The Courtship Chapter 10

On the day of their arrival, a feast was held in Shingen's honor. Per Kagura's instruction, the meal was held in the largest tea room. It was a lovely room used normally for public tea ceremonies, large enough to fit all the visitors but ornate enough to make it special.

At 6:33 everything was going well. Prince Muso was rather happy with both women, both looked the part. He was a little worried when he could feel both their auras, one so pure and the other raw power. The Count and Countess did a good job of hiding their auras, so the feeling of powerful auras was a little jarring. But he knew that both could hold their own should they need to and a powerful queen would be an asset.

At 6:34 the two provinces were very close to war.

What happened was at 6:33 pm and five seconds, Shingen specifically asked for the window to be opened and that Yura be seated directly in front of the window. He made it clear to everyone at the table that no one should walk behind her. Everyone was seated and people made sure to walk around the table.

At 6:33 and ten seconds, the main course was ready to be served. The main course was an assortment of sushi, tempura, and kaki.* The servants began to file in with the meals and saké.

It should be noted that no one had left the room after Shingen made his request.

Prince Muso didn't notice the lack of communication with his servants as he was preoccupied conversing with Hitomiko as she filled his ochoko*. She did so in what many would consider a polite manner. But Prince Muso noticed the tint to her cheeks, her perfect smile, and felt her aura shift. He was pleased with his option, and he scooted closer to her.

At 6:33 and twenty seconds, a servant helped the senile King to his seat. This prompted another servant towards the king with his meal and saké.

What happened next varied deeply depending solely on who you asked. But had you asked an unbiased party they would tell you that at 6:33 and twenty-five seconds the servant running over to the King made the mistake of walking behind Yura. No one had warned this poor servant or any servant for that matter about Shingen's request. As he rushed passed Yura towards the King he tripped. No one could see what he tripped over.

As he tripped Yura's head was abruptly jerked back and she let out a scream. The scream instantly put the Tiger of Kai on his feet, sword drawn. Yura followed his lead raising her hands, everything on the table was knocked over and several people were bleeding.

What was notable to Prince Muso was that Hitomiko also suffered a cut on her cheek.

She quickly brought a napkin to her cheek in order to cover the mark. That was at 6:23 and fifty seconds. By then it was too late.

At 6:23 and fifty-five seconds, Prince Muso rose in a rage. The candles that were on the table had started a small fire. The flames only added more color to his already red disgusted face. He turned his back to the miko who was still holding a very white napkin to her face and stormed out.

Prince Muso had made his way to the tenshukaku* where he continued to watch the chaos unfold. Servants were running with vases of water into the tea room as everyone else ran out. He could barely make out Shingen leading his group out of the shiro, the miko surely in tow.

Count Naraku found him there, huffing angrily at the scene below. "You shouldn't have been so rude my Prince. You may have just started a war."

Prince Muso turned to face the Count. "I may have started a war? I will not marry a dead person!"

"No one would know," Count Naraku said, "There are plenty of ways to come across an heir."

"I would know!" The Prince was yelling. "She didn't bleed! How dare Takeda offer me a dead woman!"

"Things would have been great with an ally like the Tiger of Kai. Both the Oda and Uesugi forces would have thought twice about attacking us." Count Naraku continued on as if the Prince hadn't said a word.

Prince Muso glared at the Count, "Why are you worried about them? I'll eventually conquer them all. Just find me someone else!"

"Who?" The Countess asked, just now joining them.

"At this point, I don't care. Find me someone that will bring power to Musashi. That is all I need." Prince Muso had felt the power from the two females that he attempted to share dinner with. And he wasn't scared, Prince Muso was never scared, but he knew he couldn't continue to treat the neighboring provinces as an afterthought. Not if they people like the Tiger of Kai did.

"You want someone powerful," Count Naraku stepped forward, "what if she is a commoner?"

"Her class doesn't matter." Prince Muso began pacing.

"What if she lacks practical application?"

"I don't care if she's never lifted a weapon," Prince Muso said. He stopped pacing and looked at Count Naraku and the Countess, a serious glint in his eye. His gaze was only made more intense but the deep red still staining his cheeks.

"I'll tell you exactly what I want, I want someone so powerful that people feel her rather than see her. I want anyone that is near her to know that Mushashi is not to be trifled with. I don't care if you have to search the world, just find her!"

Count Naraku could only smile. "Prince Muso, she is already found."

…...

It was late at night or early in the morning, depending on who was asked when Prince Muso and Count Naraku left for the small village by horse.

By dawn, they had arrived at the road Kagome's family's farm sat on. The early morning rays showed off the beauty of Count Naraku's horse. It was a perfect specimen of Kisouma*. The horse had short legs and shaggy long hair, but he was fast and sure-footed. A samurai's horse through and through.

Prince Muso rode a special breed, one he named Enma*, he created all on his own. Enma was the outcome of mating demon horses with the finest horses from the West money could buy. What he ended up with was a horse that was pure white with fire for hair. Count Naraku's horse looked like a mule in comparison.

"She works on her farm in the morning before she heads to the shrine to train." Count Naraku began relaying the information he had on the young miko.

"A farmhand? I know I said nothing mattered," The Prince began to doubt his original words, "she better be powerful if I have to deal with people laughing at me for wedding a farmhand."

