-Plan Sidestory
Breathe, you tell yourself.
In....out...you are Hisao, you are a Samurai, a young man that in another life would love to punch things until they became different things. However, in this life you are the Emperor of Rokugan, and that means you have options, and know what you are.
So bereft of a sudden surge of insight in how to talk to girls. (You will have to write to Itsume-sensei and request he teach your brother that) You fall back on to instinct and habit.
"Shiba-san, I find that the air in here is somewhat languid, I intend to go to the gardens to enjoy the flowers as they begin to bloom. If you wish to continue our conversation, it would please me for you to join." You say.
Kaname looks up, bright eyes blinking rapidly as she processes your polite command.
"Hai!"
You stand and begin to move through the palace to the gardens. You sense more than see your ever present guards shift their movements to give you the illusion of privacy, even if there was none. Ah to be the most powerful man in the Empire, and yet have no control over the ability to talk to a pretty young woman alone.
The kaleidoscope of colours that covers the garden provides a marked contrast to the winter of only a few months before. Alas for your future biographers, you did not think to set this meeting during the week of flower viewing over a month ago now, so in defiance of proper literary convention there are not cherry blossoms everywhere.
Eh, they'll probably just add them in anyways. Having compared the real history of the Empire to the official version, you'll never quite trust the normal histories again. You understood why they had to censor one of the Emperor's doing that with a goat...but...focus Hisao
Turning around you watch Kaname take everything in, as if she's never seen so many flowers in one place. Which...might be true actually.
"It is impressive is it not Shiba-san?" You ask.
"Hai...Shiro Hemijin has nothing like this...gomen my Emperor, surely you have more things to do than to watch me."
"No, I set this time aside to meet you Shiba-san given the circumstances. Forgive me for not asking how your journey was."
"Of course Mikado. The journey was fine, a little slow because of the procession." Kaname admits.
You nod in understanding. The Phoenix were most eager to let everyone know that you had chosen one of them to marry. Ah politics...you'd need to make a shrine or something to mark the occasion. You add that to your mental check list.
"Well it is natural that Shiba-san would want to show you off."
"Is it?" Kaname asks with seeming sincerity. "I have after all done no great deeds."
Well there was a hit to the old ego.
"I imagine that most would consider an Imperial Marriage of some worth." You say dryly.
Her eyes widen as she realizes what she inadvertently said.
"Ah!" She panics a little, kowtowing on the spot.
"I did not mean that it was not worth it...only that I have yet to shown that I am heroine worthy of such a procession, even if you honour me so my Mikado...forgive this one her foolish mistake!" She says.
You blink, that was not quite what you expected. You had wanted to just give a little fire to her own barb...but she truly hadn't meant anything. Otomo-san had told you she was naive, but you didn't think she'd be quite this...earnest.
"Please Shiba-san, rise, you are forgiven." You say after a moment.
"Thank you benevolent Mikado." She says rising.
Her cheeks are still red from embarrassment. You idly note, waiting for her to calm down. After a few moments, you decide to press forward.
"Your clan has been amongst the strongest supporters of my efforts to rebuild this land. It is right they should be rewarded. I do hope my decrees have not put you to far away from a chance to earn glory?"
Kaname thinks about that for a moment.
"While watching over the peasants is not what I would strive for, I cannot deny your wisdom in deciding to rebuild what was lost. I only wish I had been amongst those set upon the bandits and thieves that plagued the lands. The people need salvation, what are Samurai if they cannot help it come into being?" She asks.
"I imagine that you would get many answers from the other Clans. The Crab would say that they are the defenders of all, the Crane would say that they are exemplars of beauty and honour, the Dragon would tell of searching for truth and understanding, the Lion of warriors and glory...but then you know of the Clans I'm sure and have your own opinions of them"
"Hai my Mikado, I have them, opinions that is."
"I hope they are mostly good? My Empress cannot show too much favouritism to any one Clan after all." You say.
Kaname doesn't fidget, but you can tell she wants to.
"I...wish I could say yes my Emperor, forgive me...but many of the clans are...not good at this time even if they have potential to be."
"Elaborate" You say simply.
