Poisoning

I slam open the sliding door to my room and rush inside like a fuming storm. Yet again, that manipulative woman had been causing trouble.

I glance back to the weak willed heimin behind me. Her legs tremble at the feeling of my anger, while her gaze is stuck to tatami mats. She looks as though she is about to flee any second.

"Sake. Now," I hiss out at her, taking out bits of the overflowing frustration on her, but also sparing her the situation about to follow.

She bows quickly, and quietly closes the door behind me, only to scurry off like a frightened mouse to get my request.

I let out a small furious roar, and tear my clawing hand from the handle of my wakizashi in a burst of frustration as there are finally no one to see me.

My fiancé, Kenta, the man that had always been by my side from the day we were engaged as children, has splendidly fallen in love with a woman from an enemy clan... the clan known for trickery, dishonor and seduction!

I know her red lips are plump and tempting...

I know her voice sounds heavenly...

I know her figure leaves nothing to be wanted in a sexual manner... but we are in the middle gathering information about their work in this city! Don't sleep with the enemy! It's filthy. It's dishonorable!

I want to let out a proper scream and turn to destruction, but the woman from before meekly announces her return. After glaring at the door, I gather myself with three deep breaths before acknowledging her entry.

"Enter."

I glance to her one last time as she enters, and see her cower again at my attention. She should be thankful that she is with me in a bad mood and not Kenta. I turn away and unequip my wakizashi as I walk to its stand. I place it down gently upon the sword stand with the utmost respect, and thank my ancestors for its protection. It had protected my life many times over the years, something I needed to remember no matter my current internal rage.

I shift with a firm step and move away to the table where the heimin woman is preparing my sake with a quivering hand.

She stole a glance at me worriedly. One could not blame her, for rage and alcohol can quickly turn situations worse. If I lost my temper in a fit of rage, she would be the first to suffer. Despite being looked upon as cruel and undignified, some of my clansmen do end up killing heimin in fits of rage partly due to the enormous temper of berserkers.

The heimin fills the white sake cup, and as soon as she finishes, I gulp it down like a plant starved for water. I know it is hardly appropriate to drink alone like this... but I- I can't take it anymore.... my fiancé , Kenta, was the man I had been promised to since childhood. He is wild man. A brute man... and a berserker. But he is a man with the most handsome and unguarded smile when it was just the two of us. A man with a warm heart and a natural instinct to protect, although a little too short tempered... but that was expected for a man from his family. And he... he is the only one I have left.

We had been together every winter since we got engaged at the age of five. We had sworn to be by each other's sides forever. He took me from that battlefield and from their sides just to keep me alive... to think he would break our promise for a woman like that, for a seductress... I must have relied on him too much. I- must do better, but just for tonight... please forgive me for drinking alone this once.

I put the cup down and waited for her to pour again as my eyes begin to sting with the feeling of held back tears.

She doesn't pour.

I look up at her coldly to urge her on, but she is shaking with fear all over and her pupils are but little seeds in a bowl of water. It is different from before. That isn't worry, it is terror. It is that light difference between worrying that you'll get hurt, and the certainty you will get killed.

I feel a burning irritation at her pallid face. I hadn't done anything cruel, and I was far from drunk too. There was no reason to give me such a terrified expression!

I moved my hand to wave her off after clicking my tongue at her. If she won't pour then I'll do it myself.

At least... that was my intention...

My body suddenly felt heavy. The burning in my throat, which I had blamed the alcohol, grew more intense and began to spread rapidly, making my nerves tingle, and then scream with an overwhelming pain.

I try to groan with pain, but all that comes out is crimson red blood, that stains my bright yellow kimono.

I try to stand, and desperately grasp at my burning throat as I end up stumbling instead.

Why?

Why was this happening?! The enemy?!

I turn towards my wakizashi, but I slump weakly to the floor as my vision gets starry and blackened in an instant. Even in the darkness the pain didn't stop ripping at the entirety of my body. It is like I'm being melted inside out, and I can hear a panicked scream nearby. More voices followed, but they quickly grow distant and quiet... its a fast poison that must be hard to detect, and I know in that instant that whoever wanted me dead spent more than a year's worth in stipend to get rid of me.

...To think I would die like this, trying to get drunk from my fiance's betrayal. I fill with regret at the thought, but I am helpless now. The pain slowly begins to ease, and the world around my begins to slip away like falling into a dream. Am I going to join the others like this? If he needs me no longer, will I finally be where I was meant to be?

The voices suddenly grow louder again. I can feel my body being shaken violently, only for everything to fade away once more.

---*---

The next thing I remember I am breathing softly. A sound nearby woke me up, but my body is unnaturally heavy with exhaustion. I am alive? Did someone have the antidote?

I remain still, merely resting my exhausted body, until the feeling of someone's enormous hand went though my scalp and sent me flying into a momentary panic at both the inappropriate action but also the sheer size of the hand.

I force my eyes open and stare fiercely up at the rude person casually touching me, only to freeze up in caution at the sight in front of me.

The person looking down at me is... a foreigner... she stares at me with her ash grey eyes and her fluffy golden hair caressing the sides of her slender face. I'd seen many dye their hair gold and white, but the sheer splendor of color in this woman's hair is... breathtaking...like Amaterasu herself had blessed it... her skin is white like porcelain... scar free and clean. My mind goes blank for several moments. Who is this and where is this?

I instinctively curl away from the dazzling beauty, and in doing that I note the unreal environment I have ended up in.

The walls... the walls are... what was it... ah right... 'pink'... the bed sheets... pink. Actually, no matter where I look, everything was this fragile color... furthermore, the style was... strange... Frills, everywhere... to the point I can call it nothing but gaudy. I had read of this style, but in truth, it is even more overly extravagant in person than it had been described in the books.

I feel a chill crawl through my body. Had I been saved by these foreigners? I look to the woman again. She is smiling cutely like she is watching a defenseless little animal.

"Good morning, Lady Lily. How are you feeling?"

Lily?

My head throbs painfully and I black out once more.

—!—•—!—

Dictionary Assistance

(Seppuku): Ritual Suicide. If you've been dishonored then it's the only way to die where you cleanse your honor (and thus the honor of your family).

(-chan): a honorific (ending particle thing) used to people which the user thinks is cute. Just as calling random people cute isn't going to cut it, some people won't like this.

(-sama): honorific showing respect

(-chui): Lieutenant

(Samurai): effectively the same thing as nobles. Warriors and the ruling class.

(Heimin): commoners (basically 'middle' class but includes farmers as well)

(Wakizashi): shortsword symbolizing the social stand of samurai. There's a bit of debatable stuff, but basically, no wakizashi not samurai.)

(Katana): normal sized sword

(Nodachi): a longsword about 2m/6ft

(Sake): rice wine

(Ojou) : young lady

(Dogeza) : kneeling with your head and hands to the ground.