Disclaimer: forgot on chappie 1, but no joke, just borrowing characters from Rurouni Kenshin.

Battles

An hour later, Centimus found himself in the training yard facing a transformed Kamiya Kaoru. She had requested the time to get ready and he had willingly given it.

"She is called 'kenjitsu-hime' by the people in her town. The 'sword princess'." The interpreter, Hiro, had said upon questioning her odd request of combat. He had sought out more information about his opponent from the interpreter.

Now he found himself studying her strange clothes – it made sense, she couldn't have had much mobility in her silk robe, but this outfit was puzzling. Her cotton shirt wrapped around her torso and tucked into skirt like pants that tied at the waist. She held a wooden sword, shaped much like the sword earlier, down at her side. At her choice of weaponry, he too asked for a wooden sword, handing off his metal one. The training sword he was brought wasn't nearly as smooth or dexterous as hers, but then his was a wooden long sword, naturally bulkier than her smooth one.

She attacked him with a cry, sword coming down in a well-aimed blow to his shoulder, barely blocked as he heaved the wooden long sword to parry. She attacked relentlessly as he defended. While full of strength and skill, he read her moves with ease. As the fight prolonged, she caught on that he wasn't doing more than defending and that seemed to spur her forward. She wanted to win; he could feel it radiating from her body. I suppose I would too if my freedom was on the line he mused. As he blocked another swing, his sword arched up and with the momentum from the swing, it came down on her shoulder, knocking her to the ground, the tip resting on her chest. In almost an accident, he had won.

He heard a jeer from the sidelines as he eased back from the woman lying on the ground that had been churned up by a thousand pairs of boots at swordplay. In one smooth movement, she was kneeling at his feet, sword presented to him. Her posture was humble, but her shoulders and face were not. Pride, anger, and defeat crossed her features. Strong.

He called his guard over his shoulder, eyes never leaving the top of her black head. The man rushed to his master's side. Centimus gently pushed the sword back into her lap and slipped his hand onto her elbow to pull her up. He tried to give a reassuring smile. "I'm not going to hurt you." She was like stone, the wooden sword gripped in one hand. Things would need explaining, but first he wanted to see her comfortable and he had to have time to talk with his scribes on how this was going to work. His attention returned to the guard, even if his eyes remained on hers. "Please show our guest to a room in the visitor's wing. Make her comfortable and send a maid to help her settle in." He glanced towards the man to be sure he was listening. He didn't like the look on the guard's face. "Treat her kindly. I will see that you regret any maltreatment." He took the reluctant grunt from his guard as compliance. "And Gladius, she keeps her wooden sword. Have the other brought to me." He focused on the stony girl before him. "Welcome to Himurus House, Kamiya Kaoru." He gave her one more smile before she was led away.

She had lost. Not only the match, but her chance of freedom. How much was she going to lose before the end? What else was there to lose, besides her life? After that horrible match with all of her heart and soul poured into her sword, that redheaded man had smiled at her with kindness in his strange violet eyes and pulled her up as she presented her sword and fealty. Smiled! Her anger was quickly replaced with defeat. Mustn't show the enemy your weakness. His voice, that confounded language, was gentle. He had not taken her sword. He had sent her to the house in the company of his taciturn guard.

She was alone. Totally and utterly alone, captive to a foreigner. Put into a stone room with phantom chills. The loneliness bubbled up inside her and she wept, wishing things had gone differently. If only she had won her freedom! She could at least be trying to get home. Home. She had no home. She called to her mind her family complex. The airy rooms of her family's house. The worn wooden floor of the dojo. All up in flames. The boy she had raised like a little brother and taught swords was knocked out and dragged away. She allowed herself a few more moments of misery, hunger and nausea taking turns gnawing in her belly. There was a soft knock at the door and the wretched hinges noisily admitted her latest tormentor. What now? Kaoru lifted her head and moved to her feet to greet this new horror.

Taena opened the door to the chamber with a deep breath and false confidence, trailed by the little scullery maid armed with firewood and lamps. "My lady?" she called into the dark room. Was this the right room? She started to turn for the lamp held by the maid when a loud cry grabbed her attention and the occupant of the room emerged wielding a wooden sword. The maid screamed and Taena grabbed the girl's arm before pulling her to the side of the door frame, narrowly escaping the downward swing. The foreign woman seemed to see them now, the fierce expression on her face giving way to relief at the sight of the two women and the sword came to rest at her side. Taena was still trying to catch her breath, the maid's armload of firewood had hit the floor in the commotion. The woman was speaking now, in a much softer, apologetic tone, her hands at her sides, bowing as she apologized. Now that she saw her charge, she was less surprised by the outburst. The fierce 'captive woman' was no more than a girl on the edge of womanhood in disheveled clothes, emerging from a dark room, in a strange place. I think I would attack people too she mused. Putting on her brightest smile, she did what she did best – she started talking.

"Well, hello there, my lady!" she gestured to the maid to start picking up the firewood. The girl caught on and set to work. "Sue and I are here to make your room comfier!" The startled miss launched into action as well, gathering what was closest to her, in spite of the maid's soft protest. Taena took the moment to breeze past the two on the floor and get into the room. In minutes, lamplight filled the room and a fire was catching in the hearth. The curtains were heaved back and the grey afternoon light filtered into the room. "There!" She exclaimed brightly, taking in the room. "That cheers the place up a bit, now doesn't it!" Sue was dashing around the room with a dust rag.

The girl was taking in the scene in disbelief. Taena moved to the closet to pull out bed linens. "I do wish they would have told me you were going to be in here and we could have made it up for you. Really, I don't know what Centimus was thinking. Probably wasn't, really. He thinks that all these rooms are perpetually ready for anyone to pop in. It looks like no one has taken care of you at all! Really, that man should know better than to leave a poor woman on her own like this!" She spread the sheets and Sue came running over to help make up the bed. As she plumped up the newly cased pillows, she took in her charge's greasy hair, greyish skin, and muddy feet.

"Now then, you look like you could use a bath."

The whirlwind had subsided, leaving Karou in shock. This was not what she expected from slavery.

The place she was kept was much brighter and nicer now that the woman and the girl, whom she could only assume were maids, had left, about as abruptly as they had arrived. They had returned shortly thereafter, stripped her of her gi and hakama, and plunged her into a tub of warm water before she could even scrub herself. They then handed her a bar of soap and hurried around the room while she bathed. Her clothes disappeared with the girl; her protests unheard. The woman continued to chat. Mild, senseless words that carried a calming tone. Her soak in the now dirty water was short, however, as she was hustled out of the tub, dried, and put into a cotton yukata. Well, at least it was most like a yukata. Food had appeared with the girl and Kaoru was left in the quiet room to eat the odd collection of foods set before her.

She shifted uncomfortably in the rigid chair she sat in, the food on the tall table in front of her. Why did these people hate the ground so much? Even the bed looked like it needed a ladder to scale its sides. She examined her plate, debating where to start. There was bread, the food given to her on the ship on a small plate next to a cup of something steaming that she desperately hoped was tea, but had the wrong smell. The larger plate sported slices of a soft white food that was definitely not tofu, some sort of roasted meat, and small, round, purple fruits clinging to a vine. She mourned for the nice, normal rice, fish, and grilled vegetables that had been the staple of her diet for most of her life, but she wasn't dumb enough to turn down food. Here goes nothing, she thought as she took a bite of the bread.

A/N: Food's weird, man. If you don't recognize it, it can be quite tough to get down. Hopefully you know what Kaoru's dinner is, even if she doesn't. Won't you leave a comment on the thing? Thanks!