Royal Intrigue

The Hot Springs

Making friends with someone under your protection is never easy. Friends require trust, and in a world where putting your trust in the wrong person gets you killed, trust is hard to come by. The girl was happy enough to be under my protection, and as long as she felt safe and her brother was happy she would remain loyal to me, but being my friend would seal her fate if she chose wrong. Still, I wanted to be her friend, I knew that I would succeed at court and that her brother was working for something he wanted as well, a mutual force was welcome in this court. 

Our arrival at the springs spurred a flurry of activity from the women who attended the baths. We were quickly provided with robes made of soft cotton, cropped much shorter than typical court attire. I couldn't help but notice that Tsukime seemed to relax when she saw the clothing. Perhaps seeing something similar to the attire she had worn before coming to court was helping calm her. Many women spent their days in the baths during the colder months, an excuse she could use to be free of the more restrictive court dress that she would have to wear from now on. 

We were led quickly into another chamber with roughly hewn holes in the rock that held baskets where we placed our fans, jewelry, and the new robes we had been given. Our court robes once removed were spirited away by the ladies who had greeted us to to be aired out and perfumed with incense cones. The entire process was efficient and over in a matter of moments, leaving Tsukimine wide eyed and somewhat shocked. 

Once we were undressed mode ladies came in to quickly scrub us down and rinse our bodies free. Scrubbing just hard enough to turn our skin pink, they then rinsed us with cool water, the changed in temperature making the hairs on our body stand up slightly as the sting from the rough scrubbing slowly faded. Then we wrapped ourselves in this cotton cloths and walked over to a series of benches where we could lay with our hair off the ends. The same ladies who had scrubbed our bodies now came and let our hair down, brushing it through before washing it and piling it on top of our heads and wrapping that with another piece of cotton. 

Fully clean and sure that none of the oils from our skins or odors that we carried throughout our days would contaminate the pools we made our way into the bathing house proper. Filled with a number of different pools that had been hewn out of rough rock and surrounded by large pieces of timber, the bathing house was open to one of the largest gardens in the palace. Wooden plank floors extended out double the length of the baths, leaving places to lounge in Yukata and enjoy one's self once clean. The building itself was made of large timber, a standard roof on top and screens all around, able to be pulled down to keep in the steam and heat during the cool months. This early in the warm season however they were open and provided an amazing view of a medicinal garden. The gleaming stone walls almost white in the distance. The baths were one of the most beautiful parts of the women's quarters within the palace and one of my favorite places to come. 

We settled into the water and removed the cotton sheets that had been preserving our modesty, handing them to attendants who then brought a large vat of cool water to where we were sitting. As we situated ourselves on the deeply hewn benches and helped ourselves to small cloths from within the vat, placing them on our necks and face to cool our faces while we soaked. Tsukimine seemed to still be in shock, perhaps not expecting springs to exist this deep within the palace. The water itself was brung in by a series of bamboo tubes from an underground spring near the palace, splashing gently onto stones that had been worn down by years of use. 

It didn't take long for my friend whom I had been visiting several nights prior to appear. A willowy woman from the kingdom of Qin whose family had sent her to be educated within the palace in the hopes of finding her a good match. Han Ju as she was known was kind and sweet. Nearly 18 years of age and eager to learn. Back in her home she had been permitted by a kindly father to learn from a number of different tutors. I often sought her out during my free time to discuss the differences between our two countries. It was not her company that was objected to, but my presence within the foreign wing of the palace and my somewhat strange habit of speaking with the servants who were all assumed to be spies. 

Ju, as her given name was known, greeted all of us by bowing before entering the pools. As the sister of the ambassador Tsukimine's position was higher than an unwed daughter of a Qin family, and Michiko's familial connection, however distant to my own, placed her higher as well. I was pleased to see that Ju was learning more about the court, even if I wished that such formality were not necessary within the palace. After a quick round of introductions I positioned myself on the far wall from them, allowing me to see their faces. 

"I have asked both of you to the baths with me today so that I may aid you in learning more about the courts. Both of you will spend the rest of your lives here, and both of you have chosen to ally with me in ways that will bring you much scrutiny. I wish I could say that there is an easier path, but the palace is full of lies and deceit, I can only promise that I will do everything I can while you are under my protection to ensure that you are well taken care of and able to enjoy yourselves to the fullest. That being said, I believe that both of you will be invaluable friends to me as well, helping me avoid pitfalls with two of our biggest trade partners and neighbors. I ask that you be patient with me as well." I bowed lowly to them as I finished speaking, hoping that the surprised look in their eyes meant that they were willing to help me avoid future embarrassment as well.