The Scarlet Kimono (Choc Lit) (19 page)

‘Why can’t I wash in the bath?’ Hannah had asked the first time she’d done this in Hirado, but Sakura had giggled and shaken her head as if it was a very silly question.

‘No, no, you’ll make the water dirty,’ she had replied. ‘Everyone has to share.’

‘Surely that’s the point? To make me clean and the water dirty?’ Sakura had giggled again and told her the bath was only for relaxing in, not for cleaning.

The women seemed fascinated by her body and there was a lot of tittering behind raised hands. Hannah didn’t like being scrutinized in this way. She felt very uncomfortable at being naked in front of others, but she thought it best not to antagonise them. After all, they were all women together and surely their bodies couldn’t be much different from hers?

When the servants were satisfied she was clean enough, Hannah was led to the edge of the pool. She was looking forward to luxuriating in the hot water and stepped in quickly, only to yelp in pain and jump out the next instant.

‘Ouch, I can’t go in there, it’s burning!’ she cried. Was this Lord Kumashiro’s way of torturing his captives, she wondered. To lull their senses before boiling them alive? Sakura tut-tutted and led her mistress back to the water as if she were a child.

‘It’s much hotter than it was in Hirado, but this is how it’s meant to be really. Now, put one foot in, then the other, slowly,’ she said. ‘Your body will become used to the heat. It takes time, but it’s worth it.’

Hannah eyed the maid dubiously, but obeyed. After the first scalding sensation subsided, the heat of the water did become bearable and she inched her way in. It took quite a while, but once there, it was a feeling like no other she had ever experienced. The hot water made her entire body tingle and a langour stole over her, making her close her eyes and sigh with satisfaction.

‘You were right, Sakura, this is wonderful,’ she admitted. ‘I can quite see why the people here want to do this every day. It’s very relaxing.’

She stayed in the water until told to come out. Then the ladies dressed her in fresh clothes and set about combing the tangles out of her hair. There was a small, good-natured scuffle while they decided who was to have the honour of handling the red tresses. Hannah laughed and suggested they should take turns. In the end she had her hair combed no fewer than five times and it was such a luxury she almost fell asleep in the process.

When everyone had finished their turn, her hair was smeared with scented oil and twisted up on top of her head into a strange knot. This was secured with sticks and combs made of lacquer and bone, some of which were exquisitely carved.

‘These are lovely,’ she said, admiring the craftsmanship.

‘Yes, very expensive. Kumashiro-
sama
ordered us to make you beautiful.’

Hannah drew in a sharp breath and came down to earth with a jolt. The bath had been so wonderful she had almost forgotten where she was. Now the fear and suspicions returned in full force. A lead weight settled in the pit of her stomach.

‘Why?’ she demanded, but the ladies refused to answer her. They giggled in chorus behind their hands and one of them muttered something unintelligible. Hannah drew her own conclusions and despair welled up inside her.

She was definitely a captive, not a guest.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The
kimono
Hannah was wearing was of cerulean blue silk, embroidered all over with white cherry blossom. It was beautiful and at any other time Hannah would have been thrilled to be given such a garment.

‘It is the same colour as your eyes,’ Sakura told her as she helped Hannah to tie the unwieldy belt called an
obi
. It was wide and covered the area from her waist up to under her bosom, and although it had felt strange the first time she wore one for her wedding, Hannah was becoming used to it by now.

Her
toilette
completed, she was led towards the back of the castle and into a stunning garden. It was landscaped in the same way as the one outside the house in Hirado, but on a much larger scale, complete with miniature waterfalls and large trees and boulders. Some areas were covered simply with small round stones which had been raked into symmetric patterns. Others were lawns interspersed with trees and shrubs of perfect proportions. The ladies escorting her didn’t stop to admire these things, however, but continued on towards a low house surrounded on all sides by a verandah. There, on a large cushion, sat Lord Kumashiro and they stopped a few feet away from him and bowed as low as they possibly could, falling to their knees before him.

‘
Konbanwa
,’ he said.

‘Good evening, my lord,’ the ladies chorused.

Hannah defiantly bent down slightly less than the others. He was not her lord, after all, and his men had captured her and brought her here against her will. Why should she show him deference, she thought, but if he noticed, he didn’t comment on her deliberate action.

‘Good evening, Hannah-
san
,’ he said with a small nod, then waved the others away. ‘You may leave now.’

