Chapter 47

The surprise in the Asakura castle




In the morning Mai, with the escort of Shinji and his men, reached the castle of her fake father. The girl repeated to herself, that she has to act as a princess from now on. The young samurai led her to the castle to meet Lord Asakura.

"Just imagine the faces of everyone, when they see you." Her friend whispered to her, excited. When they reached the door to the great hall, Shinji announced himself and Mai.

"Hiroyoshi Shinji and … Amayami-hime." He said in a loud voice. The door opened and they walked inside. The lord furrowed his brows and with dangerously angry expression he turned around, looking at the newcomers.

"What is the meaning of…" he started bellowing, but stopped in midsentence, as he noticed Mai. "Amayami, my child!"

The daimyo rushed to her and grabbed her shoulders, looking at her with teary eyes.
"My beloved daughter is back." He said quietly, joy in his voice. Mai smiled at him shyly, feeling sorry for the man – his real child was killed by a truck.



The next two weeks were like a dream. Everyone insisted on spoiling Mai, who was a miraculously saved princess. She had to endure the lord, who was in tears, every time he saw her and Aiko, who was hugging her without a break. Shinji also benefitted from all the commotion – he got a couple of villages as a reward for bringing the princess back. Mai began to accustom anew to the situation and discovered, that she quite liked it. True, she missed Rin and all her friends, but at least she was blissfully free from dominating jerks, Naraku and suspicious weapons, who were trying to possess her. She thought, that she could get used to living like that. Maybe in time she would meet a dashing young daimyo and date him – in this times it was called courting – as Mai remembered correctly. At least her life would be Sesshomaru-free.

She walked out of her rooms, after she managed to dress herself. The girl yawned – she was reading all night by the light of the candles and was sleeping off till afternoon. The advantage of being a miraculously returned daughter was, that she could do anything she wanted. She looked around the castle, but the place was oddly empty. Even the servants weren't polishing the floors, as they always did.

Then, she saw Aiko stalking down the corridor. Mai narrowed her eyes at the target and approached the old crone.

"Aiko, where's everyone?" she asked.

"The new Lord Maeda arrived today and your father takes part in negotiations of the truce." The woman informed her. Mai clenched her fists. They didn't happen to inform her about something as important. Aiko scanned the girl up and down.

"I see, that you are properly dressed." She commented with a pleased smile, seeing her pink kimono. She critically touched Mai's hairpin with emerald. "But better get rid of it, it doesn't suit the pink."
Mai mechanically slapped her hand.

"The hairpin stays." She said stubbornly. Somehow, she was unable to part with it, even though it was Sesshomaru who gave it to her. The piece of jewelry reminded her of the nice day, they spent together with Rin.
Aiko sighed.

"If you insist… Come, Amayami, you must be presented to Lord Goemon."

"Goemon?" Mai asked.

"The new Lord Maeda." Aiko explained. Mai nodded and followed the old crone.
The both women passed through the large crowd, who gathered in the other part of the castle. Soon the two men came out through the main door. One of them was Lord Asakura and the other one must have been that Goemon or how was he called. She put on her most princess-like expression and stared at her feet, as a well-bred lady would.

"Lord Maeda, this is my daughter, Amayami-hime." She heard her fake father say.

"I see what my brother saw in you, my lady. You are a beautiful flower." Said a husky voice. Mai lifted her face to look at the man and nearly gasped. He looked a lot like a Gorouza, true, but instead of a smile plastered across the face, the man had a gentle expression. His brown eyes were gazing softly into her own. The man was dressed in fine silk, but the clothes were rather plain, not so flashy as Gorouza's.

"Amayami." Her fake father scolded her. Mai snapped back to the reality and realized, that she was gawking at the handsome guy the whole time.

"It is pleasure to meet you as well." She said, just as a princess would. The man gazed into her eyes and smiled at her sincerely.

"I will wait eagerly to speak with you again, princess."
Lords Asakura and Maeda left after that to refer the terms of the truce to their advisors. Mai had to stand in the place all the time with Aiko at her side.

"Lord Goemon is a fine man." Aiko stated, looking at Mai, who mumbled something as an answer.

"He would be a appropriate match for you."

"I suppose." Mai uttered, thinking what an impact on her had the man. Well… he was dashing after all.

The old crone turned her head and noticed something.

"Amayami, he is coming this way!" Aiko whispered.
Mai also turned her head and saw, that the young lord was approaching. She smiled politely at him and he offered her a charming smile in return.

