"Spell it correctly"

A MoonRoseGoddess Production

The garden was quiet was an peaceful, the birds sang their sweet songs in the flowing willow trees whose branches lightly brushed the water of the pond with the soft and light breeze coming from somewhere warn. Further down by the fountain, where several golden fish lifted their heads to eat the bread that carelessly fell in, rested a girl, a young woman actually wearing a tae kwon do outfit and a white scarf to match. Her brilliant green eyes were closed for the world to see a she dreamt of a life she never thought she could have.

"Hanasan!" a little voice called in the distance penetrating the dream. "Hanasan where are you?"

The little girl wore a blue kimono and her black hair was neatly pulled back and arranged with different clips but she struggled in her outfit on her way to the fountain where she saw a white figure.

"Hanasan…ouch" she whispered almost tripping on a stone as she held onto a cherry tree blossoming to its glory.

"Hanasan please get up….they are all waiting for you…please" she whined but to no avail as the figure remained motionless and undisturbed.

"Hanasan?" the girl whispered trembling as she shook the white coated shoulder

"Yes. I will get up in just a moment. You should be careful of that rock. I wanted to move it but sensei would not allow it. Go on back to the house Sakura. Will be right there."

"Yes. Hanasan." Sakura bowed and left.

Hanasan finally opened her eyes and stretched like a cat basking in the sweet summer sun. "Hanasan" she laughed to herself. "Well at least that is not the strangest part of my life." She got up and left for the lunch not wanting to be rude to the Nakamuri family that was so generous in letting her and her friend stay.

She was definitely beyond your average traveler in this world. Firstly she was a she, a young woman traveling in a long journey, dressed as man, her only companion Khadija, a young woman her age that she had saved while traveling through Hindustan, following the footsteps of Alexander of Macedon in an effort to reach farther than he had even dreamed. Her journey started unannounced as she was taken from her family by some rogues who thought that she would fetch a fine price as an exotic human being, not seen by the wasteful eyes of the Greeks and Romans that paid well for novelties. She had sat in a cage, through rain and violent storms, peacefully, accepting food and water from her captors and remaining calm unlike her fellow cell mates that continued to cause mayhem.

She was a princess and her mother and father had taught her long ago that patience and calculation was something she should always remember. It was not until her cage was opened and she was pushed onto the auction block that she finally began to act. A little father off some drums began to play a tune and she began to dance a dance of the east, her home. Even though her clothes has lost their clean beauty and the few jewels she was allowed to keep had lost their luster, her body had not lost it's appeal as she danced slowly, hypnotically, making everyone gape at the strangeness and beauty of her pagan dance. The beat of the drums increased and so did the speed of the dance but she had not failed to notice her surroundings during the performance. The man that had kidnapped her was now trying to sell her talking in Greek, her cage stood right behind her, on either side the fat guards with swords smiled at her.

It was now time to put her plan into action. At the pinnacle of the song she jumped onto her cage and grinned at one of the guards leaning over as if to kiss him but instead taking his sword. This, as she had predicted, cause a tension from the guards but she was in no hurry to simply set herself free. She needed to leave them dumbfounded enough so they would not be able to catch up to her as she ran away. Again the music sped up and she began to dance with the sword making elegant patterns in the air as she threw it about and caught it.

The bid for her was becoming frantic as men in togas shouted the price they wanted to pay. She threw the sword into the air toward the crowd and jumped off the block to catch it, spinning several times before the blade landed in her palms, seemingly unchanged but she smiled because it had just cut the rope that bonded her hands enough to appear whole but only a little tug necessary to set her free. Now she needed to release her feet.

The crowd gasped as she began spinning, the sword high above her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the guards trying to move through the crowd toward her. She spun harder finally thrusting the sword into the earth, cutting the rope connecting her legs and leaning over it as the crowd began to cheer, some even throwing coins. She smiled picking up the coins, noting that the guards were getting closer and closer.

"Thank you my good people" she said in fluent Greek with barely a hint of an accent.

The crowd began to whisper amongst themselves and clapping, some calling for an encore.

"I hope you have enjoyed this performance. I will be here tomorrow….Good bye" She ran through the crowd that eagerly parted for her and closed before the guards could even get to her. The shouts behind her told her that the auctioneer was not so pleased with the outcome but that didn't matter. She had to get away. She had to go home and she regretted not listening to her mother when she said she shouldn't go to visit her uncle in Egypt.

"How is your training Hanasan with sensei?" Mr. Nakamuri asked, a pleasant smile framing his aging face.

"Very well thank you. I think that I will continue on my travels soon. Sensei has said that I am ready to move onto the next step in my life. I thank you again for your hospitality"

"It is we who thank you for such an honour."

"Has Khadija come back from her trip to the market?" she asked frowning at the possibility of more delays.

"She has gone there with sensei. To guess when they will be back is like to hope that your cherry trees will blossom gold. It might in colour but not reality."

"True"

"I am telling the truth!" she shouted at the burly man who refused her passage on his ship.

"No one is allowed to see such a man and aren't you that slave girl who ran away?"

"No. I am Princess Hana."

"I've never heard of her. Now go away before they catch you."

Please Read and Review. Tell me what you think. More to come soon. MRG