The serving women all bowed once more and set off back the way they had come, including Sakura. Hannah was left standing in front of Lord Kumashiro. She was determined not to speak until she was spoken to this time. She felt like the sacrificial lamb, but she’d be damned if she let him intimidate her.

She lifted her chin and stared him straight in the eyes.

Taro studied the strange woman before him in silence. She looked so much better clean and properly dressed and he couldn’t help but notice that in the weeks since he’d last seen her, she had blossomed. Her glorious hair shone, and not just from the oils his servants had anointed it with. Her face had lost the pinched look of near-starvation and her skin was glowing, even though it was so white it was almost translucent.

Then there were her eyes.

Their colour fascinated him and held him spellbound every time he met her. He couldn’t get enough of staring into the blue depths, so vivid against the paleness of her face. Yanagihara-
san
had said he found them cold, but Taro couldn’t agree. Whenever he’d gazed into them, they had sparkled like sapphires and since Hannah was usually so animated and emotional, there was blue fire there as well. The fact that they were surrounded by dark brown lashes which swept her cheek whenever she looked down was another source of wonder. He’d never seen eyelashes like those before, so long and curved, like feathers on a bird’s wing. He almost wanted to touch them to make sure they were real.

He noticed she was trembling slightly and knew that despite her defiant stance, she was afraid. He didn’t want her to be frightened of him, he wanted to win her trust. Quite why he wished this, he had no idea. He could have just ordered her to stand there for as long as he felt like staring at her, and then forced her to answer all the questions crowding his mind. But somehow that felt wrong. Hannah was different from anyone he’d ever known and he would tread warily.

For now.

He finished his perusal of her and nodded his satisfaction. ‘Much better,’ he said. ‘Come inside. It’s growing cold.’

It was indeed, and Hannah shivered as she followed him indoors. She wasn’t sure whether she was trembling with the cold or with nerves, probably a bit of both. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she told herself. ‘There is no point worrying about what might happen until you know for sure.’ Perhaps she just had to accept her fate, like Hoji was forever telling her. If Lord Kumashiro meant her harm, she would have to endure it, but for now, he seemed perfectly civilized. She clenched her jaw in determination. She would wait and see what he said.

He closed the screen door behind her and gestured for her to sit down on a cushion next to a low table, on which a huge amount of food was laid out. Hannah’s stomach growled, reminding her that it was an age since she had last eaten. She felt herself blush with embarrassment, but Lord Kumashiro took no notice. Hannah had removed her sandals by the door, as was the custom, and quickly took the few steps over to the cushion. She dragged the heavy hem of her
kimono
into position behind her, making sure it wasn’t creased. Lord Kumashiro sat down opposite her.

‘We will eat first, then talk,’ he said, and it wasn’t an invitation, but an order. Hannah nodded and picked up her
hashi
once she had seen him take up his. She was exceedingly grateful now to Hoji for his tutoring. It gave her some confidence to know that she wouldn’t disgrace herself with her table manners at least.

The food was excellent, tiny dishes of raw fish and grated radish to start with, followed by more substantial things like cooked salmon and rice. There were pickled vegetables of various kinds to cleanse one’s palate in between courses, and they finished off with fresh fruit, beautifully cut into intricate shapes. Hannah found to her surprise that she was hungry, despite the fear and anxiety swirling inside her. She tried as many dishes as she could and enjoyed most of them. They ate in silence, which was very unnerving. From time to time she also felt Lord Kumashiro’s gaze on her, but she tried to ignore it.

‘You enjoy food,’ he said, when she sat back at last, replete. There was a hint of amusement in his voice, although his expression remained inscrutable. Hannah suddenly remembered something Hoji had said about Japanese ladies eating sparingly. Did the
daimyo
think her a pig for eating so much? She felt her cheeks heat up once more at the thought.

‘I, uhm, I was hungry.’ It sounded silly even to her own ears and she was not surprised when he laughed out loud.

‘That was obvious. I hope you won’t grow too fat here.’

‘No, no, I never put on much weight.’ Which was true, Hannah thought ruefully. She seemed to be able to eat vast quantities without any effect whatsoever on her skinny body. In the time since she had left home, her bosom hadn’t increased noticeably in size and the rest of her still resembled nothing so much as a beanpole in her opinion. ‘I’m afraid I will always be this small and thin,’ she sighed.

Lord Kumashiro’s eyebrows rose a fraction. ‘You wish to be fat?’

‘Not fat precisely, but perhaps more rounded in … in places.’

‘Why? It’s not necessary.’

