Book 1. Young Princess. The Girl from the Hidden Village

By Elena Kryuchkova and Olga Kryuchkova

Excerpt from the book:
...Before them appeared a clean spacious room, furnished with elegant carved furniture and skillfully painted screens. All interior items were expensive and it immediately became clear: the fortuneteller`s business was going well.
The woman and her daughters immediately appreciated the quality of the things around them. Such things could be afforded by middle-class aristocrats or wealthy citizens.
After exchanging a number of pleasantries, Ruri invited the guests to sit down at a low table on the tatami mat. Women and girls quickly sat down at the table. The samurai, making sure that nothing threatened their Lady and girls, calmly stood at the entrance to the dwelling.
They didn`t seem to bother Ruri at all. She was often approached for a prediction by noble ladies and wealthy townswomen, who came, of course, with an escort.
“My Lady, what do you want to know first?” asked the blue-eyed fortune-teller. “Your future, or what awaits your daughters?”
“First, I wish to know what awaits my eldest daughter. Then, in order of seniority: middle and junior,” the mother gestured at her daughters in turn.
“So be it,” Ruri nodded.
***
...Suddenly, the girl realized something else: the skies darkened sharply and an impenetrable fog began to cover everything around. The girl panicked and rushed to quickly look for a way out of the forest. But, alas, the irreparable happened: she got lost, but realized it too late.
“If I stand still, I will never leave the forest at all,” she reasoned. “The main thing is to go very carefully. And with the help of the great goddess Amaterasu, I will safely get out of here. And I need to find my maid.”
Himiko mentally offered prayers, and slowly set off on her way. At first she followed a flat road, then, suddenly, a flat forest path rushed up. The girl, to her great surprise, realized that she was walking along a mountain road.
Suddenly, Himiko heard the purr of a cat, and decided that somewhere nearby there must be housing. “I will ask the locals how I can return to the capital. Maybe they`ll let me wait out the fog at their house!” flashed through her mind.
She walked on, from time to time a purr reached her ears. Himiko walked long enough. The fog still enveloped her like a cocoon...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elena Kryuchkova
• Release date: Oct 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215111581

Elena Kryuchkova

Elena Kryuchkova started her creative path in 2012. She writes in different genres, such as: esotericism, fantasy, Slavic fantasy, sci-fi, dystopia, post-apocalyptic and others. Has several graphic works. A number of her novels were co-authored with Olga Kryuchkova.She is inspired by various fantasy and science fiction.Loves cats and draws.

Book preview

Book 1. Young Princess. The Girl from the Hidden Village

The Tales of the Golden-Faced Queen and the Artifacts of the Ancient Goddess Book Series.

Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

Book 1. Young Princess. The Girl from the Hidden Village (‘The Tales of the Golden-Faced Queen and the Artifacts of the Ancient Goddess’ Book Series)

Written by Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

Copyright © 2022 Elena Kryuchkova, Olga Kryuchkova

All rights reserved

Cover Design © 2022 Elena Kryuchkova

Book 1. Young Princess. The Girl from the Hidden Village

Prologue 1. Blue Eyed Fortuneteller and Children Born Under Shining Stars

Chapter 1. The Princess of Country of Yamatai

Chapter 2. An Encounter with the Supernatural

Chapter 3. Clan from the Hidden Village and the Mysterious Girl with Blue Eyes

Chapter 4. One of the Lessons of the Young Princess.

History reference

This story is fiction and any similarity to real people or events are coincidental.

In story there are names of real people who lived in the past. But the description of their life in this story is fictitious.

The characters of mythology are also changed: their characters, relationships and family ties are fiction. This story is completely fiction.

Book 1. Young Princess. The Girl from the Hidden Village

Prologue 1. Blue Eyed Fortuneteller and Children Born Under Shining Stars

The twenty-fourth year of the reign of Emperor Ogimachi (historical person, years of life 1517-1593).

The wetland of the Kanto region, where the Sumida River emptied into the bay, was called Edo. This name meant ‘bay-entrance’ or ‘estuary’. And in the XII century, the local ruler built a small fortification here.

