The Return of the Princess

 

 

     The fleet left Joga-jima Island before the dawn broke.  Masaki Michitsuna was sitting in a boat at the most front of the fleet.  With no moon in the sky, the sea totally sank in the darkness.  Yet, he had a clear image of Yumi-ga-hama Beach along Kamakura in his mind.  He was also sure his crews could get to the beach even with their eyes closed.

     Satomi Yoshihiro was sitting on another boat in the middle of the fleet.  He had fought as the lord of Awa Province against Hojo Ujiyasu after he came of age.  He had brought the largest territory for the province.  He had hidden his true motivation deep in his mind nearly 2 decades.  However, all his men seemed to have known his secret dream since earlier days.  Without knowing his secret dream, who dare to get engaged in this half-reckless intrusion into the heart of Kamakura, the longtime capital of samurais?  Kamakura was also located deep in the territory of Hojo Ujiyasu’s.  The intrusion could turn into a suicide attack.

     The fleet got to the beach.  All the boats landed but a couple were floating in the sea to watch out for a possible attack from the sea.  Landed men moved into Kamakura, with only several left to guard the boats.  As they intruded deeper into Kamakura, a couple of men were left at each corner to watch out and to secure their withdrawal route. Finally, about half of the army reached their destination.  Were they attacking the samurai office in Kamakura?  No.  Were they robbing famous shrines or temples?  No.  They silently invaded a small peaceful temple at the foot of a hill.

     An old nun who got up early as usual noticed the invasion of rough and impolite men, and screamed, “How dare you raid a nun temple?  Don’t you know who reside here?”

     Yoshihiro bowed to the old lady, and just moved on.  He came in the main hall of the temple.  A young nun was, as if she had predicted it, silently sitting in front of the deity, her guardian statue of Avalokitesvara, which she had inherited from her late father, who had been killed in a battle by Ujiyasu.  She had been in Kamakura as a captive.

     Yoshihiro went down on his hands and knees.

     “You see me for the first time in 18 years, Princess.  I am Yoshihiro.  Do you recognize me?”

     The young nun kept silent.

     Yoshihiro continued, “I have a favor to ask you.  We don’t have time.  Ujiyasu’s samurais will notice our intrusion in a moment.  Will you come back to Awa with me?”

     She remembered the promise he had made.  It was when they were no more than young children.  18 years had passed.  And she was nearly thirty years old.  She was going to reason him into leaving her in Kamakura and retreating from the city quickly.  She moved her lips.  Instead, against her will, she heard herself saying, “Yes, I will.”

 

     Yoshihiro and his men dashed back to the beach with Nun Seigaku and the old nun, who had been her nurse since her infancy and who was carrying the guardian deity of the princess with her, on wooden shutters.  By that time, some samurais in Kamakura had noticed something unusual was happening somewhere in the town, but the first thing they did in a hurry was to strengthen the guard of the samurai office.  And that let Yoshihiro gain time.

     When Awa crews got back to the beach, Michitsuna very loudly announced, “If a single arrow of theirs were to hurt Nun Seigaku even slightly, I have to kill myself to apologize to my lord, Yoshihiro.  Do you all understand it?”

     “Yes, sir.”  And they pushed their boats into the sea quickly.

     The first boat left the beach with the nuns and the deity aboard.  The boats which had been floating in the sea gathered around it quickly to make themselves a shield against arrows, if any.  They were rowing their boats very compactly, yet flew out to sea off the beach swiftly.

     By that time, the sun had risen and some Kamakura samurais had realized the intrusion from the sea.  They were hurrying to the beach on their horses.

     The other boats from Awa left the beach by twos and threes, with Michitsuna’s and a couple of others as the tail of the fleet.  They shot arrows against the beach so that Kamakura samurais couldn’t approach the sea easily.  By the time Kamakura samurais started shooting arrows in an organized way, theirs futilely hit the waves.

     Of course, Kamakura had some boats.  But who dare sail out of the port?  Their foes were those they called the Awa Pirates.

 

     It was still a little past noon.  Nun Seigaku was quietly sitting aboard a ship.  She had transferred from a battle boat to a comfortable ship in Joga-jima Island.  And she was sailing across the strait between the territory of the Hojo Clan and that of the Satomi Clan.

     She left her quiet reasonable days in Kamakura.  She was vaguely remembering her childhood days.  Almost all her memories were filled with battles and flights.  Yet, she was surprised to find herself peaceful and hopeful.  As peaceful as the sea.  As hopeful as the blue sky over her.  The hills of Awa Province were approaching her.