"Anata," I took Kaname"s hand and led him to the bathroom as soon as he entered our room."It"s already very late, why are you not asleep yet?" he asked, surprised.
"I wanted to wait for you," I helped him out of his uniform and started wetting his body. "I missed you a lot."
He looked at me and I knew right then and there that he understood the meaning behind my words. When I was in the hands of Nagahito, I felt like I haven"t seen him for a long time although we were apart for merely days…
"Those hours felt like an eternity for me as well," he kissed me on the lips and gave me a smile.
After he got dressed, we went to the waiting futon and slept with little Riku snoring softly between us.
~~~
The next day, the march continued. If the day before was scorching, today felt like we were on our way to the gates of h.e.l.l. Even if we were inside the palanquin, Riku and I were soaked with sweat. I looked outside the little window of the litter from time to time to check on Kaname who was riding ahead of us. I would occasionally ask him for breaks so that everyone could find a shady area to rest and replenish their body fluids. Of course, the prisoners were exempted. They were neither given food nor water during the day. As a result, their numbers dwindled and many of them couldn"t endure it. Even Saru, who used to be so frightening in my eyes, started to look like he couldn"t make it.
We arrived in Edo on the final hour of the pig. Nagahito and the rest of the prisoners were to be sentenced the day after tomorrow. I wanted to talk to Kaname more but he reminded me that the twins and Mami were waiting for me in the ooku so I got distracted and immediately returned to the inner palace.
When Riku and I emerged from the secret door on my bathroom, we were immediately tackled by the twins while Mami gave us tearful hugs. It seemed like when my kagemusha left my chambers, she"s started bawling her eyes out. Her pregnancy was making her extra emotional, my usually tough friend was nowhere to be found.
"Don"t you scare me like that ever again!" she scolded me while wiping her pink nose. "You know I can"t just trust anyone, who will help me when this little one is born if something awful happened to you? Lady Hinata, have some sense of self-preservation, will you?!"
I smiled at her guiltily and apologized for a dozen times more.
"I want you to tell me everything that happened!" she ordered with an aggrieved look on her face. "It"s the least you can do for making a fragile woman like myself worry!"
"Alright, I will," I sighed, secretly planning to skip the parts where that b.a.s.t.a.r.d almost successfully raped me. I didn"t want to open her old wounds by telling her that.
~~~
Finally, it was the day of Nagahito"s public trial. People from every walks of life gathered in the execution grounds to witness the fate of the crown prince. Apparently, people still didn"t know about Jin-san"s real ident.i.ty. Kaname didn"t want it to leak out so he could still continue protecting me.
"On the twenty-fifth day of the eighth month of the year fifteen seventy-six, kotaishi Fujiwara Nagahito kidnapped the shogun"s firstborn, young Lord Kirishima Riku; his personal guard, Musashi Jin; and an imperial guard Nishiki Ryouta. He was a.s.sisted by the former second wife, Hasekura Ayaka, whom he smuggled out from banishment in Miyake-jima; imperial army commander Yamato Kyouya who also goes by the name Saru; and a handful of other imperial guards," Taneyuki-san read the report in his hands.
The onlookers gasped and murmured and occasionally pointed their fingers at the prisoners. Nagahito looked at them with glaring hatred but said nothing. Taneyuki-san continued to read the report, even mentioning the verbal s.e.xual hara.s.sment from four years ago.
"So he still hasn"t change all these years."
"He"s bedded men as well? Isn"t his harem of twenty enough?"
"How did the mikado and his wife raise him?"
"Disgusting, vile pig!"
"A pig is cleaner than him! Don"t insult those innocent animals."
The people"s whispers turned to open mockery, they no longer tried to hide their disdain for him. Saru and Iori tried to defend him but all they got were ruthless jeering.
"Eh? Someone"s defending him?"
"Those are his most trusted men, I heard."
"Don"t be naïve, they"re obviously his secret lovers."
"But that other guy looks like the macaques in Yamanouchi."
"Pfft! That"s a good one!"
"Wait! Does this mean he"ll shove his little thing anywhere?"
"Seems like it."
"I heard he uses oil as lubricant."
"Noooo! We don"t want to know how he does it!"
"Yeah, you just made me imagine it!"
"Hahaha! You"re both so easily grossed out!"
Nagahito suddenly stood up and ran towards the talking men. Judging from their robes, they were probably from the upper-cla.s.s.
"You dare humiliate me!" he screamed, the chains on his legs and arms rattled.
However, halfway through, he was stopped by Lord Arima. When he refused to calm down, the daimyo kicked him in the gut. His already pale face lost even more color. It was also at that moment that someone announced the arrival of his parents and several others.
Everyone paid their respects to the supposed descendants of the kami although Kaname"s bow could barely be called paying obeisance to them. When they saw their son curled up on the ground, the royal couple hurriedly got off their palanquins to help him but they were prohibited by the military soldiers.
"Lord Kirishima, what is the meaning of this!" the mikado roared, his wrinkly body shook from anger.
"We"re currently having a public trial," Lord Arima replied for Kaname. "No one is allowed to interrupt such proceedings!"
"You insolent fool, do you know the punishment for disrespecting the mikado and his kin!?" the empress said, her rouged face frighteningly contorted.
"Amazing! You still dared use your t.i.tle at a time like this!" someone said sarcastically. "Disrespect? After what your son has done to the shogun"s firstborn, you still demand respect?"
"You rotten woman, you"re siding with them and not with us, your blood relatives!?" the empress screeched while pointing at Mami.
"Why ever not! I"d be out of my wits if I try to defend you!" Mami stood up from her chair slowly. With her arms on her chest and her chin held high, she ruthlessly continued, "I have never been so ashamed to have once belonged to your family!"
"You ungrateful little b.i.t.c.h!" it was the emperor. "You grew up in my palace, your parents enjoyed the advantages of being related to me, and if it weren"t for my decision, you wouldn"t have been the shogun"s wife!"
"Eh?" Mami sneered. "You only married me off to Lord Kirishima to establish a bond with him after your son got in trouble years ago! Not only that, you wanted to get rid of me because you blamed me for his downfall. My dear uncle, have you forgotten? My cousin, who also happens to be your beloved son, almost raped me years ago!"
The entire crowd was in uproar at what she just said. Their whispers became furious and the looks on their faces were beyond disdainful now. The royal family, especially the first couple, all looked like they wanted to disappear right then and there.