Off we go

It was early in the morning when Harumi's maids woke her. Groggy she looked at her maids who prepared everything for her. It was much earlier than normal and there was a weird tension in the air. Rike-chan put her futon away while Lin-chan prepared her clothes and masa-kun readied all het stuff on her vanity.

"What is going on?" Harumi asked, still sleepy. Lin-chan and Rike-chan gave Masa-kun a questioning look but Masa-kun stared them down. The two younger maids let their gazes trail the wall and floor without looking directly at Harumi. Masa-kun was very practical and stern with the two other maids. Something that was even more apparent when she was on edge. Had she done something? Harumi dug trough her memories, thinking about an incident that could have caused this behavior.

"What is going on?" She asked again when she couldn't think of something she could have done. Well this was a backwards century, so she probably had done something bad without even realizing it.

"Nohime, I know you normally don't eat much breakfast, but I suggest you do today." Was the only thing Masa-kun said. It was true, normally she would drink some black tea and a tiny bit of rice and have a bigger lunch. When she was at home, most of the days she overslept so she almost never had time to eat breakfast. Her body got used to that so now she wasn't hungry in the morning. Reluctantly she began with the mountain of rice before her. Shoving every last grain down her throat.

Just as she was about to finish the last bit of the side dishes there was a short knock on the door. Harumi averted her attention. The sun wasn't even up and she almost never got any visitors before noon. Nobunaga walked in with long and firm strides. He was wearing his uniform.

"Where are you going? And when will you be back?" Harumi asked while Nobunaga sat beside her. Lin-chan quickly poured him a cup of tea. Her maids were probably on edge due to Nobunaga leaving again. Harumi had noticed the shift in atmosphere the last time Nobunaga left to deal with a dispute. Everybody left in the castle was a little bit more on edge. Without Nobunaga here and some of the warlords, the castle was a lot more vulnerable so everybody that spayed behind was on high alerts until Nobunaga returned. This was probably also the reason why they woke her so early, last time she made a big deal of him not saying goodbye.

"We're going to Echizen province, we have to take the Asakura clan down before they get to powerful." Nobunaga explained while he sipped his tea.

"Okay, good luck. Will you leave any of your advisers here to look after the castle?" Harumi asked with a knot in her stomach. She honestly hoped that he would return home safely.

"A few, but I want to be prepared for everything so most of the men will come with us."

"Okay, stay safe and I'll wait here for you." Harumi said hesitantly, not really sure what to say.

"You're coming with me..." Nobunaga said. Harumi yanked her face up and looked him in the eye, checking if he wasn't making some sort of sick joke.

"What do you mean, I'm going with you?" She asked.

"I told you before, I'm not going to leave you here alone, and that's also the reason why I'm taking more men with me." Nobunaga said death serious.

"You're kidding right?" Harumi asked. He would never take her with him to a battle field, right?

"I never kid about warfare." Nobunaga said.

"I'm not going with you." Harumi tried but Nobunaga didn't want to hear her excuses.

"You're coming with me, if you like it or not." He shut her up.

"But I still can't ride a horse and..." Harumi tried again fear creeping up her neck.

"You will ride with me, eng of discussion. Get your coat." Nobunaga said while he tried to contain his anger. He hated to see his wife anxious but he had made it very clear that she couldn't leave his side. He couldn't back down anymore. He had ordered more men to accompany him than usual so it would be a short battle and there would be more protection for her so this battle would be as pleasant as possible for her.

Harumi's legs shook with fear and anger while Nobunaga put her on his horse before jumping on the noble stalion behind Harumi. He grabbed the reigns so his arms were protectively around Nohime's waist. The only thing Harumi fest was the cold and hard metal from his uniform trough her own clothes. It was still early, the sun still hadn't shown himself, and very cold. she popped the collar of her coat up and hid a bit deeper in her coat before they left.

They arrived at the camp in the early evening. They had rode Nobunaga's horse the whole day with just a few stops. Still, there already were a lot of people and Nobunaga's tent was already pitched for him. He held the fabric that functioned as a door open for her and Harumi stepped inside. The tent was smaller that she would have thought. There was barely enough space for a two person futon, a small desk and a smalle dressoir. One of the soldiers brought in their luggage. It wasn't much what her maids had packed for Harumi but she hopefully wouldn't need much. She hoped that the Asakura clan would surrender just by the sight of the army knocking on their door. She had always hated violence, even when she was younger she never fought with her brothers and sisters. Even though they drove her crazy sometimes. She sat on the bed and began unpacking her stuff. She refolded her clothes neatly and put them in one of the drawers. She put her personal care products next to her clothing. She had brought a hair brush and some soap. Nobunaga sat at the desk and immediately began to work. He looked strenuous at some maps of the surrounding terrain. She knew that gaze, it ment that he didn't want to be bothered by anyone. Silently she also unpacked his stuff and shoved it in the other drawer.