Fukai Mori

 

 

Chapter One: Escape

February 2003-July 2003

 

The Princess of the North kneeled in silence, hands folded primly in her lap and back ramrod straight.  Her blue-gray eyes silently studied her king’s frame, her father’s frame.  He held a bamboo brush with fine wolf hair, fluidly recording a royal decree.  Each stroke was measured, precise, and the thick black ink distributed evenly across every character.  The man’s brow was knit in concentration as the last words were formed.  Brush laid down, he reached for a marble stamp, whose base was bathed in hot red wax, and finished the scroll with the signature of crimson.  Still, Kagome remained unmoving, watching her father look over the document with a critical eye.  The only sound audible was the rush of moving water, which lay just outside the shoji screens.  At last, content with the scroll he had filled, Higurashi-sama laid the work to the side and acknowledged his daughter with a curt nod.  Kagome returned with a deep bow.

 

          “I have heard,” he intoned quietly, “that you have taken to venturing out in the gardens.  Is that true, my only daughter?”

 

Kagome’s eyes stared blankly at the tatami mats on which they kneeled.  She inclined her head in affirmation.

 

          “Why is that?”

 

          “There is nothing for me to do bound within the walls of the castle,” she said softly.  Her answer was kept short and concise.

 

          “That is of no relevance, daughter,” the king pointed out, “There are many things to partake in; you simply do not interest yourself in them.”

 

Kagome did not respond.

 

          “You are forbidden to leave these walls, daughter.  You must be more lady-like.  Learn from your mother.”

 

Kagome nodded.

 

          “You are dismissed.”

 

Another low bow was given, and she carefully rose and padded from the room, sliding the shoji door quietly shut.  Guards on either side of the sliding entrance lowered their heads to her in respect, but she gave no notice.  Her stride was unusually swift as she took leave of the east wing of the palace; she needed to get away.

 

Seeming to pass an infinite amount of doors, she finally arrived in her own chambers, large and spacious, too big for one person.  The deep green kimono she adorned dragged on the floor as she walked.  She discarded it for another one: a dim blue in hue with darker embroidery.  Pushing the screens of the window open, she alighted on the sill and slipped off the edge, falling into the garden below.

 

Yes, she understood that she was forbidden to tread in the garden, but Kagome was not about to lose all her freedom in this restricted life.  The princess was a being who loved action and adventure.  She often fantasized about leaving this drab castle life for a new one, exploring exotic lands with new people.  She knew, though, it would never happen.

 

Inhaling deeply, she filled herself with the scent of nature around her.  This area of the courtyard was filled with towering trees, obscuring her from all view.  Smiling, she set off at a flying run.  Her legs propelled her through the foliage, carrying her to any destination they wished.  She stopped to catch breath when she reached a serene pond.

 

Happy with her exercise, Kagome sauntered onto the bridge connecting one side of the pond with the other.  She sat down, dangling her bare feet over the edge and observing the numerous water lilies floating upon the water’s rippling surface.  Small fish darted from side to side under the liquid, surfacing occasionally to break the surface.

 

A sigh escaped the girl’s cherry lips.  Could she have traded this life for that of a peasant, she would have, but as it was, there was no way to flee the monotony of royalty.  Kagome was allowed almost nowhere; she had no friends, no recreational activities, and most of all, no freedom.  A frown etched itself in her pretty features.  She despised how her tongue had to be stilled in the presence of others, how straight she must sit, how polite she must act, how graceful she had to be.  None of those were natural behaviors for her, and indeed, the life of a pleasant would be much more suited to her personality.

 

Why can I not take leave of this forsaken place? She wondered to herself.  There is nothing here for me.  I wish to go…far, far away.  Closing her eyes, she hugged her knees to her chest.  I want to go where no one will bother me.  A place that is magical and white.  I would do as I pleased without hindrance.  It would be a wonderful life, as I never knew before.  Such thoughts ran through her mind until engrained permanently.  Slowly, she began to convince herself that there was, indeed, a place white and magical in existence, that she would find it if she wished and tried hard enough.  Being sixteen years of age with an imaginative mind, she began to conjure methods of escape.  A drop from above interrupted her childish fantasies.  Startled, Kagome glanced upward.  Another drop fell to her cheek.

