One Bright Day in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 4: Chatelaine of Azuchi Castle

After Nobunaga left the room, I was able to breathe a small sigh of relief. I looked about, and Ieyasu, and Mitsuhide had already disappeared, as well as Hideyoshi, who followed out Nobunaga like a love-sick puppy.

"Well, Lass, you appear to have done well." Masamune grinned, his visible blue eye twinkling with obvious enjoyment. I took a second to stretch my shoulders before standing up and turning towards the One-Eyed Dragon.

"You think?" I thought about it for a minute, my frown making it clear I wasn't really sure about the whole thing. I decided to just take it all in stride.

"Well, Ok then." Mitsunari was here, I was here, and damn I had some questions. "As much as I would love to get started right now, I do have a couple of pressing matters." The two men looked at me in curiosity. It was now the middle of the day, and I wasn't getting any younger.

"I haven't eaten since yesterday morning, haven't slept in over a day and a half, and I am sorely in need of a bath to get the soot from Honno-ji out of my hair. Can we wait the full tour of the castle and the explanation of my duties until tomorrow morning?" As I spoke, I watched the reactions of both men, and they couldn't have been more different.

Masamune's eye widened slightly before a look of obvious admiration broke across his face. He shook his head and gave a little chuckle. "I wish more of my men had the stamina you do. We'd never lose a battle."

Mitsunari's face was the complete opposite. His mouth gaped open in utter horror, the sheer thought of what I had gone through already seemed to leave him speechless for a minute. He recovered quickly enough, however.

"Princess! Why didn't you say anything sooner?" He hurried to my side, took me by the arm, and immediately headed toward one of the outer buildings. It startled me a bit, but I recovered quickly, throwing a wave to Masamune as I was led away.

"Later, Masamune. Thanks!" The deep throated chuckle from Masamune followed me as I was drug away by Mitsunari.

As it was, I got a mini tour anyway, with Mitsunari introducing me to the cooking and maid staff as the new chatelaine and Princess of Oda, followed by a light meal while the head maid went to fetch a clean kimono and place it in the bath house for me. A couple hours later, I found myself back in my room, clean, fed and exhausted. I collapsed on the futon and was asleep in seconds.

I was up early the next day, having slept through the night and awoke just as dawn was starting to break. I opened the window in the room and stared out at the courtyard gardens as the sky just started to turn from the midnight blue of night, to the pure pale blue and yellows of early morning. First things first, I need to get my bearings. I remembered the way to the kitchens, and not long after, I was able to find a maid to take me to Mitsunari's study. He had assured me that he was an early riser, but I was still a little apprehensive.

Each Warlord had their own area within the castle area proper along the outskirts of the compound. The center area being purely Nobunaga's domain and common areas. During the way, we turned a corner of the walkway, and happened upon a very large open area currently being used to train a contingent of men. They were all paired up, about 30 in all, and at the head of the formation, barking out direction, was Ieyasu.

I couldn't help myself, and my walk slowed to a stop as my attention was captured. Ieyasu walked amidst the men, correcting stances and calling out orders as his sharp eyes looked over the men he was training, his honey blonde hair capturing the early morning light. I had to watch, even though Ieyasu himself wasn't sparring. The only thing better would have been being involved in the training myself.

The maid, noticing I was no longer following her, returned and stood by me as my gaze remained captured, my eyes roving over the group as they traded blows. The maid chuckled next to me, twittering like a bird.