Note: Two years later and this story is finally getting the edit it deserves! I've added some new scenes and culled a few I've never been particularly fond of. Please forgive any historical inaccuracies. I've done my best to research the Edo Period but I'm positive some things managed to fall through the cracks even on a second run. New chapters will be posted as they are completed.

Thank you to my long suffering and patient beta readers, BellaFlan and JackieOkCorral!

"My granddaughter is..." the emperor trailed off and sighed. He clasped his arthritis-gnarled hands behind his back before going on. "She's quite strong willed. I hope she won't be too much trouble for you on the road."

"I assure you there will be no trouble, Your Majesty." The samurai bowed deeply with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

The emperor turned from the window and stared at him. "You've come highly recommended to me and I'm trusting you with her life. She may not be of my blood, but she is beloved by me all the same."

"I understand."

"Threats against her life are something I take seriously. When the danger has passed, my grandson shall personally send for you to bring her home."

"Of course," Jellal said stiffly. He was eager to be on the road. Snow clouds gathered on the horizon and the heart of winter drew near. "Have the preparations for travel been made?"

"They have." The small man fumbled with his next words. "I'm afraid she's displeased with the current situation."

"The rudimentary accommodations of road travel would be enough to offend any lady of the court."

The emperor laughed and Jellal struggled to keep his expression smooth. "I think you'll find Erza to be less concerned with hardship and more offended I believe she needs a samurai guard at all." The old man's smile faded and he shook his head. "She's been trained in formal swordplay because I am a weak man and cannot tell her no. I would like to think she hasn't the skill or mind for vicious battle, but in my heart I know I am wrong. Even so, Samurai, she needs you."

"Her safety is my number one priority, Your Majesty."

"Good, good." The emperor pulled a cord and an attendant opened the great doors to the chamber. "Laxus will send word under his lightning dragon seal when the city is safe for her return."

Jellal bowed once more and left the emperor behind. The princess might have trunks of belongings but he did not. Even with its heated pools and panels of flooring, the palace was still quite cold. He knew his outer quilted robes would only suffice for so long before they'd need to be replaced with something thicker. Once they were free of the royal city and closer to the mountain, he'd procure warmer things. Many years had passed since Jellal had made a habit of becoming attached to possessions, save his sword and his horse.

The last blooms of the sakura trees that lined the palace courtyards clung to their webs of branches stubbornly. Soon they'd fall to the earth and be buried beneath the snow. The royal city was lovely and lively – but Jellal had no eyes for it. His first impression of the princess was the sound of her commanding voice. She chastised a stable worker for mishandling one of her trunks and offered to load it herself. Jellal peered around the corner and saw horror etched onto the face of a young boy. The very idea of the princess loading her own trunks was clearly abominable. There was only room for two on the back of the small, nondescript caravan and Erza supervised the strapping closely.

She was indeed just as beautiful as rumors purported – perhaps even more so. Her scarlet hair was styled into a knot suitable for travel, and she wore thick robes similar to his to stave off the oncoming cold. Once her belongings were properly loaded, Erza dismissed the boys and swept along the side of the cart to the horse waiting in front. Jellal watched, intrigued, as she pressed her cheek to the smooth expanse between its eyes. She whispered words to the creature he couldn't hear, but her intimacy with the animal impressed him.

He took several deep breaths before rounding the corner and approaching her. She gave him only a cursory glance when he bowed just as deeply for her as he had for the emperor.

"Princess," he said quietly.

"Are you the one my grandfather has sent to escort me to my prison?"

"His Majesty is deeply concerned for your life, Princess. I will keep you safe until the danger has passed."

"Assassins do not scare me." Finally she folded her hands and hid them in her wide, quilted sleeves. "Shall I simply call you Samurai or do you have a name?"

"It wouldn't be appropriate for a princess to address one such as myself by name. Samurai will do." The princess pursed her lips in frustration and he understood this to mean she had many words sliding down the back of her throat. "We should depart as quickly as possible."

She nodded and pulled open the hatch leading to the interior of the carriage. Before crawling inside, Erza scanned the stable and then moved her gaze upward the pointed eaves and carved balustrades of her home. Like the stubborn sakura blossoms, these, too, would be covered in snow before long. Jellal thought maybe she swiped at a tear, but he wasn't sure. She turned sharply and disappeared inside.