However, the beginning of the city of Edo was laid later, when a local ruler named Ōta Dōkan ordered the construction of a small castle on the site of an old fortification in order to protect the land from enemies. And the official date of the founding of the city was considered the day the construction of Edo Castle was completed (April 8, 1457).

By the way, the castle itself consisted of three parts, had two towers and five gates. Around the perimeter it was protected by a moat with water. The city near the castle grew out of the village of Hirakawa, which is located on the southern bank of the river of the same name. The city gradually grew. But eleven years later, Ōta Dōkan was killed and the city quickly fell into decay.

However, it was in Edo that a blue-eyed woman named Ruri lived. She was considered an excellent fortuneteller, and not only local residents, but even noble women from other provinces often turned to her.

The woman with blue eyes claimed that her grandfather was Portuguese (they were the first Europeans to reach Japan in 1543). And after this explanation, no one saw anything mystical in it.

***

...An eight-year-old charming-looking girl from a noble family with long dark hair rode in a carriage with her mother and two older sisters who were equally charming young ladies. The girl was perplexed: why did they go so far? Did they do it to go to some dubious woman for a prediction of the future?

Recently, the girl's mother heard about Ms. Ruri living in Edo. And she asked her brother for permission to leave, in order to pay a visit to the fortuneteller together with her daughters. The woman was widowed and returned several years ago to her native clan in the care of her brother, a very influential person. The woman wanted to know about the future of her children. Her brother had nothing against the journey and provided his sister with faithful people to accompany her.

And now the carriage with three girls and their mother, surrounded by armed warriors, was moving through the streets of Edo. The people meeting on the way understood perfectly well that in front of them was the carriage with a noble person. And just in case, they bowed down for fear of angering the ‘mysterious lord’ or ‘powerful lady’ and losing their heads.

The 12-year-old eldest daughter, dressed in an orange kimono, and the 11-year-old middle daughter, dressed in a yellow outfit, happily discussed their upcoming visit to the fortuneteller. Their mother ‘stared into the void’, immersed in some of her own thoughts. The woman's kimono was pale blue in color, as if enhancing the pallor of her face, and giving her a resemblance to a mystical creature.

As for the youngest daughter, she dressed in a light green outfit for the visit. And now she was reading an old scroll. The complex vicissitudes around her life at a young age caused her to become very thoughtful. The girl read texts that were quite difficult for her age, and sometimes tried to hide in the world of books from the problems surrounding her.

...Suddenly the carriage stopped. The younger girl looked up from her reading. Looks like we've made it to Ms. Ruri's house, she guessed.

She was extremely skeptical about predictions, despite her age. Distrust of all kinds of mediums, fortunetellers and astrologers arose in her for a reason.

Onmyōji, who were in the service of her uncle, her mother's older brother, were charlatans in the girl's opinion. Onmyōji were people who practiced Onmyō, the teachings of Yin and Yang. It came to Japan at the beginning of the 6th century, first as a divination system. But gradually Onmyō became a combination of astrology, magic, philosophy and the natural sciences.

The concept of ‘onmyōji’ appeared a little later in the 7th century and became popular. By order of the emperor, Bureau of Onmyō, the state department of Onmyō, was founded.

Basically, onmyōji made horoscopes, fortunetelling, exorcising evil spirits and breaking curses. Onmyōji used the Chinese ‘Book of Changes’ (I Ching) for divination, and also used special calendars and astrology. The Book of Changes, also known as the I Ching, was one of the earliest divination text in Chinese history. It consisted of 64 hexagrams, each of which symbolized a particular situation from the point of view of its gradual development.

It was also believed that onmyōji allegedly knew how to summon shikigami (these are spirits that are enclosed in a paper sheet and invisible to the eyes of mere mortals). But this brought only a condescending grin in the younger girl. Of course, the ‘dawn’ of onmyōji fell on the Heian period, several centuries ago, but even now some high-ranking figures resorted to their services.

The girl saw how onmyōji, who are in the service of her uncle, curry favor with