 

Rising quickly, she sprinted for the window whence she had come.  Rain was beginning to wash over the outside world, and it was falling quite fast.  As the soil she tread upon dampened, her feet began cake with mud.  Kagome pumped her legs harder, attempting to reach the entrance before it started to pour; her muddied feet, however, made the endeavor more difficult than normal.

 

Once she had reached the window, she pulled herself up hastily after glancing around to ascertain no one was observing.  Sitting on the edge, Kagome allowed her dirty legs to dangle in the rain while she washed off as much of the grime as possible.  When most of it had gone, the princess entered her chambers to, once again, change her attire, this time back to the garment she had been wearing before her sojourn outside.  When her door slid open, she was still slipping the last outer robes over her kimono.  Upon the unannounced entrance, Kagome’s head snapped up to the intruder, her father.  His deep frown was all the warning she needed; the princess adorned the robe quickly and dropped to her knees, head hung in shame.

 

          “Otousan.”

 

          “Where have you been?” he inquired sternly.

 

She gave no answer.

 

          “Your king inquires of your location, and he demands an answer.”

 

          Tears were threatening to spill from her darkened eyes.  “In the garden, sire.”  She could feel his penetrating stare center on her as she gave her answer.

 

          “Did I not forbid from leaving castle walls?”

 

          “You did, sire,” her words choking as her throat constricted.

 

          “Then, you disobeyed the word of your father and king.”

 

          “I-I did.”  Her head hung lower as sobs began to escape her thin lips.

 

          “I now bind you to your chambers,” her father stated, “Guards will be stationed outside your doors and windows.”  He turned to leave, the long braid of black hair swaying slightly when he moved.  “Should you dare to venture from your designated parameters, daughter, I will further measures to ensure your obedience.”

 

When the door had shut again, Kagome rose carefully, as if her body were made of glass.  She broke down onto the massive bed, weeping frightfully in loud gasps.  Burying her head in one of the oversized pillows, she endeavored to quell her atrocious sobs.  They would not be silenced however, and as she replayed the conversation in her mind, the cries crescendoed.

 

What did she do to deserve this kind of life?  It was a useless life with no action, no freedom, no voice.  She could not even choose her own clothes!  What was royalty when all she did was walk around ‘elegantly’ and wave to the Japanese peasants, the ‘small’, ‘unimportant’ people?  Except for the fact that those people produced half the food the palace consumed and made three-fourths of the resources partitions needed, yes they were small and unimportant.  Who was the royal family to discriminate those of lower status, lower wealth?  They were born into royalty, and they knew it.  There was nothing special about the elite group she had been born into; they had done nothing to earn such high positions among so many.  For once, Kagome wanted to live, to actually feel the outside world.  She wanted more than just the pathetic glimpses she managed to catch in the gardens and courtyards.  Had there been a way to swap places with a peasant, she would have done so, but there was no one, not a single soul, in all of Nihon, with her unique eye color of a deep oceanic blue.  But the solution came to her, simple and clean.

 

          “I am leaving,” she whispered to the half-open window.

 

It was the only solution.  The guards her father assigned had not yet arrived; thus, there was opportunity.  She would show her parents.  Kagome Higurashi would not be bound by simple royal ‘decrees’.  A short leave of the premises, one or two nights at most, and never again would her father criticize her.  Should he, she would leave again.  It was not her way to be caged in a room, without company, without tasks.  Therefore, the answer was clear.  She again changed to a simple kimono, this time of a navy shade, and leapt out the window into the drizzling rain.

 

          She only looked back once as she charged through the light sprinkle.  “Farewell for now.”

 

[To Be Continued…]