no sleep

Hidemasa's men had finally returned and told her that the enemies army was just a few days away. Luckily everybody from the town was at the castle and everybody was working together to prep the castle for battle.

"What do you wanna do?" Nagahide asked while Harumi read the report from Hidemasa's ninja's. At least they now knew who was going to attack them. The Togashi clan had been an ally of Nobunaga for some year now but it was a very weak thready and Nobunaga had already anticipated that they would become enemies one day. If only he had known it would be now... What a coincidence.... Harumi thought. Just when Nobunaga himself with most of the army is away to fight an enemy in the south they get attacked from the north... This can't be just luck, the Togashi clan and Kiyoano clan had to be working together. A chill ran trough Harumi's spine. If they had joined forces, who could say how many more clans had joined them. Maybe this was just the first wave of attack... She forced herself to not think about that. She first had to overcome the problems that lay right before her. In the report of Hidemasa's ninja's she read that the army itself wasn't that large but they did bring a lot of heavy weaponry, like cannons and slingshots. Harumi growled. How dare they. Just because Nobunaga wasn't here, didn't mean they were defenseless. They still had her. Hundreds of people were counting on Harumi to keep them safe and that was exactly what she would do. She would show them that even without Nobunaga they can defend themselves.

"Nagahide, can you assemble a small group of trained people to go undercover and sabotage some of the bigger weaponry of the Togashi clan?" Harumi asked while still focusing on the report.

"Of course Nohime-sama!" Nagahide answered immediately. "They will leave by nightfall." Nagahide made a deep bow and left Nobunaga's study. She didn't get much peace and quiet. Before she knew it Masa-kun entered the room with some food. Harumi's appetite has been nonexistent the last few days. And it came as a miracle that every strand of hair on her head hadn't turned gray from all the stress.

"Has everybody else already eaten?" Harumi asked while she shoved the papers to the side.

"Yes, as for your orders we made sure everybody in the castle eats before you." Masa-kun answered with a grim look on her face. As Lin-chan had said a few days earlier, Masa-kun, Lin-chan and Rike-chan were there solely to support Harumi and to make sure she would stay healthy. So it wasn't a surprise for Harumi when she had ordered that everybody would be fed before her. Something very uncommon. Normally Nobunaga would get his food first from everybody in the castle. As soon as he began everybody else was allowed to eat. With Nobunaga gone everybody had to wait for Harumi to start eating, but she didn't like that. She was still young and strong. For every day of her life, even in the past, she was given tree meals a day. Some of the villagers were poor and almost always hungry so Harumi had decided that they deserved the food more than her. And besides, most of the time she forgot to eat and she didn't want the whole castle to wait before they could eat. Her maids didn't liked this of course. They just wanted to keep Harumi healthy and fell fed. It was their job to look after her but that was nearly impossible with the stubborn Harumi.

"Thank you." Harumi said with a smile while Masa-kun put the rice and side dishes before her. Without delay Harumi began to eat. She knew Masa-kun would keep nagging her to eat something and she wanted to make another round in the castle before nightfall.

Harumi walked trough the castle alone while she checked everything. Although it was already late, almost everybody was still working. The group of people who were responsible for reinforcing the castle worked around the clock in shifts. And it still was to much work for them to handle. Yesterday and the day before that people had been chopping a lot of wood to heighten the castle wall. The large threes lay in the courtyard that was once a beautiful garden, waiting to be sawn into the right size. They could use a couple of more hands. Harumi though while she looked at the men and women working. Without hesitation she grabbed a saw and began cutting down a three to the right size.

"What are you doing Nohime-sama?" Someone exclaimed. Harumi had been sawing wood for a few hours already. On her forehead shone a few beads of sweat while her kimono was dirty from the hard work. She rubbed her sticky hair out of her face and looked up to find a horrified Nagahide looking at her. Some of the people who were working beside her also looked up and gave her shocked faces while they began to recognize the lady of the castle.

"I'm just helping a little!" Harumi tried to defend herself but before she could say anything else Nagahide escorted her back inside while scolding her.

"This isn't a job for a lady of your upbringing." He ranted while he brought her back to Nobunaga's room. On the way he instructed a guard to call for her maids to help her bathe. "A princess can't be seen in this state." He whined while he hold the door for her. Her tree maids came rushing in after a short while and almost got an heart attack by the sight of her. Sure, she did smell a bit and she was sweaty and covered in sawdust but this reaction was way over the top. Angrily Harumi was led to the bathroom were her tree maids washed her and put some clean clothes on her. They told her she really had to take a break and try to sleep something but at soon as she lay on the futon a million things popped up in her head making it impossible for her to sleep. She felt that she was tired. Her limbs were heavy. But her mind was going full speed ahead. She yawned and stood from her futon. Without putting on a normal kimono she went back to Nobunaga's study to read some more documents, examine the maps of the terrain and write some stuff down so she wouldn't forget it.