Historical Fiction. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heian Era. A woman was born in the household of Fujiwara, one of the biggest and influential houses in the imperial court. It was the era of art, music and literature. Men and women were required to be skillful in various fields of art. In such era, Fujiwara no Miyuki was born daughter of aristocrat. For sixteen years of life, Miyuki knew only of indulging herself in painting, poetry, playing music instruments and taking care of her siblings. She knew her parents wielded power within the court and she knew that she was to be betrothed one day. She just didn’t expect that the day would come so soon. “…The Prince?” Miyuki questioned. She was quite surprised upon her parents’ sudden announcement while her sisters cheered in joy. “Yes, Prince Morihito.” Her father nodded. “Well then, now that we have told you the important news, we shall go and get ourselves some afternoon tea.” Thus, Miyuki’s parents left her with her sisters.
“Wow, we are going to marry a prince!” Masuko, Miyuki’s sister cheered. Masuko was fifteen. Sighing, Miyuki smiled bitterly. “I suppose so.” She pulled her junihitoe[1] along as she walked out of the room and looked at the sky. Spring has come and so does my mission. Be it quick or slow, I will face it. She read to herself her own poem. “Are you not happy, sister?” Masuko asked. “I’m not sure what I should feel. We were married to Emperor Konoe previously and now to a prince. I guess I need some time alone. I’ll be back soon.” Miyuki took her heels towards the garden with a fish pool and a big willow tree. No one could see her grief there. Her family didn’t find any attachment as she did towards the place. The breeze caressed her powdered face as she placed herself sitting under the willow tree. The heir to the throne… Prince Morihito. Can anyone just love a stranger? She pondered as she hummed a melody she made on her own. Fujiwara no Miyuki didn’t know that she was about to meet a turn in her life. It was when she started quoting the poem of a famous poet, Ariwara no Narihira. “Long ago I heard. That this is the road we must all travel in the end—“ “—but I never thought it might be yesterday or today.” Turning her head to see who had quoted the lower half of the poem, Miyuki found her eyes widening upon a man who stood beside her. Immediately she pulled her sleeves upward to hide her face. “Why did you quote Narihira’s last poem? What is it about this particular dying man’s poem? What is bothering you, my lady?” He asked. His voice was deep. He was well dressed as well, indicating he was an officer to the imperial court. Uncertain whether or not to reply, Miyuki kept her face hidden behind her sleeves. After a moment of silence, she decided to answer. “…it’s a secret.” With such answer, the man laughed and made Miyuki confused. “You like secrets? I’ll share my secrets to you.” He said. “…I don’t even know you, Mister.” Miyuki muttered. “Never mind that. I like Ariwara no Narihira’s poems too. My family prefers others though.” “My family too!” Upon the similarity, Miyuki took down her sleeves and showed her face when it was not allowed by social norms. When she realized, she could feel her face muscles went numb. She believed she must have made an ugly face. “What’s your name, mister?” Miyuki asked. She was curious enough to ignore the social norms. She had never met any man with the same interest. To her, her father was a boring man who wouldn’t share interests except for political talks. “I’m Minamoto no Yoshitomo. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Yoshitomo smiled as he bowed slightly. “My name is Fujiwara no Miyuki.” Miyuki stood up, wobbling a bit before finding her balance to stand straight. She bowed. It was obvious that she was happy to meet someone new. In fact she was beginning to feel bored of her routine no matter how many different activities she did. “Even the almighty gods of old never knew such beauty; on the river of Tatsuta in autumn sunlight a brocade—reds flowing above blue water below.” Yoshitomo read another poem by Narihira and it made Miyuki’s heart skipped a beat for no man had ever read it for her. She had had letters written for her but none of them made her feel in such… pleasant ticklish way. “The mists of spring linger over the mountain. Those cherry blossoms, when the spring haze has lifted, their color will also change.” Miyuki returned with another poem by Narihira. Joy swelled up in her chest. It made her curious of what she was feeling. If she was to describe… it made her want to dance and compose songs about it. “Mountain cherry let us console each other of all those I know, no one understands me the way your blossoms do.” Yoshitomo read another but he didn’t stop there. “Lady Fujiwara no Miyuki, I apologize to have taken your precious time. I must go.” “A meeting in the court?” Miyuki felt stupid for asking the obvious but she wanted their conversation to continue. “Yes. We’re going to talk about the economy and some politic stuff ladies won’t find interesting.” Yoshitomo chuckled. “Can’t we meet again?” Miyuki felt herself growing stupid with each question she asked. Yoshitomo, on the other hand, knew what she was up to so they were grinning at each other. “It’s not appropriate to meet but we can write letters to each other.” He said as he smiled. He bowed and took his steps, glancing once a while to look at Miyuki. Ħ That evening, Fujiwara no Miyuki couldn’t get Minamoto no Yoshitomo out