·:*¨༺ The Song ★Of Leonardo ༻¨*:·.

☆⋆｡𖦹 Chapter Three °‧★ִ ࣪𖤐

MAN AFTER MAN, and their names began to blur in my head. I could barely hear much anymore besides the booming voices of boastful princes. My eyes, naturally, wandered. And they locked on the three princesses. I stared at the white cloths over their faces, as if it might be see through, and I'd catch a glimpse of their faces. My grandfather wanted one of them to be my wife. The thought still made my stomach churn.

Three sets of hands, prettily adorned with beads, lay quietly in their laps. One of them caught my eye, a dark curl of fur poking out from the veil. Not Aoyomi, I thought to myself. Aoyomi was light haired. I had ceased all listening to the kings.

"Miyamoto," My father's name rang out from Lord Endi's mouth. It startled me, but then I remembered, he was named after my great-grandfather. Endi Mirio was looking at us. "Welcome. The passing of your wife...it is sad to hear. I'm sorry for your loss."

"My wife," My father started, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Is not dead, my Lord. It is my son who comes today as a suitor for your daughter." There he goes again. Making it hard for me to not laugh.

The silence made me dizzy. I knelt in front of the Emperor, the spin of faces around me nearly made me wobble.

"Your son?" Lord Endi seemed to peer over his glasses, an eyebrow raised. The girl with the dark hair from before let out a breath, a half of a laugh. I smiled. Chizu.

"B-But...He is not yet a man!" He said with a hearty chuckle, rubbing the back of his hand. I couldn't detect any sarcasm in his voice. More like genuine confusion.

Miyamoto tilted his head up and hummed. "My father knew you'd say that. He told me to come with a message." That seemed to peak Endi's interest. "Jotaro? What did he say?" Of course mentioning the name of the son of a legend like Miyamoto Usagi would cause a wave of alarm within the castle.

"He says..." My father breathed in. "'He need not be. You are man enough for the both of you.'" He used that gruff voice again. I gasped, but not loud enough for closer ears to hear. My father had just made fun of Usagi Jotaro in front of the richest kingdom in all of Japan.

And Endi laughs.

"Ahh, that old man. Go on. What else has he permitted you to say?"

The stone floor dug into my skin, but I didn't budge. I was used to it, due to my father's floors being of very little carpet, except for Mother's prayer room. I was used to kneeling. My father wouldn't allow my mother to be victim to such acts.

My father spoke again, in the silence. "Others have brought bronze and wine, oil and wool. I bring gold, and it is only a small portion of my stores."I was aware of my hands on the beautiful bowl, touching the story's figures: Raijin appearing from the streaming sunlight, the startled princess, their coupling.

"My daughter and I are grateful that you have brought us such a worthy gift, though paltry to you." A murmur, from the lords. There was humiliation here that Father did not seem to understand. My face flushed with it."I would make Aoyomi the queen of my palace. But my wife, as you all seem to think, is my love, the one I hold dear. My wealth exceeds all of these young men, and my deeds speak for themselves."

"I thought the suitor was your son."

I looked up at the new voice. A man who had not spoken yet. He was thelast in line, sitting at ease on the bench, his curling hair gleaming in the light of the fire.
He had a jagged scar on one leg, a seam that stitched his dark brown flesh from heel to knee, wrapping around the muscles of the calf and burying itself in the shadow beneath his tunic. It looked like it ha dbeen a knife, I thought, or something like it, ripping upwards and leaving behind feathered edges, whose softness belied the violence that must have caused it.