Saiunkoku Monogatari Fan Fiction ❯ When Things Were Good ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

She chose a crimson ribbon this time, twining it through her fingers before weaving it into the child's hair, where it clashed horribly with the other ribbons. Some of her long, dark hair got threaded in with the ribbon and she grimaced as she unpicked her work and freed her hair.

The child on her lap began to squirm and she worked quickly to replace the ribbon. Once finished, she surveyed the unruly mop of hair. Cloth of varying hues was threaded through every strand of hair, many of which stuck out in ugly clumps. There didn't appear to be a single free lock from which weave a new ribbon, although it would be possible to twine it among the ribbons already streaming from the young child's head.

A bird called from the cherry blossom tree, as a wind blew threw the branches and jolted it. Several blossoms floated down onto the two figures in the garden chair.

She reached down into her box of ribbons and pins and rummaged through it. "You know what we need now?" she asked, in a light tone. The child said nothing, but frowned deeply. "A feather!" she exclaimed, answering her own question.

The child wriggled down onto his own feet. "Thank you, pretty, older lady number one," he said, before bowing and wandering off.

"You really shouldn't encourage him," came a soft voice in her ear.

As usual, he had approached without her noticing. Warm arms wrapped around her and she leaned back to get as much of an embrace as she could.

"His hair is longer than Shuurei's," she moaned. "And she wriggles too much, Shouka. The boy sits nice and still."

The embrace loosened and she stood up, before flowing into his arms for a proper hug. His drab robes - he was often mistaken for a servant even in his own residence - nicely completed her silk clothing, the way a stem supports the rose. His face nestled into the cleft of her neck and dropped kisses on her skin.

Between the kisses he mumbled, "So where is the little one now?"

She giggled. "Your mother is showing her off."

He lifted his head and looked at her through half-lidded eyes. "You mean she..."

"No," she interrupted. "She still hates me." Shouka hugged her again. "As the oldest son of a very influential family, you should have been married off in a political coup. I am a nobody from nowhere."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Shunkun."

She laughed. "She's extremely suspicious that we can't talk about how we met."

He coughed. "Well, it'd be hard to explain that away without revealing a secret that I've sworn to the death to hide."

"You told me."

"Secrets sworn to the death have a surprising amount of wiggle room."

He drew her further away from the main house. Their conversation was quietly spoken, but habits die hard and there were a lot of people nearby with a great interest in the Kou family.

"It's a pity that we can't tell her. The story is horribly romantic. Even my mother would melt and accept you," Shouka continued with a wry smile, before launching into prose. "Lonely Barahime, the most beautiful rose in the world, trapped in a gilded cage by an infatuated letch who abused her powers to heal. This evil lordling boasted unendingly about the woman kept in his most unassailable tower and drove the other wealthy lords green with envy. None of them would wrest Barahime from him, until the Emperor sent an assassin to remove this burr from his heel, for all eternity."

He stopped for breath and she clapped. "But he fell madly in love with her and rescued her instead of killing her? What a classic twist!" She bent to sniff one of the flowers before slyly turning to him. "You do realise that you weren't the first who tried to rescue me?"

He frowned. "Someone else managed to scale the tower?" A petulant pout twisted his mouth. "It was really hard. There were traps and everything."

She stroked the long hair that was loosely bound with a rough leather tie and not styled in any of the courtly top-knots. "Barahime lived in absolute luxury," she began. "Alone in a tower - except for the multitude of servants that lived only by her whim - she had everything a woman could want, except for one small thing. Like every person who had all they wanted, except for one small thing, she desired it greatly and became bitter at its lack. Numerous suitors scaled the tower, or bribed the multitude of servants for a glimpse of her pretty face and once they saw it, they desired her. They offered her freedom from the evil overlord who kept her trapped, but Barahime turned them down."

She turned to Shouka, who frowned. "You were waiting for the son of a wealthy family who moonlighted as an assassin?"

She shook her head. "All of them, without exception, expected Barahime to marry them. They wanted to rescue her from her cage, but force her into another." Her eyes flashed. "I was not the sort of girl who would be bowled over by gratitude and mistake it for love."

Her husband gasped, "How horrible!"

Shunkun nodded. "Some of them even expected me to cook!"

"I was smart to wait until after we nearly plunged to our deaths." He smiled. "No wonder you were so crabby. I nearly dropped you then."

It was her turn to gasp, but Shouka merely laughed.

"More fool you," she replied. "A life of luxury in a gilded cage left me unable to do anything for myself." A nasty shiver travelled down her spine. "Poor Shuurei!" she sighed. "Cold vegetables are fine for us, but a growing girl probably needs better food. What'll we do? Our cooking will kill her!"

"Don't worry. I'll mention to Reishin that we're worried poor Shuurei will suffer malnutrition and we'll wake up to a paid chef and hot meals for the rest of our lives."

"Reishin," she muttered, through clenched teeth.

"He adores her," Shouka said in weary tones.

"He also claims to adore you, but he pushed you aside to take leadership of the clan." Her nails dug into his skin and her pretty face twisted with disdain.

Shouka raised his fingers to stroke her sides, then her back, but she refused to unwind.

"Who will Shuurei marry when she grows up?" Shouka asked, changing the topic, inelegantly.

"Only the emperor will be good enough for her," she sniffed, before mellowing. "It would be nice if she could marry someone she truly loves, like we did. So few people get to do that." She grabbed Shouka's robes and pulled him away. "Let's go flaunt ourselves in front of everyone. I want to rub their noses in it, for once."

Shouka laughed as she struggled in vain to move him. "If Shuurei takes after her mother, she'll be the most beautiful woman in the world."

Shunkun snapped back, playfully. "If she takes after her father, then the most beautiful man in the world will fall for her and she'll live happily, although all of her meals will be unappetising."

He grabbed her soft hand and lifted it to his lips. "He'll eat them and they'll taste better than the finest meal, prepared by the most celebrated cook in Saiunkoku."

She smiled. "Luckily, you're a hardy sort." He kissed the tips of her fingers. She stroked his cheek and brushed his closed eye with her thumb. "Why won't you open them?" she whispered.

"They're sensitive to the light," he murmured.

"They'll adjust!"

He took his face away from her stiffened fingers. "That would ruin my night vision."

"The wolves have disbanded." They stared at each other, gazes locked.

Shouka opened his mouth, paused, then spoke. "What if someone's mean to Shuurei? She might have her heart broken and then I'll need to kill whoever is responsible."

"You're right," she agreed, melting into his arms. "Maybe I should try it too."

He bent down, once more, to her neck. "You just want an excuse for your cooking."

She laughed and a bird took flight from the undergrowth nearby. "No," she insisted. "It's for Shuurei. I could do anything for Shuurei."