"If you prefer, we can ride back to the shiro without waiting and look for someone closer to perfect for you." Count Naraku offered, but he knew the Prince well enough to know it wasn't necessary.

"We're already here, we might as well wai-" The Prince felt her first, and to say he was startled was an understatement. As Kagome walked into view towards the shrine he backtracked, "She will work."

"People will respect the power, I think." Count Naraku smiled.

Prince Muso turned to the Count. "I'll only be a few minutes." Then he rode the Enma toward the young lady.

Kagome had felt the demons before they made it into the village. She was already awake working on the farm. At first she wasn't worried, it wasn't until they got closer and she managed to count three different auras that she felt a mild panic. She decided to wake her brother to finish her share of the work and left the farm for the shrine a little early. She needed to ensure that nothing would bring harm to her village. As she came to the gate at the entrance of her farm she immediately recognized Count Naraku and kept walking. She wanted nothing to do with him. While irrational, she partially blamed him and his Countess for what had happened. It was their appearance that led to the incident that took her half-demon's life.

When the demon horse began to approach her she was a little caught off guard. It wasn't the demon or the aura that startled her. Kagome had just never seen such a horse and she had lived on a farm her entire life. The man on the horse was also different, but no more notable than Count Naraku to her. After taking them in for a minute she continued toward the shrine, if the man wanted to talk he could certainly catch up to her.

Unfortunately for Kagome, that's what happened. When the horse was at her side the man began speaking, "I am your Prince and you will marry me."

Kagome almost tripped. She couldn't have heard him correctly, that would be crazy. "Excuse me?"

"I said you will marry me."

Kagome didn't even slow her walk, she didn't have time for this stupidity. "I refuse."

"You cannot refuse."

"I just did." Kagome continued towards the shrine.

Prince Muso expertly maneuvered the Enma in such a way that he cut Kagome off, causing her to stop for fear of running into a large flaming horse.

She looked up at the Prince with a glare, clearly annoyed. She made a point to cross her arms, further displaying her displeasure. The Prince chose to ignore her displeasure. He puffed up his chest, straightened his spine, and in what he deemed his most royal tone he said, "Refusal means death."

"Kill me then." Prince Muso was a little taken aback by her response, not only had she refused him but she was willing to die. She didn't even flinch, her expression never changed.

"I'm not that bad - how could you rather be dead than married to me?"

Kagome looked at Prince Muso, she was growing impatient. She had places to be, training to do. "Marriage involves love and that is not something I care for. I tried it once and it didn't end well."

Prince Muso laughed. "Love? Who said anything about love? Certainly not me. There must be an heir at all times. Currently, that's me. Once my father dies there won't be an heir, just a king. Me again. When that happens I will need to get married and have a son. So you can either marry me and be the richest and most powerful woman in all of Japan or you can die in terrible pain in the very near future. Make up your own mind."

"Power means nothing," Kagome made a face as she recalled what the search for power took from her, "I will never love you."

"All the better, we can both do our own thing and see each other at dinner occasionally. I really have no want for a wife, it's more of an inconvenient necessity."

Kagome rolled her eyes and made sure her tone was as sarcastic as she could manage. "Then, by all means, let us marry."

…..

*Diospyros kaki, also called the persimmon, Oriental persimmon or kaki,[1] is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros. This is from Wikipedia

*ochoko is the cup designed to drink saké out of. Made specifically to encourage sipping and thus talking to the ones around as saké was generally not self-served.

*Tenshukaku is the castle keep usually 3-5 stories tall.

*Kisouma - Horses used by samurai

*炎馬 Enma means flame/burning horse

...

Quick note - I was asked on AO3 why I kept Naraku as The Count as opposed to changing him to a Lord. I figured it was worth answering here as well.

I have done a lot of research into the hierarchy of the Sengoku period, he would be a retainer, vassal, or anther daimyō. In the book/movie, the Count didn't have the power of equivalent to what would be considered the Prince or King. (Not that there were kings and the Prince in my story technically wouldn't be a prince either.)

Take all of this with a grain of salt as this is a white woman's view on a subject she has only started learning about.

In the Sengoku period, there was an Emporer, but he was largely a figurehead. To my understanding, if there were Princesses or Princes they would need to be part of that royal family. Everything/everyone else was below that. The noble class was the military classes: shogun, daimyō, samurais, and ronins. Then there was the lower class: peasants, artisans, merchants, prostitutes, and criminals.

For this story, I've tried to make a lot of it as accurate as I could, but I've kept titles the same because they wouldn't have the same effect if I didn't. The Vassal doesn't quite have the same ring to it as The Count.

So to answer your question, he would not have been a lord because to my understanding that would make him a daimyō. I would then have to give him land and other fun things, which the Count didn't have because he wasn't that powerful.

I do try to make correct references to things as they would be in time and location, but sometimes it takes away from the story. For instance a little later when the man in black is described, I did the whole paragraph with accurate terms to the period. I ended up with a paragraph that was hard to read if you didn't have the knowledge previously and full of * leading you to the bottom of the page to describe what everything was.

So for the sake of this story, I kept a lot of things the same for easier understanding, better flow, and not to take away from the overall story.