The landscape beyond the borders of the royal city was harsh but beautiful. Damp moss clung to sharp-edged boulders, and the dry leaves autumn left behind were now plastered to the hard ground waiting to be frozen. Mountain peaks glowing with frigid mist rose in the distance, but it was the lower formations of rock at the foot that were their intended destination. Jellal didn't think they'd reach them for several days – more if the snow continued to pile. The Emperor had made it clear that public inns were out of the question, but the royal family had in its possession a network of cottages that had been used for evacuations in the past. Jellal was to stick to the cottages or pitch the basic tents strapped to the sides of the cart.

The moon was high in the sky by the time they rolled through a small village and reached the first cottage, just beyond its outskirts. Crushed ground cover whispered beneath his boots when he slid from the bench of the cart. Jellal's eyes swept over the towering trees and clusters of flora that would remain even in the dead of winter. Tufts of hakonechloa poked from between the trees and the crushed leaves scattered over the forest floor. The world was silent but for the sound of Erza's horse chuffing a cloud of breath into the cold. He circled the cottage once before swinging the door open with his hand already closed around the hilt of his sword. Wood framed and small, the structure would serve only as a space for sleeping. There was a small bath in an adjoining room, but they would not be staying long enough for him to make it suitable for the princess's use.

The pile of wood near the hearth was dry and would last until morning if tended properly. Jellal coaxed a fire from kindling and carefully stacked the logs. Once he'd readied the cottage, he returned to the cart.

To her credit, Erza never once complained or demanded to know their location. He wondered if she'd slept or indulged in the sadness he'd had a glimpse of before they left the palace, but she was unreadable and impassive when he opened the hatch. She clutched his hand tightly as he helped her from the back of the cart, releasing him immediately once her feet were on the ground.

"Should I tend to the horse, Samurai?" She asked quietly from behind him as he moved to unhitch the animal from the cart. "I don't mind. He's been mine since I was a child."

Jellal turned to her and couldn't stop himself from thinking her even more beautiful, surrounded by snow in the moonlight. "No, Princess. I swear to you I will handle him with kindness. You should go inside and rest. Tomorrow will be another long ride. I've already prepared the fire."

She eyed him for a moment before nodding and leaving him alone outside. Jellal led the horse to the shelter beside the house and checked for fresh hay and water. His own horse would've given him trouble for the crude shelter but Erza's horse was of much better temper. He accepted the blankets without so much as a nudge.

By the time he re-entered the cottage, Jellal's face was flushed with cold. The princess sat on a pillow, dragging a comb through the long, crimson hair he'd admired earlier. For a moment he was entranced with the way the black teeth of the comb sliced through the strands that glowed in the firelight. Her robe fell over her shoulder and left an expanse of pale skin exposed. She hadn't noticed his presence, and Jellal hated to break the silence, but he knew staring at her from the shadows was deeply inappropriate.

He cleared his throat and shrugged the damp sections of his armor and robe off his body. "Your horse is sheltered for the night, Princess."

"Thank you," Erza said softly. She pulled the edge of her robe back over her shoulder and set aside the comb. "When will we depart in the morning?"

"At dawn." Jellal knelt in front of the fire and pulled his katana from its sheath. The blade shone in the low light and he could see the sharpening pattern clearly. He hadn't used the sword since the last time he'd run a stone over it but his training necessitated the inspection. Without a warrior's code and rigid morals he was simply another soldier with a weapon.

"I have heard of your kind only in story."

Jellal chuckled lightly. "My kind?"

"Bushido," Erza said without fanfare. "Righteous, courageous, benevolent, respectful, sincere, honorable, loyal, and in control of one's self. Is that not how it goes?"

"It is."

"Of course Grandfather would choose one such as you to whisk me away to the mountains." Her tone was petulant but laced with resignation.

"My code prevents me from disobedience and dishonorable behavior, if that's what you mean." Jellal slid the sword back into its home and placed it on the edge of his bedroll.

"Does seducing a princess qualify as dishonorable?"

He set his mouth into a hard line. "Soldiers do not seduce, Princess. They pillage."

"And the samurai?"

"We do neither."

"I see."

"You should rest now, Princess. Tomorrow we cover twice as much ground as today." Much to his relief, she simply nodded and slid beneath her blankets.

The princess needed to know nothing, other than the assurance he'd never entertain the thought of exploring what lay beneath the seams of her robes. The one time he'd allowed himself to become entangled with a woman had ended with his heart carved from his chest and his head an empty shell.