara Kōgyoku's smile at that. Akihito hadn't been to a war meeting containing the two in a long time, leading missions against the Pechenegs, but he knew of the rivalry between the two Generals. Everyone in the military did, basically. Well, except for the new recruits, but they knew nothing.
King Munehito removed his crown and dropped his head into his hands, groaning. He was getting on in years and wasn't exactly happy to have a war on his hands as well as the Pechenegs. No one could destroy them, no matter how hard he tried, and now a new threat was coming from the south. He couldn't deal with all of it. The Pechenegs, the Sauromatians, and KÀ? He would simply go mad from it all.
Running his fingers through his graying hair, he reflected on his new daughter in law. Twenty two, just as old as his own children, and still holding that joy and love that Yoshiko seemed to have lost in the most recent times. It had hurt her deeply to hear of this crushing reality of war.
He loved his daughter, he honestly did, but no man would marry such a sober young woman. And whomever did wouldn't care about her, likely using her to raise his rank. He had once voiced this to her, before when it was just fear of war. She had smiled and said, "Father, I do not plan on being eternally saddened. I fear for war, but once it passes, as I know it will, it shall not hinder my happiness anymore." But it hadn't passed, and with the spring came war.
"Father?" asked the small voice of his daughter. He looked up and smiled fondly at her.
"My dear daughter, what brings you here?" he asked, holding out his hand. She went and took it, holding it to her cheek.
"Father, we are in grave danger, are we not?"
"You say that so certainly." She opened her eyes, revealing the blue orbs she had inherited from him were swimming in tears. "Yoshiko, what is the matter? You are safe!" She shook her head, closing her eyes and letting a tear run down her cheek. "Kishi…come here." He stood, taking his daughter into his arms. "I know that I am closer to you than any of my forefathers have been to their children, but it seems that at times, a princess needs her father to simply be her father. As long as you need me, I shall be here." His daughter pressed her face to his shoulder, shoulders quaking.
"I-If they are to succeed, they will kill us all," she choked. "You, mother, Akihito, Michiko, myself…"
"But they will not. And if they killed myself and your mother, then the Generals would make certain that you, your brother and his wife were spirited to safety. Why do you suppose we keep so many of them on at all times here? Especially as of late?" She nodded, holding her father. They stood there for a moment longer, before the princess pulled away, wiping away the tears.
"Thank you, father. I believe I needed to have prolonged contact with someone I am greatly fond of."
"And it is my honor to be the one you chose to seek out. Now, my princess, shall we go to dinner together?" He held out his arm, and she took it with a smile, leaning her head against his shoulder. The two walked to dinner together, taking their respective seats at the table once they reached the dining room.
King Shi Huangdi was no idiot, and knew that he would not succeed in conquering the Kingdom of the North through brute combat with its military and navy. True, his navy was agile and his military had gotten a feel of the southern lands, but it was the royal family he needed to worry about. So long as they lived it was a huge problem.
Thankfully, his wife, Queen Zetian, had suggested another method. A small elite team to go the capital and kill the family. Without central power, the kingdom would lack control or order and easily be conquered. It wasn't by chance that she was his wife, after all.
And so the team of a dozen handpicked men were sent out, and had recently sent a message back that the Crown Prince was now married, to Crown Princess Michiko. Another one to kill, but no matter. They would strike soon, and he would know soon as they did.
A/N: Woot. So, notes!
The Temple of the Harp is my way of getting the harp in the lobby of the KA theater in because-dude, it's awesome. The Temple itself is based off of an Ethiopian monastery, called Tsion Maryam, where the Ark of the Covenant is supposed to be kept. Tsion Maryam is nearby Aksum in Ethiopia, so if you're ever there...
Now Wu Zetian deserves a special mention. She ruled during the Tang dynasty in China, the only Empress to ever rule by herself far as I'm aware. She supported Buddhism amazingly, so all those Chinese Buddhas and such, that's mainly her doing. Applause to her!
Now I'm asking for a review, and that's not much. Just press the button and type in a smiley/frowny face, if you want. Or a message. I'd like the latter, but the former's okay too.
