Splendor and Longing
Short Stories of the Heian Court
This novella presents a fictionalized account inspired by the court culture and literary figures of Heian-period Japan. While rooted in historical texture, the narrative reshapes events to explore how desire, language, and power intersect under constant observation. Here, poetry carries consequence, silence governs survival, and memory refuses to remain contained. What is omitted endures as forcefully as what is spoken. Enjoy!
Episode IV: What Remains Unsaid
The court moves on—but memory does not. As ambition, restraint, and silence redefine survival, Murasaki learns that what is omitted may endure longer than what is declared. A quiet, devastating meditation on power, erasure, and legacy.
Episode III: The Quiet Shore
Exiled from the court but not from memory, Izumi’s absence reshapes everything. Told in a reflective, Arthur Golden–inspired voice, this episode explores exile, longing, and the dangerous permanence of remembrance in a world that survives by forgetting.
Episode II: Threads Beneath the Silk
Rumor tightens its grip on the Heian court as poetry becomes evidence and desire invites surveillance. When words wander too freely, loyalty is tested and silence turns dangerous. Power no longer dazzles—it watches, waits, and removes.
Episode I: The Garden of Shadows
Inside the glittering Heian court, poetry is power and silence is strategy. Murasaki, Izumi, and Sei Shōnagon navigate desire, wit, and observation in a world where a single verse can elevate—or destroy. Beauty here is never innocent.