of her mind for such condition only happened in tales. Talking about tales, Miyuki hadn’t finished reading The Tales of Ise written by her favorite poet, Ariwara Narihira. It was a story that depicted the imperial court, love, loss and life. She then began to wonder whether Yoshitomo liked the same thing. By wondering so, she felt her chest warming up. “My lady? My lady?” a feminine voice called. “Hm? What is it Hana?” Miyuki turned to her personal maid. “You seem… over the clouds. I hope you don’t forget what we are currently doing.” Hana commented as she combed her lady’s long black hair. Her left hand had oil to nourish the hair and her right hand held onto the comb to smooth it through. “A-ah…of course!” Miyuki replied quickly as she ran her fingers in her hairs from top to bottom. She took some more oil and continued her hair care routine before bed. A moment of silence took place due to Miyuki getting lost in her thoughts. After the occurrence in the afternoon, she began to wonder what the ideals of man were. “Hana, what do you think ideals of a great man are?” Miyuki couldn’t help not asking. “Ideals of a great man? Hmm… Like Genji?” With a name, Hana had gotten Miyuki’s full attention. “Genji?” “Yes. From The Tale of Genji. “ Hana smiled as she proceeded with treating Miyuki’s hair. “Ah… the one that you usually read.” Miyuki’s interest fleeted away. For some reasons, she wasn’t convinced when Hana babbled about The Tale of Genji. She preferred Tales of Ise. “You should try and read it! It has a very unique style of writing!” Hana chirped. “I thought we were talking about ideals of man?” Miyuki reminded. Hana was then halted. She bowed as she smiled a bit. “I suppose… kindness is the most important trait for an ideal man. Why are you thinking about such? Surely Prince Morihito has all the traits! Miss, you definitely should read The Tale of Genji. It is so lovely!” Hana said as she finished with Miyuki’s hair treatment. She placed the comb onto the desk and went to set the bed. “Why should I?” Miyuki must have asked the same question over and over. She didn’t seem convinced with Hana’s answers. “Miss, you are going to be married to the heir of the throne! He will be an Emperor one day and you will be his empress! I am very sure by reading The Tale of Genji, you will be able to imagine how it feels to be loved by a great man and by great man, it will be the Emperor of course!” Hana clasped her palms together and made a dreamy face. “Imagine being loved? Prince Morihito is twelve years old!” Miyuki sighed. “Well, imagine Prince Morihito when he reaches the age of… let’s say… twenty! Oh, a fine man he will be!” Hana said as she completed her task. Miyuki crawled her way to the bed which was just a few steps away. She placed herself comfy and let Hana put the blanket on her. “The Tales of Ise is also about love, if it’s the case.” “There’s the difference in writing style, my lady.” For the first time, Hana gave her a satisfying answer. She wouldn’t guarantee to read it soon though. “… I guess, I will.” Miyuki said as she shut her eyes to rest for the day. Ħ Days passed quickly as soon as Fujiwara no Miyuki put her hands on the books of The Tale of Genji. She regretted ever avoiding such a great literature. She admitted that it had a great writing style which complimented the story. Being engrossed in it and in addition that she was a fast reader, she immediately found an interest in the work of Murasaki Shikibu. Is love… really worth so much to the point of giving up everything? If only Murasaki no Ue hadn’t fallen in love, she wouldn’t have to suffer. Is love necessary at all in life? Parents decide our other halves anyway. Miyuki pondered as she continued to the next page. The wind was particularly strong that day, keeping Miyuki away from the garden. However, the garden was the fateful place where she had a wonderful encounter so she wouldn’t go far from the garden either. She sat by the hallway which faced the garden. “Fujiwara no Miyuki-sama!” A voice called and caught Miyuki’s immediate attention for the owner of the voice was Minamoto no Yoshitomo. “Minamoto no Yoshitomo-sama? It’s been a while!” Miyuki greeted. She put down the book she was holding and went to the fence in order to take a better look at Yoshitomo. “I was… looking for this.” Yoshitomo was breathless, he seemed to have rushed for meeting—it could be meeting in the court or it could be meeting with Miyuki. Yoshitomo passed a metal box he had in his hand to Miyuki, tip-toeing a bit so it could reach Miyuki. “What is this?” “It is kusamochi[2]. I went a bit further to look for the best.” Yoshitomo smiled. “I thought I would be late for the meeting.” Really… which meeting do you mean? Thinking so, Miyuki couldn’t help but smile. She was wondering whether Yoshitomo had another box with the same thing for the Emperor since he was dressed in his official attire. “You are similar.” Miyuki said. “Similar to who?” “To Genji from The Tale of Genji.” Miyuki put the box on her lap and picked the book up to show it to Yoshitomo. “I’ve been reading this.” “Thank you very much.” Yoshitomo gratified. “Do you think it’s possible to love a complete stranger? Parents have arranged our partners, complete strangers, how do you suppose we can love each other?” Miyuki asked, hoping that Yoshitomo had the answers to convince her into marriage which she thought was kind of ridiculous now that she had read The Tale of Genji. “Love cannot be defined by words.” Yoshitomo began. What he had