Chapter 2
How could my brother be so heartless to Fujihime? I know she doesn't love me...what am I going to do? I'm so weak...I can't do anything and I don't have the strength to oppose my brother, the Emperor! Please, someone, help me know what I should do!
Eisen thinks these desperate thoughts as he turns the corner towards the General's quarters. He was in such a tizzy that he didn't notice Tomomasa coming out of the room and---
CRASH!
"Well there, Prince Eisen, allow me to help you up."
Tomomasa chuckles at the young man's evident discomfort and holds out his hand for Eisen to grasp hold of.
"Tomomasa-dono...I...um...that is...oh, thank you."
Eisen continues to stumble but now, it wasn't just his feet. Tomomasa smiles knowingly, feeling that he already knew the reason why Eisen was in such a state.
"Ah, has the Emperor finally decided on a new bride for you?"
Tomomasa coolly states as though it were just the most known and common thing in the world.
"Tomomasa-dono! You mean...you mean, you...KNEW about this?"
Eisen was once more dumbfounded by what he had just heard.
"Of course. You know His Majesty can't keep anything from me. Heh heh heh...I'm rather glad to know all the latest rumors----it gives me some gossip to share with the court ladies. They are MOST appreciative of my efforts. Heh heh heh..."
Tomomasa smirks and casually studies his hands, but expertly peers out the corner of his eye to see Eisen's reaction.
It was well received.
"Tomomasa-dono! You don't mean to tell me that you've told all those...that everyone...knows...?"
"Ha ha ha ha ha..." Tomomasa puts his arm around Eisen's shoulders comfortingly.
"Don't fret, Eisen-sama. You'll be pleased to know that I haven't had a chance to meet with the ladies yet to discuss such matters."
Eisen breathes a sigh of relief...if those gossipy women had gotten hold of this news, then there would be no way for him to squirm out of it without causing new problems to crop up.
"Um...Tomomasa-dono, would you, please, not tell them about this? I'm still...not sure about it...I just...I don't know... sigh "
Eisen trails off, obviously quite disturbed about the whole matter.
"Prince Eisen, you seem very upset...But you're so young. Why should marrying a woman cause you so much distress? It should be the happiest time of your life...To be young and in love...Ahhhh...I remember it as if it were yesterday..."
Tomomasa seems to go off into himself, his eyes grow distant and, Eisen was sure, he saw tears well up in the strong man's eyes.
"Tomomasa-dono..."
Eisen, no matter his own problems, could never be discompassionate towards another's sadnesses and pains.
But Tomomasa brushes him off with a wave of his hand.
"Ah well, what's past is past...it can never come back again...Never..."
An eerie silence passes between them until Tomomasa suddenly clears his throat.
"No use dwelling on what once was...there's nothing to be done about. Come now! Cheer up and be happy! Marriage could be just what you've been needing!"
Tomomasa smiles with a genuine warmth at Eisen, which Eisen accepts with a similarly honest, albeit small, smile in return.
"Perhaps, but..."
"But what?"
"The girl he's chosen for me...isn't in love with me."
"How do you know that? Why, wouldn't the girl be a fool not to accept your engagement with joy? You're a prince, you're the second richest man in the city, why, you're even relatively good looking...A bit squeamish in certain matters, but that can be easily remedied as I will give you advice, stemming from my large experience in such things, ahem."
Tomomasa, with an evil glint in his eye, winks at the unassuming Eisen, who in turn, does turn red with embarrassment at the meaning of the elder man's words.
"Tomomasa-dono! I didn't mean that! I just..."
"Well, spit it out! I'm not going to bite your head off. What's the problem? Are you not crazy over the choice the Emperor made for you? Is that it?"
Tomomasa was genuinely curious now as to what could be Eisen's problem with the matter. For his own thoughts, he couldn't imagine being forced to marry a most likely beautiful and wealthy young woman was such a bad thing to be so upset over.
"No! It's...I don't know if I love her...I've never thought about it. I never imagined that I'd have to marry a cousin, so I never even turned the matter over in my mind...It's not her, really, it's that...I KNOW she's in love with someone else."
"Cousin?"
Tomomasa squints his eyes, trying to count and remember all the young women who were related to the Emperor's family...
GASP!
"No..."
Tomomasa lets a small gasp escape his lips as he too, suddenly felt that the whole world was just weighed upon his weary shoulders.
"Yes, it's Princess Fuji...Tomomasa-dono, what am I going to do? My brother insists that I marry her, and I've personally nothing against Fuji...she's actually a very beautiful lady and I should be overjoyed to have her as my wife, but...I'm...just not in love with her...and to top it off, I know she's in love with Takamichi-dono..."
Yes, Takamichi...
"Prince Eisen, are you certain that Princess Fuji is the girl that the Emperor has chosen for you?"