"Amayami-hime, would you accompany me on the walk in the gardens?" he asked boldly. Mai felt her cheeks blushing. Oh god, was it like asking her out. She only managed to nod and went with him, cursing her body for how stiff it was with nervousness.

She was walking beside him along the alleys, with Aiko lurking from afar. The man was surprisingly easy to talk to, putting aside Mai's nervousness. Every time the girl said something, he would listen carefully, his own stories were also interesting. The guy was perfect – nice, charming and handsome. In a nutshell – he was the complete opposite of Sesshomaru, putting aside the looks. Mai never thought about this before, as she considered the demon only as her hellish boss, but she had to admit, that he was devilishly handsome. Especially with bare chest. Mai felt her face flush at the memory and she scolded herself mentally. It must be some damn hormones. Going back to Goemon, he was gentle and understanding and Sesshomaru had always this aura of raw power around him. Goemon's eyes had soft expression in them, very different from the golden ones, unyielding and cold. Why the hell was she thinking about the sadistic bastard anyway? Mai cursed Sesshomaru from distracting her from her very first date in life.

"Amayami-hime, are you all right?" Goemon asked her with concern. Mai smiled faintly and nodded. How could she even think about the inu-youkai, when he killed Goemon's brother?

"Umm… Goemon-dono, I am sorry about the death of your brother." She said. The lord saddened.

"I miss him, but nothing could bring him back. I heard what the people talk in Kaga, but I know, that this was not your fault, Amayami." He said. Mai stared at her feet. Actually, it was her fault. If she hadn't befriended Rin, Sesshomaru wouldn't have slaughtered all those people, including Gorouza.
"My brother sacrificed his life trying to save you. To die in a battle, fighting to protect the one you love, is an honorable death for a samurai. I only wish, Gorouza would have succeeded… You must have been subjected to a horrible fate, princess."

Mai nodded slowly, thinking, what she should say to him. After all she spent the two months in Kagome's house and that could hardly count as a horrible experience. Being Sesshomaru's servant had some serious drawbacks, but saying that she had to babysit the demon's ward just didn't sound terrible enough.

"Well, it was terrible, simply horrifying." She answered.

"The demon, who kidnapped you… what he was like?" Goemon asked her.

"He…" Mai wondered how should she describe Sesshomaru in a nutshell. He wasn't an average mindless beast, that enjoyed slaughtering people. He was chasing Naraku – that was rather a positive goal. He had this domination issue of his, but on the other hand, he always protected Mai and the rest of his group. He had a horrible attitude, but it wasn't worth mentioning. Why the hell couldn't she say something really bad about Sesshomaru right now?!

"I don't want to talk about this." Mai told Goemon finally.

"Let's not talk about past, but future." Suddenly Goemon said, taking her hands in his. Mai flinched at the touch and stared at him. The lord looked into her eyes, serious expression on her face. "Amayami, your honorable father and I have decided to unite Kaga and Echizen by our marriage. I know, that we met each other today, but I am already enticed by your beauty and grace. Will you honor me with becoming my wife?"

"Eh?" Mai uttered, dumbfounded. It was their first date and he proposed already?! No way she would marry, she was only seventeen! The girl took a deep breath to calm herself down. She was now in the feudal era, things work different here than in modern Japan. Those turn of events was supposed to be normal for sengoku era. She stared at her feet, not being able to decide, what she should tell Goemon. Did she want him? In a manner of speaking yes, she'd be happy to date him for a while and then decide, but she may not have that chance. Come on, the guy was a walking perfection, every girl's dream. Why the hell would she say no? Unknowingly, Mai touched her hairpin.

"Amayami-hime?" Goemon asked, waiting for her answer. Mai lifted her head and bit the lower lip. This was the best chance to get the nice man and lead a happy life, right?

"Yes…" she said, still hesitating. However, the young lord didn't notice the unsure tone in her voice, or pretended not to notice.

He offered her his hand and he walked her to her rooms. He said goodbye and Mai was left alone.
The girl tossed herself onto bed and rolled onto her back. What a day! She met a dashing prince and will marry him in the future, hopefully there would be enough time to date a couple of times. She grinned sheepishly. In your face, Sesshomaru! I'm not going to be your slave!
Mai slapped her forehead, as she felt something stinging her, presumably a mosquito.

"Mai…" said a familiar, pained voice. The girl yelped and sat down. To her surprise, before her was sitting none other than Myoga the flea.

"Myoga-jiji?!"