"As you wish Mikado. The Crab are unwilling or perhaps unable to concede that as much as we might need them, they need us and they do themselves no favours by treating us all like children. The Crane ignore the spirit of their founders words in order to strive for power. The Dragon sit on their mountains afraid to even act a little. The Lion want nothing more than bloodshed to satisfy their pride, the Mantis are arrogant and believe that because they were lucky once they will always be lucky. The Scorpion are nothing more than liars even to themselves, and the Unicorn cry that they are held apart even as they cling to their gaijin ways and the Phoenix...." She trails off.
"And the Phoenix?" You prompt.
"Forget that Shiba-no-kami's first lesson to us was humility, that we are servants, not masters." She finishes in a whisper.
On the whole while you don't quite agree with all of her complaints. (If nothing else the Dragon had consistently acted in whatever matter they thought best for the last fifty years, even if it was a little random) Yet, you can see where she got them from. Which makes it all the more problematic that she holds them. You can already hear the protests from the Lion and Unicorn if her statement was made known, and the less said about Kuon's reaction the better.
"You have strong feelings on the topic Shiba-san, how did you come to them?" You ask quietly.
Kaname takes a deep breath.
"I was seven years old when I first took up a weapon...these three boys, they were attacking a cat, no reason, no meaning to it. Just they were bored, and were used to getting their way because their fathers were somewhat important...I couldn't stand by."
She looks at you straight in the eye.
"I hit them, I beat them until they ran to their parents....and then I was told I was wrong to have done that, were they told it was wrong to attack a poor innocent cat? No. Since then, I have looked at the world, looked and all I see is people willing to do that for their Clans, to ignore their faults and create them in others. So many poor cats attacked...for no real reason. Too many samurai are blind to their sins, I want them to turn away from them."
You close your mouth at that. You could not really disagree with her passion, if anything you understood why she had it...but, her cats were not cats to the people involved. If you looked at the Yasuki War without considering honour, it was a waste of time and energy. People died for a strip of land that had no real value to them. Yet, Honour was all, honour is what allowed eight Great Clans and dozens of minor clans to interact in something other than perpetual war...even if it caused pain in this event.
"I understand your words Shiba-san. I hope in time I can show you that the world is more than just people attacking poor cats."
She bows.
"I do as well my Emperor."
There doesn't seem to be anything left to say, a part of you wants to ask more about her...but you sense the time is not right. You do make a mental note to send her a very cute kitten though, maybe one of the Crane breeds? No she'd want an abandoned one....now how to spin that.
"Thank you for your time Shiba-san." You say.
"Hai my Emperor...thank you for listening to me." She says.
With another kow-to she departs. Its too late to back out now, you will announce the marriage in a few days, and she will come to the Palace to be educated and prepared for the marriage in the autumn. The question is what to do about her...radical views on the world, and how much time you try to spend with her. You should finish receiving the applications for your two free council positions soon. That will leave you with time to spend with her...on the other hand you can think of at least a dozen other things you could also do, and probably should. From sending correspondence in full to all the daimyo, to looking over the Tessen, to listening to about a half dozen internal grievances with in the Imperial families, to just making sure your council was up to speed to make the transition of the new Jewelled Champions go smoothly. You also really needed to make a proper pilgrimage to each of the Shrines.....so choices.
[] Spend as much time with Shiba Kaname as practical.
[] Spend some time with her regularly but not too much.
[] Spend as little time with her as you can get away with.
Alright that was decided, now what were you going to do with her...she was dangerous with those views, the Empress was by tradition technically your regent if you were indisposed...you could moderate her...or not do that and let your capable mother beat things into her head.
[] When spending time with Kaname, attempt to convince her that her world view is too rigid
[] When spending time with Kaname, attempt to just understand her better
[] When spending time with Kaname, attempt to balance the two (Air roll TN 20)
AN:
So we have two choices here that are somewhat linked. Spending more time with Kaname is of course going to make her like you more when you eventually get around to that wedding thing.
However trying to change her mind is actually reasonably important to not losing her as an effective piece on the throne. So it will be done. Doing it with Hisao makes Kaname dislike him, having Mama Kaiu do it makes Kanamae hate her. Fortunately because of Hisao's skill with people he gets an extra option to try and get it without hard feelings. However, failing will result in something spectacularly bad happening. So weigh those risks and rewards. (Currently you roll 5k3 on air)
Next updates are going to be less story and more meta, as I put together the choices for Imperial Treasurer and Imperial Advisor respectively. If you have any questions feel free to page me.