"Yes, I'm positive, he told me right to my face. And he told me to fetch you and send you to him so that he can give you the scrolls with the official seal stating the engagement for you to bring to Princess Fuji today...Oh, what I am to do? Princess Fuji is my dear friend and cousin...but we're not in love. I can tell from her manner whenever he's around, that she loves Takamichi-dono. I would just be...a disappointment to her, and I wouldn't want to do that for the world! Fuji is a sweet, caring girl, but...we don't feel that way about each other...It's just...wrong. Don't you think so, too? Tomomasa-dono, please, tell me what I should do? There's just no way around it. When my brother makes up his mind about something, he won't change it."
Tomomasa wisely considers Eisen's words before speaking. He furrows his brows and puts his fingers to his forehead in deep thought, and murmurs softly, as though talking more to himself than to Eisen.
"Yes, it's obvious that she's in love with him...And it's equally as obvious that he's in love with her. But the fool won't say a thing about his feelings, to her or to anyone else. sigh "
Tomomasa rolls his eyes and leans his head back with a sigh. He HAD to do something---and he had to do it quickly. This matter concerned him far more than anyone knew. He would give everything that he possessed if it meant that Fuji was happy. Her happiness was the most important thing to him---
And he certainly didn't intend to let her marry a man she didn't love.
Not again...I won't let it happen again. No matter what the cost, it will NOT happen. Not while I'm alive...
"Tomomasa-dono...?"
Eisen looks with worry at the taller man who was apparently in deep thought. He wondered if Tomomasa had heard his plea for help.
Suddenly, Tomomasa snaps back to reality, regaining his usual nonchalance and cool composure.
"Prince Eisen, you needn't worry about a thing. Princess Fuji will marry only the one she loves. I assure you of that."
"But...how can you really know that? What if---"
"Because I know."
And with that enigmatic phrase, Tomomasa winks at the boy and turns towards the Emperor with uncommon haste.
"Ah, Tomomasa, finally, you're here. I was just about to send a guard to find you. I had assumed that Prince Eisen in his flurry, had forgotten his task of sending you to me. I'm glad to know he still has his head on straight."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Tomomasa bows deeply before the Emperor, as he considers his next course of action.
"So, since you are unusually silent today, I will continue to assume that my brother has also told you the good news of his impending wedding that I am arranging for him. Is that correct?"
The Emperor gazes with inquisitiveness at his general, wanting to know the man's thoughts about his brilliant idea.
"Yes, Prince Eisen informed me of his marriage..."
Suddenly, Tomomasa looks up with a sly grin at the imposing monarch.
"But...are you certain it's a good match, Your Majesty?"
"What do you mean?"
The Emperor had always taken note of Tomomasa's advice on many, if not most, subjects presented to him---and this was no exception.
"Just that---are you sure Prince Eisen can be a real husband to the Princess Fuji? Is he not still infatuated with the Ryuujin no Miko, let alone dealing with his lifelong feelings for Lady Chuuguu...Will he be able to carry out his duties as a husband to Princess Fuji because of these unresolved feelings?"
Tomomasa looks at the ruler with a raised eyebrow, trying to convey his true meaning underlying in his mysterious words.
The Emperor caught on, right away.
"How dare you infer such a notion! Of course, he is more than worthy of any woman! He is my brother and the royal prince of this land---that should be enough for you to know. What nonsense you are blabbering about now! Prince Eisen has just been waiting for the right girl to come along and, now that you've mentioned her, since Lady Chuuguu disappeared, I have decided to appoint the "right" girl for him, since he cannot seem to make up his own mind. But that is the only reason! There is nothing wrong with my brother in ANY way."
The Emperor, while respecting Tomomasa, also had his limits as to what he would take from the loose-tongued general.
"Forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty. It is not my place to question the abilities of the royal family and I was out of line. Forgive my inexcusable boldness."
Tomomosa bows his head low and takes on a prostrate pose.
"Oh, never mind it, Tomomasa. He heh, I could never stay angry with you for long. Now, here is the scroll with the congratulatory engagement announcement, endorsed with my official seal and crest, to be opened and read by you, directly to the Princess Fuji herself. Please take this with all speed to her palace residence."
The Emperor hands Tomomasa the fateful scroll and the general accepts hesitantly.
"Now, go and report back to me at once with her reaction and answer. You are dismissed."
"Your Majesty."
Tomomasa bows and backs out of the room, carrying the scroll in his hands. He considered his options. He had already attempted to dissuade the Emperor but to no avail. Yet, there had to be some way...
Some way...
"Takamichi! He is the only way and our only chance of escaping this fate."
Tomomasa's face chisels into a steely determination as he chirrups for his steed to go.
"Hiya! We must run like the wind, so I can have a chance to talk with Takamichi before I must return to the Emperor..."
And so, galloping at top speeds towards the opposite side of the city, the usually lazy general is filled with drive and determination in order to save the young girl known as Princess Fuji from a destiny that he would never allow her to accept...