‘Men in my country find rounder women more attractive,’ Hannah replied miserably, thinking again of Kate and her many admirers.

‘Strange. I see nothing wrong with your shape.’

It was Hannah’s turn to be surprised. ‘No?’ Perhaps with all the layers of clothing she was wearing he couldn’t assess her properly, she thought. Yes, that must be it. She straightened her spine. What did it matter after all? She didn’t care what he thought of her.

She looked at him again. ‘What would you like me to do now, Lord Kumashiro?’ She couldn’t stand the tension a moment longer, she had to know what his plans for her were.

‘Talk.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I’m pleased that you speak my language. Finding an interpreter would have been difficult here. I have many questions for you. For example, I want to learn about your people and customs. You’ll tell me what I want to know?’

‘Of course, but is that all?’ Hannah blinked. She couldn’t believe he only wanted her to talk to him. Her mind had considered so many other possibilities, this seemed very tame in comparison. ‘I mean, you’ve brought me all this way just to answer questions?’

‘No.’

‘Then what …?’

‘I also wanted to look at you.’

‘You already did in Hirado.’ Hannah was puzzled. Surely she wasn’t that interesting a sight? At least, no one else had ever thought so.

‘Not for long enough. It wouldn’t have been prudent to seek you out there. Servants gossip. Besides, since I knew you were coming to my country, I had already thought about bringing you here. The
ninja
were ready and waiting for my command if I so chose.’

Hannah frowned. ‘How did you know I was coming?’

‘Yanagihara-
san
saw you.’

‘What? Yana – who?’

‘Enough.’ He held up his hand. ‘I’m asking the questions. Now, tell me about your country.’

‘Very well.’ Hannah tried hard to suppress her curiosity, but couldn’t help wondering what he had meant. How could someone she’d never heard of have known that she was travelling to Japan? Especially since she hadn’t planned it beforehand. It was a mystery, but one she’d have to think about later. For now, she must do as she’d been asked. ‘What would you like to know, Kumashiro-
sama
?’

‘Everything.’

Several days passed and each evening Hannah was bathed and groomed before being taken to see Lord Kumashiro in the little garden pavilion. They ate and talked, nothing else.

‘You say your queen had hair the same colour as you?’ was his first question one night.

‘Yes. Many people in England have red hair. It’s not uncommon, although you will find people with hair colours ranging from almost white to brown to darkest black, such as your own.’

‘
Honto, neh?
Really? Your captain had hair of gold, as I recall, and I did notice many different shades of brown, but no red as vivid as yours.’

‘It’s not as common as brown.’

‘I saw some other foreigners when I went south a few years ago, but they all had black hair. And large noses, not small like yours.’

‘Perhaps they were Portuguese? That would explain it. People in Portugal are mostly dark-haired I understand. As for their noses, I’m sure they vary in size.’

‘I see.’

The questions continued. ‘Tell me about your country. How large is it? How many people live there? Are there other countries nearby? Do you go to war against them? Does your king have a large army?’

His quest for knowledge was insatiable and Hannah was hard pressed to keep up with him. There were times when she wished that Rydon or her brother had been abducted as well, since she wasn’t able to answer Lord Kumashiro’s questions about warfare and trade very well. He seemed satisfied with what she told him, however, and listened attentively.

The more time she spent in his company, the more he fascinated her. He was a complex man and very enigmatic. She caught herself staring at his face as he spoke, noting the intelligence in the dark eyes and also the humour which shone through from time to time. Mostly, he didn’t allow himself to show any emotion, but some of the things she told him broke through his steely reserve. As they were always alone, he relaxed a little more each day. He wasn’t at all the way she had expected a feudal lord to be, and so different to any other man she had ever known.

She found to her surprise that she began to look forward to their nightly meetings.

Hannah was left to her own devices during the day, although she was always surrounded by serving women. She was allocated a suite of rooms on the ground floor of a building near the garden, instead of in the tower. This included a verandah that overlooked a tiny private garden, but she wasn’t allowed to roam freely throughout the castle.

‘I feel like a bird in a pretty cage,’ she grumbled to Sakura. ‘I’ve always hated being cooped up.’ She didn’t tell the girl she wanted to search for some way of escaping, but Sakura seemed to guess.

‘You wish to go back to your people,’ she said shrewdly.

‘Of course. Don’t you want to go home?’

Sakura shrugged. ‘I have no home, no family. I go wherever you go. And here is not so bad.’