Musuko (Book Two of the Kakureta Hana series)

II: Ni

Lord Motome seems more agitated than normal as he paces in front of me.  I try not to betray how nervous he is making me as I run a light finger across the belt holding my sheathed weaponry.

Of course, it is my own fault that the older man is in the state that he is.  Not that he necessarily knows that I intentionally ran off the last of Amaya's suitors.  In fact, something tells me that if he had even an inkling about how planned the encounter was, he would not be pleased.

And he did not receive the news until after we had begun discussing strategies for the battle that we know is looming on the horizon.  Now, rather than reviewing plans like we should be, he is wearing a line in the floor and making me feel more and more nervous as time continues to pass.

The retainer who brought the news that Hamada Daichi had departed with no intention of ever returning look worse than I feel.  Sweat is beading on his forehead as his eyes follow Lord Motome's pacing.  His body is wedged in the corner nearest to the door as if he fears that he will have need to run for the hall.

"This was the last one," Lord Motome says, almost to himself.  "Even if I tried to find someone else, enough people know about my daughter's affliction that they will not even consider making an offer for her."

I fiddle with the map on the table in front of me, only half-listening as he continues to talk.  These sessions with Motome Taro are not deemed necessary in my mind.  Ryuu, despite no longer being general, has more than ensured that I understood both how the battlefield worked and how strategy changed with the location.

Though, being present for this one-sided conversation has told me that Lord Motome will likely not try to marry Amaya off to someone else unless there is a man in the whole of Japan that has not heard tale of the Amachi clan's cripple.

My fingers tighten on the edge of the table at the thought that anyone would think less of her because of a simple flaw that is hardly noticeable.  That is why I had taken to running her suitors off without making it obvious that I was doing so.

And Hamada Daichi is one of the worst of the bunch that Taro has allowed into the fortress.  Every time that our paths had crossed, he had balanced on the line between politeness and insolence, taking care to bow to me but sneering as soon as he was sure that I was not looking.

I know that he had not really been planning on marrying Amaya, but he had lingered far longer than I wanted him to among the Amachi clan.  So I took matters into my own hands this morning, setting up a contest of strength that he had been arrogant enough to believe that he could win.

After I had knocked him on his face in the mud, I had crouched next to him and whispered that he should never even consider returning before adding that I expected him gone by the setting of the sun.

Clearly, the Hamada heir had more sense than I had believed, for it took less than a morning for him to gather his retainers and his belongings before leaving.  And I bid him good riddance even as I pity the woman that he managed to trap as his wife.

"What makes you think that no one will want to marry your daughter?" I ask suddenly, cutting Lord Motome off mid-word.  "Surely there must be more options before her than the men that have drifted in and out of here since she turned thirteen."

He stares at me for a long moment as if he can hardly believe that I dared to interrupt him.  Then a strange light comes to his eyes, and he draws closer to the table, gaze locked on mine.  "What prompts such a question, Kazuhiko?  Do you have a plan for my daughter that I have yet to hear?"

"You seem to think that Hamada Daichi was the last man in Japan who would even consider marrying your daughter; however, I do not believe that you have considered every man that exists in the country."