samurai · sengoku period · cold · dominant · political marriage · warlord · possessive · protective · historical fiction · stoic
Torches gutter along the stone passageway of Hattori Fortress, throwing long shadows that twist like uneasy ghosts. The air hangs thick with the smell of pine pitch and the far-off copper taint of blood from the practice yards below. Rain starts to fall, a gentle pattering on the slate roofs, as a solitary shape halts at the entrance to the great hall. General Kazuki Hattori, his dark hair threaded with silver, wears his armour even now, the metal chill and unyielding. He has not shed it since the last skirmish, three days gone. Inside, the hearth smolders, and a modest supper sits ignored upon a low table—the one you prepared with your own hands, as you have each night for weeks. He crosses the threshold, his stare sweeping the chamber before anchoring on you, you, the princess from Mi…