The Emperor's Heart

Chapter One

Daylight shone through the sheer curtains in arrays of purple and yellow. The lavender painted walls were adorned with extravagant designs of gold, even the trim being painted with what appeared to be liquid gold that had hardened over time. Hardened enough to be stronger than rock and arguably harder than the Emperor's heart.

The emperor was stern in his ways and very stubborn to the point that no one could sway him, not even his daughter who knelt before him on the large lavender colored rug. His young, beautiful, spirited daughter who was mere opposite of her father in character but similar in strength because she was also as strong-willed and fierce as any warrior in the royal army. The silence between them was thick and awkward for the rich people who stood around them watching.

"I love him, father." Yua's voice did not quiver but the instant her father's eyes contorted into a scowl she hesitated slightly.

He took her short moment of weakness to spit back, "You do not love him. I have seen true love in my own heart and there is only one person in this world who will love you the way I loved your mother. He is not him."

"But Father!" She held her head up higher.

"You will not marry him, my daughter!" He took a step closer to her, his royal garments brushing the floor slightly, "I will choose a man for you because you are incapable of knowing what love is. I will consult the matchmaker and she will help me choose the right husband who will have your hand in marriage. There will be no more claiming to love young men who know nothing of caring for a princess. If they cannot care for you, how can they care for Japan?"

Yua's head snapped up and her arms grabbed the fine fabric of the rug within the tea room where her father had called her into only moments after hearing that she had planned to try and elope with yet another man she had claimed to love. The emperor was growing tired of his seventeen-year-old daughter falling into shallow and false promises of heart, and having to intervene before those promises were met with the legality of the situation. Eloping would destroy not only her reputation but his own as well. She was pure and would have to be kept as so for the man who would take the throne next.

Yua, defeated and unable to argue back anymore, stood up and took a long bow to her father. But the fierceness from her eyes did not leave her. She held her head up high and left the room, ignoring the stares from the high-powered men and women who were to continue having tea with the emperor.

Yua strode across the long halls of the palace and to the gardens where she took a seat among the stone ledge of a pond. She finally relaxed from her tall posture and huffed, glaring into the water where koi danced among one another.

"Why can't I have a partner to dance with as well?" she asked as she gazed at two particular koi that spun around each other, "I fear what husband my father will choose for me."

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The bamboo hut was on the outskirts of the forest. The matchmaker preferred to live away from society and keep to herself except for her daughter and for when distraught parents on individuals came to her door asking for consolation in finding their lifetime partner. She made no mistake, never had and she knew she never would because the women in her family had been fulfilling this duty for generations. People gossiped that they had a certain "sight" and that it was given to them from the Japanese God of love and good matches, Okuninushi-no-Mikoto.

She was a middle-aged woman with graying hair but a spirit still in her eyes. Her skin was beginning to wrinkle around her eyes from her wide grin that often times was noticed before her dark green eyes that were eccentric in many ways.

Those green eyes with the intricate golden spirals around her pupils met with the dark brown eyes of the emperor. Eiichi smiled at meeting the matchmaker because she was not just a matchmaker to him but an old friend whose family connected genuinely with his own for many generations.

Himari asked, "What favor do I owe to my Royal Emperor?"

He smiled once more but something in his eyes faltered for a short second, "My daughter, Yua."

Himari chuckled softly, shaking her head briefly, "Say no more. I have already seen this coming."

Eiichi looked stunned but quickly composed himself as he kindly reminded himself that she was the matchmaker after all with a certain ability to foresee matchmaking opportunities.

"Come, sit with me." Himari motioned for him to come inside her small hut. He did so, taking a seat in the first room where a small table was centered in the middle of the minimal sized room.

Eiichi told his guards to wait for him outside and they retreated with quiet steps. Himari smiled at him but then something on her face turned serious once the guards left, and that was when she began to speak, "I have already foreseen your daughter's match. You will not like my answer. I will give you this chance now to ask me to tell you the truth or to tell you of a different man, another man who is not her exact match but he is a good man who comes from a prominent family. The choice is yours."

As she spoke them emperor's brow arched, the wrinkles in his brow wrinkling into a mixture of concern and shock. Should he choose the option that could guarantee his daughter to be with a good man? Or should he abide with fate and choose what was meant to be? The Gods would not appreciate him turning fate into his own hands. He must do what is meant to be. After all they were meant to be so that meant that everything would work out in the end.

Right?

For the first time in his life the emperor did not know what to choose. He was afraid. But he decided to do what was meant to be. After all, going against fate could be more detrimental to his family than the man she was meant to be with.

"I will not take a different route. I will only choose what is the only choice which is my daughter's true destiny."

And with that Himari gulped but nodded, "I was afraid of that." Because of this break that he had never seen in Himari before, Eiichi instantly regretted his decision but was too afraid to speak up.

Himari took in a deep, shaky breath, "Daichi Tanaka."

A deep silence overtook the room.

"The samurai?"

Himari hummed under her breath, "Ex-samurai if I do so recount?"

Eiichi's hands curled into fists. Daichi was his top samurai who abandoned his duty and now lived in exile within the Japan Alps. He never gave the reason why he wanted to abandon his position of nobility but the disgrace left him two choices, Seppuku, which is suicide, or to never be seen again. However, later Eiichi's next in command had informed him of Daichi's location within the Alps. Eiichi had sent a spy once every full moon to make sure that Daichi stayed away because Daichi could be the type to seek revenge for being exiled. As the once top samurai, he was merciless and harsh in his ways.

But it seemed Eiichi was at a loss because once a Samurai was exiled there was no coming back. It would hurt Eiichi's credibility and his people may not take him as seriously, assuming he has a weakness for Daichi. So there was only one more choice left.

He would have to send Yua to Daichi.

And with that information, Eiichi rose from his chair, nodded to the matchmaker, and left.