Flower of the Peony

He was at the Court of the Shogun, or he had weighty affairs at the capital, or he went here and there with armies and overcame his enemies. Aya saw little of him. Long years she dwelt with her nurse and her maidens within the walls of her father’s castle. High walls were they and well guarded, and at their foot was a deep moat which was rosy with lotus flowers all the seventh month.

 

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