just uttered made Miyuki curious. She had engaged in the world of literature for her whole life and she believed that there was nothing words couldn’t describe. It was a surprise to her. “Love is… a choice. You choose to love or not to love. When facing marriage, which I don’t doubt you have it already, we learn to love that person. We accept our partners wholly, trusting our parents who definitely won’t harm us.” Yoshitomo continued, explaining in the simplest way he could. “A choice… Reading The Tale of Genji makes me wonder about freedom in love. I believe we all have that as a choice too, haven’t we?” If there was one thing Miyuki could agree with, it was Murasaki no Ue’s choice in pursuing her love even if Genji loved another at the same time. “Interesting…” “Like writing! I believe we have freedom in expressing affections, like how one’s writing reflects the writer’s soul.” Miyuki chirped. It felt good when she could openly express her thoughts. Right at that moment, she realized that she had broken another social norm—a lady shouldn’t openly converse to a man who wasn’t her husband. “I… apologize for getting hot-blooded.” Miyuki put her sleeves up to cover her face. She was surprised when Yoshitomo reached out to hold her hand, stopping her from hiding her face. “No, it’s totally alright. I agree with your opinion.” Yoshitomo said, smiling sheepishly for her knew he was breaking the rule too. “I believe I’m late for… the official meeting. At least I made it for this meeting.” “Minamoto no Yoshitomo-sama…” Miyuki was touched by the little action Yoshitomo did. It made flowers bloom in her heart. If I have the choice… can I love this man? If this man has the choice, will he love me? “Here, a letter.” Yoshitomo took his hand back and took a letter out from his sleeve. He passed it to Miyuki who giggled upon it. “Who hands letter personally?” She laughed. “Take it as a form of originality, Fujiwara no Miyuki-sama. I’m here to talk about the worsening economy; about prices and tax. I thought we would meet again if I cross here and I’m glad we did.” “Thank you.” Miyuki took the letter and kept it in her sleeve. “I will take my time reading it tonight.” “Preferably, returning with a letter too.” Yoshitomo said as he bowed and took his leave. Ħ In the evening, Miyuki was on her way to her room after dinner with her parents but she stopped right outside of the room. Her parents seemed to be talking about the politic. It made her worry for the name involved sounded familiar. Worrying made no improvement, so she decided that it was wise to find someone to talk about it and in such case, her sister Masuko would be the right person. “Masuko?” Miyuki knocked on the door and waited for response. “Come on in, sister.” Masuko slid open the door for Miyuki so that she could enter. “What is it, sister?” “I’m here to talk about our marriage.” Miyuki placed herself sitting and waited for Masuko to sit. “Our marriage?” “Yes. Marriage is never far from politic. I overheard our parents talk about it. The Three Houses are at cold war. Our engagement might be one of the reasons.” Miyuki spoke seriously, indicating that she wouldn’t take jokes which Masuko loved to make. “Ah… about the imperial court? I don’t… find it interesting so I don’t really look into it.” Masuko responded. “I stop caring for these stuffs ever since we were married to Emperor Konoe. Former Emperor Toba and former Emperor Sutoku still tried to hold onto the power even after they abdicated. They were trying to use Emperor Konoe…” Masuko added, frowning. “I agree. After Emperor Konoe’s death… they debated about who should inherit the throne and they chose former Emperor Toba’s fourth son, Go-Shirakawa. What an irony that we are going to marry his son who is still twelve.” Miyuki put her hand on Masuko’s shoulder, comforting her sister. Masuko was close to the deceased Emperor Konoe. His death was still recent after all. “The power of houses… are on our hands, sister. Even if you don’t care about the former emperors, you have to do my best to gain favor of Prince Morihito for our house. It is our obligation.” Miyuki took out her handkerchief to wipe away threatening tears at the corners of Masuko’s eyes. “What do you mean fight?” “We will fight for it, sister. We will seduce the prince and when he becomes the Emperor, we will bear his children.” Miyuki knew within her heart she was contradicting herself. She said so in order to convince Masuko into the marriage so that later, she could avoid the up-coming Emperor. She didn’t want any affection. She wanted her freedom to love. Something must be wrong with me to be imagining having an affair after the marriage. How stupid I am… Will someone be there for me to love? Other than…Minamoto no Yoshitomo-sama… [1] Junihitoe is an extremely elegant and complex kimono worn by ladies during Heian Era; mostly ladies from aristocrat family. The name means “twelve-layer robe” [2] Kusamochi is a kind of mochi(rice cake) and leaves of japanese mugwort. Literally means “grass mochi”
1 Comment
Rizz
2/25/2017 12:41:25 am
The story is interesting. I feel I can understand Japanese old culture more, thank you. And by the way Miyuki and Minamoto no Yoshitomo are so romantic in my imagination <3
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AuthorI am an amateur author and this is my web where i will spread my stories in the vast world called internet. Nice to meet you everyone! Archives
January 2018
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